A/N: It's funny how some people have nothing better to do than disrespecting the others. I mean if they don't like a story, how come they spent so much time reading every chapter of it and every single comment, so they can insult the writer and the fans in another comment at the end? And all that because their favorite character is not as well-liked as they think! Funny how they say WE can't accept criticism and it's them who get mad when they read about the shortcomings of their favorite character; and apparently we're not allowed to point those things out in our stories, but they're allowed to badmouth us and our favorite character and we just have to keep quiet and thank them or we'll be called other things! I don't know, to me that just sounds ridiculous! They totally need to get a life!

Guys, thank you. Your support and encouraging words lift my spirit and give me hope. But don't worry, I'd never leave a story unfinished; if one day I feel so down that I decide to give up on writing, I'd stop writing new fictions, not finishing the current ones.

Hope you enjoy this new chapter as you're going to get some answers to your question, finally.

.

Ten days later, things looked marginally better, even though there hadn't been much changes in Tony's condition.

But the fact that he had fought and made it through the first week was enough reassurance for everyone. His lungs were doing better and the ventilator was now doing half the job and was only there to help him breathe. His heart was stronger, as well and wouldn't skip beats as much as before; it still happened from time to time, which only managed to scare Gibbs even though he'd witnessed it many times before, especially during the first week, but the doctors were optimistic about his heart's condition.
The only problem was that Tony was still in a coma. The medical team was hopeful and they said that the coma wasn't as deep as it'd been at first, but they still couldn't tell when Tony'd wake up or if he woke up at all.

Gibbs' injuries prevented him from doing much, besides sitting by the younger man's bedside, that is and he wasn't about to complain about it. As much as he wanted to get out and find a way to close the case completely, he knew he couldn't do that. After the kidnapping and the rescue mission, those who hadn't been at the warehouse at that time, had disappeared altogether and to Gibbs' chagrin, the bald guy who'd shot Tony was one of those who'd escaped.

The case had turned cold because the gangs, after losing so many members, had clearly abandoned their deals this side of the country and had taken their business elsewhere.

But Gibbs had the picture of the bald guy's face printed and attached to the wall of his desk in the bullpen. The first day that he'd been able to get to the office, he'd found out that the guy was called Max Riggs; so, he'd put a BOLO on him, but so far there was nothing. Gibbs'd vowed that he'd finally hunt the man down and bring him to justice for what he'd done to Tony.

Now though, now he could either just sit there and will Tony to wake up or go back to the office to stare at the picture of Max Riggs.

That morning, Gibbs had gone back to the office just to check and see if there was anything new on the BOLO; he didn't care about any other cases, at that moment; not that with his healing ribs and hands, he could do much about them; but he felt so indifferent towards everything else that he'd even resign if Vance let him; he was a wreck and didn't think he could get his mind back to work for a while.

After telling the Director that he wanted to resign, Vance had offered to give him time off as long as he needed; he just had to promise he'd come back and Gibbs had promised to come back as long as DiNozzo did, too.

"Agent Gibbs?" Another agent walked into their area and came to a halt in front of his desk.

"What?" He looked up at Agent Roy and waited for her to talk.

"Sir, there's a woman here who's looking for Agent DiNozzo. I didn't know if you wanted the news about Agent DiNozzo to travel around, so I didn't say anything to her. Would you meet her?"

"Where's she?"

"Over there. Next to the elevator." She looked over Gibbs' head towards where the elevators were.

Gibbs nodded and slowly got up from his chair and walked towards the woman.

"I'm Agent Gibbs. What can I do for you, Ms.-?"

"Sharp. I'm Julia Sharp. I'm looking for Tony; umm, Agent DiNozzo. You're his boss, right? Do you know where I can find him?" She looked genuinely worried when she asked the question, making Gibbs wonder how she was related to Tony.

"Yes," Gibbs replied sadly. "We work together." He said instead of saying that he's Tony's Boss. "He's not available at the moment, though. Can you tell me what do you want with him? We might be able to help you. He a friend of yours?"

"Yes. Yes. Tony... Um, Tony is a dear friend. He's been helping us a lot." She said as Gibbs led her to their area and sat her behind Tony's desk.

"This is Tony's desk." He said kindly to put her at ease.

"I don't think he's told you about us, but he's told us a lot about you guys." She looked around the bullpen. "The thing is I needed to thank him and give him some good news, but I can't get a hold of him. I got worried and finally decided to come here and see if I could find him here. Is he alright?"

"He's-" McGee spoke, but then stopped mid-sentence and looked at Gibbs for permission; at his nod, he continued. "He's in the hospital."

Despite the bad news, Julia didn't look too shocked. "I was afraid of something like that. Is he going to be alright?"

"Are you his girlfriend?" Ziva jumped in with an interrogative tone.

"What? No." She seemed more surprised at this question. "No; he's an old friend."

"What did you want to thank him for and what good news did you want to give him?" Once again Ziva asked with an accusing tone.

Julia eyed her with suspicion while Gibbs turned around and glared at her. "David. Mind your own business."

"I apologize." She sighed, sounding well chastised.

Julia nodded hesitantly. "It's alright. It's just that-" She took her eyes from Ziva and looked at Gibbs. "Tony seems to have understated the situation here."

Gibbs almost smirked at that, knowing she was referring to Ziva and her rudeness.

"I wanted to thank him for what he's done for us during the past month, especially some days back. My little girl has been really sick lately and we came here, because a doctor at MedStar could help her. Melisa and I have been staying at Tony's apartment for three weeks now and two weeks ago, Melisa's situation got really bad and I had to rush her to the hospital. I..." She paused and swallowed at remembering those hard days. "I don't know anyone here and if Tony hadn't been there for me, I don't know what I would've done. He stayed with us the first two days that Melisa was in the hospital, but he told me that you guys were working on an important case and he couldn't stay any longer; so when Melisa started to show some improvement, he left to come back to work. For a while, I was really losing it there and if he hadn't come through, I would've had a terrible breakdown and nobody would've been there to help me and my little girl. But the treatment seems to be working and now they're sure that Melisa is gonna be alright. Tony's let us stay at his place even though he'd rarely come home himself and well, he hadn't been home at all the last two weeks. He paid for Melisa' treatment and he did everything to make sure we'd be alright. But two weeks is the most I could go without knowing what's happened or where he is. I hope it's OK with him that I've shown up here."

The look on everyone's face was comical. They all looked shocked and ashamed. Julia couldn't guess why, but she was an observant woman and she thought that it seemed like they all owed someone, presumably Tony, an apology.

"Anyway, I don't wanna impose on Tony any longer, so I thought I should go back to New Orleans with Melisa; I'll come back later to thank Tony properly and to try to repay him, but my daughter still needs lots of rest and caring, so I can't leave her alone right now and it's not right to stay at Tony's and take advantage of his kindness. So..." She shrugged. "Just... Umm, do you think it's possible if I see Tony in the hospital before I go? I really need to see him."

"Who's with Melisa, now?" Gibbs asked instead, having his shock and guilt hidden from those who didn't know how to read him.

"She's sitting in the car." She took a deep breath and then quietly voiced what was concerning her, "Agent Gibbs, Tony's not dead, is he?" She asked when she felt that all her questions about Tony's well-being were answered vaguely.

Gibbs almost winced. His feelings over the word 'dead' were still raw, especially since it was still a possibility for Tony. "No." He said quickly. "But you can't see him, I'm afraid. He's in the ICU."

"O God." This time, she did pale.

"No, it's not that bad anymore. He's gotten over the worst part, but he still can't have visitors."

"I see." She nodded sadly, sounding truly distraught. "It's... Well, he's helped us so much and I can't even be there for him when he needs someone."

"He won't be alone." Gibbs tried to reassure her, sounding a bit annoyed that she thought they wouldn't be there for their teammate. "I'll let him know you stopped by and will have him call you the moment he's strong enough."

"That'd be great, Agent Gibbs. Thank you." She finally smiled. "Seems like Tony's been pretty fair about you. I should leave now." She stood up from the chair and shook hands with Gibbs. "Thanks and please let Tony know how thankful I am and that I wish him a quick recovery. I would've stayed to help him, but with Melisa in this situation, I can't. Her father is deployed overseas and he's gonna be back this week or the next, so we both will come back to thank Tony, later. Thank you. Bye everyone." She nodded her head towards them one by one and then left.

Gibbs left the bullpen quickly after her, not able to stay in the area any longer. Like the other two agents, he felt even more ashamed of his behavior now; Tony'd taken that two days off to help a child and her scared mother and they all had seen the worried look on his face, but instead of asking him if he was alright, they'd accused him of different horrible things and had pretty much called him unreliable and untrustworthy.

Well, Karma was a mean bitch.

Tony was in the hospital; in a coma and they couldn't even ask for his forgiveness.

.

.

... TBC ...

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but free time is something I can hardly find these days.

Share your thoughts with me. :)

.

.

All mistakes are mine.

.

.