Will You Take Care of Me?

Family

It had been 12 hours since the transfusion was finished and Jack still wasn't awake. Gibbs hadn't left her side once and he wouldn't. He was so afraid that if he looked away from her, she would disappear. They had gotten this far and he couldn't lose her now, not after everything they'd fought against to finally be happy together. He couldn't remember the last time he had needed someone so much...the last time he had loved someone so much...she had to be okay.

***

An hour later, Jack still wasn't awake. Needing a distraction, Ellie had gone back to NCIS to help McGee. Grace and Faith stayed at the hospital. They had checked on Gibbs a couple of times; both times he was in the same position, sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his wife's hand.

"Do you think one of us should check on him again?" Faith asked, breaking the silence.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea. I'll go this time." Grace offered.

Faith nodded in agreement. "Okay."

Grace stood up from her chair and went down the hallway to Jack's room to find the door partially open. "Hey." she said softly as she entered. Gibbs looked up at her but didn't say anything.  She came further into the room and pulled up a chair across from where he was sitting on the bed.

"How are you, Popeye?" she asked.

"How am I? Really, Doc?" he said with a bit of sarcasm in his tone.

"I'm serious, Gibbs. How are you holding up? How are you feeling?" She asked, genuinely concerned. He looked around the room. He knew she was only asking because she cared, but he wasn't really sure how to answer. How was he? He was terrified. He was sad. He missed Jack.

"I don't know." he said after several minutes.

"You miss her?" she guessed. "You're scared? Worried about her?" she asked and he nodded. He was all of those things. "You know what she would tell you if she was awake right now?"

He nodded again. Of course he knew. "She would tell me to have a little faith. She would tell me not to worry about her, that she would be fine."

"Exactly."

"But we don't know that, Doc. We don't know if she'll be fine. And she can't tell me those things, because right now she's not fine, and I..."

"You don't know how to cope with that." she finished his sentence and even though he didn't say anything, the look on his face told her that she was right. "So take Jack's advice. Since she can't tell you, I will. Have a little faith, Popeye. Jack is a fighter and you and I both know it." He nodded. She was right. Jack was a fighter. She was going through the fight of her life right now and he had to be strong for her. He picked up his wife's hand and held onto it for dear life with no intention of letting go. He closed his eyes and started talking to her softly. He began telling her about the things he had thought about and remembered earlier and didn't even notice when Grace quietly left the room, closing the door behind her.

***

After hours, Jack still hadn't woken up. Gibbs was trying so hard to be strong for her, but he couldn't seem to get rid of the fear of losing her. "Jack, wake up...please wake up..." he whispered and some tears came to his eyes. He leaned down slowly and kissed her, then laid his head on her chest. He closed his eyes as a few tears fell onto her. "I love you so much Jack, I don't know what I would do without you...I can't lose you..." he whispered to her.

As he said that, he felt a familiar hand run through his hair. "You're not going to Sweetheart, don't worry." Her weak voice said. He lifted his head and looked up to see his wife smiling at him. He slowly sat up and gently held her face in his hands, looking at her as if she wasn't real.