Chapter 14- Waking

It was around 3 in the afternoon when Tony made his first signs of waking. Gibbs noticed the twitching right away and moved his body a bit closer to Tony ready to intervene when he started struggling against the ventilator. Jana was asleep in her chair to his left and Gibbs felt it was okay to let her stay that way. He was used to dealing with Tony in this condition and knew he could get a bit rough when he wasn't quite with the program so it was better to let Jana stay in the safety zone for now.

One of the ICU nurse stepped in and nodded towards Gibbs having apparently noticed a change in Tony's numbers on the monitors as well.

"I've paged Dr. Pitt so he should come down soon ready to remove the tube. Tony seems to be doing well he is basically working the ventilation on his own so pulling the tube should not be a problem."

Gibbs nodded his understanding, but otherwise remained fully focused on Tony. It was a good thing too because in that next moment Tony's eyes opened fully and they were filled with fright clearly not comprehending where he was in the moment. His arms started to move towards the tube in his mouth to pull it out and Gibbs jumped into action pinning them gently to the bed and beginning a dialogue to catch Tony's attention.

"Hold still Tony. You aren't in danger. Look at me. Look at me." Gibbs repeated until the frightened eyes stopped darting and zeroed in on him.

"Good. You know who I am?" Gibbs asked.

Tony nodded calming slightly at the familiar bark and face.

"Good just relax your college buddy is on his way to remove the tube. You just had surgery. Your appendix ruptured and your scarred up lungs didn't like the sleeping drugs they gave you so you found yourself in ICU for a bit while they cleared your system."

Tony kept his eyes on Gibbs during the dialogue grateful for the details and slowly the frantic beeping that had filled the room when Tony first awoke and started fighting the vent started to calm as Tony stopped working so hard against the machine.

About five minutes later Brad walked into the room.

"Well Tony I see you couldn't stay away. Let's get you off this nasty contraption. You know the drill on the count of three blow out hard and I'll pull."

Tony nodded once more and soon the pair were following through with the plan. Tony started coughing violently once the tube was out and Gibbs moved to grab the cup of ice chips Brad had brought with him in anticipation of this reaction.

"Here you go Tony suck on this to ease the dryness."

Tony did as ordered watching Brad expectantly concerning next steps.

"Alright now that you're not coughing up a lung let's sit you up a little so I can give a little listen. We'll go slowly since you just had surgery."

Gibbs leaned over to help and soon Tony was allowing Brad to listen to his lungs.

"Alright Tony they don't sound too bad. A little tight but about what I expected. I don't hear any fluid buildup which is good- hopefully we can avoid pneumonia complications this trip. I think I'll leave you in the ICU till morning though just in case. Your appendix did rupture and they had to flush your system with some heavy antibiotics, but sometimes those don't prevent infection so I'd rather have you on close ops a bit longer."

Tony rolled his eyes at the plan but didn't argue it. He was pretty wiped out and the room décor didn't much matter to him at the moment. He had Gibbs and that was enough. Right as he had that thought he looked to his left and noticed another person sitting by his side. Surprised he looked closer and his eyes widened as he realized it was Jana.

Brad and Gibbs simply smiled as they watched Tony's facial figures shift about in the time it took him to recognize the other occupant of the room.

"She got voted in as your second unanimously." Gibbs spoke up a hint of pride coloring his voice.

"Wow, I can't believe she's still here." Tony croaked out his voice still hoarse from the tube.

"Of course she is Tony. She cares about you and Jana doesn't do things halfway. She was pretty worried earlier she is going to be thrilled to see you awake."

"Don't wake her. She seems so peaceful. Plus I'm sort of tired again."

"Alright Tony. Close your eyes then we'll both still be here when you wake up."

"Thanks" Tony muttered his eyes already slipping closed again.

Gibbs shook his head and smiled a bit. His heart felt about ten times lighter now that Tony was of the vent. Hopefully his recovery would continue smoothly from her.

Brad smiled as well and then waved to Gibbs and took his leave. Tony was clearly in good hands.