A/N: So much for a short sequel; at this rate, this one will end up as long as the original story. Or end up as a series.

Thanks for the reviews, everyone. F.

Blackness.

He'd wandered through it for an eternity, guided onwards by a glow on the horizon, first seen dimly but now as bright as the sun. He paused. Something was wrong. He swung his head, considering. Ahead, the glow promised warmth and peace. He was so cold. Behind him lay blackness... And Abby. Abby. Resolutely he turned his back on the glow and struggled back into the dark. The blackness was thick and syrupy, making it hard to move. He pushed onwards. He had to get back to Abby.

Another light on the horizon. This one was cold and white. He kept going as it got brighter. It became easier to move towards it. Slowly feeling returned; a throbbing ache in his shoulder and another, lesser one in his leg. There was something uncomfortable across his nose and cheeks; he tried to raise his hand to swipe it away and couldn't move his arm. Fear made him open his eyes; why couldn't he move his arm?

Suddenly it all came flooding back; the suspect, pulling a small pistol out of seemingly nowhere; the shot; the burning as the bullet caught his shoulder. He was in the hospital. He looked around.

Abby was fast asleep next to his bed, her head lying on an uncomfortable angle across the edge of the mattress, her hand lightly holding his. Her hair was a mess, one pigtail unbraided and straggly, her eyes were red and puffy even in sleep, and what remained of her mascara had left black streaks on her cheek. She'd never looked more beautiful to him. He gently squeezed her hand, wanting so badly to see her open her eyes and look at him. She shifted a little in her sleep, muttering something incomprehensible. He smiled a little; he'd never tell her, but he loved that she talked in her sleep. He squeezed her hand again. This time she woke, raising her head and looking at him in disbelief

"Hi" he tried to say, but it came out as a croak. He cleared his throat and tried again. Why was his throat sore?

"Timmy" the relief in her voice was palpable. She launched herself at him. Bracing for a characteristic Abby-hug, he caught her in his good arm, wrapping it around her waist like he'd never let her go. Face muffled against his chest, she was sobbing

"God Tim, I thought I'd lost you"

He wanted to reassure her that he wasn't that easy to kill, she wasn't going to lose him any time soon, but he couldn't force the words past the soreness in his throat

She shifted against him, reaching out and hitting the call button. A nurse came in, saw that he was awake and disappeared again, returning a few moments later with a doctor. She approached his bed and busied herself checking his temperature and blood pressure on his bad arm

"Ah, Agent McGee, you're awake. I'm Captain Reilly, I operated on your shoulder" he explained "How are you feeling?" McGee tried to answer, but all he got was more incomprehensible croaks. The doctor turned and asked the nurse to get some water "We had to put you on a ventilator overnight, Agent McGee. Your throat will probably be a little sore for a few days"

The nurse returned with a plastic cup of water with a straw sticking out of it. She went to hand it to Tim, but he refused to unwrap his arm from Abby's waist. Abby took it from her, grinning at Tim's flash of possessiveness as she held it so he could take a sip. The first sip felt like it was all soaked up by the dryness of his mouth; the second trickled down his sore throat. Finally it felt like he might be able to say something.

"We had to perform an arterial graft in your shoulder to repair the damage, Agent McGee. We took a section of artery from your leg to bridge the gap left by the bullet. We've had to totally immobilise your shoulder for now; we'll reduce the dressings in a few days, but we need to make sure that the graft is holding before we do that. And we've still got you on supplementary oxygen" now McGee knew what was uncomfortable across his face; oxygen prongs "but we'll look at stopping that later today. If you improve at your current rate, we may be able to move you to a regular room tomorrow"

He made some notations on the chart at the end of McGee's bed, then turned to leave. "Oh, if you experience any dizziness or nausea, please let us know straight away. We had you very heavily sedated overnight, and you may have a few side effects"

Left alone with Abby again, he was fighting to keep his eyes open. He was so tired. He pulled her closer and dropped a kiss on her hair

"Love you, Abs" he managed to croak out. The last thing he heard before falling asleep again was her heartfelt response

"I love you too, Tim"

...

When she was certain he was asleep, she gingerly unwound his arm from around her waist and exited his room. She didn't want to leave him, but she had to make some phone calls. She wasn't allowed to use her cell phone in the ICU, so she went into the waiting room down the hall to the payphone. She checked the time; 7.15am. Gibbs and the team would be at the office by now. She called Gibbs' cell, knowing that he would tell Tony and Ziva the good news.

"Yeah, Gibbs" came the familiar two word answer. Fleetingly, she wondered if he had answered the phone like that when his wives had called him

"Gibbs, it's Abby"

"Abs" she could hear his voice change as he focused on her phone call. He'd never admit, but he cared about his team as if they were his children "Is everything ok?"

"He woke up, Gibbs! For a few minutes anyway, he's gone back to sleep again now but it's a normal sleep, not the drugs this time and- "
"Abby" Gibbs broke in on her excited rambling

"Sorry Gibbs. He woke up. Dr Reilly said they might move him to a normal room tomorrow"

"That's good news, Abs. Thanks" Gibbs cut off. Used to his abrupt method of ending phone calls, Abby shrugged and moved to the next call on her list. Tim's parents.