Chapter 41
When the ambulance crew found out the Tony was a doctor at Bethesda, they changed their route and took him there. It was only a minute or two longer to ride. Plus, the fact that the bullet was no longer in Tony's leg bought them time.
Moments later Tony's coworkers were taking care of him. They took him in immediately and began working on his wound. Tim and Kate arrived just in time to see Tony wheeled into one of the trauma rooms.
Rosa, one of the nurse and Tony's friends came out to greet them. "Agent Gibbs, Agent McGee, Agent Todd, he's going to be fine. We'll check him out. Somebody will be out to talk to you all as soon as possible." She then returned to the room Tony was in.
The nurses took off Kate's makeshift bandage and assessed the wound. They cleaned it, gave him some antibiotics then prepped him for surgery.
Tony's doctor, Alan Christian, can out and talked to the rest of Team Gibbs. "Tony will be in surgery about an hour. We just want to make sure that the bleeding has stopped. We're going to clean the wound out completely." The doctor explained. "I will have a nurse take you to the surgical waiting room to wait for him."
The doctor left and a nurse appeared moments later. Meanwhile, it gave Gibbs enough time to call Ducky, Abby and the director and update them further.
Kate sat down beside Gibbs. She took the bullet out of her pocket and handed it to Gibbs. He took the wrapped piece of cloth, not sure what it contained. Then it dawned on him.
Gibbs smiled. "So, Tony was right. It was you." In the ambulance, Gibbs was scared Tony was talking out of his head.
Kate nodded.
Gibbs opened the cloth and looked at the bullet.
"He talked me through it. I don't know how he stayed conscious though. He had to be in tremendous pain." Kate replied.
Gibbs nodded. "He didn't want to let you down."
"What?" Kate asked.
"If he would have passed out, you wouldn't have known what to do." Gibbs explained. "He wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I am a federal agent, Gibbs. I can take care of myself."
Gibbs nodded again. "I know that, and Tony knows it too. But he's still your senior field agent. He takes his responsibilities seriously when it comes to the two of you." Gibbs said, looking at Tim also. "It would do the both of you good to remember that." Gibbs then went off in search of some decent coffee.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Tony felt someone holding his hand. He opened his eyes.
"You were expecting someone else?" Kate asked, gently squeezing his hand. She could tell it was true by the look of disappointment on his face.
"There was a blond in here before, with some rather large…assets."
Kate shook her head. "Is that all you think about…breasts?"
"No, I like butts and legs too." Tony said grinning.
"You are such a pig." Kate replied with no malice in her voice.
Tony squeezed her hand. "Are you okay?"
"Tony, you were the one who got shot." Kate said, shaking her head.
"I know. But I asked you to do something you couldn't have been comfortable with." Tony paused. "And you did it like a pro, but the way.
Kate blushed slightly and bowed her head so Tony couldn't see.
There was a moment of comfortable silence between them before Kate spoke.
"I…I'm sorry. I have underestimated you, Tony. You deserved better from me. You deserve better from me. I thought I had you all figured out and I didn't. You had me doubting myself. The more I learned that didn't…fit. The more I refused to accept. I was stubborn, mean, nasty, hurtful,…a little bitchy…."
Kate stopped and looked at Tony. "You can stop me anytime you want."
"When you get to something I disagree with, I will." Tony replied. "And you were A LOT bitchy." Tony corrected her.
Kate nodded. "Okay, you get that one." Tony's words to her were not harsh. But she knew he meant them.
"Are we okay?" Kate asked, squeezing his hand.
"We will be." Tony replied.
TBC
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