Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…
The wind rushed through the trees and the branches screeched against the window as they scraped against the cold panes of glass. Rain continued to gush down, and trickling streams of water ran down the glass, twisting and turning on the smooth surface. Outside water flooded the earth, inundating the soil and, every here and there creating tiny mudslides. A woman stood at the window looking out onto the abandoned streets below, her eyes red with a mixture of tiredness, pain and shock. The only sound that could be heard was the pattering of the rain on the window and of course the endless ‘Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…’
The woman tore herself away from the window and turned around to face a simple, plainly dressed bed. Under a perfectly smoothed sheet a man slept endlessly, his body unmoving, his fingers staying perfectly still. For the first time in her life, Jennifer Shepard couldn’t see the man’s eyes. She could always find solace in those eyes, even when he was angry with her; she could always see deep into those eyes and be comforted. But now those bright blue eyes were hidden from the world by his slumped eyelids, and there was no comfort.
She walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, leaning over the man’s body. She spoke gently, and with deep affection, “Jethro? Please say you can here me. The doctors say…the doctors…” She paused slightly, the pain of the words she was about to say shining through in her eyes. She cleared her throat audibly before continuing, steadying herself, strengthening herself. “The doctors say you are in a coma…and that you may not ever wake up. I want you to tell me that’s not true…I need you to tell me that’s not true…I need…you.”
She grabbed his hand tightly in one of her hands, her grip gentle but tight, willing him to clutch her hand back. She used the other hand to gently stoke the side of his face, her head tilting slightly and a smile coming to her lips. “Remember Paris, Jethro? You, me and that city. Those were some of the best times of my life, Jethro, and I will not let you forget them. You are coming back to me, you hear? I will not accept this as your resignation. The Jethro Gibbs I know wouldn’t take the coward’s way out, and I respected him for that. I respect you…I need you…I love…”
The door to the small room crashed open and a young woman burst in quickly, followed by a very red-faced man.
“Director, I…”
“It doesn’t matter, Agent McGee, I understand,” Jen said softly. She had quickly come to her senses and gained her natural demeanor back. The images of Paris were gone and her duty as Director of NCIS was in front of her.
“The nurse said you were in here and I tried to stop…”
“I said it doesn’t matter, McGee, we are all in the same boat here…”
“Gibbs?” came a quite mumble from the young black haired lady. Her body had fallen limp at the sight of her boss in that hospital bed, her shoulders hunched and her clutch back hanging loosely at her side held by a small pale hand. Her eyes filled with tears, which she blinked back furiously.
McGee moved forward and put a hand gently on her shoulder, “Abs?”
She shrugged him off and moved forward toward Gibbs. She moved slowly and in tiny movements, almost scared to go close to the sleeping man. Her hand hung trembling at her side.
McGee turned to Jenny and in a quite voice asked, “What did the doctors say?”
Jenny took a second before answering, “They say he is in a coma, and that they don’t know if he will wake up…the next 48 hours are crucial.”
McGee swallowed hard before turning to look, himself, at Gibbs lying there under the covers, “Yeah, but he woke up last time didn’t he?”
“But he didn’t want to…” came Abby from beside Gibbs. She had now reached the bed and she stood looking down at him. “He didn’t want to wake up; he was with them…”
“Who?” McGee answered. Jen just kept quiet, her face hardening as she tried to shield her thoughts from what Abby was talking about.
“Them…Shannon and Kelly…his family…” Abby said.
“He wasn’t actually with them though, was he?”
“Whether in mind or in body it doesn’t matter, McGee… His heart was with them…and not with us.” Abby replied.
“Yeah, but…he’ll come back… He has to… he’s Gibbs.” McGee said, but his own doubts shone through in his voice.
“Would you?” Abby asked, turning to face McGee. “If you had found your true happiness, only to have it taken away… wouldn’t you give anything to have it back?”
“That’s different…” he started.
“How?” Abby challenged. McGee kept quite his face glum as he searched for an answer he did not have.
“I would,” Jen said from the corner of the bed. She looked over to Gibbs and images flashed in front of her…
A man and a red headed woman sat on the balcony laughing together…his arm around her waist, holding her close.
The same couple this time laying on a bed, the man dipping a strawberry in chocolate and bringing it up to her mouth, daring her to bite it.
The man, this time pouring champagne into to glasses and bringing them over to the bath, where the woman was already enjoying the hot bubbly water.
Both of them under the covers, sweat soaking into the sheets as they moved together. She moaned in pleasure as he pushed himself inside her, never taking his eyes from hers as they made love.
Jen’s eyes sharpened as she brought her self back to the present, “If I could go back to when I was truly happy, I would.”
All three of them looked on as Gibbs slept soundly in his bed. Each of them silent and alone with their own thoughts, hopes and fears. The only sound echoing out into the dark room was the steady mechanical sound, ‘Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…’
***
Author's Chapter Notes:
Jen remembers happier times...