Will You Take Care of Me?

Hope

Gibbs and Grace sat side by side in the waiting room, neither knowing what to say or do. After a long time of silence, Gibbs' voice brought Grace out of her thoughts.

"You know just a couple of weeks ago, our biggest worry was the team finding out we were married..." he shook his head at the irony. "Doesn't even seem important now..." Grace rubbed his back a bit and kept listening.  "I knew somethin' was wrong this morning...never should've left..."

"Gibbs, you've got to quit blaming yourself. There's nothing you could have done. You heard the doctor yourself, Jack already had this issue a long time before today. It was going to show itself sooner or later, that had nothing to do with you going to work this morning. Gibbs you need-" she began, but before she had a chance to finish, the doctor came into the room.

"Mr. Gibbs?" Gibbs immediately stood up and went to the doctor. "I'm so sorry, but your wife's condition is only worsening. We're doing everything we can to treat her, but I thought you might want to see her now." Gibbs didn't have words. He simply followed the doctor to Jack's new room where he found his wife, laying in the bed, hooked up to several machines. Some nurses moved away from her as he came in and sat on the edge of the bed. He didn't even try to speak. Instead he just quietly held her hand.

Grace was sitting in the waiting room when she heard a couple of familiar voices and looked up to see Ellie and Faith. "Hey Grace, how's it going?" Faith asked. Grace shook her head a little. "How is Jack...is she okay?" Faith asked, this time her tone a bit more concerned.

"She's worse. Gibbs is with her now but...I have to be honest with you two...it's not looking good."

"What do you mean not looking good...?" Ellie asked nervously.

"Her heart isn't getting enough oxygen."

"H-how bad did the doctor say it was...?"

"He wanted Gibbs to come be with her right away."

"Where did he go?" Ellie asked, barely audibly. Grace pointed to a hallway but before she could say anything, Ellie took off in that direction.

"Ellie-" Faith started but was cut off by Grace.

"Just let her go." Grace told her and motioned for Faith to sit with her. She kept looking in Ellie's direction hoping she would come back, but she never did so Faith eventually decided to sit down next to Grace.

Ellie eventually found the room where she could see Gibbs through the window, sitting on the edge of Jack's bed. She leaned against the wall and slid down it until she was sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest. She knew she couldn't go in right now, and that there was really nothing she could do to help. That wasn't why she was here. Right now, she just wanted to be close to Jack, even if this was as close as she could get. Ellie wasn't someone who really prayed, but at this point she was willing to believe in anything that could give even a little bit of hope for her mother and she laid her forehead against her knees, silently begging for a miracle.

***

Gibbs watched Jack silently as her chest rose and fell with every breath. He hoped she couldn't feel any pain while she was sleeping, but the look on her face gave no indication either way. She didn't look distressed, but she didn't look peaceful either. Just distant, like she was far away somewhere. He ran his finger over her wedding ring as he had many times before, remembering all of those times. He would always tell her that he loved having something that told the world she was his - even if they hadn't told most of their own little world yet. Somehow this gave him a little bit of strength, like he knew deep inside that their story wasn't over yet. He brushed a bit of hair back from her face and softly kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger there for a moment. This was the closest he had felt to her since all of this had started. He felt a small bit of relief in knowing that despite everything that was happening, nothing had torn them apart, he was still there by her side.

***

"Do they really think that she won't make it...?" Faith asked Grace after what seemed like an eternity of silence and waiting.

"I-I don't know," Grace answered honestly. "I just don't know." A minute later, a nurse entered the waiting room.

"Miss Bishop?" The nurse looked around, not seeing Ellie. "Eleanor Bishop?" she asked again. This time, Grace heard her and stood up, approaching her. "Hi, you're Miss Bishop's friend, aren't you?" The nurse asked. Grace nodded.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes ma'am. I need to speak with her, do you know where she is?" She asked and Grace nodded, pointing down the hall.

"I think she went to her mother's room. May I ask...is this about the results of the blood test?"

"I'm sorry, but that's confidential." Grace started to remind her that she'd been given permission to known the results - just like she had with Faith - but before she could, the nurse was headed down the hallway.

When she found Ellie, she was in the same position she'd been since she got there - slouched against the wall with her head laying on her knees. "Miss Bishop?" The nurse asked as she approached her. Ellie startled and looked up.

"Y-Yes?"

"I have the results of your blood test."

a/n: hey y'all! 19 days later and i'm back. i apologize that it's been so long, but i've started college again and things are really busy. in the next two weeks i have some very important exams so i'm not sure how soon i'll update again. anyways i hope y'all like this, i'm really excited for where this story is going. i know that they're aren't a lot of "Slibbs moments" with Jack in the condition she currently is, but i'm doing my best to incorporate some anyway. thank you all as always for sticking with me, ily <3. also thank you so much to nciscutieslibbs who always helps me to make this story better and also helped me with this chapter <3. y'all should all go check out her writing if you haven't already!!