Chapter Two: Tony's Tummy Troubles
Six Weeks Later...
McGee jerked awake at the sound of the door slamming, his mind instantly alert as he sat up, scanning the dark room. He threw the covers from his body, glancing over to make sure he had not disturbed Tony, stopping when he noticed that his lover was no longer beside him.
Frowning slightly, he scanned the room again, relaxing only when he saw the sliver of light filtering out from under the now closed bathroom door.
Laying back against the pillows, he pulled the blanket up once more as he closed his eyes, willing sleep to come again.
He had just started to drift off when the sound of retching reached his ears. Sitting up quickly, he climbed from the bed and made his way over to the bathroom door, knocking quietly. "T? Are you okay?"
The only response he received was a low moan followed by another round of retching. Pushing the door open, McGee stepped into the bathroom, squinting at the harsh light.
He found Tony hunched over the toilet, his head in his hands as he took a shuddery breath.
"Tony?"
"Go 'way."
"What's the matter?"
"Bad..." He trailed off, feeling the bile rise in his throat once more.
McGee cringed as Tony heaved again. Dropping to his knees behind him, he rested a hand on the older man's back.
...Chinese," Tony finished hoarsely as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Go 'way, I can take care of myself."
Ignoring his order, McGee stood and grabbed a wash cloth from the closet, running it under cool water before handing it to him.
Glaring up at the younger man, Tony snatched the cloth from his hand before throwing it to the floor. "Get the fuck out!"
"You're really grumpy when you don't feel good. Has anyone ever told you that?"
"Fu--" He heaved again, his entire body tensing as he gripped the toilet with both hands.
Sitting down on the edge of the bathtub, McGee waited patiently, his hand rubbing soothing circles on his partner's back.
"You want me to give Ducky a call?" McGee asked, frowning when Tony lowered his head to his hands again.
"No. He wouldn't be able to do anything anyway," Tony muttered miserably, pushing himself to his feet.
McGee watched as Tony rinsed his mouth out before he stood.
"Back to bed," he ordered quietly as he crossed the small room, wrapping an arm around the Italian as he led him out of the bathroom.
He watched as Tony curled up on his side before he pulled the covers up, tucking them tightly around him. "You think you'd be able to keep a drink down? Need to keep you hydrated."
"No. Sleep. Now."
He debated arguing for a moment, but as he watched Tony burrow against the pillow tiredly, he changed his mind. Climbing into bed behind Tony, he wrapped an arm around his torso, pulling him back against his chest.
"Stop!" Tony moaned as he pulled away.
"Quit being so difficult."
"Then quit touching me."
"Thought you liked when I touched you."
Tony fell silent, and for a moment McGee thought that perhaps he had fallen asleep. However, it wasn't long before the older man had scooted closer, allowing McGee to wrap an arm around his waist.
A slow smile began to form on McGee's mouth as he shifted to get comfortable, pulling Tony closer.
"Shut up," Tony muttered sleepily.
"Didn't say a word."
"I can practically hear your smug smile."
Chuckling quietly to himself, McGee pressed a gentle kiss to Tony's bare shoulder before squeezing him lightly.
"Feel better, Tonyboy."
OoOoOoO
Stepping out of the elevator, Caf-Pow! in hand, McGee made his way into the lab, smiling when he saw Abby hunched over at her desk, diligently working.
The Goth glanced up at the sound of her automatic doors opening, her smile widening as she spotted the large drink in her friend's hand.
"Heya, Timmy," she greeted, grateful for the distraction. "What's up?"
He handed her the drink before sinking down in the empty chair beside her. "What are you working on?"
Looking down at the paper in front of her, she pushed it away dismissively.
"Nothing that can't wait. How'd you manage to sneak down here? Slow day?"
"It's actually kinda busy, but Tony irritated Gibbs into ordering us all to take a half an hour for lunch."
"Why am I not surprised?" Abby giggled as she took a drink from the large cup. "You didn't go with him?
"No."
"And... Is there a reason for that?"
"No. Well, technically, yes, I guess? I actually wanted to talk to you. About Tony."
"Everything going okay with you two?" She asked hesitantly.
"Oh yeah. Everything's fine. I'm actually just... He worried me a little last night."
Abby leaned forward in her chair slightly. "What happened?"
"Well... He got sick. It's nothing major. He claims it was just food poisoning and he seems to be feeling better today, but I was hoping that maybe you would..."
"Talk him into letting the Duckman check him out?" She grinned. Her boys were so easy to read. "Sure thing, Timmy. Send him down when he gets back."
Offering her a bright smile, he leaned forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. "You're the best Abs."
"Oh man! If I got a dime every time someone told me that...phew!" She chuckled, hugging him back just as tight.
The sound of the automatic door opening again caught their attention. Releasing the Goth from his embrace, McGee turned in his chair, smiling as Tony stepped into the office, his eyebrow cocked at the two of them.
"Getting frisky before lunch, are we?" He asked as he dropped the bag onto the desk before grabbing another chair and pulling it beside McGee.
"Something wrong with that?" Abby smirked.
"Not as long as you're willing to make this party of two a threesome," he grinned.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Abby asked as she peeked into the bag. "What'd you bring me?"
Tony snorted, plucking the bag from Abby's hand. "What makes you think that I brought you anything?"
"Because you love me?"
"Good point," he said with a shrug as he reached into the bag, producing a wrapped sandwich. "Sun dried tomato wrap for the lady. And for you, McPicky, tuna on wheat, no onions."
"Ah, you're the best," Abby grinned, leaning over McGee to peck Tony on the cheek. "What'd you get?"
"Cheesesteak and french fries."
"You must be feeling better then," McGee noted as he unwrapped his sandwich, watching Tony do the same from the corner of his eye.
"Much," the older man responded before taking a big bite of his sub. "Mmm. So good."
Wrinkling his nose in disgust, McGee looked away, frowning slightly. "If you're going to eat all that grease, at least eat slowly. We don't need a repeat of last night."
"Last night?" Abby asked innocently.
Tony rolled his eyes as he took another bite. "I had food poisoning last night. Bad Chinese. But I'm good now."
"Yeah," Abby said with a giggle. "I can see that. You should still probably get checked out though, T."
"I'm fine," he insisted as he finished up his sandwich. "Really. I promise."
Abby eyed him skeptically. "Tony..."
"I'm fine," he repeated, his tone a little sharper than he'd intended.
"You should still get checked out.! If you think you might have eaten something bad, you could have picked up one of the nastier bacteria or viruses! Some of that stuff is super icky and not something you should mess around with! And just because you feel fine now doesn't mean--"
"Dammit Abby! I said I'm fine!" Tony snapped as he stood, pushing the chair out of the way before turning on McGee. "And you really need to learn to keep your mouth shut!"
Turning on his heel, he stalked out of the lab.
"That went over real well," McGee sighed when he heard the elevator doors shut.
Reaching over, Abby squeezed his hand lightly. "He'll be okay, Timmy. Just keep an eye on him. If he gets sick again, we'll get Gibbs to make him go see Ducky."
OoOoOoO
Glancing up from his desk at the sound of the elevator dinging, Gibbs watched his Senior Field Agent stomp off the elevator, muttering angrily to himself.
"Stupid, overbearing, chatty little--"
"Problems DiNozzo?"
"What?" Tony asked as he sank down at his desk, cringing as he realized how sharply he'd spoken. "Uh... I mean... No boss. No problem."
"Get back to your paperwork then," the silver haired man commanded as he returned his attention to the file in front of him.
"It hasn't even been a whole half an hour yet!" Tony complained.
Glancing up again, Gibbs stared at him.
"Right. I'm just going to get back to my paperwork then."
"That's the best idea you've had all day," Gibbs responded curtly.
With a loud, put upon sigh, Tony opened the folder on his desk and made a show of shuffling the papers around as Ziva stepped off the elevator.
"I brought you a slither of pizza," the Israeli announced as she placed the small box on Tony's desk.
"Slice," Tony corrected automatically as he lifted the lid.
"DiNozzo..." Gibbs warned, not bothering to look up again.
"I'm multitasking, boss!"
Snickering quietly as Gibbs shook his head, Ziva crossed the small aisle back to her desk.
"Where is McGee?" She asked.
"Lab," Tony responded as he took a bite of pizza.
"He spends an awful lot of time down there. You do not think that perhaps he and Abby are...?"
Glancing over in his boss' direction, Tony didn't miss the slight smirk on Gibbs' face.
"Actually I don't think..." He trailed off, swallowing hard as he dropped the remainder of the pizza into the box.
"Are you okay?" Ziva asked, frowning at her partner's strange behavior.
"I'm..." He swallowed again before he pushed himself to his feet and sprinted out of the bullpen.
Tony barely made it to the men's room. Dropping to his knees in front of the toilet, he heaved violently, emptying the contents of his stomach into the bowl.
Once he was sure that his stomach was, in fact, empty, he slumped back against the stall door, his arms hugging his middle as he willed the nausea to dissipate.
"Should I alert Ducky?"
Tony jumped at the sound of Ziva's voice. "This... Is the men's room, Zee-vah," he reminded her, his voice hoarse.
"When has that ever stopped me?" Ziva asked as she stepped into the next stall. Climbing onto the toilet, she peeked over the wall dividing them, peering down at her partner.
Leaning his head back against the door, he glared up at her. "You shouldn't be in here."
"But alas, I am. So perhaps we should move on from that, yes? What is the matter?"
"I'm fine."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Why is it that men are so afraid to admit when they are not well?"
Shaking her head in disbelief, Ziva hopped down from the toilet and exited her stall. Pausing at the door, she stopped and turned, her hand on the doorknob.
"Feel better, Tony," she said quietly as she exited the bathroom, shaking her head at his stubbornness.
He waited until he heard the door shut behind her before he scrambled to his knees, gripping the toilet as he heaved once more.
He moaned quietly as he kneeled in front of the toilet with his head in his hands. Once the wave of nausea had subsided, he pushed himself to his feet and stumbled out of the stall.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs barked as soon as he made it back to the squad room.
"Yeah boss?"
"Ducky. Now."
He scowled at Ziva before turning his attention to Gibbs. Any thoughts he had about arguing disappeared when the older man fixed him with the "Gibbs Stare".
"Got it boss," he sighed, his shoulders slumped in defeat as he turned back to the elevator.
Tony waited for the doors to close before he punched the button to autopsy, mentally cursing nosy coworkers, overbearing bosses and overprotective boyfriends.
OoOoOoO
"Ducky?" Tony called as he stepped off the elevator in autopsy.
Glancing up at the sound of Tony's voice, Ducky offered Tony a bright smile. "Ah! Anthony, my dear boy! What brings you down here this afternoon?"
"I think I got a hold of some bad Chinese last night."
"I do hate to say the words "I told you so," but considering how many times I have warned you against eating that horrendous slop those places try to pass off as nutritious food, I must say that I feel justified in saying it this once. That being said... I told you so."
"Feel better now, Duck?"
"Much, thank you," Ducky responded with a kind smile. "Now why don't you have a seat and tell me what the problem is?"
"Some nausea. Mostly vomiting though," the younger man explained as he took a seat in the offered chair.
"And approximately what time did it start?"
"0330, I guess."
"Any cramping?"
"No."
"Fever? Chills? Dizziness?"
"Nope."
"Well, that's a good sign. Unfortunately, my young friend, there isn't much I can do for you, other than send you home to rest."
"Duck! Come on, I don't need to go home! I feel fine right now!"
"You may feel fine now, but that doesn't mean you aren't still sick. You need rest, Tony."
"But--"
"No buts. I'm sorry, but in the event that you've picked up that nasty 24 hour flu virus that's been going around, I can't have you coming in contact with anyone else."
"Duck!"
"Home. Rest. Stay hydrated. And do not even think about hiding out in Abby's lab, because as soon as I update Jethro, I am calling her as well."
With a loud, irritated sigh, Tony pushed himself to his feet and stalked out of autopsy, grumbling about meddling old medical examiners in addition to nosy coworkers, overbearing bosses and overprotective boyfriends.
Staring after the young agent, Ducky chuckled quietly to himself, though he made a mental note to keep an eye on the boy. He wasn't sure what, but something was definitely off.
Chapter End Notes:
Author's Note: First of all, I need to just say this: HOLY COW, YOU GUYS! Haha. I'm absolutely loving the reviews! And didn't I tell you they helped me write faster? ;) I need to send out a huge thank you to my bffl Kelley for helping me! If it wasn't for her, I would still be staring at a blank document! So thank you chica! Much love to you! 3 Thanks again to those who read and reviewed! This chapter is for you! :)