AN : I actually did my homework on this one! Most of my medical knowledge comes from Scrubs and MASH, so pardon any inaccuracies!
Abby sat alone down in her lab, which was quiet for once. She was flipping through the pictures she had on her computer. Specifically the ones of her and Jethro. She fought back tears, remembering the happy times she'd had in the short time she had him. A soft knock in the doorway startled her a bit, "McGee? What are you doing here?" her voice was soft, and lacked its usual energy
He walked in, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." he noticed her pictures, something she only looked at when she was depressed, "Hey, he's in a better place." he assured her, "Probably chasing winged angel bunnies, attacking deceased mailmen...Kate's probably looking after him for you." he noticed her smile a bit at that notion .He noticed a photo of an open field on her desk, "Is this where you're gonna bury him?"
"Yeah," she sniffed, "Next to Toni..."
"What?" McGee took a closer look, noticing there was a gravemarker in the corner, "I'm sorry, Abbs. When did she die?" he'd grown to love the little mutt. Not only did she treat him with more respect than most humans, she also despised Toni
"A little while after Kate," she sighed, remembering all those she'd lost too early, "When Kate didn't come home, she quit eating and drinking. She'd stay up all night, waiting for her to come back. After a couple days, I took her to the vet, and they put an IV in her." tears were now streaming down her cheeks, "her heart gave out the next day."
McGee wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry her eyes dry. It wasn't fair; Abby'd lost so much the week that Kate had died. She lost her best friend, her pet, and then Ziva came along...it wasn't hard to see why Abby was so hostile to her at first, "I'm so sorry, Abby. I didn't know." he rubbed his hand along her back, "It'll be okay though. Jethro's probably watching over you right now." he didn't know if there really was a heaven or hell, but it seemed to give Abby hope
"Yeah, at times I miss that sweet little bitch," Tony sighed, standing in the doorway
Abby stood up, running up to Tony, "Aw, I thought you hated her!" she wrapped him in a tight hug, "You're sweet! I can't believe you even remember Toni!"
"I wasn't talking about the dog, Abbs," he had expected, and deserved the punch on the arm he received
"Tony! Don't you talk about Kate like that!" she scolded, "Don't you have any respect for the dead?"
Tony held up his hands defensively, "Easy, Abbs. I didn't mean anything by it. Kate and I used to joke around all the time. Why do you think she named her bitch 'Toni'?"
McGee nodded, "He's right. They were like oil and water... Actually, more like sodium and water." Abby snickered, but Tony didn't get it, "Here, Mister Phis Ed Major," he rummaged through Abby's supply of chemicals, and found a block of sodium, "Watch this."
He cut a small piece of the soft material, and dropped it in a beaker full of water. After a few seconds, it began to fizz and smoke. The water in the beaker began to boil, heralding the arrival of a huge explosion which shattered the beaker, spraying hot water all over the lab.
"McGee!" Abby yelled, "Look what you did to my lab! Clean it up!"
"Sorry, I didn't think a piece that small would cause that much fallout," he grabbed the broom from the supply closet and swept up the broken glass, "Speaking of fallout, how's Ziva?" he asked Tony
"Not too good," Tony informed them sadly, "She was in a lot of pain, so they sedated her. They tried morphine, but she was still sore, even with that." he looked over at Abby's pictures, "Nice place. We invited?"
"Of course!" Abby hugged him tightly again, choking the air out of him, "He's being buried today at four, will you come?"
"Yeah, wouldn't miss it."
Abby wandered down to Autopsy, a place she despised most of the time, but today she was on a mission. She had the necessary papers to have Jethro released to the pet cemetery. "Ducky?" she called, "Are you down here?"
She found him down there, as usual totally engrossed in the task at hand. She looked on in horror as she realized what he was doing, "Ducky! What are you doing to him?!" she ran over, pushing Ducky away from her dog, who's skull was open on the Autopsy table, "Oh, my God, Jethro!" she whimpered
"Abigail, this is precisely why I did not tell you about this!" Ducky sighed in exasperation, covering up the dog, "I knew you would be upset over this whole ordeal." he tried to lead her away from the table, but she dug in her heels defiantly
"What are you doing to him? Why wouldn't you tell me?" the hurt shone in her eyes, "Ducky, I can handle this, what I can't handle is being lied to!"
He wished he could rub his eyes tiredly, but thought against it, seeing as his hands were still gory, "Abby, why don't you sit down, and I'll explain." she shook her head, "Alright, I'll just explain then." he removed the sheet concealing her pet, "Ziva has not been vaccinated against rabies, as most people aren't. However rabies would explain Jethro's irrational behavior, aggression, and refusal to obey commands."
"So...you're looking at his brain?" she turned away, revolted
"Abby, its the best way to tell. They will vaccinate Ziva as a precaution. I spoke with her physician, and he has already given her the first vaccine as well as rabies immune globulin, as an ounce of prevention. But if left untreated, its often fatal in humans. And a slow painful way to die at that. If he has swelling, it is possibly caused by the virus." Ducky carefully examined the dog's brain, checking for abnormalities, "Oh, what have we here?"
"Ducky, please tell me he didn't have rabies!" Abby begged, "McGee kept saying that he got a taste of human blood from him, and just went out for more. That's not true, right? Jethro wasn't rabid!"
"Abigail, don't worry," he assured her, "One- Jethro did not appear to have had rabies, and two- he didn't suffer. To be honest, it was a wonder he had any perception at all. Look here," he showed Abby a small area on his brain, "Do you see that piece of dark tissue?"
"Yeah, its kinda grossing me out," she turned away to keep from throwing up
"That, dear. Is a tumor. Judging by the size and location, he would have had days, weeks left if he was lucky. Its a small mercy that Ziva ended his life so short. He probably would have quit eating and drinking, not been able to walk, and his body would have shut down all together."
"So, it wasn't his fault? He just...kinda went crazy?"
"So it would appear."
Gibbs sat in the corner, quietly watching while a nurse changed Ziva's bandages. He was grateful that she was sleeping, and not suffering through this. The wounds, tiny as they were, pierced deep into her flesh, and had wreaked quite a bit of havoc on her body. It was no wonder she was in so much pain.
The nurse glanced over at him, "Are you family?"
"Yep," he nodded, sipping at his coffee; his seventh cup of the night
"Father, I'm guessing?" she asked, finishing Ziva's bandages
"Yeah, something like that," he moved back over near her bed, keeping watch over her
"Well, she's all patched up now," the nurse smiled, "Her wounds look good, or as good as wounds can. She'll probably come around within the hour, so keep a close eye on her. The pump's giving her the max dose of morphine, as often as it can be given safely, so hopefully she won't be in any pain."
"Good," he gripped her hand gently, "She's had enough of that."
"Oh, the coroner called. He said the dog did not appear to have rabies, but just to be safe we'll vaccinate her."
"Haven't you already done that?" he'd already had to help the nurses hold her down long enough to receive the vaccines, one in her hand near the wound, the other in her upper arm
"Its a series of shots. Days 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28. So she gets some breaks in between," she turned down the lights, "Visiting hours are either over, or haven't started yet, depending on how you look at it. But as long as you keep it down, you can stay. Somehow, I don't think you're the type to cause too much trouble."
Gibbs simply smiled, watching the nurse leave. As soon as she shut the door, he called, "Abby, you can come in now!"
She stepped slowly into the room, "How'd you know I was there?" she asked, "Don't answer that! I want it to be a secret. Like when you're a kid, and you never really know how the guy at the fair always can guess your card, and you spend the rest of the summer trying to figure out how he did it?"
He smirked, half listening to her ranting, "Abby, you're babbling," Gibbs chuckled
"Sorry. Did you hear the news?" she asked timidly
"Kind of. I heard no rabies," he told her, "But I'm guessing there's more to it than that?" he always seemed to know these things. She had no idea how, other than the fact that he was Gibbs, but he always knew. Maybe it was the parent in him?
She lay her head down on his shoulder, "Jethro had cancer. Ducky found a tumor, like the size of a golf ball. He said it saw kind of a blessing that Ziva killed him. That way, he didn't spend his last days suffering."
He put an arm around her, "I'm sorry, Abbs. I know you loved that dog." he silently added, "even though I'm not entirely convinced it was a very safe pet."
"Yeah, McGee said Kate's probably taking care of him," she sniffled, "Why is it that everything I love dies?" she knew that he of all people would understand that feeling. The overwhelming sense of helplessness, grief, and remorse.
"I don't know," he told her honestly