Vicky I hope this week it will be better and less chaotic. Thanks for taking the time to correct my work. People, if there are still mistakes in this one, it's all mine.
Running on Empty
Chapter 7
She was sobbing. Her head in her hands.
'I cannot do this anymore'
Gibbs kneeled in front of her.
'Can't do what anymore, Ziver.' He asked.
'Every time I close my eyes he is there. I feel his breath on my skin, I can smell his odor. I feel him violating me' She started to gag. The fear was gripping her.
She tried to push him away. Wiped her tears away with her sleeve.
'I am sorry. I shouldn't…'
'Dammit, Ziva talk to me'
'Talk about what, Gibbs what they did to me?' She screamed in his face.
'You want to know every little detail' She pushed him violently this time and he stumbled backwards.
'You want to know that what they did to me was so awful that I can never have kids or do you want to know that they passed me around so they all could have their way with me! Do you?'
She was screaming at the top her lungs right now. She saw red and started to fight the one thing that was the closest to her and that happen to be Gibbs. He received a few blows to the head and was forced to hit back. He knocked her out cold. He felt horrible; he had never hit a woman like this before. Sometimes it would be required in the line of duty, but that didn't even come close to this. He had actually hit her. He felt horrible but it had been necessary. It was either him or her.
If she had been completely healthy he wouldn't have been able to do this so easily, but her lack of sleep and the aftermath of Somalia had drained her both mentally and physically.
He scooped her body up and placed her back into the bed. He got his cell phone out and called Ducky. He briefly explained on the phone and Ducky was on his way.
Gibbs went downstairs, grabbed an icepack and went back up. He turned Ziva's face in such a way, that he could hold down the icepack on the right spot. The place he had hit her had already started to discolor. He remembered some details in her medical report, the left side of her face had been badly beaten and up to this date she still had hairline fractures in her eye socket. Damn, out of the places he could have hit her he hit her there. He also noticed that some blood was dripping out of the corner of her mouth. Oh, crap her mouth. He quickly grabbed her and laid her down, so she wouldn't choke on her own blood.
'Dammit, Ziver'
Gibbs heard Ducky enter his house.
'Up here, Duck'
It only took Ducky several moments to realize where it had come from. Once he got upstairs he quickly went to work.
'Oh, dear.' He moved her onto her right side, Ducky did a quick survey of Ziva's face and mouth and put Gibbs troubled mind at rest.
'I can't feel anything out of the ordinary. She took a blow to the head, but I don't think anything has been seriously damaged. I can't feel any dents near her eye socket so that shouldn't be a problem. However, to be on the safe side, I would recommend an X-ray.'
Gibbs let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. Thank God, he thought. He couldn't stand it if he had hurt her, if he had hurt a woman.
Ziva started to come around again. She was moaning a little. Suddenly her eyes flew open. Ducky immediately released his hold on her and stepped back, giving her enough space to take in her surroundings. She sat up against the headboard and after she regained her senses, it brought back the pain and the truth of what happened, and it began to sink in.
'You knocked me out'
'Yes, I did and I am sorry for that'
Ziva and Ducky both looked at him surprised. Gibbs had given her his apology.
'I needed to defend myself'
'Why?'
'You were out of control'
She nodded, clutching the icepack against the left side of her face.
'I remember. I am sorry for attacking you'
She got up, swayed a little, but rejected both Gibbs and Ducky's help.
'Bathroom'
'Down the hall, door on the left'
They heard the water running.
When she came back she was still clutching the icepack.
Gibbs cringed inwardly. He had done that to her. He had hit a woman.
'Does it hurt?' Ducky asked.
'A little'
'I would like to see you getting an X-ray as soon as possible'
Gibbs turned around, flew downstairs, grabbed his car keys and before either Ducky or Ziva realized it he was back in the room.
'Let's go'
'What, right now?' Ziva wasn't at all pleased with the entire idea. Hospitals weren't exactly were in her top 3 favorite places to go right now.
'Yes, right now'
Gibbs ushered Ziva and Ducky out of the room, down the stairs and into his car.
'How are we going to explain this?' Ziva mumbled.
'Well…' Gibbs didn't know. He was lost for words.
'So how did the boxing session go? Not to good so it would seem' Ducky said. He knew all too well that the moment, that if it was known that Gibbs and Ziva had been in a fight, they would be suspended pending an investigation.
Gibbs and Ziva looked at him and a ghost of smile appeared on Gibbs's face.
'Thanks, Duck'
Ziva nodded her approval as well. They arrived to the ER in record time.
After a short waiting period they were called in. The attending doctor took in the sight before him. Three persons of which two clearly didn't really wanted to be here were waiting anxiously treatment. The young woman was clutching an icepack and when he removed it, he whistled.'
'Aggh that must hurt'
'Yes, it does. He was a little too rough with me during boxing practice' she pointed at a somewhat elderly man, who simply raised his eyebrows.
'Happens, I thought she stepped backwards but instead she stepped forwards'
'Right and you always practice in your regular clothes' the doctor said not entirely convinced.
'No, he wanted to show me some of his moves'
The doctor still wasn't completely convinced, but when he checked her medical file he immediately noticed that she was a federal agent, so there could be some truth to this weird situation. He would let it pass this time, but he did add a note to her file, just in case.
TBC…..
Let me just state that I do not condone any domestic violence against man, woman and or child for whatever reason except when your life or that of your family is at stake.