Heya!... so for this chapter let's keep in mind that I am 16 (as of last wednesday!), and know nothing about medical treatment… all I know is minimal things from House, and how to use wikipedia!... on that note, on with the story…
Chapter 7
Beep… beep… beep.
The sound of the monitor filled the quiet room.
Beep… beep.
Ron Beatte slept silently on the chair by the hospital bed. His sister was downstairs with the kids, getting some dinner. The windowsill in the room was decorated with child-drawn 'Get Well' cards and a few store bought ones.
Adenydd had been in the hospital for 5 days, and Ron hadn't left the room since he was allowed in. She woke up a few times, but not too often. She had been unstable for almost 2 days after suffering a gunshot wound to her chest. The shot had missed her heart, but cracked a few ribs, one of which pierced her lung.
A nurse walked in followed by two small children. Milo and Kioko jumped on their dad's lap. He woke with a start.
"How's Addie?" They chimed. Ron gave the nurse a 'how did they get up here?' look.
"I found them wandering the floor looking for you." Nurse Anna was assigned as Adenydd's attending nurse, so the family was kind of friends with her by now.
"How's Addie?" The kids shook their father.
"Sleepy, and a little hungry," Adenydd responded herself. Her voice was a bit hoarse.
"Addie!" They ran and jumped on her bed.
"He-hey, watch the leg," she grinned.
"When are you coming home?" Milo whined.
"In a little while." Milo pouted. Kioko stretched out next to her big sister.
"I missed you, Addie."
Ron put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "We all did."
She remembered something. "Where's Tony and Eli?"
"The NCIS agent and the Amish boy?" Nurse Anna asked, examining her patient's chart. Adenydd nodded. "They're down the hall."
"Are they together?"
"They were. But I believe Mr. Knepp is being transferred to the Psych Ward today."
"Psych ward?"
"You don't need to worry about that right now, sweetie."
"Is he ok?"
"He's fine, Ms. Beatte. They're both fine." Anna put the chart down.
"You're lying to me." The girl stated. "And remember, call me Lily."
"Right," Anna went to the door. "I'll be back to check on you later."
Ron looked at Lily. "Your mom's sorry she can't be here. Her ship doesn't dock for a few weeks. But she's coming as soon as possible."
Milo smiled. "Mommy's on a boat!" He made wave motions with his arms, making his little sister laugh.
"I'm hungry!" Kioko said suddenly.
"I thought you ate your dinner downstairs with Aunt Leah." Ron caught Kioko before she fell off the bed.
"No, we came up here before we ate." Milo responded.
"Dad, you and them should go get some food," Lily said. Ron tried to protest. "Really, I don't mind. You must be starving by now."
"I'll tell your aunt to come back up." He left with Milo and Kioko.
Lily looked around the room for something useful. "Just down the hall, huh." She saw a wheelchair folded up in the corner, smiled, and then realized she had a bunch of IV tubes sticking out of her arms. "Great."
NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS
Ziva stared at her sleeping partner. She hadn't slept for days, and with what was going on behind her sleep wasn't coming soon. Mr. Knepp was arguing with the doctor about Eli in some complicated German that Ziva could only understand certain bits of. Dr. Walden didn't understand it either.
McGee walked in and stood next to Ziva. "What's going on there?"
"I am not too sure."
"How's Tony doing?"
"Still has not woken up yet."
"It's been 5 days."
"He will be fine. You are not supposed to wake burn victims up anyway." Ziva assured herself more than McGee.
Tony had lost blood; a lot of blood. Way more than was healthy for him. He needed a lot of donations and he got them from McGee, Ziva, Ducky, and even Jimmy. Gibbs and Abby were the wrong blood type, so they couldn't help.
Ziva fingered the needle mark on her arm. Abby and Jimmy were sleeping on the benches outside the room. Gibbs and Ducky were downstairs getting food. They had offered to take Eli's younger siblings and probably weren't eating themselves.
"Ziva," McGee began hesitantly, "What if Tony doesn't-"
"He will!" Ziva gripped the chair arms. "It is Tony. Tony always makes it."
"How is he?" Ziva and McGee's eyes snapped to the doorway. There was Lily, in a wheelchair with two IV poles attached to it. Her leg was in a cast, her head was bandaged (much like Tony's), and she was a bit paler than usual. She wheeled herself straight to Tony's bed.
The two special agents hadn't responded yet. "How is he?" She repeated.
"We are not sure." Ziva replied.
Tony's leg, hands, arms, head, chest, shoulder and neck were bandaged. He was getting skin grafting for all of his burns, and his brain and heart activity hadn't changed much since he became stable.
Then Lily felt a hand on her head. "Li-ly," Eli said slowly. His arms were wrapped so they could no longer see the gash, the needle marks, or the gunshot wound he was too drugged up to feel when it happened. Actually, his physical wounds were pretty minimal compared to his companions. It was his mental wounds that were greatest, and those probably wouldn't heal, as the doctor was trying to explain to Eli's parents.
His other hand moved to Tony's arm. "To-ny?" He moved to the medicine cart by the wall. He was in the process of picking a needle up when Nurse Anna came in and took it from him. As soon as Eli's doctor came over, Anna went straight to Lily.
"You have your dad and aunt worried sick, Lily. You shouldn't take off like that. Especially in your condition."
"I wanted to see Tony and Eli." She slouched. "You weren't telling me anything."
Anna looked from Lily to Tony to Eli and back. Though they were three completely different people, they had their similarities. They all had hazel eyes and bandaged heads. Light skin and baggy hospital gowns.
She sighed. "You have ten minutes." She left.
"You're Lily, right?" McGee asked. Only Jimmy and Gibbs had met her yet, though Gibbs was the only one who talked to her.
"Yeah."
"How are you?"
"Oh, well I…" Lily stopped. She had a smart-aleck remark on her tongue, but decided against saying it.
"He doesn't need that right now," she thought. "None of us do."
"I'm getting better," she settled on. She looked at her two friends. "Are they?"
Ziva held Tony's hand. His condition hadn't changed. Eli hummed his song, sitting cross-legged on his bed, staring blankly at Tony.
"They will be."
The German bickering had moved into the hallway. The room was relatively quiet. Its five occupants thought of the future. Lily had lost use of her legs, at 12; Eli's mental capacity was severely diminished, he wouldn't be able to go home to the farm; Tony's injuries would not allow him to be an agent for a long while, if ever again.
Even if they were all released, life would never be the same.
Just so you all know, next chapter will be the last… this has been a fun (and difficult) story to write, so thanx for sticking with me… well that's all for now… =)