A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating! I do usually try to get a chapter up every day but sometimes can't make it. Hope this chapter is worth the wait…more Gibbs/Tony father/son stuff. I'm on a roll with that lately. Hope other people like it as much as me!

In addition to not owning NCIS, I'm not a medical professional so I'm just doing the best I can with the technical stuff. By the way, I do plan to wrap up all of the case-related questions. Just not in this chapter. :) We're getting close to the end, though. Bear with me, and enjoy! -abby

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Gibbs soon discovered that he needed to maintain some sort of physical contact with Tony to keep the younger man calm - the ambulance driver had unfortunately slammed on the brakes at one point and Gibbs pulled his hand away to steady himself. The reaction from DiNozzo was immediate and disquieting as he tensed and began to moan softly, although the sound was muffled by the oxygen mask. The older man grabbed Tony's hand once again and as soon as he did, the senior field agent visibly relaxed. The female EMT looked concerned as she continued to closely monitor DiNozzo's vitals.

The ride to the hospital was mercifully quick. Once the ambulance pulled up to the ER DiNozzo was unloaded and wheeled down the hall into a trauma room. A flurry of emergency staff surrounded him at once and Gibbs found himself being led into the small treatment room next door.

"Sit down, please sir. You can see your agent from here, and we need to check you over," an elderly nurse said kindly.

Gibbs remained standing. "I'm fine," he said stubbornly. "I need to stay with him," the lead agent gestured at Tony urgently. Gibbs took a step toward the door and suddenly his painful right knee buckled. Before he even realized what was happening, the diminutive nurse had grabbed him by the elbow and somehow kept him from pitching forward onto the hard floor.

"Yes, you seem fine," the nurse said. A twinkle was evident in her hazel eyes as she helped the glowering agent sit on the edge of the bed. "Let's have a look, shall we?" She was clearly not asking, since she gently pushed Gibbs back and lifted his legs onto the sheets. The nurse grabbed a pair of scissors and without another word, sliced the agent's right pant leg from the hem to just above his knee.

Gibbs protested crossly. "It's an old injury, just flares up from time to time. It's nothing!" He strained to look around the nurse and watch what was going on with DiNozzo. Tony seemed to be deeply unconscious. Although he was still surrounded by medical personnel, there was no sense of urgency emanating from the trauma room. Tony was not agitated and for the moment things seemed under control, so the lead agent relaxed slightly into the pillow and grudgingly allowed the nurse to examine his knee.

The gray-haired nurse was gentle as she prodded Gibbs' knee, but he could not stifle a small hiss of pain as she hit a tender spot. "Hmm," she said as she finished her inspection and looked up at the lead agent. "My understanding is that you were held captive for quite a while. When is the last time you had anything to eat or drink?" She had noticed the dark sunken circles around Gibbs' ice blue eyes, and the sallow appearance to the agent's complexion.

"Been a while," he admitted gruffly. Not that he planned on taking the time for a meal until he knew what was going on with Tony.

The nurse was not surprised by the response. "Indeed," she replied, as she moved on to Gibbs' wrists. They had been rubbed raw by the tight zip-tie and the skin was broken in a few places. The lead agent sat quietly as the nurse cleaned and bandaged his wrists and wrapped his swollen knee. However, his patience waned quickly and as soon as she finished he demanded to see Tony.

The petite woman was not rattled by the angry tone. "I'm going to get you some water. You are on the verge of dehydration. If you promise to drink all of the water, I will check on your agent while you do. Deal?" She looked at Gibbs sternly, but her voice was not unkind.

Gibbs glared at her for a moment before agreeing. "Fine," he said curtly. The nurse disappeared for less than a minute before returning with a huge cup of ice water and a pitcher containing more. She handed them to the silver-haired man and true to her word immediately went next door to check on DiNozzo, correctly assuming that Gibbs would hold up his end of the bargain.

Gibbs had not realized exactly how thirsty he was. He quickly drained the cup without coming up for air and had just refilled it when chaos exploded in the trauma room. He could hear shouts and see the frenzied activity through the glass.

The lead agent got to his feet and hobbled to Tony's bedside as quickly as his knee would allow. DiNozzo was thrashing violently, and although his eyes were open he was definitely not aware of his surroundings. Confusion and fright were obvious in his glassy eyes, and Tony seemed to be searching desperately for something. Three nurses - including the one who had been with Gibbs - were struggling to subdue him as the attending doctor called for a sedative. A fourth nurse arrived with soft restraints, which she used to tie Tony to the gurney as he whimpered.

"What's going on?" Gibbs barked. Without waiting for an answer, Gibbs grabbed his agent's lax hand and squeezed. "Tony. Tony! It's Gibbs. Can you hear me?" DiNozzo didn't seem to be aware of his presence. Dammit, the lead agent thought, I knew I should never have left him alone. He tried once more. "Tony, listen to me. I'm not leaving you again. I'm sorry. I'm right here."

Just as a nurse was about to push a heavy dose of sedatives into DiNozzo's IV, the injured man finally seemed to hear the familiar voice and calmed instantly. Tony focused on Gibbs for a brief second before suddenly relaxing and closing his eyes again. The nurse froze and looked at the doctor, who gestured for her to hold off. "Who are you?" the physician demanded.

"His boss, his legal next of kin, and the closest thing he has to family. And I'm not leaving," Gibbs said with finality. Don't worry, Tony, I will not abandon you.

"Trust me, Doctor, it will really be best for your patient if Agent Gibbs is allowed to stay," a familiar Scottish brogue said firmly. Dr. Donald Mallard had entered the room during the commotion and he stepped up to the bedside.

Ducky noted the relieved look from Gibbs as he pulled the doctor aside. Gibbs didn't even bother to pay attention to their conversation, knowing that he would soon get a full report - in layman's terms - from the medical examiner. Instead, the lead agent focused on Tony, who was moaning and beginning to fight the straps that held him down.

"Hey!" Gibbs demanded. "He's hurting! Can't someone give him something for the pain? And take off these damn restraints!" A nurse standing nearby looked at the lead agent like a deer in the headlights, wide-eyed and terrified.

Much to the young woman's relief, Dr. Mallard intervened. "Now, Jethro, do calm down. Anthony has been given the highest dose of painkiller they can safely give a man with a head injury, and the straps are there to keep him from hurting himself further. They're about to take him down for a CAT scan and find out the extent of his injuries. We'll go along, okay?" Ducky placed his hand on Gibbs' arm. He knew how his old friend felt about DiNozzo, and how much losing Tony could cost all of them. Because if something happened to Tony, Gibbs would never be the same. The ME prayed that it wouldn't come to that.

As Tony was wheeled out of the ER and onto the elevator, Gibbs and Ducky stayed right beside him. When he noticed how heavily the lead agent was limping, Dr. Mallard surreptitiously supported the other man with a hand under the elbow but wisely made no comment.

Once the group arrived in the scanning room the procedure didn't take long, and the staff broke protocol to allow Gibbs to stay by his subordinate's side. Not that they had much of a choice. The lead agent never let go of Tony's hand, and continuously murmured quiet words of reassurance as the machine did its work.

DiNozzo was taken to a private room while the test results were processed. The nurses swiftly and efficiently moved around the senior field agent as they tended to his injuries. They replaced the oxygen mask with a nasal cannula, noting that Tony's breathing had improved since their rescue from the cold warehouse. His damaged wrists were cleaned and carefully re-bandaged. A young doctor came in to examine his head wound, and the nurses wrapped white gauze around Tony's head once the doctor finished suturing it closed. All of that, combined with the IV still dripping saline into his arm, and the still-unconscious agent looked to be in rather pitiful shape. At least they removed those restraints, Gibbs observed with a sigh of relief.

Throughout the process Gibbs never left the younger man's side, though he did drop gratefully into the chair a nurse provided. Ducky had stayed too, consulting with the doctors and hovering over the nurses. Once Tony was settled, however, Ducky left to check on the CAT scan results and collect Abby from the waiting room. He and Gibbs both knew that the Goth scientist had probably already worried herself into a frenzy. Ziva and McGee had yet to arrive from the crime scene, so after the nurses disappeared Gibbs was alone with his senior field agent once more.

Hell, DiNozzo, Gibbs thought wearily. He adjusted the chair so that he could extend his stiff and throbbing right knee, wincing at the pain the movement caused. How many times have we been in this very spot? You in the bed, while I sit here and wait for you to wake up? Or wait for the doctor to come back and tell me if you even will?

Gibbs sighed and allowed his eyes to drift closed. It did not take long for the lead agent to be consumed by his own exhaustion, and soon he was asleep. He was so tired, in fact, that he didn't even notice when a pair of nurses came in to check on their patient.

One of them gently placed a blanket over the older man while her companion took Tony's vitals. As they left, Gibbs awakened just enough to hear the whispered exchange.

"He's the father, I guess?"

The other nurse shrugged. "I assume so. Who else would be such a tyrant about being allowed to stay?"

Gibbs managed a faint smile as sleep claimed him once more.