Chapter 33
“Ring it again, Ziva.” Tony said, holding his phone in his hand and staring at it intently.
Ziva sighed and punched the number she had in memory.
Tony’s phone rang and he opened it and snapped it shut.
“See, it works.” Ziva said.
“I can hear that, Zee-va.” Ton retorted.
“And it’s worked all the other times you’ve had us call it.” Tim added.
Tony didn’t say anything, but shot him a look.
“DiNozzo.” Gibbs spoke up. “She’ll call.”
Tony looked at his watch. Today was Olivia’s first day back at Ohio State. She had promised him she would call him. Tony got up out of his chair. He paced, alternating between looking at his watch and the phone.
“She said she’d call.” Tony explained.
“And she will.” Gibbs said. He couldn’t help but smile.
“What?” Tony asked, looking at Gibbs.
Gibbs nodded towards the elevator and Tony followed. Gibbs didn’t speak again until they had stepped in and the elevator doors closed.
“You remind me of somebody else on HER first day of school.” Gibbs said.
Tony smiled, getting Gibbs’ reference.
“Of course, I wasn’t waiting for Kelly to call. I was watching her getting on the bus. She had never been away from home, from Shannon and I, for so long. I…I told Kelly we could put off school for another day, if she wasn’t ready. But she was ready, Tony.” Gibbs paused. “The problem was me. I kept asking myself. Is she going to be okay? Is she going to miss us and cry all day? Is she going to like her teacher? Is she going to like the other kids? Will they like her?”
Tony nodded, but didn’t respond.
“She was fine, Tony. She came home and told me all about it. She really liked her teacher. She made some friends. She even showed me a picture she had drawn.” Gibbs paused. “The point is she was fine. Olivia is going to be fine.”
“But what if she falls? What if nobody’s there to help her?” Tony asked. “She went back too early, Gibbs. She’s not strong enough. She’s not ready.”
“Tony,” Gibbs said, putting his hands on Tony’s shoulders. “Olivia is ready. She has done all her PT. She is doing great. She’s excited to get back to school, to be with her friends. She misses her roommate.”
“But Boss, Gibbs, she’s….”
“She’s ready, Tony.” Gibbs let go of Tony’s shoulders. “She’s ready.”
Tony nodded as Gibbs pressed flipped the switch to put the elevator back into operation.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
“Hi, Dad.” Olivia said. She was sitting on her bed after her last class. She had had a surprisingly easy day.
“Hey, Baby.” Tony asked. He collapsed onto the couch and flipped on the TV. He then muted the volume.
“Oh, Dad.” Olivia said. “I’m so glad to be back at school. My roommate left my room is just the way I left it. Dad, there were these guys, Tommy and Jason. They waited for me after my classes. They pushed me in the wheelchair. They carried my books.”
“Tommy and Jason, huh?” Tony said. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil.
“I am NOT giving you their last names, Dad.” Olivia stated.
“You can send me pictures. I’m sure they gave you their numbers and you have their pictures on your phone.” Tony replied.
“No, Dad.”
“I want to see the types of guys who hang around my daughter.”
“No, Dad.” Olivia replied. “You are not going to have Tim go back to the office and run a background check. Or have Abby go back to the lab and do a facial recognition.”
“Oh no,” Tony replied. “…not tonight. It can wait until tomorrow.”
“Funny, Dad.” Olivia said. “Very funny.” She paused. “I should have called you earlier, and I’m sorry about that. But I had to meet with all my teachers after class. I had to make arrangements to turn in assignments. And, it’s great, Dad, most of the teachers even offered to set me up with tutors to get me caught up. They are all going to give me extensions to finish over the summer. And I’ll be able to do all that work online.”
“That’s great, Baby.” Tony said. He was so thrilled things were working out for her. “Do you think you can do all the work? I mean…you missed a lot.”
“I know, Dad.” Olivia said. “But I can do this.”
“I know you can, Baby.”
TBC
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