Author's Note:
Thank you for all the fantastic reviews. I loved them!
Here's the next chapter.... Enjoy and review soon... thanks.
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Ziva gasped, pain slicing through her body in agonizing waves as the ambulance raced to the hospital.
I wonder who shot me... And how did they manage to inside the NCIS Building?
She couldn't make sense of it as she struggled to breathe and her eyes searched frantically for Gibbs.
She found him, siding at her side, his lips moving. But the roar in her ears was too loud to make out what he was says.
Is that your hand on my head?
It felt nice, different from the pain, the fear, the confusion she felt.
So tired.
I shouldn't sleep.... but I'm so tired.
Gibbs' hand on her forehead was the only warmth she felt.
"Ziva, stay with me!" Gibbs' shout broke through to her.
People... EMT's poke and prodded her and she heard monitors beeping around her head.
Tired...
"Come on Ziva." Gibbs taped her cheek. "Open your eyes... Look at me!"
Sorry Gibbs... too tired...
"She's crashing!" the EMT shouted. "Charging to 200."
"Damnit!" Gibbs swore as the EMT pushed him aside and placed the pedals of the defibrillator against her chest.
"Clear!" he shouted as he sent the charge racing through her body.
"Come on Ziva." Gibbs whispered.
The EMT charged up twice more before Ziva gasped awake, coughing blood, eyes wild.
"No!" She cried out trying to pull away from Gibbs. "Saleem ...No..."
"Shh. Ziva, its Gibbs." He tried to calm her down. "Look at me."
Instead she looked at the EMT and begged, "Help me. Please...."
"Sir, please sit back." The EMT said. "Ziva I need you to calm down. You are safe now."
Gibbs moved back and Ziva quieted down as they pulled into Bethesda's emergency area.
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Doctors and Nurses rushed Ziva into the ER. Gibbs followed, but the EMT from the ambulance stopped him.
"It will be better for her and the doctors working on her if you stay out here."
Gibbs just glared but remained outside.
A second ambulance arrived and Gibbs watched as McGee was wheeled into the ER, Tony and Abby racing behind his gurney.
"How is he?" Gibbs asked.
"Confused." Tony said.
"Ziva?" Abby asked on the verge of tears.
"She crashed on route."
"What?" Tony's ran a trembling hand through his hair.
"No... No... She's not..." Abby grabbed Gibbs jacket in fear. He wrapped his arms around her.
"They got her back, Abby." He said. "She called me Saleem. What the hell happened in the bullpen?"
"I arrived in the bullpen, greeted her and turned my back and within seconds she was behind me, pointing her weapon at me. It was as if she was in the Twilight zone, and she thought McGee and I were her captors. She told McGee to tie me up and then decked him just before you arrived." Tony said. "Boss, she spoke about being raped."
"I know."
"What are we going to do?" Abby asked.
"Help her through this Abby." Gibbs said as Ducky arrived.
"How are they?"
"I don't know." Gibbs said in frustration.
"Anthony, Abigail kindly take Jethro to the waiting room I will get an update from the ER and then we can talk." That said he disappeared through the ER doors.
"Boss?" Tony started leading them to the waiting room, but Gibbs didn't budge.
"We'll get coffee and be back in five." Abby said when the silence became overwhelming.
Ziva, Damnit!
I should have known this would get to you.
Hell I'm the Master of bottling things up...
I should have forced to you it, deal with it, overcome it...
And I should have told you how I feel.
Thirty long minutes passed before Ducky exited the ER.
"We need to go to the waiting room." He said and didn't wait to see it the rest of the team were following him.
"How bad?" Gibbs demanded.
"McGee is being prepped for a CT scan and will likely be admitted owing the length of time he was unconscious. He is awake, confused and in pain right now." Ducky said.
"And Ziva?" Tony asked.
"We, actually you Jethro, have to give the doctors consent..." Ducky said.
"They have my consent Ducky."
"Let me finish Jethro." Ducky raised his voice in a very unlike Ducky manner.
"It's bad, isn't it, Ducky?" Abby was crying openly now.
"Just tell me what's wrong. What do they need consent for?" Gibbs shouted in frustration.
"They need consent to do a hysterectomy on Ziva should it become necessary."
"A hysterectomy?" Tony sat down heavily; Abby wrapped her arms around him and cried louder.
"A hysterectomy..." Gibbs turned away from Ducky, Tony and Abby. The room spun violently before righting itself.
How could be give consent for this?
She had never been pregnant, never had a child.
Hell, he didn't even know if she wanted children.
"Jethro, they need the decision now. The bullet pierced her lower lung, hit a rib in her back and ricochet down into her pelvis slicing through her right fallopian tube. That was bad enough, but the bullet continued downwards and dissected a section of her uterus. It's now lodged in her pelvic bone."
"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Abby gasped as Tony held her.
Ducky continued, "There are major blood vessels supplying this area of the body especially the uterus for obvious reasons. Ziva is bleeding out, internally, Jethro. The doctors will do all that they can to save her uterus, but if comes to a decision of whether to save her or her uterus, they need your consent of what to do."
"Save Ziva at all costs. I'll sign the forms." Gibbs said and headed out of the waiting room.
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Author's Note:
That's it for this chapter...
The next sees the surgery...
McGee is awake and speaks to the team...
Jackson arrives at the Hospital...
So stay tuned and remember to review.... please! Thanks....