The pain only got worse after Eddie's funeral. It was a pain like nothing Jimmy had ever felt before and he had nothing to ease his ache. The DiNozzo's had taken all the liquor from the house. Jimmy had started towards the store sometimes but he could never make it anywhere. He would just drive around aimlessly for hours. One day the police found him and took him to the station. Tony and Ziva came to the station to pick him up. Ziva drove him home in his car and after that day the keys were gone. He tried to walk but he never got far. He did not have the strength to make it down the street. The DiNozzo's neighbor would drive him home in her old Ford. They would have the same exchange and after that Jimmy would be brought to bed.
One month had passed since the death of the Palmer's eldest child and only son. Both parents were still lost in their grief and neither had made an attempt to reconcile. Tony and Ziva were urging Jimmy to call Breena. Ed was doing the same for Breena. Neither wanted to speak with each other. In truth Jimmy desperately wanted to speak with Breena. He had dialed her number so many times but he never had the courage to press the button. As desperately as he wanted hear her voice and have her back in his life. He was terrified of what waited on the other end. He knew that she hated him and he could not bear to hear her the anger in her voice.
Breena on the other hand had no desire to speak with her husband. She wanted to file divorce papers but Ed would not let her. He kept insisting that she give it another day. Every day it was "give it another day." She wished that he could see how horrible he had been. She wished that her father would let her sever ties. She wished to be allowed to move on with her life.
Another day, another nightmare. Jimmy went to his care facility in the morning. He sat alone on the couch and watched whatever played on the TV. He had befriended a man who had lost his daughter to an accident. Whenever Paul had the remote they watched kiddie shows. Nobody said a word to him though most would wander away until somebody made Paul give up the remote. Paul's daughter had been gone for a couple of years now but she watched many of the same shows as Eddie. They sat together and mourned together. Paul was like Jimmy where he did not speak.
While Jimmy and Breena got their lives together. Ducky had taken custody of Victoria. Ed had handed her over when he saw that Breena needed round the clock care. The old doctor loved having his granddaughter under his roof. Though he absolutely despised the circumstances. He hated how Jimmy was broken and made Jethro seem vocal. He hated how Breena had shut herself out to anybody who did not blame Jimmy. He hated that young Eddie was dead and that his leaving had destroyed a sweet, young family.
Breena did not even know where her daughter was. She barely even remembered that she had a daughter. She was so focused on mourning her son and her unborn child. It was almost as if she no longer cared about her surviving child. Many people tried to speak with her but most were too kind to Jimmy. So she closed most out. She spoke to four people; her father who had no idea what to say, her friend Maya, her cousin Roger, her co-worker Betty, and a woman she met in her cancer mom support page by the name of Amanda. Other than that she would ignore or scream at anybody who tried to speak with her. She hated Jimmy, she hated cancer, she hated doctors, she hated everybody who ignored her pain, she even hated Victoria Elizabeth. She had permanent marks on her face from tears and her voice was hoarse from her cries. Her world had shattered around her and she had every right to be broken.
By this point Jimmy was numb. Nothing mattered to him anymore. He wanted his daughter but that was it. He was lost in the world without his boy. He had no idea how he was supposed to survive. He only survived because Tony would not let him die. By the thirtieth day he had cried every tear that he could cry. He still had nightmares every night but he no longer woke up screaming. He would just wander downstairs and watch cartoons. He averaged four hours of sleep a night and out of that two were real sleep. The rest of the time he was awake and alone. That was the only time of the day that he was happy.
The DiNozzo's lives began to revolve around Jimmy. Tony and Ziva took turns checking on him every thirty minutes. They made sure he went to the facility every morning and pick him up every night. They desperately tried to talk to him but he could not form words. Tony and Ziva had devoted their lives to caring for him. While the children just stayed away. Tali would wander around but somebody always rushed her away. Jenny was still traumatized from what she saw and did not even want to be in the same room as him. Tyler just didn't know what to say, so he kept his difference. Tyler was the most like the world. Nobody knew what to do or what to say. So most just kept their distance.
On the thirty-first morning Jimmy found himself in Tony and Ziva's bathroom. Jenny was doing her hair for something at school. Nature called and the DiNozzo's let Jimmy use their bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and found the bottle. It was pain killers Tony had been prescribed after being injured on the job. The bottle was half full. For the longest time he held the bottle in his hands. It would be so easy. He would swallow the pills and that would set him free. He unscrewed the cap and poured the pills into his hand. He could practically taste the release.
A/N: Will Jimmy be found in time? New chapter will be up soon. Thanks for reading and please review.