Chapter 49

AN: Thank you 'guest' for your suggestion, and you're right, Tony does have a dangerous job…enough said.

Olivia jumped out of bed. She was going to be late, and she still had to shower. She didn't hear her phone ring and she didn't check it. She just threw it into her backpack after she had gotten dressed and ready. She headed off to class.

Gibbs had called and couldn't get anyone. Now Tim was calling, but having no luck. They had both told Olivia to call them as soon as she could. Neither one wanted to give Olivia this type of news over the phone.

Olivia finally got a chance to look at her phone after her second class of the day. She had 4 missed messages and many, many missed calls. She recognized the numbers. She called Gibbs' number back.

"Grampy?" Olivia asked. "What's going on? You guys have been trying to get me?"

"Yeah, Baby." Gibbs replied. "You need to get here as soon as you can."

Olivia felt like she was going to be sick. Her stomach was in knots. "What…What is it?"

"You need to get here, Olivia." Gibbs said, he really, really didn't want to have to tell her something like this over the phone.

"Grampy…Grampy...Please…please just tell me what it is." Olivia pleaded. "I can handle it." She knew it was bad. She couldn't stop the tears that were beginning to flow.

Gibbs didn't say anything. He was trying to decide what to say.

"I need to…just tell me how badly he's hurt." Olivia asked, referring to Tony. She waited, afraid of the answer.

Gibbs sighed. "It's bad, Baby Girl. It's really bad."

"Is he going to make it?" Olivia asked her blood running cold at the mere idea of having to ask the question. She wiped her tears.

Gibbs hesitated before he spoke. "He's strong, Olivia. He's overcome a lot in the past. He'll make it through this."

Olivia had her answer. She hung up the phone with Gibbs. She then raced to her dorm room and packed. She sent out a mass email to friends and teachers regarding what had happened and where she would be. She then booked a flight to Washington D.C.

Olivia landed in D.C. hours later. She grabbed a cab and raced to the hospital. Gibbs had offered to meet her at the airport. But she knew he really didn't want to leave Tony, and she knew the rest of the team wouldn't either. She decided just to call a cab and have it ready when she got off the plane. She carried her bags into the ICU waiting room after checking at the main desk at the hospital to find out where Tony was located.

Olivia dropped her bags and ran to her grandfather. The tears started in earnest again when she saw the worried look on his face. "Is he…?"

"He's resting." Gibbs said. "He came through the surgery well. He is still unconscious, but he is going to make a full recovery."

"What happened, exactly?" Olivia asked. The rest of the team had crowded around them now and they were all waiting to greet Olivia. She hugged them all as she talked to Gibbs.

Gibbs shook his head. "That's not…." He said, not wanting to go into detail.

Olivia shook her head. "He's my father…my daddy. It is important, and I need to know."

"Baby…." Gibbs started.

"You can't protect me, Grampy." Olivia replied. She was anxious to see her father and couldn't understand why Gibbs was stalling. "I am his next of kin, Grampy. I can ask anything I want of the doctors and nurses." She said, and then her toned softened. "But I would rather hear it from you."

"He's just…" Gibbs decided to tell her. "He was shot…in the chest. They removed the bullet. I want to prepare you for what you are about to see." Gibbs said. "He's just…he's very still and very quiet. Not, at all, like the Tony you know."

Olivia nodded and she and Gibbs walked into Tony's room. Olivia just looked at Tony for a moment. The only things making any noise, at all, in the room were a heart monitor and a ventilator. The machines made Tony look so small. He looked vulnerable, and Olivia didn't like seeing him like that. She went over to the bed and slipped her hand into his.

"He's not hurting is he?" Olivia asked, looking up at Gibbs. There were tears in her eyes and her voice was cracking. "I mean he's on enough pain medicine."

Gibbs nodded. "Tony is in a medically-induced coma. He is on enough medicine to stop the pain and to knock him out so that his body can heal." Gibbs explained. "They will bring him out in a few days."

Olivia nodded, looking down at her father. She stroked his cheek with her other hand. She then bent down and kissed his cheek.

"Hi, Daddy, it's your Baby Girl. I love you so much. I'll be right here when you wake up." Olivia said wiping away her tears. She then drew a chair up to the side of the bed and sat down.

Olivia rarely left her father's side. She had been able to bring her laptop into the room. She had asked permission first, unsure if it would interfere with the machines Tony had attached to his body. They assured her it would not. She spent her time working on her college assignments. Not that she could really concentrate on that stuff. She found herself spending most of her time holding Tony's hand and willing him to open his eyes.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

"Grampy?!" Olivia said from her side of Tony's bed.

Olivia had been holding Tony's hand for a couple of hours. It had been 5 hours since the doctors had reduced Tony's medication so that he could wake up. It was now just a waiting game to see exactly when that would be.

"What is it, Baby?" Gibbs asked, getting up from his chair and coming over to her side of the bed.

"I felt his fingers move." Olivia said. She was smiling, tears in her eyes.

"Are you sure?" Gibbs asked.

Olivia nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Gibbs put his arms around his granddaughter and hugged her tightly.

"They moved again." Olivia said, excited. "Daddy?"

"Baby Girl, we can't push him on this. He needs to wake up in his own time." Gibbs said.

Olivia nodded. She squeezed his hand tightly. "But he is coming back?"

Gibbs nodded. "Yes, he is."

Gibbs then excused himself he went out into the hall to alert the nurses at the desk. He then placed several calls to alert the team. By the time he went back into the room Tony was trying to open his eyes. Olivia was encouraging him, talking quietly to him and holding his hand.

Tony opened his eyes, but he seemed unable to focus and he seemed to be in pain. He also seemed very restless.

Olivia moved back away from the bed, dropping Tony's hand, afraid she had done or said something to hurt or upset him.

Gibbs shook his head, knowing exactly what Olivia was thinking. "Now that Tony's awake, they are just going to have to adjust his medication. That's all this is. The doctor will be in in a few minutes. He's look Tony over and then they will put him on something to ease his pain. I promise."

Olivia nodded, but she was unable to take her eyes off of Tony, though he did seem to be a lot less restless. She went back over to the bed and slipped her hand, once again, into his.

This time Tony seemed to focus. He saw his daughter and recognized her, though she could see the pain on his face. And while he had managed to stifle the groans, a few still escaped.

"My baby girl." Tony said, haltingly.

"Hi, Daddy." Olivia replied, stroking his cheek.

"…love…you." Tony replied.

"I love you, too." Olivia replied as Tony's doctor and a nurse entered the room. "Dad, I've got too…."

Tony tightened his grip on Olivia's hand, knowing what she was going to tell him. He didn't want her to leave.

Olivia looked at the doctor and he got the message. "You are welcome to stay. You both are…" The doctor said, referring to her and Gibbs. "But I will be looking at his wound. If you're the least bit queasy…."

Olivia nodded. She didn't know how she would handle seeing the wound, so she sat down in the chair she had placed beside Tony's bed. Gibbs also nodded, giving the doctor the go-ahead. He stood beside Olivia to make sure that she was okay.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

"Baby, you have missed way too much school already." Tony said as he got out of Gibbs car in front of Gibb's house. He waited for Gibbs and Olivia to help him up the few stairs and into the house.

"I haven't missed anything. I've been working online." Olivia replied.

"Working online is not the 'college experience.'" Tony replied.

"I had the 'college experience' at Ohio State." Olivia retorted.

"Anybody ever tell you not to argue with your father?" Tony asked.

Olivia smiled. "All the time." She said as she and Gibbs got Tony into the house and into the back bedroom. "It's an…exchange of ideas."

Tony looked at her and grinned. "If I gave you an allowance, I would be taking it away right about now." Tony moaned as he lowered himself onto the bed.

"Well, you can't send me to my room or take away my supper." Olivia replied. "Grampy won't let you."

Tony looked up at Gibbs. "Yeah, Grampy. What do you have to say in all of this?"

Gibbs looked at Tony and grinned. "I find it's best to keep my opinion to myself in cases like this."

Tony grunted. "You've never kept you opinion to yourself about anything. Why start now?"

Olivia and Gibbs exchanged looks and grinned. Tony saw the interaction and groaned. He lay down and tried to make himself comfortable in the bed.

Olivia knelt down beside the bed. She took Tony's hand. "I'm keeping up with everything, Dad. I promise."

Tony squeezed her hand. "This is…it's just too important. I don't want you missing anything."

Olivia shook her head. "I won't. I'm not. I'll be going back in the morning. And I am coming to stay with you next weekend."

Tony opened his mouth to speak.

"You don't get a say, DiNozzo. Olivia and I have worked it all out." Gibbs replied.

"Besides…" Olivia said, smiling at Tony. "…I've got to go pack."

TBC