Thanks so much for all your kind comments and the well wishes. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. Next chapter should be up sometime on the weekend. Enjoy and thanks again :)

xxxxx

The next time Tony awoke, he found Gibbs dozing in the chair by his bedside. Mentally assessing himself, he realized that the drugs he had been given must have kicked in, because he definitely felt better than he had when he had awoken previously. He was very thirsty and a can of ginger ale on the mobile bedside table beckoned to him. Not wanting to wake Gibbs, he reached out for the can, but the table wasn't as close as it should have been. Tony managed to grasp the ginger ale, but his grip was awkward and he dropped it, sending the can clattering loudly to the floor.

"What the hell!" Abruptly startled from his sleep, Gibbs eyes flew open and he quickly got to his feet. "Tony? Are you alright?" he reached out towards the younger man, intending to check for fever, but Tony flinched away from him, causing Gibbs to pull back. "I'm not going to hit you, Tony," Gibbs said, keeping his voice soft as he sat back down.

"I...I know that, boss," Tony replied, not very convincingly though. He was still obviously skittish from the wary way he was looking at Gibbs.

Gibbs spied the can of ginger ale on the floor and pieced together what had happened. "You should have woken me, Tony." He leaned down and picked the can up off the floor.

"I'm sorry..."

"Nothing to be sorry about." Gibbs opened the can and some of the ginger ale popped out and fizzled over the sides of the can. "Guess I should have waited for it to settle a little," Gibbs said with a soft chuckle.

"Sorry." Tony's demeanor was somber and he kept shooting quick looks at Gibbs, then his eyes would shift away.

Gibbs thought Tony seemed almost frightened of him and didn't really know how to deal with it. He was about to repeat that Tony didn't have to be sorry, but then decided to just let it go. Instead, he poured some of the ginger ale into a plastic cup and silently handed it to his agent.

"Thank you..." Tony said quietly, almost whispering as he took the cup and took a small sip of the ginger ale.

"You feeling any better?" Gibbs asked deciding to break the awkward silence that had sprung up between them.

"Yeah...I feel better. Wish I could go home..."

"I know you do. Just follow the doctors' orders and maybe you won't have to stay here for too long."

"Doubtful."

Gibbs caught the almost hopeless sounding note in Tony's voice. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean every time I start to get better, something else bad happens."

"Don't think like that. Nothing else bad is going to happen."

"You don't know that...where is he, anyway?"

"Your father?"

"If that's what you want to call him, knock yourself out."

"He's on another floor, handcuffed and being guarded by an armed agent. He won't be getting near you again, Tony," Gibbs said softly, ignoring the younger man's sarcasm.

"Yeah, well...he really wants me dead. Maybe he'll just pay someone else to finish me off. You think Ziva has a price?" Tony asked with a bitter laugh.

"That's not even funny, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, a bit of anger creeping into his voice. "Ziva is very concerned about you. She'd be pretty hurt if she heard you say something like that..."

"It was just a joke, Jethro. Geeze...lighten up."

Gibbs had no idea if Tony's attitude was a good or bad thing, but decided to just go along with it and try not to antagonize the younger man any further. Tony's emotions were clearly all over the place. He couldn't help but consider what Tony had just said about Senior finding someone to finish the job though. It wouldn't be the easiest thing to accomplish, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility either. He decided to put another agent outside Tony's room. It wouldn't hurt to err on the side of caution.

"Maybe you should try to get some rest," Gibbs suggested.

"Why? Am I annoying you?" Tony asked petulantly.. "Maybe you should leave then."

"You're not annoying me, " Gibbs stated calmly. If it helped Tony to lash out at him, so be it. He could definitely take it.

"Yes I am...I can tell."

Gibbs shook his head. "If you're trying to push me away, Tony, its not going to work. You're stuck with me, no matter what."

Gibbs' words struck a chord with Tony and to his own horror he could feel tears beginning to well up in his eyes. Gibbs wasn't about to abandon him the way his father had and would never deliberately hurt him. "I'm going back to sleep," he stated, quickly closing his eyes as he attempted to get his wildly sporadic emotions back under control.

"You do that, Tony," Gibbs said quietly as he gently patted his shoulder. He could see how hard Tony was battling to stay in control, but he knew he'd be unable to keep that up indefinitely. Gibbs had every intention of being there for him when the younger man ultimately released the emotions he was trying so hard to keep bottled up inside.

xxxxx

"Gibbs?"

"Abby." He had been so wrapped up in thinking about Tony that he hadn't even heard her come into the room. He was usually much more alert than that. He needed to stay focused.

"I know you didn't really want anyone to come here while Tony was still in the ICU, but I know that Ziva was here and I've known Tony for longer than she has and I didn't think it was fair that she got to come here and not me so I came anyway."

"Shh..." Gibbs said, putting his finger to his lips. "It's okay, Abs, just take a breath and keep your voice down. Tony needs his rest."

"How is he?" she asked, lowering her voice considerably as she went over to Tony's bed and put the stuffed hippo she was carrying beside him. "I thought maybe Bert would help cheer him up."

"He's doing better physically," Gibbs replied. "Mentally is a whole other story though..."

Abby nodded sadly. "Tony already had daddy issues before this whole thing started. I can't begin to imagine how he feels now. I still can't believe his father did that to him. How could he do that to him, Gibbs? How could he?" Tears were now freely streaming down Abby's cheeks.

Gibbs quickly got to his feet and pulled Abby into his arms, giving her a much needed hug as she buried her face against his shirt. "I don't know how he could have done that, Abby," he said quietly. "But, we're all going to help Tony. We'll get him through this."

After giving Gibbs' shirt a good soaking, Abby finally pulled back with a small sigh. "He's really getting better?" she asked.

"He is," Gibbs nodded. "Its just going to take time though. He's been through a lot."

"So have you." Concern was evident in Abby's eyes as she looked up at Gibbs.

"I'm fine, Abby."

Abby shook her head. "I don't believe you. We all know how much you care about Tony and you saw all these awful things happen to him. It can't have been easy."

"Like I said, I'm fine."

Abby decided to let the matter drop, knowing that Gibbs wasn't about to admit it, even if he wasn't fine. "So...I saw Agent Burton keeping watch out in the hall. Are you worried that Tony is still in danger?"

"Just a precaution."

"Really? Isn't Senior under guard?"

"Yes, he's under guard, Abby. It's only a precaution."

"You're really worried about Tony, aren't you?"

"I just don't want to risk anything else happening to him, Abs, no matter how remote the risk may be..."

Abby nodded. She could understand where Gibbs was coming from and she knew just how worried he was about Tony. "Has he woken up at all?" she asked softly, looking back down at the sleeping man.

"Yeah, a couple of times, just briefly though. He's been pretty wiped out. I think sleep is the most important thing for him right now."

Abby took that as her cue to leave. She had, at least, seen Tony for herself and felt a little bit better. "Can I get you anything, Gibbs? Have you eaten?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Abs."

"That means you haven't. You really do need to eat."

"I will, Abby. You don't need to worry."

"But I do worry, Gibbs," Abby said, drawing him into a hug. "I will always worry about you. Now promise me you'll eat something."

"I will."

"Promise?"

Gibbs had to fight not to roll his eyes. He knew Abby meant well, but he had more important things to worry about. "I promise."

"Okay...good." She leaned over Tony's bedside and pressed a light kiss onto the sleeping man's cheek. "Feel better, Tony," she whispered. "I'll be back to see you real soon."

xxxxx

Before he even opened his eyes, Tony could sense Gibbs' presence in the room. "You know...you don't have to stay with me 24/7." He opened his eyes and gazed back at Gibbs, feeling an irrational flare of anger towards the man.

"I know that," Gibbs replied calmly.

"So why are you doing it then?"

"I..." Gibbs shrugged, unsure how to answer the question. "I just want to make sure everything is okay with you."

"It is. So why don't you go home?" He knew Gibbs meant well, but he really needed some time to himself. He was beginning to feel like he couldn't even breathe.

Gibbs supposed Tony had a valid point, but he couldn't find it in himself to leave the younger man totally unattended, at least not yet. Too many things had happened. Even if it was irrational...he just couldn't help it. He was saved from answering the question by the sudden appearance of an attractive female doctor. "Hello, Mr. DiNozzo," she said, smiling at Tony.. "I'm Dr. Cheryl Williams. I'm going to be covering until Dr. Kennedy's next shift." She turned her head towards Gibbs. "You must be Mr. Gibbs, Dr. Kennedy told me all about you."

"Nice to meet you, Doctor Williams," Gibbs replied.

Dr. Williams turned her attention back to Tony. "Do you think you can sit up for me?" she asked.

"Yeah..sure." Tony awkwardly tried to get up into a sitting position, grunting softly as the movement caused some pain to kick up in his belly. With the doctor supporting his back, he finally achieved the requested position.

"How does that feel?" Dr. Williams asked as she arranged Tony's pillows so he could lean back against them.

"Uh...okay," Tony replied, still a little bit red-faced from the exertion. The initial pain he had felt when he first began to move had diminished.

"I'm going to examine you now," she said. "Mr. Gibbs, do you mind stepping out into the hallway please?"

Gibbs was about to say that Dr. Kennedy let him stay for Tony's exams, but after what his agent had just said, he realized that would be pushing things. Tony did have a right to some privacy, after all. "No problem," he said as he headed out of the room.

After Gibbs had left the room, Dr. Williams began to remove the dressings from Tony's abdomen. "How have you been feeling?" she asked. "Have you still been experiencing a lot of pain?"

"Its been better. But I've been sleeping a lot," Tony admitted.

"That's to be expected and its good for you," she said as she inspected his wounds. "They look good." She gently cleaned the wounds and applied a clean dressing. Then she proceeded to take Tony's vital signs. "You're doing very well. I think we can get you out of here and into a regular room. Sound good?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, that sounds very good."

"Okay, I'll go make the arrangements for the transfer and see about starting you on a soft diet if think you feel up to it."

"Yeah, I'd like to try to eat something," Tony said. He knew the faster he could move things along, the faster he'd be able to go home.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" she asked.

Tony shook his head. "No thanks. I think I'm good."

"Alright then. I'll send Mr. Gibbs back in and I'll see you later." She then hurried out of the room and a few moments later, Gibbs came back in.

"So, what's the verdict?" Gibbs asked, looking at Tony with obvious concern.

"She said I'm doing pretty well," Tony replied as he fiddled with the covers on his bed. He had no idea why he was feeling so uncomfortable around Gibbs all of a sudden. "I'm getting transferred to a regular room."

"That's good news," Gibbs was relieved that Tony was doing so well. He only wished his emotional wounds could heal as quickly. "Is there anything I can get for you?" he asked after another long and awkward silence.

Tony shook his head, staring down at the bed. It was then that his eyes focused on the stuffed hippo beside him on the head. "Abby was here?" he asked, picking it up.

"Yeah," Gibbs said, nodding. "She thought maybe it would cheer you up."

"That was nice of here," Tony said, oddly touched by the gesture. His father had not been a fan of stuffed animals of any kind. It brought back memories of a stuffed dog he had carried around when he was a kid. It had been one of the last gifts his mother had ever given to him and he had started carrying it around with him constantly after his mom had died. One night he had gone to bed with the dog and the next morning he had awoken to find it gone. He had known his father had taken it even though he had never dared ask about it and his father had never offered any information. He felt a lump develop in his throat thinking about it and he quickly swiped his sleeve over his eyes, once again feeling the beginning of welling tears. Dammit. What the hell was wrong with him? His emotions were so out of control. He tightened his grasp on the hippo, finding it to be somehow comforting in a weird way.

Gibbs could see Tony was becoming emotional again and he inwardly cursed his inability to be able to help his agent. He was totally at a loss as to how to deal with the situation. Finally, after Tony looked to be in control of himself again, he spoke. "Hey...you feel like talking?" he asked softly.

"No...not really, boss..."

Silence once again ensued, with neither man speaking. The silence was ultimately broken by the appearance of a member of the transport team who arrived to get Tony transferred to a regular room. "I'll meet you upstairs," Gibbs said. He wanted to go speak to Agent Burton and tell him of the change in rooms. He also wasn't really sure how Tony would react to the guard so he thought it best just not to mention it to him for the time being.

A short while later, Tony found himself in his new room, which he was glad to see was private. He really wouldn't have wanted to have to deal with a roommate. Gibbs hadn't arrived yet and he was relieved to at least have a little time to himself. Finding himself to be utterly exhausted once again, with his arm holding Bert snugly against his side, Tony drifted off into a troubled sleep.