Tiva tales

Broken And Bruised

Beep... beep... beep... beep. All Tony can hear is the mixture of hospital sounds making his head spin. The drip, drip, dripping of IVs, nurses shuffling back and forth, rustling case notes and patients coughing and spluttering. Not to mention that the fluorescent lighting is an attack on his senses, he can't imagine how the patients cursed to spend twenty four hours a day here must feel. 

Ziva has been with the doctors for well over half an hour, Tony would be lying if he said that he wasn't worried slightly. She took a nasty blow to the head when the suspect tried to get away - he didn't manage to but the chair he threw at Ziva did manage to make contact with its intended target, and when that didn't work he punched her as hard as he could. Fortunately for the team Ziva is well versed in disarming potential threats and managed to bring him to his knees before she fell to the floor. 

She'd looked pretty beaten and bruised when Tony had rushed over to her and despite her protests he thought it best to take the precautionary measure of driving her to the ER. Gibbs had cleared the both of them to take the afternoon off and instructed that Tony make sure she was given the best care available in the district - Vance had also put a call through to the hospital to cash in a favour, so Ziva was whisked away as soon as they pulled up outside whilst Tony had been escorted to a fancy looking waiting room. Somehow though he felt that comfy reclining chairs and a wide screen tv couldn't make up for the fact you were sat in a hospital praying that the next words you heard weren't going to shatter your heart.

"Agent Dinozzo?" A tired sounding voice calls from the door of the waiting room. Tony's head shoots up and he rushes over to the doctor who's bright blue scrubs make him look comical - like a smurf. It pains Tony that this is one of the people supposed to be looking after Ziva. The mans glasses are too big for his face and seem to be slowly slipping down his nose, whilst the wrinkles and bright red rosy cheeks make him look older than he presumably is. 

"Yes?" Tony replies, trying to sound calm and collected but knowing that the edge in his voice can easily be detected.

"Agent David is being released."

Relief washes over Tony as soon as he registers what has just been said. You learn to always expect the worst when you have a job like this, so anything that isn't death sounds like a tune to the ears. Clearly this time there was never a threat of death but Tony is aware that if Ziva had been declared unfit to go back to work she would have felt like she'd been given a death sentence.

Ziva has never looked so defeated as Tony walks in and catches sight of her slumped in a chair, her eyes are drooping and her hair is dishevelled beyond recognition - not that this stops Tony thinking she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen and having to take a minute to compose himself (as always) before he walks towards her. "Hi." he says, looking down at her. It comes out in a sickly sweet tone that he hadn't intended and he knows she'll resent him for it. Slowly she looks up at him and manages to crack a half hearted version of her usual beaming smile. It hits Tony that despite everything Ziva's first and foremost intention is to try and help reassure him. "I'm under strict instructions to take care of you." He says, forcing a small laugh to try and make it sound a little more light-hearted. Ziva rolls her eyes and weakly sighs.

"Okay." She whispers, sounding as defeated as she looks. Tony leans down and helps her wrap her arm around his neck before slowly pulling her up out of the chair. He nearly forgets to grab her rucksack and sling it over his shoulder before they shuffle down the corridor at an agonisingly slow pace. Neither of them say a word, Ziva is too tired and Tony's unsure of what to say. He's only ever known the Ziva that's fierce and independent, and as much as he wants to get to know the rest of her character this was not how he expected it to happen. When she rests her head against his shoulder the pace of his breathing momentarily increases but he knows it is because she's still in a daze.