A little anxious didn't quite fit the feeling that was lying heavily in Gibbs' gut. At home everything was going up and down, Tony checked Dom every day for bruises, luckily he hadn't found any, at least yet. Work was horror, not that that was new but he had hoped it would be better once Tony was back half a day. But six years are a damn long time in this business and Tony was hanging behind, both knew, neither mentioned, their own kind of don't ask don't tell. And now on top of all he had to sit in a stupid waiting room of his doctor. He had been here a couple of days ago and the doctor had taken some tests and now there was the time of truth.
Gibbs knew it weren't good news. He knew that tone of voice Dr. Johnson had used on the phone. Therefore he mentally was prepared for the prescription of permanent glasses, but he hadn't told Tony yet. He was called into an examination room and asked to wait a few. He always hated waiting but to be called in to wait some more was just ridiculus. The door opened and the man, barely older than Tony, entered the room.
"Mr. Gibbs."
That tone of voice again, Gibbs thought sourly.
"Look, I know I need glasses so write down what the optician needs to know and..."
"It's a bit more difficult, Mr. Gibbs."
"What do you mean "more difficult"? And don't gimme that latin shit, say it in English."
"You have a decease that slowly kills the nerve endings on your retina."
He opened his mouth to say something several times but nothing came out.
"Does that...does that mean I'm gonna be blind?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Gibbs, but yes."
Gibbs leant back in the chair and ran his hands over his face. How should he tell Tony about that?
"There is something we can do though. But the chances that the operation works are quite small. In three of ten cases blindness can be avoided."
"And the other seven?"
"Blindness is immidiate. I'm not telling you to do, neither I'm telling you not to do it. It's your call, Mr. Gibbs."
"So, if I do it and it works I won't be blind. If I do and it doesn't work, I'm blind. What if I don't do it?"
"By the state you're in I'd give you eight months, probably less and your eyesight will weaken slowly."
"So I'm gonna be blind anyway except the operation works..."
He shook his head.
"I gotta think about it."
"Sure, Mr. Gibbs. But I tell you, the longer you wait the smaller are the chances. You should decide soon."
He nodded and they shook hands wordlessly. All the way home he tried to figure out how to break those news. It wasn't as if he and Tony didn't already go through a rocky time. The change in their relationship did effect work and the issue about Dom staying at the school was still not closed.
"Fuck!"
"Hi, to you too."
Gibbs muttered when he walked into the kitchen where his lover gathered the cereals off the floor.
"You won't guess who just called me."
"Mrs. Miller."
"Ok, you guessed."
It was easy to guess. Once a day had started bad it barely got any better, usually only worse. And the only one who could make this day worse was that stupid woman.
"She said she had talked to the principle about Dom and they think he should see a shrink! God dammit! He's fucking six years old! We don't abuse him! We are good parents! The only fault we have is that none of us has a vagina!"
Gibbs frowned about Tony's colourful language and guessed Dom wasn't home.
"Where is he?"
"He's with Jack. You don't have anything to say about that bitch?"
Gibbs sighed. Tony was right. Usually he would yell, he would storm into that school and rip that principle a new one, but he didn't. His mind was stuck and he kept mentally repeating one word. Blind.
"What's wrong?"
Tony asked as if he was reading his mind but Gibbs shook his head.
"I just haven't had the best day so far and this is like the cherry on the creme. I hate shrinks."
His eyes fell onto the newspaper which seemed to laugh at him.
"Did something happen?"
He took a deep breath but when he looked at Tony he couldn't get the words out.
"Just hadn't slept too well. This case is freaking me out."
Tony nodded and Gibbs kissed him casually before he left for the basement.
The only light in the basement was what came in through the windows from the street, what means it wasn't much. It was nice, it didn't hurt his eyes. But yet he had a strange feeling. It was as if somebody was watching him. He thought he heard footsteps but when he looked no-one was there. His son and partner were just two floors above him yet he felt totally alone. Alone in the darkness. A darkness that became thicker with every day he waited. He knew he would never find the right words to tell Tony he would soon have to quit his job. He would never see his son as a man, in his graduation dress. Tears burned in his eyes when he realized he had come to a decision.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs gets really bad news