Baby, It's Cold Out There 2/2 h/c bingo story 3
"Here."
Tony looked up as ropes and harnesses were tossed down to him before a backboard was eased down. The board caught on some bushes, causing the rescue workers up top to tug on the rope, pulling it slightly back up before it came loose. On their second attempt, Tony was there to help guide it down. He hated to separate Gibbs and McGee, but they needed to get the injured man topside where help was waiting for them. First, he dragged the backboard as close as he could to them. "Boss?"
Gibbs looked over and gave a nod before turning his attention to McGee. "We're going to get you out of here, Tim. Just let Tony and I do all the work, okay?"
Once they got a nod they worked quickly to get McGee onto the board, making sure the emergency blanket was wrapped around him as tightly as possible before strapping him tightly in place. Once they had him secure, they dragged the board and McGee back to where the harnesses were waiting.
It was a slow trek back up to safety, even with plenty of workers pulling on all the ropes. Gibbs and Tony concentrated on keeping McGee as level as possible and let the others handle the heavy part of getting them back up. Eventually they were back on solid ground and an ambulance stretcher was waiting for them. Backboard and all, McGee was laid down and they moved out.
The trip back to the cabin seemed much longer and Tony got a chance to watch Gibbs with McGee. There was a tenderness along with a fierce protectiveness that spoke volumes and he wondered if Gibbs even realized it yet. That made him smile. It wasn't very often he got one over on the boss. Arriving at the ambulance, it wasn't a surprise that Gibbs climbed in with McGee.
"Call Vance, let him know."
"You got it, Boss. Take care of him." That was a given.
---NCIS---
"I'm sorry, sir. You'll have to wait out here."
Gibbs stared at the hand against his chest, but it was the hand on his arm that got through to him. "Come on, Boss, let's get some coffee." With one final look at the stretcher vanishing behind the ER doors, Gibbs finally gave a nod.
"Yeah, okay."
It smelled burnt, but Gibbs went to the coffee cart right outside the waiting area, and ordered a cup. He didn't comment, but he did smirk at the amount of creamer and sugar that Tony put in his own coffee.
Tony gave a shrug. "Hey, at least it's warm, right?"
"Yeah." The warmth of the cup in his hand contrasted with the memory of Tim's nearly freezing hand in his and it was all Gibbs could do not to crush the paper cup. "Warm."
"He's going to be okay, Boss. They'll patch him up and warm him up; then we can take care of him. We'll have him back on his feet in no time."
Gibbs found himself being pushed into a chair and was surprised that they'd moved so far from the coffee kiosk. "Those bastards kept him in a cage, DiNozzo. They tortured him."
"Boss, we don't know-"
"I saw it, DiNozzo." Gibbs bit back a curse when the hot coffee sloshed out of the cup and splashed onto his hand. "He's got burns all over his chest. Not cigarettes, they're too big for cigarettes, and whatever it was, burned right through his shirt."
The hand on his arm once again stalled his rage. "We'll get him through this. You'll get him through this."
Damn straight I will - it was on the tip of his tongue, but the second ambulance from the scene finally arrived and Gibbs jumped to his feet to watch Ziva escort the prisoner back to be examined. He was wheeled in on a stretcher, which pissed him off, but Carpenter looked terrified of Ziva, which pleased him greatly.
---NCIS---
"What have we got?"
The nurse was brisk and efficient. "White male, mid-thirties, shot and kidnapped approximately twenty-four hours ago. Held hostage outdoors, signs of torture. Apparently escaped his captors, was shot a second time in the process and fell down an embankment."
Dr. Lewis looked down at his patient. Most of his clothing had been cut off and he was wrapped in several warming blankets, especially around his torso, and was being given warm, moist oxygen.
"Core body temperature?"
"Thirty-one point one."
Lewis was old school enough that he'd rather be given the information in Fahrenheit, but the resulting eighty-seven point nine wasn't sounding a whole lot better. On the other hand, the cold had probably stopped him from bleeding to death. Getting him warmed up and getting the wounds treated would be of equal importance. Then there was the very real possibility that his patient's older wound was already infected. That meant that things could go south very quickly when his body started to warm back and and they needed to be ready.
"Warm saline is ready, Dr. Lewis."
"Not yet. Type and cross-match, blood draw for CBC and cultures, then hang a wide spectrum antibiotic with that saline and start it. We got x-rays yet?" The arrival of the portable x-ray machine answered that question and he poked and prodded the two gunshot wounds as the tech set up. "Both wounds are through and through, let's see if there's any bone damage. How soon can we get a CAT scan?"
"As soon as I'm done here, if needed." The tech waved the rest of the staff out of the room as he took x-rays of both their patient's upper torso and lower leg.
Out in the hallway, one of the nurses continued to fill him in. "The patient is a federal agent. Once member of his team came in with him in the ambulance and is out in the waiting room. We've got an OR on standby and Dr. Taylor is on his way in."
Lewis nodded at that. They were a small hospital, but Taylor was a bright young surgeon brought to them by a federal program to work in under-served areas in exchange for a substantial reduction in student loans. Somehow it seemed fitting that Taylor would be the one to operate on the injured man. "Good, I'll scrub in as his second."
A second victim was rolled past them, wearing a pressure bandage and handcuffs, escorted by several deputies and a dark haired woman wearing a badge at her waist and Lewis caught the attention of one of the ambulance attendants. "How many more should we expect?"
"The other suspect was dead at the scene, Doc. This one somebody's supposed to patch up enough to transport him to DC to face charges."
"Fine. Put him in Room Three." Dr. Lewis gave the latest patient a quick look. Judging from the fact that he was struggling against his cuffs and cursing everyone in the hallway that wasn't blessed with blonde hair and blue eyes, he was in no immediate danger.
"You are treating Agent McGee, yes? How is he?"
The lilt and accent to her voice made him wish he was twenty years younger. "As soon as we get him a little more stable, we'll have him in surgery." The x-rays were done and the door opened back up. "Would you like to see him for just a minute?"
"Thank you. I was with the suspect and did not get to see him after he was rescued."
Ushered inside, she went straight to the bed, leaning close and avoiding all the equipment that surrounded the patient. "You are going to be fine, McGee and we will have you home very soon."
---NCIS---
"They let me see him for a moment."
Ziva's words got Gibbs instantly back on his feet. "What did they say? How is he?"
She frowned slightly, as she slowly repeated back what she'd heard. "They are still getting him stabilized, then they will operate."
"He's still not stable?" Gibbs didn't like the sound of that at all as he turned to DiNozzo. "Ducky's on his way, right?"
"I called Vance and he said he'd let the others know. You want me to call and make sure he's on his way here?" Gibbs knew he was glaring, but it got Tony back on his phone.
---NCIS---
"That is the doctor I saw with McGee."
Gibbs hadn't bothered to sit back down so he was able to easily meet the doctor before he moved very far into the waiting area. "Tim McGee, how is he?"
"And you are?"
"Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, Tim's my man."
"Of course. I'm Dr. Lewis, I've been treating him since he was brought in. We're prepping him for surgery right now."
Gibbs let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "You've got him stabilized, then?"
"Yes. More importantly, we've got his body temperature back up to the low end of normal. That was our biggest concern. Even with moderate hypothermia, we don't really relax until we've got a steady sinus rhythm and a safe body temperature at the same time."
"So, he'll be all right?"
"Bullet wound to his leg is messy, with a hairline fracture. Looks like that wound was from a larger bullet than the shoulder wound. We'll clean up the wound tract, repair as much of the muscle damage as we can. It'll take some time and physical therapy, but he shouldn't have any major lasting problems. In the shoulder wound, there's minimal bone damage, just a chip it looks like, and there was less tearing of the muscles since it was a smaller projectile. Unfortunately, he's got a pretty good infection brewing in there. We've got him on a broadband antibiotic, then when the cultures come back we can focus that a little more. Basically, he'll bounce back well enough, it just won't be quick."
The knot in his chest eased up a bit. "Time, we've got."
"Good. Now, speaking of time, surgery is going to take four or five hours, so go get yourself something to eat. Cafeteria sucks, but there's a pretty good diner about a mile from here, main road, on the left."
No way in hell he was leaving while McGee was under the knife, but he appreciated the suggestion. "Okay, maybe later."
---NCIS---
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs." Abby was in full panic mode when she came running into the waiting room, Ducky rushing to keep up with her. Tony took one look at the expression on Gibbs' face and moved to intercept her.
"Easy, Abs, he's gonna be okay. He's stable and in surgery."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." Tony lowered his voice and pulled her closer. "Go easy on Gibbs. This has hit him hard."
She gave him a questioning look, then turned and watched Gibbs for a moment. Apparently coming to the same conclusion as Tony, she nodded before continuing on and quietly curling up against the older man. As Tony watched, Gibbs accepted the comfort, kissing the top of her head before resuming his watch of the door as Ducky used his credentials to slip inside.
---NCIS---
"Jethro?"
Everybody jumped to their feet as Ducky walked up to Gibbs, but they waited for him to answer. "Duck, how is he?"
"Out of surgery and relatively stable."
He knew that his old friend would pick up on that word. "Relatively?"
"We won't completely relax until the infection is fully under control, but the surgery itself went well. He's in recovery and will be for another hour or so, then they'll move him to intensive care where they can better monitor him. Depending on how well he responds to the antibiotics, we will be able to transfer him to a hospital closer to home in a day or two."
"Can we see him?"
Luckily, he'd already had this conversation with Dr. Lewis and Dr. Taylor. "Only one person while he's in recovery, I'm afraid." Ducky bit back a smile at how Tony subtly tugged Abby back when she wanted to jump forward. "Once he's been moved to the ICU, he can have more visitors, but only two at a time and for just a few minutes each."
There was no argument when Gibbs followed Ducky back. It was tempting to ask, but Ducky decided that this was a time where discretion was definitely the better part of valor. He knew he'd made the right call when they reached McGee's bedside and he could watch Gibbs bend down and tenderly brush back McGee's hair.
"You're safe now, Tim. You made it."
"B'ss?"
"I'm here, just rest." Gibbs stroked his thumb across McGee's forehead several more times until the other man was deeply asleep again before looked back over his shoulder at Ducky. "He's really going to be all right?"
"Yes, with time and," Ducky smiled as he understood what he was watching, "some care, he will make a full recovery."
"Good."
a/n - one more after this one for the bingo.
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