JF31 - Happy New Year!
I didn't get as much writing done as I hoped I would :( It was really hot here. Ok, it was hot, but after two La Niña summers (wet, humid and not that dry heat we're used of) it felt a lot hotter. Despite doing the slip, slop, slap, slide my daughter and I got really bad sunburn a couple of days before Christmas and on Christmas eve we got attacked by mosquitos and covered in bites, yeah not a good xmas in our household all round, but not the worst and no hospitals.
We did all the usual celebrations, with both sides of the family, even with the soon to be ex-in-laws. Who were surprisingly supportive to me, well, my sister in-laws and my brother in-laws were. My mother in-law, not that much. My daughter and I even snuck away to our holiday house for a couple of days, between work and family. The town our holiday house is in was craaaazy busy with tourists and the beaches were packed, so we stayed at our house and packed our esky from home with food, which seemed to be a really smart move.
But I did manage to put the finishing touches on one of my newest stories, Part 4 of the POST GIBBS series, called Life's Hardest Losses. Got another chapter of The Adventure of a Lifetime (AL3), another JF chapter, besides this one and began working SLOU (Secret Life of Us) chapter 8. Did some work on some new pieces which aren't quite ready to post and made some more work towards the next instalment of VM (Vacation Mandate)
For a 2023 update be sure to check my profile out.
Everyone quickly dispersed out after the paramedics left. Kelly was taken to Georgetown Medical Hospital and Gibbs and Tim followed with Gibbs driving them. Matt Balboa had some follow up questions for Tobias and Sarah, he took them to a Cafe down the street from Tim's apartment, to finish questioning them. Gibbs had called Ducky and asked him to meet them there, knowing that Ducky had practising privileges there, as well as at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
Arriving in the emergency department, Gibbs and Tim found themselves waiting in the hard, plastic, moulded chairs. Ducky had bought the men a cup of coffee each, on his way in from Woodbridge, where he had been having dinner with Jimmy, Breena and little Victoria, at Jimmy's in-law's family home.
"Let me see if I can get some information on her condition." Ducky said calmly, patting Tim's arm and Jethro's shoulder, as he moved to go speak with the admitting nurse. The three men had been waiting and he'd watched the look on Tim's face turn from concerned to worry, to panic to almost fretting. He had felt for the young man. He was so very much in love with Kelly Gibbs and he was truly woebegone, worrying if she was OK.
Gibbs encouraged Tim to relax little, drink his coffee but it was futile. Tim was wound up. Gibbs could see in that moment how much Tim cared for Kelly and how much he was worried. Sure, Gibbs was worried about his daughter too, but Tim was feeling awful about it. He told Gibbs that Kelly had offered to stay home and she had gone to work, at his insistence. Tim was blaming himself, even though, he knew better.
Ducky returned to the men and settled in beside his friend, Tim to wait for word. "They're still assessing her." Ducky told the men. "Her fever spiked with the EMT's to 105.8 Fahrenheit. That's 41 degrees Celsius, Gentlemen. That's dangerously high. They are getting her assessed as fast and as thoroughly as possible. Her doctor is one of the best Diagnosticians in the country. Timothy, Kelly is in good hands, I promise."
It was almost two hours later and not even Ducky had managed to get some answers, before a doctor came out to speak with them. "Mr Gibbs? Mr McGee? I'm Doctor White. I have been looking after Miss Gibbs." Doctor White was woman in her sixties, silver hair and tall. She had a straight up bedside manner and didn't skirt around the topic. "We have managed to get the fever under control. It's still elevated, but at a much more manageable 103 degrees. She is still fluctuating between awake and asleep, but that's mostly due to the drugs we've given her to control the fever. I tried to ask Miss Gibbs some questions and she could barely hold a conversation; due to the morphine she had been dosed with to control the fever. My questions are important in assisting me to make a correct diagnosis, perhaps the two of you could help me."
Tim and Gibbs both nodded, both men eager to finally feel like they were helping her. "Has Kelly been in any more pain than usual lately?" she began with and patient, too. She could see Tim and possibly Gibbs could be uncomfortable with her questions, but they were medically necessary.
"No." Gibbs said automatically. Tim shook his head no, before thinking better of it and remembering what had happened last night.
"Yes," Tim admitted, softly. "Last night, she had some pelvic pain, although she used the word pressure."
"Is there any chance that Miss Gibbs might be pregnant?" she asked him, looking directly at the younger man.
"No, it is not possible." Tim replied politely. He always hated that medical professional always assumed that pregnancy was the cause of any and all medical issues wrong with women. He had encountered it when he had taken Sarah to ER, twice beforehand and it really irked him.
"No contraception can be one hundred percent effective, Mr McGee." the doctor reminded him, before asking the question again.
"It's not possible." Tim replied to her, reiterating his point of view.
"Oh?!" she said, quickly. "The two of you aren't intimate that way?"
"We've just began having intercourse. Just over the weekend. It's a relatively new relationship." Tim admitted softly. He had forgotten that Gibbs and Ducky were beside him, until he heard Gibbs take a harsh breath of air inside him.
"Was the pelvic pain she felt during intercourse?" she asked her question to Tim, gently.
"A cup of vending machine coffee sounds really good, right now." Gibbs muttered as he excused himself from Tim and the doctor.
"Sorry about that." Tim told her. "It's awkward, in addition to being her father, he is my boss."
"That's understandable, Tim." Dr White agreed with a chuckle. "What were the two if you doing when the pain hit last night?"
"Having intercourse." Tim replied to the doctor. "Kelly wanted to try a new position out, but the pain hit and we immediately stopped. She wanted to try again, but I wouldn't let her. Eventually, it got so bad that we stopped all together. I got the heating pad and some Tylenol for her and she was woken up by the smell of coffee this morning."
"Does she usually suffer with menstrual cramps?" the good doctor asked.
"Not that often, to my knowledge. Perhaps Gibbs knows the answer to that." replied. "My sister suffers horrendous cramps, so I knew to get a heating pad and Tylenol."
"Mr Gibbs." the doctor called Gibbs back over. "I apologise for that; I should have asked Mr McGee to step aside and spoken to him in private."
"It is actually OK; I am not that naïve." Gibbs replied. "She's my only child."
Kelly was beginning to come to, she looked around the room. It was a white cubicle with a privacy curtain making up the fourth wall. She looked down and saw an IV access port on her left wrist. She was attached to a small bag of fluids and there was a big bag beside it, waiting to be hooked up.
When the nurse entered the cubicle to check on her, Kelly asked where she was. "You're at Georgetown Med. Your friends and your father are waiting in the waiting room."
"Friends?" she asked, confused. Last thing she remembered was coming home to Tim. "Where's Tim? Is he OK? He was in bed with me."
"Timothy is fine, my dear." Ducky answered her as he came in to check on her. "I have sent him off to have some dinner with Jethro. The poor lad has been beside himself with worry for you."
"What is wrong with me, Duck?" she asked him, her voice small. It reminded Ducky of when she was ten and he was babysitting her for the weekend. She was such a curious girl, in nature and loved to ask him lots of questions. She had found one of his medical text books in the library about the human reproductive system and had a million questions for the good doctors. The following weekend, Ducky and Gibbs had sat her down and given her an abridged version of the talk.
"Dr White will be by soon and she will be able to tell you exactly what is going on." Ducky gave a non-answer. He knew that the good doctor had some follow-up questions for her. He had his own follow-up questions for the couple in question, but as a close family friend, he really didn't think he should be the one to ask.
Dr White finally arrived and Ducky was relieved because Kelly had just been asking for Tim. He looked up to see trailing behind her, was Tim and Gibbs was coming in behind them.
The look of pure relief on Tim's face made Ducky a happy old man. His eyes lit up and he immediately made his way to Kelly in the bed. He kissed her forehead and wordlessly, asked her if she was OK. "I'm glad you're doing better, baby." Tim whispered to her, as he kissed her forehead again.
Gibbs watched on from his vantage point by the door. He saw Kelly's smile brighten when Tim came in. For the first time in a very long time, he realised that she might not need him as much as she used to, any more. Even when she had been with Ethan, she had always looked for him. This time her eyes zeroed in on Tim. It was only after they'd connected, that she had looked for him. "Glad you're OK, Kell. You scared us." Gibbs said, as he smiled at her. Tim had pulled up the other seat beside the bed and for the first time ever, Gibbs was unsure of his place. "How about Ducky and I get a cup of tea? I'll pop back in a little while."
Ducky exchanged looks with his old friend, making sure that the elderly ME was going along with his plan. He thought that he would give them some privacy. The doctor probably had some more awkward and potentially embarrassing questions for the couple. Questions that he, as both her father and his friend, he really did not want to know the answers.
"Kelly, I think we should do a pelvic ultrasound. Mr McGee mentioned you had some pelvic pain during intercourse recently." Dr White suggested as soon as Gibbs and Ducky had left the room. "I suspect the pain is from an ovarian cyst bursting. Which is common in women of childbearing age."
"That doesn't normally cause fevers and chills, though." Tim replied in a low voice.
"On a rare occasion when the cyst bursts it can have an infection present. If the fluid inside the cyst isn't sterile, or if you have a sexually transmitted infection like gonorrhoea or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, it can cause fevers and chills." the doctor calmly explained. "Did you get tested before starting your sexual relationship?"
"I've never had unprotected sex before, but I got tested after Ethan left. I was clean." Kelly admitted, looking at Tim.
"I got tested before I was discharged from hospital after the explosion." Tim confessed, softly. "After Delilah died, I was contacted by the doctor who did Delilah's autopsy, even though I told him I've never not worn a condom, before. The doctor thought to run a check, I came back clean. Also, Kelly's the only one I've never worn a condom with for oral sex, I always wear them, religiously. The Admiral might have been a bastard, but that's one thing he always drilled into me."
"No partners in between those?" she asked. At the shake of both their heads, they agreed that Kelly should be tested today and Tim would get tested again to be sure, if Kelly's test showed something. Just to rule out STI, as a cause for the infection.
Doctor White ordered an ultrasound and Kelly went to the imaging room; the sonographer allowed Tim to join her. Tim could make out most of the bits and pieces of what he could see, but he couldn't read the images fully. To Kelly it all looked like blobs and bits of red and blue. Tim knew the red and blue was to show blood flow, arteries and veins.
Back in the cubicle, Kelly and Tim began making plans for how they would celebrate Tim's upcoming birthday. Tim did not want a party; he was happy to have a dinner at home and spend some quiet time with Kelly. He didn't want anything fancy and he would definitely not be accompanying Abby to the Goth Festival, like he had in years gone by. Gibbs and Ducky re-joined them and together, the four of them settled in for a wait on the results.
Kelly's pain had increased and she was now, dozing intermittently. Ducky had organised her to have something else for the pain. A nurse came in and told them that Kelly wasn't allowed to have anything else to eat or drink and that she would be transferred to a bed upstairs.
Upstairs, Doctor White came in accompanied by another Doctor, a doctor Cartwright. Doctor White introduced him to the couple, as well as to Ducky and Gibbs. "Doctor Cartwright is the head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology here at the hospital. I have referred you to be under his care." she told them, leaving them in his capable hands.
"Ms. Gibbs, in the morning we're going to take you into surgery." the Doctor began. He was a man in his sixties and his persona spoke to his years of experience. Kelly felt calm and relaxed in his presence, which calmed Tim, immensely. "We have found that you had a large ovarian cyst, burst and the cyst was filled with unsterile fluid. We've also seen signs of another infected cyst forming. Your STI panel came back clean, as we all suspected. Now I understand that you also had some pelvic pain during intercourse, recently?"
"More pressure than pain." Kelly corrected him. "I just put it down to a new partner and the size of him. Tim's not a little man, Doctor."
Tim was profusely blushing, embarrassed by his girlfriend's remarks. Gibbs was looking around the room awkwardly and uncomfortable, avoiding eye contact with everyone else.
"Yes, well that aside. You shouldn't be feeling any pain or pressure. So, I think we should check for Endometriosis while you're already on the table. It can be done without an additional incision. If we find any Endometriosis, we can excise it by laser, but please understand, we may have to make additional incisions to ensure we get it all."
"What's Endometriosis, Doc?" Gibbs asked. "In every day words, not those five-dollar words your smart people use to confuse me."
"Basically, there's lining that's supposed to grow inside her uterus each month as part of her normal menstrual cycle. Instead, the lining grows elsewhere. It causes pain and can be debilitating. Unfortunately, the only thing way to correctly diagnose it, is through a laparoscopy procedure. We cut a small incision in her belly button and using a camera on a flex tube, we look at the outside of the uterus, her ovaries and fallopian tubes. Since we're already opening her up to remove the fluid and possible excise another cyst, it makes sense to combine and look for Endometriosis, while we are there. "
"What's the recovery time for such a procedure?" Ducky asked. He knew a little about the condition, but not a lot.
"Depending on what we find anywhere from two to six weeks." the doctor told them truthfully. "Ms Gibbs. I have another item to discuss. Would you prefer if your father and the good doctor Mallard left the room?"
Ducky read the room carefully and mentally calculated what the doctor wished to discuss with the two of them, before ushering his dear friend Jethro out of the room.
"I understand it's a new relationship and you're already using condoms, is that correct?" he asked for confirmation before continuing. "Have you considered an IUD? It would provide an extra layer of protection and would, in theory would lessen the severity of any potential Endometriosis symptoms. As an added bonus, if you chose to do so, or in the case you forget to wear a condom, it will provide an additional cover against pregnancy from occurring. I take it neither of you are wanting children, right now."
"No kids, right now Doc." Kelly told him. She thought about her options and her choices before making a decision. "I think we should do it." she said. She looked at Tim carefully.
Tim reluctantly agreed. He knew the engineering behind how they worked in theory, but he also knew that they were effective. Sadly, he knew that a small percentage of women sometimes had problems with the device, too. He figured that it was her body and her choice, that she could always have it removed if it gave her additional problems.
Gibbs managed to reluctantly get Tim out of the hospital that night, but the following morning Tim had beaten him into the hospital. Kelly had been whisked into surgery at 0800 and Tim sat in her room, typing away on his laptop.
A knock at the door startled Tim and Gibbs, looking up, they were surprised to see Tobias and Sarah, together. Gibbs and Tobias had spoken last night on the phone and Tobias had called Sarah, agreeing to meet with him and visit Kelly. "She's in surgery, already?" Tobias asked the two men. "Mind if we wait with you?"
Gibbs was surprised at their arrival but didn't comment. He was glad to see that they were mutually taking an interest in their son's life. "She's going to be just fine, Tim." Sarah whispered to him when she saw Tim look at the door three times within a minute. "I know that you are worried, but she's in good hands here. Tobias said she's under Doctor Cartwright. He's a good doctor, Tim. He's been my doctor for years."
"It's just..." Tim tried to explain, finding that strangely enough, words failed him.
"You love her? You just want to wave your hand and make her all better?" she asked, softly with a smile. "Of course, you do, son. That's what being in love is all about. You don't want to see any of your loved ones, hurt or sick. Unfortunately, it's what makes us all human."
Sarah put a comforting hand on her son's arm, before he allowed her to pull him in for a quick hug.
Gibbs was thinking about everything that had happened and everything the last twenty-four hours had thrown at him and he wondered how he was doing. Sarah and Tobias seemed to have come around a little more, especially Sarah. She'd stepped up today and comforted Tim. She'd hit the nail on the head, Tim loved Kelly and he was still worried about her.
The nurse stepped into the room and asked everyone to wait in the waiting room at the end of the hallway, that Kelly was returning from theatre and was still groggy. Gibbs knew Tobias and Sarah both had to get back to work and that he had planned to head to work this afternoon too, just as soon as he saw his daughter was OK.
Tim was called into the room first by Kelly's nurse, as they spoke to the doctor and Gibbs was OK with that. He was beginning to accept that he now came second in her life. That Tim had slipped into the number one position and it made him happy to know she was that happy and secure in her relationship with Tim. He knew that officially they hadn't been seeing one another long, but unofficially it had felt like they'd been together for a long time now. Gibbs found himself mentally reminding his brain that it was still a new relationship.
Finally, he was allowed in. Tim had come to get the three of them, explaining that although she was slightly groggy, she still wanted to see them all. Kelly wasn't comfortable discussing what the doctor had found with Sarah and Tobias present, but that didn't matter much because they left shortly after, cutting their visit short. They had just wanted her to know that they were there for her and make sure she was OK. She even told them she appreciated it, not because they care for her, but because they showed up to be there for Tim.
"The doctor found a significant amount of endometriosis; they've categorised it as stage three." Kelly told her father as soon as Tobias and Sarah left. "Another three cysts were removed, in addition to the cyst that had burst and the fluid was removed. I have five surgical incisions. One in my belly button, two above to either side and two below either side."
"Geez, Kell. No wonder you were so sick." Gibbs exclaimed. Ducky had explained endometriosis in excruciating detail to him, outlining the physical and mental implications of an illness such as endometriosis, how it might affect Kelly in the future including the effect that it might have on her fertility. For the first time in a long time, Jethro prayed to Shannon in heaven that Kelly would not suffer too severely with it. "Seems you were right on the money, Tim."
"Sarah suffers from endometriosis, Gibbs. I recognised the first sign and symptom two nights ago unfortunately, for Kelly it was too late. But at least now we know what it is we know how to treat it and we're on top of it now." Tim told Gibbs. "Sarah's a stage four, she is riddled with it. She had a hysterectomy at 25, but it's continued growing. I won't let them talk Kelly into going that route. Sarah made that decision when I wasn't there."
"The big plus dad, the IUD that the doctor implanted while I was under general anaesthetic is supposed to help with lessening the severity of the symptoms. In addition, to serving as an additional layer of contraception." Kelly informed him. "That certainly doesn't mean we're going to be lax with contraception, either. It just means we've got an extra layer of protection, just in case. Sometimes, in some women the IUD doesn't work or lessen the symptoms, but it is effective in preventing pregnancy, which is a good thing."
"IUD?" Gibbs asked, confused. "What the hell is that?"
"Oh yeah, the doctor suggested it and I thought it would be a good idea." Kelly told him. "It's an intrauterine device to help ease the pain. It looks like a little plastic T with two copper wires to release it. The small plastic device is pre-dosed with the hormones it releases and it is a more localised approach, rather than like with the pill, which is a more generalised release of hormones. It's better for you, plus it prevents pregnancy, not one hundred percent, because that's impossible, but it's like ninety-nine percent effective and it lasts for like seven years."
Gibbs knew that Tobias and Sarah Porter would be happy to hear that as well. Neither himself, nor Tobias or Sarah were ready to be grandparents. Even if Gibbs did think, deep down that Tim would end up marrying his daughter. He was glad to hear that the couple were being proactive about contraception. But he didn't want Kelly putting foreign objects inside her body. "You let her do this?!" He asked, turning to Tim, his voice argumentative. "You let her insert this foreign thing, into her body?!"
"Let?!" Tim argued, frustrated at Gibbs. They had been on the same page for so long and now it felt Gibbs was going to turn on him, again. "It's her body and her choice, Gibbs. I certainly didn't tell her to do. I supported her decision, which I would have had, no matter what decision she made. That's my job, Gibbs, to support her. If it gives her any dramas, or difficulties, she can always have it removed. It's far less painful having them removed, than inserted."
"How the hell would you know?" Gibbs asked, sarcastically. "Last time I checked, you're a man."
"Two reasons, Gibbs. One, I held Sarah's hand when she got one inserted in the chair and she was writhing in pain, even Doctor Cartwright told Kelly that they're better to be inserted under a general anaesthetic. Two, I know that some women have had problems with them, but a lot of women find relief with them, too. When I was doing my masters in biomedical engineering, I wrote my final thesis paper on that device, the exact branded device that Kelly chose to have implanted. I know more about it than the doctor and Kelly, for that matter. Maybe you should try listening to me, rather than just jump down my throat. I do have a masters degree in biomedical engineering."
"Tim, I.." Gibbs began, about to break his infamous rule six.
"Save it, Dad." Kelly snapped. "It's not like I made a flip decision in the spur of the moment. It was an informed and researched decision. Just because you like to blame Tim, doesn't mean this is his fault. I have had problems with pain and my cycle for years. I've had plenty of doctors even tell me I was either exaggerating or making it up in my head, I had learnt to live with it, until now. Ethan took my pain personally, as if I never wanted to be intimate with him. He didn't understand, even telling Tim I was frigid. I wasn't frigid, I was scared of the pain that I'd feel during sex. Ethan wasn't exactly gentle, either. At least Tim is gentle with me and he understands."
Gibbs wasn't sure what to say after that, he muttered something about going for coffee and left.