What Lies Beneath Chapter 8 part 2
That night, McGee woke up screaming.
Gibbs was still sitting in the chair next to his bed, almost asleep. He had tried to talk to McGee, to explain how much the team regretted what had happened and that they had no reservations about him returning to NCIS, but in the back of his mind he knew that fight was not going to be easy. Vance had already insisted on a battery of psychological tests to help find the source of McGee’s ‘breakdown’, and to be honest Gibbs wasn’t really sure how he’d be able to help Tim navigate through what the next few weeks would bring. He and Ducky had both assured him they’d deal with the director, but he had sensed Tim’s apprehension.
The first cry brought him out of his daze and he immediately got up and moved into Tim’s line of sight. Tim’s eyes were wide open, but he was clearly not seeing the man leaning over him as his terrified screams increased in intensity and volume.
“Easy, Tim. You’re OK.” The soothing tone did nothing to calm him and soon several nurses were rushing towards his bed.
“What happened?”
“Nightmare. Come on, McGee, snap out of it!” Gibbs had to hold Tim down to keep him from thrashing, and it was harder than he had expected. Finally Tim’s eyes focused on Gibbs and instead of calming he grew even more panicked as he fought against Gibbs’ grip.
“No! Don’t! Get away!”
“McGee!”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tim’s doctor inject something into the IV line and soon Tim’s struggles grew weaker. Gibbs was able to get him back down onto the bed and finally Tim’s head dropped onto his pillow as the rest of his body relaxed. He blinked sluggishly several times before he appeared to rejoin reality.
“B-boss…?”
“Yeah, McGee, I’m here. You’re OK.”
“No...I’m not.”
“You will be.”
McGee didn’t answer as his eyes slipped shut and he fell into unconsciousness.
The doctor finished checking Tim’s vital signs before he turned to address Gibbs.
“I think it’s time to move him to a more suitable place.”
“Suitable?”
“The psychiatric unit. He has physically recovered enough that he no longer needs to be in intensive care, but he needs a controlled environment in order to better deal with his other issues.”
“You want to send him off to the nut house?”
The doctor winced. “No, I want to help him heal mentally as well as physically. Right now he’s a danger to himself…” The doctor glanced around the ward where nurses were checking on the other patients. “And he’s a disruption to their well-being as well.”
“So move him to a private room. We’ll stay with him, like we’ve been doing.”
“As I told your other agent, you are not equipped to deal with this. These extreme swings from terror to apathy are a sign of a deep-rooted psychological problem. This is not something that will go away on its own.”
“And locking him a padded room will help?”
“I assure you, there will be no ’padded rooms’ involved, and the staff is well equipped to help him recover from whatever traumatic event obviously took place.”
“Don’t think they’re prepared for this one,” Gibbs muttered, earning him a confused glance from the doctor. “And I doubt he’d be willing to talk about it with someone who doesn’t know the whole story.”
“Perhaps not at first, but it certainly doesn’t seem that the people who do know are helping him. His fear increased when he saw you, Agent Gibbs. Now I don’t know what part your team played in his trauma--.”
“We didn’t do anything to him.” Gibbs sighed. “But we didn’t do enough to stop it.”
“Then perhaps he doesn’t need those reminders.”
“We’re not leaving him alone. It will be worse if we do, trust me.”
“Fine. I will have him transferred to a private room tomorrow morning, but if there isn’t an improvement in his mental state within 48 hours, I’ll have no choice but to take a different approach.” He checked Tim over once again. “He should sleep for a few hours. You look like you need some rest as well. Go home, Agent Gibbs.”
“I’m fine. Don’t want him to wake up alone.”
Finally the doctor sensed it was a losing battle. “All right. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Gibbs returned to his seat and put his hand on Tim’s forehead. He didn’t flinch, and Gibbs wasn’t sure if that was an improvement or a sign of how deeply he was sleeping.
“You’re gonna be OK, Tim. We’re gonna make sure of it. No matter what it takes.”
XXXTim struggled to open his eyes, wondering briefly why he felt so lousy before the memories of the previous night came crashing down on him and he groaned, fear and embarrassment surging through him.
“McGee?”
He managed to force his eyes open and stared up at the person leaning over him. He desperately tried to control his reflexes and not show his anxiety, but he knew he had failed when he saw the look in Gibbs’ eyes.
“Boss...sorry about…”
“Hey, I told you before, it’s not your fault. How are you feeling?”
“Like I have...a really bad hangover.” Tim swallowed convulsively to fight off the nausea. “Don’t want that stuff again.”
“Yeah, I can understand that.” Gibbs gently cupped Tim’s cheek and he managed not to pull away. “You want to talk about it?”
“Not really. I know I’ll need to...eventually, but…not right now.”
“OK.”
“Are you...OK?”
Gibbs chuckled. “I’m fine, Tim. You concentrate on getting better. Don’t worry about us.”
“Can’t help it.” He glanced around the room, surprised to see he was still in the ICU. “When am I getting out of here?”
“They’re gonna move you to a private room this morning.”
“Oh...good.” Suddenly a horrible thought passed through his mind. “Where?”
“Just a regular room. Not letting them stick you in the mental ward.”
“Might be where I belong…” Tim could feel the nightmares trying to invade reality again, but he fought it. Gibbs gave him an understanding smile.
“No, it’s not. You’ll be OK, Tim.”
“Doesn’t look so sure...from in here.”
Gibbs was about to respond when one of the nurses arrived.
“We need to do a couple of checks and then we’ll be moving Agent McGee to his new room. Why don’t you take a break, Agent Gibbs?”
“You OK with that, McGee?”
“Yeah, Boss...you look like you need...coffee.”
Gibbs chuckled. “I’ll survive without it.”
“It’s OK…”
Gibbs reached into his pocket and withdrew a silver pendant attached to a cord. He wrapped the cord around Tim’s wrist so the pendant rested on the palm of his hand. Tim gave him a puzzled look at he leaned in to whisper in Tim’s ear.
“To keep you safe. Trust me.”
“OK...”
Gibbs patted his cheek before standing up and stretching slightly. “I’ll be back when you’re settled. OK?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Boss.”
After Gibbs left, the nurse walked up to his bed and stared down at him, a strange smile on his face. Alarms started ringing in Tim’s head as the nurse leaned in closer, and his heart leapt into his throat when the man’s eyes suddenly turned pitch black.
“Hi Timmy. Remember me?”
Gibbs was still sitting in the chair next to his bed, almost asleep. He had tried to talk to McGee, to explain how much the team regretted what had happened and that they had no reservations about him returning to NCIS, but in the back of his mind he knew that fight was not going to be easy. Vance had already insisted on a battery of psychological tests to help find the source of McGee’s ‘breakdown’, and to be honest Gibbs wasn’t really sure how he’d be able to help Tim navigate through what the next few weeks would bring. He and Ducky had both assured him they’d deal with the director, but he had sensed Tim’s apprehension.
The first cry brought him out of his daze and he immediately got up and moved into Tim’s line of sight. Tim’s eyes were wide open, but he was clearly not seeing the man leaning over him as his terrified screams increased in intensity and volume.
“Easy, Tim. You’re OK.” The soothing tone did nothing to calm him and soon several nurses were rushing towards his bed.
“What happened?”
“Nightmare. Come on, McGee, snap out of it!” Gibbs had to hold Tim down to keep him from thrashing, and it was harder than he had expected. Finally Tim’s eyes focused on Gibbs and instead of calming he grew even more panicked as he fought against Gibbs’ grip.
“No! Don’t! Get away!”
“McGee!”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tim’s doctor inject something into the IV line and soon Tim’s struggles grew weaker. Gibbs was able to get him back down onto the bed and finally Tim’s head dropped onto his pillow as the rest of his body relaxed. He blinked sluggishly several times before he appeared to rejoin reality.
“B-boss…?”
“Yeah, McGee, I’m here. You’re OK.”
“No...I’m not.”
“You will be.”
McGee didn’t answer as his eyes slipped shut and he fell into unconsciousness.
The doctor finished checking Tim’s vital signs before he turned to address Gibbs.
“I think it’s time to move him to a more suitable place.”
“Suitable?”
“The psychiatric unit. He has physically recovered enough that he no longer needs to be in intensive care, but he needs a controlled environment in order to better deal with his other issues.”
“You want to send him off to the nut house?”
The doctor winced. “No, I want to help him heal mentally as well as physically. Right now he’s a danger to himself…” The doctor glanced around the ward where nurses were checking on the other patients. “And he’s a disruption to their well-being as well.”
“So move him to a private room. We’ll stay with him, like we’ve been doing.”
“As I told your other agent, you are not equipped to deal with this. These extreme swings from terror to apathy are a sign of a deep-rooted psychological problem. This is not something that will go away on its own.”
“And locking him a padded room will help?”
“I assure you, there will be no ’padded rooms’ involved, and the staff is well equipped to help him recover from whatever traumatic event obviously took place.”
“Don’t think they’re prepared for this one,” Gibbs muttered, earning him a confused glance from the doctor. “And I doubt he’d be willing to talk about it with someone who doesn’t know the whole story.”
“Perhaps not at first, but it certainly doesn’t seem that the people who do know are helping him. His fear increased when he saw you, Agent Gibbs. Now I don’t know what part your team played in his trauma--.”
“We didn’t do anything to him.” Gibbs sighed. “But we didn’t do enough to stop it.”
“Then perhaps he doesn’t need those reminders.”
“We’re not leaving him alone. It will be worse if we do, trust me.”
“Fine. I will have him transferred to a private room tomorrow morning, but if there isn’t an improvement in his mental state within 48 hours, I’ll have no choice but to take a different approach.” He checked Tim over once again. “He should sleep for a few hours. You look like you need some rest as well. Go home, Agent Gibbs.”
“I’m fine. Don’t want him to wake up alone.”
Finally the doctor sensed it was a losing battle. “All right. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Gibbs returned to his seat and put his hand on Tim’s forehead. He didn’t flinch, and Gibbs wasn’t sure if that was an improvement or a sign of how deeply he was sleeping.
“You’re gonna be OK, Tim. We’re gonna make sure of it. No matter what it takes.”
XXXTim struggled to open his eyes, wondering briefly why he felt so lousy before the memories of the previous night came crashing down on him and he groaned, fear and embarrassment surging through him.
“McGee?”
He managed to force his eyes open and stared up at the person leaning over him. He desperately tried to control his reflexes and not show his anxiety, but he knew he had failed when he saw the look in Gibbs’ eyes.
“Boss...sorry about…”
“Hey, I told you before, it’s not your fault. How are you feeling?”
“Like I have...a really bad hangover.” Tim swallowed convulsively to fight off the nausea. “Don’t want that stuff again.”
“Yeah, I can understand that.” Gibbs gently cupped Tim’s cheek and he managed not to pull away. “You want to talk about it?”
“Not really. I know I’ll need to...eventually, but…not right now.”
“OK.”
“Are you...OK?”
Gibbs chuckled. “I’m fine, Tim. You concentrate on getting better. Don’t worry about us.”
“Can’t help it.” He glanced around the room, surprised to see he was still in the ICU. “When am I getting out of here?”
“They’re gonna move you to a private room this morning.”
“Oh...good.” Suddenly a horrible thought passed through his mind. “Where?”
“Just a regular room. Not letting them stick you in the mental ward.”
“Might be where I belong…” Tim could feel the nightmares trying to invade reality again, but he fought it. Gibbs gave him an understanding smile.
“No, it’s not. You’ll be OK, Tim.”
“Doesn’t look so sure...from in here.”
Gibbs was about to respond when one of the nurses arrived.
“We need to do a couple of checks and then we’ll be moving Agent McGee to his new room. Why don’t you take a break, Agent Gibbs?”
“You OK with that, McGee?”
“Yeah, Boss...you look like you need...coffee.”
Gibbs chuckled. “I’ll survive without it.”
“It’s OK…”
Gibbs reached into his pocket and withdrew a silver pendant attached to a cord. He wrapped the cord around Tim’s wrist so the pendant rested on the palm of his hand. Tim gave him a puzzled look at he leaned in to whisper in Tim’s ear.
“To keep you safe. Trust me.”
“OK...”
Gibbs patted his cheek before standing up and stretching slightly. “I’ll be back when you’re settled. OK?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Boss.”
After Gibbs left, the nurse walked up to his bed and stared down at him, a strange smile on his face. Alarms started ringing in Tim’s head as the nurse leaned in closer, and his heart leapt into his throat when the man’s eyes suddenly turned pitch black.
“Hi Timmy. Remember me?”