A Moving Death & Life Signs by ceindreadh
Title: A Moving Death
Character: Tony
Genre: Angst
Warnings: Set post Aliyah but only slight spoilers.
"You know, this is just like that episode of Magnum P.I.," said Tony, to the empty room. "When he goes for a hike to get away from it all and gets trapped under an old plane." He coughed, and then groaned in pain as his bruised ribs made their presence felt. "And nobody's going to miss him in time to save him." He pushed again at the bookcase, which was pinning him solidly to the ground, in a vain hope that it might suddenly have decreased in weight since the last time he'd tried it. "Except of course for the whole being indoors and under a piece of furniture. But the 'nobody will notice I'm missing until I'm dead', yeah, that's right about it."
With hindsight of course, it was really his own fault for deciding to move furniture with an arm that wasn't quite fully healed. But it had seemed like a great idea at the time, right up until the point where he'd lost his grip and the bookcase had come crashing down on top of him. He was pretty sure he'd cracked some ribs in the fall, and possibly re-broken his wrist. And with only one good arm, he hadn't the strength to raise the bookcase enough to slide out from under it.
He could have phoned for help, if he hadn't left his cell charging beside his bed. And shouting for help wasn't really an option, because it hurt just to draw breath.
The last time Tony had felt this bad, this trapped had been four years ago in the isolation ward at Bethesda. Then of course it had been the damage to his lungs that was making it so painful to breathe. Now it was the protruding edge of the shelves pressing into his already damaged ribs that was doing it. But then as now, worse than the pain was the total feeling of helplessness. The knowledge that he could die like this, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it.
It wasn't that he was afraid of dying. He'd been a cop for almost six years, an NCIS agent for even longer. He'd been shot at, almost stabbed, had put his life on the line more times than he cared to remember. It was a part of the job, and one that he'd always accepted. But to die like this? Trapped underneath a crappy piece of furniture that he'd never liked anyway. No, this wasn't going to happen. With all the strength remaining in his body, Tony braced himself for one final attempt at moving the bookcase. "On the plus side," he told himself, "Gibbs won't be able to kill me for being such an idiot, if I'm already dead!" He gritted his teeth and pushed.
And the bookcase moved.
The End
Title: Life Signs
Character(s): Jimmy, Abby, McGee
Genre: humor
Warnings: Slight spoiler for Broken Bird.
"Okay," said Jimmy, turning the pages of the book. "Next the midwife will check to see how far the patient is dilated...honestly Abby, wouldn't Ducky be a much better choice to help you out with this? Not that I mind," he added quickly. "I'm glad to help, but I've only half way my OB/GYN lectures."
Abby made a few quick movements with her hands, repeating them until they flowed smoothly. "I did ask Ducky to help me out," she said. "But he said that OB/GYN medicine had moved on so much since he'd done his training that his terminology could be hopelessly out of date. That's why he suggested I ask you."
"Maybe he thought that Palmer needed a little extra revision so he wouldn't fail another class," said McGee from his spot in front of Abby's computer.
"Hey, that was one class, and I'd been working late and didn't have as much time to study and..."
"Chill, Palmer," said Abby, and glared at McGee. "And you, if you're not going to be any help, then maybe you should go and play on your own computer!"
"Sorry, Abby," said McGee. "I think it's a great thing you're doing, being a birth partner for your friend."
"Backup birthing partner," said Abby. "Betty's husband is a surgeon, and she wanted somebody else who could Sign to be available in case he's in surgery at the wrong time."
"Couldn't she find a midwife who signed?" asked McGee, taking a drink from his coffee.
Abby and Jimmy exchanged amused glances before Jimmy spoke up, "I don't know much about sign language, but I do know that you need to have your hands free to do it."
"And trust me, McGee," said Abby, "There's times during a birth when that's not going to be possible!" She counted silently to three before McGee registered what she'd said and nearly choked on his coffee.
"So," said Abby, turning back to Jimmy. "What other medical terms should I practice Signing?"
Jimmy flipped through the pages of his book and sighed, "There's really so much to cover here. I don't want to overlook something that you might need."
"And I need to find a way to remember it all as well," said Abby. "But I'm just so excited! This is a new life coming into the world, and I'm going to be able to help, even if just a little bit!" She hopped around the lab, signing to herself before stopping back in front of Jimmy again. "Visualization!" she said, "That's always a good way to remember stuff. We could act the whole thing out. Start to finish, labor pains to cutting the cord."
Jimmy considered the idea, "I guess it could work, but if I'm playing the midwife, and you're learning the signs. Who's going to be the mother?"
Abby looked over at McGee, a grin on her face.
The End
Character: Tony
Genre: Angst
Warnings: Set post Aliyah but only slight spoilers.
"You know, this is just like that episode of Magnum P.I.," said Tony, to the empty room. "When he goes for a hike to get away from it all and gets trapped under an old plane." He coughed, and then groaned in pain as his bruised ribs made their presence felt. "And nobody's going to miss him in time to save him." He pushed again at the bookcase, which was pinning him solidly to the ground, in a vain hope that it might suddenly have decreased in weight since the last time he'd tried it. "Except of course for the whole being indoors and under a piece of furniture. But the 'nobody will notice I'm missing until I'm dead', yeah, that's right about it."
With hindsight of course, it was really his own fault for deciding to move furniture with an arm that wasn't quite fully healed. But it had seemed like a great idea at the time, right up until the point where he'd lost his grip and the bookcase had come crashing down on top of him. He was pretty sure he'd cracked some ribs in the fall, and possibly re-broken his wrist. And with only one good arm, he hadn't the strength to raise the bookcase enough to slide out from under it.
He could have phoned for help, if he hadn't left his cell charging beside his bed. And shouting for help wasn't really an option, because it hurt just to draw breath.
The last time Tony had felt this bad, this trapped had been four years ago in the isolation ward at Bethesda. Then of course it had been the damage to his lungs that was making it so painful to breathe. Now it was the protruding edge of the shelves pressing into his already damaged ribs that was doing it. But then as now, worse than the pain was the total feeling of helplessness. The knowledge that he could die like this, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it.
It wasn't that he was afraid of dying. He'd been a cop for almost six years, an NCIS agent for even longer. He'd been shot at, almost stabbed, had put his life on the line more times than he cared to remember. It was a part of the job, and one that he'd always accepted. But to die like this? Trapped underneath a crappy piece of furniture that he'd never liked anyway. No, this wasn't going to happen. With all the strength remaining in his body, Tony braced himself for one final attempt at moving the bookcase. "On the plus side," he told himself, "Gibbs won't be able to kill me for being such an idiot, if I'm already dead!" He gritted his teeth and pushed.
And the bookcase moved.
The End
Title: Life Signs
Character(s): Jimmy, Abby, McGee
Genre: humor
Warnings: Slight spoiler for Broken Bird.
"Okay," said Jimmy, turning the pages of the book. "Next the midwife will check to see how far the patient is dilated...honestly Abby, wouldn't Ducky be a much better choice to help you out with this? Not that I mind," he added quickly. "I'm glad to help, but I've only half way my OB/GYN lectures."
Abby made a few quick movements with her hands, repeating them until they flowed smoothly. "I did ask Ducky to help me out," she said. "But he said that OB/GYN medicine had moved on so much since he'd done his training that his terminology could be hopelessly out of date. That's why he suggested I ask you."
"Maybe he thought that Palmer needed a little extra revision so he wouldn't fail another class," said McGee from his spot in front of Abby's computer.
"Hey, that was one class, and I'd been working late and didn't have as much time to study and..."
"Chill, Palmer," said Abby, and glared at McGee. "And you, if you're not going to be any help, then maybe you should go and play on your own computer!"
"Sorry, Abby," said McGee. "I think it's a great thing you're doing, being a birth partner for your friend."
"Backup birthing partner," said Abby. "Betty's husband is a surgeon, and she wanted somebody else who could Sign to be available in case he's in surgery at the wrong time."
"Couldn't she find a midwife who signed?" asked McGee, taking a drink from his coffee.
Abby and Jimmy exchanged amused glances before Jimmy spoke up, "I don't know much about sign language, but I do know that you need to have your hands free to do it."
"And trust me, McGee," said Abby, "There's times during a birth when that's not going to be possible!" She counted silently to three before McGee registered what she'd said and nearly choked on his coffee.
"So," said Abby, turning back to Jimmy. "What other medical terms should I practice Signing?"
Jimmy flipped through the pages of his book and sighed, "There's really so much to cover here. I don't want to overlook something that you might need."
"And I need to find a way to remember it all as well," said Abby. "But I'm just so excited! This is a new life coming into the world, and I'm going to be able to help, even if just a little bit!" She hopped around the lab, signing to herself before stopping back in front of Jimmy again. "Visualization!" she said, "That's always a good way to remember stuff. We could act the whole thing out. Start to finish, labor pains to cutting the cord."
Jimmy considered the idea, "I guess it could work, but if I'm playing the midwife, and you're learning the signs. Who's going to be the mother?"
Abby looked over at McGee, a grin on her face.
The End