CHAPTER 28
Tony had been in contact with Abby, Ducky and Jimmy. He had dinner with them several times a month. He also went and visited Gibbs on a fairly regular basis. It has caused him not to miss them so much and it made the year seem to pass quickly. Tony, had not, however, had such contact with Kate and Tim. He had not really…wanted to see them. He had a lot of issues, feelings still about what had happened with the three of them.
Tony had gotten reports from them all about how Kate and Tim had been doing while doing his work. He had gotten reports on how the rest of NCIS was handling his absence. He found out the lady from accounting had made a full recovery. She was doing well and had wanted to give Tony a personal 'thank you' the next time she saw him. She had already written notes and cards, which he had received and read. But she had something special planned.
But all that aside, live in the E.R. went on:
Tony woke with a start. He had no idea where he was or what was going on for a moment. He looked around the room, realizing he was in the doctors' lounge he sat up. He then wiped the sleep from his eyes and grabbed his lab coat and stethoscope. He left the room and headed for the eye of the storm, a school bus accident. Tony's first patient, a 5 year-old blonde girl, died before he could even examine her, massive head trauma.
Tony's next patient was the school bus driver, Amanda Gearhart. She was distraught. She had pulled out into traffic and had caused the accident. She had not seen the oil tanker coming her way and had pulled directly into its path. She slammed on the brakes when she realized her mistake. But there was no way for her to fix it before the truck hit her. As a result of the accident she had a massive compound fracture of her left leg. She had multiple cuts and bruises and had dislocated her left shoulder. She stayed conscious the entire time she was in the E.R., despite her injuries. She spoke to Tony the whole time. But he was unable to understand a lot of what she said through her tears. Finally, right before Amanda was to be taken up to surgery Tony took a moment to speak to her quietly. He had followed her out of the trauma room and had followed her stretcher down to hall to a relatively quiet area. He stopped the stretcher.
"You loved them, didn't you?" Tony asked.
Amanda just looked at him. She was very surprised.
"You loved them."
Amanda nodded her head as tears flowed down her cheeks.
Tony took her hand in both of his and held it. "They know that. The others…they knew that. And the parents…you know them too."
Amanda nodded.
Tony smiled a very sweet sympathetic smile. "You never intended this to happen." Tony paused. "You didn't plan this."
Amanda shook her head. "Doesn't matter…" She said still crying. "…they're still…gone." She looked up at Tony and squeezed his hand gently. "But I thank you for your kind words."
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Tony was drained. It was days like this he needed NCIS work as his counter balance. The bus accident had been horrible, of the 55 children on the bus, 12 had died. Four of those kids had died at the scene. Two had died on the way to the hospital. Four more died in the trauma rooms and the last two ended up being removed from ventilators and died days later.
Tony sighed. He fell onto his couch in his apartment and turned the TV on for background noise. Tony needed the kind of justice that his job as an agent brought him. He needed to counteract the horror that had been the bus accident. He, instead though, closed his eyes and tried not to think about it.
It was these times, he found, he really, really missed being an agent. If he had not had his outlets, he realized, he would have internalized things way too much. He would have burned out very quickly.
He was glad he had, still, another outlet. This was one only a few people in his life knew about. He loved to sing and he loved to play the piano. And he did both well. He did them regularly at a bar, in town; in front of a bunch of regulars he called his groupies. Ducky and Gibbs had found out about his 'other' talents quite accidently, coming into the bar, on separate occasions, on nights he had been performing. But he had invited Abby to come with him several times and she had come on her own also. She knew the days and times of his 'gigs.'
Tonight was not one of Tony's usual nights. But he knew the owner and the bartender would welcome him. They grew tired of the drunks who sometimes decided to get up on stage and stagger around, singing off key. His talents would be very, very welcome on nights like that.
Tony entered the bar and the bartender called out to him.
"DiNozzo."
"Hey, Charlie." Tony said, walking over.
"Are you drinking or are you singing?" Charlie asked.
"I can't do both?"
"As long as you don't end up like them." Charlie said pointing to the group in the corner who were crowded around the karaoke machine arguing about who was going to sing first.
Tony smiled and nodded. He walked over to the piano and sat down. He began to play. The group seemed to sober up a little when they heard Tony playing. They realized they would not be able to sing karaoke. They soon left the bar.
Tony closed his eyes and just let his mind and brain unplug. He just played. He then began to sing. He knew the words by heart, and it was one of his favorite songs. He felt all the tension of the past week leave him. He just kept singing and playing. He had no idea how much time had passed. It often happened when he played, so he was not surprised. He opened his eyes and looked around. He had the attention of the room.
Two people, in particular, were staring at him in a sort of stunned disbelief.
TBC
End Note: I don't mean for these two people to be a mystery. I think you all can guess, pretty easily, who they would be. And I want to thank you all, again, for your reviews and comments. They are much loved and appreciated. Jackie
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.