"Miss David is out of surgery," the nurse informed them, "She's resting right now. Once her vitals look a little better, we'll get her wrist reset. An orthopedic surgeon is checking it, and he thinks he can get it taken care of pretty easily, and scheduled her for surgery in two hours."

Abby hauled McGee up off the floor where she'd dumped him out of his seat, "But she's going to be okay?"

"There was quite a bit of damage," the nurse handed Abby a small bag. Inside it was a large tooth, "We pulled that from her throat. The dog really tore her up. Her windpipe and esophagus were both damaged. She's going to need therapy to learn to eat comfortably, and maybe to learn to speak again."

Abby handed the tooth to Ducky, who looked it over, "Yes, it does look like a fit. Jethro was missing an upper canine."

"She can't talk?" Gibbs asked worriedly

"Not right now she can't. Her throat is all swollen and stitched up. She's on a respirator. The doctor figured it would be easier on her to sedate her and let the machines do the work for her, instead of putting a lot of stress on her. Its a miracle she's doing as well as she is. The bite missed her jugular by less than an inch," the nurse led them down the hall, "I hope they put that damn dog down."

"Already done." Tony told her happily, not caring how cold that sounded

"Tony!" McGee scolded, gesturing to a moping Abby, "That damn dog was her pet." as they walked, the tight pink scrubs repeatedly lodged themselves between his buttocks, and rode up with each step, revealing more midriff, "Damn it! How do people wear these things?"

"Don't worry McPoodle, they're very becoming." Tony took some footage with his phone of McGee picking at his backside, "Hey Abbs!" he showed her McGee's thirty seconds of fame, "Whaddaya think? New desktop wallpaper? Screensaver?" he offered

He finally got a smile out of her, "Wow...that's um, very nice McGee." the top of his "mom" tattoo was visible just above the low riding pants on his butt cheek, "It makes your butt look good!"

McGee examined his backside, "You think?"

Gibbs slapped both Tony and McGee on the head, and Abby on her rear, "You three done? We're in a hospital, remember that!"

Ducky chuckled, "Tony I think you should save that if I were you. I think Ziva could probably use some cheering up once she comes to!"

The nurse knocked on the door. When she heard no answer, she let them in, "Keep it short, and try to stay quiet. There are lots of patients trying to rest."

They all nodded, McGee and Abby zipped each other's lips. "Quiet as church mice, we promise!" Abby swore

"Alright," she nodded, "If you need anything, call." she left the group alone with their unconscious friend

Abby wandered over first, in a state of shock over what she saw. Her little pup did all of this? They couldn't see any of Ziva's throat, it was all wrapped in soft white bandages. It was probably a good thing they couldn't see the damage that lay underneath. Her wrist too was wrapped, very loosely at her side. "Oh, my God!" she instinctively ran to Ziva's side, ready to give her a hug

Gibbs placed a hand on her shoulder, "No hugs today, Abby."

"Okay." she sat down, trying to resist the impulse, "Can I hug you?"

"Do you ever need to ask?" he could barely finish the sentence before she enveloped him in her arms. "'Border-lined behavior' my ass." he chuckled, rocking her gently

Ducky looked over at the monitors, "Under the circumstances, she's doing quite well. The transfusions and fluids are probably helping with that." he checked the blood bag, draining into her arm, "I don't suppose any of you are type A negative?"

Abby bolted up excitedly, "Oh, me!" she raised her hand

"Well then, why don't you come with me, and we'll see if you can help our poor dear girl, shall we?" he knelt down and kissed Ziva's cheek, "We will be back shortly, dear. Don't go too far!" he joked

Abby cheerily locked arms with Ducky, "Come on, Ducky! Let's go before they let the cookies go stale."

McGee shook his head, "I don't know where she gets the energy."

"Probably the twenty CaffPows coursing through her system," Tony suggested, taking a seat beside Ziva's bed, "Think they'll let her give blood? Its probably half syrup!"

Gibbs laughed a bit, though it was forced, "Yeah, probably." he picked up Ziva's good hand, "Hey there. How ya doing?" he didn't expect an answer, but it just felt natural to talk to her

"I think she's waking up," McGee looked over at her monitors, both concerned and excited

"How can you make any sense out of that, McNerd? Its waves and beeps!" Tony was looking at the same thing as McGee, but the monitors told him nothing

"Her heart beat is getting faster, and her blood pressure's higher," he explained, ignoring Tony's comment, "I think that means she's waking up, but I'm not sure."

"This coming from the guy who read binary?" Tony leaned over Ziva, licking her cheek. She turned her head away from him, her brow furrowing in frustration, "Yeah, she's up."

Gibbs took a tissue and wiped her cheek, "Hey, Ziva. You okay? DiNozzo? Is she not miserable enough for you?" Gibbs smacked him, "What the hell was that for?"

"Paybacks are a bitch." he said simply.

Ziva glared at him, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She reached up with her good hand, tugging at the tubes, "No, you need to leave those in. At least for now." Gibbs told her, pushing her hand away

Reluctantly she lowered her hand. She looked around, grateful to see that she wasn't alone. McGee leaned over her, "Good to see you're up. Want me to go and get the doctor? Are you in any pain?" he felt a bit stupid for asking; she couldn't answer him, "Sorry. I'll go get someone."

Tony smiled at her, "Sorry about the rude awakening. I couldn't resist. Well, I could have, but didn't want to." he noticed a faint smile on her lips, "Hey, you want to see something funny?" she gave him a look, not sure if she wanted to know. That grin on his face rarely meant anything good. He turned down the lights so she could see a bit better, and showed her the footage. She tried to tell herself that this was cruel, unprofessional, and crass, but it was just too funny. She grinned, but not nearly as wide as Tony, "McPinkie's got a wedgie."

She looked at him and Gibbs with confusion, "A wedgie is when your underwear gets stuck in your butt crack." Gibbs clarified. She nodded in understanding, but the slightest movement made her tender neck ache. "You okay?" he asked, her misery not going unnoticed

McGee bolted into the room, a doctor in tow, "Are you feeling alright Miss David?" he asked kindly, "You shouldn't be awake just yet!" he took a look at her monitors, noticing her fast heartbeat, "Are you in any pain?"

She nodded, desperation clearly reflected in her eyes. A vial was quickly emptied into her IV, and within seconds she was unconscious again. Tony gently patted her cheek, "You asleep?" she lay motionless on the bed, a glazed look in her eyes, "Okay, that was quick. Is that normal?"

Her doctor nodded, "Morphine usually puts patients pretty out of it in less than a minute. Hopefully that will keep her subdued until she goes into surgery." he unwrapped her wrist, carefully cleaning the multiple puncture wounds, "Her vitals look great, so we can get her into the OR soon."

Gibbs cringed, seeing the mangled mess that was her wrist. Between that and her throat, it was no wonder she was on morphine. "When's she scheduled to go in?"

"At four." he told them, checking his watch, "Its only two thirty though...I think we'll move it up; she's doing well, and I don't want to wait any longer than we have to. Animal bites almost always get infected. She's on antibiotics, but we need to get this fixed up. Angela?" he called into the hallway

The nurse who'd escorted the group down to the room poked her head in, "Yeah?"

"Go see if we can get the OR prepped."