Once Katerina was in the custody of the Agents who would keep her safe until she could testify against her boss, MacGyver followed his friends to a nearby restaurant since Jack was starving and Riley confessed to a few hunger pangs as well.
So Mac found himself in a corner booth, absently listening to his companions arguing about Television shows, while he let his mind wander. Now that Katerina was safe, MacGyver's thoughts made their way back around to Nikki and the key. The moment he was back home he was heading to her place to see if he could find whatever it was the key opened.
Jack paused in arguing with Riley, and eating his steak, to comment to MacGyver, "So...Katerina is a beautiful woman." He liked her, if only because she had managed to pull his focus away from Nikki, and there had definitely been sparks between them.
It took a moment for MacGyver to realize that Jack was talking to him. "She is," he acknowledged, with a slight smile. Katerina had beautiful eyes and soft lips.
"Something wrong with your food?" Jack continued, totally switching topics. He did it on purpose, because the best way to get an honest answer out of Mac was to get him off balanced and distracted.
"It's fine," MacGyver replied, frowning at the odd question.
Riley spoke up. "How would you know, Mac? You haven't eaten any of it. All you've done is move it around the plate."
MacGyver was about to protest but, when he looked down at his plate, he realized she was telling the truth. So he decided it was time to go on the offensive. "What...are you two tag-teaming me?"
"Maybe," Riley shot back, because she was starting to become concerned about MacGyver right along with Jack. They hadn't eaten in over twenty-four hours yet Mac hadn't touched his food. As lean as he was, Riley knew MacGyver could pack away the food. She had called him on where he put it more than once, because he never seemed to gain an ounce. His response had been, *good metabolism*.
"Well knock it off," MacGyver countered, pinning her with a glare. "Bad enough when Jack gets on my case." He turned his glare on said friend and continued, "Especially when it's unnecessary. I'm fine, guys. I'm just not that hungry." MacGyver pointed to their empty plates. "Besides, it looks like the two of you ate enough for me."
Jack rolled his eyes. "It doesn't work like that, bro, and you know it. What's going on in that ginormous brain of yours?"
MacGyver set his fork down and wiped his hands on his napkin just for the sake of having something to do with them. In this moment he would have given anything for a paper clip to play with. "Nothing is going on, Jack." MacGyver hated it when he was put on the spot and he found himself fidgeting, which made him wince. Between the big guy who had pulled him into the cabin and stomped on his chest, to the guy who had whacked him in the back with his gun, and let's not forget the knife dude knocking him around a bit, Mac was starting to feel all the bumps and bruises.
"I'm not buying it, Mac," Jack drawled. "And don't think I haven't noticed that you're hurting. I'm guessing your little trip underneath the train has something to do with it."
"What trip under the train?" Riley interjected.
MacGyver really didn't want to relive that moment, so he cut them both off by saying, "I'm just tired and a little sore, Jack. No big deal. Can we go now?" He had come back around full circle and he really wanted to get back home and check out Nikki's place. The key was burning a hole in his pocket. To that end, Mac pulled out his wallet and dumped enough bills on the table to cover their meal and the tip. He then slid out of the booth, pausing to give his companions the time to follow.
Relieved when they got up and followed him outside, MacGyver was more than ready to take advantage of the beautiful city lights and surprisingly pleasant night air. They could call for a car to pick them up, but he was more inclined to walk. Apparently so were his friends.
"Let's walk to the pick up point," Jack stated, sucking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly. "It's a beautiful night and I need to walk off some calories."
"Copy that," Riley replied, smirking.
So they fell into step, side by side, meandering their way through the passerby on the side-walk. MacGyver found himself enjoying the walk and the chatter of his friends, until a scream pierced the air and they all turned as one to see man in a hoodie grab the purse of a young woman walking with her small daughter. The woman had been holding the little girl's hand, but the purse snatcher lunged between them, pushing them apart as he snagged the bag and ran.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Jack took off after the mugger and Riley ran to the woman, who had face planted onto the side-walk and wasn't moving. MacGyver locked eyes on the little girl who had been shoved off the side walk and into the street, where she now laying crying. Before he even thought about it, Mac was running into the street, ignoring the on coming vehicle fast approaching. He scooped the little girl into his arms and turned for the sidewalk, hearing the obnoxious honk of the car horn in his ears, and knowing he wasn't going to make it.
Catching sight of a man just a few feet away, MacGyver shouted to him even as he swung the girl in that direction. "Catch!"
Luckily the man had been moving towards him with the intent of helping and he held out his arms and snagged the girl right before the car, brakes squealing, plowing into MacGyver's side, sending him onto the hood as it swerved and crashed into a parked car, where Mac slid onto the hood of that vehicle before rolling down to hit the pavement. There hadn't been time to feel any pain until he hit the ground, but even that was brief because darkness hit him like a sledgehammer and he then he knew nothing at all.
Riley, who had been helping the terrified woman to her feet as she screamed her daughter's name, turned to the street just in time to see Mac hand off the little girl before being hit by a car. She wanted to scream MacGyver's name as he landed on the street, but it lodged in her throat. Riley didn't hesitate to sprint to Mac's side, feeling frozen as she fell to
her knees beside his still and crumpled form. There was blood on his temple and he was so pale, but Riley made herself
press two fingertips to his neck in search of a pulse. Only she had to shake her hand, forcing it not to tremble as she tried again. Relief washed through her at the soft flutter against her fingertips.
"Someone call 911!" Riley shouted, hoping they had that or the equivalent here in Frankfurt. "Hang on, Mac," she begged him, one hand smoothing through his hair. "Just hang on!"
"Riley!" Jack shouted, as he pushed his way through the crowd gathered on the street. He had caught the purse snatcher, retrieving the young woman's purse and sending the young hoodlum on his way with a bloody nose as a reminder to change his way and follow the straight and narrow. He had heard the sound of horns honking and people screaming and shouting as he made his way back to his friends.
Spotting the woman who's purse had been snatched standing on the edge of the sidewalk and clutching her daughter to her chest, Jack went to her, offering her bag back. He was about to ask if she'd seen Riley and MacGyver, all the while hoping she spoke English, when he spotted Riley's dark head. Jack's heart froze in his chest when he realized she was kneeling beside MacGyver's still form. Jack shoved the purse at the woman before running the few steps to reached his friends.
Hand shaking, Jack checked for a pulse even as Riley assured him there was one. "What happened?" Jack asked, eyes locked on Mac's pale face. The kid was too damn still.
"I...I'm not sure," Riley replied, her own eyes lifting to Jack's grim face. "I was helping the woman and I saw Mac in the street with the little girl in his arms. He handed her off to someone just before he was hit by the car. It happened so fast." Riley felt a tear slide down her face and she, angrily, brushed it away with the back of one hand.
Before Jack could respond, a man was kneeling beside him. "I called for medical assistance and the police," he said in somewhat halting English.
Jack nodded, clapping the man on the shoulder. "Thank you. Hey, you didn't happen to see what happened here, did you?"
"Your...friend...saved that little girl," the man replied, pointing to the woman who had been mugged and her daughter. "When that hoodlum grabbed the woman's purse, he pushed the little girl into the street. Your friend ran into the street and grabbed her, handing her off right before the car would have run her over. He didn't have time to get out of the way. He's very brave."
"That he is." Jack felt a well a of pride overcoming his fear, just for a moment. Then he heard the sound of sirens and suddenly there were medical personnel and cops swarming them. The next thing Jack knew he was in the back of an Ambulance with MacGyver, racing for the nearby hospital. Riley riding with a cop, right behind them.
Soon they were at the hospital, but not soon enough for Jack. Mac was being wheeled into an exam room and Jack was being ushered to a waiting area. Riley arrived a moment later and she made him sit down as the minutes dragged on into an hour, then two and more. She let him know she had contacted Thornton who would be waiting for an update on Mac.
Finally a Doctor came out to speak with them. "I'm Dr. Westland." Surprisingly, she had a British accent.
"How's MacGyver?" Jack asked, cutting straight to the chase.
"He's doing surprisingly well, all things considered," Dr. Westland replied. "He has a concussion, a sprained wrist and deep bone bruising on his right hip and into his thigh. It goes without saying that he's going to be very sore but, miraculously, nothing is broken."
Riley felt weak with relief. "Can we see him?"
Dr. Westland smiled at her. "Soon. He's being moved into a private room. It seems your Director Thornton contacted our Hospital administrator and arranged for our best accommodations for Mr. MacGyver during his recovery."
"That sounds like Patty," Jack conceded, relieved to know that MacGyver would be well looked after. "How long are we talking for Mac to be here?"
"At least a few days," Dr. Westland replied. "He's responsive but groggy and once you've seen him I'm going to lightly sedate him so he can rest. He's going to have to take it easy for a while. Deep bone bruising like he's suffered can take up to four months to heal fully. He's lucky he sprained his right hand, so he'll be able to use a crutch to help him walk."
Jack grimaced. "He's right handed."
The doctor shrugged. " Consider it a trade off. He'll need to stay off his feet as much as possible for the first month in particular. Undue strain will slow the healing process."
"I will make it my personal mission to make sure that MacGyver takes it easy and does as he's told," Jack stated, all the while knowing it was not going to be easy to do as it might sound. The kid was not going to like having to rest and take it easy.
"Good luck with that," Dr. Westland offered. "Even groggy and hurting he tried to convince me to let him leave. I'll send a nurse out to take you to his room once he's settled in." With that Dr. Westland turned and left.
Jack turned to Riley only to find himself with an armful of hacker. She clung to him, body shaking, and Jack hugged her tight. "MacGyver is going to be okay," he reassured her. "He's one tough cookie."
Riley pulled out of the hug, smoothing her hair and nodding. "Yeah...he is. Um...sorry about the hug thing."
"It's okay, I needed it as much as you did," Jack stated, and he meant it. The thought of losing Mac had shook him to his very core. It was one thing to go on a mission, knowing that they were putting their lives on the line for their country. But Mac randomly getting hit by a car, Jack hadn't been ready for that one. Sliding his phone out of his pocket, Jack contacted Thornton to let her know that MacGyver was going to be okay, but they would be hanging around Frankfurt for a few days.
Nearly half an hour passed before a nurse came to lead Jack and Riley to MacGyver's room on the top floor. She led them down a long corridor and into the last room on the left. It was surprisingly posh inside but Jack's focus was on the figure in the bed near the window.
He practically ran over, eyes locked on MacGyver's pale face. He had been cleaned up and there was a bruise on his left cheekbone and a butterfly bandage on his temple at the hair line. Mac was hooked up to an IV, which Jack knew he was going to hate, but he was whole and breathing and Jack could not be happier. Leaning in he said softly, "Hey, Mac?"
Blond eyelashes fluttered and a moment later, blue eyes were staring at him. MacGyver blinked hard then said, "Hey, Jack," back.
"How are you feeling, bro?" Jack queried.
"Like I got hit by a car," Mac quipped, albeit with a slight slur to his voice. "Did you get the purse snatcher?"
Jack nodded. "I did and, I'm sorry to say, I let him go with a warning." More than anything Jack wished he had turned the guy into the police. He was the reason Mac was hurt and he should be in jail.
MacGyver seemed to be reading Jack's mind. "That's okay." Shifting to get more comfortable, Mac hissed as pain rippled through him from head to toe. It made him catch his breath, his fingers clutching at the blankets.
"Try to breathe through it," Jack coached him. He wanted to touch MacGyver but he was afraid of hurting him more.
"I'm...I'm good." It took a minute or two, but the pain faded to a level he could deal with. Until a thought hit him and he made the mistake of trying to sit up. Ignoring the pain this time, MacGyver reached out to grip Jack by the arm. "The little girl...I asked but no one knew what I was talking about. What happened to the little girl?" It should have been the first thing he had asked, but MacGyver found it hard to think straight. His thoughts felt muddled and sluggish, making it hard to focus. The thudding ache in his skull wasn't helping matters any.
Jack carefully pressed MacGyver back against the pillow, all the while trying to avoid the bandaged right wrist and the IV line taped to the back of the kid's left hand. "The little girl is A-Okay, brother. You saved her you big, damn, hero."
MacGyver started to shake his head then thought the better of it. "Nothing heroic about it. I didn't think I was going to get to her in time."
"Well you did." It was Riley who spoke up from the other side of the bed. "Only next time you play hero, could you do one of your cool tricks and avoid getting hit by a car? You scared the hell out of me, Mac." She knew she sounded a bit angry and accusing, but she couldn't seem to help it.
"Duly noted," MacGyver replied, managing a wobbly smile. He knew she wasn't mad at him, just concerned. He turned back to Jack. "So, when do we leave?" Mac knew the doctor had said something about him having to stay for a day or two, but he was fine and more than ready to head for home.
Jack shook his head at Mac. "Nice try, kid, but you're stuck here for a couple of days. Keep in mind that if you behave yourself, you'll increase your odds of leaving in a timely manner."
MacGyver resisted the urge to pout at that, in part because he was pretty sure it would hurt to do it, but mainly because he was too tired to make the effort. Despite feeling like every bone and muscle in his body ached right how, he wanted nothing more than to sleep. But before he could let himself drift away, there was something important he needed to deal with. "Jack...where's the key?"
"What key?" Jack countered, not bothering to hide his confusion.
"It was in my pocket," Mac explained. "The key Nikki gave me."
Riley piped up at that. "Nikki gave you a key? When did that happen?"
Jack turned to her. "Long story, I'll explain later." That said he moved to the armoire in the corner and located MacGyver's clothing. Lying on top was a baggie with his personal effects in them. One of the items was the key. Jack slid it out and brought it over to his friend. "Found it." He wasn't sure what hand to put it in, since they both had issues.
MacGyver reached out with his left hand, cursing the IV needle taped to the back. Once the key was pressed into his palm, he closed his fingers over it. "Thanks." He needed to keep it safe until he knew what it unlocked. That was the only way he would get the answers he needed to understand why Nikki had done what she had done. Then he would finally be able to let her go and move on with his life.
With perfect timing, the nurse entered the room and moved to the IV bag. "It's time for Mr. MacGyver to get some rest," she said, in surprisingly good English. "You may return in the morning to visit him."
"I'm not going anywhere," Jack stated firmly, planting himself in a nearby chair. "Have your boss call my boss and I'm betting she'll tell you the same." No way in hell was he leaving Mac's side.
"You don't have to stay, Jack," MacGyver interjected, already feeling the effects of the sedative and cursing it. Sure he was tired, but he hated being drugged. Although the warmth seeping through his veins right now soothed the aches in his body as it spread throughout.
Jack glared at Mac, although it was a wasted effort, seeing as how the kid's eyes had already drifted closed. "I'm staying," he repeated firmly. He turned to tell Riley she should leave and get some rest, because Thornton would have found them lodgings, but the hacker was already firmly ensconced in the other chair. "We're staying," Jack amended. "I'll call you if we need you." With that he shooed the nurse out of the room with the wave of one hand.
For a while Jack and Riley sat watching Mac sleep in between playing games on their phones. Sometime later they both drifted off to sleep.
A scuffling sound brought Jack back to consciousness. He jumped to his feet, on alert, eyes locked on the hospital bed, only to realize it was empty and that the scuffling sound was coming from his right. He shouldn't have been surprised to see MacGyver exiting the bathroom, fully dressed. "What the hell are you doing out of bed?"
"Taking care of business," Mac replied through gritted teeth. He woken up two hours ago to a nurse bringing him a duffle bag with clean clothes. She told him it had been sent by a Director Thornton, then she had checked his IV before asking if he needed anything. MacGyver had assured her he was fine. He had seen Riley and Jack sleeping in nearby chairs and had waited to make sure the nurse wouldn't return before slipping the IV needle out and sliding out of bed. The journey to the bathroom had totally sucked, but it had been worth it to take care of nature and to shower so that he felt clean again.
"You're hair is wet," Jack stated, taking in Mac's appearance from head to toe. He was dressed in clean jeans and a blue, button up shirt. He was wearing socks but no shoes and he was clinging to the bathroom doorframe like it was the only thing keeping him upright. Jack rushed over and moved to Mac's right side to support him before practically hauling him back over to the bed.
MacGyver considered resisting, but it felt good to sit down and take the weight off his left side. His hip and thigh hurt like a bastard, but that didn't stop him from a sarcastic comeback to Jack's statement. "That's what happens when you take a shower, Jack. You get wet."
Jack wasn't playing this game. "What was the point of getting dressed? You're going to be here for a few more days."
"Actually, I'm not." Mac let his head fall back against the pillow before rubbing at his temples in an attempt to relieve the relentless throbbing that had taken up residence in his skull. At the time, taking a shower and getting dressed had seemed like a great idea. Now, not so much.
"What do you mean you're not?" Jack persisted. "Doc Westland told me you'd be here for a few days."
Mac focused on Jack, who looked both angry and concerned. "I signed myself out."
Huffing a sigh, Jack countered, "Well you're going to sign yourself back in or I'm going to do it for you. Better yet, I'll call Thornton and she'll sign you back in."
"I already spoke to Thornton and she's sending a car to pick us up in about..." MacGyver paused to peer at his watch. "In about ten minutes. I'm going home, Jack. I'll heal just as fast at home," he insisted, countering what he knew was going to be his friend's next argument.
"What are you going to tell Bozer happened?" It was Riley who asked. She had woken up when Jack got MacGyver back into bed, but she had remained quiet as she listened to their back and forth. Her money was on Mac for the win.
MacGyver was prepared for that question. "I'll tell him I got hit by a car at the Think Tank parking lot."
Riley was impressed. "Sounds like it will work."
"It will," Mac assured her. "I've learned to be creative in the past few years."
"I bet." She pushed out of the chair and headed for the bathroom. "Well...continue your argument, gentleman, while I use the facilities." She closed the door firmly behind her.
"We're not arguing!" Jack called after her, before focusing his attention back on MacGyver. "I really think you need to stay put for a few days and let yourself heal. Look at you, bro. You're pale and shaking just from taking a shower. Doc told me you need to take it easy and rest for at least a month."
MacGyver had read his chart and spoken to the nurse, so he knew what he was up against. "I'm not staying out of play for a month, Jack. You know that's not going to happen. I'll take a couple of days to heal up then we'll be good to go. You'll just have to be the one chasing the bad guys for a while."
Jack bit back a retort because he knew Mac wasn't going to listen to him, nor was he going to budge now that his mind was made up. He decided to play it smart and offer the kid a compromise they could both live with. "Tell you what, I'll make a deal with you."
"What kind of a deal?" MacGyver countered, suspiciously. He knew better than to think any deal Jack offered him right now was going to work in his favor.
"You get to go home today, but once we get there you take two weeks off," Jack began.
Only for MacGyver to interrupt him. "I'm not taking two weeks off, Jack! No deal!"
Raising both hands to placate Mac, Jack continued. "Think of it as a team vacation, bro. We could all use the time off and you know it. So you'd be doing me and Riley a favor by taking the time to chill out and heal. What do you say?"
"One week," MacGyver shot back, only because he knew Jack wouldn't back down until he agreed to a compromise of some sort. Besides which, he knew he was going to be hurting for a few days and that it wouldn't be wise to go out into the field if he wasn't up to par. He wouldn't risk Jack and Riley's lives because he wasn't mission ready.
"Two weeks or I call Thornton and let her make the deal her way," Jack countered, knowing that the boss would make MacGyver follow doctor's orders to the letter. At the same time he knew the kid wouldn't risk letting anyone get hurt because he wasn't one hundred percent. MacGyver would push himself hard, but he'd make sure he was up to doing his job. Jack trusted him to make the right call.
MacGyver knew when he was beaten. "Fine...two weeks. But you're not allowed to Mother-hen me."
Jack shrugged. "Fair enough, I'll let Bozer do it." He knew Mac's friend would fuss over him even more, and judging by the sudden look of fear on MacGyver's face, the kid knew it too.
"Now you're just being mean," MacGyver mumbled.
"I'm just looking out for you, bud." Jack clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll go check on the ETA of our pick up and grab a wheelchair." He shook a finger at MacGyver when he opened his mouth to protest. "Wheelchair is non negotiable and you know it. Be back soon." He turned to go but instead stepped back around to ruffled Mac's hair. "Glad you're okay, kid. Not gonna lie, you had me worried there for a minute."
Mac scowled at Jack as he smoothed his hair back down. "You're stuck with me, old man," he drawled, smirking when Jack waved a fist at him as he headed for the door.
A moment later Riley stepped out of the bathroom. "Is the coast clear?" she asked, moving over to the bed.
"For a minute," Mac allowed. "You ready to go home?"
"So ready," Riley allowed. "You know, I'm with Jack. You scared me for a minute there."
MacGyver felt a flutter of regret. "Sorry about that but, trust me, it was not intentional. Getting hit by a car is not fun."
Riley grinned. "I bet it's not, and I fully intend to take your word for it rather than try it myself some day."
Before MacGyver could respond, Jack entered the room pushing a wheelchair. "Time to go?" Mac asked, hopefully.
"Time to go," Jack confirmed. "The car is waiting outside so we're out of here as soon as you plop your skinny butt in the chair." For all that he was worried, Jack was more than ready to get out of here as well and go home.
"No popping wheelies, Jack," MacGyver warned him, as he maneuvered himself off the bed and into the chair. "Crap...I forgot my boots."
Riley snagged them and handed them over. "Need help putting them on?" she offered.
MacGyver grimaced and declined. "I've got it." It was painful, but he managed to slip them on without tying them. "Let's get out of here."
"Getting," Jack replied, as he carefully wheeled Mac out of the room and down the hallway towards the elevator. They were good to go since MacGyver had already signed off on his discharge papers.
But as they passed the Nurse's station, one of the nurses ran over to them with a light brown teddy bear in her hand. "Mr. MacGyver, this came for you," she said, waving the bear.
He took it with a frown. "Who brought me a teddy bear, and why?" MacGyver wondered if Jack was pranking him, but a look at his friend and he could see that Jack was equally befuddled.
The nurse explained. "It was the woman who's daughter you saved. She said her daughter, Valerie, wanted you to have it to remember her by."
"Oh." Mac hadn't been expecting anything like this, so it threw him a little. "Thanks. Um...I mean, if you see them again, thank her for me."
"I will," the nurse promised.
"Hey, Jack, could you go any slower?" Riley interrupted, as she caught up with them. She had remembered Mac's duffle bag at the last moment. "Mac said no popping wheelies, but I don't think he meant you had to do a 180 and go all Driving Miss Daisy on him."
Jack came to an abrupt stop, turning to stare at Riley. "You've actually seen that movie?"
Riley frowned. "Sure, it was on Netflix and it's a classic."
"All the movies I've mentioned in the past have been classics," Jack stated. "But you've haven't seen any of those."
"That's because Driving Miss Daisy wasn't on 50 years ago," Riley countered, smirking at him.
MacGyver knew they were winding up for one of their infamous snark fests and he really wasn't in the mood for it. "Can we go now, Jack? Or I could walk?" That did the trick and Jack started pushing him again.
Forty-five minutes later they were airborne and Mac let himself relax into the leather seat, the teddy bear propped up next to him. He had let Jack explain to Riley about the bear on the ride over. MacGyver had just closed his eyes when he felt a hand on his arm and he blinked up at Jack who was holding out his hand. In his palm were two tablets. "What are those?" Mac asked.
"Pain pills," Jack replied. "And you will take them, bro."
"Fine." MacGyver was hurting enough not to want to argue for once. He accepted the pills and a water bottle, then he swallowed them down before closing his eyes once more. He let himself drift to the sound of Riley and Jack arguing about some TV show. Feeling like his life was, somewhat, back to normal, Mac fell asleep.
He was oblivious to Jack covering him with a blanket and tucking the bear into the curve of one arm, and of Riley taking a picture.
But he had all the time in the world to get revenge on them.
THE END