Author's Note: As promised, here's the next piece of Breakable. There will be another one released tomorrow to continue this arc since I'd hate to leave you all hanging two days in a row!
For those of you who expressed interested in the other Primeval project which I'm co-authoring, it can be found at:
Invisible_trace dot livejournal dot com
This project already has over 30k worth of words written and in beta, and it shows no signs of letting up any time soon. You can leave comments for myself and my co-author at the LJ. We'll be putting up a new chapter each Wednesday so I encourage you to check back regularly.
Warning; there's a good reason we can't put this story up on . It would violate the ratings guidelines in many ways that I am unwilling to do. It contains plenty of adult material which should not be viewed by those under age 18. If threesomes or non-heterosexual relations bother you, then you shouldn't bother following this link.
~~oOOo~~
"There is no man that lives that can't be broken down, provided it is the right temptation, put in the right spot."
Henry Ward Beecher
~~oOOo~~
Becker hesitated. He was coming apart at the seams in a way that not even the worst of his nightmares had done. He couldn't stop the trembling in his hands, couldn't catch his racing breath. He was terrified, starkly and coldly fearful in a way he hadn't been since childhood when his brother, at age 6 began showing signs of illness. The clipped chatter and retort of voices in his ear played a symphonic cacophony against the screams of dinosaurs and the crack of weapons fire.
He looked out over the tumult of combat spread before him to see the crushed remains of Jess' overturned yellow Mini Cooper. The sight of the car finally brought him to action. Swearing violently, Becker wrenched the parking brake upwards and threw himself out of the truck. Like the tactical team who had arrived moments before him, he didn't bother to dig into the back of the truck for the EMDs in their cases. There just wasn't enough time. His service weapon, ever at his side, would have to be enough. Matt could berate him and the rest of his men later for not taking the time to get out his precious toy guns.
Assessing the situation swiftly as he ran, Becker noted that the Lieutenant in charge of second shift was doing an excellent job pushing the five Coelophysis back toward the edge of the clearing and away from the overturned car. One of the men hung back, skirting toward the car as the dinosaurs got farther and farther away. As the SF team finally shot down the first of the hunting pack, the young man slid down onto the ground beside the car to see inside.
"I've got visual on Miss Parker, Captain."
Becker lay down on the ground on the opposite side of the car. He slid in through the shattered window on his back. Jess' chin was bent to her chest and her weight rested on one shoulder while the rest of her body remained suspended upside down, pinned by the steering column. Becker fought his own instincts to resist touching her.
"Talk to me, Corporal. You're the trained medic here. What do we do?"
An arm snaked in through the window on the opposite side of the car to reach under Jess' jaw. Becker's mind went numbly blank as he waited.
"Good pulse but we've got to get her out of that position. We can't wait for the ambulance to arrive. Can you see what's got her pinned under the steering, Captain?"
Craning his neck, Becker could see one of Jess' legs bent at an odd angle with the foot trapped between brake and gas pedals. He described the positioning to the medic.
"Your side of the car is the one that didn't hit ground when it got rolled. Does the door look to be in good enough shape that we could get it open?"
Becker slid back out and gave the question careful consideration. He chanced a glance up to see how the men were doing with the dinosaurs. Two were down and appeared dead, a third was down and thrashing and the other standing ones didn't look far behind.
"Looks to be in pretty good shape, should I open it?" he asked.
"Hang on a sec, Captain."
The medic squirmed his way into the tight space beside Jess and got as much of his body beneath and around her as he could. For a moment, Becker felt a flash of jealousy but then he realized that the medic was doing everything his could to keep Jess immobile when the door finally opened. He gave a nod as soon as he was in place and Becker yanked hard on the handle, surprised when the door swung open easily. Jess body didn't shift but now Becker could easily reach inside to where her leg was trapped.
"She's going to come down on you as soon as I get that foot loose. What do we need to do?"
"Keep her spine immobile as much as possible," the young medic replied. "She didn't move when you opened the door so let me get out of here and we'll do it together from your side. Have you got a blanket and something we can use as a backboard in your truck?"
Becker didn't reply, simply took off at a run, quickly grabbing the med kit, blanket, and one of the flat cases for an EMD rifle, before making his return trip. The medic looked over what he'd brought, nodded approvingly, then took up the EMD case and held it beside the seat back of the car.
"Right, I want you to hold her hips to keep her from falling when I dislodge her foot. As soon as she's free, we guide her down onto the back of the case."
Becker nodded curtly and reached his arms into the car to find a way to support Jess from the hip. He grasped the other side of the seat firmly and tried not to think too hard about the warm firm feel of Jess' thighs and groin pressed closely against his forearm. The medic squeezed a long arm into the foot well. Becker felt him carefully extend one of Jess' legs and the moment that Jess body weight settled against his arm as her foot came free. With her weight resting on his arm and a firm grip on the seat, Becker removed his other arm, and reached down to cradle the base of Jess' neck as he carefully began to lower her out of the car mindful of the medic's instructions not to move her spine. He saw the other man wince as he wrapped one arm down either side of Jess' leg as it came out of the car finally.
The sight before him once Jess was finally laid out on top of the EMD case made Becker shudder. The medic worked quickly and efficiently, checking her breathing and pulse once again before beginning to check for other damage. Desperate for activity, Becker tried to retreat into the calm of his authority to command.
"Lieutenant, do you have those dinosaurs under control?"
"Affirmative; none of this lot is going home alive, Captain."
"Leave two men here and take the rest of the team out to find the anomaly, Ms. Maitland, Mr, Temple, and the rest of the hunting pack."
"Acknowledged, Captain," came the Lieutenant's reply over the comms as the rest of the team fanned out to begin following the tracks.
"What else do you need me to do, Corporal?" Becker asked tensely.
"We've got to keep her warm. Fish around in that med kit for some heat packs."
Becker nodded grimly and knelt down to rummage through the med kit. The medic's hands flashed before his momentarily, grabbing a wad of wrapped gauze and bottle of antiseptic.
Becker realized as soon as he looked up that it'd been a mistake. Now that Jess was out of the car, the extent of the damage was frightening. Jess hadn't been wearing a belt when the car rolled. He could see a large purple bruise developing on the side of her cheekbone and down her jaw. There were small cuts everywhere from the shattered windscreen. Her left shoulder looked oddly misshapen and her right lower leg was swollen and strange in a way that suggested broken bones even to his minimally trained eyes.
Lost in his own world, Becker didn't see the considering look he received from the medic. Mindful of his captain's preoccupation, the younger man had long since retrieved the requested heating pads from the kit and placed them under the blankets with Miss Parker. Cleaning up the small lacerations was nothing more than make-work at this point as he kept both his patient and his captain under observation. Guilt, terror, duty, and love warred in Becker's eyes. There'd been speculation among the SF company for months about a closer relationship between their captain and the field co-ordinator than just colleagues. But it still make the medic catch his breath when he saw the raw turmoil on the normally composted captain's face as the claxon and lights of the ambulance broke Becker out of his paralysis.
The 2 person ambulance crew came boiling out their vehicle like a swarm of angry ants. Becker remained motionless as the medic gave the arriving personnel a run down on his patient.
"Patient is in shock, but has good breath sounds and pulse. Check for cranial damage, concussion, and an orbital fracture on the right side. Left shoulder's dislocated. There's bruising around the chest, possibly broken ribs and closed fracture of the right lower leg."
"She's lucky to have been in the car rather than out of it," one of the paramedics remarked as he laid out their backboard beside Jess' body. "We're under orders from Lester to take her directly to hospital."
"Go on, Becker, we'll be fine finishing the cleanup. You go with her," a feminine voice said softly in Becker's ear, making him flinch with surprise. He'd completely forgotten that he was still wearing his comm set.
"She's right, Captain," the Lieutenant's voice chimed in. "We'll handle the rest; you go keep an eye on her."
Becker cringed at the thought that he'd been read so easily by those around him, that his composure had slipped so far while he was in the field. But one look at Jess' battered body as the paramedics loaded her onto the gurney made his decision for him. He no longer cared about his carefully cultivated air of aloof command. Maintaining his image didn't matter. She mattered; his Jess.
He scrambled up off the ground, slapped his truck's keys into the hands of the startled SF medic beside him, and took off after the departing gurney.
~~oOOo~~
A hand on his shoulder startled Becker out of a light doze. Dusk had painted the world outside the window with hues of slate, mauve, and, indigo as long shadows drifted and swept the shapes of trees across the hospital's grounds. The heart and oxygen machines created a monotonous background noise broken by the occasional smattering of incomprehensible conversation from outside the room.
"How's she doing?" Abby asked softly.
Becker shook his head in an attempt to clear his head of the fog of sleep.
"They're not sure yet," he replied, taking a deep breath to steady his voice. "She's got a broken leg, dislocated shoulder, 2 broken ribs, and a concussion which they haven't been able to evaluate yet because she hasn't woken up."
"Why don't you go home and-"
"No," he responded rather louder than he'd intended, "no, I'm not leaving her."
Abby gave him a considered look then pulled up a second chair and collapsed into it with a sigh.
"You really do love her, don't you," it was more of a statement than a question.
Becker nodded, wordless around the lump of emotions in his throat, as he took Jess' free hand and held it gently.
"I guess in that respect, we're more alike than you'd think. It took being the only two human beings on the planet to get me to show Connor how much I loved him. So what will it take, Captain, for you to let go of the armour plating you've built around your heart?"
With his head still bowed, it took Abby a stunned moment to realize that Becker had already answered her question. A tear splattered warm and wet against their joined hands as his shoulders silently shook. Abby sat beside him shocked and unsure of herself as Becker cried out his grief and fear.
"I'll leave you two alone for now. If you need anything, if you want to talk, just give me a ring," she whispered as she slipped out of the chair.
Becker didn't bother looking at Abby or responding. He had so much to think about, so much to rebuild, if he was going to be worth a second chance when Jess woke up again.
~~oOOo~~
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
Lao Tzu