Chapter 7
Kate moved to her chair and sat down. She watched Tony for about 10 minutes, until she was sure he had sound asleep. Then she closed her eyes. She was asleep in seconds.
Tony slept 4 hours and woke up to see Kate standing at his bedside, smiling down at him. “...home.”
Kate squeezed his hand. “You are too weak to go home yet, maybe in a week or two.
“You...go...home.” Tony said, looking up at her and noticing the dark circles under her eyes. “I’m...OK.”
Kate stared at him for a moment. “I’m fine.” Kate said, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. She knew she looked like hell and she would have loved to go home. She would have loved to be able to sleep in her own bed, if just for one night. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”
Tony stared at her for a moment.
“What?” Kate asked, starting to wonder what he was thinking.
“..look...tired.”
“I am tired.”
“Go...home.”
“I know Abby is coming in to stay with you, I just don’t know when.”
Tony said nothing. He just sighed and rolled his eyes.
“I will tell her to leave the nurses alone this time.” Kate squeezed his hand. “She is just really, really protective of you, you know that.”
“There is something I need to say to you.” Kate paused and laid her other hand on top of his. “You saved my life, twice.”
“Kate.”
“Let me finish, Tony. I know I give you a hard time. I wouldn’t tease you if I thought, for a minute, it hurt your feelings. I hope you know I consider you to be a good friend. I just wanted to say Thank you.” Kate paused. “I can’t imagine how much pain you were in when you crawled over to me to protect me. I wanted to especially thank you for that. That was above and beyond.” Kate bent down to and kissed his cheek. “If you tell anyone I did that, I’ll shoot you.” Kate whispered in his ear, before she straightened back up.
Tony said nothing, but smiled broadly.
A nurse showed up in Tony’s room with a shot for his pain. “Mr. DiNozzo, I need to ask you this before I give you this shot. Are you allergic to morphine?”
“No.” Tony said, shaking his head.
The nurse administrated the shot and then left.
Abby poked her head in the door at that moment. Her hands full of magazines and DVDs. “Hi, Kate. Hi, Tony.” Abby laid all the mags and DVDs on the counter beside the
sink. “Tony, I didn’t know which movie you would want to see, so I brought several.” Abby pulled another chair up to Tony’s bed and sat down. “You look better than you did yesterday, even.” Abby said, slipping her hand into his.
Tony grip on Abby’s hand suddenly went limp. “KATE, Tony’s not breathing!” Abby said, she put her hand on his chest. It didn’t move. The heart monitor blared as Tony’s heart rate slowed and he went into convulsions.
Kate pressed the button just as the doctor and two nurses arrived. They ushered Kate and Abby out of the room and shut the door behind them. When Gibbs showed up an hour later Kate and Abby were still in the ICU waiting room. Kate was sitting in one of the chairs and Abby was pacing the length of the room.
“Kate?” Gibbs asked sitting down beside her, coffee cup in hand. Abby came over sat down on the other side of him.
“Tony just stopped breathing and went into a seizure. The nurse had come in and gave him some morphine. She asked him if he was allergic and he said no. Then the doctor and nurses came in and pushed us out the door. They have been going back and forth to his room, but no one has come to talk to us yet.” Kate said worry etched on her face.
Abby suddenly stood up. She turned and faced Gibbs. “Gibbs, I wouldn’t usually ask this, especially with Tony involved, but after this....” Abby paused, wringing her hands. “I need to go back to the lab. I can’t take this! I need to go back to work. Please!”
Gibbs nodded.
“Really? Thank you.” Abby bent down and give him a big hug and rushed off.
Gibbs stood up and walked to the door of Tony’s room. He stuck his head in. “Doctor Angle, I need to talk to you.”
“Agent Gibbs, I’m busy right now.” Dr Angle said.
“I need to know what is going on with him.” Gibbs said refusing to move out of the doorway as nurses pushed past him.
“He needs me more than you do.” Dr. Angle was amazed at his gall. Gibbs stood in the doorway, refusing to move.
Dr. Angle stepped away from Tony for just a moment. “I gave Agent DiNozzo morphine for the pain. He is allergic to morphine, severely allergic. I doubt he even knew he was allergic. It was not in his medical records anyway. He stopped breathing. His heart rate slowed and he went into convulsions.”
Gibbs said nothing. He just looked at his agent, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully. He then turned his attention back to Dr. Angle.
“I had to give him something to counteract that reaction and give him something to help with the pain that he could tolerate. That takes time. Like I said, he needed me more than you did.”
Gibbs then did something he rarely does. He apologized. "I’m sorry. We are just really concerned about him. We almost lost him. He’s still not doing that well.”
The doctor’s anger lessened slightly, seeing Agent Gibbs genuine concern. “He is actually getting better. His reaction to the medication will not slow that progress. Like I said, according to his medical history he has had no reason to know he was allergic to morphine. He has not been injured badly enough to take it before. The allergy is so rare….”
“Thank you.” Gibbs said, leaving Tony’s room. He returned to the ICU waiting room. “Tony’s OK now. He had a bad reaction to morphine and the doctor had to watch him. He looks like he’s asleep right now.”
Kate and Gibbs returned to Tony’s room. They took up their stations on opposite sides of his bed. Kate stayed. She didn’t feel any less tired; she felt she needed to stay just a little longer. She stayed another hour, then Gibbs took her chair. Alternately napping, drinking coffee and walking the halls until Tony woke 2 hours later.
Gibbs phone rang. He stepped out into the hall and answered the phone. “Gibbs?” Abby said. “I found something in the evidence. I was debating telling you. I don’t know how you will take it.”
“Just tell me Abby.” Gibbs said, giving her his full attention as he gazed at her over Tony’s sleeping form. “It’s evidence. I need to know.”
“Kate and Tony weren’t the targets.”
“I know that Abby. You know that. Ari… .” Gibbs moved out into the hall and down the corridor to the waiting room. He took a seat in one of the many uncomfortable plastic chairs.
“It wasn’t Ari.” Abby said, waiting for Gibbs to explode. She wasn’t disappointed.
TBC
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