Driving me Crazy – 8
Title: Driving me crazy
Author: AbbyGibbs
Disclaimers: see part one!
Feedbacks: well, I'd love them, of course – who wouldn't? But please, only if you respect my work because it takes a lot of time and energy to get a story together. I love writing; I wouldn't allow anyone to discourage me from doing so, never. I don't have any problems at all with readers who choose not to go for this, but I decidedly do with those who write disrespectful mails just because they didn't get the ending they would have wanted. If you want to tell me what I might have done better within the story I made up, you're always very welcome to let me know. But if your only concern is to rant about it, then please, do it in private, okay? Thank you.
Thanks so much for all the reviews everyone the made me feel so much better. Thanks so much Laci for beta reading this and being there for me when I needed it the most.
Here is another chapter, I really hope you'll like it.
I know the show does not specify how she takes her coffee and it's a pure guess that she drinks any at all, but if I remember correctly, in one of the episodes Gibbs doesn't hand Abby a Caf-Pow!, but a coffee, so we will assume she does drink coffee occasionally for the purpose of this story, okay?
PREVIOUSLY ON "DRIVING ME CRAZY"
Disoriented, Gibbs didn't really know what had happened or where he was, he wasn't even sure of who he was right now. Though he was sure the woman that was kissing him was Abby.
"What happened?" He asked her when she let him breathe.
"We stopped not far from a car that was halted in the middle of the traffic and you went out to go and check on the car and next thing I knew, you were thrown back. Gibbs I thought I'd lost you!"
"You won't lose me that easily, Abbs."
"What is it with the two of us? I could have died yesterday stuck in a car, and today, I could have lost you because a car blew up. Tell me Gibbs, were you jealous or something?" She asked him.
"I dunno, maybe." He humored.
"It's not funny Gibbs!"
With those words said heard the sirens of the ambulance that was nearing. Gibbs tried to pull himself up then, only to be stopped by Abby.
"Don't. You might have something broken."
"But..." He started to protest.
"Gibbs, do me a favor and for once in your life listen to what you're told." Abby said in a very serious tone that startled Gibbs somewhat which made him stay still until the paramedics arrived.
Tony was checking his watch every five minutes making his colleagues nervous, He had this funny feeling in his stomach which mostly meant that something would happen soon or something had happened.
Gibbs said he would be here at the most in forty-five minutes and he was ten minutes late, which wasn't like him at all, even moreso now that he dated Abby, Gibbs would never been ten minutes late, and if something had indeed happened why hadn't Abby called yet? Maybe because she was hurt of something?
Calm down Tony. Take a deep breath. He kept repeating himself
As he was repeating it to himself for the fiftieth time, his cell phone rang. As he saw the name tag on the small digital screen, his heartbeat raised, he knew something had happened.
"Abbs?"
"Tony we are at Bethesda..." She didn't have the opportunity to go any further.
"Are you and Gibbs, okay? What happened?" He asked her in a slightly edged voice as he stood up from his chair.
At his questions McGee and Ziva snapped their heads up.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just a couple of stitches here and there, but other than that, I'm fine, Tony. Gibbs is a different story though, but it could have been a lot worse than it is. He was walking toward a car when it exploded. He has a head wound, and a bad bruise on the left side of his rib cage and I think the doctor said he has a broken rib or something, but that's all." She told her friend in a somewhat tired voice.
"Don't move, we'll be right there, Abby." He said. He was about to hang up when he heard Abby call his name.
"And Tony could yo..." Tony cut her mid sentence, smiling.
"Bring you a Caf-Pow!" He finished the sentence for her.
"Thanks, Tony."
"No problem, Abby. We'll be right there, hang on." DiNozzo told her before, he ended the phone call.
Tony made another call right after that to send agents where the explosion had occurred and after closing his cell phone for the second time, he told McGee and Ziva that they were going to Bethesda and proceeded to tell them his phone call with Abby.
As they arrived at the hospital they found Abby pacing, and seemed engaged in a heavy discussion with herself - something she usually did when she was anxious and nervous or if something was wrong and it also seemed as if she had been or was crying. The minute she saw them she rushes into Tony's arms. Tony let her cry for a few moments before finally asking what was going on.
He caressed her back smoothly. "Abby what's going on? On the phone you said Gibbs was doing okay that he was just bruised."
Abby took a deep breath before she told him in crying, broken voice: "I know and he was, but as we were close to the exit he suddenly struggled to breath, and said that each time he took a breath his chest was hurting and he collapsed. I called for help and within seconds doctors rushed to our sides and the next think I knew he was taken away. Everything happened so fast... I... I... Oh God, Tony, I'm so scared of losing him." She said as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, and threw herself at him.
"Sssh, Abby, it's gonna be fine, Gibbs is strong, he will get through it." He told her softly holding a little bit tighter to him.
"Tony's right, Gibbs is tough he'll get through this." Ziva said as she came to stand closer to them.
A small wicked smile appeared on Tony's face then as he looked at Ziva for a brief moment and place his lips closer to Abby's ear so she would be the only one to hear.
"And besides, he won't leave you know that he finally made the jump & started something so special with you. Believe me."
Abby couldn't help the smile that made its way through her tears at her friend's words. Tony was right Gibbs would never leave her after what had happened between them last night and this morning.
Abby pulled back a little then, just enough so she could look into his eyes and smiled weakly. "Thanks, Tony."
"Anytime, Abby, Anytime."
"Did you bring me a Caf-Pow?" She suddenly asked him.
Tony feigned indignation as if he would have forgotten. "McDrinky, bring the Caf-Pow! to the lady."
Tim walked toward them and handed Abby her so beloved drink. It didn't take more than 5 seconds for the straw to be in her mouth once she had the drink in her hands which made Tony laugh. He grew rapidly serious again though when Abby asked him if he had sent agents to crime scene.
He nodded his head telling her that they would figure out why that car had exploded.
"Tony we have to determine if it was deliberate or not, if it was meant for Gibbs or anything else."
"I know Abbs, I know..."
Abby's eyes widened then as she realized something "Oh my God, I forgot to tell Ducky! Did you?"
One look at Ziva and she was already dialing the old medical examiner's cell phone number and walk a little away from them. The doctor chose that precise moment to come and walk toward them to tell them how Gibbs was doing.
The moment she saw Dr. Bratt, Abby's straightened, and grabbed for Tony's hand that was now standing next to her on her right. McGee stood a little farther from them and as he looked at them he couldn't help but feel a sentiment of jealousy rise inside of him. Abby and Tony were as close as if they were brother and sister, they shared a very close bond.
Tim and Abby had never such closeness, not even when they'd been together, and Tim was slowly starting to wonder if he would ever find a woman to share his life with and have kids. That was something life would decide on. We could never know what lies for us at the next corner.
"Leroy Jethro Gibbs?" the doctor ventured.
"Yes," Tony, Abby and McGee said in unison as Ziva head turned as she told Ducky the doctor had arrived with news that she would call him back to inform him and ended the call.
Approaching the others, Ziva stood now on Abby's other side waiting for the man to tell them how Gibbs was doing.
"I'm Doctor Bratt, Jason Bratt. Mr. Gibbs's life is not in danger anymore and he is sleeping now, he's gonna be fine, but he had a collapsed lung. You'll be able to see him soon, but not too long. And he will have to do things slowly for the next three weeks."
Abby and Tony's eyes met.
This is gonna be fun They thought.
"Does that mean he can't come to work for three weeks?" Tony asked the Dr. Bratt.
"No. He can't and definitely not the first two. It is imperative that he doesn't take a plane for at least a month maybe even two or the consequences might be fatal."
At Doctor Bratt's last words Abby gasped and her fingers tightened dangerously around Tony's hand.
"But doctor you just said he's life isn't in danger anymore." Tony remarked.
"Yes, that's what I said and it's true, but there are some things he'll have to be careful with from now on. His lung probably collapsed because Mr. Gibbs has a couple of broken ribs, it happens sometimes. A chest tube has been placed between the ribs into the space around the lungs to help drain the air and allow the lung to re-expend. He'll have to stay here a few days, then in time we will take the tube out. "
"Can we go see him now?" Abby anxiously asked.
The doctor was about to tell her that it would be better to wait a little longer, but changed his mind the moment he looked at her. There was something in her eyes he couldn't describe that broke his heart.
"Alright you can go Miss, but not long. I'll bring you to him."
Abby looked at DiNozzo then and slowly let go of his hand.
"Thank you, doctor."
Jason Bratt looked at the men and Ziva that were looking at him thankfully for a moment before he took leave of them. "Gentlemen, Miss."
"Thank you Dr. Bratt." They all said, and Tony reached out to shake the man's hand.
A moment later he was walking with Abby away from them.
This wasn't going to be easy for them and definitely not for Abby, They needed to find answers, and they'd have to figure something out to keep an eye on Gibbs so that he wouldn't be doing stupid things; he was so pig-headed.
And they all knew that Abby would be willing to stay with him the time he would have to stay home, the first week at least.
Special agent Anthony DiNozzo wondered if the car explosion was really meant to hurt or even kill Gibbs in the first place. Could it be a simple accident? Was it meant to hide something? Was it a diversion? For now, they had a thousand questions and no single answer.
Tony felt his cell phone vibrating in his jacket pocket. He took the device out of his pocket and walked toward the exit doors and flipped the phone open.
"DiNozzo."
"Agent DiNozzo, I think you'd better send Dr. Mallard over here. We found two burnt to a cinder bodies..." The voice of NCIS agent Tom Elliott on the other side of the phone paused.
"And Agent Elliott?"
"One of the bodies is most likely one of child." Elliott said slowly.
Tony's eyes closed as he swore inwardly. Damn it!
"Thanks Elliott, I will notify Dr. Mallard immediately."
Tony rang off then called Ducky. When he picked up his cell phone Ducky told Tony he was on his way to the hospital, but he stopped him and told him to go right to the crime scene. They would be joining him a few.
Ending the call with the medical examiner he jogged back inside to inform McGee and Ziva and instructed them to go to the scene that he would come after he had informed Abby.
DiNozzo watched as his colleagues left Bethesda. He decides to wait until Abby showed up again to tell her. Great this was exactly what they needed. Gibbs needed rest, but that was unlikely to happen if there was a child who died. Tony hated when they had such cases because they would all be edgy at some point during the case, but the worst would be Gibbs - he would not rest until whoever was responsible for this would be put behind bars or dead. And trying to hide such info from Gibbs had no use because, like Abby had phrased it once, Gibbs was like Santa Clause - he knows everything!
This was something they could miss like tooth pain.
TBC...