Strange Happenings

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A/N - Thank-you for all your continued support with this story. I think we are really getting somewhere now and I am enjoying the journey. Please keep the reviews coming, they really do help :)

Chapter 13 - Things Are Looking Up

Gibbs walked away from Ziva's room with a smirk on his face. He had known that Tony and Ziva had been getting closer, and Tony had even admitted to Gibbs how he felt about Ziva, but to hear them declare their love for each other had been a surreal moment. There was part of Gibbs that wanted to march in the room and tell his agents that they can never be 'together' in the love sense, and of course it was not in accordance with rule number 12. But Tony and Ziva were different. Tony was like the son Gibbs had never had, and Ziva had become his adopted daughter. She treated Gibbs more like a father than her own. It had been a journey to watch the two grown closer as the years had gone by. Gibbs realised that they had come very close to losing Ziva, and if this meant anything, it was that life was not to be taken for granted.

Four days had gone by, and Ziva's condition continued to be stable. The only worrying thing was that she continued to spike fevers, and this was making her feel extremely miserable. Her wound was healing well, but the doctors were concerned that the infection may have spread to the lining of her brain. Today was a big day for Ziva. She was going back to theatre to have her wound closed, and she was hoping that her recovery could then begin properly with physio to get her moving again. Tony, as usual, had not left Ziva's side. He knew she was nervous about the operation, as this would determine how well her wound could be repaired.

"Hey sweetcheeks, today is the big day. How are you feeling?" Tony asked, as Ziva woke up in the morning.

"Tired and a little nauseous. I did not sleep well last night"

"You were tossing and turning a lot. I think you may have had another fever, in fact I think you have one now" Tony replied, placing his hand on her forehead.

"It would not surprise me. Tony, I am fed up of feeling like this. I feel like I am not getting anywhere"

"I know Ziva, but think how far you have come in such a short time"

"I know, it is just frustrating. I cannot stay awake for more than an hour at a time, and I just feel groggy. In fact, I think I am going to be sick!"

Tony managed to reach for a bowl in time for Ziva to heave into. He rubbed her back and held her hair back. Well, what was left of her hair, as a large portion of the back had been shaven off. This had almost become a morning ritual, and it didn't get any easier for either of them to deal with. As Ziva was finishing to heave, her doctor walked in.

"Oh dear Ziva, you really are going through a rough patch aren't you? You have another nasty fever this morning. I just wanted to come and see you before the operation. We are going to be taking you down to theatre very shortly. I admit, these fevers have me a bit worried, and so the sooner we operate, the sooner we can see what we are dealing with. Do you understand what we are going to do today?"

"Repair the hole in my head" Ziva said bluntly. The mornings vomiting session had worn her out.

"In a nutshell yes. We should be able to close the wound up completely with a graft from your thigh. We will also scan your head whilst in the theatre, to see if there are any areas of infection we need to worry about inside the brain or the brain lining. If we see anything, we will drain the infection and then hopefully we will see things start to improve"

"Thank-you Doctor" Tony said on Ziva's behalf, as she had now fallen asleep.

An hour later and Ziva had been taken to theatre. Tony had kissed her good-bye but Ziva had stayed asleep. He knew it was going to be a long surgery and so decided to go into work for a couple of hours to update the rest of the team.

Gibbs and McGee were surprised when the lift opened into the ballpen to reveal Tony.

"DiNozzo, what are you doing here? Is Ziva alright?" Gibbs asked.

"She's in theatre, it's going to be a long one so I thought I would join you all for a while. She was pretty rough this morning"

"Ziva's strong Tony. She'll pull through"

"Thanks, McComfort. Anything going on Boss?"

"Nothing important. I do however need to have a word with you. Come with me" Gibbs beckoned Tony into the lift. Tony walked in after Gibbs and watched as Gibbs flicked the emergency switch.

"What's this in aid of Boss?

"I heard you and Ziva last night. I knew you had feelings for her, but it wasn't until last night when I realised you were both in love. I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you both, and to let you know that you have my blessing"

"Thanks Boss, I don't know what to say"

"Makes a change DiNozzo. Just keep it out of the office and we won't have a problem. Oh, and if you hurt her..."

"You don't need to finish that sentance Boss, I will never hurt Ziva"

Gibbs slapped Tony around the head and then turned the lift back on and walked out. Tony soon followed with a grin on his face.

A few hours later the whole team were gathered at the hospital. Ziva had been in theatre for over five hours and Tony had had enough of the waiting. He started to pace up and down, only stopping when Gibbs placed his hand on his shoulder and urged him to look down the corridor. Ziva was being wheeled back to her room. The nurses started to get her settled whilst the doctor came to see the team.

"The surgery went really well, we have managed to reconstruct the wound on her head, and we are hopeful that we will be able to regenerate hairgrowth on the new patch. We also scanned Ziva's head, and we did find a few areas of infection, we have drained these, and with some strong antibiotics I am hopeful that the fevers will now stop. It may take Ziva a while to come round as it was a long operation, and she will feel extremely weak and tired for the next couple of days. But now that her wound is stable, she can start to get up. We will be starting physio tomorrow and we can start to look towards Ziva going home"

The team all breathed a sigh of relief. Abby and Tony had tears in their eyes, it had been a long road but Ziva was going to make it. One by one, they went to see Ziva. Abby decided to decorate her bed with a few teddies that she thought Ziva might like, and McGee pondered how long it would be before they had all been removed by Ziva. Ducky kissed Ziva on the head, and Gibbs whispered something important in her ear. Then they all left and Tony re-assumed his position by her bed. He was surprised when a few minutes later, Ziva's eyes opened.

"Hey sleepy head, I didn't think I'd get to see those gorgeous eyes today"

"Hurts Tony"

"I've pressed the button honey, someone will bring you some pain relief soon. I'm so proud of you Ziva, you got through it today and the doctor said we can start planning to take you home"

"That will be nice" Ziva mumbled with a smile as she closed her eyes and succumbed to sleep once again.

"That will be nice" Tony repeated, with the biggest smile he had worn for a while. Things were finally looking up.