Chapter Six
She woke up with tears streaming down her face, screaming out his name.
"Gibbs!" She screeched in her low, gravelly voice.
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!" she repeated, over and over, each word tearing out her throat.
She was straining at the tubes and cords, but she could barely move because of the anaesthetic and her injuries.
He could hear her voice from the waiting room and he stood up and leaned immediately towards the sound. Ducky turned to look at the white doors.
Gibbs flew into action, no one would stop him from reaching her. He slammed through the doors at high speed, racing towards her voice.
"I'm coming Abbs!"
She'd been in surgery for two hours and they'd been waiting almost and entire day for her to wake up.
He feared the worst, something was happening to her, something horrible.
She was still in the intensive care area and he sprinted to her bedside. He grabbed her hand gently, bloodied bandages and fluid filled tubes were painfully obvious.
"Abbs, Abbs. It's okay, I'm here. I'm here."
"Gibbs." She moaned, blinking slowly in the light.
He gripped her hand a little tighter, she was so delicate and fragile. He hated seeing her like this, it just wasn't her.
The nurses had rushed in, but they didn't ask him to leave. One remained to check her over. She gave him a slightly hard stare, as if to keep him in check, before leaving.
He stroked her cheek lightly and leaned over her, listening to every word with such intense concentration. He was just so glad to see her alive, to see her okay. And it was a good sign for her to be awake and talking.
"Gibbs, I had a horrible nightmare." She stopped and looked into his eyes. He fell in love with the emerald soul that lay in her own.
"What happened?" She seemed to suddenly realise that she wasn't in Kansas any more. "Where am I?" She panicked, trying to sit up, freaked out by the needles and tubes that protruded from her broken and bruised flesh.
"Abby, calm down." He held her by the shoulders. "You were in a car accident. You're at Bethesda." He waited for some kind of reaction, searching her face. He knew how much she hated hospitals.
"I remember the headlights." She squinted and lifted a shaky hand to her face. "My head hurts."
He wavered. They'd shaved off her hair. He knew that. But with the bandages on he could ignore that fact for the present.
"Kate?" She asked hopefully, her eyes bright and wide.
He shook his head. "She's gone Abbs."
He watched as her face fell and she sank back onto the pillows. "Oh." her voice was small. "I thought maybe..." he wiped a tear from her cheek, "Maybe it was part of my nightmare."
"I wish it were Abby."
Her leg was set in a cast and her foot poked out at the end of the white blanket which lay so scantily over her thin frame.
"Am I going to be okay?" Her eyes were so wide, so childlike. He wanted desperately to gather he up into his arms.
"Yes Abby. You're going to be just fine." He maintained a comforting demeanour but inside he was in turmoil. He kissed her on the forehead.
Abby saw the bandage on Gibbs' hand. "Gibbs! What happened to your hand?" she took it in her own and looked up sympathetically searching his eyes for signs of pain. "Nothing, it's okay Abs." She shook her head.
She yawned sleepily.
He stood to go.
"No!" she cried frantically grabbing his disappearing hand. "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me." Her eyes filled with tears and she looked genuinely afraid.
He sat back down and slid her hands in his own. "I won't leave you Abby. I'll never leave you." He stroked her cheek and she calmed. Gibbs listened as her breathing slowed, and watched her eyes drift closed.
He waited til she was asleep and slipped out to inform Ducky, Tony and Palmer that she was going to be fine. Ducky patted him on the back and they all left, relieved, requesting they be informed if anything changed. Gibbs went immediately back to her bedside lest she wake up without his presence.
Hours later Gibbs was still there, still awake, watching Abby sleep.
Doctor Carmen moved through the ward carrying Abby's file, his other hand rested comfortably in his lab coat pocket.
"Ah. Special Agent Gibbs. I see you're still here." He recognized the man's glinting blue eyes.
Gibbs nodded in reply, and went stood to talk to the Doctor in softer tones so as not to wake her.
"Her most recent tests are good," he stated happily, "She should make a full recovery. I hear she's been awake and talking?"
Gibbs nodded once more, "Yes, a few hours ago now." He was relieved to hear these words from the Doctor.
"Well, that's definitely good news for Abigail then." He took a moment to look over the face of the woman that made his heart jump in his chest. Gibbs, seeing the look in his eye, felt a stab of jealousy.
"Does she live alone?" the Doctor enquired.
Gibbs resisted the urge to threaten the man, "Yes."
"She'll need someone to take care of her when she comes out of the hospital. I'm having her moved out of ICU now, she's in the clear. She should be okay to go home in a week or so."