Kate was not able to elaborate as she was then placed on a stretcher and taken up the embankment to another waiting ambulance. Kate received a complete examination in the hospital and was released to go home. She insisted, however, on staying near Tony. She parked herself in the ICU waiting room and waited to get word of his condition.
Tony never regained consciousness in the ambulance. He was examined extensively and found to have a severe concussion, 2 broken ribs 5 cracked ribs. The bruises on his chest and the damage to his ribs being caused by contact with the steering wheel.
Gibbs and McGee remained at the scene collecting for nearly 4 hours. They scoured the hillside down to where the underbrush was too thick to get through. They collected every piece of debris they could find. They photographed skid marks and made mold impressions. They tried to examine the interior of the car, but it was still smoldering and too hot to the touch. They took samples of the blood on the ground where Tony and Kate had been lying; on the off-chance they would find a clue there. They photographed and collected samples from the trail Tony left when he crawled to Kate’s side. Gibbs had the hunk of metal, formally known as an NCIS vehicle, towed to the NCIS evidence garage so that Abby could examine it. Gibbs and McGee left the evidence in Abby’s capable hands and returned to the hospital.
They found Kate in the ICU waiting room when they arrived. She was pacing back and forth the length of the room. She looked up when they entered. “The doctor said he would review the tests they did and get beck to me. That was two hours ago.” She sat down in one of the chairs, but got right up again. “I don’t know if Tony is awake yet. They won’t let me see him. They won’t tell me anything.”
Doctor Angle immerged from the ICU at just that moment and walked over to Kate. “You are Agent Caitlyn Todd right, Agent Anthony DiNozzo’s partner?”
Kate nodded.
Gibbs spoke up. “I’m Special Agent Gibbs, Agent DiNozzo’s boss. This is Agent Timothy McGee.’
Doctor Angle nodded, acknowledging Gibbs and Tim. “We did an EKG to check brain function, all was normal. We did an MRI to check for brain damage. We found a small amount of swelling in the front part of his brain. It is likely that since his airbag didn’t deploy that his head struck the windshield. The good thing is when we did an x-ray of his skull we found no fracture.” Dr. Angle paused, seeing their confusion she explained. “No skull fracture lessons the chance of severe brain injury significantly. If he were conscious at any point before this, that would be a great sign also.”
“He was.” Gibbs said matter-of-factly.
Kate turned and looked at him. “He was?”
Gibbs looked at Kate. “He left a trail where he had crawled or dragged himself over to where you were.”
Kate remained silent; trying to wrap her mind around what the doctor and Gibbs had told her. She looked down at her clothes. The blood on her shirt confirmed what Gibbs said. “I came to for a few minutes when I felt him grab me. I touched his face. Blood was pouring from his head wound. He told me to be quiet and lay still in case whoever did this was still around. He also told me to cover my ears. He then pulled me up close to him. A couple of seconds later, the car exploded. I heard him let out a long sigh, and then he passed out.
“Agent DiNozzo, when I checked on him 10 minutes ago, was not awake. You are welcome to go see him. You have 15 minutes.” Dr. Angle nodded at Agent Todd’s recollection of events. It answered some more of the questions she had about how he had gotten the burns on his back and his legs.
McGee, Gibbs and Kate entered the dimly lit room. Tony looked like he was just sleeping, except for the fact that he was attached to a heart monitor. His chest was uncovered and the circle-shaped bruises stood out. He had a small bandage on his head.
Dr. Angle appeared in the doorway moments later. “Agent DiNozzo also had several burn marks on his back. There were holes in the jacket and shirt we took off him.” She handed Kate the bag containing his clothes. “There were burn marks on his jeans, but no holes.”
“Thank you.” Kate had been standing holding Tony’s hand. She removed her hand from his and touched her shirt. “I need to give this to you, Gibbs, for Abby.” Kate said, remembering that Tony’s blood was on it. She then moved her hand to his face and stroked his cheek. There was no response.
Kate turned to the doctor. “Do you have anything I could wear?”
Doctor Angle nodded, left the room and returned moments later with a green scrub top, like the ones doctors wear in surgery. “She handed it to Kate. I think that size will fit. If not, we have something smaller.”
Gibbs and McGee then both spoke to Tony. While Kate went to the bathroom in Tony’s room and changed her shirt. She was out seconds later and handed her shirt to Gibbs to bag. Gibbs and Tim then left the room with Kate in tow.
“What happened, exactly?” Gibbs asked as they took seats in the ICU waiting room.
TBC
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