"The hell he won't!" Gibbs replied sternly to the M.E assistant's words.

"Agent Gibbs...I- I didn't m-mean to imply that..."

"McGee!" Ziva came bursting into the room and was suddenly aware that she might seem a bit overly-anxious, and composed herself as best as she could manage. Glancing at Gibbs for a moment before looking back at Tim, she tried calmly to say, "They have removed the ventilator. He was awake...for maybe a few moments short of a minute, but enough for them to realize he could be taken off of the machine."

"He woke up?" Palmer asked with a relieved smile.

"For a moment, as I said," she replied. "But he seemed unaware of his surroundings; groggy... He is sleeping now, but off of the ventilator. This is a good sign, yes?" she asked, seeking each of their faces.

"What do you mean, he was unaware?" Palmer asked. "Did the doctors say anything about his pupils being reactive?"

"I am uncertain. I was not paying much attention to what they were saying," she admitted.

"One of you should be in there with him, in case he wakes up again," Gibbs said. "Palmer, find his doctor. Tell him I want an update on DiNozzo."

Jimmy nodded and left the room. McGee turned to Gibbs. "I'll go sit with him. If that's okay with you, boss..."

"You been home at all since yesterday, McGee?" Gibbs asked compassionately.

"I went home to shower and change after Ziva and I went to Tony's place," he told him.

"But have you slept?"

"I slept last night, boss. I'm fine, really." Gibbs didn't seem convinced. "I can sleep in Tony's room if I need to."

Gibbs detected the pleading in the younger agent's eyes. He nodded to him, and watched Tim turn and walk out of the room.

Ziva approached the side of the bed and laid her hands on his arm. "Are you all right? The MRI...?" She gave him a small, warm smile.

"I'll live," he told her, reassuring her with a small smile of his own, and brought his other hand over to cover hers. "Be even better when I know Tony's gonna be okay."

11 00 11 00 11

The first thing Tony was aware of was the throbbing pain in his skull. The last thing he could recall was stumbling into the bathtub.

"Oh shit..." He jolted awake and rolled, nearly falling off of a bed he didn't even know he was in.

The commotion pulled McGee from his sleep in the chair beside the bed, and he shot up to stop Tony from falling. "Whoa! Tony, calm down!" He tried to hold the agent as he flailed about in the confusion.

Tony's eyes scanned the room before landing on Tim. "McGee? What...what the hell? How the hell did I get here?" He glanced out the window at the dark sky.

"You don't remember?" Tim asked, slowly letting go of Tony's arms as the older agent stilled. He looked at Tim in confusion. "Remember what?" he asked in a low voice. Did something happen to Gibbs? Something I blocked out?...

"What's the last thing-"

"Drinking Gibbs' bourbon," Tony supplied before McGee could even finish the question. "Takin' a cab to my place, and takin' some...pills to sleep..." His eyes darted around a bit. "I might've...taken more than I should have, now that I'm sober enough to think straight..."

"I need to know," Tim's eyes were glassy as he spoke, Tony could see it, even in the dim light of the room. "I need to know that you didn't do that on purpose, Tony..."

"What?"

"You heard the doctor talking to Ducky. I get it. You were upset; thought Gibbs wouldn't wake up again."

"You think I tried to..."

"No!" Tim shook his head, incredulously. "I don't think that! But I need to hear it from you! 'Cause when I walked in there and found you like that...I thought you were..."

"You found me?" Tony's eyes began to sting.

McGee nodded. "I thought you were dead," his voice cracked with the words. "I didn't know what to do... Between you and Gibbs...I..."

"Tim, I'm so sorry," Tony's voice was a whisper now, tears threatening to spill over. "I didn't mean for that to happen...It was selfish and stupid. I just wanted to sleep. Nothing was working...and I kept taking more...I wasn't even thinking..."

"You're right. You weren't," Tim retorted, and Tony met his eyes, flinching. "But either was I. I should've stayed with you. I should've seen there was something wrong."

"There's no way you could've known that, Tim..."

"You could've died, Tony," his voice cracked again, and the tears spilled over and down his cheeks, disappearing as they trailed below his jaw. "If I hadn't spoken to Ducky when I got back here, I wouldn't have followed my gut to go back and check to make sure you were okay, and you'd be dead right now, and that'd be on me!"

Tony was up off of the bed now, standing on shaky legs once he'd seen the tears fall. He pulled McGee into a hug, squeezing him tightly with all the strength he was able to conjure. "No, Tim...no, it wouldn't have. It was my fault; no one else's. Don't you ever think that. I'm so sorry, McGee..."

"I'm not mad..." He breathed, accepting the embrace. "I was...scared as hell. I thought we were gonna lose both of you..."

Tony gently pulled away and lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed as he absorbed the words Tim had just told him. "What are you telling me?" His voice was laced with pain.

Tim realized that Tony took that to mean that something had happened to their boss, since he'd been out of commission. McGee shook his head. "Gibbs is fine, Tony. He woke up some time after you were admitted."

"He's fine?" Tony seemed relieved.

"Supposedly," he told him. "There's some swelling that's making it difficult for him to walk, but they're saying that should change once it goes down. Other than that, he's just been worried about you."

"He doesn't think that I..." he didn't need to finish the question.

"Ziva and I went to your apartment to prove that it wasn't intentional," Tim told him. "Mostly for the sake of your job, if it ever got out, why you were in here. No one wanted to think it was purposeful, Tony, but I didn't want there to be any room for doubt-"

He was cut off by another unexpected hug from Tony. "You didn't have to do that," he said in almost a whisper. "Thank you...I love ya, McGee..."

Tim furrowed his brow. "You're not still drunk, are you?" he asked, half-jokingly.

"If you mention this in the future, then yes... But no...I'm not. You're the best friend I've ever had, Tim..."

McGee wasn't sure how to reply. "Wasn't anything you wouldn't have done for me, Tony..." And that was completely true. But for Tony, there was a very short list of people who'd ever done something in reciprocation. Tim was one of them. Another was in a room not far from his. And the rest were probably gathered at that man's beside...

Tbc...