Ducky drove Gibbs back to the hospital to see Tony. Gibbs dreaded seeing Tony, though. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be with his senior field agent. He loved the man like a son, though he wasn’t sure he would ever admit that fact aloud to anyone. He just didn’t want to have to be the one to tell him that his partners, people he had thought of as friends who would always have his six, had failed to back him up in the field. He knew Tony would be devastated.
Ducky had stopped at the nurses’ station to talk with Tony’s doctor. Gibbs left him to it, as he had spoken with the physician before he left the hospital earlier. He knew Ducky would fill him in if there was anything new he needed to know.
When Gibbs reached Tony’s room, he stood in the doorway and took in the sight of his sleeping senior field agent. He was lying on his left side with a pillow between his knees. He had an IV coming out of his hand, a cannula providing him with oxygen under his nose, and various leads and monitors snaking under the hideous hospital gown he was wearing. Tony had had to have surgery to piece his hip back together and have the bullet removed. The surgeon had told him that Tony had an incision about a foot long running from just below his waist to part way down his thigh, and that he now had enough plates and screws holding the bones together to set off a metal detector in an airport. The doctor had assured him that with physical therapy and rehabilitation that Tony would be able to return to work eventually.
Abby was dozing in a chair next to Tony’s bed. She didn’t look very comfortable, but Gibbs knew that she didn’t want to be anywhere else but at her friend’s side. Abby’s complete loyalty could never be questioned, unlike some other people he didn’t want to think about right now. Gibbs dreaded telling her what happened more than he dreaded telling Tony. He knew she wouldn’t take it well.
For the moment, Gibbs let her sleep. He’d wake her up when Ducky reached the room. He may not be able to avoid telling Abby what happened, but he definitely wasn’t going to tell her while they were in Tony’s room. Tony wasn’t in any shape to deal with Abby’s reaction when she heard the news.
A short time later Ducky joined him in the doorway and said softly, “Jethro, I took the liberty of striking Ziva and Timothy’s names from Anthony’s visitor list.”
Gibbs looked down at his friend and said, “Good call, Duck. I should’ve thought of that myself.” He turned his attention back to Abby and took a deep breath. He was not looking forward to his upcoming conversation with her. He steeled himself and entered the room. He walked over to Abby and gently nudged her shoulder.
Abby started awake and sat up. She immediately got to her feet and wrapped Gibbs in a hug. She said, “Gibbs, you’re back. You promised you’d tell me what happened and now you’re here. So tell me-“
“Abby, keep it down. Tony’s still asleep,” Gibbs said softly as he returned her hug.
Abby released Gibbs from the hug and immediately grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him towards the door. She whispered, “Well, come on then. Let’s go find somewhere we can talk. You promised, Gibbs.”
Gibbs allowed himself to be dragged as far as the door, where Ducky was still standing. He stopped, forcing Abby to also stop. “Duck, can you sit with Tony while I talk with Abby? I don’t want him to be alone.”
Ducky replied, “Certainly, Jethro. I’ll be happy to.” He entered the room and sat in the chair just vacated by Abby. “Take your time. I’m certain Anthony will remain asleep for a good while longer.”
Gibbs and Abby left and found a family conference room down the hall. Gibbs was happy to see a full coffee pot when they entered a room. He was seriously behind in his daily caffeine intake. He poured them each a cup and took a seat at the small table in the middle of the room. Abby joined him.
“Where are Ziva and McGee?” Abby asked. “Tony’s their partner. They should be here, too. But maybe not, they’ll probably make fun of him about where he got shot and-”
“Abby,” Gibbs interrupted. “McGee and Ziva won’t be coming. We’ve taken them off Tony’s visitor list.”
“But they’re Tony’s friends. Why-”
“You’ll find out in a minute.” Gibbs interrupted. He took a long sip of his coffee and remained quiet for a few moments while he gathered his thoughts.
“Gibbs, come on, spill,” Abby said impatiently. “You have to tell me about McGee and Ziva. And you promised you’d tell me about what happened to Tony and you never break a promise. At least you never used to-”
“Abby,” Gibbs interrupted. “I’m gonna tell you, but you have to promise me you’ll be quiet until I’m finished.”
“I can do that, Gibbs,” Abby assured him earnestly. “I can be really quiet. You won’t believe how quiet I-”
“Abby,” Gibbs chastised, giving her a pointed look.
“Shutting up now, Gibbs.” She made a show of covering her mouth with her hands and then looked at him expectantly.
Gibbs told her virtually the same story he’d told Ducky earlier, and predictably, Abby was very upset.
“How could they do that to Tony?” Abby exclaimed indignantly. Unable to remain still, she got up from her chair and began to pace around the room, her hands gesturing wildly and her black ponytails waving in the air as she continued to talk. “He’s supposed to be their partner. He’s never once let either of them down when they needed him. I’m never going to speak to them again! I can’t believe they did that. Tony’s saved their lives and that’s how they treat him? I’m glad you fired them, Gibbs. That is so totally beyond hinky…”
Gibbs tuned her out and let her get it out of her system for a little while. He allowed her go on for a few more minutes, then interrupted, “Abby, I need you to go back to your lab and run ballistics on the bullet the surgeon removed from Tony against the ballistics on the bullets taken from our three victims from this morning. I told them to send it to your lab.”
“But, Gibbs, I want to be here with Tony. After what Ziva and McGee did, he’s going to need me,” Abby protested.
“I know, Abs, but we need to find out who shot him. He could have been shot by our murderer or by someone completely unrelated to the case. We need to know which it is. Tony will understand and you can come back after you’ve run the tests.”
“But, Gibbs-”
“I also need you to go over the recordings Tony got for us earlier and see if any of them match that call to Gator’s cell phone last night.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notebook, which he held out to Abby. “Here are Tony’s notes. You’ll need them to figure out which voice goes with each residence.”
Abby took the notebook and as she put it in her pocket she said, “But Tony’s gonna be so upset when he finds out what happened. I don’t think he should be alone. He’s gonna-”
“Abby,” Gibbs cut it, “You also need to listen to the recording of Tony being shot. His life could still be in danger. We need to know what happened.”
“I know what needs to be done, Gibbs,” Abby said indignantly, “But maybe I could call-”
Gibbs interrupted her again, “You know I don’t trust anyone but you to do all this, Abs. Find out which team took over the case and give them the results, and then run any other tests they need, but keep me in the loop.”
“You’re not going to leave him alone, are you?” Abby pleaded, wringing her hands.
“Of course not, Abby,” Gibbs assured. “One of us will be here at all times. If I need to leave for any reason, I’ll call you or Ducky. We can even call Palmer if we have to. Tony will not be alone, okay?”
It took another half an hour, several kisses to the cheek, more hugs that Gibbs could count, as well as the promise of a lifetime supply of Caf-Pow! to convince Abby to go back to her lab and run the tests, but in the end she left very reluctantly and he was finally free to return to Tony.
When Gibbs entered the room, Ducky stood up and joined him a few feet from Tony’s bed and said quietly, “I’m sorry, Jethro. I just received a text message from Mr. Palmer and the bodies are starting to pile up. I need to get back to work.”
“That’s okay, Duck,” Gibbs assured. “I just sent Abby back to work, too. I’m gonna get a cot in here and spend the night.”
Ducky headed for the door and then turned to ask, “Will you call if there are any changes?”
“I’ll call,” Gibbs promised.
“I hate leaving you here with no means of transportation.”
“I’ll be fine, Duck,” Gibbs said. “When you and Abby come back to visit tomorrow, you guys can bring my car.” He handed Ducky his car keys. “Oh, and bring up my bag from the trunk when you get here so I can change.”
“Certainly, Jethro.” Ducky pocketed the keys. “We’ll see you tomorrow then,” He said as he left the room.
Finally alone with Tony, Gibbs sat in the chair next to the bed and took Tony’s hand, and settled in to wait for his senior field agent to wake up. He had one more difficult conversation to get through, and he really wasn’t looking forward to it.
TBC
A/N: Tony in the next chapter, I promise.
Chapter End Notes:
I usually respond individually to all reviews, but you guys snowed me. Unlike most of the rest of the human population, I don’t have weekends off, so I don’t have time. So thanks to everyone who reviewed and, of course, to those who alerted and favorited me and my story. Thanks also to little_janie for her encouragement.