"Abby?" Tim called through the house as soon as he made it through the front door.
Caitlin and Anastasia were sitting in the living room quietly. "Where's mom?" Tim asked both of them who simply pointed to the stairs. "Are you two alright?"
They both nodded before Tim ran up the stairs. "Abby?" Tim asked as he pushed open their bedroom door. He winced when he saw his wife curled in the middle of their bed clutching her abdomen. "Abby I need to take you to the hospital." Tim said softly as he sat next to her on their bed.
Abby shook her head. "No Tim… I don't need to go…"
"Abby." Tim protested.
"Tim." Abby shot back before breaking down again. "I'm so sorry Tim."
Tim looked at his wife sympathetically, reading the pain in her eyes. He gently took her hand and looked her in the eyes. "What's wrong Abs?"
Abby curled up and pressed her hands against her abdomen trying to ease the pain. "I didn't mean to…" She tried to apologize through her tears.
"Abby its okay." Tim said softly. "I'm going to go downstairs and get some ice for you Abs." He said before quickly running down the stairs into the kitchen.
He was running into the kitchen when he almost ran into Ziva. "Zi!" He exclaimed as he tried to keep his balance as he abruptly stopped.
"Caitlin said something was wrong…I came over to see Abby." Ziva explained.
Tim shook his head. "Something's wrong with Abby… but she's not telling me what's wrong. If you could keep an eye on Katie and Stace for me that would be great." Tim said as he grabbed an ice pack from their freezer.
Ziva nodded vigorously. "Let me know if there's anything I can do…" She said sympathetically as Tim ran back up the stairs.
"Here Abs." He said gently as he placed the ice pack on her abdomen. "I need you to tell me why you're in so much pain…" Tim told her softly, thinking he already knew. Abby shook her head in protest. "Abby sweetheart if you're miscarrying we need to take you do the hospital."
"I already went!" Abby yelled back suddenly, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks.
"Did they give you any pain medication like last time?" Tim asked swiftly. "You don't deserve to feel the pain… you should take the medicine…"
Abby shook her head. "Timmy." She choked.
"Abby I'm telling you this isn't your fault." Tim said as he tried to pull her into his arms.
Abby pulled away. "Twins… I'm carrying twins." Abby said softly.
"Oh Abby that's great." Tim said immediately before realizing that she wouldn't be in pain just because she was carrying twins.
"I lost one Timmy." Abby admitted softly.
Tim's breath hitched. "So…"
"I'm carrying one living and one dead baby. If that clears everything up for you." Abby said harshly before burying her face into her pillow.
Tim reached over to rub her back. "I'm so sorry Abby." Tim tried to comfort her but she flinched away from his touch. After several moments of silence Tim stood up, "Ziva's downstairs…I'm going to go ask her to take Caitlin and Anastasia to her apartment tonight. Try to get some rest." He said as he gently closed the bedroom door and made his way into his office, closing that solid oak door as well before pulling out his cell phone.
"Gibbs." Gibbs' voice sounded back at him.
"Why on earth would you think it was a good idea to not tell me this?" Tim shouted. "You can't even begin to imagine how much pain she went through the first time! Emotionally I don't think she can handle this another time!"
"Tim…" Gibbs tried to interject.
"No Gibbs… Do you want to know why this isn't okay? Do you want to know why Abby's never going to be the same?"
"Tim…" Gibbs tried again.
"I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!" Tim screamed into the phone.
"Mcgee!" Gibbs snapped.
"What?" He asked angrily.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you the moment we left from my basement. You're right. It wasn't the right choice to take her without you knowing about it." Gibbs said softly.
"I won't be in tomorrow." Tim said awkwardly.
"Both of you… take all the time you need." Gibbs replied guiltily before Tim hung up his phone and set it down on his desk.
He sighed as he sat down in his desk chair and put his head on his desk hoping to clear his mind. He was surprised when what seemed like a second later a knock on the door woke up up. "Come in." He called groggily.
Ziva opened the door and peered inside. "Are you okay?" She asked softly.
Tim shook his head. "It's going to be a long pregnancy." He said tiredly.
"I hate to bail on you… but Tony called and Sienna's refusing to drink from a bottle and she needs dinner. If you want I can take Caitlin and Stace with me…" She offered.
Tim nodded. "That would actually be great. Thank you so much."Tim said as he stood up.
"Is there anything either of us could do for you?" Ziva asked.
Tim shook his head. "We'll be fine. Thank you… for everything."
Ziva stepped forward, sensing her friend's pain and pulled him into a comforting hug. "You two are strong, everything will be fine." She promised him before heading back downstairs to get Caitlin and Anastasia.
Tim looked at the clock and saw that it was seven, three hours from the last time he'd seen a clock. He sighed before slowly making his way into their bedroom. He was surprised when he saw Abby staring straight up at the ceiling with a blank expression.
"Abby." Tim said softly as he gently lay down next to her. "How're you feeling?"
Abby closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Numb" She replied softly.
Tim smiled softly when she took his hand in hers and began to bend each of his fingers. "Is there anything I can get you?" Tim asked softly.
"A Caf-Pow with two shots of espresso?"Abby asked with a thin smile.
"Nice try." Tim said softly.
"I can't think with this caffeine withdrawal…" Abby replied obviously frustrated.
"Abby you've done this twice before…"
"Three times." Abby interjected. A lot of her recent thinking had been pointed to her last pregnancy, and her son she never met.
Tim smiled. "Abby… did they tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Abby asked as she rested her head on her husband's chest.
"If it was a boy or girl…" Tim clarified. Abby's breath hitched in response. "Abby forget it…" Tim quickly rectified. "Don't worry about it."
Abby sniffed. "I'm sorry… this shouldn't be so hard for me…" She said as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"Abby it's alright… it's okay to cry." Tim assured her quietly.
"It's not fair to the other baby." Abby said as she shook her head. "I should be happy I'm still having a baby…"
Tim sat quietly for a few moments. "It's our little miracle." He said with a small smile.
Abby nodded. "I just wish… this didn't hurt so much."
"Are you still cramping?" Tim asked quietly.
Abby shook her head. "No… I just feel sore… and tired."
"I told you to get some rest." Tim pointed out.
Abby looked up at him and sighed. "I don't want anyone else to know." She admitted quietly. "Not right now at least…"
"Abby it might help…" Tim began.
"I don't want to talk about it with everyone. I don't want everyone trying to protect me." Abby protested.
"Abby you're hurt." Tim pointed out. "Ignoring the pain isn't going to make it go away. Ignoring the baby isn't going to make it go away."
Abby sat up and replied with a quick punch to his gut. "Shut up." She said angrily before getting up wincing the whole time.
"Abby… I'm sorry I'm just…" Tim tried to explain.
"You're just an idiot." Abby finished for him. "I know. I'm going to Gibbs' don't follow me."
"Abby you're not doing that again." Tim protested as he grabbed her arm.
"LET GO!" She screamed at him as she pulled her arm away sharply.
Tim flinched away in shock and watched silently as she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
Moments later Tim found himself pounding on the bathroom door. "Abby!" He called for the tenth time. He once again was greeted by silence coming from the other side of the door.
Tim sighed and sat down with his back against the door. "I'm so sorry Abby." He whispered.
Abby was trying desperately not to moan. She felt sore, wanted to sleep, and had an overall feeling of exhaustion. She finally got up off the floor and started the shower. She stripped her clothes off before entering into the cold stream of water. She could hear Tim's protests through the door, but she wasn't processing them. The cold water helped her body join her mind in its numb state and she thought it was for the best.
"ABBY!" Tim was screaming through the door.
Abby barely was processing the sound of his voice as she scrubbed her delicate skin with the ice cold water. She ducked her hair under the shower and the sounding of Tim's pounding on the door completely disappeared. She almost choked from the sensation of the temperature on her face. Each drop caused a feeling of sharpness to run through her body. After several minutes Abby began to feel her knees shaking and she slid to sit in the base of the shower.
Tim was pacing the bedroom. If anything happened to Abby it would be on him… but she was also horribly furious with him. If she was just taking a shower to relax he'd be subjected to at least a week of sleeping on the couch. On the other hand if something was wrong and she got hurt he'd never be able to forgive himself. He quickly went back to the door. "Abby if you're okay say something!" He shouted through the door.
Abby feeling the cold set into her body began to look for an escape. The moment she heard his voice she used all the energy to call out, "Tim."
Tim sighed with relief when he heard his name. Taking it as an annoyed call rather than one for help he lay down on his bed, intending to get a bit of rest until Abby came out again and was ready to talk.
Abby could tell he wasn't coming, whether it was because he thought she was fine or he just couldn't hear her, her knees were shaking and the rest of her body was beginning to shiver. She could also tell time was passing. Enough time that anything could go wrong at this point.
She was beginning to think there was no point when she heard a faint buzzing just outside the shower door. Realizing her phone was in her discarded jean's pocket just outside the shower door she pressed her weight up against the door which swiftly flung open and she retrieved her still ringing phone.
"Abby how are you feeling?" Gibbs' voice came back through the phone at her.
"Gibbs." She said quietly.
"Abby are you alright?" Gibbs asked nervously. Abby could tell he was getting ready to come save her when she heard the clinking of his keys as he spoke.
"I'm too cold Gibbs… it's bad for the baby… I can't feel anything… It's freezing" Abby tried to explain.
She could hear Gibbs' car door slam shut through the phone. "Abby where are you?" He asked as he started the engine.
Abby was about to reply when he screen turned to black and her phone shut off.
"Abby?" Gibbs asked as he looked at his phone to see the call had ended. "No!" He exclaimed angrily before dialing in Tim's number.
"Boss?" Tim's groggy voice came through the phone.
"Where's Abby?" Gibbs asked immediately. It came out harsher than intended but he didn't care.
"I don't know I just woke up…" Tim replied still trying to remember what was going on.
"I just called and she said she was freezing."Gibbs said as he made a sharp left, his wheels screeching in protest.
Tim finally registered the running water coming from the bathroom. He immediately hung up the phone and ran to the bathroom door. He was jiggling the handle as hard as he could but nothing was working. "ABBY! TURN OFF THE WATER!" He yelled through the door as he aimlessly continued to shake the handle.
Minutes later the water was still running and he was staring at the door in shock. It wasn't until Gibbs busted through the door that he snapped back to reality.
"Where is she?" Gibbs asked out of breath.
Tim motioned to the door. "But it's locked."
"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?" Gibbs asked angrily. "You're a Federal Agent Mcgee! Knock that door down!"
Tim looked at him in surprise. "You want me to…"
"Kick it in…now." Gibbs demanded.
Tim looked at the door in silence one last time before lifting his foot from the ground, feeling like it was the weight of at least a hundred pounds. However, the collision between his foot and the door caused little to no damage. "I'm so sorry Abby…" Tim said softly.
Gibbs saw the pain in the young man's eyes. The same pain had been there when Michael Mauer got into his apartment when Abby was there, when Chip attacked her, when Ryan kidnapped her, and when she miscarried Oliver. He felt he had failed her, failed to protect her. Gibbs could feel his heart tear for his agent but knew that now wasn't the time or the place. He simply took in a deep breath. "I'm going to break down the door." He told Tim in a very matter of fact manner. "And then you're going to get her out."
Tim nodded as he tried to keep his composure.
"Alright Mcgee." Gibbs said feeling his heart breaking in half. Knowing his pain was nearly unbearable. "One… Two …THREE!"
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long! My spacebar is still very not working… So this is taking approximately seven times longer than it really should. I hope you guys are liking the story and thanks so much for the reviews! Keep it up!