The Hospital:

Emergency Room:

Tony was rushed into the ER half a second after reaching Bethesda Naval Hospital. Gibbs paced the waiting room until the others arrived and Ducky forced him to sit down. There was no talking at the moment; they wouldn't know what to say anyways. They had just gotten Tony back and now not two weeks after he was discharged for a gunshot to the shoulder, he was back in the hospital because some drunk had refused to stop at his red light. They'd collected the evidence and had taken it back to the Navy Yard before picking up Abby, Director Sheppard, Ducky and Mr. Palmer.

An hour later, doctors, nurses and the gurney carrying Tony was rushed out of the Emergency Room and to the elevator headed to the OR. The team stood up and headed in the same direction but instead of going to the OR, they went to the waiting room. The team was sullen, not understanding why this had happened.

Operation Room:

Dr. McCoy was in the OR with Tony, being his primary doctor and all. Having just been released not two weeks ago from a gunshot wound to the shoulder that had left him in a coma, Tony was now back in the hospital due to some idiot who didn't know he had to stop at a red light. Dr. McCoy was about to make an incision with the scalpel when Tony flatlined. They got the paddles out and were able to get him back after three jolts at 360. Once they had Tony back from the grips of death, they proceeded with the surgery. It wouldn't be till another ten hours before Dr. McCoy was able to tell Agent Gibbs or the team anything.

Waiting Room:

Gibbs and the team were out in the waiting room and Gibbs was pacing again. Director Sheppard tried to get him to sit down but to no avail. Tony had only been out of the hospital for two weeks and today had been his first day back to work. Everyone was pissed that this had happened but at the moment they couldn't do anything about it. The road block had been useless as the person that had hit him wasn't found. But an APB [All-Points Bulletin] had been put out as witnesses had seen the license plate number and told the police what it was. Either way, until this guy was caught, there was nothing to do but once more wait in the OR waiting room to see if Tony was going to live or not.

Ten hours later and it was the next morning when Dr. McCoy walked out. Gibbs was the first to stand up and that alerted everyone else to the fact that Dr. McCoy was walking out.

"Agent Gibbs, sorry to have to see you again under similar circumstances."

"Dr. McCoy, these aren't similar circumstances, but I understand what you mean. How's DiNozzo?"

"He'll live but he has slipped into a coma again. He had multiple broken bones, his left lung was punctured by a broken rib and I'm sorry to say that we were unable to save his lung, we had to remove it. Some of his broken rib punctured other major organs such as his liver which we were able to repair, one punctured his heart and we were able to repair that as well, and another punctured his left kidney and as well we were able to repair that as well. His left leg was crushed and he suffered a skull fracture. We had to remove a piece of his skull in order to relieve pressure buildup. We'll put the skull piece back when the swelling goes down. He had a laceration on his left side from the car being pushed into him and we repaired that as well. His right shoulder, where he'd been shot, was dislocated in the crash and he suffered intensive bruising on his ride side as well from being thrown into the telephone pole. He had intensive whiplash and he still has a neck brace on until we are certain no major damage was done. We'll do another CTscan in a few days when the swelling goes down. Now because of the swelling in his neck, we were unable to intubate him so we had to perform a tracheotomy in order for him to breathe. He'll look worse than when he did the first time he was here, way worse and we are still giving him blood infusions due to the amount of blood he lost before the firefighters could get him out of the car and to the paramedics. If you'll follow me, I will take you to see him now. He was moved from recovery to the ICU, his own room, so you'll be able to visit any time you like, just let the nurses know you are here for him."

Dr. McCoy stopped talking and the team got up and followed him to room 426, Tony's ICU room. Dr. McCoy opened the door and allowed them time to walk in before leaving the way he had come, silently.

Intensive Care Unit:

Abby was the first to move next to Tony, who did look worse than the first time he'd been in here, which was only like three months ago. He looked so fragile this time, like he would break if you touched him. The tube in his neck showed just how damaged he was. An intubation tube wasn't that bad, but trachea tube was worse than just a gunshot wound to the shoulder. When he woke up this time, he would be in for months of PT instead of just three weeks.

The team only stayed long enough to let Tony know that they were there and that they were praying for him. Ducky said he was staying and would let them know if there were any changes while the team was once again without their Senior Field Agent. They would head home for the night and get whatever kind of rest they could get before heading into the office to start to find out who had done this to Tony. Director Sheppard knew better than to pull them off after the fact that they had told the police that they were taking over the investigation.

More to come in next chapter…

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