Something wasn’t right. His gut was screaming at him, trying to warn him, but he was having a difficult time processing a rational thought. A growing sense of urgency was beginning to consume him, rousing him from his slumber. Tony forced himself to climb his way out of the darkness. He struggled every step of the way, knowing that one wrong move would send him plummeting back into the clutches of the black void that he was trying to escape.
He managed to open his eyes to discover Kate standing over him. Tony blinked a couple of times in an effort to clear his blurred vision, despising the familiar groggy feeling that seemed to accompany him every time he woke up.
Tony thought he saw Kate slip something in her pocket, but he failed to see what the object was. “What was that?” he slurred.
“It was just a little extra something to help you sleep,” the physician hastily explained.
He knew she was lying the moment the words came out of her mouth; the fact that she refused to look him in the eye sealed his suspicion. Tony winced at the burning sensation now traveling up his arm. Judging by the sudden discomfort and the doctor’s increased nervousness; Tony knew that whatever she had given him was not a sedative.
Knowing that he was going to have to do something to help himself, he reached over with a trembling hand and pulled out his IV. Blood started streaming down his arm as he blindly searched for the call button that would summon the nurse. His own doctor had just tried to kill him and he wasn’t about to give her another opportunity.
He fingers were easily pried off the button and it was placed out his reach. Tony cursed his weakness as he fought to pull free of Kate’s grasp. “Why ?” he gasped.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“Always…have a choice. I trusted you.”
“I know.”
“You won’t get away with this.”
Ignoring his warning, she tightened her hold on his wrists. “It will be a lot easier on you if you don’t fight it,” Kate insisted.
Sweat now plastered his hair to his head. “Can’t do that…don’t take orders…from you.”
He could hear Gibbs’ gruff voice in his mind, demanding that he fight with every ounce of strength he could muster. Tony managed to pull one hand free and rip the leads to the heart monitor off his chest, knowing that the alarm would start sounding, not only in his room, but at the nurse’s station as well. Katherine was forced to let go of his other wrist as she moved to silence the alarm, prompting Tony to quickly lower the side rail and roll himself out of bed on to the floor in hopes that the commotion would be heard.
Tony reached out and grabbed Katherine’s legs, forcing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor. He tried to yell for help, but he couldn’t seem to get anything out above a whisper. Whatever Katherine had given him was working fast and he was quickly reaching the point that he could no longer fight the effects of the drug.
The agent collapsed as Katherine scrambled to her feet. “I’ve got to hand it to you; you have a lot more grit than I thought,” she snarled.
“You…have…no idea,” he mumbled.
He was finding it difficult to stay awake. Tony could hear the sound of footsteps as several nurses rushed into his room and began to call his name. However, there was one voice in particular that forced him back to a state of semi-awareness, encouraging him not to surrender to the dark shadows that wanted to claim him.
“Oh my god, Tony!”
“Abs!” he weakly cried out.
“I’m right here, Tony!”
Although the medical staff was poking and prodding him, he managed to feel Abby’s vise like grip on his arm. “I’m sorry,” she apologized profusely. “I should have never gone to the bathroom. I should have just held it until Gibbs got here! I don’t know why I had to pee right then; I mean, I’ve gone for hours without a bathroom break! I even remember one time in college that…”
He loved Abby, but at the moment, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay awake and he needed to make sure that she understood who was responsible for doing this to him. “Abs…where’s Kate?”
“She’s right here,” Abby replied, simultaneously glancing around the room. “She was here a second ago.”
Tony realized that the physician must have slid out amidst the chaos. “Stop…her!” he rasped.
“What?”
“She…tried to…kill me. Put something…in…my IV.”
He silently prayed that Abby understood what he was trying to say. He wasn’t sure if he was making any sense, but thankfully the Goth always seemed to know what he was thinking, even when he didn’t have a clue.
Upon hearing what he had told Abby, the nurses began asking him questions as to what happened and if he knew what she had injected him with. Unable to answer, he closed his eyes as the voices around him faded to a dull roar. Tony found the sound almost hypnotic, lulling him into a state of oblivion where nothing seemed to matter. Consciousness was escaping him and as he floated towards the darkness, he found himself wondering if he would ever wake up again.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gibbs has planned on going to his dad’s place to shower and change. He also thought about catching a quick nap before the IA team arrived to talk to Tony; DiNozzo would need to draw from his strength and it wouldn’t do any good for him to collapse from exhaustion. As he left the waiting room, he hesitated and glanced down the corridor would lead to the Intensive Care Unit. He couldn’t shake the nagging suspicion that something was wrong.
Knowing better than to ignore his gut instincts, he made his way down the hall. He didn’t bother hiding his irritation at nearly being bowled over by Dr. Katherine Marshall. The knot in his stomach pulled tighter as he studied her disheveled appearance; years of experience told him that she was scared and was running away from something or someone.
“In a hurry, Doc?” he inquired.
“Um…I’m needed down in emergency,” she quickly explained.
“I didn’t hear the page.”
“They paged my beeper.”
“Oh, I see.”
“If you’ll excuse me, Agent Gibbs.”
“Did you just come from seeing Tony?” Gibbs continued to press.
“Yes and he’s…resting.”
“Really?”
“What else would he be doing?” Kate snapped. “I really have to be going, Agent Gibbs.”
As Kate turned to leave, he grabbed her arm and whirled her around to face him. “You’re lying, Dr. Marshall. Now, do you care to tell me the truth?”
She tried to pull free, but he only tightened his grip. “Let me go!” Kate demanded.
“Not until you tell me what’s going on!”
“Nothing,” she countered. “I’ve already told you that I’m on my way to my office.”
“I thought you were on your way to the emergency room.”
Kate blew out a frustrated breath. “That’s what I meant.”
“No, it’s not. That’s just another lie.”
Before Kate had an opportunity to defend her actions, Abby came bounding through the ICU doors, nearly knocking him down for the second time that day. He managed to keep his balance as well as his grasp on Dr. Katherine Marshall, who was determined to break free. One look at Abby’s panic-stricken, tear stained face filled the team leader with a sense of dread.
“Abby?”
“Gibbs! You caught her!” Abby excitedly proclaimed.
“Are you taking about the doc?”
“Yes! She just tried to kill Tony! Aren’t you going to arrest her?”
“Slow down and explain what happened.” Gibbs wanted nothing more than to be at Tony’s side, but right now, he knew that he could be of a greater help to DiNozzo by finding out why his doctor had just tried to kill him.
“I couldn’t get much out of Tony except that she slipped something in his IV. When I got to the room, he had pulled out his IV and was on the floor. He looked so sick, Gibbs.”
He glared at Dr. Marshall in disbelief. “Why?” he wanted to know. “You save his life only to kill him? Why?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kate protested. “Agent DiNozzo was fine when I left him.”
“Liar!” Abby cursed. “You were still in there when I got back. You slipped out while the nurses were working with him!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Gibbs placed himself between Abby and the doctor, mainly to prevent the Goth from doing something she might regret. “Things will go much easier for you if you just come clean!”
“You’re both crazy!”
“You’re going to find out just how crazy we are if you don’t start talking,” the team leader warned. “You do remember that Abby is a forensic scientist, don’t you? She could kill you without leaving any evidence behind.”
“You don’t scare me,” Kate retorted, defiance and arrogance evident in her stance.
“I don’t?” Gibbs leaned in closer. “How about now, Dr. Marshall?”
He smiled when he saw a glint of fear in her eyes. “What happened to that Hippocratic Oath that you took? Were they just words?”
“Don’t you dare judge me! You don’t understand…”
The former Marine didn’t want to hear another word. “You’re right! I don’t understand! I don’t understand how a doctor can take their patient’s trust and completely shatter it. He defended you to me and how do you repay him? You try and kill him! I want to know why! Did someone pay you to do it? Whose pay roll are you on?”
Katherine Marshall remained silent. Gibbs knew that whoever she worked for had to be very powerful for her not to give up his or her identity. The team leader could easily narrow it down to Tony’s father or to SecNav; it would not take a lot for him to figure out which one was paying the doctor to kill his senior agent. “You’re under arrest,” he stated.
“For what?”
“The attempted murder of Anthony DiNozzo.”
“You have no proof!”
“You want me to frisk her for you, Gibbs?” Abby offered. “I’d be happy to.”
“I’ve got it, Abs.”
As he patted her down, his hand came across an object in the pocket of her lab coat. Taking out his handkerchief, Gibbs reached into her pocket and pulled out a half empty syringe and held it up. “What’s in this?”
“It’s just a sedative,” Kate answered.
“For Tony?”
“Yes.”
“He didn’t need it. He was already sleeping when you got there,” the Goth pointed out.
“He woke up just after you left.”
He clenched his fist, resisting the urge to hit the woman in front of him. Tucking the syringe in his own pocket, he held out his hand to Abby. “Hand me your cuffs, Abs.”
“With pleasure, Gibbs.”
Gibbs continued to stare at Dr. Marshall, his gaze unrelenting. Within a few seconds, Abby had produced her personal handcuffs that Tony had given her. He had always wondered why DiNozzo had given the scientist handcuffs, but at the moment, it didn’t matter; the team leader was just glad that she had them.
He none too gently pulled Kate’s hands behind her back and placed the handcuffs around her wrists. “You stay put,” he ordered. “Abby, call the police and then call Ziva and tell her what’s happened and then stay with Dr. Marshall until she gets here.”
“I won’t let her out of my sight,” Abby vowed.
“Good girl.” He kissed Abby on the cheek and entered the Intensive Care Unit. Gibbs had to smile as he heard the Goth inform the doctor that Ziva was a trained assassin. He jogged around the corner of the nurse’s station to see several nurses and a doctor he didn’t recognize gathered around Tony’s bed.
Gibbs didn’t bother with any pleasantries as he came into the room. Standing at the foot of DiNozzo’s bed, his concern immediately grew at the site of the younger man. Despite the fact that Tony seemed to be comfortable, his face betrayed an exhaustion that seemed to claim his soul. He reached out and patted his leg. “Tony?”
A weak smile returned his greeting. “Hey, Boss.”
“You okay?”
“Guess so.”
He turned his attention to the doctor. “I’m Agent Gibbs. I’m listed as Tony’s next of kin.”
“Dr. Alex Harrington. I was next door when I heard the alarm. I know he’s Dr. Marshall’s patient, but she seemed to disappear, so I thought I’d see what I could do.”
“How is he?”
“I think he’s going to be fine. We’ve started a new IV and we’re sending his blood to the lab to be tested. He says that Dr. Marshall was giving something in his IV and…”
Gibbs pulled out the syringe with his handkerchief. “My forensic scientist will be analyzing the contents.”
“We have a lab here.”
“I’m sure that Abby will appreciate the use of it.”
“Don’t you trust our lab techs?”
“Not really. Not when it comes to handling evidence and this syringe is evidence.”
“I’ll make the necessary arrangements.”
He nodded his approval and turned his attention back to Tony. “Are you sure he’s all right?”
“His vitals were a little high, but as of a couple minutes ago, they were stable. Evidently, whatever she gave him wasn’t enough to do any significant damage. He must have managed to pull out his IV before too much got in his system. He did pass out, but we think it was from simply overdoing it. He pulled a few stitches, but we took care of that and there shouldn’t be any residual problems. We gave him a mild sedative to help him relax, so that’s why he seems a little groggy.”
As the nurse’s left, Gibbs moved to Tony’s side. The young man was struggling to keep his eyes open, but he knew that DiNozzo would soon lose the battle to stay awake. He brushed a stray piece of hair off his forehead, the simple gesture serving as a reassurance to Tony that he wasn’t alone.
Harrington turned to leave, pausing only a moment to ask the team leader a question. “Did she say why she did it?”
“Nope, but I’ll find out.”
“I can’t believe that she would do this. Katherine’s such a good doctor.”
“Was a good doctor,” the ex-Marine corrected. “The last time I looked, good doctors didn’t try and kill their patients.”
“There has to be an explanation.”
“You would think so, wouldn’t you?”
The doctor nodded and left the two men alone. Gibbs sat down in the chair beside Tony’s bed. “Tony? You still with me?”
“Not going anywhere, Boss.”
“That’s good to know, DiNozzo.”
“You told me a long time ago that I couldn’t die.”
“Yeah, I did and I meant it.”
Tony tiredly grinned. “I know.”
Gibbs leaned forward in the chair. “I arrested Dr. Marshall.”
“Guess Abby found her.”
“Sort of. I was coming back to check on you before I left and the doctor and I literally ran into each other. Abby told me what happened and I found the syringe.”
“Knew you’d come through, Boss. You always do.”
Gibbs squeezed his shoulder. “I’ve got your six.”
“I know that now,” Tony replied. “I should’ve never doubted that fact.”
“Don’t worry about it. Right now, you need to get some rest. The IA team should be here in a few hours.”
“Oh, yeah.” The younger agent yawned. “I almost forgot about them. How did SecNav take the news?”
“He was pretty pissed.”
Tony’s eyes were beginning to close. “You know something, Gibbs? I’m getting as good as you are at pissing people off.”
The team leader smiled. “I think you’ve surpassed me, DiNozzo.”
“Not so sure about that, Boss. I don’t have three ex-wives.”
“Good point.”
“Sleepy.”
“Then go to sleep,” Gibbs instructed. “You’re safe.”
“I know.”
Gibbs watched Tony’s breathing even out as his senior agent drifted off to sleep. Part of him still couldn’t believe that Katherine Marshall had tried to kill DiNozzo; thankfully Tony had managed to act quickly, despite his injuries, and save his own life. Sometimes the younger man simply amazed him. DiNozzo’s tenacity and ability to overcome the obstacles in his life had played a part in creating the man that he knew today. He was proud of Tony; as proud as a father could be of his son and he vowed to make sure that DiNozzo knew how he felt.
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