The Long Road Home Part 6b
Ducky had just finished regaling Tony with yet another of his adventures when Hannah entered Tony’s room. The ME had been impressed by the high level of care that Tony was receiving and had complimented the young nurse several times on her compassionate manner in which she treated both the patients and their families. Tony was very fortunate to have her as his nurse and he could only imagine how pleased the young man would be when he discovered that she was also very beautiful.
“Hello again, Hannah,” he cheerfully greeted.
“Hello, Dr. Mallard. Can I get you anything?” she offered.
“No my dear, I was just sitting here telling Tony about the time that I sailed down the Nile River; he loves that story.”
Hannah smiled as she slipped a thermometer under Tony’s arm. “Dr. Winesett decided to go ahead and start decreasing his sedation, so he should start coming around by morning,” she informed him.
“I’m sure that Jethro will be here with him.” Ducky glanced at his watch. “It’s later than I realized. I wonder where he could be.”
“I don’t know. I’m sure he’ll be along shortly.”
“You’re probably right.”
The ME was surprised when he heard Jenny Shepard’s voice outside of Tony’s room. He looked at Hannah, who merely shrugged. Ducky stood up and walked to the door to find Jenny issuing orders to another agent.
“Jethro Gibbs is not allowed to see Agent DiNozzo until after the investigation,” she stated. “Under no circumstances are you to allow him in this room. Do I make myself clear, Agent Spencer?”
“Yes, Director Shepard,” he answered.
“You will be relieved by Agent Coulson at 0600. If you have any problems, call me.”
“Jenny?” Ducky called out. “What’s going on?”
“I had to suspend Jethro and until the investigation is over, he can not be allowed to see Agent DiNozzo,” she hastily explained.
A lump formed in the physician’s throat. He could only begin to imagine how lived Jethro must be. “I see. Don’t you think the armed guard is over doing it a bit?”
“No, I don’t. Not where Jethro’s concerned. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Dr. Mallard, I’ve got to get back to headquarters to make sure that Ziva and McGee give their full cooperation to the investigators.”
“They will do what is required of them,” Ducky said. “Even if they don’t like it; they will do their jobs.”
“I know that, but I want to be sure that all our bases are covered.”
Ducky nodded. “Very good then,” he stated. “I’ll just go back and sit with Tony some more. He should be waking up in a few hours.”
“Keep me informed of any changes,” the Director requested. “Oh, and Ducky, do not even think of trying to sneak Jethro into Tony’s room.”
“The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind,” he lied.
The ME went back into Tony’s room to find Hannah jotting something down on her note pad. “He’s running a low grade fever” she explained, “but it’s nothing unexpected. I’ll let Dr. Winesett know.”
“Thank you, Hannah. I know we all rest better knowing Anthony is in such good hands.”
He watched as she took one final glance at Tony’s monitor. “So, what’s going on outside?” she asked.
“It seems that Jethro is not permitted to see Anthony until the investigation into the shooting is completed. Our Director doesn’t trust Gibbs, so she’s placed a guard outside Tony’s room.”
“Does Dr. Winesett know about this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, I’ll just have to mention it to him when I call him. I have a feeling that he’s not going to like this arrangement.”
Ducky grinned. “Would he like the number to Director Shepard’s direct line?”
“I’m sure that he would.”
He wrote down the number and handed it to her. After she left, Ducky sat back down next to Tony. “Well my boy,” he sighed, “we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I have a feeling that Dr. Winesett is going to have a few words with our esteemed Director.”
Close to half an hour later, Hannah entered with a syringe in hand. “Dr. Winesett ordered this for his fever,” she said as she injected the medicine into his IV port.
“And the other matter?”
Hannah smiled. “Let’s just say that Dr. Winesett was not happy; he should be talking to your Director as we speak.”
“Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on a wall?” Ducky mused.
“Yes, I would.”
“Thank you for your assistance, Hannah.”
“It was my pleasure,” she assured him. The young nurse reached into her pocket and pulled out a note. “This is for you.”
He nodded his thanks as she left. Ducky opened the note to discover that it was from Jethro. “Call me ASAP. Need to talk,” he read aloud.
The physician couldn’t use his cell phone in Tony’s room, so he was going to have to go to the waiting room to make that call. He gently squeezed the agent’s uninjured shoulder. “I’ll be back in a minute, Anthony. I’ll just be in the waiting room, so I won’t be too far away should you need anything. I have a feeling that when I come back, we’ll have worked out some way for Jethro to be here when you wake up.”
Ducky rose from his seat and slowly made his way to the waiting area, acknowledging Agent Spencer with a nod. “I’m just going to stretch my legs.”
“Very well, Dr. Mallard,” Spencer replied.
The ME slipped into the room and turned on his cell phone. It only took one ring before he heard Gibbs’ gruff voice. “It’s about time, Duck.”
“I just got your note, Jethro. I can’t use my phone in Tony’s room and…”
“How is he?” Gibbs asked, purposefully interrupting the physician.
“He’s running a slight fever, but other than that, there’s no change. Dr. Winesett went ahead and started decreasing his sedation; Tony should start waking up by morning.”
“I can’t see him, Duck.”
“I know, Jethro. Jenny made that abundantly clear when she placed the guard outside Tony’s door.”
“I figured she’d do something like that. I need to be there when he wakes up and you know it.”
“I know and hopefully if fate intervenes, you’ll be able to.”
“What do you mean?”
Ducky explained how Hannah informed Dr. Winesett about the armed guard outside Tony’s room and the doctor was going to be calling the Director.”
“What if it doesn’t do any good?” Gibbs wanted to know.
“We’ll just do what we’ve always done,” Ducky replied.
“And that is?”
The ME grinned. “Improvise!”