A/N: Thanks so much for all the review. If you haven't noticed by now, the italics are Tony's POV and the normal is someone else's POV, normally Gibbs'. Sometimes Tony's will be longer, sometimes the other one will be. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Three

When I woke up the next morning, Boss was already awake. I could hear him in the kitchen and my stomach rumbled and I knew I was hungry. I use to have a tube that went into my stomach but they took it out when I got better. It's another scar I have but I forget about it sometimes because it hides underneath my clothes.

I got out of bed by myself and took off my braces with my good hand. My head didn't hurt very much and I stood up slowly cause if I got up too fast my brain would hurt again. I walked to my closet really slow and got a pair of pants to put on but I didn't pick a shirt out because I still couldn't take my shirt off by myself.

I put the pants on by myself and I did it really quietly because I didn't want Boss to hear and come upstairs and help me. Sometimes other people liked to help too much but Boss was real good at knowing when I didn't want help. But I had a headache last night and he might think I need help so I was really quiet and put on my pants without making a sound.

After my pants were on I stood up again cause I can't put my pants on standing up and almost walked away before I remembered blue on. I had to wear my helmet when I went anywhere because the doctor said parts of my head were weaker than others and those parts had to be protected. I also wore it because I had lots of lines all over my head and since my hair was still growing back I didn't like looking at them and kept blue on.

I put my helmet on and snapped it cause Abby got me a helmet with a snap and not buckle like the other helmets the hospital had. That, and their helmets were white and big and mine was blue, ocean blue like my room and my memory book and Abby said mine was a hockey helmet so it looked different than the helmets the hospital had.

I grabbed my memory book too and opened it, slowly reading the first page. I read really slow now cause when I tried to read fast I get my words mixed up and confused and then I get frustrated and Boss said that after that I start yelling for a long time but I don't remember yelling.

I forget stuff sometimes.

My blue memory book has a list on the first page and out of the whole book, this is the only page where someone else wrote on it. Boss wrote on it cause when I first got my book I still couldn't write too well and I didn't want to mess up my book. The list isn't long and it takes up half the page anyway.

1. Make sure you're dressed.

2. Go wash you face and go to the bathroom first.

3. Go real slow, no need to rush.

4. Make sure head doesn't hurt. If it does, tell someone.

5. Take medicine to keep shakes away.

When Boss wrote that list, I didn't remember what a seizure was and since I had them in the hospital, I have to take medicine now. The medicine taste gross but I only have to take it in the morning right when I wake up and before I go to bed. I haven't had a shake in a long time. I know shakes are seizures but I like the word shake better cause that's what happens when I get one. I get scared sometimes that I'll have another one but I have my blue on and it keeps my brain safe from getting hurt again.

Boss heard me when I flush the toilet and waited till I came out of the restroom to come up the stairs. He smiled when he saw that I put my pants on by myself cause that meant that my head didn't hurt much and when my head doesn't hurt that means I'm gonna have a good day.

He asked if I was hungry and I told him yeah. He laughed and said I'm always hungry and I told him I don't think I'm always hungry cause I'm not hungry right after I eat.

He said that was true and walked down the stairs, waiting for me to walk down them too. I remember that it's bad leg down first when I step down the steps. If I go to fast I fall and Abby got me a blue helmet when she saw me fall.

I don't like falling but I have a blue helmet on so if I have to fall it'll keep my brain safe. That and Boss is always close by and he caught me yesterday when I almost fell and even though I'm taller than him he's really strong cause he was in the Marines.

I walked a bit faster to the kitchen because I'm hungry but Boss grabbed my bad hand real carefully and told me to slow down.

I nodded and slowed down but I hate going slow. If I go fast I might fall but I have blue on and I remember that the lady who helped me start walking again said that if I fall I need to put my hands in front or I would bust my face open.

I had started crying then even though I didn't fall cause my head had already been busted open and I was scared that if my face busted open that I wouldn't be able to leave the hospital. Now I know she meant I would hurt my face but I didn't know that then and it scared me really bad until Boss came and told me he would never let that happen. But I got real upset after that and didn't do anything for the rest of the day.

I still fall though when I go too fast but most the time I remember to go slow so I won't fall but I wear my helmet just in case. After Abby bought it she used a silver marker to put my name on it so that everyone would know it was mine. Then Abby, Probie, Ziva, Ducky, Jimmy and Boss signed it which is cool cause no one else had a blue helmet with their names on it. Kate didn't get to sign it though, cause Abby bought it after she had died and that made me sad so I got a marker and put her name on the inside where no one could see it cause since she's dead, no one can see her anymore.

I forget sometimes, that she died and it makes Boss and everyone real sad when I say her name but Ziva doesn't get sad but that's because she didn't know Kate and that makes me sad cause she never got to meet my friend.

I touch my helmet and wonder if Kate would have liked the color. I think she would have cause Ziva likes the color a lot and Ziva is like Kate sometimes even though Ziva and Kate weren't related and never met. But Ziva is funny and nice like Kate was and Ziva laughed when I spilled juice down my shirt just like Kate would have but her laugh was different which was okay because laughing doesn't have to have a particular sound to be a good laugh. But it had been funny when I spilt juice down my shirt and I'm glad Ziva laughed cause it was funny and I don't like laughing by myself.

I touch my helmet again and think about Kate's name inside my helmet and Ziva's name on the outside and I hope I don't ever have to put her name by Kate's.

"Does your head hurt Tony?" Gibbs asked again, tapping Tony on the shoulder. Tony seemed to be having a good day. He had completed his morning list without having to ask for help and had even made it down the stairs without incident. Now though, he wasn't eating his breakfast and kept rubbing his helmet.

Gibbs repeated the question when Tony finally match Gibb's gaze, "Does your head hurt Tony?"

Tony barely shook his head and answered, "Helmet. Uh, no, not hurting Boss."

"That's good then," Gibbs pushed Tony's plate a bit closer towards him, "The pancakes are ready so you can put the syrup on. Do you want milk or orange juice?"

"Blue. Inside. Yes," Tony answered, reaching for the syrup with his good hand.

"Which one Tony? Do you want milk or do you want orange juice?"

Realizing that his answer didn't make sense, Tony started fidgeting, "I-I don't- um. Helmet. Blue. Kate."

"Tony," Gibbs sat back down and lowered his gaze till it matched Tony's, "take a deep breath and calm down. I have orange juice. Do you want to drink that?"

"Stairs. No," Tony calmed himself and took a deep breath, hoping to hold all the wrong words in, "Milk to drink please."

"Okay," Gibbs smiled and stood, heading toward the refrigerator.

Tony nodded as if confirming Gibbs' okay before using his good hand to spear the pancake pieces with his fork. He made quick work, for him anyway, of the pancakes and said a muffled, "Thank you," when Gibbs placed the milk in front of Tony a moment later.

Seeing Tony situated, Gibbs ate his own breakfast and drank his coffee while reading the newspaper. It was early and as soon as Tony was finished he would ask him what he wanted to do today.

Tony finished about ten minutes after Gibbs did and carefully put his plate in the sink before returning to put his cup in the sink. After he was done he headed towards the living room and sat down slowly.

"You want to watch some movies today Tony?" Gibbs asked. Tony would probably make it through two or three before falling asleep. Though he was well enough to go home, Tony tired easily and often still took naps mid-day.

"Slow. No," Tony responded, "Magnum P.I."

Having brought all of Tony's stuff from his old apartment over to his house while Tony had still been in the ICU, Gibbs walked towards the TV and put a disc in the DVD player. The episode started a few minutes later and Tony's eyes lit up.

"I remember this one," Tony looked at Gibbs excitedly, "Up. Stairs. Slow. I remember Boss I do! This is the one where…"

Gibbs smiled as Tony animatedly described what this episode was about. Moments like these gave Gibbs hope that Tony would continue to get better. Although the doctors said that Tony was more or less as good as he was going to get, Gibbs knew that they didn't know Tony.

Besides, Gibbs laughed when Tony suddenly stopped mid spiel and instead watched the episode, Tony was never suppose to even be able to talk after what had happened to him.

Sometimes, doctors were wrong.

I like watching movies and Magnum P.I. Old movies are cool but new movies are okay too. I don't remember all the movies I use to like but I still remember most of them and Boss said that now that I was home, we could watch movies and Magnum P.I. all day if I wanted. Boss doesn't have to go to work for awhile he said cause he took a vacation when the doctors told him I was going to leave the hospital.

I don't know if Boss is going on a vacation but if he does I hope he takes me with him because I've never been to a lot of places and a lot of the places I have been too I don't remember anymore.

After breakfast we watched Magnum P.I. all morning but I took a nap before lunch because I get tired real easily. Boss didn't wake me up and when I woke up by myself, I heard him working on his boat. I haven't seen his boat but I remember how the last one looked like and I hope he built one that looked the same cause if he did that would be really cool. We couldn't take it anywhere though cause Boss built his boat in the basement and that's because he never wanted to sail it. I think that's funny a bit but I remember that Boss named this boat Kelly after his little girl that died a long time ago. I wonder where Boss put their names cause he doesn't have a blue helmet like me or a memory book. I put Kate in those places because I want to remember her, even though I sometimes forget she died.

I remember Gibbs' daughter and wife got killed by a drug dealer but I don't remember how Kate died and I didn't ask cause I know that would make everyone sad and I'm scared to ask because sometimes, I think it's my fault she died but Boss told me it wasn't my fault and I believe him because Boss wouldn't lie.

I drooled when I fell asleep on the couch and wiped it off my face. Since my bad side is weak, half my mouth doesn't always work right and sometimes drool comes out when I sleep but I don't get bothered by it anymore because its different when you're asleep because you can't control what your body does. I only get mad when I drool and I'm awake cause it's gross and I think it makes everyone sad that my mouth doesn't work right all the time.

Boss walked up the stairs after I wiped the drool off. Those stairs are different than the ones that go to my room even though the stairs are inside. I don't know how many there are and I haven't asked Boss yet because that's his special place and I know I shouldn't go down there unless I'm invited.

Boss walked into the living room and smiled when he saw that I was awake. I liked it when he smiled cause the skin around his eyes wrinkles. His eyes are ocean blue too, and they're the same color as my blue room even though my room is painted and his eyes were like that all the time.

He said he was going to make lunch and was coming to wake me up. I'm glad I woke up because then Boss would have seen the drool.

Boss handed me my helmet and asked if I wanted to wear it because I was only going to walk a short ways but I grabbed it with my good hand and put it on. Blue on when walk so my brain stays safe, I told him. He said that it was good I remembered and helped me stand. Since I didn't wear my braces to sleep my bad hand hurt but Boss helped me stretch it out and it didn't hurt so bad after that which was good cause I was having a good day.