The Long Wait:

DiNozzo's Room:

Gibbs and the team got to the hospital in record time after Ducky's call. Dr. McCoy was waiting for them outside of Tony's room, where Ducky had at least been allowed back into the room to sit with him while the others raced for the hospital. Once they were all at Tony's room again, with Ducky coming out to listen to what Dr. McCoy had to say, D. McCoy began to talk.

"Tony suffered a small seizure, though not that anything was physically seen. We need to run a scan of his brain to see what is going on and then once we know we'll have a better understanding of what is happening to him. I will let you all know the moment I know anything more, but as his Power of Attorney Gibbs, I need you to sign off on his procedures."

"No problem, where do I sign?"

"If you'll follow me." Gibbs left with Dr. McCoy and the others went in to see how Tony was doing at the moment.

"When did Gibbs become Tony's Power of Attorney for medical purposes?" Abby asked.

"Apparently, Tony had Gibbs fill out the paperwork just in case he ended up back in a coma. He gave the paperwork to Dr. McCoy last week when he was cleared to come back to work."

"Well, that makes sense."

"I had been dozing when all his alarms started going off. The nurses and doctors shooed me out of the room so fast that I forgot to grab my cell phone."

"When did you get a cell phone Ducky?" Director Sheppard asked.

"Well, since I was sitting with Tony last time, I figured I could use it to call everyone when there was any change. It's only a prepaid phone and I don't have to get more minutes on it if I don't want to, but now that Tony is back in the hospital, I think I need to get more minutes on it. Ah, here comes Gibbs now."

"Gibbs?" McGee asked.

"They'll take him for the scan in a few minutes and if the scan shows anything, they might have to take him back to surgery."

"Well, we will all be here for him when he makes it through, one way or the other. But maybe we should wait in the waiting room. Dr. McCoy can come get us when everything is done." Ziva said.

"Ziva has a point. Come on everybody, out of the room and Ducky; please don't forget your phone. Dr. McCoy will come and let us know what is going on when he knows something." Director Sheppard said as the group left the room and headed for the waiting room after letting one of the nurses know what was going on.

And so the waiting began, all over again…

Aunt Jenny's Birthday Party:

Karen was laughing at Tony as he jumped on the trampoline at his Aunt Jenny's house. The two were trying to see who could go the highest, but Karen was always the one to win. She had an advantage over her brother and he knew it, he just didn't care. Aunt Jenny let Karen be herself when the family got together, which meant she could show her true colors. It was almost like she knew the kids needed an outlet from their rough days at home. Mr. DiNozzo never really allowed Karen to leave the house unless it was for school or for family get-together's.

The kids were having fun with their cousins and who wouldn't? It was a beautiful day outside. The only downside to the day was that their father had to run off for an important meeting and had only been at Aunt Jenny's for an hour or so before leaving for the meeting. Karen and Tony were used to it, but it wasn't like they cared anyways, they had each other and their cousins so they were always having some kind of fun. Mrs. DiNozzo was sitting on the porch with her sister, watching as the kids jumped on the trampoline. It was always easier to be at her sister's house instead of her own house where she was constantly reminded of how rich her family was. A scream from the trampoline brought her attention back to her kids, who were nowhere to be seen.

"Anthony, Karen? Where are you?"

"Mom, come quick!" Karen's voice pleaded as their mother ran from the deck, her sister and brother-in-law right behind her.

"Karen, what…Anthony, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just flew too high on the trampoline that's all. Karen tried to catch me, but she was hovering to high off the ground. Guess I landed a little lopsided cause when she came down, I flew sideways."

"Let me look at you. Can you stand up?"

"I think so."

Tony stood up from the ground and his mother turned him around, poking and prodding to see if he was really alright. When she touched his arm, he gasped and she knew that it was either bruised or broken.

"I guess it's a trip to the Emergency Room for you then. Sorry Jenny."

"It's okay, the party was just winding down anyways. Come on kids; let's go get their coats so Sarah can get the kids to the E.R."

"Dad's going to be so mad at me. I ruined one of my better suits."

"He'll just be glad that you are alright. We'll be home before he gets home from his meeting anyhow. It should be a short hospital visit."

Mrs. DiNozzo, Karen and Tony, who was cradling his arm, headed for the car and got in. There wasn't much sense in going home now that Tony was hurt. And his father would find out what happened when he got home from his meeting anyhow. They left Aunt Jenny's house and headed for the hospital, which was only really forty-five minutes away on a good day of traffic.

More to come in next chapter…

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