"Let's find somewhere private." he told Gibbs. "I'm breaking the rules telling anyone but Gibbs, but because of the special circumstances I'm making an exception." he led them around until they found an unused conference room. The team ignored the cushioned chairs that surrounded the dark wood table, instead choosing to stand uncertainly in a group. Abby grabbed McGee's hand and held tight. McGee wincing slightly at the fierce grip left his hand in hers.

"Alright." Brad sighed and looked the tired team over. With one exception they had been through this together before. With Tony lying sick in a bed and the team waiting desperately for news. Before however there had at least been a case to occupy them. There had been something they could do, a cure to race for. Now they could do nothing.

"It isn't looking great but it's not life threatening if treated right. Tony must have already had a mild cold when he went for his little hike. Not enough to notice and not really bad on its own. With a cold and his already weakened lungs the hike was the worst thing for Tony. Add on top of the now strained lungs the chase for a suspect with adrenaline pumping and Tony would not have been able to see this coming. It probably hit him hard. The just lungs shut down. Luckily Gibbs started CPR almost immediately. The emergency personnel reported that he was breathing when they arrived. They had him on oxygen but his lungs gave out on the way to the hospital again. They managed to get him breathing but they had to put him on an respirator . He'll have to stay on it until his lungs are strong enough to work. For any strengthening to happen however he has to fight off the pneumonia that was caused by the cold. Luckily it's still a very mild case. We are pumping him full of antibiotics and we have placed him in a temporary coma to keep him from panicking at the respirator. He'll most likely be brought out in a couple days."

The teams emotion flickered between horror and hope at the doctors words.

"Because of the special situation I have convinced the nurse to give each of you a minute or two to say good night. He is in a coma but it is still a good idea to talk to him and encourage him. There are cases were people come out of deep comas with memories of conversations that they could not possibly have heard." Abby looked ecstatic at getting to see Tony but worried as well at what she would see.

"Abby you go first. Then McGee, Ziva and Ducky. After your all out I'll go in. I'm going to stay here for the night." Gibbs ordered looking at Brad as if daring to try to say Gibbs had to leave.

Instead Brad surprised him. "I worked out a deal with the nurses. They'll give you the blind eye if you stay if you promise to keep quiet and not get in the way. It's not promising to be an easy night for Tony. But I think the company will do him good." Brad paused as if considering things for a moment then said to Gibbs.

"There are a few questions I need to ask you Gibbs. Nothing to serious just routine things if you could give stay here for a few minutes while they start visits."

Gibbs nodded and motioned for the team to file out. After they had left and shut the door behind them he turned to Brad and looked at him.

"Listen… I didn't want to worry everyone unnecessarily but there are a few concerns."

"Alright." Gibbs said his gut clenching. Whatever the news he was about to get it was bad enough the doctor had wanted to tell him privately.

"Tony has you listed as emergency contact and Medical power of Attorney in case of an emergency. But we need to know if there is family we should contact…. Just in case." Brad began after a long moment of silence.

"If it looks like it's turning out for the worst I'll contact the family." Gibbs said. His voice was low as he paused at the thought of what might happen.

"One more thing." Brad said his voice hesitant.

"Yes?"

"Well… we have no idea how long Tony's brain went without oxygen."

"Yes?" Gibbs felt himself tightening at the blow he felt coming.

"There is a possibility that Tony…" Brad paused his face grim as if he hated the words he was being forced to say. "Might not be Tony when he wakes up. Everything is most likely fine but I wanted you to be aware that there is a possibility that there might be permanent damage due to lack of oxygen flow to the brain when he stopped breathing. There is no knowing who is going to wake up."

Gibbs, for once, stopped. Everything. Moving breathing thinking. He couldn't comprehend what Brad was saying.

A/N Alrighty then another chapter sorry if it's a little short. Not sure how long the next one is going to take because I have a big test to study for still. I'm thinking of the next couple chapters being the teams visits and what they are thinking and saying….. Thanks to all the wonderful people who have reviewed favorited and put his story on alert. As always reviews and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

Wolfgirl