Disclaimer: Thanks to papillongirl, I now have 60 cents toward the cause, (and potentially 53 More) and when I get them for good, she's more than welcome to them, but until then I guess borrowing works.
A/N: I apologize in advance for any medical terms that I use, it's a force of habit... but I'll try to keep them at a minimum. Violence.
Summary of Previous Chapter(s): Ziva gets caught in a drugstore holdup and the robbers find out she's law enforcement so they threaten to kill her first if their demands aren't met and they knocked her in the head twice, rendering her unconscious. A little 8 year old girl scout 'befriends' Ziva, and tells her not to sleep b/c she has a concussion. The demands are given and a 2 hour time limit is set, which is not met. Because it's not met, Joel (The lead bad guy), shoots Ziva in the shoulder in front of everyone, and when she is returned to her position (Chained to a pole) she gives in and sleeps to escape the pain of possible hypovolemic shock (Shock from blood loss). The police managed to get some of the money and in return were allowed to enter and get Ziva out, but everyone else is still inside and Ziva's condition is worsening.
Chapter 4
They got to the door, and out of the store, where Ziva was immediately loaded into the ambulance along with the medics. One of whom was not a medic at all.
Tony had convinced the C.O. to let him enter and get Ziva,
"For a tactical view on the inside..." He'd said.
He was going to ride with her to the hospital, but was not permitted to because he had to give the SWAT team the info he'd gotten.
"Okay, I counted 5 perps in all. All armed, mostly with twelve gauges... and about 20 civvies inside." He said.
"Good work, kid." A tactical officer said to Tony.
"Thanks... so what's our plan?" Tony asked
"-Our- plan is none of your business... your plan is to go back to your truck and stay out of the way." a disgruntled SWAT officer replied.
"I went in and got your Intel... my partner is the one that got shot... NCIS should be included in this!" Tony shot back.
"Hey, Robbie!" A sergeant yelled, "You do not talk with this man this way. NCIS has full access to this op!" He ordered.
"Yes sir." The officer answered.
The sergeant called McGee, and Gibbs over to where they were standing to brief them.
"Okay, well... we know we've got 5 gunmen and 20 hostages... and as we've seen... they're not afraid to get their hands dirty." He began, "We've got to use -extreme- tactfulness... these people's lives are at stake. We've got a disadvantage here because they can see everything out front here, so we've got to be quick an quiet and go in from the back."
Usually, Tony would laugh at how wrong the sergeant's last sentence sounded, but there was no time for jokes now. He thought about the 'disadvantage' comment and thought, "If Ziva were here, she could level the playing field on her own, and give the advantage with a team." Thinking of her saddened him. He wanted to wake up from the horrible nightmare he was living and see his partner, and love of his life, alive and well... he trailed off in his thoughts and returned his mind to 'brief mode'.
Ziva was unconscious. She was not doing well, and because of the location of the wound, it was hard to control her bleeding. The medics were doing there best to keep her with them, they had blankets on her, and started an IV drip. When they arrived at the hospital, she was rushed into the ER where she was quickly examined and sent to surgery. They were in for hours before a doctor came down the hall...
During the surgery:
The SWAT team was prepped, and went around the block, back to the building, and to the back door. They put a probe-cam under the door and carefully observed, taking note of the gunmen's locations.
This was it... they prepared to enter... the lead officer held up his hand, with a five-count.
5
Tony shut his eyes for a moment, and thought a protection prayer for those inside... especially the little girl, whose mother he'd met outside.
4
He reopened his eyes and turned off the safety on his gun.
3
He shifted his weight to his left foot, and thought to himself, "This is the longest 5 seconds in the history of the world."
2
His heart raced, and he had revenge in his heart... he'd get the bastard that shot Ziva.
1
"Shoot to kill." That was the final instruction given during the briefing... and Tony intended to.
Time! The officer clenched his fist, and swung the door open, tossing a flash bang inside. The officers rushed in and immediately fired on the first 3 gunmen killing them instantly.
Tony was unconcerned with formation; he was going to find Joel. He'd find him and take him out. A few shots were fired back and forth between the officers and a fourth gunman, but finally, after wounding one officer, he was taken out. Time was running short... he had to make his move. He was moving tactically through the isles when he spotted Joel, with Sydney in his arms.
"Federal Agent!" Tony yelled.
"Don't come any closer! I'll do it!" Joel yelled back.
Tony took what seemed to him like hours, but in reality was only split seconds to decide a kill-shot was the only option, which he had no problem with, considering the perpetrator. He quickly observed that Joel had to crouch down to Sydney's height, and that only one slip... one split-second stand would be his only opportunity. He kept his gun trained on where Joel's head would be when he rose. However, in taking mental notes of his observations, he didn't concern himself with cover.
Joel fired a shot, right into Tony's midsection, just below the sternum. Tony fell to the floor, stunned, but not critically injured. Joel had hit his vest weather he knew it or not, it was his final action. Tony raised his gun from his position, prone on the floor, and fired a shot right through Joel's skull.
Sydney ran over to Tony, and quickly rolled him over. She checked out his stomach, where the bullet hit and realized that Tony had no bullet wounds. But the look on his face indicated a great deal of pain, the bullet would leave a nice bruise.
"You're the ambulance worker right? What are you doing in here?" She asked with sudden realization.
"I'm not an ambulance worker, hun. I'm a federal agent." He answered, grimacing and trying to sit up.
"Don't do that!" She yelled, slapping his arm.
"Okay, sorry! Geez you're worse than Ziva!" He joked, suddenly realizing that he needed to get to the hospital.
"How's Ziva?" Sydney asked, recalling her previous "patient".
"I wish I knew." He muttered under his breath.
He sat up, with the help of medics a few moments later, and slowly walked out with them.
"McGee! I need to get to the hospital." He yelled, heading toward the NCIS truck. He entered the passenger side and McGee sped off.
Upon arrival, Tony jumped from the car before it was completely stopped and ran in to find Gibbs, who had followed the medics who transported Ziva. He jogged through until he found him and breathlessly asked,
"How is she?"
"In surgery, DiNozzo. She was doing better when we got here, her BP was better, and so was her heart rate, after they stopped the bleeding. They don't know yet, but she might not be able to work at NCIS anymore."
"What?" Tony replied; he couldn't believe it. The thought had never crossed his mind, just how bad it could be.
"Now don't worry yet, we don't know." Gibbs said, making a mental note to never sound that nice again... it would ruin his fear tactic advantage.
Ziva awoke slowly, and cringed at the bright hospital light. She was hooked to multiple machines, all of which were humming to themselves. She usually hated hospitals, and their machines, but the steady "beep" of the heart monitor was reassuring right now. It was the difference between life and death. As she began to look around though, she saw something more assuring... Tony was asleep in a small plastic chair which looked like the least comfortable seat ever created. She considered waking him, but decided against it. He'd come around after he got his rest.
A few hours later, Tony stirred and sat up, his back cracking at the sudden movement.
"That is repulsing!" Ziva's voice came, with a chuckle.
"Well good morning sunshine." Tony said yawning. "I told you we'd end up sleeping together eventually." He laughed.
"Only in your dreams." She laughed back.
The doctor came in and greeted the two of them.
"If I could have a moment with Miss David..." He said, nodding Tony toward the door. "It's personal."
"He's okay, he's my partner. There is no 'personal'." Ziva not so politely informed him as Tony approached the door.
"Okay." The doctor replied.
"Miss David, we had to do some fairly serious procedures on your shoulder... we had to reconstruct your rotator cuff, it was shattered. And because of the location, there was a lot of nerve damage around your shoulder. It may take months, if not years before you have proper feeling below the scapula. (Shoulder) And... Your arm needs to be immobilized for a few months, and only moved limitedly for months after that... but, all in all we expect a near full recovery." He said.
"Near full?" She asked impatiently.
"Well, yes. After a few months of physical therapy, you should be able to use your arm, low-impact, but the odds of you returning to work as an NCIS field agent are slim." He answered.
"How slim?" She asked.
"Very. The odds of you going back are around 10 in 100." He replied.
"Oh, and we're going to keep you here overnight for observation... you were real close to irreversible shock." He informed her, and with that, he exited the room.
A/N 2: Okay, I lied... there will be 1 more chapter with all the mushy love stuff, lol. But I wanted to get something up...
Medical Notes:
Hypovolemic along with other types of shock come in stages,1.) Compensative
2.) De-Compensative
3.) Irreversible
These progress MUCH quicker than I made them do in the story, so treat and transport IMMEDIATLY!
Not sure if the shoulder ops I gave Ziva exist, because the worst I've done is dislocate my shoulder; But if they don't... use your imagination...lol.