A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews and alerts. As usual, they ain't mine (full disclaimer in profile.)
Chapter 9
The alarms had brought the medical staff running and Gibbs again found himself exiled to the waiting room. He hadn't wanted to leave Tony, saw the fear in the younger man's eyes, but the doctor refused to let Gibbs stay. Ziva had gone to the ER to stay with McGee so Ducky could be there for Gibbs, so now Gibbs was just waiting for the ME to arrive. Hopefully Ducky could go find out what in the world was going on.
Finally, Ducky hurried in and said, "Ziva told me what happened. You stay put and I will go see if Dr. Allen can give me an update." With that, he hurried through the double doors and Gibbs had no choice but to sit and wait. He was almost to the point of going to look for Ducky, when he and Dr. Allen came in.
"What happened, Duck?" Gibbs asked. "Why couldn't he talk?"
Ducky sighed. "There is damage to the speech center of Anthony's brain. At this point he is unable to speak but he is able to understand what we are saying. Best case scenario is that as the ICP decreases his ability to speak will return."
"And worst case?" Gibbs asked quietly.
"Worst case – the speech loss is permanent." Seeing the look on Gibbs' face, Ducky quickly continued. "But Dr. Allen is quite hopeful based on the most recent scans. More than likely, Anthony will recover his speech although he may require some therapy."
"Can I see him now?" Ducky nodded and Gibbs headed for Tony's room. He stopped at the door – he had forgotten about the catheter. 'God, what else can go wrong?' Gibbs thought, moving to Tony's side. The younger man was sleeping, so Gibbs sat in the bedside chair and took his hand. "We'll get through this," Gibbs said quietly. "No matter what, I will be right here with you." He then settled in to wait for Tony to wake up.
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Vance sighed as he hung up his phone. Dr. Mallard's update was less than encouraging – DiNozzo could be facing a permanent disability, and Vance knew that if DiNozzo couldn't come back to work, Gibbs wouldn't either. On the plus side, Agent McGee had also had additional scans and there were no surprises there, thank God. Sighing again, Vance made his way toward the elevator – he had to update Miss Scuito and was definitely not looking forward to it.
Leon Vance had worked hard to get where he was. He was proud of his accomplishments and took his responsibilities seriously. He knew how to deal with rogue Marines, AWOL petty officers, murderers, and terrorist attacks. He could handle that part of the job. What he hated was when personal issues disrupted the workplace. And the actions of Miss Scuito had definitely thrown his MCRT into chaos. Now he had to act more like a high school principal than the director of a federal agency so he could hopefully get things back to normal.
Abby looked up when the door to her lab opened. Vance was surprised at the silence, even more surprised at Abby's appearance. Her eyes were red-rimmed, all traces of make-up washed away by her tears. Her whole demeanor screamed despair, and he hated to be the one to bring her more bad news. He knew that she would blame herself, would feel even worse when she learned of Tony's condition. On the one hand he felt bad for her, but on the other – perhaps she needed to feel bad, to see that her actions had consequences. "Miss Scuito," he said, "I just got a call from Dr. Mallard."
"Is Tony okay? Please, please, please tell me he's okay," Abby cried. "He has to be okay, he just has to!"
"The pressure in Agent DiNozzo's brain increased and caused him to seize. The doctors placed a catheter to drain the excess fluid and are optimistic that that will take care of the problem. However, there is apparently some damage to the speech center of his brain."
"Tony can't . . .he can't talk?" Abby whispered. "Is it permanent?" She knew if it was, Tony's career at NCIS was over.
"They don't know yet. They hope that as the pressure decreases, his ability to speak will return. It's just too soon to tell."
"This is all my fault. Gibbs and Tony will never forgive me."
Vance didn't really want to comfort Abby, but the father in him wouldn't allow him not to. "Miss Scuito, Abby, look at me." He waited until she complied. "You did not cause this. The bleed was there and would have caused problems regardless. Did his anger at you accelerate the process? Possibly but there's no way to know. I do know DiNozzo – he'll forgive you. That's just the kind of man that he is. Gibbs, on the other hand, won't be so easy.
"How can I fix this? How can I make it right?"
"I won't lie to you. It's not going to be easy. You violated their trust and you're going to have to work to get it back. You are going to have to be patient and let them decide when they're ready to let you back in."
"I really messed up this time. I tried to pretend it was about Timmy, but that was only part of it. I guess I was jealous." The last part was said so quietly that Vance almost missed it.
"I'll let you know if I hear anything else. Think about what you've done, Miss Scuito." As he turned to leave, Abby realized that she honestly couldn't think about anything else. She had ruined everything and had no idea how to get things back to the way they used to be.
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Gibbs jerked awake when he felt Tony's hand move. Fearing that the younger man would dislodge the drain, Gibbs began talking softly. "Hey, open those eyes for me. It's okay. I'm right here."
A few seconds later, Tony woke up and looked at Gibbs. He smiled and opened his mouth to say something, smile fading when the words wouldn't come. Seeing his distress, Gibbs quickly spoke, "Calm down, Tony. The doc said it's probably just temporary, 'til the pressure goes down. It's affecting the speech center, but things should be back to normal in a few days." Gibbs knew he wasn't telling the whole truth, but he didn't want Tony to get upset again. "You can just use ASL 'til your voice comes back – don't give me that look. I know you know how to sign."
'How did you know?' Tony signed.
"I've watched you follow our hands when Abby and I sign, although it was a while before I figured it out. I probably I let more than a few things slip before I realized you were eavesdropping."
Tony smiled. 'A few.' Gesturing at his head, he asked. 'How long?'
"The doc said a couple days. Then they'll clamp it off – if the pressure stays good they'll remove the drain."
'They shaved my head.'
Gibbs laughed at the pout on his lover's face. "Just a patch, and it'll grow back." He pressed a gentle kiss to Tony's lips. "You scared me, Tony. Don't do that again."
'I'll try not to.' Yawning, he sleepily signed. 'I'm tired' before drifting off to sleep. Gibbs knew that the younger man would sleep for a while so he decided to update the others and get a fresh cup of coffee. It was going to be a long night.
TBC