Chapter Three
It was silent in the car, except for a David Gray CD playing softly. I had to break the silence.
“Favereaux, I…”
“McGee, there’s…”
Both of us had spoken at the same time.
“Ladies first,” I insisted.
Favereaux inhaled deeply, keeping her eyes on the road. She exhaled in a sigh.
“Look, McGee, I’m sorry about earlier…What I said…”
“No, it’s okay, I understand where you were coming from, but you have to understand, it won’t be easy for me to forgive you for letting Silvers get away.”
“You don’t know how sorry I am for that, too…” Her voice was small. “But what I said to you, to Agent DiNozzo and Officer David…those things were awful.”
I didn’t know what to say to her. They were awful.
“There’s something else I need to say, too.”
I braced myself for something else bad.
“The night I lost chain of evidence, I was in a car accident.”
“I remember vaguely.” That was the truth; the only thing I fully remembered was being soaked with Rachel’s blood.
“I only left the evidence because my brother was in the other car.”
I realized: I would have done the same thing for my sister, no question. As much as I wanted to catch Silvers, if my sister were injured, I knew what I would sacrifice.
“Why didn’t you tell someone before now? This changes everything!”
“No, it doesn’t. Evidence is evidence. It wouldn’t have mattered if SecNav were in the other car.”
She was right.
“And were going to see your brother in Bethesda?”
“Yep. He calms me down more than anyone I know. They might release him by the end of next week.”
“How do you manage to be in an accident with your brother? I mean, what are the odds?”
“I know. It was crazy. I didn’t even know that I was bleeding until the EMT arrived. I was too busy helping my brother.”
We pulled into the parking deck at Bethesda.
“Oh, one more thing.” Favereaux smoothed her clothes and got out of the car.
“Yeah?” I also stepped out of the car, and stooped to tie my shoe.
“Call me Lisa.”
I bent up too fast and hit my head on the rearview mirror. I heard her laugh on the other side of the car. She walked around to see if I was okay. I rubbed the back of my head and leaned against the car.
“Okay, as long as it’s okay for me to pretend we’re still not okay with each other in front of everyone else. At least until everything blows over. I’d rather not be the one on my team that ‘Fraternizes with the enemy’.”
“Deal,” she smiled. “As long as I know you’re just pretending…And I won’t tell anyone about you hitting your head, either.”
We both laughed and began to walk toward the hospital. Lisa suddenly linked her arm with mine.
“I’m a little scared of hospitals.” She looked up at me.
“It’s okay, I hate them too. I hate them so much that I didn’t even see Gibbs when he was in a coma.”
“Gibbs was in a coma?”
“Two comas. Long story.”
I was uneasy as we reached reception. The smell of blood, medication, cleaning supplies, and latex mixed together made my head swim. Lisa unhooked her arm from mine and approached the reception desk.
“May I help you?” The nurse sounded bored and robotic.
“We’re here to see Sergeant Todd Favereaux.”
“May I see some ID?”
“Elizabeth Favereaux, I’m his sister.” She flashed her CID badge.
“Special Agent McGee, NCIS.” I stepped forward and held out my badge to the nurse.
She seemed used to this, and barely blinked. “Second floor, room 236.” She tossed two visitor badges our way.
Second floor is Orthopedic.
“How bad is he?”
We stepped onto the nearest elevator with a group of talkative nurses.
“He broke a few ribs and all the fingers on his left hand. He needs therapy and surgery, surgery is tomorrow, but he should be just fine.”
“I’m sorry, Lisa…” I started.
“For what? He’s the one that ran a red light at 50 miles per hour.”
“So you don’t feel sorry for him?”
“Of course I do, he’s my brother, but you don’t have to feel a thing.” Lisa smiled at me again, and a few of the nurses shot her a puzzled look.
I didn’t realize how small she was until just now. I had only seen her in civilian clothes. I wonder how she looked in uniform? I also noticed she wore no makeup. She was quite beautiful without it...
“McGee, this is the second floor.”
“Oh, right.” I got my head out of the clouds and hopped off the elevator.
We reached room 236 after flashing our visitor badges and official badges twice. Bethesda had quite a good bit of security lately. Lisa went into her brother’s room first, and stopped in the doorway. I ran into her and we almost lost our balance. Sergeant Todd Favereaux wasn’t in his room.
“Todd?” I heard instant worry in Lisa’s voice.
I also heard a sink. “There’s water running in the bathroom.”
“He shouldn’t be getting out of bed by himself!” Lisa walked to the bathroom door and flung it open. She found her brother in a very compromising situation with an attractive female nurse.
“TODD!” Lisa yelled more in embarrassment than in anger, and slammed the door. She covered her face with her hands and walked to the window on the other side of the room.
“Leese, I didn’t know you were coming…”
Leese? A childhood nickname for her? I like it.
The water stopped running in the bathroom and the nurse came out first. She straightened her hair and clothes and left the room without making eye contact.
“Oh, because it’s okay to seduce a Nurse when I’m not expected! You’re injured, Todd.”
"I’ve been in worse pain and was still able to…”
“You stop right there! The last thing I want to know about is your…goings-on.”
“Sorry for being a guy, jeez!” Sergeant Favereaux came out of the bathroom to face his sister.
I wondered how being around her brother made Lisa feel better.
“Todd, this is Agent McGee, he’s with NCIS.” I reached out my hand, and Sergeant Favereaux took it. He had a strong grip.
“Great first impression, huh?” I laughed.
“Don’t worry, Sergeant Favereaux, I work with someone who’s probably been caught doing worse.”
“Sounds like my kind of guy! And call me Todd. I hate the formalities.”
The three of us sat and talked for a while. Todd didn’t look bad for being in a high speed car accident. There were bandages all over his left hand, and several yards of sports tape was wrapped around his torso. He had a black eye, a busted lip, and a large scratch over his right eyebrow, but his sly smile [like Lisa’s] made you look past it all. I was in mid-sentence when my phone rang. It was Gibbs.
“Excuse me for a second.” I got up and exited the room.
“McGee.” I always thought speaking my own name into the phone was silly.
“Where the hell are you? I said take a drive, not have a picnic in New Jersey!”
“I’m at Bethesda, Boss.”
“What are you doing there?... Are you okay!?”
“I’m fine, Boss. Agent Favereaux came to see her brother.”
"What happened to…?” Gibbs fell silent for a moment. “He was the other driver, wasn’t he?”
“Yes…That’s why she lost chain of evidence.”
Gibbs sighed into the phone. “Alright, give her a few more minutes and head back. The Director would like to see you in his office, and Ziva and DiNozzo are going to take night watch on Silvers.”
“See you in 20.” Gibbs hung up, and I closed my phone. I walked back into Todd’s room, and suspected I had ruined an important conversation because both Lisa and Todd got quiet and looked at me.
Lisa stood up “Was that Agent Gibbs looking for us?”
“Yeah, he wants us back.”
“He knows, doesn’t he?”
“Knows what?” Todd also stood up.
“That you were the other person in the accident. He figured it out.”
“I guess I better go.” Lisa hugged Todd gently, so she wouldn’t hurt his ribs. “I love you.”
I felt a pang of jealousy, but shook it away.
“Love you too, Leese.”
“Stay out of trouble, and use the bathroom for its correct purpose, please.” Lisa and Todd laughed and they pulled away from each other.
“Hey, McGee, keep my baby sister safe, alright?”
“She does a good job of protecting herself, but I’ll try.”
Todd slapped me on the back, and Lisa and I both smiled.
“Bye, Todd!” Lisa called over her shoulder.
“Bye, Todd, nice to meet you.” I left his room and jogged to meet Lisa. We got on the elevator.
“Hey, Leese!” Todd yelled down the hallway.
“What do you want now, Todd?” Lisa yelled playfully from the elevator.
“I like him!”
I turned and gave Lisa a quizzical look. She looked at me for a second, and turned away.
Lisa blushed as the elevator doors closed. Were they talking about...me?