Kay had managed to stifle her sobs by the time they reached the hospital. They parked near the ER entrance, then went inside to the information desk.
"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Agent Timothy McGee was brought in a little while ago." Tony told the lady behind the desk. She checked her computer.
"Agent McGee is in surgery right now. You can wait in the waiting room at the end of the hall." She pointed the way.
Tony thanked her and motioned for Ziva and Kay to follow him. As they reached the waiting room, they found Gibbs already there.
"What happened?" Gibbs asked.
Nobody spoke for a moment, then Tony and Ziva looked at Kay. She took a deep breath and began speaking.
"We were staking out Tomassen's apartment. He came out, holding something in the front pocket of his sweatshirt. He got to his car, but then I think he spotted Tony and Ziva. Tim and I couldn't reach them on the headsets. He pulled a gun, and Tim ran from the van toward him. Tomassen turned the gun on Tim an-and…" she couldn't continue. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. Tony took over the story from there.
"Tomassen fired at McGee. Ziva and I had already made it out of the car, but we weren't close enough to take a shot at him. Instead, Kay shot him three times." Tony thought for a moment. "He's dead." he said, almost as an afterthought. "I called an ambulance and local police while Ziva and Kay went to McGee. He'd been shot in the chest. Ambulance arrived and stabilized McGee, and local LEOs were there, so we left for the hospital."
Ziva spoke up, "Do you have any information on McGee's condition?"
"Only a little," Gibbs replied, "All I really know is that the bullet hit near his heart, and they're having to do emergency surgery on him now." He looked to the end of the hallway, where a man in a doctor's coat was holding a file and walking toward them. "That's the doc that first saw McGee."
The older man reached them. "Agent Gibbs?" Gibbs nodded. "I have an update for you on Agent McGee's condition, but I'm afraid it's not good. The bullet grazed his heart, tearing some of the muscle. The surgeons are with him now, trying to stop the bleeding and repair the muscle, but he's in critical condition and receiving a blood transfusion." He looked up from his chart. "It will be a while before he's out of surgery. At this point, we can only hope for the best."
Kay had to sit down. She couldn't believe her ears. Tim could actually die. The doctor's words kept going through her head. "Bullet grazed his heart…trying to stop the bleeding…critical condition." She shoved her fist against her mouth to stop the sobs that threatened to escape.
She didn't hear Gibbs thank the doctor, or the short conversation he had with Tony and Ziva. The next thing she knew, he was sitting down next to her, putting one arm around her shoulders in a fatherly gesture that just seemed to come naturally to him. He pressed his lips to the top of her head and said, "He's going to be ok. Tim's tougher than we usually give him credit for, and he has the best team of doctors attending to him."
Upon hearing that, Kay's sobs could no longer be stopped. She turned and cried into Gibbs' shoulder.
"I can't lose him, Gibbs. I just can't. Not when I haven't told him…" She couldn't even say the words out loud.
"Shhh, shhh. He'll be ok. Just wait and see. You'll get your chance to tell him how you feel."
The words took a moment to sink in. Then Kay sat up straight and looked at Gibbs' face, the surprise plain on hers.
"How-how do you know?" she whispered. Gibbs smiled.
"You just told me." he replied.
"Are you angry? I know Rule Number Twelve says…"
Gibbs pulled her back into an embrace and stroked her hair. "Don't worry about it. I would never had known if I hadn't seen your reaction today. But tell me-" he pulled back and looked her in the eye, "how long has this been going on?"
Kay swallowed hard. "About six months now."
Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "That long, huh? Either you two can really separate your work and professional lives, or you're damn good at lying."
Kay had to laugh a little at that. "Maybe a little of both." she admitted. "We do keep things professional on the job, and yes, we've had to lie a few times about where we are when we're called in to work and we're technically off-duty." She smiled tremulously up at Gibbs. "You're really not mad?"
Gibbs smiled at her again. "No, I'm not mad. As long as you two aren't making out in the elevator or coming up with excuses to slip down to the forensics lab to be alone, I'm ok with it. Just one more question: who else knows?"
Kay smiled. "Only Ziva, and I didn't know that she knew until least week." She blushed a little. "She saw us kissing in the parking garage after work one day."
Gibbs had to chuckle at that. "She's very observant."
Just then, Tony and Ziva came back into the waiting room, Abby right behind them. Gibbs stood up.
"Gibbs!" Abby cried as she threw herself into his arms. "Tony called me and told me that Tim's in heart surgery. Is that true? Tell me he'll be ok!"
Gibbs hugged Abby close. "He'll be ok, Abs. The doctors are still working on him, but he'll be ok."
Abby wiped her teary eyes, smudging makeup on her face. "What happened?"
Gibbs looked to Tony, who started relating the events of the day. When he was through, Abby was crying harder than before.
"Timmy's in critical condition?! Oh my God! Will he be ok?" Abby shook her head. "Of course he'll be ok. He's Timmy. Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts." She visibly calmed down. She looked again to Gibbs. "How long before he's out of surgery? When can we see him?"
"We don't know. All we know is that he's in surgery, not how long he'll be there. I'm sure the doctor will come out and tell us when he's out and we can see him." replied Gibbs.
"Okay. But he'll be ok, right?" Abby asked again. She seemed to need the constant reassurance.
"He'll be ok." Gibbs told her, almost as if he was reassuring himself as much as her.
The four of them sat in silence after that, each lost in his or her thoughts. But they all seemed to be thinking the same thing. What if Tim doesn't make it out alive? None of them wanted to voice that question out loud.
After what seemed like an eternity, Gibbs cleared his throat and stood up.
"There's no need to stay here for the rest of the night. I want all of you to go home, get some rest. Tomorrow's Saturday, so we can meet back here in the morning. I'll leave my number with the receptionist so the doctors can call me and update me on McGee's condition."
Three voices spoke up, all protesting Gibbs' statement.
"This is not up for debate," Gibbs said in his sternest voice. "All of you, go home. There's nothing we can do here. I promise to call each of you as soon as I hear anything from the docs, no matter what time it is."
The others knew there was no point in arguing anymore, so reluctantly they headed for the doors. Tony's, Ziva's, and Kay's cars were still at the office, so they rode the sedan back. The ride there was made in silence, none of them really wanting to talk about what was on each of their minds. They reached the parking garage and each went to his or her own vehicle.
As Kay drove home, she kept thinking about Tim. She still couldn't get the doctor's words out of her mind. "Bullet grazed his heart…trying to stop the bleeding…critical condition…"
Kay reached her apartment and went inside. The place seemed so empty without Tim there. She knew that she should probably get something to eat, but she couldn't get up the energy to make something. She looked around at her home, seeing Tim everywhere. There were his running shoes, left from the previous weekend. On the couch was his sweatshirt, the one he loved to change into when he came to her place after work.
Kay entered the bedroom. The sheets were still crumpled from last night; they hadn't bothered to make the bed that morning. His MIT T-shirt was lying on the bed, the one she had planned on wearing that night. Kay couldn't stop the tears from flowing when she saw it. She loved wearing that shirt, and Tim always said it looked better on her than it did on him.
Kay started shedding her clothes, letting them lie where they fell. She pulled the T-shirt over her head. It still had the scent of his cologne on it, that unique Tim smell.
Crying, she lay down in bed. It had seemed small at times when Tim was with her, but now it seemed huge. She missed him. She missed the feel of his body next to hers. She even missed his quiet snoring.
Kim pulled Tim's pillow to her, wrapping herself around it. She didn't think she'd be able to sleep, but, exhausted from the day's events, it claimed her quickly.