Sorry for the delay, the place where I usually work on this story lost power for a few days because of a Halloween prank so I was unable to continue for a bit. Here's the next installment, I'm not sure how many more I'll do but enjoy.
Gibbs hurried to the door before whoever was on the other side had another chance to ring the bell. He didn't want Evan to wake, or Tony for that matter. Even though it seemed like Tony slept all the time, he wasn't. The constant coughing and gasping for breath kept him awake most of the time and he slipped into sleep whenever his exhaustion couldn't be kept at bay anymore.
It had been two days since Tony had come into the house wheezing, his condition had gone downhill from there with the onset of pneumonia. Jeanne planned on taking a week or two off to monitor him but a 'superbug' caught wind in the local schools and the hospitals were overcrowded. Instead of spending more time at home, as Jeanne planned, she was spending less due to the demands of the hospital.
Gibbs swung the front door open to be confronted with, what looked like Tony's entire rugby team. Girls stood in the yard and the driveway holding various dishes, some had younger siblings with them, and some were alone. It was Thursday afternoon, school had been cancelled due to the 'superbug' so Gibbs wasn't too surprised to see them out and about, but he had no idea why they were at the house.
The girl who rang the bell, stepped forward. Gibbs recognized her as one of Tony's favorite players, they had met once before a game but Gibbs couldn't recall her name.
"Monsieur Gibbs, my name is Maggie. I play Coach T's team. We met at game early." Her English was broken but Gibbs understood and was thankful for her effort. He was learning French but his conversational skills weren't up to par yet.
"Yes, I remember you. How can I help you?" He asked keeping things short and simple.
Another girl stepped forward.
"My name is Fran, Tony helped get me an Au Pair job in Washington last year so English is a little easier for me. Maggie and the team were wondering if we could help in any way. We brought over some dishes so Dr. D wouldn't need to cook. I know she's working all the time, my dad's a nurse and he barely makes it home now." Two girls stepped forward, one younger than the other. Gibbs recognized the younger one as a friend of Olivia's. "Maddy was wondering if Olivia could come over to their house and spend the weekend, since school's out. Here's their number and how to reach their parents. I think Tony and Dr. D have the number but here it is for you. And I was wondering if I could help out with Evan, I could stay in Olivia's room and watch Evan while you take care of Coach T. I was in Au Pair for two kids in D.C, one a newborn."
Gibbs was speechless, these girls were already helping more then they knew. He was shocked at the selflessness these girls had. At that moment, Andi and her son, Claude, walked up the drive, looking shocked at all the girls in the yard. Andi and Claude were friends of the family. Both were Deaf and Claude was in the same year as James.
Gibbs turned to Fran. "Thank you for everything. Come on in; put the food in the kitchen. Olivia's in her room if Maddy wants to get her, she can go to her house for the weekend, that's fine with me. Just tell everyone to be quiet, Tony and Evan are sleeping. If you don't mind staying the weekend, I'm not going to say no, that would be a huge help." He stepped out of the way for everyone to go in, as he watched the girls who didn't bring anything started to clean the house. He was amazed.
He turned back to Andi and Claude who looked confused. Andi, was a consult for the French government. Her and Gibbs got along great, greatly helped by the fact that she knew ASL along with FSL.
"What's going on?" She signed. Before Gibbs could answer Jeanne pulled in. He waited for her to get out of the car and make her way over to them. She looked dead on her feet. Even though it was early afternoon she had been at work for the past 24 hours.
"Hey Andi, Claude, Gibbs, how is everyone?" She signed. Then cocked her head to the open door of the house. "What all that noise?"
"Apparently Tony's rugby team came over to take care of us. They brought food, some are cleaning and Maddy and her sister invited Olivia to stay over at their house for the weekend. Fran, offered to stay the weekend to take care of Evan. She said Tony got her an au pair job in D.C.?" Gibbs explained.
"Yes, Tony called some friends in D.C. when Fran was looking to go stateside and he set it all up. She's a great kid, we got to know her well before she left and she's come around a few times since. That will be a huge help. I have to be back at the hospital in six hours." She signed to both the adults. Claude had run off signing 'adult conversations were boring' and went into the house, presumably to find Jamie.
"Well I guess we're joining the crowd." Andi signed. "I was wondering if we could take Jamie off your hands for the weekend. I thought one less kid would be easier but it looks like you'll have none!"
"That sounds great. I know Jamie would love to spend the weekend at your place. And the less time the kids are in contact with Tony the better." Jeanne hated to say it but it was true.
After the rugby team had cleared out and Fran had taken Evan to the park, Gibbs headed up to check on Tony and Jeanne. She had wanted to check on him as soon as she arrived home. It had been an hour so Gibbs decided to go check on both of them.
Jeanne was slumped over in the chair that Gibbs had been using to keep vigil over Tony during the day, her stethoscope slipping slowly out of her lax fingers. Gibbs shook her gently to rouse her then had her on her feet out of the bedroom before she could react.
"You're not sleeping with Tony. He barely sleeps as is and you need all the sleep you can get. I'll take care of him and I'll wake you in a few hours so you can shower and eat before you head back to work." Jethro explained as he settled her on Jamie's bed.
"He's getting worse." She whispered tiredly.
"I thought he was getting better, he's sleeping more and his coughing seems to have eased." Jethro countered.
"No, he is getting better now. But the times between him getting sick are getting shorter, he's getting worse." She repeated. "How long can he do this? How long can his lungs keep going and the stress on his heart? Something needs to be done." She explained with her eyes closed. Gibbs knew she would never say her fears aloud normally but her tiredness and the stress of Tony and the hospital was taking its toll.
"Shhh, rest, everything will look better later. Don't worry, sleep." Gibbs comforted as he ran his fingers through her hair to get her to relax. It was only a few moments before she let out a deep sigh and drifted off completely.
Her fears were his also. He knew from Tony and Jeanne telling him previously that Tony was getting sick more often. It was taboo in the household and they never discussed together, it would come up in random conversations and be passed as if it were no concern. If there was ever a time Jethro wished Ducky was still alive this was it.
Maybe he could put in a call to Dr. Pitt. Tony had mentioned the man and his family had visited before; so they still had to be in contact somehow, Jethro thought as he headed back to Tony's side.
Gibbs entered the bedroom expecting to see Tony where he had left him, in bed deeply asleep. He found Tony doing neither of those things. The younger man was facedown on the carpet. The heart monitor was flat lined as the wires were dangling freely on the bed.
Gibbs rushed to Tony's side, he was still breathing but it was harsh and uneven.
"Tony, Tony can you hear me? What are you doing out of bed?" Gibbs growled angry Tony had attempted to move without help.
"I…bathroom." Tony panted as he lifted himself onto his hands and knees. "I'm…not…peeing the bed."
Gibbs huffed as he pulled Tony up and threw his arm across his shoulder.
"Fine, but lets do this quickly, then back in bed for you." Gibbs said as he dragged Tony into the bathroom. He held him steady as Tony did his business then hauled him back to bed.
Tony was gasping for breath as he was laid back down. Gibbs lifted Tony's legs onto the bed then set about reattaching the heart monitor and giving Tony some oxygen.
"There, now go back to sleep." Gibbs demanded as he finished.
"I just woke up. I'm not going to fall back asleep anyway its 3 o'clock. Is Jeanne home?" Tony asked from behind the mask.
"Yeah, she got home about an hour ago, she's sleeping in Jamie's bed. She has to be back to work in a few hours. You hungry?"
Tony shook his head no as his mind drifted off. He felt mentally and physically exhausted but he knew he would not bed able to sleep anymore for the time being. He hated being sick. It seemed like he was sick all the time. He hated being a burden and having to be taken care of. His thoughts stopped as he felt Gibb's hand start to run through his hair in a soothing gesture. Tony patted the empty bed next to him. It was lonely without Jeanne.
"What happened after I left?" Tony questioned. He knew Gibbs had told him the general story but he wanted more detail. Had he really mattered at NCIS? Things seemed hazier now but he wanted to know.
Gibbs was surprised by the question and had to think what exactly Tony was asking but climbed into bed next to Tony anyway as he thought of his answer. He stretched out to get comfortable then turned to the man he considered his son.
"When I read your resignation letter I was not surprised but still devastated. I had been to your apartment and Jeanne's to see where you were the night before but seeing your empty apartments I knew you were gone for good. I remembering telling McGee he was senior agent and to find a replacement for himself then I handed over your letter to Jen. She was pretty devastated as well. We talked for a few hours or more like I yelled for the first hour and she calmed me down. I think that's the first time her and I got drunk at the office in the middle of a workday. We were kind of lost. When I went back to the bullpen, everyone was gone. They left a note saying they all went to Joe's and were taking the day off. Apparently the director and I weren't the only ones getting drunk in the middle of the day."
"I found them all at Joe's, Abby, Tim, Ziva, Ducky, Palmer and Lee. By the number of shot glasses I'd say they toasted you a lot. Jimmy didn't drink so he ended up driving us all home, he's a good kid. Never thought of him as a dad but he's amazing, he took off a few years to stay at home while Michele worked. Anyway I headed down to the boat and almost finished it that night. We all came back the next morning and expected to see you there like after watching your car getting blown up you still came back but you were still gone. Abby and Tim tried tracking you down but couldn't find anything until a few days later and your flight to Africa. Did you buy the ticket last minute? They were monitoring all airlines but when we found out about your flight it was too late for us to do anything."
"It did cross my mind that you guys might be looking for me so I brought the ticket under my dad's name then changed it when I got to the airport. I didn't want to have to say goodbye again. I knew if you all showed up then I wouldn't leave and I knew I needed too. Sorry." Tony whispered as he trailed off.
Gibbs resumed running his fingers through Tony's hair. Tony let out a long sigh and sunk further into the bed as the motion relaxed him more and more.
"We were pretty depressed the next few weeks afterward. We had case after case and couldn't seem to catch up. It was distracting in a way but not in a good way. Like I said we all overworked ourselves and were forced to take leave. We all needed it. I went and saw Kate, Shannon, and Kelly. Took Ducky with me so he could meet Shannon and Kelly. I worked on the boat but Ducky kept me occupied with clearing out his house, having lunch with the team, meeting up with Abby. I even saw a few movies."
"No! I was never able to do that! What did you see?" Tony exclaimed sitting up but stopping as a coughing attack took effect. Gibbs rubbed Tony's back as the younger man struggled to get his breathing under control again.
As soon as Tony was breathing normally again Gibbs continued as if nothing had happened.
"Abby drug me to see The Bee Movie, stupid if you ask me and Ducky and I saw American Gangster, not too bad."
"I didn't see a movie in theaters for over three years, I still haven't caught up but Olivia loves Bee Movie. Don't mention it to her or else you'll be watching it six times in a row."
Gibbs let out a huge yawn as he settled deeper into the bed.
"Why don't you take a quick nap? I'll set the alarm so you can wake Jeanne." Tony suggested, it was for his benefit as well as Gibbs, the talking the two had done had worn Tony out again but he wasn't going to admit it. It was nice Gibbs had told Tony so much, Gibbs wasn't known for his many words.
Gibbs smiled as he agreed with Tony's plan. He knew the kid was as tired as he was, it had felt good to tell Tony how much he had been missed. He knew Tony was insecure and always needed reassurance that he was important. Gibbs realized he didn't do that much in the past but things were changing now. He settled down closer to Tony and grabbed a throw from the bottom of the bed and made himself comfortable.
The two were out before they knew it.