Alright, just as promised.. !! The next chapter... I was waiting to post this LAST night, but the tenth review came it at about 1235 am... by which time I had already gone to bed! ( gotta love aol timestamps!! lol)) But it was REALLY close, and I give props for everyone trying!! :D. on to the chapter we go!!!

Song: I have been there- Mark Schultz

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In a room without a view, a new mother smiles and holds the tiny fingers of her brand new baby girl. Her husband takes her by the hand, so unsure about the future have no money can they make it in this world? And they pray, Lord all we have to give is love then they heard a gentle voice like an echo from above,

Tony paced the waiting room of the ER at Bethesda waiting on Gibbs or a nurse to come out. Gibbs wasn't exactly in the room with Ziva, but he was in the hospital somewhere- probably getting coffee. Tony knew that for sure. He had washed his hands before arriving at the hospital, realizing it wasn't a good idea to show up in a hospital with blood all over his hands.

He kept repeating to himself the same thing, over and over and over again. Ziva is fine, she's being checked out right now. She's fine. Except by repeating it constantly, he also kept dragging the image of a lifeless cold bleeding Ziva to mind. He shuddered as the image appeared at the forefront of his mind once more. If he saw that image again, it would be entirely too soon. It terrified him that he could lose her. What was he going to do without her as a partner to trade sarcasitc comments and humored banter with?

He paced. And paced. And paced. For how long, he didnt know. Eventually, Tony plopped down into a chair, face in hands, sighing. He hadn't gone by NCIS before coming to the hospital, leaving McGee to find his own way back from the...was it even a crime scene? Not really, but at the same time it was. A federal officer had been shot, a man killed. Of course Ducky would have shown, taken the suspects body back to NCIS for autopsy... which meant McGee, as the only agent had to have secured the scene.Oh well. Tony would deal with Gibbs anger later...Speak of the devil...

I have been there. I know what fear is all about. Yes, I have been there and I'm standing with you now. I have been there And I came to build the bridge oh so this road could lead you home. Oh I have been there.

"Here, you'll need it. Have you heard anything?" Gibbs asked with a raised eyebrow, handing Tony a cup of coffee.

Shaking his head, he accepted the styrofoam cup with a muttered thanks. He didn't even need to ask how Gibbs knew he was there. Nine years of working with the man taught him that Gibbs just knew things. Gibbs stood next to him, silently, waiting, just as he was. And thought it was nice to know someone was waiting with him, it still didn't ease the guilt.

"It's not your fault, Tony," Gibbs voice startled him out of his thoughts.

"How can you say that, boss? Of course it is. I took the safety off my weapon, I let the guy get the best of me. It went off because I was careless. Why? Because I was worried about her and the one shot to the side she'd already taken!" His frustration with himself and his actions crept into his voice.

"You were being a good friend. Of course, your actions as an agent were not commendable, and we could have had two liabilities, not just one." Gibbs said casually.

Tony winced. Gibbs could make him feel better and yet even more guilty with just a few words. "I'd gladly switch places with her if I could. I should technically be in there too. She shouldnt have taken that second bullet, I should have taken it!" He wanted to pound something, hit something. If something happened to Ziva... She's going to be fine.

Gibbs said nothing, knowing his senior field agent wouldn't bother listening to a word he said. He'd continue to blame himself until the news that Ziva was fine reached his ears and sunk into his goofy course, he knew in his gut Ziva would be alright, but how soon she would be, he couldn't say.

Four hours later, Tony sat alone again. He watched people come and go from the ER. Many he knew, hadn't gotten good news. Some had. He wasn't sure which one of those people he would be, and he didn't want to know. He watched an old man burst into tears at something a nurse said to him.

He's been a pastor twenty years but tonight he sits alone and broken hearted in the corner of the church He tried to change a fallen world with his words and with his wisdom but it seems like it is only getting worse And he cries, Oh Lord I just don't understand Then he felt the hand of grace, and he heard a voice that said

All alone, Tony thought and sighed. Gibbs had gone off somewhere again and McGee was probably still at NCIS. There was still no news on Ziva and Tony wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. If it wasn't a good thing, someone would have come out, wouldn't they have? Just like all the other people that had recieved bad news so far. He closed his eye for a minute. At least he thought it was a minute because the next thing he knew, someone was asking for the family of Ziva David and he jumped up, suddenly alert.

"You don't look like family," the doctor said looking Tony over.

Tony resisted a sarcastic comment. "I'm her husband," he lied.

"Her papers state she is single. If you are not family, I cannot release any information about her to you,"

I have been there, I know what pain is all about yes I have been there, and I'm standing with you now I have been there, and I came to build a bridge oh so this road could lead you home oh i have been there.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Ever consider that we're newly weds? That she hasn't had time to update her papers? With our job as demanding as it is, that not exactly the first priority in our minds." He prayed Ziva would never find out he was saying such things. She would probably kick his ass six feet under and then up to the ozone and back to his desk at NCIS if she knew.

The man considered Tony's words for a moment before sighing. "Alright, fine. She came in with two gun shot wounds-"

"How about skipping to what we don't know, doc," Tony snapped.

The man glared. "One in her side, the other in her stomache. She lost a lot of blood, and we had to do surgery to get the bullent from her stomach. We've stitched her side and she was lucky that shot wasn't a few centimeters lower or we'd be looking at a possible liver transplant and kidney removal, "

"But that didn't happen.. what about the other one?" Tony asked. The doctor had yet to say anything about Ziva herself. Tony didn't care about the bullets or any damages to her- just that she'd be alright eventually.

An older man up on a hill holding flowers but he can't hold back the tears. oh he has come to say goodbye. he thinks about the life she lived, thinks about how hard it's been to live without her sixty years right by his side and he cries, oh Lord i loved her till the end and he heard a gentle voice say you'll see her once again

"The bullet burried in her stomache cause internal bleeding, which we were able to stop. We also stapled her stomache closed and she'll have a nasty scar there and on her side. But other than that, she will be alright. She'll be here for a few days, have to watch what she eats and remain on bed rest for six weeks until everything finally heals once she's been released, but I don't see any major complications in the near future."

Tony wanted to shout, jump, scream, dance...anything. Ziva was going to be alright! He hadn't killed her! He did none of those things, however and nodded. "Can I see her?"

The doctor shrugged. "She's out of it for the moment, sleeping. I don't see why not, but don't wake her or stay too long. Visting hours are almost over." He gave Tony her room number and information.

Tony snorted as the doctor walked away. Visiting hours? Please, like he was going to leave her side until she woke! And even then they would probably have to physically remove him from her room.

The flurry of panic hit him the second he stepped off the elevator to her floor. He could hear machines going off and watched as nurses and doctors ran in and out of one specific room. That patient must have it bad, he thought. He looked at the room numbers going down the halll, towards the chaos. He stopped dead and glaced at his hand where the room number was written.

I have been there I know what sorrow's all about yes i have been there and i'm standing with you now i have been there, and i came to build a bridge oh so this road could lead her home, the road could lead her home oh i have been there, You know I overcame the cross, yes i have been there so her life would not be lost oh i have been there, and i came to build a bridge so this road could lead you home the road could lead you home Oh I have been there

The chaos was comming from Ziva's room.

Shit.

Yes I have been there

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I know, I'm evil. You all know what it takes for another chapter... 10 reviews for the next chapter.. and btw I'm on EST, just so most of you know and don't yell at me because its nine where you are and i didnt put up a chapter because here it would be 12 or 1 depending on where you live.