Hi folks!
Sorry for the delay after the last cliffie but I've had some writing challenges. We've been dealing with major heat here in Southern California, and now lots of fires. Luckily I'm not really near any but the entire valley where I live is covered in smoke. Last night I watched the orange glow of the fires from my window. It's been over 100 degrees for days now and without a very good a/c unit, I've had to get inventive to keep cool. Right now, wearing a wet t-shirt seems to the best solution. LOL.
My thoughts are with everyone who is dealing with the fires, including some of my friends who have been evacuated. The last I checked, there were no fires close to the studios where they shoot most of NCIS, but I still hope the cast and crew is being careful. Like I said, the smoke is bad enough for me in my room, I can't imagine them out filming in it.
I'm guessing there's going to be about 2-3 more chapters to this story, depending on how much I do with Tony and McGee's recovery. I want to give those two a little more time to bond and I figure nothing will do that more than them having to recover together.
Until then, here's the latest chapter. Enjoy!
-Moki
Chapter Ten
"You did good."
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At the ex-Marine's cry for help, one of the EMT's about to jump into the rig with Tony, turned. Seeing the unconscious agent now in Gibbs' arms, the man went into action. Grabbing a couple of bags, he jumped back out of the truck, turning to his partner inside.
"Go! Go! He's critical, get him out of here and call me another ambulance! Now!"
The other EMT nodded, slamming the door as the vehicle sped out sight with flashing lights and wailing sirens.
"What happened?" the EMT asked urgently, diving to McGee's side and immediately reaching for a pulse.
"I don't know, he just went down," Gibbs replied, frustrated with himself once again. He'd been so worried about Tony that he'd barely given McGee a second glance. He'd been yelling at the guy for five minutes, but had he even bothered to look at him?
As Gibbs watched the EMT work, he saw the sweat on McGee's face and remembered the trembling hands that had to be pulled off of DiNozzo. Looking closer, he also noticed blood on the younger man's neck.
Before he could point it out, the EMT spotted the blood too. Reaching gently behind McGee's head, he found a wound from where the agent hit the pavement during Tony's flying tackle.
"Looks like we've got a head trauma, possible concussion and a dislocated shoulder," the man said, rattling off the injuries more to himself than anyone else. He opened his bags, pulling out various things to begin treating the agent's injuries.
Gibbs sat back and watched the man work, mentally cursing himself for not noticing the telltale signs of concussion. Lord knew Tony had had enough of them; Gibbs should have been an expert at spotting one by now.
"I think he's gonna be fine, the shock took him down more than anything," the EMT said as he touched Gibbs' shoulder to get his attention, noticing the team leader's obvious distress.
Hearing the second ambulance arriving, Gibbs could only nod thankfully to the man before getting up to direct it to their location. Once McGee was loaded, he wanted nothing more than to jump in with him. Anxious to keep an eye on McGee and to get to the hospital to see about Tony, Gibbs called the Director to check on his back-up team.
"Director, what is the ETA of my back-up?" he asked tersely, watching as the EMTs made some final adjustments and knowing they were only moments from leaving.
"They're about five minutes out. Are the LEO's there?" came Vance's reply through his cell phone.
"Yes," Gibbs replied. "They've been ordered to secure the scene and wait for the next team."
"Then go," Vance said. "Go see to your own team. Jacobson's team will take it for now."
Grateful, Gibbs hung up the phone without replying. Vance would understand. Yelling for the medics to hold up, he dove into the back of the ambulance.
On the way to the nearest trauma center, Gibbs studied his unconscious agent thoughtfully. It was a new experience for him. Not riding in an ambulance with an injured team mate, that was sadly a fairly normal occurrence. This was, however, the first time that he'd had to do it for McGee. So far his younger agent had kept himself mostly out of trouble. It seemed to be DiNozzo who always bore the brunt of the injuries on his team.
Gibbs thought about the fact that Tony hadn't escaped this time either. Once again, he'd been injured on the job, saving his partner in the process. Gibbs had to wonder if Tony's propensity for getting knocked around was connected to the fact that his other teammates hardly ever did. How many times had Tony brought trouble on himself to keep it away from the others? Gibbs realized that it was probably more than he or anyone else knew.
He'd often thought that his Senior Field Agent was a magnet for trouble. Now he realized that it may have been more a matter of choice than accident. In the exception of himself, Gibbs knew that no one cared more about the team than Tony.
Jenny had told him after his temporarily retirement that the team wouldn't have survived if it hadn't been for Tony. He'd held them together, continued their training (even teaching them some things Gibbs hadn't yet) and kept them all safe. Gibbs had noted that not one injury had been reported in Tony's time as team leader. It was a boast that Gibbs himself couldn't make.
Knowing how hard Tony had worked to keep his partner safe, Gibbs knew he wouldn't be happy to hear that McGee was hurt. He'd probably feel as badly as Gibbs did, even though he shouldn't.
As team leader, it was Gibbs who was responsible for the members of his team. Even stupidly brave Senior Field Agents who threw themselves in front of bullets to save their teammates. Tony might feel guilty but Gibbs knew that all the blame was on him. He was the one who let his annoyance override his gut. He was the one who sent two members of his team out on an assignment without bothering to check in on them.
So if anyone was looking to take the blame for the fiasco of having half his team hospitalized, Gibbs knew it was all on him. He wasn't going to let DiNozzo snatch any of it, no matter how hard the other man tried.
The ambulance arrived at the entrance to the trauma center and Gibbs jumped out first to get out of the way. After that, he was pushed aside until he was relegated to a waiting room.
Nearly an hour later, Gibbs paced the place like an expectant father in an old movie. McGee's condition was listed as serious but they wouldn't let Gibbs see him yet. Tony's condition was critical and he'd been rushed to surgery before Gibbs had arrived in the second ambulance. Now he was waiting for information on both of them and he was about ready to pull his hair out.
It was bad enough being in that position when a single member of his team was hurt. He was also frustrated to notice that when there were two, the stress and worry didn't seem to just double. It rose tenfold.
Before Gibbs had a chance to cause the ruckus he was contemplating, the elevator doors opened to admit a familiar face. Removing his hat and shaking it off to get rid of the rain that Gibbs hadn't even realized had started, Ducky smiled at his old friend.
"How are they?" he asked.
"No one will tell me anything Duck," Gibbs replied. He said no more, leaving the question hanging silently.
Ducky nodded understandingly, putting a hand on his friend's sleeve. "Not to worry, I'll go see if they'll tell me anything." Ducky said, turning to walk through the doors of the trauma center.
As the doors to trauma closed, the elevator next door beeped and opened on a crushed figure. Stumbling sadly in her platform boots, Abby's tear streaked face looked around the waiting room. When she found Gibbs, her face fell with a new onslaught of tears and she rushed to him.
"Tell me they're gonna be okay, Gibbs. Please tell me they're gonna be okay."
Gibbs wrapped his arms around her. "McGee's gonna be fine, just a concussion and a dislocated shoulder. Nothing serious," he replied, taking the EMT at his word and hoping it was true.
Abby smiled, backing away and wiping away her tears. "McGee's got a hard head, I'm sure he'll….." she paused, frowning as she realized Gibbs hadn't said anything about Tony.
"Tony?" she asked quietly.
"GSW to the back, possible collapsed lung, lost a lot of blood, he's in surgery now," Gibbs replied, not quite meeting her eyes.
Abby's eyes tears started once more and Gibbs held out his arms again, folding the younger woman into his chest.
"It's okay, Abs," he whispered into her hair reassuringly.
"No it's not," she said into the fabric of his shirt. "It's never okay. Why did Tony have to be hurt bad again? Why do the bad guys keep doing bad things to him? Tony's the nicest guy in the world, he'd never hurt a fly and they keep hurting him and…" she stopped as a sob bubbled up unbidden.
"Abs," Gibbs said, waiting for her stop before pulling her away so he could look at her. "Listen to me. DiNozzo's a tough guy, he can make it through this."
"But why Gibbs? Why does he have to make it through again?"
"Abby, Tony did a good thing tonight."
That caught Abby's attention and she looked into Gibbs' eyes curiously.
"What do you mean?"
"Tony took that bullet for McGee. If he hadn't, we'd all be mourning a death, not standing in a hospital waiting room."
"Really? Tony did that?" Abby sniffled.
"Tony made a choice. He knew what it meant and he took a chance. Now we just gotta wait and see if his gamble paid off. DiNozzo's too stubborn to lose a fight this easily." He gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze.
Abby wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, a grin showing through her tears.
"You're right about that. I don't think there's anyone more stubborn than him….except maybe you, Gibbs," she planted a kiss on his cheek and gave him an extra hard hug. Then the two of them sat down to wait. Gibbs would never admit it to anyone, but he was happy for the company. He much preferred having Abby there, rather than waiting for word on his men alone.
Another fifteen minutes went by and both of them looked up when the doors to trauma opened and Ducky came out. He held both hands up reassuringly.
"Young Timothy regained consciousness shortly after being admitted and they were able to determine that there is probably no permanent damage from the knock to the head he took. He's got a concussion but they've reset his shoulder and he's resting comfortably. They want to keep him for a couple days to run some more tests and make sure there is no skull fracture. That young man certainly does seem to have a hard head, but we can't be too careful," he said with a smile.
Abby and Gibbs both visibly relaxed. Knowing Abby probably wasn't up for it, Gibbs asked the hard question.
"Tony?"
Ducky cleared his throat and his smile faltered a little. "Yes well, Anthony's condition is a tad more serious. He's out of surgery now. The good news is that there was no collapsed lung but he did lose a lot of blood. They had to transfuse two units in the operating room and his heart did stop once." At Abby's gasp, Gibbs put his arm around her shoulders.
"Now Abigail, please don't worry. Anthony's very strong and he came out of surgery beautifully. He's still critical but they hope to have him upgraded to serious condition in the morning. I'm sure he's going to be fine," Ducky told her reassuringly. The ME also looked at Gibbs, wanting to make sure the team leader got the reassurance as well.
"Can we see him?" Gibbs asked and Ducky nodded. "Yes, only one is allowed with him at a time though so…" he hesitated, not wanting a fight on his hands as to who would get to see Tony first. Abby immediately stepped out of Gibbs' arm and pushed him towards the door.
"You go first, Bossman. Tony needs you," she turned to the ME. "Can I see McGee?"
"Yes, of course. I believe he's probably asleep but I'm sure they'll let us peek in on him," Ducky replied, taking Abby's arm into his own.
The three of them split up, Abby and Ducky heading down one hall to visit McGee while Gibbs went to the critical unit. He showed his credentials and was guided to a nurse's station surrounded by rooms made of glass. Each one held a critical patient, the glass walls allowing the staff to observe their charges at all times.
Gibbs was pointed to a room in a corner and he entered quietly. They were only letting him in for a minute and he didn't bother to sit down. Standing by the bed, Gibbs watched the machines. Due to the time of night, all of the lights had been turned down and the place was nearly silent except for the murmurs from the staff at the station.
Tony wasn't on a breathing tube and Gibbs was grateful as it meant that the man was strong enough to breathe on his own. Feeling like he'd been in this position more times than should be allowed in a single man's career, he sighed slightly.
"McGee's fine, DiNozzo," Gibbs began, somehow knowing that if Tony were awake his first question would be about his partner.
Then, feeling the need to acknowledge what Tony had done that night, Gibbs said something he probably wouldn't have had the man been awake.
"You did good."
