Jimmy managed to get Gibbs back to his room unseen. He pushed the chair to the bed and turned to close the door.

"I appreciate you doin' that for me, Palmer," Gibbs said.

"No problem, Agent Gibbs," he replied as he headed back toward the bed. "If we'd gotten caught, then I probably would've freaked. But I understand you wanting to see Agent DiNozzo for yourself. You should probably get back in bed before they come get you for the MRI."

"Been tryin' since you put me here," he replied a bit wearily.

Jimmy furrowed his brow. "Do you need me to help?"

Gibbs swallowed down a bit of fear before looking up at the young man who was standing beside him now. "Can barely move my legs," he told him...

11 00 11 00 11

Three hours later...

Jimmy chewed his thumbnail as he sat beside Tony's bed in the hospital room. He'd debated calling anyone from the team. He knew they needed their sleep, and that their presence wouldn't really do anything more than help him.

He was afraid for Gibbs. The sudden inability to use his legs was unexpected, even by the doctors who came in afterward. He'd apologized profusely for having allowed Gibbs to talk him into helping him into the chair. But they doubted it had anything to do with the predicament. Jimmy wasn't so sure.

"Jimmy?" McGee's voice pulled him from his thoughts and he looked up to see him and Ziva as they quietly entered the room.

"Hey, guys. What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be home sleeping?"

"Is that where everyone is?" Tim asked.

"We stopped by Gibbs' room," Ziva said as she approached Tony's bedside. "He is not there."

"He's been getting an MRI. They shouldn't be much longer," Jimmy explained.

"Any change?" Ziva asked as she laid a hesitant hand on Tony's arm.

"Nothing yet," Jimmy told her sadly. "But they said he just needs to sleep while a majority of it works through his system. They treated him with the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist flumazenil, which displaces zolpidem from its binding site and rapidly reverses its effects."

"Rapidly?" McGee questioned. "It's been hours..."

"Well, with the amount of alcohol he consumed in addition to the pills...and his already compromised lungs...the main factor they're concerned about are his O2 levels. His respiratory system just needs to recuperate a bit. It's probably best that he's still sleeping. More comfortable for him, anyway. My great-uncle Harry woke up with the ventilator and nearly killed himself trying to rip it out. They had to sedate him! Imagine waiting for someone to wake up for weeks, and when they finally do, you have to put them right back under again..." He glanced up at the two agents who were now looking at him a bit strangely. "What?" he asked, thinking maybe there was something on his face.

"Anyone ever tell you you're sounding more like Ducky every day?" McGee asked.

"Yeah?" he smiled. Tim shared a glance with Ziva.

"Mr. Palmer?" a voice came from the doorway and they all looked over at the nurse standing there. "Agent Gibbs was just brought to his room. You asked us to let you know..."

"Thanks," he told her. She smiled and turned to leave. Jimmy looked at McGee, "Dr. Mallard wants me to stay with him whenever I can, until he gets back. But honestly...I feel really bad."

"What do you mean?" Tim asked with a furrowed brow.

"Well, I-I kinda find it a bit hard to...to say no to the man," he grimaced. "And he asked me to help him sneak over here to see Tony, which I completely understand. But by the time I got him back to his own room again, he uh..." Jimmy looked down to the floor.

"He what?" Ziva inquired.

He looked up again, glancing back and forth between the two of them. "He...lost movement...in his legs," he told them remorsefully. Tim's eyes widened, as did Ziva's. "The doctors said it didn't have anything to do with him being in the chair, but I...kinda have a feeling they're wrong. He was standing beside Tony's bed. The effort alone could've risen his blood pressure enough to force a clot they might have missed to travel to some part of his brain...who knows? There're so many possibilities..."

"Whatever is was," Tim said, "I'm sure it wasn't your fault. When Gibbs wants something, he makes sure to get it one way or another."

"Just the same, though, would you mind coming with me? I wanna see what they found; see if it's necessary to call Dr. Mallard back..."

Tbc...