Oops, a little late, I know… Traffic was supposed to be backed up this am because of construction so I left super early, only to find that it wasn't until AFTER my exit. So I left an hour early for nothing.

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"Anthony, my boy, pacing won't do anything but tire you out. Have a seat." Ducky patted the seat next to him.

"I know. I just have a hard time keeping still." Tony dropped to the seat beside Ducky. They sat silently for awhile, but the silence ate away at Tony's patience and he couldn't keep quiet. "He promised me he wouldn't hurt her. He can't leave her again. It damn well near killed her when he left for Mexico."

"Tony. This isn't his fault. Don't put the blame on him for this."

"I know, it's just… Abby is my best friend. You didn't see her. She said that she didn't think he'd try and fight, that this was his chance to be with his family. She said goodbye. I can't stand to see her hurt like that."

"Poor Abigail." Ducky looked at Tony, the sadness on his face ageing him by several years.

Tony was again on his feet, pacing back and forth a few times before heading back to the nurse's station. "Any word on Jethro Gibbs?"

"I'm sorry, as soon as I know-"

The nurse was cut off by a doctor heading towards them. His scrubs were covered with bright red, sticky blood. "You're here for ?"

"Yes!"

Ducky was at Tony's side in a flash.

"We've stabilized him enough to get him up to the OR. We won't know much until we get a look inside, but it looks like there is a tear in his kidney. He has a collapsed lung, and we were able to insert a chest tube. We won't know the extent of any brain injury until we can get a better look. There is some swelling, but we were able to insert a catheter into a ventricle of his brain, which will help to measure the intracranial pressure as well as drain any-"

"I'm not a doctor!" Tony was lost with the various medical terms. "Will he live?"

"I… it's hard to say at this point. We'll have a better idea of his chances once he is out of surgery. In some cases, with IV fluids, time and rest… he could recover will no ill effects. However, with some traumatic brain injuries, he could never recover. We just won't know until he's out of surgery. Although, with the way he kept crashing here in the ER, he needs to make it through surgery before we can worry about any brain damage."

"How long will surgery take?"

"I can't be sure about that, likely several hours. He'll be moved up to ICU when we're done. His fellow passenger, Abigail Sciuto, she's in ICU, yes? You can wait with her. I'm going home, but I'll let his doctor, Dr. Williams, know where you are."

"Oh, ok." Tony nodded.

"I'm a doctor myself, would you mind giving me a few more details?" Ducky asked.

"Certainly, if you'll just wait here a moment while I change out of my scrubs." The doctor waved at the waiting area.

"Sure." Ducky turned to Tony. "Go wait with Abigail. I'll see what else I can find out and I'll come up after."

Tony nodded and took off at a trot towards the elevator. He pounded on the 'up' button a few times before deciding on the stairs, located across the hall. He took the stairs two at a time up to the third floor.

Rushing up to the nurse's station, he hadn't even opened his mouth to ask, when the nurse pointed down the hallway. "I don't need to see your gun too. Room 408."

"Uh, thanks." Tony cocked an eyebrow but decided against asking any questions. He took quick, powerful strides down the hallway to room 408 and peeked cautiously inside before giving a soft knock and stepping in. Abby was laying with her eyes closed, McGee and Ziva on either side.

"How's she doing?" Tony whispered. He couldn't tell if Abby was asleep or not.

Ziva shook her head softly, but said nothing.

"I'm okay, Tony. I just hurt."

"You're awake." Ziva moved out of the way, so Tony move to stand beside her. "Can I get you anything? Do you need some water?" Tony picked up her hand and stroked his thumb across her palm gently. "Tell me what I can do for you, Abby."

"No, I don't need anything. I've got water, but I'm not thirsty." Abby fought to form the words to the question floating around her mind, but she was scared to ask. Clearing her throat, Abby was able to pull herself together enough to ask, "Gibbs?"

"Gibbs is in surgery. There was a tear in his kidney and he had a collapsed lung. He also has some swelling in his brain, but they won't know much about the possibility of any brain damage until after surgery."

"He's still alive?" Abby's eyes flew open in an instant. "How much swelling? Did they rate the severity? What are his chances? How long will surgery take?"

"They couldn't be sure about his chances or how long surgery will take; the doctor said it'd be awhile, but that they would find us here when they were done. I… I don't really know about the swelling, something about a catheter, or…"

"Tony, I need specifics. I need the details." Abby tried to sit up, but winced and lowered her head slowly back down to the pillow.

"I, uh…" Tony glanced back at Ducky who had just stepped inside the room.

"No worries, my dear. I spoke to the doctor after Anthony headed up to you. I'll tell you everything I know." Ducky pushed her bangs away from her face and leaned over to softly kiss her forehead. "First of all…" Ducky slowly explained.

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TBC…