Fairly well known to the hospital staff, Ducky was granted access to Gerald’s room while the younger man was sleeping off the anesthesia. The surgery had gone off without a hitch, but he knew it would be a long, painful road to recovery that Gerald had to travel. His own part in that journey chafed at him, keeping Ducky awake long passed the normal time that he was sound asleep in bed. Guilt for having provoked the terrorist into shooting Gerald plagued him and only seeing Gerald’s dark eyes would even slightly cause it to abate.
Not that it would ever die completely.
Gerald stirred in the hospital bed and Ducky stood
from the chair, sitting on the edge of the mattress and calling softly,
“Gerald? Are you awake, lad?”
Bleary brown eyes finally opened, focusing with some
degree of difficulty on his face. A lopsided smile spread over Gerald’s face as
the black man slurred, “Evenin’ Doc. Duck. Sorry.”
Ducky smiled in return and had to forcibly restrain
himself from caressing his assistant’s face. His daydreams had no place in
reality, after all. “Nothing to be sorry for, Gerald, nothing
at all. I’m going to let the nurse know that you’re awake.”
But Gerald grabbed him with his free hand before
Ducky could leave and demanded urgently, “Kate!?”
“She’s fine,” Ducky soothed, patting the hand on
him. “The terrorist escaped, but everyone’s fine. Well, Gibbs was shot, but it
wasn’t bad. He’s going to be healed up faster than you, so really, there’s
nothing for you to worry about save to get better. All
right?”
Gerald relaxed slowly and nodded, releasing him.
Walking from the room, Ducky found the nearest nurse
and followed her back inside. He waited patiently while she checked Gerald
over, even as impatient as he was to have the young man to himself again. For
however a short time that he could arrange it, that was.
When she left, Gerald motioned Ducky over and said,
“You should get some sleep, Doc.”
“I will,” Ducky promised. “I just wanted to be
certain you were all right.”
“Liar.”
The fond tone startled Ducky as much as the word
itself. “I beg your pardon?”
Gerald took his hand, lacing their fingers together
as he said, “You’re gonna sit up here all night. Gonna watch m’sleep. You should
sleep, too, Doc. Need to.”
“I will sleep, Gerald, I promise,” Ducky assured
him.
Or, he would have slept if Gerald hadn’t brought
their hands to his lips and kissed the back of Ducky’s
hand. Speechless, Ducky just stared at Gerald, unable to form a coherent
sentence for the first time in a very long time.
“I noticed,” Gerald said through a yawn. “And you’re
not old, Ducky. Not too old, anyhow. Like you just like this.
Stories and all. We’ll always have something to talk
about.”
It was like they’d reversed polarities or something;
Ducky unable to speak and Gerald becoming positively loquacious.
Finally, Ducky managed, “You don’t know what you’re
saying, Gerald. You’ve been shot and put through a terrible ordeal. You can’t…”
“I can. And I am. I’m all yours, Doc. Don’t know why you’d want me, but I fell for you somewhere between
Ducky blinked, trying to remember when he’d talked
about either one.
“First day we met. You said that case reminded you
of two things. How bodies smell when they’ve been left too long in the heat and
humidity, like a case in
Astounded by the fact that Gerald had both
remembered the conversation and that his quiet assistant had apparently been in
love with him for two years without betraying even a hint of his feelings,
Ducky again sat on the mattress. He felt dazed, like he didn’t know Gerald at
all, and barely managed to ask, “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“‘Cause you didn’t want to
hear it,” Gerald answered through a yawn. He was clearly losing the battle to
stay awake, but continued, “Not ‘til now. No one’s guaranteed a long life, Doc.
Not me, not Gibbs, not anyone. Just ‘cause you’re
older, doesn’t mean I’ll outlast you. Now you get it. And now I got a real shot
at you, which I’m gonna take. But first, go home and
get some sleep.”
Wondering if he’d gone mad, Gerald had never ordered
him to do anything in their two years of working together, Ducky said, “You
can’t possibly want me.”
“I do. And Doc?”
“Yes, Gerald?”
“It’s not the drugs talking. It’s not the shooting.
It’s not being held hostage. It’s not PTSD. It’s not anything, but the fact
that I love you. Understand?”
Gazing ino the dark eyes
that showed exhaustion, pain, and love, Ducky finally nodded. What else could
he do? Seeing that Gerald was well and truly struggling to stay awake, Ducky
carefully drew up the blankets around him and ordered, “Get some sleep, Gerald.
We’ll talk later, after we’ve both rested. As a matter of fact, I have plenty
to say to you, and you’re going to listen to every word. The mere fact that you
stood around for two years and didn’t even breathe a word, all the while
knowing that how I felt…”
Ducky’s words trailed off as he saw
that Gerald had truly fallen asleep. Smiling, he leaned down and kissed
Gerald’s temple, pressing his lips against the dark skin. He whispered, “I love
you as well, Gerald, and we’re going to get through this together. I’ll help
Gibbs find the bastard who shot you and the two of us will get you through
recovery as swiftly as possible. I need you back where you belong, after all. Beside me.”
He again kissed Gerald’s temple before straightening
and staring down at his young lover. It had been a good long time since he’d
used that word, but it applied. Caressing the handsome face, Ducky lingered a
moment longer before quietly exiting the room. His steps were a lot lighter
than before and he was filled with a quiet happiness that had been missing from
his life for far too long.
A quiet happiness that had a
name…Gerald.