12 April, 2016
It was seven thirty in the morning, and Gibbs had just arrived at Bethesda. He was sitting in Tony's room, but his agent was still unconscious. A nurse had been in when Gibbs arrived, and she had told him that Tony's condition hadn't changed since the previous night. It was hard for Gibbs to see Tony like that. Both of his legs were broken, though the right one had taken most of the impact. His right leg was in plaster while the bone healed, and the left one had only a half cast held in place by bandages. Tony's left wrist was swollen where the tissue had been bruised, and it was on top of a pillow to allow the swelling to go down.
Gibbs felt anger bubbling up in him as he looked around the room. Tony had been hooked up to a heart monitor, which was also monitoring his blood pressure and pulse; he had been put on oxygen, thankfully just a nasal cannula and not a breathing tube was being used; and he had an IV in his right arm. Bandages covered Tony's head and, although they weren't visible, bandages covered most of Tony's rib cage. He looked so small and vulnerable, which made Gibbs even angrier. He didn't understand how someone could do this to another person. He knew that Metro PD were looking for the person that had smashed into Tony's car, but it did nothing to help him feel any better.
"Ah, Tony, come on. It's time to wake up," said Gibbs softly to his agent.
Tony woke up in hospital, almost a day after his accident. His head was sore, as was the rest of his body. But at least that pain was bearable. His legs felt like lead and were hurting him so much more than the rest of his body.
Tony looked around him and spotted someone on a chair nearby. He didn't look familiar, but Tony just thought that he didn't recognise the person because he was tired. He closed his eyes again for a few moments until he felt less out of it. When he opened his eyes, Tony saw that the man was still there, this time looking up with relief.
"DiNozzo? Are you alright?" Gibbs asked as he moved to stand next to his agent's head.
"Who are you?" Tony asked.
Gibbs frowned. "Tony, don't be playing games with me."
"Playing games? Look, I don't know who you're looking for, but it isn't me. I've never seen you in my life."
Shocked and extremely worried, Gibbs reached up and pushed the call button on the wall behind Tony's bed. He was glad that a nurse came in immediately.
"Mr DiNozzo, I'm Nurse Johansson. Can you tell me how you're feeling?" The nurse grabbed a stethoscope and checked Tony's breathing as she spoke to him.
"Who is that?" Tony asked, feeling confused and lost.
"That's Agent Gibbs. He's your boss." The nurse didn't seem too worried, or, at least, she could hide it well. "You don't recognise him?"
"No. My boss' name is Major Frank Raimey."
Nurse Johansson heard a sigh come from Gibbs but ignored for now. Instead she focused on Tony.
"Can you tell me what year it is Tony?"
"2002."
"Okay." The nurse turned to Gibbs. "I'll call Dr Pitt and have him run a few tests. The memory loss could be temporary, but it's best to be sure."
"Thank you," said Gibbs.
"Also, I think it might better if you leave. He doesn't know you, and there's no sense in getting him agitated."
Gibbs nodded. He followed the nurse out of the room, worry seeping into his head more than it had been already. He was glad to see Brad making his way into Tony's room only a few minutes later.
"Hey, Tony," said Brad. He had just spoken to the nurse and knew that Tony didn't recognise him. "I'm Dr Brad Pitt."
Tony raised his eyebrows. "Brad Pitt? Seriously?"
"I'm being serious." Brad shrugged. "There's no relation unfortunately. I'd like to meet Angelina."
"Do people ever believe you straight away?"
"No."
"I didn't think they would. Are you my doctor?"
"I am. How are you feeling?"
"Sore. Everything hurts." Tony frowned for a second. "Did you play football in college?"
"I did. University of Michigan."
"I think I remember you. You broke my leg in that last game."
"I did, accidentally."
"It was a good game though."
"I hope I didn't screw things up for you."
"You didn't. I'm a cop now."
"So I heard. Where are you working?"
"Baltimore. I transferred there almost two years ago now from Philadelphia."
"How long have you been a cop?"
"Almost six years, I think. I started off in Peoria."
"Peoria, Illinois?"
"Yeah."
"Sounds boring."
"It wasn't too bad. It was better than Baltimore. Philly was the best place by far."
"You don't like Baltimore?"
"Not really. But nobody else is interested in taking me, so I'm staying there."
"Why don't you try a different law enforcement career?"
"What do you mean?"
"Try something like the FBI or the defence department."
"I don't know. I think I'm good for now."
"Okay. Now, before I get you some pain relief, can I check you?"
"Sure. So, why did you become a doctor?" Tony asked as Brad listened to his breathing.
"Football was never my passion. I just wanted to do a sport so I could have an activity outside studying. Was it your passion?"
"I always wanted to play football, until I started playing it. Then I realised it wasn't for me. It was fun, and if I'd been drafted, I would have done it, but I wasn't fussed by it."
"You were really good at it," said Brad as he gently touched Tony's head.
"So were you. I remember you guys won that game." Tony winced at Brad's touch, but focused on their conversation.
"We did." Brad moved from Tony's head and moved the blankets to check Tony's ribs. "And we won the next the year too."
"Of course you did." Tony looked at Brad's hands as they moved gently down his chest and sides. "So, how bad are the injuries?"
Brad sighed. "I wish I had better news for you, Tony, I really do."
"Just tell me, I can take it."
"Both of your legs are broken; your ribs are cracked most of the way down both sides of your chest; a couple of your ribs are broken and fixed in place with plates; your brain is swollen beneath the area of your skull that was broken and had to be glued back together; your left wrist has bruised tissue inside it; and you have so many cuts and bruises that I lost count of them. We cut some of your right kidney off because it was too damaged to heal, and we removed your appendix too."
"That's bad. How did this happen?"
"You were in a car accident yesterday morning." Brad covered Tony again and moved to his legs. He lifted the blanket up and checked the bandages on the right leg.
"No I wasn't. Yesterday morning, I was at work in Baltimore."
"I know you think that's true, Tony, but it isn't. I spoke with Nurse Johansson before I came in here, and she told me that you think it's 2002."
"It is 2002." Tony frowned as he watched Brad check the plaster on his left leg.
"Actually, Tony, it's 2016. Your head injuries have caused some memory loss."
"Some? If it is 2016, that's fourteen years, Dr Pitt. I think that's a little more than 'some'."
"Call me Brad. And, yes, it is more than 'some' memory loss."
"Is it going to come back?"
"It should come back once you've had some time to recover, but I won't guarantee anything."
"What hospital is this, Brad?"
"Bethesda Naval Hospital."
"I'm not in the Navy."
"I know that. This was the closest hospital to where you had the accident."
"I highly doubt this is closest to Baltimore."
"You had the accident about five minutes from here, not in Baltimore." Brad finished checking Tony's legs and covered them with the blanket again. "I want you to get some rest. I'll come back later and see how you're doing."
"Who was that man that was here? Agent Gibbs, I think the nurse called him."
"Did the nurse say anything else?"
"He's supposedly my boss."
"That's because he is, you just don't have any memory of it."
"I don't want him in here. I don't know who he is."
"That's fine. I'm going to speak with him now, and I'll tell him that you aren't up for visitors at the moment."
"Thank you." Tony yawned. "Can I get something for the pain now?"
Brad opened a drawer next to the bed and pulled out a syringe filled with morphine. He injected it through the IV and, within seconds, Tony was fast asleep. Once he was sure Tony was asleep, Brad wheeled his bed down to radiology for a CT scan.