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All hands on deck

(This is the final chapter of this story. A lot has happened to our Jethro and Margie and in true ‘Gibbs’ style they trudge on.) 

Chapter 10            Evaluations

Both Jethro and Margie must submit to psychological evaluations before returning to work.  The following are the ‘exit interviews’ for each of them.

Margie’s POV

“What pisses me off the most is that I found myself in that situation in the first place.  I usually rent a vehicle for transport to or from the airport to the hotel because I never want to rely on anyone that I don’t know driving me anywhere.  The one time, the one time that I deviate from that routine some crazed person decides to exact their revenge on their ex-employer.  Not only that, usually when I find myself in a precarious situation I only have myself to rescue. This time I had someone else to consider.   We made it to the outskirts of the compound before they caught us and then they separated us.  I could have escaped  but I didn’t know where they had Jethro and no way was I going to leave him there.  He probably thought the same thing about me.  I figured then that I would just wait them out.  They did tell us that they didn’t intend to kill us, at least that’s what they said at the beginning.  But as time passed they got a bit more aggressive in their actions.  Sometimes they were downright lewd but hey I’ve seen worse in my years with the Agency.  As long as they didn’t ‘cross the line’ then I was fine.  They ‘pushed the envelope’ several times but at least one of the guards had the sense to not overstep that boundary.  They always came in pairs, probably to keep each other in check.  I didn’t care.

Do I blame Jethro for this?  NO!  I blame myself for not sticking to my routine.  I made that routine for a reason and I deviated from it and it cost me dearly.  Does Jethro know that I blame myself?  Of course and he tries to assure me that it wasn’t my fault.  It’s something that I have to handle, process and then move on from in time.  Will I allow it to affect my interactions with others?  Probably not.  I’ve never allowed it to do so in the past so I see no reason why it should now.  Hey, I’m not perfect. I have my faults and I own up to them.  Do I think any less of myself because I didn’t escape?  I learned long ago not to second-guess myself. In my line of work that can become very dangerous.  If you make a mistake learn from it and don’t make that mistake again. Let’s just say that had I been alone, I would have escaped, p-e-r-i-o-d, end of story.  Escape is not always the end all.  Survival is the key.  Survive to live another day.  Jethro and I did that and so we are the victors.

We faced this ordeal.  We lived this ordeal.  We survived this ordeal.  Inow end this ordeal by stop talking about it.

This is how I process things.  It may not work for everyone but it works for me.  I have been in the business too long to lose sleep over the things that I have done and seen. Although this particular incident didn’t happen in the line of duty, my work experience allowed me to handle it a lot better than the ‘average Joe’.

So if you sign off on my return to work then I can get on with my life.  ‘I have things to do, places to go, and people to see’.”  

And with that Dr. Myers (the lead psychiatrist on this case) and Dr. Confalone bid Alexis Marjorie Gibbs good day and complete her paperwork to return to work.

“Did you expect that reaction Dr. Confalone?” Dr. Myers asks.

“Yes I did.  Mrs. Gibbs is not new to this and she has trained her mind to process events with minimal intrusion into her ‘peace space’,”Dr. Confalone responds.

“She is a strong woman.” Dr. Myers says.

“Yes she is.”  Dr. Confalone replies.

/

Jethro’s POV

I’ve been through this routine enough times to know the drill but this time it’s different.  This time I have to talk about something not work related.  The events of the kidnapping are not easily forgotten. This time I could have lost more than just my life.  If I had not survived I would have lost Margie and my children.

I know that if I had been alone that I could have escaped but no way would I have left Margie behind in that place.  I know all that happened while we were separated.  “It wasn’t any worse than other things I’ve experienced during my years with the Agency Jethro.”  I just hate when she’s hurt and I know that won’t change for me.  She and our children are precious to me.

“Dr. Confalone,  I know that you and your colleagues want to know my thoughts on what happened and how I’m dealing with everything.  I’m sure that my actions and reactions are nothing out of the ordinary considering all that I’ve been through as a result of the kidnapping.  My concern for my wife of course had an effect on my responses during and after the kidnapping and rescue.  We both did what we had to do to survive the ordeal with minimum ‘bruises’ to our mental stability.  Our lines of work call for a certain level of resiliency.  Through the years we find that we’ve both developed levels of adaptation to adverse conditions.

I understand the seriousness of all of this.  Everyone is outraged to learn of the degree of injury inflicted upon my wife.  Of course I too find myself with murderous thoughts regarding all of that but isn’t that normal?  If I didn’t then wouldn’t you think something was wrong with me? But I have to support my wife in how she deals with this.  However she wants me to respond I will.  She has resolved not to allow this to derail her recovery.  She’s told me everything that happened.  She convinced me that she survived and she would not give her captors the satisfaction of thinking that it would damage her to the extent that they intended.”

Jethro exits the room and the doctors confer and conclude that Jethro’s responses are all reasonable considering the circumstances.  

“They are quite a pair, aren’t they,” Dr. Myers says.

“Yes they are Dr. Myers.  They are survivors,” responds Dr. Confalone.

/

You may think that Margie’s reactions are evidence of denial of the extent of the trauma done to her.  It is not.  She spoke truthfully when she said that she had survived worse things.  Remember that Margie’s been a CIA agent for over thirty years and in that time her body has been ‘through the ringer’ and it hasn’t been pretty.  What they did to her during this kidnapping was child’s play compared to the other things that have happened to her in years past.  Of course she says that she survived it all, and she did, she had no choice. And that is where her strength lies.  It does her no good to dwell on all that has happened in the past.  She’s never denied that awful things happened but she refuses to bring those ‘past issues’ into her present and future.  She doesn’t have nightmares about such things either. Her faith and fortitude sustain her and enable her to leave the past in the past.

Jethro and Margie hold tighter to each other these days. They always treasured their time with their children but even more so now.  Their family and friends surround them with their love and for that they are grateful.

There’s more living ahead for Jethro and Margie.  Stay around for the journey.

The End.