Chapter 4

Ziva's View:

I got Tony inside by a miracle; he sure was heavy to pretty much carry up the entire apartment's stairs. I got him to his bed, and he flopped down, asleep almost immediately. I had to wake him up to remind him to take off his shoes and to get under the covers. When he did, he fell into a deep sleep. But remembering Gibb's orders not to leave his side until McGee got off later to come by and sit with him; I was stuck in his little apartment trying to find things to do. As I walked around, I realized Tony kept a nice clean apartment, no dust on any of the thousands of movies he had, and no pictures on the pale cream colored walls. No posters or even anything to remind me that he was a giant pervert. I walked over to his fridge and opened it, only to find countless rotting containers of takeout and pizza boxes. I closed it because the smell was revolting. Only when I found a Gun & Show magazine on his counter did I settle in to read, waiting for the long night to be over.

I finished reading the magazine cover to cover and put it neatly back on the stack of mail Tony had neglected to open. I walked back to his bedroom and peered in, only to see the senior agent stirring from his slumber.

"Ziva?" He asked. Looking at me confused, he began to rise from the bed.

"No, no, no." I ran over to his side and pushed him back down gently. "You have a high fever, and Ducky said to make sure you stay in bed until it goes down some, now, do you have a thermometer in this hell hole?" I asked smirking at him. He coyly smiled back.

"Yeah bathroom." He pointed. I made my way to the small bathroom and noticed the thermometer lying next to the sink. He must of known he had a temperature than. I deduced before turning off the light and making my way back into the bedroom. He was sitting up and smiling back at me. "Find everything ok?" He asked, before sitting back against his freshly fluffed pillows.

"Well someone seems like they feel better." I said, chuckling a little as I put the thermometer into his mouth. He smiled and looked at me. "What?" I asked.

"I never imagined you to be the nursing type, where is your suit nurse Ratchet?" He asked, I had no idea who that woman was, but coming from Tony I figured it was a movie reference that I would never understand. The thermometer beeped and I took it out, realizing that his fever had gone down to 100.2.

"Well Tony, almost out of the fever range." I said, smiling at him. He then concluded to jump out of bed and head to the fridge.

"Good, because I am starving, what kind of food do you want? Chinese or pizza?" He called from the kitchen. I could tell he was trying to make himself sound better, but he still felt like crap. I didn't answer, and a few seconds late I hear him calling me.

"Ziva, I think something is wrong!" He said. I walk to the kitchen, expecting him to be staring at a menu.

"It is not that hard of a choice." I laughed, but when I saw him, my face turned to utter terror, he was doubled over in pain.

Tony's view

I felt the hard pain barrel me in the stomach. Like I was back to my high school days, playing football and one of those beasts from the other team had tackled me. The pain was splitting, and I knew I was in serious trouble.

"Ziva, I think something is wrong!" I called to her; she was still in my room amazed at how quick I was recovering. I heard her voice coming closer to me.

"It is not that hard of a choice." I heard her laugh, but saw her face change when she saw me doubled over, trying to catch my breath. She was at my side in seconds, holding onto my arm for support. "Come on, we need to get you back to bed." She said, gently leading me towards my room. But by the time we reached the door to the bedroom my stomach couldn't hold on anymore and I puked all over the floor. When I had finally stopped retching, I looked up at Ziva who looked scared. She tried to smile, but I could tell, she couldn't keep her emotions in check. "I am going to get you to bed, then call Dr. Mallard and see what we should do." Ziva said. She got me tucked in, and my stomach pain was starting to die down some. I grabbed her arm and gave her a sincere look.

"Don't bother ducky. I will be fine; I just need a little rest." I said as I inched down in the covers and closed my eyes. My hand pressed firmly to my loosening stomach.

I tried to sleep, but all I could hear was the pounding going on in my head, like someone was hitting a gong right next to my ear and a clicking noise that continued non-stop. Only when I opened my eyes did I realize it was Ziva loading and unloading her gun as she sat in a chair at the end of my bed.

"Are you awake now?" She asked, looking my way.

"Never fell asleep Officer David." I commented as I raised my body up. My neck felt like I had slept wrong and I began rubbing it. Damn flu.I thought to myself.

"Is your neck sore?" Ziva asked me. I nodded my head painfully and she walked over to my side. "Here let me rub it for you, I find it is easier to get more pleasure when you are not the one doing the messaging." She said this in a sultry way and I couldn't keep my mouth closed.

"Oh. You find it easier, huh?" I asked trying to be funny, but my usual humor was short because of not feeling too well. She was in the middle of rubbing my neck when I heard the door shut, and before I knew it, McGee was standing in front of me and Ziva looking very questioning.