Dr. Katherine Marshall glanced at the monitor one last time, making sure that her patient’s vital signs were stabilized. She had been forced to sedate the man lying in the bed thanks to one Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The doctor still couldn’t believe that Gibbs actually had the audacity to question the injured agent, but then again, after meeting him, she realized that in his own unique way, he was trying to help Anthony DiNozzo.
Gibbs had all but pleaded to stay with his agent and she had reluctantly agreed. It seemed that Jethro Gibbs was indeed the closest thing to family that Agent DiNozzo had and although she might consider them slightly dysfunctional, they were still a family.
As she turned to leave, Katherine heard a low moan coming from Tony. She back to his bedside and softly called his name. “Tony? Tony, can you hear me?”
The agent nodded and opened his eyes. “How ya doin’, Kate?” he rasped.
“A lot better than you, DiNozzo,” she retorted.
“You sound like Gibbs.”
“I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or as an insult.”
“It depends on the day,” he quipped. “Overall, you should probably take it as a compliment.”
“All right then,” she said, “in that case, thank you.”
The doctor didn’t miss the pained expression on Tony’s face when he attempted to sit up. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, gently pushing him back down on the bed.
“Lying back down,” he panted.
“Good idea.”
“Thanks. I have them from…time to time,” Tony grunted.
“Trying to sit up just now wasn’t one of your better ones, was it?’
“No, it wasn’t.”
She patted his shoulder and then pulled the blanket up over his chest. “You’re about due for some more pain medication. I’ll tell the nurse to go ahead and…”
“No!” he growled.
Katherine was startled by Tony’s quick movements as he clamped his hand around her wrist. “Tony, you need this medication,” she tried to explain.
“No more pain medicine and no more of whatever you’re giving me that knocks me on my ass,” he warned.
She stared at him in disbelief. “You must have hit your head harder than I thought if you think I’m going to agree to that.”
“No more!”
The doctor pulled from his grasp and crossed her arms. She was beginning to feel more like a mother scolding her child instead of a physician. “If you have to fight the pain, Tony, you can’t rest; and if you can’t rest, you’re not going to get better.”
“I’ve had worse and lived to tell about it.”
“That’s not something to brag about.”
“I wasn’t bragging,” he countered. “I was stating a fact.”
“You are not in any shape to make any kind of judgment about your health,” Katherine argued.
“I can decide if I want to be doped up or not.”
“Tony, you need…”
She was interrupted by a knock at the door. Katherine didn’t have to turn around to know that Jethro Gibbs was standing behind her. Her gaze still fixed on her obstinate patient, she said, “I thought I told you I would come and get you when I was done examining him.”
“You took too long. I figured DiNozzo was probably awake and giving you a hard time,” Gibbs replied. “Looks like I was right.”
She nodded at the team leader’s assumption. “He’s refusing his pain medication and sedatives, although he obviously still needs them.”
“Sounds about right.”
“I’ve tried to explain to Tony that he…”
“I’ll talk to him,” Gibbs insisted.
“Last time you talked to him, I had to sedate him,” she reminded the ex-Marine.
“If you want him to agree to take his meds, you’ll let me talk to Tony. Alone,” he added.
“Could you two stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Tony barked.
Neither Katherine nor Gibbs could deny the frustration and anger radiating from the young man. She could actually empathize with the agent; her own patience was quickly reaching its limits. Not wanting to upset Tony any further, she turned to leave. Sparing a final glance at the two agents, she pointed a finger at the older man. “I know that you’re listed as Tony’s next of kin, but if you upset him like you did the last time, I’ll ban you from ICU.”
Katherine left and went over to the nurse’s station and pulled Tony’s chart. Her attention was drawn back to Jethro Gibbs and Tony DiNozzo. If she had met them under different circumstance, she would have easily pegged the pair for father and son; but right now, judging by the tense expression on the younger man’s face, that relationship was definitely strained. It hadn’t taken Katherine long to figure out that these two men were more alike than different, and at the moment, she wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Time would certainly tell.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Abby stood in the doorway of the waiting room, her eyes fixed on the set of double doors that led to the Intensive Care Unit. Gibbs had just gone back in to see Tony for the second time and she had yet been able to see her best friend. When they had first arrived, Gibbs had insisted that she stay in the waiting room until he had seen DiNozzo and she had foolishly agreed. It wasn’t too long before Jackson Gibbs had joined her and told her what he knew about Tony’s condition. Knowing that Tony was hurting and not just in a physical sense, made Abby even more desperate to see him and try and cheer him up.
When Gibbs came in the waiting room for the first time after seeing Tony, he had informed them that DiNozzo had become upset and the Doctor had been forced to sedate him.
“Now, I’ll never get to see him,” Abby had exclaimed, annoyance dripping from every word. “You shouldn’t have upset him, Gibbs. I knew I should have gone in first.”
“Abby, I…”
She hadn’t allowed the team leader to finish his sentence before she had thrown her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry, Gibbs. I didn’t mean to sound like I’m blaming you.”
“I know, Abs.”
“I just want to see Tony.”
“I know, Abby and you will,” he promised.
“When?” she wanted to know.
“Soon.”
Now, two hours later, Gibbs was once again back in the ICU with Tony and she was still in the waiting room. She felt a strong pair of arms pull her into a hug. Abby pulled back and smiled at Jackson Gibbs. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I’m not very good company.”
Jack returned her smile. “I don’t expect you to be. I know you’re worried about Tony.”
“I just need to see him and let him know that I’m here for him.”
“Im sure he knows.”
“I hope so.”
“You were the first one that he wanted to talk to,” Jack said.
“That’s true, but then he had a seizure and…”
Jack kissed the top of her forehead. “That was not your fault. Now, come on and sit down. I’m sure you’re tired.”
Abby let Jack lead her back to the couch. She leaned against his shoulder, her gaze still riveted to the door. The Goth silently determined that if Gibbs didn’t come back within the next ten minutes, she was going to see Tony and no one was going to stop her.
“You and Tony are pretty close, huh?” Jack asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. We’ve always been close; well, if you don’t count the first week we worked together.”
“I take it that you two didn’t get off on the right foot.”
“No, we didn’t, but it didn’t take me too long to discover the real Tony.” She wiped a tear off her cheek. “Tony has a habit of only letting people see what he wants them to see.”
“I figured that one out all by myself and I’ve only known him for a few months,” Jack muttered under his breath.
“That’s because you dared to look behind the mask. You should feel honored that he trusted you enough to let you catch a glimpse of his true personality. Tony doesn’t trust easy but when he does, he gives it completely.”
“And when that trust has been shattered?”
Abby shrugged. “He puts the pain and disappointment in a box and throws away the key.”
“And when the box gets too full?”
Abby thought for a moment. “He ends up in a hospital in Stillwater,” she finally replied.
The two sat in companionable silence for the next few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Abby felt Jack lightly tug on her braid. “Why don’t you tell me about that first week you and Tony worked together? It sounds like a story that I’d be interested in hearing.”
“Maybe later,” she sighed. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Jack, but I can’t think about anything but…”
“Seeing Tony,” he finished.
“Yeah.”
Jack stood and held his hand out. Abby took it and allowed him to pull her up off the couch. Her curiosity piqued, she asked, “What are you up to, Jack?”
“I’m taking you to see Tony.”
“But Gibbs said…”
“You let me handle Leroy,” Jack said. “Now, do you want to go and see Tony or not?”
“Of course I do, but how are we going to get in there?”
Abby caught the mischievous glint in Jack’s eye. “You have a plan,” she surmised. “A devious plan at that.”
Jack offered his arm in order to escort her down the short corridor. ‘May I take you to see your husband, Mrs. DiNozzo?”
She felt the tears well up in her eyes once again. “You are a sweet man, Jackson Gibbs.”
“Right this way, Mrs. DiNozzo.”
She took the proffered arm and the pair made their way towards the ICU. Gibbs would not be happy with her or Jack, but it didn’t matter; she was getting to see Tony. She knew that the team leader wouldn’t stay mad at her for long; he never did. She was his favorite, or so Tony had told her. Abby hoped that Gibbs remembered that fact as she introduced herself to the nurse as Mrs. Anthony DiNozzo.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tony almost dreaded seeing Kate leave. He wasn’t sure that he was ready for another round with the former Marine. DiNozzo was well aware of the fact that he had revealed too much earlier and that Gibbs would not simply forget their last conversation. Gibbs would keep digging until he had discovered the truth and then, life as Tony knew it would cease to exist.
He could feel Gibbs staring at him as the older man sat down in the chair next to him. “You want to tell me why you don’t want to take your pain meds?” the team leader asked.
“I don’t want them,” he quietly answered, his eyes refusing to meet those of his boss.
“What you want and what you need are two different things, DiNozzo.”
“You know what pain medicine does to me. I’m confused enough as it is without being drugged.”
“Confused about what, Tony?”
“Everything,” Tony admitted.
“You think being in pain and not resting is going to make things less confusing?”
Tony shrugged. “I don’t know, but at least I know I’m in control.”
Gibbs leaned forward in his chair. “Tony, look at me.”
“I can’t.”
“Tony, look at me,” Gibbs repeated, his tone soft but demanding obedience.
Tony blew out a breath and slowly shifted his gaze until he was looking at his team leader face to face. He didn’t know how long he could stand to see the disappointment etched in the face of the man who was like a father to him. Tony had worked hard these past few years to win the approval of Jethro Gibbs and now all those years of sacrifice had been shot to hell. He flinched as Gibbs raised his hand towards his head.
His cheeks flushed as Jethro’s hand stopped in mid-air. “Tony,” Gibbs whispered. “I’m not going to hit you. I was just going to…” The older man lowered his hand. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have…”
“Sorry,” Tony mumbled. He felt sick, knowing that he had just added another failure to the growing list. How could he be so stupid? Gibbs would never intentionally hurt him.
“I told you those meds keep me confused,” Tony tried to reason. “That’s why I don’t want to take them.”
Tony’s eyes narrowed when his boss nodded his head in agreement. “All right,” Gibbs said. “I’ll tell the doctor that it’s your choice. If you don’t want to take them, you don’t have to.”
“What’s the catch?”
“You tell me the truth about everything that’s happened.”
“Damn you!” Tony blurted out. “That’s not fair!”
“Life isn’t fair, Tony. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Excuse me, Mr. DiNozzo?”
Both men glanced up to see the nurse standing in the door frame.
Tony cleared his throat. “Yes?”
“Your…um…your wife is here to see you,” she said.
“My wife?”
It was just a few seconds before Tony saw Abby push her way past the nurse. “Tony! Baby!”
He dismissed then nurse with a curt nod as Abby came over and kissed him on the cheek. Tony should have known that Abby would have figured out a way to come and see him, and the fact that she had posed as his wife only endeared her to him even more. She had obviously gone to a lot of trouble think up this scheme, so he figured that he might as well play along. Truthfully, Tony was glad to see Abby, if for no other reason that it postponed his confrontation with Gibbs. Of course, judging by the soured expression on the former Marine’s face, he didn’t share Tony’s point of view.
Chapter End Notes:
Believe it or not, I tried to load this chapter Thursday and Friday, but my computer had a mind of its own. So, here it is finally! I hope you enjoy it and you may even get the next chapter later today.