Gillian and MacGyver were sound asleep lying side by side, facing each other. It was a little after 2 o'clock in the morning, everything was quiet and peaceful. The only sound was of two people in the throes of slumber, their deep breathing filling the room. Gillian suddenly opened her eyes; she got a burning feeling in her stomach, like a roaring fire had been kindled there. She reached out and touched her husband on the shoulder.
"Mac?" She gently shook him. "Mac, wake up."
He groaned softly and his eyes slowly opened. "What's the matter?" He squinted at her, she looked blurry.
Gillian swallowed hard. "Something's wrong."
Mac rubbed his eyes. "Stomach?"
"Yeah."
"Pains?"
Gillian shook her head. "No, burning."
Mac finally got his eyes to cooperate; he rolled over and turned on his lamp. "Burning? What does that mean?"
"I'm not sure but I think we're going to find out." Gillian rubbed her stomach. The burning was getting worse, it was turning into pain.
MacGyver pulled the sheet back and sat up. "Are you sure its not just last night's dinner?"
His wife looked at him. "Unless you added fire to your famous avocado and alfalfa pitas."
Mac shook his head. "No, no fire."
"Then it's not dinner I'm feeling."
He moved closer to her. "Show me where it hurts."
Gillian's hand wasn't on her stomach; it was a little lower by her belly button but on the left side.
Mac lifted her lavender nightgown and touched that area. "Here?"
She flinched and hissed through her teeth. "Yeah."
"Gillian that's not your stomach."
The burning finally became genuine pain, that whole area started to throb. "Whatever it is its hurting bad."
Mac saw her face had gotten a little pale; he was starting to get worried. "I think I should take you to the emergency room." He got up and went to get dressed.
"Mac I don't need a doctor I just need to find out what's wrong." She closed her eyes again and grabbed that area.
He took a t-shirt out of his dresser drawer and put it on. "We're not going to argue about this Gillian."
Gillian started to do precisely that when she got a horrible pain, it felt like her side was being ripped open. At that exact moment there was a loud pounding on the front door.
Mac looked at Gillian, her face was sheet white and she was breathing hard. "I think…what's wrong…is at the door."
Mac opened their bedroom door and looked down the hall. "Just stay here I'm going to go see who that is."
"Not alone…you're not." Gillian got up carefully; it hurt her side to walk. She was still holding that area as she stood beside him. They both slowly went down the hall, they got to the end of it and Mac turned around and looked at her. "Stay right here." He said it in a firm voice.
Gillian reluctantly agreed, he walked to the door and opened it. He saw the pale face of his friend on the other side of the wrought iron door. "Jack?"
Jack nodded, he didn't look very good. "Yeah, you gotta let me in Mac."
MacGyver started to get mad. "It's 2 am; I'm not letting you in!"
Gillian realized that Jack was the source of her trouble. "Mac…"
Her husband turned around and looked at her. "Let him in."
It suddenly dawned on him that her pain had gotten worse right before Jack knocked; he unlocked the wrought iron door and stepped back.
Jack was grateful to his friend. He stepped onto the threshold; he was holding his left side.
MacGyver saw that Jack's pants were totally bloody all over the front and down his left leg.
"Oh man!" His mouth dropped open and he quickly grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it off. He pressed it to Jack's side. "What happened?"
Jack was getting weaker. He had barely found the strength to get to Mac's house, his energy was quickly fading. "I got shot…what's it look like?"
Gillian was leaning against the wall; she felt a little better now that she knew what was wrong.
MacGyver took Jack by the arm; he could see how weak he was. "Can you make it to the bedroom?"
Jack was breathing hard and he nodded. "Yeah I think so."
"Come on." Mac helped his friend down the hall and into their bedroom.
Gillian was watching them, she went into the garage and got out a fairly large first-aid kit; she followed them into the bedroom. It still bothered her to walk but she put it out of her mind.
Jack was sitting on the edge of the bed and Mac was helping him take off his bomber jacket. His blue t-shirt was bloody and Mac helped him take that off as well. Jack was holding Mac's shirt in his hand, Gillian took the t-shirt from him and folded it into a square and pressed it to his side.
"Gillian can you get the-"
She showed the kit to him. "Lay him down Mac."
Mac put his hand on the folded square and eased Jack back on the bed, he was pale and sweaty and obviously in a lot of pain.
Gillian crouched down next to the side of the bed. She opened the first-aid kit and looked for what she needed; she saw the peroxide and picked it up. Jack was watching the young woman.
"Mac, does she know what she's doing?"
Mac was standing next to her, he nodded. "Masters in Archaeology, double bachelor's degree in archaeology and nursing."
Gillian lifted the folded t-shirt. There was a small hole that was oozing a little bit of blood, she took the cap off of the peroxide. "Jack this might burn."
"It's okay Gill, it can't hurt worse than it does."
MacGyver kept looking at his wife; he was really worried about his friend.
Gillian poured the peroxide into the wound and Jack tilted his head back and cried out in pain. She started stroking his hair, she felt terrible about hurting him. "I'm sorry Jack, I'm so sorry."
He was breathing hard and he shook his head at her. "It's okay Gill. You have to do what you can because I don't want to go to a hospital, I can't go."
MacGyver couldn't believe what his friend was saying; he needed medical attention and soon. "What do you mean you can't go to the hospital?"
Jack looked at his friend. "I can't Mac; if I do then I'm dead." He was getting weaker by the minute and his eyelids started to get heavy. "Please Mac, I can't go."
Mac swallowed hard, he had to do what Jack asked. He looked at his wife. "What do you need to get the bullet out?"
The kit was sitting at the foot of the bed; Gillian started to go through it. The kit was big but it was missing some important stuff.
"I need a lot Mac, you are going to have to go to a hospital and borrow some stuff."
He understood exactly what she meant. "Okay, just tell me what you need."
"Xylocaine, morphine, some antibiotic IVs, preferable penicillin and the tubing that goes with it. That's it, the rest I can get from this kit."
"All right, I'll take my Corvette." He started to leave and Gillian called out to him Mac turned around, it was obvious that Jack being injured had him rattled.
"Mac, I think you need to put on clothes and shoes."
He looked down at himself, he was only on his pajama bottoms, his feet were bare. "Yeah, clothes would help." Mac grabbed his light blue jeans and put them over his pajamas; he got another t-shirt out of his dresser and put it on. He grabbed his socks and tennis shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed and put them on. He went over to his wife and kissed her. "Take care of him, okay?"
Gillian nodded. "I will, just hurry back."
Mac put on his black leather jacket and left the room.
The garage door opened and the sound of a powerful engine starting rang out. Mac slowly backed his Vette down the driveway. He put it into gear and hit the gas. The tires spun on the asphalt as the car peeled out, he had to find a hospital and fast.
Gillian had gotten a bowl of ice water and a washcloth. She was gently dabbing Jack's face, he was starting to slip into unconsciousness.
"Jack?"
"Yeah?" He opened his eyes and looked at her; she could tell he was fighting to stay awake.
"Just hang on okay? Don't fall asleep; Mac will be back any minute now."
Jack's eyes were opening and closing. "I'm trying Gilly Mac, but it isn't easy." He looked at his best friend's wife. They had gotten to be pretty good friends since Mac had married her two months earlier. "I didn't want to come here. I didn't want to put you and Mac in danger, but I didn't know where else to go."
Gillian shook her head. "It's okay Jack you did the right thing."
"I didn't want Mac to get involved; I've gotten him in enough trouble over the years."
She put her fingers to his lips. "Jack, stop it, just rest."
His eyes wouldn't open anymore and Gillian touched his face. "Jack?"
She patted his face but he didn't wake up, he had finally passed out.
Gillian sighed; she decided to use this chance to examine his wound. She lifted the folded t-shirt off of it and started looking at it.
Mac had found a nearby hospital and had invaded it; he took everything that Gillian had said she needed. He pulled his Vette back into the garage and hit the garage door opener; the door began to go down as he ran into the house and down the hall. He went into his bedroom and saw that Jack was unconscious.
"What happened?"
Gillian took the plastic bag he was holding. "Passed out, that's good it'll make this easier." She took a bottle of alcohol out of the first-aid kit and poured it into the palms of her hands and rubbed them together. She then took the bulldog tweezers from the kit and poured alcohol all over them.
"Mac you need to put alcohol on your hands." She looked up at her husband. "I'm going to need your help."
MacGyver licked his lips and pressed them together; he took off his jacket and set it aside. He picked up the bottle of alcohol and poured it into the palm of his hand and rubbed his hands together.
"Okay Mac shine that light a little lower."
Gillian had given Jack an injection of Xylocaine; it was a local anesthetic that numbed the whole area. She did this in case Jack woke up before she was done. She had spread open the wound a little and was looking for the bullet.
MacGyver was shining a flashlight into the wound so she could see, he brought it down lower. "Better?"
"Yeah thanks." She had her fingers in the wound. "Mac give me your hand."
Mac was holding the flashlight with his right hand she took his left hand. She removed her fingers that were in the wound and put his in. "Just keep them right there, I think I might have found it."
Gillian hit something that wasn't flesh, she smiled. "Yeah that's it, pull what you've got your fingers on back a little. You're my retractor."
Mac did what she said; he couldn't believe he had his hand inside of his friend. He was glad his wife knew what she was doing.
She took the pair of bulldog tweezers and carefully took the bullet out. "Tada, one bullet, you can get your fingers out of there now."
MacGyver was very relieved she had found the bullet, he sighed. "Does it look like it did a lot of damage?"
"No, from what I can see it just hit flesh, that's all. The arteries and stuff are all right. He was lucky, a little more towards his belly button and it would have ripped right through his renal artery. He would have been dead in a matter of minutes." Gillian cleaned out the wound and covered it heavily with a bandage and first-aid tape. She took a syringe out of the kit and picked up the bottle of morphine. "Mac can I have a couple of alcohol swabs and one of the penicillin IVs?"
Mac handed her what she asked, she swabbed Jack's arm with it. She gave him an injection of morphine to help with the pain he would no doubt be feeling when he woke up. "What are you going to do?" He turned off the flashlight and set it aside. He cleaned off his hands with the alcohol and the towel.
"Give him the IV." Gillian tore open a new swab and looked at his arm, she started tapping it trying to find a vein. She found one and started tearing open the packages of stuff she needed to set it up. She sunk the needle into Jack's arm and hooked the IV up.
"There, that should help." She got a roll of first-aid tape and taped down the needle so he wouldn't jerk it out. Gillian sat back on her haunches and breathed a sigh of relief.
Mac was crouched down beside her. "Is he going to be okay?"
"I can't say for sure." Gillian turned towards her husband. "Mac, he's going to be sick. He's got an infection; I did my best to clean it out."
"Infection? How?"
"The condition of his clothes and the blood and the wound itself tell me that he was shot sometime earlier today, probably late morning or early afternoon. He's been running around with that wound for most of the day and night. If he had waited any longer to come then he would be dead." She saw the surprise on her husband's face and she reached out and touched his arm. "Mac, I don't know Jack as well as you do but he seems pretty fearless to me. Something had to have made him pretty scared, so scared he stayed away until it was almost too late."
MacGyver looked at the sleeping form of his friend. "Did he say anything while I was gone?"
"He kept talking about how he didn't want to come but he had no where else to go."
Mac ran his fingers through his hair. "Am I that bad of a friend that he couldn't come to me Gillian?"
Gillian moved closer to her husband and put her arm around his shoulders. "You are a great friend to Jack and he knows that. Let me ask you this, if you were in trouble would you go running to your friends right away or would you try and take care of it yourself?"
"I would try and handle things myself."
"Exactly, that's what he tried to do; he told me he didn't want to get you in trouble like always."
"When do you think he's going to wake up?"
Gillian looked at the time, it was a little after 4. "I say at least 3 or 4 hours."
MacGyver nodded. "Why don't you go to one of the spare rooms and lay down for a while. I'll stay here with Jack."
"No, I want to stay here with you." She touched his face; she could tell that he was really concerned for his friend. "Okay?"
Mac looked at his wife, he was glad she wasn't going to leave him alone. "Okay."
Gillian kissed him and got up; she not only went to wash her hands but to get a couple of pillows from the spare room. She came back and put the two pillows right there on the floor next to the side of the bed Jack was sleeping on.
Mac laid down and Gillian joined him, she put her arms around him and drew him to her. Mac put his head on his wife's chest; she started stroking his hair, trying to give him some comfort.
Mac was laying there listening to his wife breathe, she had fallen asleep but he there was no way he was going to be able to sleep. He lifted his head and looked at her. She had probably saved Jack's life and he was very grateful to her. Jack was one of his oldest friends, they had been through a lot together and no matter how much aggravation Jack sometimes caused him, he looked at Jack like a brother. Whatever was happening, he was going to help his friend. He put his head back down on his wife's chest and closed his eyes.
"Gillian…."
Someone was calling out her name, she opened her eyes and looked down at her husband. She thought it was him that was calling her. MacGyver was asleep; there was only one person it could be.
"Jack?"
"Yeah."
Gillian was trapped under her husband, she wanted to check on Jack but she couldn't move him off of her. She had no choice but to wake him, she put her hands on his shoulders and shook him. "Mac?"
He slowly lifted his head and looked at her. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry Honey but Jack is awake and I want to go check on him."
Mac was about to ask what that had to do with him but then he realized that he was on top of her. "Oh." He got off of her and then realized what she said. "He's up?"
"Yeah I'm up."
Mac sat up and moved closer to the edge of the bed. He was glad his friend was awake, now he could get some answers.
Gillian got to her knees. She looked down at Jack and reached out and touched his forehead, it was getting warm. She shot her husband a quick look before talking to Jack. "How do you feel?"
Jack's face was still pale and his lips looked cracked and dry. "It hurts."
"I know." She had set the bullet down on the nightstand; she picked it up and showed it to him. "This is why."
Jack saw the small piece of crushed metal that was in between her fingers. "Is that the bullet?"
She picked up his hand and put it in his palm. Jack brought it closer to his face; he couldn't believe that she had taken it out. "You took it out?"
Gillian nodded. "Yeah." She could see that MacGyver wanted to talk to Jack. "I think I'll go make you something to eat Jack."
She kissed her husband on the head as she got up and left the room.
MacGyver got up off of the floor and walked around to his side of the bed. He sat down on it and moved close to his friend, he crossed his legs under him Indian style. "Jack I think we need to have a talk."
Jack closed his eyes and turned his head so he was looking straight ahead and not at his friend. "I don't feel like talking Mac."
"Well I do, don't you think you at least owe me an explanation? You show up to my house at 2 am with a bullet in you and I'm not supposed to question why?"
"You're better off not knowing. I've already got you and Gillian more involved than I wanted to."
Mac closed his eyes for a moment, one thing about Jack he could be very stubborn. "Whether you wanted to involve us or not, we are." Jack still wasn't looking at him; he put his hand on his friend's shoulder and spoke to him in a calm voice. "Jack, I want to help, I have to help."
That finally made Jack face him. "Why? Why do you have to help?"
"Because you're my friend, please, tell me what's going on."
Jack closed his eyes once again and shook his head. He was telling the truth, he didn't want to get Mac involved but he had changed that the minute he showed up at his house, he had no choice. "My partner is the one that gave me this little hole in my side."
Mac creased his brow. "Dervish shot you? Why?"
"He's crooked, totally crooked." Jack sighed and turned away from his friend. "He conned me Mac. He took all the money from the school and has some stuff going with some of his mobster friends."
MacGyver sighed. "I'm sorry Jack."
The pilot started to laugh. "You must think this is pretty funny, Jack Dalton, the King of Schemes getting schemed himself."
"I don't think its funny Jack, why did Dervish shoot you?"
"He told me his mob buddies were going to be running things. I said no, I wasn't about to let them take my school. He said if I didn't cooperate then he was going to let the police know about those operations, operations he made with my name of them as the source of where the money came from."
"How did your name get on them?"
"The school is in my name Mac, everything is. Frank is mostly a silent partner; he insisted his name be kept off of stuff."
Mac rubbed his hands over his face. "So when you said no to his buddies running things he shot you."
Jack nodded. "Right, his buddies have even bigger buddies. He probably already has the police involved, that's why I said I couldn't go to a hospital."
He reached out and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Just try and rest, I'll think of something, okay?"
Jack gave his friend a slight nod. "Okay, I'm sorry I didn't come to you sooner Mac. I didn't want to put you and Gillian in danger."
Mac gave his friend a small smile. "I know, go to sleep Jack."
He climbed off of the bed and watched as Jack closed his eyes, he quietly left the room.
Gillian was sitting at the kitchen table; she was drinking a cup of hot tea, waiting for her husband. The time on the microwave read that it was 8 o'clock. Mac walked into the kitchen, he opened the fridge and got out a can of pear juice. He shook it, he didn't look very happy and right away she noticed that.
"Did you talk to him?"
Mac opened the juice and had a long sip of it; he sighed and wiped his hand over eyes. "Yeah, I talked to him."
"What did he say?"
Mac walked over to the table and stood over her. "Frank Dervish shot him, he and his mobster pals are trying to take the school away from Jack."
"How?"
"Blackmail."
Gillian sighed and rubbed her hands over her face. "Poor Jack, no wonder he kept saying he didn't want to come here. What are we going to do?"
"You stay here and take care of Jack; I'm going to go talk to Dervish."
Gillian nodded. "When I checked him over, he was getting warm, his fever is starting. I was hoping the penicillin IV would stop it from happening but it didn't." She stood up and hugged him. "I know you're worried about Jack, we'll think of a way to get him out of this, okay?"
MacGyver closed his eyes as he hugged his wife, her confidence made him feel better. "Okay."
Gillian let go of her husband and gently kissed him. "You just be careful."
He nodded. "Oh believe me I will, the last thing I need are cement shoes."
The Dalton School of Aviation was located in an old hanger out at the airport. The big metal building looked like an overgrown tool shed.
Frank Dervish was sitting in Jack's office; he had his feet up on the big metal desk and was smoking a cigar. There was a knock on the metal door and he tipped back in his chair. "Yeah? Come in."
MacGyver opened the metal door and walked in. Jack's office had pictures of every airplane imaginable all over the walls. Jack had a few pictures of the two of them, one of the pictures was when he and Mac were kids and they were holding a small plane that they had built together.
Mac looked at the man that had made himself comfortable in Jack's chair. He was a big guy looked like he weighed about 250 pounds, what little hair he had was shaved into a buzz cut. He had on black pants and a white polo shirt that looked too small for him. He looked very untrustworthy and yet Jack had trusted him as a partner. "Frank Dervish?"
The big man took the cigar out of his mouth, he looked his unexpected guest over. MacGyver was wearing a black leather jacket and light blue jeans. "Yeah? What can I do for you?"
Mac stretched out his hand. "My name is MacGyver; I'm a friend of Jack Dalton's."
Dervish didn't shake his hand, he simply stuck the cigar back in is mouth. "He ain't here."
Mac put his hand back at his side and tucked it into his pocket. "I know that, I came to talk to you about Jack."
Frank leaned back in his chair and sighed. "All right, what about?"
Mac's face was very serious. "You and your pals taking over this school."
He slowly took the cigar out of his mouth. "Really? So I take it that you know exactly where Jack is and he's been talking."
MacGyver didn't say anything and the big man set his chair back down on all fours and took the cigar out of his mouth. "If I were you friend, I would tell Jack that unless he wants to spend the rest of his life in a concrete cell he better do exactly as I say."
Mac was staring at the big man coldly; he didn't like the fact that he was threatening his friend. "I know Jack; he's not going to do what you say."
Frank was getting annoyed, he got up from his chair slowly and walked around his desk. He now stood in front of MacGyver, he reached out and tapped his finger against his chest. "Now you listen closely friend, unless you want to see your pal get hurt you better tell him to wise up and fast."
Now MacGyver knew there was no way he could take on a man that outweighed him by almost a hundred pounds, he looked around the room for something to defend himself with.
"And what if he doesn't?" Mac glanced beside him.
There was an old dark brown couch and a small table with a coffee maker and two bowls, one was of sugar and the other looked like it had powdered cream in it.
Frank was still poking him. "Dalton is going to do exactly what I say or he isn't going to be around long enough to talk to anyone." His blue eyes grew cold and dangerous. "And neither will you."
Mac reached over and stuck his finger in the bowl and touched the powder between his fingers, it was powdered creamer. He used his other hand and started touching his pockets looking for something.
Gillian was feeding Jack some broth that she had made for him; she figured it was light enough for his stomach. Jack was feverish, his cheeks were red and he was radiating heat like a furnace. He ate another spoonful of soup and turned his head. "I don't want anymore Gillian."
Gillian was sitting besides him on Mac's side of the bed, she sighed. "Jack please, you have to eat. You need to build up your strength so you can fight the infection."
Jack moved a little and his side gave him a painful jolt. "Can you give me something for the pain?"
"I will, after you eat more."
Jack turned her head towards him and opened his mouth, she gave him another spoonful. "Where's Mac?"
Gillian didn't want him to know where MacGyver was. "Oh I'm sure he's around here somewhere."
The sick man looked at her. He knew Mac better than that, he thought about their earlier conversation. "Gillian, where is MacGyver?"
She didn't say anything and fed him another spoonful and he grabbed her hand, his red face was serious. "Where is he?"
Gillian sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "He went to talk to Dervish."
Jack's hazel eyes grew wide. "Is he crazy? Dervish is bad news! He's going to chew Mac up and spit him out!"
That did not give Gillian any comfort, but nevertheless she knew MacGyver could take care of himself. "Don't worry about Mac, he can handle himself."
Dervish was standing in front of Mac, the big man looked very angry; he curled his fists up into balls.
Mac knew that the situation was not in his favor, Dervish's rather ample frame was standing between him and the door. He found what he was looking for in his jeans pocket and took it out, it was a match.
Mac scooped his hand into the non dairy creamer, he dragged his thumbnail against the head of the match and it sparked to life. Dervish took one step closer to him and he grabbed a handful of non dairy creamer and threw the powder right in his face, he touched the match to the air and the dusty substance ignited. A small fireball flashed and Dervish covered his face.
Mac jumped on top of Jack's desk, he ran across it and out the office door. He ran through the hanger and jumped into his Corvette, he started it up and the car took off like a rocket.
Gillian changed out Jack's IV and gave him a shot of morphine; the powerful drug had caused Jack to fall asleep. She was in one of the three spare bedrooms; she was laying down on the bed. She heard the front door open and she got up fast; she went out into the hall and saw her husband coming in.
"Mac…" She ran down the hall and hugged him. "Did it go okay?" She saw he had some white dust on his black jacket and she touched it. "What's this?"
Mac hugged his wife. He was glad to see her, especially after what happened. "Creamer."
Gillian creased her brow. "Creamer? But Mac you don't drink coffee."
He let go of her and nodded. "This is part of the reason why, the stuff will kill you, it's flammable."
"I'm confused Mac, will you kindly start from the top?"
MacGyver sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Jack was right, that guy Dervish is trying to blackmail him into doing anything he wants."
"Jack wasn't too happy when I told him where you were, he said Dervish is dangerous."
"He's right, that's why I've got non diary creamer all over me; I used it and a match to get out of that office. How's Jack?"
Gillian sighed. "Sick, I had to force him to eat. I gave him a shot of morphine and he went to sleep."
MacGyver closed his eyes briefly. "There has to be a way to get those papers away from him Gillian, we need to find out what we can about this guy."
Mac went into the kitchen, there was a phone mounted on the wall near the table, he picked it up and started dialing. He sat down at the table and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Pete, I need you to find out some information for me."
"Sure, on who?"
Mac looked at his wife as she sat down in the chair in front of him. "Frank Dervish."
"Okay, let me see what I can find, I'll call you back when I find out anything."
"Thanks Pete." Mac hung up the phone. "Pete is getting on it, he'll call me back."
Gillian nodded; she reached out and touched his face. "You okay?"
Mac nodded, the truth was he really wasn't. Jack was very sick and he felt helpless. "Yeah."
Gillian knew better, she stood up and took his hand and pulled him out of the chair. "Come on."
They went down the hall into one of the spare rooms. She took off his jacket and set it down on the dresser. Gillian sat down on the bed; she put her back against the headboard. Mac laid down beside her, she stretched out on top of him with her head leaning on his chest. "Jack is going to be okay Mac; I'm not going to let him die."
Mac put his hands on her back and played with her hair. "He's one of my oldest friends Gill. I've known him since I was a kid; he's really in trouble this time."
Gillian lifted her head; she glided her hand down his face. "Don't worry; we'll get him out of this."
The phone on the nightstand rang and Mac reached over and picked it up. "What did you find out Pete?"
"You still have your fax machine right?"
"Yeah, the number is still the same."
"Okay, give me 5 minutes and I'll fax over everything."
MacGyver nodded. "Thanks Pete, I owe you one." He hung the phone back up.
"What did he say?"
"He's going to fax over what he found out." Mac looked at his wife and gave her a small smile; he pressed lips against hers in a very loving kiss.
Gillian slowly opened her eyes. "What was that for?"
Mac was gazing at her with great affection. "For taking care of Jack, you saved his life."
She touched her forehead against his. "I had to help Jack; he's been a good friend to both of us."
Gillian heard the sound of the fax machine starting; it was in the living room. "There's your fax."
Pete had sent over three pages of information about Frank Dervish; the man had a very colorful history. There was very little that he wasn't into, everything from betting horses and gambling to drugs and prostitution. Mac was looking over the pages as they came in.
"Man this guy is into everything."
Gillian peeked over his shoulder. "He's versatile to say the least."
"Very versatile. No wonder Jack fell for this guy's talk, he's an old pro."
"Any ideas?"
Mac was scanning the pages; he saw that Dervish had a big house out in Long Beach that was where he ran most of his rackets from. "Well he's got a house in Long Beach, seems to be the central base for Con Incorporated. That is probably where he's keeping the information he has on Jack."
"Probably, but how are we going to get in?"
MacGyver stepped back and looked his wife up and down, had changed out of her nightgown and had put on a pair of black cotton shorts and a flowered sleeveless shirt. "Ever heard of a game called the Damsel in Distress?"
Gillian creased her brow. "No, why?"
Mac smiled at her. "You will."
Frank Dervish's house was right on the beach, it was in a pretty secluded area. The house itself was white and had two stories, it looked like it was part of an apartment complex. There were dark wooden stairs that started from the sand and went up to a wooden balcony and the front door. The house looked innocent enough but there was wrought iron on all of the windows.
"Wow what a fortress."
Gillian and MacGyver were sitting nearby in the Nomad; she was looking at the house. "I can see that, are you sure this is going to work?"
Mac looked at her and nodded. "Trust me, it'll work, are you ready to do a little acting?"
Gillian sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be I guess, you just be careful in there."
Mac gave her a kiss. "I will, just do your best to keep him busy."
Frank Dervish was in his living room, he was in his black leather recliner. He had his remote in his hand and was watching his big screen TV. There was a knock at the door and he put the remote down and got up. There was a window right in front and he peeked out of it. He saw it was a woman on the other side of the door. He took his gun out from behind his back and leaned against the door.
"Who is it?"
"Excuse me Sir, I'm sorry to bother you but I'm having car trouble."
He tucked his gun behind him and pulled his white polo shirt over it. He opened the dark wooden door as far as the chain would allow and looked out, he saw a pretty girl. He closed the door and took the chain off of it and opened the door all the way. Gillian was standing there with a suitcase sitting beside her, she tried to look upset.
"I'm very sorry to disturb you but my car isn't working and this was the closest house I could find."
Frank looked her up and down. He thought she was very cute, he stepped back. "Come in."
Gillian went to pick up the suitcase but Frank put his hand out. "No, allow me."
He picked up the suitcase and brought it into the house. "So where are you heading?"
"San Diego."
Gillian looked around. The house was pretty plain, the walls were totally blank and there was only his recliner and a couch. This was a sign that he was into something illegal, with nothing on the walls there was nothing the police or the FBI could bug.
"Where's your car?"
Gillian turned her attention back to him. "It's just down the road."
Frank sighed. "Okay, let me get my tools." He disappeared for a second and Gillian went over to her suitcase and opened the zipper a little bit. He was coming and she quickly stepped away from it.
"Okay, I got my tools; let's go take a look at your car."
Frank had a small toolbox in his hands, but before they walked out the door, he flipped a switch.
"What was that, if you don't mind me asking."
"Just an alarm, come on."
They left and Frank closed the door behind them and locked it.
Mac waited a few minutes. He didn't hear anything; he saw a little bit of light coming in and he reached for it. The suitcase that Gillian had with her fell over on its side, it unzipped itself and MacGyver stepped out of it. He moved his head from side to side; his neck felt a little stiff. "Should have gotten her a bigger suitcase."
There was a hallway up ahead and he walked down it. There were three doors, he pressed his ear against the first one, he heard the sound of water. "Bathroom."
He walked over to the second door, right across from the bathroom and listened. He heard nothing, he reached down and the knob was unlocked. The last door had to be it; he pressed his ear against it and heard the sound of buzzing. He reached down and tried the knob, it was locked. "Bingo."
Mac took his knife out of his pocket; he stuck a blade into the lock and opened it. He stepped back and carefully opened the door. Everything looked fine, it was just an office. He looked down around the door jam and saw the red light of an alarm.
Gillian and Frank were down the road. Mac had rigged the Nomad so that it wouldn't start and he made it not so easy to find out why. Frank was leaning over the engine looking around it.
"This is a pretty old car Miss, '57 right?"
Gillian was also leaning under the hood; she had her hands crossed over her chest. "Right, it belonged to my grandfather."
He took a quick glance at her ring finger and saw nothing was there. "Grandfather huh, it's in pretty good shape. Who takes of it for you?"
"A friend."
"A male friend?"
She smiled at him. "Yeah but it's not what you think."
Frank laughed, now he was flirting with her. "Then he doesn't sound too bright to me."
Gillian gave him a wide grin. "Oh he's very bright."
MacGyver had gotten some baby powder out of the bathroom and put it in his hand. He blew it into the room and just as he expected, the powder showed that there were lasers going back and forth across the floor. "Oh man."
The lasers covered the floor like a spider web. The webbing so close together that there wasn't even enough room for him to put one foot down without triggering the alarm. Mac looked around, there had to be another way to get to the desk and the small safe on top of it.
Frank tried everything he could but he couldn't get the Nomad to start, he sighed and straightened up. "I'm sorry Miss. I don't know what the problem is; we're going to have to call a tow truck."
Gillian nodded and straightened up. "Well you tried your best."
He closed the hood and they started walking back to the house.
Mac heard the sound of keys and his eyes grew wide. He waved the air to make sure all the baby powder had settled, he closed the door and locked it. He ran and ducked into the bathroom and closed the door.
Frank opened the door and saw that everything was just like they left it. Gillian saw her suitcase; she noticed that the zipper was closed all the way.
"Let me go get the phonebook, it's in my office." He flipped the switch and walked down the hall.
Gillian crouched down and touched the suitcase; she could tell that it was empty. Her heart started to beat hard, she started casually looking around trying to find any trace of her husband.
"Mac?" She walked over to the kitchen area but she didn't see him.
Frank came out of his office and she quickly went back to the living room area, she watched him walk down the hall towards her. "Here it is, let me find you a tow truck."
"Excuse me but do you have a restroom I can use?"
"First door on the right." He sat down in his recliner and started flipping through the phonebook.
Gillian walked down the hall, she saw three doors. She reached out and started to turn the knob of the door on the left. A pair of hands suddenly grabbed her, one around the waist and one around the mouth. She gasped as she was dragged backwards into the bathroom. The door shut behind them and she turned around and looked at her husband.
"Mac you scared me to death!" She talked to him in a loud whisper.
"I'm sorry I didn't want you to scream."
Gillian put her hand to her chest, her heart was racing. "Did you get it?"
He shook his head. "No, the office has lasers all over the floor."
"He turned off a switch when he went to get the phonebook; I bet you anything that turned off the lasers, why don't you try going in there now?"
"That's not the problem; the problem is how am I going to get back into the suitcase without being seen?"
Gillian thought of something and smiled. "Oh that's easy, which door is the bedroom?"
"The one across the hall." He looked at her sideways. "What are you going to do?"
"Well you said we are playing a game called Damsel in Distress. I think it's time I became one."
Gillian came out of the bathroom. Frank was still flipping through the phonebook; he was trying to find a tow truck that was close by. Gillian stood over him and looked down at the book. "Any luck?"
He looked up at her. "Don't worry little lady, I'll find one." He gave her a wide smile.
Gillian took a deep breath and started fanning herself with her hand. "Wow it got so warm in here."
The area that she was standing gave her a direct view of the hall; she saw the bathroom door open and her husband go dashing over to the office door.
She cleared her throat and sighed, she continued to fan herself. "Boy it's really warm in here."
Frank finally noticed what she was doing. "Are you okay Miss?"
Gillian tilted her head back and closed her eyes, she wobbled a little. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He got up from the recliner. "Want me to get you a drink of water?"
"Please."
Frank walked into the kitchen and took a glass out of the cabinet; he filled it with water and handed it to her. Gillian took it and had a big drink. "Oh that's good." She handed him back the glass. "Thank you."
"Better?"
"Much better."
Frank was standing in front of Gillian. The young woman sighed and rolled her eyes back into her head, she started to fall back and he reached out and grabbed her around the waist. He bent down and scooped her up. He carried her down the hall and opened the first door, it was a bedroom and he gently laid her down on the bed.
Mac was in the office, he was sitting on top of the desk. He took a stethoscope out of his pocket and put it against the small safe door. He turned the dial until he heard the first click. He turned the dial back to zero and moved it the other way; again he heard the familiar click. He started back at zero once again and slowly turned the dial, he heard the last click.
MacGyver took the stethoscope out of his ears and tucked them back into his pocket; he turned the handle and the door popped open. He opened the small safe and saw a few big manila envelopes, one had DALTON written on it. He picked all of them up and tucked them into his black leather jacket and zipped it up. He closed the safe and turned the handle; he gave the dial a spin and climbed down off of the desk.
Gillian was coming around in the bedroom, she saw Frank sitting next to her on the bed.
"How do you feel?"
She was about to answer him when she saw her husband slowly walking past the open door. She quickly changed her mind about how she was feeling. "Okay, I think I just need to rest for a minute."
"Okay."
Gillian hoped that Mac could get back into that suitcase fast; she really wanted to get out of there, the young woman slowly sat up.
"Feeling better?"
"Yeah, just a little too much excitement for me I guess. I've been such a bother to you I think I should go wait by my car for the tow truck."
"But I haven't called one yet."
Gillian got down from the bed. "That's okay; I'll find a gas station and call one from there."
She walked out of the bedroom and into the living room, Frank was right behind her. "Now I can't just let you go off by yourself trying to find help."
"Don't worry I'll be fine." She picked up the handle of her suitcase, it had wheels and she pulled it with her as she opened the door." She blew him a kiss. "You have been such an angel, thank you very much."
Before Frank could protest she was out the door.
Gillian lifted the suitcase up and carried it down the stairs, as soon as she thought they were out of sight she stopped. She turned the suitcase on its side and unzipped it.
Mac popped out of it and Gillian sighed. "Did you get it?"
He unzipped the suitcase all the way and took the manila envelopes out of his jacket. "I got it."
Gillian smiled and kissed him. "Great! Let's get out of here."
"Definitely."
Mac climbed out of the suitcase and zipped it back up. He took the handle of it and his wife's hand as they ran down the road towards the Nomad.
The couple had only been gone one hour. They went home and the first thing Gillian did was check on her patient. She opened the bedroom door and walked over to him; she laid her hand against Jack's forehead and gasped at how hot it was. She took the thermometer off of the nightstand and carefully opened his mouth; she stuck it in and closed his mouth over it. She looked at her watch and after two minutes she removed the thermometer and looked at it. When she saw the reading she gasped.
"Mac!"
He came racing into the room; the tone of her voice had made him rush. "What's the matter?"
Gillian looked upset, and she handed him the thermometer. "Jack's temperature is a 104; we have to do something to cool him down and right now."
He looked at the thermometer and sure enough that was the reading. "Like what?"
She flung back the sheet that was covering Jack. "We have to get him into a tub of cold water and ice him down."
Mac set the thermometer down and went into the master bathroom. He turned on the cold water and put the drain in the tub; the bathtub started to fill and he went back into the bedroom.
Gillian wasn't strong enough to lift Jack, but Mac was. He tucked his arm under Jack's head and the other under his knees. "Stand back Gillian."
Mac took a deep breath and let it out slowly; he took another one and lifted Jack up. He carried him into the bathroom; he carefully lowered him into the tub. As soon as the water hit him Jack started struggling, he hit Mac on the chest and sent him on his butt.
"Cold…its cold."
Gillian touched his face and tried to soothe him. "Jack, easy, it's Gillian. I'm sorry but we have to do this, your fever is too high."
Mac rubbed his behind as he got up, Gillian saw him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah just knocked me on my can."
"We need ice Mac, everything we have in our freezer and maybe some from the store if it isn't enough."
Jack finally stopped struggling; Gillian picked up a washcloth and dipped it in the cold water. She dabbed Jack's face with it, the icy water made him flinch. "I know its cold Honey but we have to bring your temp down."
MacGyver came back into the bathroom carrying a large tray filled with ice. They had an automatic ice maker and it had just dumped a fresh load. He tipped it and poured the ice into the water. This made Jack jump, his teeth were chattering.
"Will that be enough?"
Gillian took a few pieces of ice and put it inside the washcloth and folded it up. She began to slowly move the mini ice pack over Jack's red face. "I don't know, it all depends on how fast his temperature starts to drop; if it's slow going then you'll have to get more ice."
Mac sat down on the toilet seat and rubbed his hands over his face. Jack looked absolutely dreadful; his face was more of a grey color than it was pale. MacGyver started to play with his fingers. Gillian saw him that was a sign that her husband was worried; she reached out and touched his knee. "Don't be thinking bad thoughts now, okay?"
MacGyver nodded. "Okay."
She gave his knee a squeeze. "Can you bring the thermometer in here? It's in the bedroom."
"Yeah." Mac got up and left the bathroom, he came back in and handed her the thermometer.
"Thanks." Gillian opened Jack's mouth and stuck it in; she closed his mouth and looked at her watch. When the two minutes were up she took it from his mouth and looked at it, she closed her eyes briefly.
"It's dropping, he's down to 103."
Jack stayed in the tub for another half an hour. When his temperature was at a hundred MacGyver lifted him out of the tub and they both dried him off and put him in a pair of sweats. Gillian gave Jack another penicillin IV. He had been asleep since being in the bathtub and Gillian didn't want to wake him. She looked down at his face, he was sleeping peacefully. She leaned over and kissed his forehead; she covered Jack partially with a blanket and closed the door behind her as she left the room. It was now getting to be evening and the sun was beginning to go down.
MacGyver was sitting at the kitchen table going over the papers he had taken from Dervish's safe. Gillian came up behind him and bent down. She put her arms around his midsection, he was concentrating on what he was doing and his wife's touch made him jump.
"Sorry." She hugged him around the waist and kissed his cheek.
"It's okay."
"How's it going?"
MacGyver sighed and shook his head. "He's got Jack by the throat Gillian, he's got a hundred and 3 thousand dollars of the school's money blown. Jack stands to lose everything." He put the papers down and covered his face with his hands and exhaled through them.
Gillian felt terrible, Jack was finally doing something he loved and now one jerk was going to take it all away. "Isn't there something we can do?"
Mac took his hands away from his face. "Yeah there is, we are going to go pay Dervish another visit." He touched the hands that were around him. "How's he doing?"
"Asleep, I gave him another IV. I wanted him to eat something but for now I think rest is more important, he's really fighting hard Mac."
"That's one thing about Jack, he's a fighter." Mac looked down at the papers. "I'm not going to let Dervish take his school away from him Gillian; Jack can't fight for it right now so I'm going to."
"What can I do to help Mac?"
MacGyver took one of the hands that was around his waist and pulled on it. His wife came around him and crouched down beside his chair. "Still got friends in the LAPD?"
Gillian nodded. "Yeah, lots of them, why?"
He picked up a manila envelope and showed it to her. "We're going to need to make a few phone calls."
Frank Dervish was back in Jack's office, he was on the phone with his feet up on Jack's desk. The door burst open and MacGyver strolled in, his hands tucked into the pockets of his black leather jacket. He gave the fat man a great big smile.
"Hi."
Dervish saw who it was and he told his caller he would call them back; he hung up the phone and took the cigar out of his mouth. "Well well, look whose back."
He reached over and pressed a button on Jack's desk, it buzzed.
Mac knew that he was probably alerting someone that he was there and that was fine with him. "Calling for your friends?"
"Maybe, but I don't think you are going to be able to use coffee creamer to get out of this one."
The door opened and two big guys walked in. They looked like a couple of tough guys, both of them looked like they could eat MacGyver for lunch; each man had to weigh at least 300 pounds. He simply smiled at them. "Hi guys, come on in, the more the merrier."
"So what do you want MacGyver, we already talked about Jack."
Mac sat down on the brown couch and put his feet up on the chair that was in front of Jack's desk; he folded his hands in his lap. "I think we should have another talk Dervish, about how you are going to get out of the flying school business."
Frank took a puff of his cigar and laughed. He looked at his friends and they started laughing too. "He wants me to get out of the flying school business."
MacGyver started laughing. "No really, I'm serious."
Frank got up from his desk and stood over the couch. He bent down and blew cigar smoke in Mac's face.
Mac wrinkled his nose, the cigar smelled like an old shoe. "Don't you know those things are bad for you?"
Frank stuck the cigar back in his mouth. "So is making threats against me."
Mac took the foul smelling cigar from the fat man's mouth and dropped it on the floor; he put his foot down on top of it. "I'm not making threats."
Frank got mad and grabbed him by the collar of his black t-shirt and pulled him off of the couch. "You got a big mouth Pipsqueak; I think I'll let my friends use you for a toothpick."
Mac looked at the man that had a hold of him and creased his brow. "Pipsqueak? You think I'm a pipsqueak? You can't do better than that?"
The big man started laughing. "You got guts MacGyver I'll give you that and I'm going to let my two buddies here show them to you."
"Oh I wouldn't do that just yet. I haven't even told you about how you are going to leave the flying school business."
Frank sighed and let go of his collar. "All right, go ahead and tell me."
MacGyver adjusted his clothing and cleared his throat; he sat back down on the couch. "See you are going to leave the flying school business." He took a manila envelope out of his jacket and unfolded it. "Or this little envelope is going to find its way to the DA's office."
"What's in the envelope?"
MacGyver smiled widely and handed it to him. "Be my guest."
Dervish took the envelope and opened it. He took out a stack of papers and started going through them, the papers contained information and records of all of his illegal activities. Frank had lied, not one of his operations had Jack's name on them. His bluff had been called and the fat man's face grew red with anger, these papers where in his safe that was in his house. "How did you get these?"
"Allow me to introduce you to someone." Mac got up from the couch and walked between the two hulks. He opened the door and Gillian was standing there, he took her hand and led her into the office.
Frank saw Gillian and his anger turned into downright fury. Mac led her over to Dervish and smiled.
"Frank Dervish, this is my lovely wife Gillian."
Gillian smiled at her husband. "Aww aren't you sweet?" She turned her attention to Dervish. "See Frank, I told you he was bright."
The big man was now raging; he tore up the papers and pointed at his friends. "Take them, get them out of here and make sure no one can find their bodies!"
Gillian gasped and opened her mouth wide; she touched her hand to her chest. "Mac I do believe he means to hurt us."
MacGyver's eyes grew dramatically wide. "You think so?"
"Yes I think so."
The two guys grabbed them and Mac took something out of his pocket. "What do you think Gill? Now?"
Gillian nodded as she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. "Now would be good."
Mac stuck a silver whistle in his mouth and took a deep breath; he turned his head and blew it very hard, right in the ear of the guy that had grabbed him. The big man let go of him and covered his ears.
The door burst open and the police came in, they grabbed all three of the men and threw them to the ground. Frank looked like he was about to explode, Mac crouched down so he could talk to him.
"See Frank, those papers I showed you were only copies the DA has the real papers. You are out of the flying school business and are now going into auto detailing."
"What are you talking about? Auto detailing?"
Mac nodded. "License plates."
The cops hauled him to his feet and started cuffing him; he was looking at MacGyver and Gillian. "Why? Why do the two of you do so much for the likes of Jack Dalton?"
The couple looked at each other and Mac shrugged his shoulders. "Friendship." He motioned with his head towards the door and the cops took all three of the men away.
Gillian and MacGyver were sitting on their bed looking at Jack; his fever had broken during the night and his face didn't look as sickly as it did. He was sleeping and the couple simply watched him, finally MacGyver couldn't take it, he reached out and touched his shoulder.
"Jack?"
His eyes fluttered and slowly opened, he saw the couple and gave them a weak smile. "Hi."
MacGyver smiled widely. "Hi."
Gillian also smiled at him. "How do you feel Jack?"
Jack licked his lips. "Hungry, what do you have to eat around here?"
Gillian started laughing, that was a very good sign. "You're hungry?"
"Starving."
She breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I'll make you anything you want."
"I could really go for some eggs."
MacGyver was glad to hear that his friend's appetite was back. "You're going to be fine Jack."
He nodded but his face grew sad. "Maybe physically Mac but financially…you both can bring me some lilies to go along with my eggs."
Mac nodded his head. "Say Jack, do you know anything about being a CEO?"
Jack looked at his friend and creased his brow. "No."
MacGyver stretched out beside his friend and crossed his ankles. "Well neither do I but Gillian explained it to me. She said after every fiscal year, the stock holders give the CEO a bonus if the company has met its goal or has gone beyond it." He paused and checked with his wife. "Right Gill?"
Gillian nodded. "Yes you're right, please continue."
"Thank you." Mac cleared his throat. "So you see this year the stock holders all agreed that Mac Enterprises not only met their goals but surpassed them, so they gave Gillian and I a little bonus."
This bit of news interested Jack. "Really? That's great, how much?"
Mac shook his head. "Oh that isn't important but what we did with part of it I think is going to interest you."
He reached behind him and took an envelope out of his back pocket and handed it to his friend. "Here is a little get well present from Gillian and me."
Jack opened the envelope and took out a newspaper article; he unfolded it and read it. The article talked about how Frank Dervish had been arrested for a whole list of illegal activities. Jack read it and his mouth dropped open. "Dervish is in jail?"
"Yeah, and he's probably going to be there for the rest of his life."
"How?"
Mac and Gillian turned away from him and started whistling.
Jack's eyes widened. "You two? You two put him away? How?"
"Well, let's just say we had a really good suitcase."
Gillian covered her mouth and started laughing. "Yeah, you could say that."
Mac rubbed his neck. "Good but not very big." He pointed to the envelope. "That article isn't the only thing in that envelope, have a look."
Jack widened the envelope and took out another paper; he unfolded it and read it over, his hazel eyes grew wide again. "But…you can't…I mean."
The paper Jack was holding stated that Dalton School of Aviation was getting a brand new partner. This partner had not only taken care of everything that Dervish had spent but had also given a bonus to help get the school some proper equipment. The partner's name was MacGyver.
Jack looked at the paper again; he couldn't believe his friend had done this. "I don't know what to say Mac."
His new partner smiled widely. "You don't have to say anything, Jack. I couldn't let Dervish destroy everything you have worked so hard for and I know you would do the same for me."
"In a heartbeat."
Gillian nodded; she reached down and touched his face. "You're our friend Jack and we had to help you."
Jack folded the paper back up and looked at Mac. He finally had found a partner that he could trust, he stuck out his hand. "Put it there Partner."
MacGyver smiled and shook his hand. "Partners."
Gillian got up from the bed and went to go make Jack his eggs; she only got halfway down the hall when a voice rang out from the closed door.
"Jack Dalton are you nuts? We are not buying a whole fleet of brand new planes!"
Gillian continued walking towards the kitchen; she sighed and shook her head.