This chapter is based on a true story. Names have been changed to protect the innocent and non readers that were present at the time of the event. The role of gibby101 in this story is being portrayed by Kate Gibbs. Tony DiNozzo is filling in for the author's uncle/godfather, Becky Taylor will be in the role of the author's cousin (older by nine months), and Abby Scuito will be playing the role of the author's little sister (two years younger.)
The moral of the following story is this: ALWAYS think before you leap. You just may end up in the emergency room a good 45 minutes away from home while you're still half in your bathing suit and freezing your behind off in the aforementioned air conditioned ER. And still waiting for that promised ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery…four months after your dad promised to take you.
OR: If you're trying to impress college boys, leave the tankini (no matter how cute it is and how it hides that slightly embarrassing 'food baby' you've developed by not joining a sports team that year) at home girls and break out the bikini, no matter if the it's mismatched because you lost the bottoms the summer before when you went tubing with your other uncle and lost the bottoms when you rolled of the tube AND your favorite shorts too.
I'm posting this because I thought you could enjoy my idiocy for a while. I'm never going to live this down with my family, so I thought I'd share it with the internet. It's too bad I never got pictures of the bruise on my ankle…I almost made someone cry when they saw it for the first time.
I own nothing. Just the crutches from the ER in North Conway, NH, some notoriety at the rope swing, and some nice scars on my shins. I refer to it as "The Great Rope Swing Adventure". My parents call it "The Time Our Eldest Daughter Nearly Gave Her Godfather a Heart Attack and Drove Him to Drink All Night Long." Everybody thought I had broken my shins and maybe torn something in my knee… Lots of blood and swelling though. No broken bones, Thank GOD!
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
Eighteen year old Kate Gibbs and her best friend Becky Taylor lay side by side on the back of the rented Four Winns Funship on Lake Ossipee in New Hampshire. Becky's family had discovered a little jewel of a campground on the main lake through their new neighbors, and had rented a park model in July. Becky had called Kate, Kate pleaded with her parents, and the next thing the Gibbs family knew, they were renting a park model at the end of August, a week and a half before Kate would leave home and start her freshman year at Salem State College in Salem, Mass.
Tony, Callen, and Abby had been roped into the vacation as well, and Jenny was not taking 'No' for an answer from the three adults that she saw as pseudo children. Abby was stretched out at the bow of the boat, and Tony and Callen were fighting over radio stations on the satellite radio.
"Hey, Tony." Becky said as she rolled over in the late afternoon sun. It was nearing four, and Jenny had given orders for the boatload to be back at their campsite at four forty five exactly.
"What's up, Becky?" Tony asked the redhead as he defeated Callen in a rock paper scissors match to pick the radio station.
"Can we go to the rope swing?" Becky asked hopefully.
"Where is it?" Tony asked as he selected a station that the teenagers and Abby would both like.
"Back at the other end of the lake, by the sand bar and the gas station with the silver roof." Becky said. "We kayaked down the Bear Camp River when we were here in July, and the rope swing was so fun."
"Please, Tony?" Kate chimed in as she rolled onto her stomach and lifted her pink sunglasses so the two men in the boat could see her baby blue puppy dog eyes.
"Please?" The girls chorused together. "Pretty, please?"
"Fine." Tony said as he caved. "But only for a little while, Jenny wants us back at quarter of five to eat."
"Yay!" The girls squealed and jumped into the warm lake water before climbing back up the ladder.
"Why did you do that?" Callen asked. "You're just going to the other end of the lake."
The boat was currently anchored in an area of the lake commonly referred to as Long Sands by everyone around the lake. The stretch of 400 acres was state owned and protected land that everyone loved to swim at. Dead smack in the middle of the beach from one end of the reserve to the other was a large pine tree where a sign informed visitors about the new state enforced rules were and why there was a snow fence on the beach in August.
"Um, cuz I'm hot and the water's cold." Kate said as she climbed into the boat and pulled her life jacket on.
Callen rolled his eyes and went to the bow to wake up Abby. The Goth had fallen asleep underneath of a thick towel to protect her skin, but she had left her head exposed to get some sunlight. "Abby…"Callen whispered and shook her shoulder. Abby's had shot out from underneath the towel and connected with Callen's torso with strength that wouldn't have bothered him back in April. But now, four months after being shot multiple times by an unmarked paneled van, Callen still wasn't in tip top condition. "Oomph." Callen said as the wind was knocked out of him.
"CALLEN!" Abby squealed once she realized what she had done. "I'm sooooo sorry. I didn't know it was you! I thought Tony was being a jerk, and are you okay because I didn't mean it, and now I'm going…" Callen cut Abby off by placing a hand over her mouth.
"I'll be okay Abby. I just need a second to catch my breath." Callen replied as he sank down on the other bench in the bow.
"Tony," Abby said as she whirled around to face the boat driver. "Will you pull up the anchor so Callen doesn't over exhort himself?"
"Sure, Abby." The Italian American said. "Kate, take the wheel. When I tell you to push that lever there down, push it down."
Kate rolled her eyes as she took the wheel. "Tony, I know how to drive a boat. Remember how my Dad's the guy building a boat in the basement?"
Tony sighed and unhooked the knot and pulled the anchor up. Without a command from Tony, Kate did everything she needed to do, and was setting the speed boat in the direction of the Bear Camp River.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
When the boat arrived at the rope swing up the river, Abby had shed her black and pink life jacket, Becky was dangling her feet off of the bow of the boat, Kate was driving, Tony was sulking in the back and Callen sat in the copilot's seat holding on to the handle for dear life. Kate had driven like Gibbs in a high speed chase and Callen hadn't been expecting that. Everybody else, however, had driven with Kate before and had known what to expect.
Kate pulled the boat into a little cove across the river from the rope swing, and Tony put the anchor on the river bank. Kate and Becky dove off of the boat and into the river.
Kate's head popped up and she let out a shriek. "BECKY!"
"What?" Becky asked as she resurfaced.
"You didn't tell me the water was freezing!" Kate cried as she swam as fast as she could for the ladder that was on the river embankment. The ladder was made out of worn drift wood and nails. It was held in place by the tree roots that protruded from the large trees that lined the river. Kate climbed up onto the bank and waited behind a couple of muscular guys she had seen at the gas station earlier that day. "Hey." Kate said when the guy in front of her had turned around and smiled at her.
"Hey yourself." He replied. "Where are you from?"
"DC." Kate said. "What about you?"
The brunette boy smiled. "Burlington, Mass. I could have sworn I knew you from somewhere."
"It's okay." Kate said as she pushed her hair out of her face. "I'm Kate."
The boy smiled. "Danny."
"The evil redhead that's floating in the water flirting is my friend Becky." Kate said. "She just moved to Woburn, that's next to Burlington, right?"
"Yeah," Danny said as they moved up in line.
Kate felt the mud squish in between her toes and she sighed. She loved the outdoors, and this rope swing was in the middle of nowhere, and she watched as another boy that was with Danny climbed the smaller tree in the back. The rope was held by a smaller rope with a loop. At the top of the tree, Danny's friend sat down and tugged the smaller rope up. Once the rope was up to the point he could slide the swinging rope out of the loop he stood up and grabbed the rope at a higher point than the people going from a lower platform would grab it. Danny's friend, Tim, kicked off and flew over Kate's head, let go of the rope, and did a summersault in mid air before landing in the river with a mighty splash.
"Way to go Tim!" A couple of adults from a pontoon boat near Tony, Callen, and Abby cheered. "That was one more turn than last week!" One woman called out.
"Thanks!" Tim said as he treaded water to get out of the way.
Kate and Becky spent a half hour going off of the first platform from the oak tree that was closest to the river, occasionally climbing to the third rung from the platform. Tony and Abby had swum over for a few swings and were waiting on the boat.
"Becky, Kate!" Callen called. "We need to head back to the camp now!"
Kate and Becky groaned. "I'll go first." Becky said as she scampered up the tree to a platform that went straight down into the river. There was no rope access where Becky was and she jumped off of it and screamed "CANNON BALL!" before she hit the water. Becky's head popped up a few seconds later and she was laughing. "That was AMAZING!" she yelled back to Kate as she swam out of the way.
Kate laughed and eyed the tree Danny's friend Tim had swung out of earlier. She grabbed the rope as Tim handed it to her and slid the big knot into the sloop and climbed up the tree. When Kate reached the platform she felt the adrenaline pumping through her system. She was at the top of a tree and couldn't breathe, let alone stand up. Kate took a deep breath, adjusted her tankini top and gripped the rope in a death grip.
"Oh my God!" Kate opened her eyes to see Abby was freaking out in the boat across the river. "Tony! Make her get down from there. She's going to kill herself."
Tony looked up from the book he was reading; it was McGee's current manuscript for the next book in the LJ Tibbs series. Tony saw that Kate was sitting on the back platform griping the rope until her knuckles were white and she had her eyes closed. "Katie!" Tony yelled. "Get your but out of that tree now! Let go of that rope and climb down out of the tree."
"I'm going to do this!" Kate yelled back to Tony. "I'm facing my bête noir!"
"Damn." Tony muttered as he slammed the book down. "Don't be an idiot!" He yelled back. "I know just as well as you do what happens when…" Tony trailed off as Kate pushed herself out of the tree and Abby let out a blood curdling shriek as Kate's knees connected with the river bank and she was dragged into the water.
Kate hung onto the rope for a moment dazed before she let it go and slid into the water. She was floating and conscious.
"Are you okay?" Callen called from the boat. He would have gone in after her, but his doctor had told him to stay out of lakes, rivers, and the ocean until he gave Callen the all clear; something Callen was wishing had already had happened as he gauged his baby sister's reaction to the accident.
"I think so." Kate called back in a shaky voice. Suddenly her legs felt like they were being torn apart and she felt the tears of pain leaving her eyes. "No, I'm not!" Kate called as the pain increased. "HELP!"
Becky swam back to her best friend and scooped her up bridal style. Danny jumped in and helped Becky support Kate as Tony dove into the river to carry Kate back. Someone on the pontoon boat started the engine and the boat gunned across the river to the group surrounding the injured girl.
Tony put Kate on the bow of the boat as a cocker spaniel of some sort came to the bow to investigate what the hubbub was about. Sensing the upset girl the dog licked her face and Kate giggled through her tears. "You're a beauty." Kate said to the dog as she scratched its head and the dog's tail thumped against the floor contentedly as someone put a shopping bag full of ice on Kate's shins. Kate finally took a look at the damage.
Her legs from the knees down were swollen and bloody, with deep diagonal lacerations across them and across the tops of her feet. Kate whimpered as her legs were jarred when the pontoon boat pulled up alongside the swim platform of the rented speedboat and Callen scooped up the whimpering teenager. He placed her on the back bench and Abby was quick to hand the girl her life jacket and wrapped her legs in a towel so they would be immobilized.
"That was incredibly stupid!" Abby shrieked at Kate as Becky climbed into the boat and silently grabbed her own life jacket as Tony started the boat and Callen pulled in the anchor. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"I don't know." Kate sobbed. "My legs hurt so much, Abby! I want my Daddy."
"Oh, Kate." Abby said as her angry demeanor crumbled. "Don't cry! I'm not really mad at you; I'm just surprised that you thought you needed to sink to that kind of shallow low to impress a guy!"
"How did you know I was showing off?" Kate asked through her tears as Abby stroked her hair.
"Because, Silly," Abby said affectionately. "You'd never try to conquer your fear of heights like that on your own."
Kate just started to cry harder. "I screwed up Abby; Daddy's going to kill me."
"No he's not." Callen said as Tony brought the boat out to the main lake and floored it to the campground across the lake. "He's going to whisk you and your mom to the ER, worry about you for a few hours. Guilt trips you and tells you that you're beautiful and that if you have to do something stupid to impress a guy then he's not worth it."
"How do you know that?" Kate asked and winced as they hit a big wave.
"Sorry, Kate." Tony yelled over the wind as he heard the whimper.
"Because," Callen yelled. "It's what I'd do if I was Gibbs."
Kate nodded. "You guys think an awful lot alike."
"To the point it's scary." Abby finished for Kate as she cradled the younger woman's head in her lap.
Becky silently sat in the front and grabbed the docking lines as Tony slowed down and approached the mooring field where they were keeping their rented boat. She threw the rope around a dock post and ran down the length of the dock screaming, "MR. GIBBS! MR. GIBBS! KATE'S HURT! KATE'S REALLY HURT!"
The couple whose site was at the top of the hill overlooking the dock came out to see what the commotion was about.
"What's going on?" The man asked as he watched Tony lift Kate up and Callen secured the boat with Abby trailing behind nervously.
"I think she broke her legs at the rope swing!" Becky said. "I need to go find her dad."
The man nodded. "Bring her over here! I'm an EMT!"He called to Tony. The NCIS agent nodded and carried Kate up the steps to the man's site.
"Thanks," Tony said as he laid Kate on top of the picnic table. The man sent his wife into their trailer and she emerged with an EMT bag overflowing with medical supplies.
"Casey, can you get more ice?" The EMT asked his wife.
"How much do you need, Rob?" Casey asked her husband from the screen porch.
"Two Ziploc bags; one for each leg." Rob replied as he used some gauze squares to clean the blood up from Kate's legs.
Kate was clinging to Tony's hand and was crying for her Daddy.
Becky came sprinting back down the road from their rental with Jethro trailing behind her.
"Daddy!" Kate sobbed when he took her hand from Tony's. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking and I…I…"
"Did something stupid." Jethro finished for her and kissed her forehead. "You're going to be okay, Princess. I promise."
Kate sniffled. "How bad to my legs look Mr.…"
"Call me, Robbie." Rob said. "Everybody does. I don't think you broke them, but you might want to head up to North Conway to be sure. I'll go print out some directions to the hospital for you, and you can take her up there for x-rays."
"Thank you, Robbie." Jethro said as he looked at Kate. "Tony, do you think you and Callen can get her back to our place so she can change before we leave?"
"We'll give it a shot, Dad." Callen replied as he looked at Tony. "You're carrying her, DiNozzo."
"Why me?" Tony asked as he scooped up Kate bridal style yet again. "You need to lay off the late night snack runs, Squirt."
Kate giggled and snuggled her head against Tony as she tried to stop crying.
"Which one of us got shot five times in the chest in May and almost died?" Callen asked Tony as they disappeared down the road toward the grouping of rental park model units with Abby trailing behind them.
"Thank you, again." Jethro said as Rob handed the former Marine the ice bags. "I'm Jethro Gibbs, we came up here from Washington to relax, and I think this vacation has been hectic enough for my wife and me."
"How many kids do you and your wife have?" Rob asked as they waited for the printer to kick in. Rob and his wife had laptops, a Nintendo Wii for when their daughters, Kristen and Jen were up, a printer, and a 19 inch TV that doubled as a computer monitor. They were in the White Mountains, but had all the modern comforts of home.
"Two." Jethro said. "Kate's the oldest, she's eighteen and starting college in a week and half, injuries permitting, and Jay-Jay's four and a half going on twenty. He's a huge ball of energy."
Rob laughed. "Who were the other three characters with you?"
"My slightly adopted son, Callen was the one who didn't pick Kate up, Tony's a friend from work, and Abby kind of adopted us as a group." Jethro explained. "We're a family, but we're not all related."
Rob nodded. "Not everyone has the luxury of coming from a large family."
"How many siblings did you have?" Jethro asked as he looked at a picture on the apartment sized fridge on the deck. It was a picture of a tent, with six adults, two women, and four men, including a younger looking Rob squeezed into the two man tent with huge grins on their faces. The girls were on top of the boys and looked like they were digging their elbows into their brothers' backs.
"Six." Rob said. "I'm the oldest, and my brother Jim died ten years ago in May."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Jethro said as he tried to change the subject. "Is North Conway the closest hospital to here?"
"Yes and no." Rob replied as the directions printed out. "There's one in Wolfborrow, but the one in North Conway specializes in bone fractures because the town is surrounded by ski resorts."
"So take the girl with possibly fractured tibias to the bone people."Jethro said. "Good idea."
"My brothers tell me I'm the brains of the family." Rob said cheerfully as he handed Jethro his directions.
"Thank you again." Jethro said.
"Don't worry about it." Rob said. "I'd do the same thing for anyone."
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
Forty five minutes, one slightly awkward bathroom break involving parts of a cooler, piles of paperwork and the beginnings of a Red Sox game later the Gibbs family sat in the waiting room of the hospital in North Conway. Kate was in a wheelchair reading The Book Thief with her legs stretched out on a chair in front of her. Abby and Jay-Jay were in a corner playing quietly. Well, Jay-Jay thought he was playing, Abby was teaching the four year old sign language so they could communicate without speaking in the future. Jenny and Jethro were on either side of Kate. Jethro would occasionally rub Kate's back assuring her that neither one of her parents were angry, they were just concerned. Tony, Becky, and Callen had left the hospital to get food for everyone, and had mentioned getting Car Side to Go from the Applebee's back in town.
"Kate Gibbs." A nurse read from a clipboard and Jenny and Jethro shot up like rockets. Kate winced as she eased her legs back down and Jethro grabbed the handles to the wheelchair to push her to her examination room. "Follow me please." The pediatric nurse said as she led them through the ER bay to a room with two beds in it. "Your hospital gown is on the bed, we need you to take your shirt and shorts off."
Kate nodded and Jethro took his hint to wait at the reception desk as Jenny drew the curtain closed to help Kate change. Jethro sighed as he waited trying to think what his daughter had been thinking when she had decided to jump out of a tree on a rope into a chest deep river. According to Tony, Callen, Becky and Abby Kate had been trying to impress a guy from the town next to Becky's new home. Gibbs wasn't impressed. No guy was worth more than his baby girl's safety. He just hoped she realized that.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
Kate sighed as the doctor came back with her x-rays and said that she hadn't broken any bones. Kate had badly bruised her legs and muscles, and was very lucky she hadn't snapped her neck with the way she hit the river bank. Kate had said a silent prayer to her Mommy and to Kelly for watching out for her even in her stupidity. But, what good were Guardian Angels if you didn't give them a surprise every once in a while? Kate would be on crutches for a few days with some nasty bruising around her ankles and was given a prescription for ibuprofen, some crutches and sent home.
"Daddy." Kate said meekly as he picked up her book from the bed.
"Yes, Princess?" Jethro asked as he watched his daughter try to get her balance on the crutches.
"I'm sorry I did that. I promise I'll try to never consciously do something that stupid and dangerous again." Kate said determinedly. "I mean it."
"You don't have to say that." Jenny told Kate as she hobbled out of the ER and back to her family in the waiting room. "We know you were just trying to impress a guy."
"Remember this one thing if you never remember anything else I've told you." Jethro told his daughter. "Rule Number 57, Your health is not worth impressing a possible significant other. If it seems like a bad idea, don't do it."
Kate nodded. "I think I can follow Rule 57 for the rest of my life."
"Good." Jethro said as he kissed the side of her head as a sleepy Jay-Jay wandered over to his mother and Jenny scooped him up.
"What's Rule 57 Boss?" Tony asked as he threw out the take out carton he had been eating from as he watched the Sox game.
"My newest one, DiNozzo." Jethro replied.
"I finally did something that was rule making worthy." Kate said.
"Look before you leap?" Becky asked her best friend.
Kate shook her head 'no'.
"Don't jump out of trees to impress college boys." Callen suggested.
"Close." Kate said as they walked and hobbled to the door.
"Your health is more important than what some boy you just met thinks about you." Abby guessed as Jethro unlocked their Suburban.
"You got it, Abbs." Jenny said as she climbed into the back to buckle Jay-Jay into his booster seat. Abby, Tony, Becky, and Callen climbed into the back with them, and Kate hopped into the passenger's seat and they sped off back to Lake Ossipee.
"So, Dad," Kate said as they were stopped by a red light in front of the Conway Scenic Railroad. "Can we go to Cold Stone? There's one by Applebee's and I bet it's still open."
"Sure." Jethro said. "You probably need something to eat anyways."
"So we're going to Cold Stone?" Tony asked excitedly.
"No, DiNozzo." Jethro said as they drove back into the shopping Mecca for the residents of the White Mountain area. "Kate and Becky are going to Cold Stone. The rest of us have already eaten."
Kate and Becky had a laugh at Tony's expense when his hopeful face fell, and he actually pouted.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
And in the end Kate actually gets her ice cream. I still haven't. I got a large vanilla milkshake from McDonald's and two hamburgers in my HappyMeal. And Cold Stone was open! There's one down the street from my house and my dad still hasn't gotten me the ice cream I was promised four months ago! Lol. I really don't care anymore but it'd be nice if he was just like "Hey I owe you a trip to Cold Stone, let's go," one day when he came home from work, but whatever.
Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I'm fine. I was on crutches for like half a week before I could put weight on my legs, and then walked with a limp for a while and freaked out half of my schools band when they saw the bruises and scabs during summer rehearsals. It was funny because one girl owns a house at the Indian Mound Golf Course and was telling our friend the drum major about this girl who fell out of the rope swing and I was all, "Hey that's me!" and she went "No way… Why the hell would you do something THAT STUPID for some butt head?"
My large family (Rob is based off of my uncle who's a fireman) still makes fun of me for the rope swing and losing my bathing suit bottoms. The bottoms thing was so Uncle 'Rob's' fault though, he whipped me on the tube and I went flying!
So REVIEWS would be welcomed just as much as some giant M&M cookies from the bakery I work at would be…. Now I want a giant M&M cookie… *sigh*…