Chapter 4
Gibbs was denied entrance to the treatment room the paramedics had taken Tony into. He wanted nothing more than to be with Tony, but he knew he should stay out of the way so the doctors and nurses could work to save the younger man’s life.
He turned and saw the other members of his team standing just outside the waiting room door down the hall. They were looking at him in shock. He guessed the commotion caused by the gurney being pushed down the hallway had awakened them and they had just witnessed the mad rush to get Tony into a room while a paramedic was forcing air into his lungs with an Ambu Bag. He angrily stalked by them and into the waiting room. He wasn’t very surprised when all of them followed him inside. He began to pace around the room. He didn’t really want to speak to any of them; he was much too angry
“Gibbs, what’s going on?” Abby asked anxiously, unnerved by Gibbs’ obvious anger. “What’s wrong with Tony?”
When Gibbs didn’t answer, Ziva said, “Gibbs, we are a team. We deserve to know what is going on.”
“Yes, Jethro,” Ducky said. “When did Anthony become so ill?”
Gibbs ignored all their questions. He stopped pacing and glared at each of them in turn, his fury obvious. “Did any of you check on Tony since I was admitted?” He finally asked, the question sounding more like an accusation.
“Gibbs, we were just so worried about you-” Abby started to say.
Gibbs cut her off angrily, “All of you know that Tony’s lungs are compromised. Did it occur to any of you that he might need help after what he did yesterday?”
“We just figured he helped you get Maddie out of the water,” McGee explained.
Gibbs shook his head. It was so like Tony to not brag if he did something truly great, but he would brag endlessly about finding a little lead on a case or about his ability on the basketball court.
“Well, I’ll tell you what he ‘just’ did,” Gibbs said, anger in his voice. “He killed the men who tried to kill me and Maddie. He dove into that filthy, freezing river to save both of us from a submerged car. He broke out the windshield and pulled Maddie out. Then he came back for me. He had to break the steering column because I was trapped. On top of all that, he gave both of us CPR.”
Gibbs sent a venomous glare Ducky’s way. “If I hadn’t been drugged against my will, I could’ve told you that before.”
Ducky met Gibbs’ glare with eyes full of remorse. “Jethro, I am sorry, but Anthony didn’t say a word about any of that.”
“Do you really think he’d brag about it?” Gibbs asked.
“I can’t believe he did all that,” McGee said in disbelief.
“Believe it, McGee. He’s not the bumbling idiot that you and Ziva seem to think he is.”
“Gibbs, we don’t believe that about Tony,” Ziva protested.
“The way you treat him sometimes makes me think otherwise.” Gibbs glared at the two of them. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm down. “I found him unconscious on the floor in his apartment. I could hear him wheezing all the way in the next room. He nearly died. He might still die. He stopped breathing in the ambulance and they had to put a tube down his throat and breathe for him.”
Abby twisted her hands anxiously and said softly, “Gibbs, we didn’t know that-”
“I don’t care!” Gibbs shouted. “You say we’re a team? You have enough devotion for each other and for me; enough that you’ve been sitting together in this waiting room the whole damn night. Where was that devotion for Tony? Not one of you gave him a first thought, let alone a second one!”
Ziva looked at the floor. “Gibbs, we just thought he-”
“I don’t wanna hear your excuses. None of you deserve to be here. Get the hell out! Now!”
Ducky, ever the peacemaker, tried to reason with his angry friend. “Jethro, we’re all very concerned about Anthony. We’d like to stay and-”
“Your concern is too little, too late, Doctor. I’m Tony’s next of kin, power of attorney and medical proxy. It’s my decision who can see him when he can’t speak for himself, and I want you all to leave.” With that Gibbs turned and left the room and went to stand near the closed door of the treatment room where Tony had been taken to anxiously await news on the man who’d become the most important person in his life.
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After Gibbs left the waiting room, the four people remaining reluctantly left the emergency room. Once outside the door, they stopped to talk. They needed to decide what to do.
“Oh, God,” Abby said, distraught. “I feel so bad. He’s my friend and I totally forgot all about him.”
“Gibbs is right,” McGee commented. “One of us should’ve checked on Tony. We should’ve wondered why he wasn’t here at the hospital. He would’ve been here if he was able.”
“He is our partner,” Ziva added. “We shouldn’t have been so concerned about Gibbs that we forgot about Tony.”
“He was carrying on so much when we were on the Chimera,” McGee said. “Then when he really is sick, he doesn’t say anything.”
“Tony could’ve called one of us,” Abby said. “He knows that, right? He knows we care about him.”
“I also bear the responsibility of not checking on Anthony, perhaps more than the rest of you,” Ducky stated sadly. “However, rather than stand around discussing what we or Anthony could or should have done, we need to try to find a way to make it right.”
“How can we do that, Ducky?” Ziva asked. “I have never seen Gibbs so angry.”
Ducky took his cell phone out of his pocket and hit a speed dial number. As he was waiting for an answer he said, “The first thing we can do is call for reinforcements, so Jethro and Anthony are not here alone.” When his call was answered he said, “Jennifer, I’m sorry to awaken you so early, but we have a situation… ”
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Following the phone call from Ducky before the crack of dawn, Jenny made it to the hospital in record time. She approached the four people standing near the entrance to the emergency room. “What happened?”
Ducky answered for the group. “We don’t really know for certain. We left Jethro sleeping in a treatment room some hours ago, and the next thing we knew Anthony was being brought in by paramedics, with Jethro following. Anthony seemed to be in very bad condition. He wasn’t breathing on his own.”
“Why aren’t you in there with Gibbs?” Jenny asked.
“Jethro is very angry with us because none of us thought to check on Anthony after his heroic efforts at the dock yesterday, and he told us to leave,” Ducky explained.
Jenny was quiet for a minute while she thought about what to do. “Why don’t all of you go home and get some rest for a few hours before you have to go to work. I’ll deal with Jethro.”
“But, Director, we really messed up and we want to be here for Tony,” Abby said. “We didn’t know that he rescued Gibbs and Maddie from drowning and broke out the windshield and spent so much time in the cold water-”
Jenny cut her off, “I know you’re all worried and want to be here for both of them, but if Gibbs really doesn’t want any of you here, it’ll only cause trouble for them if you stay. Just go home and I’ll contact you at NCIS headquarters later and let you know what’s going on.”
Tony had given Jenny a brief explanation of what had happened at the dock when he’d called her the previous day. From what she was hearing, she deduced that Tony hadn’t bothered to tell anyone else, particularly the team, exactly what he’d done when he’d rescued Gibbs and Maddie Tylor.
“But, Director-” Ziva started to protest.
“I gave all of you an order and I expect it to be followed,” Jenny said firmly. “Abby, you have evidence to process; Ziva and McGee, you have reports to complete; and Ducky, you have autopsies to perform. Go home and get some rest so you can work more effectively later. I’ll contact you, I promise.”
The four worried people were reluctant to do as she ordered, but they eventually left. The director waited until they all walked away and then entered the emergency room. She could see Jethro down the hall standing near a treatment room staring at the closed door; obviously the door to the room Tony was in. She walked up to Gibbs and asked, “Jethro, what happened? Tony sounded fine when he called me yesterday.”
Gibbs dragged his eyes away from the door to look at the director. “What are you doin’ here, Jen?”
“Ducky called to tell me Tony was brought in. Now, tell me what’s going on.”
“Tony’s fighting for his life; that’s what’s goin’ on!” Gibbs said, his anger getting the better of him again. “Thanks to those imbeciles I kicked outta here a while ago!”
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