Silent Night

Chapter 5

It was amazing how many people could be in need of medical care on Christmas Eve, the waiting area at Fairfax County Hospital was full, fortunately for Tony, coming by ambulance and injured in a motor vehicle accident, triggered an "activated trauma". On arrival, Tony was rushed back to the designated trauma unit. The medical team stood ready and waiting, as the paramedics had called ahead.

Gibbs followed Tony into the exam room, a young nurse stopped him, "I'm sorry Sir you have to wait outside, we need room to work. Someone will come get you and let you know how he is doing."

Glaring at the young woman and flashing his badge, "I'm staying," Gibbs, said in low, quiet tone, looking her in the eye, as he stood straight, legs slightly spread, looking every bit like the immovable object that he was. The young nurse while used to working with distraught families, was clearly intimidated by sheer power Gibbs emitted.

Tony, alert enough to notice muttered, "Please, I want him to stay."

The doctor leading the medical team looked over at his nurse and Gibbs, "Kyrie, he can stay," directing his next comment to Gibbs with an impressive glare of his own that left no room for arguments, "Just stay out of our way or I'll have you removed."

Backing up against the wall Gibbs watched as the skilled team of doctors and nurses, removed Tony's bloody clothing, connected him to the monitors and inserted an IV. What looked like chaos was really a well-choreographed dance. Each member of the medical team doing their part, after the wounds were carefully examined, x-rays were taken of his ribs and shoulder without having to leave the trauma room, though Gibbs acquiesced and stepped out when the x-ray machine was in use.

As the activity slowed down, Dr. Patel, explained the findings, "Ok Mr. DiNozzo…"

"It's Agent DiNozzo," Gibbs interrupted.

"Doc, just call me Tony," The injured young man interjected.

"Tony, we are going to get a CAT Scan of your head, the paramedics report you had a loss of consciousness following the accident, your pupil response are indicative of a concussion, we need to rule out a more serious injury."

"Kind of figured I had a concussion, not my first."

"All the more reason for the CAT Scan and I will want you to follow up with a neurologist outpatient, I'm sure you are aware of the long-term consequences of multiple concussions. As to your other injuries, we will need to careful clean and stitch the wound on your head and leg. The leg injury is fairly large and the edges are pretty ragged, but I think I can get it cleaned up and closed here in the ED. Are you worried about a scar?"

"No, just adds to the collection I have."

"Ok, but if you are, I can have a plastic surgeon close the wound, but they would want to do it in the OR as they would need to enlarge the wound to get clean edges."

"If doing it here means I get to go home tonight, then just do it."

"OK, but about that, the CAT scan results will determine if you can go home tonight, if we find something more serious than a simple concussion, you'll have to stay."

Tony closed his eyes as he listened and reached out to grab Gibbs hand, right now he needed his partners touch to ground him.

Dr. Patel smiled as he watched the interaction between the two men, clearly they were more than work "partners". Years of working in the busy emergency department had helped him move past any homophobic feeling he may have had as a younger man. He had seen the depth of love and commitment between the same-sex couples he treated in the ED. The pain of loss was just as deep as for any other couple. Working with tragedy and death on a daily bases, he did not begurdge anyone finding love.

"Now for the results of the x-rays, you didn't break any bones, but the airbag did hit you hard, you'll be sporting impressive black eyes for a couple of weeks. You also have contusions on your chest and abdominal area from the seat belt but no internal bleeding. I'm sure by tomorrow, even sitting up in bed by yourself is going to be agony. Your shoulder has soft tissue damage, for now ice, rest and prescription strength anti-inflammitory is the only treatment, but if it continues to hurt after a week, follow up with an othropedist as you may need an MRI to rule out a torn rotator cuff. After the CAT scan, I can close the these wounds and once we have the results you can go home or stay as our guest depending on the findings."

After a trip to the CAT Scan, Dr. Patel carefully cleaned the wounds. The head wound, closed with 5 staples without the need to shave Tony's hair. The wound on his upper thigh was a bit more complicated; the gash was about six inch long, the edges ragged, Dr. Patel trimmed the edges and used 30 well placed stitches to close the wound. Tony thankfully did not feet any pain, except for the initial injections of lidocaine. Through the procedure Tony never let go of Gibbs hand.

With the wounds taken care of, Tony found himself alone with Gibbs while Dr. Patel left to check the results of the CAT Scan.

Sitting on a stool by the bed, Gibbs continued to hold his lover's hand. "Had me a little worried tonight."

"I sorry Jethro, God what a fuck up this turned out to be."

Reaching out he cupped Tony's handsome face with his thumb he gently touched the emerging bruises, "Hey, nothing to be sorry about, I'm just glad your OK, it was an accident, damn buck ran out in front of you, there was nothing you could do, I'm just glad that you weren't hurt worse."

"What about Christmas?"

"Tony I haven't done anything special for Christmas in a long time and having you home is gift enough for me." gently kissing the back of his lover's hand.

"I wanted our first Christmas to be special, Oh Jethro that tree would have looked perfect, Abby was a little crazy picking one, but it really was nice."

"Listen Tony, it's still Christmas Eve, nothing is ruined the team is still coming over tomorrow. It's like that Dr. Seuss cartoon you like, the one with that green monster and his dog."

"You, mean How the Grinch Stole Christmas?"

"That's the one, well isn't the premise of that story that Christmas is about the people not about the stuff."

"Your right, guess we still have time to pull it off."

"You aren't going to pull anything off. Your going home to bed and tomorrow, the team will help make it a really nice day for everyone."

With a quick knock on the door, Dr. Patel entered the room, "Well, Agent DiNozzo, I think we can let you go home tonight," the Doctor told the anxious patient and his companion.

Following the doctor, the young nurse came in the room and reviewed the discharge papers and gave Tony a bottle of antibiotics and Percocet from the hospital pharmacy.

Tony felt the tension leave his body. The last thing he wanted was to spend Christmas in the hospital.

Opening his eyes and sitting up with Gibbs help, the nurse continued uninterrupted with the well-practiced speech, "….the leg wound, you can put weight on that leg, but walking should be limited to trips to the bathroom and back, no running or strenuous activity. The staples in your head can come out in about a week but the ones in your leg should wait 14 days to be removed. Keep the stitches dry when you shower; you can wash your hair but need to wait 48 hours, just be quick and gentle. Any questions?"

"No," Gibbs answered for both of them, he was just wanted to get Tony home.

"OK then, Merry Christmas," The doctor stated as he turned and walked out.

Handing the paper work to Gibbs, the young nurse, "I'll be right back with a wheelchair."

Tony's preprogrammed reaction was to reject the use of the chair but one look a Gibbs and he just grinned.

By 11:30pm they were headed back to Gibbs house. Gibbs driving as he had commandeered the driver's seat from Agent Velasquez, Tony sitting next to him, the pain medication he received in the hospital made the ride bearable.

Tim, Abby and Agent Velasquez were squeezed in the backseat, Tim escaped the accident with only minor bruising; Abby was sporting a sling on her right arm as she had injured her shoulder when the seat belt abruptly stopped her momentum. Like Tony, she had also been hit in the face with the airbag, neither suffered broken noses but the exploding airbag had left them both looking like raccoons.

The snow had stopped falling; the normally busy streets were quiet and had that magical look that only comes on a snowy winter night. The tiny snow flakes sparkled like jewels in the head lights and the houses they passed were decorated with soft white candles in each window, multicolored flashing lights, lit wire reindeer and the oversize inflatable Santa's.

With Silent Night playing on the radio, Tony passed each house with increasing sadness. Instead of driving home from the hospital they should be home, surrounded by friends, the beautifully decorated tree the focal point of the room. The glow of a fire adding warmth on this cold night, he had planned to cook, something he'd rarely done when he lived alone. Tony felt the weight of a hand softly placed on his arm, taking his right hand, he reached over and as fingers met and intertwined he felt the strength and love of the quiet, stoic man he had given his heart fully and completely to, closing his eyes he let the beauty of the song push some of the sorrow away.