He always hated the smell of hospital. Ever since he was a kid and broke his arm in two places after a tumble from the tree in the backyard.
The waiting-room was filled with people. Even at 7 a.m. Some of them recieved good news. Their loved one had made it through the difficult surgery and was going to be fine. Others broke down crying and everyone knew the news wasn't good. To Gibbs a waiting-room was one of the worst places in the world. In here you could do nothing but wait. You just sat there, waiting for news; good or bad. And for a man of action like Gibbs, nothing was worse. Nothing to do… just wait….

They'd been there since the paramedics brought Tony in almost two hours ago. They'd finally got his heart going after 5 attempts. There it was. It was weak and thready, but he had a pulse.
But Tony hadn't opened his eyes. And he was still not breathing.

When they got to the hospital Gibbs wanted to go with Tony, but was stopped by the doctor. "We'll take care of him. Please wait here".
Wait, just wait. He was the one who was supposed to take care of Tony. The one who was supposed to protect him. But he couldn't. All he could do now was waiting.

Kate had called Ducky and Abby on the way to the hospital, and they had arrived 5 minutes after the ambulance. Abby had been in tears and Gibbs held her tight. "He'll be okay" he whispered. He had her convinced. Now he just needed to convince himself.

Ducky had tried his best to get some information out of the trauma room, but no luck. Now they were all sitting together in the waiting area. Abby and McGee were asleep, her head resting on McGee's shoulder, and his on hers.
Kate couldn't sleep. She was way too worried and had had too much coffee to sleep anytime soon.
Gibbs had already been at the nurses' station 15 times asking for news.

"Special agent Gibbs?"
"That's me" Gibbs jumped from his seat and approached the man in the white coat.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Danielson. I'm a neurologist. I was called down to assist in the treatment of Anthony Dinozzo. There are some things I would like to discus with you, as you're listed as Mr. Dinozzo's next-of-kin, so if you would come with me"

"What ever you have to say, you can say in front of them," he nodded his head at the group standing behind, anxious for news, "they have just as much right to know".
The doctor nodded in agreement and asked everyone to take a seat.

"I have to be honest with you all. Anthony's condition is severe. Right now he's in a coma. We've had to put him on life-support, which means he has a tube down his throat to help him breath. As you know it took a while to get his heart started again. They had to shock him several times, and it might have done some damage to his heart. We won't know that until later. Other than that he's got some minor burns to his feet, and 3 broken ribs. Nothing that won't heal in time. What we are most concerned for is the lack of oxygen-flow to the vital organs. He was without oxygen for quite some time, and that may become a problem."

"Are there any signs of brain damage?" Ducky knew what the doctor was about to tell them, "I'm Doctor Mallard, and a friend of Anthony's"

"Oh. Well we don't know for sure yet. When the brain and the heart don't get the oxygen they need, it causes severe damages to the tissue. There are no signs of any brain damages yet on the test we did. We'll know for sure if he wakes up".

"If he wakes up? You mean he might never wake up?" Gibbs started to feel like his heart was being ripped out.

"Like I said, we really don't know. The brain is one of the most mysterious organs in the human body. Some make it through without permanent damages. Others don't. We have to wait and see"

More waiting. "What are his chances?"

"I sorry to have to tell you this, but the chances aren't good. Tony had about 10 percents chance of making it through this without permanent damages. I wish the news were better" the doctor closed his file and looked around the group of people sitting in front of him.

"He's beaten the odds before. He can do it again" Gibbs reassured them. Kate's eyes were filled with tears and so was Abby's. "Can we see him?"

"Sure. I'll have a nurse show you up to the ICU. If you have any questions, just have one of the nurses page me".

"Thank you, Doctor" Gibbs shook him hand.

"I'm sorry but you can only stay for few minutes." The nurse led then into the ICU-room.

"Can one of us stay?" Gibbs asked.

"Sure, but only one at the time".

"Thank you" said Gibbs and turned his head towards the bed in the middle of the room. The room dimly lit. The curtains were closed and only a small light was on at the end of the bed. There were a lot of strange sounds in the room, coming from all the different machines Tony was hooked up to. A single beep to indicate his heartbeat, and a wheezing coming from the respirator.
Tony looked asleep. But something about his expression had changed. He didn't look at peace like he usually did when he fell asleep in his office-chair. There was fear in the young agents face, and it scared Gibbs. The thought of Tony waking up as anything but the old Tony was so distant.

Abby didn't dare touch Tony, afraid she might do something wrong, so Ducky took her hand, "It's alright, Abigail. You can touch him" Ducky walked with her, and she leant in and kissed him on the cheek. "Come back, okay?" She took his hand and held it between hers. It was so cold. She kissed it, and Ducky led her out of the room. McGee didn't know what to do, so he looked at Gibbs, "I'll get started on the rapport, Boss. If you want me to, I'll inform the director".
Gibbs hadn't move from his spot and hadn't taken his eyes of Tony. Now he looked up at McGee, "Go home McGee. Get some sleep. It can wait till tomorrow".
McGee nodded and was about to leave. But then he turned around and walked up to Tony's bed. He put his hand on Tony's, "See you, okay?" and then he walked out.

Kate could no longer contain her tears and they began rolling down her face. Gibbs walked over to her and put his arm around her. She welcomed the embrace and leant her head on his shoulder.
"What if we were too late?" she whispered.
Gibbs knew the right answer to that question was, ‘we weren't' but deep down inside he wasn't sure. What if they were too late? What if that wasn't even Tony they'd saved? If the real Tony had died in that grave and left nothing but an empty shell?
He squeezed Kate a little, "You go home too. Get some sleep. I'll stay here".
Kate dried her eyes and nodded. She walked over to Tony's side and kissed his forehead. When she held his hand, she didn't really wanna let go again. They'd just found him again and she couldn't let go. He wasn't out of the woods yet. She still felt a need to back her partner up.
"I'll call if there's any news" Gibbs said
Kate gave Tony's hand a squeeze and left the room. But Gibbs knew she wasn't going home. She went back to the waiting-room…and waited…

Gibbs took a chair and placed it next to Tony's bed. He sat down, not knowing what to say. He'd once heard that people in a coma heard what people told them. He leant in and placed Tony's hand in his. It was so cold, and he tried by warm it with his own hands.
"I'm sorry"
He looked down, trying to gather his thoughts.
"I'm sorry it took so long to get to you. That I couldn't stop this from happening. Come back to us, okay? That's an order"
And then he gave Tony a little pad on the head. Just so things would start to get back to normal.

Then he leaned back… and waited…

They spend the next few days like this. They all took turn sitting with Tony while the rest sat in the uncomfortable chair outside in the waiting-area.

Abby would tell him stories, and be begging him to tell her all about what it's like being in a coma, when he woke up. Ducky would, as always, tell the oddest stories from autopsy. Even McGee came to visit, even though he felt it odd to talk to Tony. A Tony that didn't talk back or teased him. He even brought his book one time read some of it to Tony.
Kate teased Tony about all the hot nurses, who were giving him spongebaths. And that he'd better wake up to hit on them.
Gibbs didn't say much when he was there. He stayed longer than the others. He just sat in the chair; watching over Tony.

The doctors did al sorts of tests, but there were still no signs of improvement.

It was Saturday evening. Gibbs had sent everybody home for the night and sat in his usual chair. It'd been 8 days since they'd found Tony. 8 long days of waiting.
Gibbs was just about to close his eyes for a minute, when he noticed Tony's fingers moving. He was up in seconds, and held Tony's hand.

"Tony, can you hear me?"

Tony's eyelids flickered. Gibbs felt Tony's grip around his hand tighten. Then he opened his eyes.

"Hey" Gibbs said and squeezed Tony's hand back. Tony moved his other hand up to his mouth and tapped the tube.
"Hold on, I'll get someone to remove it" Gibbs said and pushed the call button. Then he looked straight into Tony's eyes; searching for answers. And he found them. The green eyes still had a special spark.
He was back…

"I don't know what to say, Mr. Dinozzo" Dr. Danielson looked thru the chart, "You are one lucky guy. The test indicates no brain damage, but we'd still like to keep you here for a few days to make sure"

They were all gathered in Tony's room. He'd been moved from the ICU to another ward.
"Do I have to? I mean I feel fine other than a few sore ribs and a little dust every time I cough" Tony gave the doctor a big smile.
"Not going to work. You're staying" the doctor smiled and left the room.
"I'll bet if he was a woman it'd worked" Kate couldn't help herself.
Abby was sitting at the end of the bed, "So, do you remember anything from when you were out?
"Some things. I don't remember anything specific. Just voices"

"Yeah, but I mean, did you like flow out of your body and looked down on everything?"

"Abs, give him a break. He's been awake for less than 24 hours" Gibbs stepped in, rescuing Tony from Abby's interrogation.

Thankfully no one had asked Tony about the hours in the box. They all knew, that if he wanted to talk, he'd come to them. Tony hadn't asked much about their investigation. Gibbs told him about Michael Taylor's suicide, but that was it. Tony didn't need to know more than that. He didn't want to.
"Okay, everybody out. Tony needs his beauty-sleep" Gibbs ordered.
Kate and Abby both walked up, and gave Tony a kiss and a ‘take care'.
McGee stayed at the foot of the bed, and gave him an awkward wave. As he turned his back, Tony stopped him,
"Hey Probie, keep writing. I want to know how it ends"
McGee didn't know what to say or do, much to Tony's amusement. He finally decided not to say anything but left the room.
Ducky smiled, and shook Tony's hand, "Feel better, my boy"
Gibbs looked as Ducky left, and he was about to say his goodbyes what Tony beat him to it.

"Uh Gibbs, can I talk to you?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"Maybe it's just my imagination" Tony said with a smile on his face "but did I hear you say you were sorry, when I was out? Cause if you did, you know, it would really mean a lot" Tony smiled, already knowing what Gibbs would say.

Gibbs started to laugh for the first time in days as he turned to leave to follow the rest of his team.

"In your dreams, Dinozzo. Must've been in your dreams"