A/N: I actually researched this. ;-)

Gibbs sat watching Abby. He didn't want to take his eyes off her - except during the times he went to Jenny's room to stare at her. But Abby was damaged, much more so than Jenny.

After being moved to ICU, her mental status had slowly decreased until she was in a full-blown coma. She still opened her eyes, but most of the time her eyes didn't track. Sometimes she would follow simple commands, and push away the doctor's hand when she was gently pinched. But her responses were inconsistent; in essence, Abby's brain was temporarily shut down, and it would take time to reboot.

But there was one thing she did consistently. She repeatedly signed it, in different forms, but always the same meaning: "Jenny I love you." Gibbs told the doctor, but he did not seem to think it was important; since it continued even when she was otherwise unresponsive, he considered it an automatic, repetitive action that was meaningless.

Gibbs didn't think it was meaningless.

Two days later, Jenny had spent her first night in a regular hospital room. The coma had fully resolved, and she was just waiting for surgery on her wrist.

Jethro felt it was time to confront her. He walked into her room, then asked abruptly, "Jen... did something happen between you and Abby during the storm?"

She was surprised - it was blunt, even for him. "I don't know what you mean, Jethro. Something like what?"

"Anything."

"I've already told you what happened."

"All of it?"

"Yes, of course." She frowned at him. "What are you asking... oh." Realization finally hit her; she had detected a certain look on his face that always appeared when he was trying to pretend he wasn't jealous.

"Go on."

"I already told you the truth, Jethro. But you obviously think I'm lying. Why?"

"Abby..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Now you're lying to me."

"Yes."

"At least you admit it." Her look was a challenge, but he didn't respond, just looked back at her. Finally she broke eye contact and changed the subject.

They talked a little while longer, then she told him she wanted to get some sleep, so he left. But she couldn't sleep. She kept thinking. Why did he ask me that? Did Abby say something? If so, why? There had been no changes in the way Abby acted when Jenny was around. She was frequently hyper, but that was probably due to her excessive consumption of caffeine. She had a tendency to babble, but then Abby tended to babble at any time, so that didn't mean anything. It also didn't mean anything that she had so carefully protected Jenny when the tornado hit. She would have done the same for any of her friends. That was just who Abby was.

Jenny was very tired, and eventually her thoughts slowed and she fell asleep.

For several weeks, Abby remained in her limbo of disconnection with the world. The wounds on the back of her body were healing well, and her lungs and kidneys recovered full function. Abby had always been very healthy, and her body bounced back quickly.

All except her brain.

The pressure inside her head gradually decreased, and her skull was refashioned from bone fragments and stretched scalp. She had a bout of meningitis, which wasn't surprising considering that her meninges were exposed under the bandages, but it responded well to antibiotics. Her original MRI had showed that the worst damage was to her parietal lobe and the association areas in the prefrontal cortex that were the foundation of memory storage and complex mental functions.

There was also evidence in the white matter of some axonal damage, but the doctors nevertheless gave her a reasonably good prognosis. This was partly based on the fact that, by the end of the first month, Abby had reached a minimally conscious state in which she remained 95% of the time.

Her family had come to visit after her father's condition improved, and they stayed for a week. After that, they visited one or two at a time every week or so. They were confident that Abby had the support she needed in her D.C. friends, who sometimes fought over who would stay with her when. The core of the visitors were, of course, her friends from NCIS, and they spent the most time talking to her and playing music or videos. Tony almost always brought a movie, McGee played her favorite video games while she watched, Ziva talked to her about their cases. Ducky played the music she liked, while Gibbs mainly sat and held her hand. He did talk to her - a lot for him - but he was never a big talker.

Jenny was on leave for two months at her own request; it wasn't really necessary medically. But it did allow her to fill in at any time when no one else was able to be there. She knew that she owed Abby her life - just as she did Ziva - so she wanted to do all she could reasonably do to show her gratitude.

About a week into the second month after the storm, Jenny arrived a few minutes late. She immediately realized that Abby had been restless that day, because she had restraints on her wrists. The nurse said she had tried twice to pull out her NG tube, so they'd had to restrain her. Jenny didn't like that, even though she understood the need. As she sat down in her usual chair beside the bed, she touched Abby's hand, which was trying to work its way out of the wrist tie. She was pleased that Abby immediately grasped her hand. This was new! With her other hand she stroked Abby's arm, and she noticed that Abby's eyes were turning very slowly towards her.

The other hand began to move against the restraint, but in a pattern different from before. Jenny pushed the button for the nurse.

"Could you call the sign interpreter?" Jenny asked when the nurse on duty, Erin, appeared. "I think she's trying to sign." Erin nodded and left.

It turned out that the interpreter was already in ICU, so he arrived quickly. "I can see she's trying to sign," he told Jenny, after watching Abby for a few minutes, "but she doesn't have enough range of motion with her hand tied down. Let me ask the nurse if I can remove it." He returned after a few moments, with Erin in tow.

"I'll have to stand by her," Erin explained, "in case she starts pulling her tubes out again." She untied the left restraint.

Abby was still looking at Jenny intently as she signed. The interpreter said, "Hi, sweetheart. I remember you! We live together for eight years. I'm so glad to see you. Give me a kiss?"

Jenny was shocked, but she tried not to show it. Abby clearly had some sort of delusion, but Jenny wasn't going to contradict her under the circumstances. "I'm glad to see you too - honey," she managed to say without too much hesitation. "I'm glad you're awake." She leaned over and gently kissed Abby on the cheek.

"I love you," the interpreter said. Then he added, "She made what looked like a name sign first. A 'J' combined with the sign for 'pretty.' Is that your name sign?"

"Um... yes." She turned back to Abby. "I love you, too." She knew the "I love you" sign - which combined the i, l, and y shapes - so she added it to the words.

Abby couldn't really smile with the breathing tube in place, but it was clear that she was trying. Then her eyelids drooped and she fell asleep again.

"Thank you very much," Jenny told the interpreter. "Erin, is Todd - Dr. Gelfand - here?"

"He usually makes rounds about this time. I'll check."

"Thanks."

Jenny sat and waited, still holding Abby's hand and trying to understand what was happening in the younger woman's mind. She had never heard of a head injury patient having delusions, except those related to amnesia. Like when Jethro woke from his coma and he thought it was 1991.

"Jenny? You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Todd. Do you need to check Abby?"

From the look on Jenny's face, he felt he should hear what she had to say first. "Not yet."

"Let's talk in the hall." They went out several feet down the hall and Jenny explained what had happened. "Is this a common thing?"

"I wouldn't say it's common, Jenny, but it's not unheard of. It's called confabulation. The patient has trouble orienting to person, place, date, so her mind makes up a context. Some people imagine themselves to be the President or some other famous person, while others are convinced they've been taken hostage in another country and that their medications are poison." He started to laugh, then stopped when he saw Jenny's face. "This is not the worst thing that could happen, Jenny."

"But how long will it last? And what do I do about it?"

"Your instincts were good - you went along with what she was saying. She is in no shape at this point to be confronted with her false beliefs. If you can continue without serious stress to yourself, it would be the best thing for her."

"But what if - if she gets well in every other respect, but still thinks we are - together?"

"At that point it would be best to tell her the truth. She would be able to handle it then. But the overwhelming likelihood is that the delusion will pass long before she is ready to leave the hospital. Just do what you can, Jenny. I know it's not your style; it doesn't have to be. Imagine that you are an actress, and this is just a role you have to play."

"Thanks, Todd." She hugged him tightly."I really appreciate your advice."

"My pleasure. Now, let's see how Abby is doing otherwise."

Jenny knew she should tell the others about Abby's delusions - and she really intended to - but somehow, when they came to the hospital later that day, she just didn't feel comfortable mentioning it. Instead, she tried to leave as quickly as possible, fearing that Abby would awaken again while Jethro was there. He would know what she was saying even without the interpreter.

Abby was sleeping soundly when she left to have dinner with Todd. When she came back, she could hear a commotion going on near Abby's room, and she hurried down the hall to see what was wrong. Tony, McGee, and Ziva were standing in the hall looking at her strangely, but she didn't even notice, so intent was she on getting to Abby's room. When she walked in she saw Abby signing wildly to Jethro with one hand and banging on the bed rail with the other.

But as soon as Abby saw Jenny, both of those movements stopped, and she held out her hands. Jenny squeezed past Jethro and hugged Abby as best as she could with all the medical equipment in the way. When she pulled back she had a smile on her face. Abby began to sign again.

Jethro quietly interpreted the signs aloud. "Jenny I was so scared, you were gone, I thought you left me. I thought you didn't love me any more."

"No, no, Abby, I just went to eat dinner, don't ever think that." Jenny was almost oblivious to the rather public nature of the conversation; she just wanted to make Abby feel better. "I'm sorry, I should have told you, but you were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you."

"I was so scared. I love you, Jenny, do you love me?"

"Of course I do." She sat down in the chair and took Abby's hand in both of hers. "What would I do without you, Abby? Please don't be afraid, okay?"

A tear slid down the side of Abby's nose, and Jenny gently wiped it away with a tissue. "I won't be afraid," Abby signed. Her signs had gradually become calmer, and her eyes looked happier. No more tears were falling, and Jenny was very happy. Everyone hated to see Abby upset, and Jenny was no exception.

Jethro cleared his throat. "Abby, can I borrow the Director for a few minutes? Need to talk about work."

Abby nodded briefly, and he pulled Jenny away and into the corridor, motioning the others to go in the room and amuse their coworker.

"All right, Jen, talk."

She suddenly began to laugh, then she couldn't stop laughing, and a little bit of hysteria crept in. Finally he put a hand over her mouth and said, "Stop it. Talk."

"What's the matter, Jethro?" she asked, unable to resist teasing him. "Are you jealous?"

"You lied to me."

"No, I didn't. I told you the exact truth."

"Then what was that scene all about?"

"If you'll just hold on a minute, I'll tell you." She took several deep breaths, then told him about the occurrences earlier in the day and her conversation with Todd about delusions. "So you see, I had to say what I said. Abby isn't strong enough right now for me to tell her the truth. You saw how frightened she was. It's due to her brain injury. It is almost certain that she will become aware of the truth as time passes. Until then - or until she's well physically - you will see me behaving completely out of character when I am around Abby. It's not as if we're going to have sex here in the hospital, after all."

A look of alarm passed briefly over Gibbs' face before it became impassive. He hadn't even been thinking about that - until now.