What's Eating Timothy McGee? 9/?
The first eight chapters of this are posted on LJ. Feel free to comment on either page.
"Hi, guys." Abby's arrival in the bullpen was a surprise, and her nervously twisting fingers showed that she was unsure of her welcome.
"Abby." Gibbs gave her a subtle nod. He wasn't going to kick her out, but he wasn't going to make it any easier for her either. The rest of the team just waited to see what she was going to do.
Up on the catwalk, Jenny watched as Abby tried to work up enough courage to say what was on her mind. Just as she came downstairs to attempt a rescue, Abby finally blurted out what she had come to say. "I feel really bad about what happened to McGee and I'm sorry and can we go out to lunch together?"
Tim had a deer in the headlights expression on his face and the rest of the team wasn't sure if Abby meant the entire team or just the two of them. Just to be safe, Ziva decided to make the decision for them. "It has been a long time since all of us sat down together for a meal." She nodded at Jenny as the Director joined them.
Worried about the damage to her best team, Jenny threw her support behind the idea. "I think it's an excellent idea. In fact, I'll go with you since my lunch with Senator Eastman was canceled. We can use the reservations, my treat."
Gibbs knew there was no arguing with the Director, and he stood up, grabbing his coat. "Ziva, you drive Abby."
If Abby was disappointed to not be riding with McGee, she didn't show it as the two agency sedans followed the Director's SUV to her favorite restaurant. The weather was beautiful and the hostess lead them out to a table on the patio next to a large fountain. This time Gibbs let Tony help Tim get settled in his chair and his crutch tucked under the table.
Lunch was quiet at first, but when Tony started teasing McGee about Gibbs cutting his food for him, the ice was cracked and things became easier. Few words were spoken between Tim and Abby, but for once Abby didn't complain about not being the center of attention.
"Here, McGee, you may have the last breadstick." Smiling, Ziva grabbed the basket before Tony could reach in and set it in front of Tim.
"Hey." But there was no heat in Tony's complaint as he nudged the dipping sauce closer to the other man.
Gibbs bit back a smile as he watched a blush creep across the younger man's face. Satisfied with the repairs being made to the team, he looked around. It was a nice restaurant, one he'd been to several times, even though he preferred the smaller family owned places when he had a choice.
Several tables over an obviously new trophy wife was showing off her jewelry to a jealous friend, attracting the attention of both Gibbs and Tony, in addition to a group of young men walking down the sidewalk. Nodding at his Senior Agent, Gibbs stood and started casually moving to intercept the gang if they made a move. Tony followed suit, paralleling his movements, a row of tables over.
It went down fast. The woman screamed as her necklace and rings were yanked off and her purse grabbed. The attackers scattered, forcing Gibbs and Tony to separate to capture as many of them as possible. Several of the gang members ran towards the table where the rest of the group was seated. Ziva jumped to her feet and charged at one of the men, while McGee instinctively stood to protect the two women at the table. Unbalanced, he'd barely climbed to his feet before one of the suspects plowed into him and the two of them tumbled into the pool at the base of the fountain.
"McGee!" Jenny grabbed the suspect and pulled him off of the injured man as Tim continued to struggle to sit up. Gibbs had his suspect cuffed and tossed him towards Tony before rushing over to help McGee up and hopefully out of the water.
"Easy, I've got you." Gibbs wrapped his arm around Tim's waist, getting him turned so he could sit up without putting pressure on his damaged leg.
Remembering the warnings to not get the bandages on his arm, Tim started to panic. "Boss, it's... what if it comes loose?"
Gibbs could feel the thick gauze almost doubling in thickness as it absorbed the water and knew there was no time to waste. "Okay, on three, we're going to stand up. You ready?"
"Yeah." By now the suspects were cuffed and Tony handed them all over to Ziva and the Director to deal with before coming over to help. After a quick countdown, Gibbs pushed up from behind and Tony lifted from the front and they had McGee standing in the fountain on his one good leg. The pool was several feet tall, so Tim sat on the edge and swung his good leg over before Tony helped him swing his immobilized leg over so he could stand up, Gibbs both steadying him and holding his arm tight at the wrist, holding his jacket firmly against the bandages. Shocked, Abby stood still among the chaos, clutching McGee's crutch, as she watched. Gibbs never panicked, of course, but he was certainly more concerned than she'd ever seen him.
Once they had Tim in a chair, Gibbs snapped his fingers at one of the waitresses. "Plastic wrap, now."
She scurried off as the Hostess rushed up, apologizing and promising that the police were on their way. Gibbs gave her the briefest of nods as he removed the sling, not letting go of Tim's wrist. When the waitress returned with the plastic wrap, he had them both help him wrap it firmly around McGee's arm, from above his elbow down to completely encase his hand.
"Boss, I can feel..."
Gibbs pressed his free hand against Tim's forehead. "Concentrate on my hand, Tim, that's all you feel. Tony, get the car. Ziva, you wait and turn the suspects over to the local LEO's."
DiNozzo nodded at Gibbs' words and turned, Jenny catching his arm. "Get him to the hospital quickly, Tony. I'll call his doctor."
The car was brought as close as possible and Gibbs helped McGee slide in the back seat before joining him. Abby was still standing there and she followed without a word, scooting the crutch along the floorboard of the back seat before sitting in the front passenger seat.
---NCIS---
As he drove to Bethesda, Tony kept glancing in the rear-view mirror. McGee seemed more frightened than in pain, but he didn't know why. Gibbs, the rock they had always depended on, had an expression on his face that didn't quite match the calm, low tones he used to talk McGee through whatever was wrong. Next to Tony, Abby watched from her seat before turning to him and shrugging, also baffled by exactly what damage had been done by McGee's dunk in the fountain.
Their arrival at the hospital didn't settle any of the questions floating around Tony's mind. Two doctors and several more nurses swarmed the car, immediately moving Tim from the back seat onto a stretcher with Gibbs' help. Abby didn't say a word, but followed behind Tony hated the idea that he would be separated from his friend, so when he saw one of the closest parking spaces open up, he cut another car off and pulled in first, allowing him to run and catch up with the procession as they wheeled McGee into an exam room, Gibbs and Abby flanking the stretcher.
In the examination room, Tony and Abby were ignored as the two doctors worked to assess McGee's situation. Dr. Tullis undid the quick release on the sling before helping Tim slide his uninjured arm out of his soggy shirt and coat. "All right, let's see what your impromptu swim did to our little friends."
"The screen's come loose, I can feel them."
Hearing the odd statements, Tony turned to Abby, who had suddenly stilled, a thoughtful expression on her face. Before he could ask her about it, she shook her head. Tony returned his attention to McGee, watching as the plastic was cut loose and the clothing slid down McGee's arm. The bulky gauze was obviously waterlogged, but Tony didn't understand the reasoning behind the large basin that was placed under the arm until the doctor started cutting off the wrap.
"What the hell?" Tony stared in horror as the first few maggots became visible, wiggling in the wet gauze. It was when the mesh panel was removed and McGee's arm turned so that more maggots began tumbling out of his wound that Tony fully realized what he was looking at. He started gagging and it was only the quick action of one of the nurses that got him over a waste bin before his lunch made a reappearance.
---NCIS---
When McGee announced that the screen had come loose, Gibbs braced himself. He grasped Tim's chin and turned the younger man's face away from his arm to look directly at Gibbs. Gibbs never broke eye contact, ignoring the morbid curiosity that wanted him to look at the maggots as they were removed. He ignored the chaos behind him, until the nurse moved the basin away and Dr. Tullis pulled a lighted magnifying lens close to examine the wounds, Dr. Malone leaning over his shoulder.
By the time Gibbs turned around, Tony and the nurse that was helping him were gone, so Gibbs looked at Abby. Her feet hadn't moved from her spot, but she was leaning over to watch as the removed maggots were sorted and counted.
"Abs? Abby?"
It took calling her name twice to drag her eyes away from the activity. She seemed torn between horror and the scientific fascination she was known for. "Gibbs, that... that... oh, McGee." She took a half step closer, then stopped, both the crowd around the bed and the uncertainty of her welcome holding her back.
Smiling at her restraint, Gibbs returned his attention to McGee, brushing the damp hair back into place. "How ya' doing, McGee?"
"I'm okay, Boss, now that they're, well, you know. It was just every nightmare I'd ever had about them coming to life, you know?"
"Oh, yeah." Not wanting to admit how close the situation came to topping off his squick-o-meter, Gibbs quickly changed the subject. "The docs handled it, McGee, it's over."
"And it's working." Dr. Malone's voice startled them both. He grinned at Dr. Tullis before continuing. "We're seeing a huge improvement already, Tim. A few more sessions and we're going to beat this."
"I'm not going to lose my arm?"
"Nope, and it looks like you'll be left with much more muscle tissue than I'd ever hoped. That will make your rehab much more likely to give you a positive outcome."
"That's great to hear." Gibbs patted McGee's shoulder. "Knowing that it's working makes it a whole lot easier to deal with, right?"
"Yeah." Swallowing hard, Tim looked down at his arm. "Think I'll stay away from fountains for a while, though."
That got a laugh and Gibbs patted his shoulder again. "No arguments there, Tim."
When Gibbs straightened up, McGee looked around, smiling at Abby before looking back at Gibbs. "Where's Tony?"
"He, umm, stepped out for a minute." Abby started edging closer, watching her welcome. When neither man objected, she took another step closer. "I read about some clinical trials on this a while back, I'm so glad it's working for you. It's really amazing how much better it looks already."
"Thanks, Abby." The faint smell left in the room told McGee that Tony hadn't just 'stepped out'. "Boss, I'll be okay for a little bit if you want to go check on Tony."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, Abby can keep me company."
Gibbs was proud of the young man for his concern and his willingness to allow Abby close to him again after everything that had happened.
She understood that he was offering her a second chance. "I'll take real good care of him, until you get back, Bossman."
Using a hug to pull her close enough to whisper in her ear, Gibbs laid down some rules. "Keep him focused on something besides what they're doing to his arm and don't let him look at the maggots. I'm counting on you, Abs, don't let me down."
When they pulled apart she had a very serious expression on her face as she nodded. There was no doubt she knew this was her last chance to fix things. "I won't, I swear."
---NCIS---
A nurse pointed out a treatment room across the hall and Gibbs found Tony sitting on a gurney, one of the residents pushing his head down between his knees. "That's it, Agent DiNozzo, just take a few more deep breaths and then we'll let you sit up."
When he was finally allowed to sit up, Tony was obviously embarrassed by his reaction. The resident checked his pulse one last time before moving away, giving a short nod to Gibbs. "He's fine. We've given him something to settle his stomach."
Tony wouldn't look Gibbs in the eye as a nurse handed him a fresh emesis bag before stepping away. he shifted the emesis bag from hand to hand. "Hey, Boss, you should be staying with McGee. He..."
"He sent me over to check on you."
"Why would he do that? He's the one with... with..." Tony swallowed hard, pressing his lips together as he fought his body's reaction. "How could they let that happen to him? I thought they were checking him every day."
Gibbs shifted over to lean against the bed next to DiNozzo. "They are, that's why they're using the maggots." He rubbed Tony's shoulder as the other man gagged at the mention of the maggots. "Believe it or not, they've done more to clean out that wound than all those weeks of antibiotics put together."
Tony turned to stare at his boss. "They deliberately put those in his arm? And he let them? With his phobia?"
"It was either that or begin to prepare for an amputation."
"Damn." Tony thought back, realizing when it had been done. "When I was teasing him about that body dump, he'd just had it done, right?"
"Yep."
"He must hate me."
"He wouldn't let me tell you because he didn't want you to feel guilty. What does that say to you?"
"That he's a better friend than I give him credit for." Tony shook his head, suddenly angry with himself. "He's going through all that and I'm the one they have to take care of. I feel so stupid."
"Nothing stupid about an honest reaction."
"Yeah? Well, I didn't see you puking." When Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him, Tony stared in shock. "You? Really? You puked?"
Gibbs knew that his own confession would make it easier for Tony. "Any harder and I'd have been spitting out my toenails."
"Really? What did..."
"DiNozzo, do you really want to know the details?"
Tony thought about it and shuddered again. "No, probably not."
"Good." Gibbs pushed himself upright and took a step towards the door. "I'll have one of the nurses come get you after they get McGee's arm repacked and wrapped up again."
"Repacked? You mean they're going to put more of those... Yeah, I'll wait until that's done." Tony waited until Gibbs was almost at the door. "Can he feel them?"
Gibbs turned back at the question, but Tony answered himself before Gibbs could. "When he gets distracted..."
"Yeah."
"So we need to make sure he doesn't get distracted." Tony nodded and smiled for the first time since they'd arrived at the hospital. "I can help with that, Boss."
Gibbs was glad to see that this had the potential to bring his kids closer together. "Counting on it, DiNozzo."
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