AN: As always, I really appreciate your comments and support. Just an fyi regarding this chapter. There is some medical stuff included which I researched but I'm sure is not perfect so hopefully you can just go with it. Thanks so much. Enjoy the chapter :)

xxxxx

True to what Dr. Kennedy had said, Tony slept for several hours. He had been transferred to the Surgical ICU and so far everything had gone smoothly. Gibbs sat beside him and had managed to doze off several times, but he awoke every time a nurse came into Tony's room, so it wasn't a particularly restful sleep. His body was beginning to ache just about everywhere. He was stiff and sore and longed to soak in a hot tub so some of his pain could melt away, but he wouldn't even consider leaving Tony right now. He was in the process of nodding off again when Tony began to stir. Gibbs focused his attention on the younger man as Tony finally opened his eyes. "Hey there, how are you feeling? Are you in a lot of pain?"

Tony sleepily considered the questions for a few moments before answering, mentally taking stock of his body. "No, I'm not in pain. Just feel tired...kinda weak..." Tony said, looking up at Gibbs. "Though I've gotta say, boss, you look more tired than I feel."

"I'm fine...you don't need to be worrying about me, DiNozzo."

Tony nodded, still looking pretty sleepy, in Gibbs' opinion. "You warm enough?" Gibbs asked. "You need anything?"

"Kinda thirsty, boss," Tony replied. "Some water would be good."

"I'll get you some ice chips. Its all you're allowed to have," Gibbs said, apologetically.

"Okay, thanks."

Gibbs went off to get the ice chips and when he returned, a few minutes later, Tony looked like he had fallen back to sleep. Gibbs sat down, putting the ice chips on the tray by the side of the bed and Tony opened his eyes.

"Thought you were asleep," Gibbs said. He picked up the spoon in the cup of ice chips and scooped one out then spoonfed Tony with it.

"I can probably do that myself, boss," Tony said, a little bit embarrassed at having his boss feeding him.

"Don't make a big deal out of it, DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

"So...how badly messed up am I?" Tony asked after the ice chip had dissolved in his mouth.

"You'll be okay."

"Come on, boss...tell me the truth," Tony said with a penetrating gaze. "I want to know what I'm dealing with here."

Gibbs sighed heavily. "You were shot twice in the abdomen. They had to remove your spleen."

"Twice, huh? Only remember once...Guess dear old dad was really trying to finish me off."

"Don't think about him, Tony," Gibbs ordered softly. "He's not worth it. You need to be worrying about yourself right now."

"I still can't believe he did it," Tony said, ignoring Gibbs' advice. "He must really hate me...I don't know what I ever did for him to feel like that, you know?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Come on, Tony...we've had this conversation before. You didn't do anything. Its all him...he's a sick, abusive man. Its his problem, not yours. If you didn't believe me before, you certainly ought to believe me now."

"I know...its just hard though, you know? I mean...he was the only real family I had left...It isn't easy to accept that your father just doesn't give a damn about you. I guess I always knew it, but still...he actually shot me..."

"Yeah, I know...I was there..." Gibbs said quietly, reliving the incident in his mind.

The somber look on Gibbs' face made Tony realize just how much pain he had caused with his decision to leave the hospital. "I'm sorry, boss...I...I don't know why I did it. I guess I was just hoping he'd say something to make me believe he really did care after all...that he wasn't the horrible person you thought he was." He turned his head away from Gibbs dejectedly. "I was wrong..."

"Tony, hey," Gibbs placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Don't worry about that right now. When you're better, we'll talk about it, okay? I want you to just concentrate on getting better."

Tony nodded. "Alright...Thanks boss." He was still extremely troubled by all that had happened, but didn't really feel up to delving into it at that moment anyway. Gibbs was right. It could wait.

"Now why don't you get some sleep," Gibbs advised, noting that the younger man was already partway there, his eyes heavy-lidded.

"Yeah, I am pretty tired," Tony admitted as he allowed his eyes to close all the way. "You should go home boss...you need to get some rest too. I'll be fine..."

Gibbs watched as Tony fell asleep and then attempted to get as comfortable as possible in the hard, plastic chair. He was going to try to get a little sleep, as well, if he could.

xxxxx

Gibbs managed to fall into a semi-restful sleep, but when he awoke, he immediately sensed something was amiss. His eyes went to Tony who was muttering fretfully in his sleep, his face soaked with perspiration. Gibbs moved his hand toward Tony's forehead just to confirm what he already knew. Tony was running a fever once again. "Damn." He pressed the call button and a nurse arrived only moments later.

"He's burning up,"Gibbs explained before she had the chance to say a word. She nodded as she took out a thermometer and frowned when she got the reading. "I'll page the doctor," she said as she hurried out of the room.

"Wait, how high is his temp?" Gibbs called after her. But, it was too late. She was already gone.

Gibbs sighed and turned his attention back to Tony.

"Hurts," Tony murmured as he shifted uncomfortably in the bed.

"It's okay, Tony...I'm right here," Gibbs said, taking his agent's hand. "The doctor's coming. He'll help you feel better."

"Tell my father to leave me alone...make him go."

"He's gone, Tony...he's not going to hurt you anymore. I won't let him."

"I'm hot...really hot." Tony thrashed about on the bed and threw the covers aside. "Thirsty...need a drink."

Gibbs was about the press the call button again, to ask if Tony was allowed to drink anything yet, when Dr. Kennedy entered the room with the nurse.

"He's really burning up, Doc," Gibbs informed the doctor as he made his way to Tony's side.

"Yeah, so I heard...You're not going to make this easy on me, are you, Tony? he asked as he lifted up Tony's hospital gown and gently began to remove the dressing covering the bullet wounds.

"Stop, hurts," Tony gasped in obvious pain as he tried to push the doctor's hands away from him. "Don't."

"I'm sorry, Tony. I'll try not to hurt you," Dr. Kennedy said as Tony tried to move away from him, but was prevented from doing so by Gibbs. "I need to look at this though. I'll be as gentle as I can."

"Boss, make him stop," Tony pleaded. His eyes were glazed as he looked at Gibbs, "Help me...please..."

Feeling horrible to see his agent in such pain, Gibbs clutched Tony's hand tightly. "Its okay...I'm right here. He's just trying to help you."

Dr. Kennedy pulled the rest of the dressing away and his eyes were filled with concern. Both wounds were reddened and swollen, draining greenish-yellow pus.

"Adam? What is it?" Gibbs gave the doctor a worried look.

"His wounds are infected. I'm going to take some samples and get wound and blood cultures to see what's going on."

Gibbs sighed in frustration. "How much more does he have to go through?" he asked. His heart was breaking for Tony and he was starting to fear that he was never going to get better. It seemed every time he managed to take one step forward, he took two steps backward.

Dr. Kennedy sent the nurse off to obtain the wound and blood culture kits as well as a cooling blanket then turned back to Gibbs. "I anticipated there was a good chance of this happening, Jethro. Unfortunately, his system's defenses are really down right now, making him easy prey to pretty much anything that decides to attack him."

"I just hate seeing him this way," Gibbs uttered softly. Tony had fallen back to sleep, but was whimpering and appeared miserable.

"I know this isn't easy, but we're doing everything we can for him," Dr. Kennedy said, momentarily resting his hand on Gibbs' shoulder. "I'm going to get something to try and make him a bit more comfortable. I'll be right back."

Gibbs nodded, but didn't really pay any mind to the doctor as he left the room. His attention was focused on his agent. "God, Tony...I really wish I could change places with you," he whispered. "You have no idea how much..."

"Wanna go home..." Tony groaned in his sleep, his head moving back and forth on the pillow.

"I know you do...I wish you could go home too," Gibbs said, squeezing his hand gently. "As soon as you're well enough to leave here, I'll take you home and take care of you. We're going to get you through this, Tony."

Dr. Kennedy re-entered the room and administered some more drugs into the IV. "How are you holding up, Jethro?" he asked as they waited for the nurse to return with the culture kits.

"I'm fine," Gibbs replied. "It's him I'm worried about."

The doctor nodded. "I know that you're worried about him, but you're not going to do him a bit of good if you wind up sick too."

"I don't get sick."

"There's a first time for everything... Look, I know you don't want to admit it, but you've been through a lot too. He's going to be sedated for a while. I want to keep him as quiet and comfortable as possible while we work on getting his fever down. This would be the perfect time for you to go home and get some sleep.

"Don't need to, Doc," Gibbs said, shaking his head.

"Eight hours in your own bed, Jethro. Its not a life sentence. I'll let you know if he gets any worse."

Gibbs shook his head again. "When he starts doing better, I'll take you up on it, Adam, but, I just can't right now. I don't want to leave him."

The doctor knew when he was beaten and nodded. "Okay...I don't like it, but I do understand. When he's doing better though, you are going home if I need to drag you there myself."

"You think you can take me on, Doc?" Gibbs asked with a faint smile on his face.

"I'm sure you're a tough SOB under normal circumstances," Adam answered with a smile, "but I don't believe you're doing as well as you're leading me to believe."

"His father shot him..." Gibbs stated softly, not denying what the doctor had said. "He's sick and confused and so torn up over it emotionally...He needs me right now and I need to be with him just as much. Its just how it is...When he's better, I'll go home...I promise."

Adam couldn't help but admire the level of devotion Gibbs had towards Tony. It was nice to see how close their relationship was. He couldn't imagine Gibbs being any closer to Tony than if he really was his own son. "You, at least, need to eat something. I'll have something sent up for you because I know you won't go get anything on your own."

Gibbs nodded. "Thanks a lot...I really appreciate everything you're doing for us."

"Not a problem...I just want to get him well again."

Just then, the nurse came back into the room carrying the culture kits and cooling blanket. "Thanks, Jen." he said as he took the kits from her. Jethro? Do you mind waiting outside while we do this?" he asked. It was important to have as sterile an environment as possible. Gibbs retreated from the room and spent his time nervously pacing right outside the clear glass door until the doctor and nurse came out.

"All set," Adam stated. "I'm going to get these to the lab. It should take about 24 hours to get preliminary results back. In the meantime, I'm going to add on a broad-spectrum antibiotic to see if we can zap this."

"Can I go back in?" Gibbs asked, obviously antsy to do so.

Adam nodded. "Okay...And just so you know...I have a couch in my office if you want to get a little rest...a lot more comfortable than that chair in there."

"I appreciate that...I'll let you know."

"I'll send up something for you to eat," Adam stated, knowing Gibbs had no intention of taking him up on his offer.

"Thank you, Adam," Gibbs said as he turned to go back into Tony's room and Adam hurried off to the lab.

Gibbs made his way back to Tony's bedside, being careful not to make a sound. Even though he knew the younger man was sedated, he still didn't want to take a chance on waking him. He sat down and studied Tony closely. He seemed to be sleeping without distress. His breathing was easy and his facial features looked relaxed and free from pain. He very lightly rested his hand over Tony's, needing to feel the contact, trying to reassure himself that Tony was going to pull through this...that eventually everything would be okay. It just had to be.