AN1: Here's the next chapter, everybody. Thanks so much for the amazing reviews. You're all really great and know how to keep a person motivated. I'm not sure if I responded to everyone personally for the last chapter. I think I did, but its possible I didn't, so if I missed you, it was nothing personal and totally inadvertent.

Special Thanks to: WCUGirl, Sparkiebunny, Pandi19, LongLashes1, vanishingp2000, sarahsrr, Rena-Spatz, faldo, NikaDex, Meilea 2010, combatcrazy, peanutmeg, diana teo AZGirl, NickTonyK, Tiffany331, Julie250, Tacpebs, Gaddkzmp, Stroma, medicgirl, anci2506, NCIS-TIVA-FAN, shirik, carismum, TheNaggingCube, newgal, and GibbsGirlAbby. Thanks to all of you :)

xxxxx

"Good morning, McGee," Ziva smiled at the young agent who was already working hard at his desk.

"Good morning, Ziva," McGee greeted her as he looked up from his computer.

"No Gibbs this morning?" Ziva asked, looking at Gibbs' empty desk as she got herself settled in her own area. "I thought perhaps he might be here today."

Tim shook his head. "No, I doubt he'll be here, at least not for very long. He's still staying with Tony."

Ziva looked at Tim in surprise. "Really? I did not expect to hear that. I thought Tony was doing better?"

"Yeah, he is…physically anyhow," Tim replied.

"What exactly does that mean?" Ziva asked.

"It means Tony has gone through a lot…he's having some problems dealing with everything," Tim explained.

"I always thought Tony to be quite strong emotionally," Ziva stated. "I would have thought this would have jumped off his back."

"Bounced off his back," Tim corrected automatically. "And Tony is strong, but this would be a lot for anyone to cope with, even Tony…"

Ziva nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose you are right, McGee. Can Tony have visitors?"

Tim nodded. "Gibbs said he could probably have visitors today. I think Abby and I are going to go see him on our lunch. You're welcome to join us if you'd like. Hopefully we can cheer him up."

"Yes, I would like to come," Ziva said, eager to see for herself how Tony was really doing.

xxxxx

Tony began coughing as he awoke. Still half asleep, he struggled to sit up so as to better be able to clear his lungs from the bothersome mucous. When the coughing had abated he reached for the water pitcher on the tray, but found it to be empty. "Damn it," he said hoarsely, slamming the pitcher down in frustration.

"DiNozzo? What's wrong?"

Tony jumped slightly, startled by Gibbs' voice. He had forgotten he was in the room. He glanced over at the other bed where Gibbs was just sitting up. "Nothing's wrong, boss," he said wearily.

"Something's wrong, Dinozzo," Gibbs stated.

"Just want some water, that's all, no big deal." He pressed the call button, making sure Gibbs saw him do it.

"I could have gotten it for you."

"Not your job, boss. Speaking of your job, shouldn't you maybe think about getting back to it?"

Gibbs glanced at Tony in surprise. Obviously he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. "I'll get back to it soon enough. You don't need to be worrying about it."

"I'm not."

The door to his room opened and Dr. Kennedy strolled in. "Good morning, Tony. How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing fine. When can I get out of here?" Tony asked as the doctor began examining him with the stethoscope.

"We're not quite ready to talk about that yet," Dr. Kennedy said, chuckling. He completed the exam then picked up Tony's chart and began flipping through the pages. "You haven't eaten anything yet?" he asked. "Are you still feeling nauseous?"

"No," Tony said, shaking his head.

"Why aren't you eating then?" Dr. Kennedy glanced over at Gibbs who just shrugged his shoulders. He definitely wasn't getting involved. This was between DiNozzo and the doctor.

"I don't know…I just didn't feel like it yesterday. I'll eat today," Tony replied, trying to keep his annoyance in check. He just wanted to be home, by himself, in his own bed.

"Okay. You really need to be eating so you can get your strength back," the doctor said as he made a few notations in the chart.

Tony had to force himself not to snap at the doctor that he wasn't stupid and knew he had to eat. He had no idea why he was so short-tempered this morning. He had slept well enough and had not had any more nightmares, at least not that he remembered. Finally, the doctor left and there was an awkward silence in the room. Tony kept his attention focused on the wall, but he could feel Gibbs' eyes on him. "What?" he finally snapped, as he turned his head to glare at Gibbs, unable to stand the silence any longer.

Gibbs shrugged. "I didn't say anything."

"No, but you're thinking it."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Tony." Gibbs hadn't slept all that well and truthfully was not in the best frame of mind himself. He knew Tony had been through a lot, but he had witnessed it all and was doing the best he could to help him. He frankly wasn't in the mood for attitude.

Tony didn't bother to answer. He didn't know what he was talking about either. He only knew that he felt really irritable, like the walls were closing in on him. Gibbs eyed him closely, realizing that he was going to have to make the first move here. He could tell that DiNozzo was closing himself off and he wanted to prevent that if he could. He got up off the bed and slowly stretched before making his way over to the now very familiar chair by Tony's bedside. Tony watched out of the corner of his eye as Gibbs approached and he could feel himself beginning to tense up. Gibbs couldn't help but notice his agent's reaction to him. It was not like him at all. "Tony? What's troubling you?"

Tony was silent for a few long moments and then he finally spoke. "I don't really know, boss…"

"Have you been remembering more?" Gibbs asked softly, glad that Tony was at least attempting to be civil now.

"No…not really," Tony said with a shrug.

"Is this about your father?"

The question hung in the air between them. Finally Tony shook his head. "No…"

"It must be."

"What do you want me to say, boss?" Tony snapped. "That I'm happy about all of this? Well, I'm not. I'm not very happy about any of it."

Gibbs nodded. "I wouldn't think that was a very normal reaction if you were happy about it, Tony."

"Mr. DiNozzo? You buzzed for a nurse? What can I do for you?" a very perky nurse asked with a smile as she walked into the room. Under normal circumstances, Tony would have flirted shamelessly with her, but these were not normal circumstances and flirting was the furthest thing from his mind.

"Could I get some ice water, please?" Tony asked.

"Of course you can," she replied as she picked up the pitcher. "Is there anything else you need?"

Tony shook his head. "No thanks, just the water."

"Okay, I'll be right back," she said, flashing a bright smile again.

Gibbs couldn't help but notice the interaction or rather lack of interaction between DiNozzo and the nurse. "She was pretty cute, don't you think?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Tony shrugged, obviously not at all interested.

"So, I think Abby and McGee are coming to see you today. I'm sure Ducky and Ziva will be here at some point too."

"That's good," Tony said, trying to act excited about it, but failing to pull it off.

"Tony...will you please talk to me?" Gibbs asked.

Just then, Sandra, the dietary aide who had been with Bonnie the day before, came into the room with two trays. She placed one on Tony's bedside table and the other she brought over to Gibbs. "Agent Gibbs, Dr. Kennedy asked that I bring this to you. and I wanted to apologize to you and Mr. DiNozzo about what happened yesterday. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am."

"It's okay." Tony said quickly. He definitely didn't want to talk about it.

"So, did they get rid of her?" Gibbs asked. Tony turned his head sharply. He didn't want some dumb kid who made a mistake fired because of him.

"No..." Sandra said, obviously uncomfortable. "She's been temporarily suspended pending a board review. I'm pretty sure someone will be up to discuss the incident with both of you."

"That's good," Gibbs said, nodding. Tony said nothing. He was starting to feel like a one man wrecking crew. This girl might lose her job because of him and his father was in jail because of him.

"Okay...well enjoy your breakfast," Sandra said before she practically flew from the room.

Tony lifted the lid off the tray and found a liquid breakfast, clear broth, Jell-O and ginger ale. He made a face and looked much more interested in what Gibbs had, toast, bacon, eggs and orange juice. "I don't suppose I can convince you to share?" he asked, giving Gibbs a pleading look.

Gibbs actually considered it. He really couldn't blame Tony for not wanting what they had given him. "I'd like to, Tony," he finally said reluctantly, "but you haven't had anything for days and you've been pretty sick to your stomach. I think you need to start off easy. You'll be back on solid food before you know it."

"Yeah...okay..." Tony absently twirled his spoon around in the broth before finally taking a few spoonfuls. "This doesn't taste like anything," he complained, giving forlorn looks at Gibbs' breakfast. For his part, Gibbs was wishing the doctor hadn't sent him in the tray because it was just making him feel guilty to be eating in front of DiNozzo.

Tony finally finished the broth and then started on the Jell-O which at least had some taste to it. "Well that was just wonderful," he said when he had finished the questionable food on the tray.

"Maybe they'll give you something more substantial for lunch," Gibbs said.

"Doubtful…" Tony sighed and played around with his blankets. "You know, boss...I'm doing better. You really don't have to stay here..."

"I know I don't have to, Tony...I want to."

"Why? I don't need a baby-sitter," Tony said. "I'm not going to do anything stupid if that's what you're thinking..."

Gibbs shook his head. "I wasn't thinking that, Tony, and I know you don't need a baby-sitter...I just...I'm staying with you because I care about you, Tony. I know you don't remember most of what's happened to us, but, it was pretty intense and I would just feel better if I'm here with you right now, okay?"

"You care about me?" Tony asked, very surprised to hear Gibbs admit something like that. It wasn't a very Gibbs thing to do.

"Of course I care about you, DiNozzzo," Gibbs snapped. "Is that really such a surprise to you?"

"No...yes...I don't know," Tony shrugged as he stared down at the bed.

Gibbs took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. This was the opportunity he had been looking for, to tell Tony how much he meant to him. It was just so damn hard to express his feelings. He did so sometimes with Abby, and Ducky knew what he meant to him, but he mostly communicated with Tony through orders and head slaps. They did share the occasional dinner, but it wasn't like they had touchy-feely conversations.

Tony was feeling more and more awkward as he waited for Gibbs to say something. He shifted uncomfortably and started coughing as he reached for the half-full glass of lukewarm ginger ale. He was still waiting for the nurse to bring him the water. Obviously she had forgotten about it.

"Are you alright, DiNozzo?"

Tony nodded as he took a few sips and placed the glass back on the tray. "I'm okay, boss."

Gibbs knew he was making everything worse by not saying anything. "Tony...the past few days...well, they've made me realize how important it is to tell people what they mean to you. There were a few times when I didn't think you were going to make it...

"I'm going to be fine."

"Yeah, I know you are now," Gibbs said with a nod, "but I still need to tell you this."

"Okay." Obviously, this was pretty important to Gibbs so Tony figured he was just going to have to wait him out.

"We've worked together for a long time now...there's no one I would trust more to watch my back than you."

Tony nodded. "I'm always on your six, boss...same way I know you're always on mine."

"Didn't do so good with that this time, DiNozzo," Gibbs admitted.

"I don't think that's true...I still don't remember a whole lot about what we went through, but I do know you were right by my side, taking care of me. I'd trust you with my life, boss."

Gibbs nodded, forcing himself to voice what he was feeling in his heart. "I'm glad, Tony…because I'd do just about anything for you...and not just because you're a member of my team. You're family, DiNozzo. I feel for you the same way I'd feel towards my own son..."