Life Line: An NCIS Fanfiction [Book One]

Chapter 13 - S.O.B.

Once they reached the hospital, Carter was assigned a room. Gibbs, Tony, and Tim waited in the crowded room beside her bed. All of a sudden Carter's eyes snapped open. Shaking she bolted upright. She winced in pain as she grabbed her side and laid back on her pillow. "Where the hell am I? What happened to me?" Carter cried. She started picking at the oxygen tube sticking out of her nose, but Tim pulled her hand back to her side.

"Carter, you're in the hospital. You were shot. We don't know who..." Tim was cut off by Carter's whispers.

"Oh my god... Oh my god!"

"What? What is it?" Gibbs asked, slightly surprised by her response.

"He found me! He told me he would... He's gonna kill me!" Carter cried, harder than before.

"Carter, calm down. Who's going to kill you?" Tony asked, calmly.

"A man... From Iraq. I killed his father in combat. He told me that I would regret it... He told me he would find me. Now he has. Now he's gonna kill me. Gibbs, he's gonna kill me."

"Carter, look around you. Three NCIS agents, and plenty more that aren't even here. He will never hurt you again. I promise." Gibbs said.

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Tony asked.

"Because, I didn't think anything of it... I honestly forgot. How was I supposed to know that he actually meant it!" Carter said, her crying was now reduced to a slight sniffle. She looked around the room at the concerned faces of Gibbs, Tony, and Tim. "How long am I going to be here?" The three of them looked around at each other.

"We don't know. Your injuries aren't critical, but they aren't small enough to not have a doctor's attention."

"I'm going to be alone while you hunt him down, aren't I?"

"Of course not. Tim will stay with you." Gibbs said. Tim shook his head. They all gave him a confused look. "What? I thought you'd be the first to jump on that, Tim."

"I want to kill that son of a bitch." Tim said. With all the anger that had built up inside of him, none of them seemed to doubt it.

"Woah, there McKiller. Calm down." Tony laughed, "And don't worry. I'll stay with her... After all, she is my little sister."

"But, I thought you said earlier..." Carter questioned.

"Forget what I said earlier. I was being a dick. You're my sister, whether I like it or not... And I need to get to know you so we can become more like a family."