"Come here, Phoebe."

Jimmy whispered gently as he opened his arms and moved forwards to sit on the edge of her bed, the ten year old didn't bother to protest and merely crawled forwards until she was cradled in her older brother's lap. She leaned against his chest and curled up her legs, just as Jimmy closed his arms around her. He was especially careful not to jostle any of the needles and other tubes attached to his baby sister's frail frame. Jimmy also ignored the way that his shoulder began to dampen as Phoebe's tears were pressed into the starchy fabric. He softly began to rub little circles onto her back as she sobbed, murmuring meaningless words of comfort into her ear.

"Percy...? Why would he do that? Why would he lie?"

Jimmy just looked at his sister, tears filling his own eyes as he stared at the pitiful scene in front of him. He shook his head as he wiped the unwanted tears on his sleeve. Instead choosing to press a gentle kiss to Phoebe's forehead. A retort blossomed in Jimmy's mind.

'I don't know, Phoebe. I don't know a lot of things.'

But he didn't say it, he couldn't. Phoebe thought he knew everything, adults and older siblings were always perfect in children's eyes. Even if Jimmy was pretty far from perfect. He didn't say a lot of things nowadays.

-Flashback-

"Would mine work?"

Jimmy whispered, eyes clouded and sad as looked up at Phoebe's doctor. Kyle was beside him, the older brother was just staring at the doctor in disbelief. Jimmy cursed his idea to have Kyle come in with him to see Phoebe's doctor, his older brother was too sensitive, too caring. He just knew that there would be tears...But don't get him wrong, Kyle had changed over the last few years. Gone was the overconfident little crybaby, who would cry at the drop of a pin. Nowadays most of Kyle's bouts of tears were into his pillow at night when he thought that nobody could hear. But hospital walls aren't soundproof.

"What about mine?"

Kyle piped up beside Jimmy, his strong hand resting on his younger brother's slightly quaking shoulder. But Phoebe's doctor just shook his head at both of the devastated brothers.

"Percival is a match, but the guidelines for donation clearly state that we can not use a kidney donated from a diabetic. Kyle, due to the fact that you and Phoebe are only half-siblings there was only a slim chance that you would be a match. You aren't."

The doctor sighed and Jimmy instantly launched to his feet, pointing a finger at the doctor's chest. The tears prickling in his eyes and the fact that he was shaking was pure evidence of just how upset he really was. The young man looked purely ready to pass out.

"So what are we supposed to do then?! She's in full-blown renal failure! She won't last much longer, not like this! She needs a new fucking kidney and you're denying me the ability to give it to her because I have a bum pancreas?! Let me donate the one thing I can actually give my baby sister, so that she has a fighting chance!"

Jimmy shrieked, his voice cracking as he did so. The doctor just looked at the devastated young man in front of him with concern and sympathy. He reached over and gently rested a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Percival...I understand that you're upset, but it's dangerous for a diabetic to only have one kidney and to go through such a major surgery. Your other kidney won't be able to compensate."

The doctor sighed comforting and Jimmy bristled almost instantly at his tone. It was patronizing and concerned, two things that Jimmy didn't want. Not from the doctor who was supposed to save his sister's life. Kyle wrapped a strong arm around his brother's shoulder and pulled the young man back into his chair. When he had heard the words 'dangerous' and 'won't be able to compensate', he knew that he wasn't going to allow Jimmy to do this. Not like this, he couldn't let his little brother put his life in jeopardy like that. Jimmy looked at him with doe eyes filled with grief and hurt.

In turn, Kyle instantly pulled Jimmy into his chest for a hug. The doctor left the room a few moments later, as both brothers broke down sobbing into each other's arms. How strange it is, that the things you don't ever see coming are the ones that are strong enough to kill you.

-End Flashback-

Jimmy gently laid a sleeping Phoebe back down on her bed and grabbed his phone before stepping out and into the hallway. But still he watched her from the window looking into the room, just to make sure that she was alright. Then he scrolled through the missed calls on his phone, 4 from Dr. Mallard, 2 from McGee, 2 from Tony, 8 from Abby, 4- from Ziva and...Jimmy gulped...1 from Gibbs. He'd better call someone to see what they wanted.

He chose randomly and ended up hitting Abby's number, as he waited for her to pick up he rested the phone against his ear, only to pull it backwards as Abby's worried voice filtered through.

"Jimmy? Is that you? Are you okay? All Ducky would tell us was that you were having a family crises!"

Abby cried, worried and Jimmy ran a tentative hand through his curly dark hair as he prepared to answer, only to be startled as an elderly nurse tugged on his arm. He looked at her and motioned towards his phone before speaking.

"Sir, you can't use your phone in this part of the hospital. It interferes with our lifesaving equipment. But you can take your call in the office area, it's machine-free."

The nurse explained and Jimmy instantly paled at the words 'life-saving equipment' and he gave the woman a curt nod as she led him towards a sealed off, wooden doored room. That was where he rested the phone against his ear again and he heard Abby's even more worried voice.

"Jimmy? Oh god, was that a nurse? Did she say hospital? Life-saving equipment? Jimmy!"

Abby practically wailed and he heard the sound of worried chatter behind her, but he couldn't for the life of him, understand what the hell it was that they were saying. Jimmy's brow instantly furrowed in confusion.

"Abby, who else is there with you?"

There was a sound of shuffling a button being pushed and suddenly a mob of voices assaulted Jimmy's ear drums. There was Tony's yell of 'Autopsy Gremlin! What's up?!', Ziva recognition of 'Jimmy', McGee's 'Palmer', Dr. Mallard's 'Mr. Palmer, are you alright?' and Gibbs' bark of 'Palmer! Why aren't you here?' And then Abby's explanation of 'I'm in the bullpen and put you on speaker.' Out of all the voices that assaulted his ear drums, Gibbs' seemed to be the most pressing concern at the moment.

"I-I'm dealing w-with family issues, Sir."

Jimmy stammered as he looked around what must have been recently used as a meeting room because it absolutely reeked of coffee and lemon-scented Lysol. The only answer that he got from Gibbs was somewhat of a grunt, while Abby worried pressed her questions again.

"Jimmy you didn't answer me before! Why are you at a hospital with life-saving equipment?"

Abby cried worriedly and Jimmy sighed, debating on whether or not to come clean and just explain was was weighing on him like an anvil.

"Because a member of my family is sick, Abby."

Jimmy finally sighed and there was an overwhelming silence from her end before she spoke again, this time it was concern and pity that he could place in her tone and he bit his lip to stop himself from saying something that he might regret.

"How sick? Just sick sick, or really sick, or about-to-die sick?"

Jimmy was silent after that question and finally he managed to cough out an answer, probably the one that all those listening were dreading.

"T-The last one..."

He whispered hoarsely and before anyone could say anything, he was already talking again.

"B-But don't worry, I-I'll be back to work by tomorrow. I-I'm pretty sure I can get my big brother to watch her and-"

"You don't have to come in, Palmer. If you need to be at the hospital, it's totally understandable."

Gibbs barked gruffly, but his voice was laced with empathy and concern. Gibbs had lost someone he loved before too, but Jimmy just sighed and answered quickly.

"No it's fine, she's been sick a long time."

He whispered before hanging up his phone and collapsing in one of the table's desk chairs. He let his head slump into his arms as he felt his shoulders shake from fatigue.

'All we can do is keep breathing...'