AN: Sorry for the long wait, I kind of forgot about this one...I'm working on my "forgotten fics" right now.
"Gibbs, Gibbs!" Abby shook him awake, bouncing on her heels with excitement, "Gibbs, she's up, she's awake!"
Gibbs groaned, looking around a bit. He regretted having fallen asleep in one of those deep plastic chairs. His muscles ached as he sat upright. "Abbs, I get it." he glanced over at Ziva's still form, "No, she's not." he told Abby sadly, "Why don't you go home, get some rest yourself?"
"No, Gibbs!" Abby stood over Ziva, patting her cheek softly, "I saw her move, her hand twitched, and she looked at me!" she looked over at Gibbs pleadingly, trying to convince him that what she saw was real, "I'm not crazy, she was awake!"
Gibbs placed his hand on Abby's shoulder, "Well, maybe she was, but she's not now. The doc said it might be a while. Keep in mind she's drugged up pretty good." he was glad that she hadn't come around again, seeing as at least now she wasn't in pain.
"Wait, see?" Abby held up her hand, Ziva's laying in it loosely, "her fingertips moved! She grabbed my hand!" she grinned, gripping her friend tighter, "Come on, Ziva...you can do it!" she encouraged, crossing her fingers
"Hm?" Ziva's eyes opened, blinking slowly in the low light. "Abby?" her voice was hoarse and weak, strained from fatigue and pain
"No, you shouldn't talk," Abby admonished gently, sitting down on the bed beside her, "I'm not going to hug you, even though I really, really want to, because I really, really don't want to hurt you. And I probably would, even though I really, really didn't want to."
"Really?" Gibbs asked, grinning, "Abbs, go run and get her doctor, will ya?"
"On it!" she bolted up and down the hall, nearly colliding with an orderly on her way out, "Sorry!" she yelled behind her, still running at full speed down the hallucinating
Sighing and shaking his head, Gibbs picked up Ziva's good hand, "Okay, can you squeeze my hand?" he asked, helping her fingers curl around his hand. She managed to grasp his hand lightly, surprising herself with how much effort it took, "Good. Squeeze once for 'yes', twice for 'no'; you in any pain?"
She squeezed his hand lightly, with less force than before. "A little?" he asked, feeling her respond 'yes' again, "We'll get that taken care of, don't you worry." he rubbed his thumb in light circles on the back of her hand, "Abby's probably half-way to China by now, seeing if they have an instant cure for ya." he smiled, looking out the little window at Abby, half-dragging the doctor into the room, talking and walking at full speed
"Good morning, Ziva," the doctor smiled, checking her monitors, "You really shouldn't be awake yet, but from the looks of things, you'll be back asleep soon." he pressed a button on a machine near her IV stand, "if you get feeling sore at any time, just push that little button, okay? That'll give you something strong for the pain, probably more often than you'll really need it." he placed another button near her hand, "And if you need anything, that's the call button. Push that and someone will come to check up on you, alright?"
She nodded slowly, trying not to tear at her sore throat.
"Good. Now try to get some rest okay?" he pulled an extra blanket over her, covering her to the shoulders, "Your friends can stay a little longer, but only if they don't keep you awake."
Abby took a step back, appalled, "Would we really keep you up? Us? We're like, angels!"
"Right..." the doctor said sarcastically, "I'll be back to check on you in a half hour."
Gibbs rubbed his temple tiredly, offering his hand back to Ziva, "Feeling any better?"
'Yes'
"Good," he nodded, "Not that that would take much, but still."
Abby sat back down on the bed beside her, "I'm glad. You want some good news though?"
'Yes' Gibbs nodded, translating for her
"The doctor said that the damage to your throat wasn't as bad as they thought," she told Ziva excitedly, "I mean, its still kinda bad, and you're probably still going to be hurting for a while, but you'll be able to talk again!" she was now bouncing on the bed, Gibbs' hand on her shoulder to keep her steady
Ziva managed a weak smile. While the news was good, she was enjoying Abby's enthusiasm more. Abby was their resident optimist; always finding the light in the dark. It wasn't fair that awful things happened to good people, "Abby? I am sorry." she managed before hacking violently
Gibbs helped Ziva to sit up, rubbing a hand along her back, "What did we say about talking? That would be the main reason why." he pushed the call button, signaling for help
Abby couldn't resist any more. She threw her arms around her friend, squeezing her as tightly as she dared, "No, Ziva! You shouldn't feel bad about that!"
"Abby, no!" Gibbs peeled her off, scooping her up off the bed so that one of the nurses could access her patient
"Okay, Ziva...just breathe," the nurse soothed, fitting an oxygen mask over her face, "I know its hard, but just try to even things out, and relax..." she slipped a vial of some strange drug into Ziva's IV line, "This will help, alright? Just give it a sec here..."
Ziva nodded, feeling the burning in her throat subside. From over the nurse's shoulder, she could see Abby and Gibbs' concerned gazes glued on her still.
"That should do it," the nurse smiled, watching the monitors as her vitals stabilized, "Let me guess, you tried to talk?" she chuckled, seeing Ziva's baffled look, "I thought so; you're not the first stubborn patient I've dealt with. Its not uncommon for people to push themselves too hard and too fast after this sort of an injury. Trust me sweetheart, if you rest up now, you'll be feeling better a lot faster than if you push yourself. Do you want to be back on your feet in weeks or months?" she turned to Gibbs and Abby, watching with worry, "She probably just pulled at something wrong trying to talk. With the stitches and everything, she just agitated it. She'll be fine."
"Thank you!" Abby tackled the older woman, locking her in a vice-like grip
"Don't mention it, just let me breathe!" the nurse laughed, shoving Abby away gently
Once things had quieted down a bit, Abby put her arms around Ziva again, this time more gently. She could feel Ziva tense a bit at first, but she eventually relaxed into it, "Ziva, if anything, I should thank you. Jethro...he was my friend, you know? But he was sick..." she had tears streaming down her cheeks now, but she didn't seem to care, "Ducky said that if he hadn't died, he just would have gotten worse and worse...he didn't suffer."
"You did what you had to," Gibbs assured Ziva, trying to put her conscience at ease
"Ducky said you did him a favor," Abby sniffled, "There wasn't anything that anyone could have done for him. It wasn't really his time, but I'm kind of glad it was."
Ziva nodded, placing her good arm supportively around Abby, who was still clinging to her. Gibbs smiled, "Abbs, she really needs to rest. Plus, we've got plans, remember?"
Abby solemnly nodded, "I remember," off Ziva's puzzled look she added, "We're burying Jethro this afternoon. We found him a nice place to rest." she showed Ziva the picture of the grave site, "Pretty, huh?
Ziva smiled and nodded in agreement, returning the picture.
"We need to go if we're gonna make it," Gibbs pointed out, checking the clock, "Its already 1300. Abbs, say goodbye." he tousled Ziva's hair, "Be back to check up on you later. No more surprises, you hear me?"