The moment of humor that Tony had managed to find in his current predicament quickly faded as pain began to overtake his body. An agonizing fire was emanating from his lower back and quickly spreading up his spine until he thought flames were going to shoot out his skull. He no longer cared about his dignity; Tony simply wanted relief from the unexpected anguish that was now engulfing him. Despite his suffering, he couldn’t help but wonder if the pain he was experiencing was a good sign that he was possibly getting some feeling back in his legs. He attempted to move his left leg, but his efforts were met with futility.
His teeth clamped down on his bottom lip as he struggled against the urge to cry out. Even after all these years, his aversion to showing weakness usually hindered him from seeking assistance when he needed it, but the blinding agony that wrapped around him like a cocoon was causing him to have second thoughts about asking for help. Fortunately for him, the alarms that were blaring weren’t attuned to his pride. Within a few seconds, Tony was surrounded by a myriad of medical personnel including his doctor.
“Take it easy, Agent DiNozzo,” the physician instructed.
“H…hurts,” Tony gasped. “Back hurts.”
As the pain worsened, his ability to remain calm seemed to disappear. Panic was beginning to overwhelm him as he felt his world beginning to spin out of control. He could hear Dr. Winesett barking orders, but his jumbled mind wouldn’t allow him to process everything that he was saying. Tony closed his eyes, unable to handle the commotion around him.
He inhaled sharply as he felt himself being rolled onto a board and subsequently being lifted onto his bed. Tony gritted his teeth, hoping that Winesett would order something to preferably send him into the arms of Morpheus. His clouded brain was attempting to rationalize how someone could be paralyzed but yet experience such debilitating pain.
Grabbing on to the doctor’s arm, he pleaded, “You’ve got…to give me…something for the pain. I…can’t take it.”
The tiny prick he felt in his arm brought a sigh of relief that in a few moments, he would be back in control of his body and his mind. Tony’s breathing began to even out as the pain began to subside. He nodded his thanks to the doctor who, judging by his soured expression, was not pleased with his hair-brained stunt.
“Care to tell me what you were trying to prove?” Dr. Winesett wanted to know.
“I don’t know,” he groaned. “How stupid I can be?”
“Guess you did that,” the doctor snapped.
“It’s not the first time.”
“And it probably won’t be the last time.”
“Probably not,” Tony agreed.
Dr. Winesett sighed. “Once your pain eases up some, I’m going to order another X-ray of your spine.”
The agent swallowed nervously, uncertain if he wanted to hear the answer to his next question. “What for?” he gingerly asked.
“Just to be sure that the fragments haven’t moved. You took a pretty good fall and I just want to be sure that everything is still stabilized,” the physician explained.
“And if it’s not?”
“Then we could have a whole new set of problems.”
Tony clenched his jaw at the doctor’s unexpected declaration. What could possibly be worse than being paralyzed and never being able to walk again? He studied Dr. Winesett’s gaze as realization dawned upon him. “Meaning that the paralysis could end up spreading?”
“It’s a possibility. Hopefully, nothing has changed and we will proceed with our plans to transfer you the rehab hospital. I assume that you’ve decided to go.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go. I’m not sure how long I’ll stay there, but I’m going.”
“I think you’re going to be surprised at what you can learn. I…”
“I said I would go,” Tony growled. “I really don’t need another pep talk.”
Winesett raised his hands in surrender. “All right, Tony; no more pep talks. Just give it a chance. You stick with the program; you’ll quickly learn that you’ll be able to lead a completely normal life.”
Tony laughed bitterly. “A normal life? Whatever you say, Doc.”
“Tony? I know that it’s going to be a…”
“No more pep talks. Remember?”
“All right,” the doctor conceded. “I’ll be back to talk to you after I’ve seen the X-rays. Take it easy and no more unscheduled trips out of bed.”
He stared at the ceiling, refusing to acknowledge the physician. Tony was tired of everyone trying to tell him that he was going to be able to live a normal life. Why couldn’t someone be honest with him and tell him that his life was never going to be the same again? Now he was faced with the possibility of making his injury worse by not being able to accept his current limitations.
“You never think things through, do you, Tony?” he muttered. “Guess I could blame it on repeated head trauma from all those years of head slaps.”
“Talking to yourself again?”
Tony glanced towards the door and managed a weak smile as he recognized one of his favorite nurses. “Hey, Annie,” he tiredly greeted the petite blond woman.
“So I heard that you’re in such a hurry to get out of here, you kind of forgot that your legs aren’t working,” she quipped.
“Short term memory loss,” he sleepily replied.
Annie picked up his wrist and silently counted his pulse. “Still a little fast.”
He shrugged. “I’ll be all right. The pain meds are starting to kick in.”
“You’ve got orders for some X-rays; it’s probably a good thing you’ve got those meds in your system.”
Tony watched Annie pour him some water, which he gratefully accepted. After quenching his parched throat, he nodded his thanks and handed her the cup back. His cheeks flushed a light crimson as she picked up his GSM magazine that Edith had brought him earlier. “Let me guess,” she teased. “You read it for the articles.”
“Uh…yeah. They have some interesting articles…”
“And pictures?” she added.
“And pictures,” he sheepishly admitted.
“My brother says the same thing.”
“How old is your brother?”
“18.”
“So is he going to college?”
“Actually, he’s going to the police academy,” she proudly stated. “He’s always wanted to be a cop.”
“I was a cop before I came to work for NCIS.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” he yawned.
“Tell you what, I’ll come back later and you can tell me all about your days as a cop,” Annie promised. “Right now, there are a couple of guys standing in your doorway who need to take some pictures.”
“It’s a deal.”
Tony half-heartedly waved good-bye to Annie as two technicians entered with a portable X-ray machine. “Agent DiNozzo?” the first tech called out.
“That would be me,” he sighed.
“I’m Phil and this is Mack and we’re your friendly neighborhood radiology techs for the day.”
“Yeah, well. I guess that makes me your photographic subject for the day,” he shot back, hoping that he feebly managed to hide his self-loathing sarcasm.
Phil seemingly ignored his less than snappy comeback as he guided the X-ray machine in the room. Tony couldn’t help but notice that the more Phil spoke, the more pronounced his southern accent became. “Old Doc Winesett didn’t want you to be jostled around too much so we had to bring the X-ray room to you.”
“Convenient.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be gentle.”
Tony laughed. “I’ve heard that before.”
As Phil and Mack carefully began taking pictures of his spine, Tony found himself hoping that his act of stupidity hadn’t cost him more than just the use of his legs. Tony suddenly found himself saying a quick prayer, hoping that his request would be heard. The fear of becoming totally paralyzed could in fact become a reality that he wasn’t prepared to handle.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gibbs had safely seen Edith to her door, promising that he would keep her informed of Tony’s progress as well as assuring her that he would take her to see the young man once he was settled in the rehab facility. He couldn’t help but grin when she placed a kiss on his cheek; this lady was quickly earning a special place in his heart. She had managed to create a special bond with his senior field agent and anyone who was worthy of Tony’s friendship was worthy of his.
“You know something, Jethro?”
He took her key and unlocked the door for her. “What’s that, Edith?”
“I think Tony was wrong. I think that you would be an excellent dance partner for Vera. She’s an excellent teacher and I bet your light on your feet,” Edith cheerfully observed. “Must come from sneaking up on all those people when you were a sniper.”
The team leader was surprised that she was aware of his past. “How’d you know I was a sniper?” he asked.
“Tony told me,” she replied. “He really admires you; he strives so hard to live up to your expectations.”
DiNozzo had always felt like he needed to constantly prove his worth to Gibbs; but truthfully, the former Marine had seen something special in Tony the first time that they had butted heads in Baltimore. The brash young man definitely knew his way around the crime scene, but Gibbs had quickly discovered that there were many layers to the detective and he had been trying to peel back those layers for years to have a glimpse at the real Tony DiNozzo.
“He’s done more than that,” he boasted.
“Maybe you should remind him of that,” Edith suggested.
“Count on it.”
Edith slowly made her way into her apartment. “I’ll hold you to that, Jethro. You make sure and take good care of our boy.”
“With everything I’ve got,” he vowed.
As soon as she wished him farewell, she closed the door leaving him alone in the hallway. His eyes came to rest on Tony’s door. He fumbled for his keys and came across the one that would allow him access inside DiNozzo’s domain. Gibbs entered and closed the door behind him and began to look around. If Tony planned on returning home, there would have to be some adaptations made and he and Edith had formed a union to ensure that the changes would be as unobtrusive as possible.
Gibbs began to walk room to room, sensing Tony’s presence in every corner. His senior field agent was known for making lasting impressions, including ones that were not visible to the naked eye. Pulling his notepad out of his pocket, he began to jot down ideas as well as make a list of things that he would need in order to begin the renovations.
A blinking light on the nearby answering machine caught his attention. Tony had once told him that he was going to get rid of his landline and simply use his cell phone; he knew that most people called DiNozzo on his cell, so he couldn’t help but wonder why he had kept the landline. The team leader’s curiosity started to consume him as he hit the play button on the machine. He listened as a resonant baritone emanated from the speaker.
“Anthony, it’s your father. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time, but I really need to talk to you about something. Call me back when you get the chance.”
So that was DiNozzo’s father. He remembered Edith saying something about Tony’s father calling him, but with everything else going on, he had thought nothing of it until now. Gibbs had never personally met the man, but over the years, he had grown to dislike Anthony DiNozzo, Senior. Tony tended to hide certain aspects of his childhood, downplaying the emotional scars that he bore so stoically; scars caused by the callousness of a father who never had time for his own flesh and blood.
Gibbs vividly recalled the time when Tony was recovering from pneumonic plague and his father had not returned any of his calls; anger had raged through the former Marine at the thoughts of the elder DiNozzo not caring enough to come visit his son. “You couldn’t be bothered a couple of years ago,” he mumbled. “What do you want now?”
The ringing of Tony’s phone startled him out of his musings. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw that it was DiNozzo’s dad again; evidently he really needed to speak with his son. Pushing the talk button, he gruffly said, “Hello?”
“Anthony?”
“Nope.”
A sigh of disgust. “Is Anthony there?”
“Nope,” Gibbs answered through tightly clenched teeth.
“May I ask whom I am speaking to?” Tony’s father inquired.
“Gibbs.”
“Gibbs? As in Agent Gibbs? You’re Tony’s boss.”
“Yes I am,” he declared.
“Can I ask why you’re answering Tony’s phone?”
Gibbs fought the urge to reach through the phone and strangle the man on the other end of the line. “Because he’s not here.”
“Where is he? When will he be back?”
“Don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I’ll tell him you called.”
“You do that,” DiNozzo Senior growled.
The line went dead and Gibbs put the handset back on the receiver. He knew that he couldn’t keep this a secret from Tony, but he truly dreaded telling him because then he would have to admit to being in his apartment without DiNozzo’s consent. Before the shooting, he knew that Tony wouldn’t have given a second thought to the team leader letting himself in, but now, he wasn’t so sure.
Putting his notepad in his pocket, he headed out the door and towards the car. He had to talk to Tony and he couldn’t put it off any longer; they both needed closure on the shooting if they were going to move forward. As he slid behind the driver’s seat, his cell phone rang.
“Gibbs,” he barked.
“Jethro, it’s Jenny.”
He rolled his eyes and muttered a curse under his breath. “Yeah?”
“I need you to come by NCIS headquarters. The results of the IA investigation are in.”
“Can this wait?” He could care less about the findings of the investigation; Gibbs desperately needed to talk with Tony.
“I expect you to be here in fifteen minutes. I would hate to add insubordination to your file,” she threatened.
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” he shot back. “I’ll be there when I can get there…right now, I’m stuck in traffic.”
He turned off his phone and threw it in the passenger’s seat. Gibbs was determined not to let this wound fester until there was nothing left but dead tissue. He and Tony were going to talk and the team leader made a vow that he wouldn’t leave until things were right between them.
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