A little bit Hurt/Comfort off the Cuba episode
"Angus MacGyver, you open your eyes and look at me, right now young man!"
Jack released the breath he was holding when finally his young partner's eyes fluttered open and although not entirely focused or clear, they looked up at him.
"Jaaack..." the young agent looked up at his partner and blinked, trying to get his bearings. He then realized that everything hurt, basically from head to toe. "What the hell happened?" He asked in a soft, exhausted tone.
"Easy there bud" Jack pushed the boy back down when Mac tried to sit up. "I don't think you moving right now would be a good idea son" He smiled down at his young friend trying to keep calm for both their sakes.
"Where are we?, what ..." Mac closed his eyes and brought a hand to his forehead, wincing in pain as the room tilted violently and his stomach decided to join in on the fun. He swallowed compulsively in an attempt to keep whatever his last meal (what was that anyway?) had been, inside his stomach.
"We are in Cuba son" Jack told him, keeping a hand on Mac's shoulder to keep him from getting up. "We had a little accident remember?" "We, well you, sort of drove off a bridge"
It suddenly all came back to Mac; right, the chase, the barrier...he was right, it did hurt. Mac looked up at Jack and gave him an almost unnoticeable nod. He looked around and realized he was on a bed, back in their room. He couldn't remember anything since his imminent impact with the barrier.
"I remember now"; Mac made to sit up again, "Let me up Jack, I need to use the bathroom"
Jack did not like how pale Mac was looking, nor how slow to respond he was, after all Mac's brain worked like a perfectly tuned watch, keeping exact, flawless time, never missing a beat; he really would have preferred that Mac stayed in bed and rested for another 2 hours or... 2 weeks... but Nature's calls did have some pull.
"OK son, I'm going to help you sit up, then I'm going to help you stand up and into the bathroom" Jack waited for Mac's sluggish brain to catch up, when the boy blinked up at him, he continued, "I want you to let me do most of the heavy lifting, OK son?"
Mac nodded. Jack pulled him up to a sitting position, the world pulling him all the way around in a sickening motion and everything went grey.
Jack placed his hands on the back of the boy's shoulders and lifted Mac up to a sitting position; which, as he suspected, was NOT a good idea, one minute he was hosting his boy up and seated, the next he was holding an unconscious boy in his arms.
"Damn it!" Jack carefully laid Mac back down on the bed, he then ran to the bathroom, wet a towel and came back to the bed. He placed the towel against Mac's flushed forehead and then carefully took the boy's pulse off his carotid ; it was strong and steady, at least that was something to be happy about.
Mac came to about a minute later, he looked back up at Jack and coughed, which hurt like hell, bruised ribs, great...those are always fun he thought...
"Hey there again" Jack said. "How-ya doing bud?"
"I feel like I got hit by a truck and then it backed over me again, for good measure"
Jack was surprised that Mac was admitting to being in pain, after all, that was not really something Mac did often.
"I bet you do son". Jack smiled down at his young partner. "I am pretty sure you have a concussion; at least 5 very badly bruised ribs, a cut on your cheek, and various bumps and bruises all over your back, legs and shoulders"
"Yeah…you're probably right" Mac said softly. "Um Jack, I..um… still have to…"
Jack smiled and nodded. "Right, Nature's call".
"Jack, what are you doing?" Mac almost yelled, "Put me down!"
Jack had suddenly and simply picked up Mac bridal style and had started for the bathroom. It was obvious that walking was probably not in the cards for Mac, not yet, and he was tired and hurting a bit too, so the sooner he got his boy to take care of business, the sooner they would both be able to go back to sleep, so Jack ignored Mac and continued on into the bathroom.
"OK bud" Jack said while standing in front of the toilet, "I am going to put you down slowly, but I'm not going far, I'm going to stand right behind you, you can literally lean against me as much as you need to while you take care of things, OK?"
Mac's face went from pale to beet-red in an instant. "Jack, I can manage on my own"
"Look kid, you are not in any shape to manage anything on your own right now; I am tired, you're tired, we both need some rest and the last thing we need is for you to face-plant on the bathroom floor because you are too weak to stand" Jack waited, since Mac did not speak, he continued, "Look kid, it is just me, OK, you ain't got nothing I haven't seen before (it was not like the Army provided privacy to their soldiers out in the Sandbox), so just, please, work with me here, OK kiddo?"
Mac sighed, nodded and let Jack lower him to his feet. The change in position did make the room tilt again, so it really was good that he was effectively being propped up and held up by Jack, or he would have face-planted on the bathroom floor indeed.
"Breathe Mac, breathe through it, it's OK, I've got you" Jack was holding on to the boy for dear life, while trying to get Mac to find his sea legs.
After a few seconds, Mac opened his eyes, not sure of when he had closed them, "OK, I'm OK Jack"; he then began the process doing what he had come in to do. After, Jack had helped him to the sink and still held on tightly as he washed up and threw some water on his face as well.
"Ready to go back to bed son?"
"Yeah, that is probably a good idea" Mac's depleted energy reserves were dwindling very quickly, even though he was using Jack to hold most of his weight as he stood, his body was exhausted and fading fast. He said nothing as his pseudo father picked him up again and carried him back to bed.
Jack deposited Mac carefully on the bed, mindful of the kid's ribs and bruises. He couldn't resist brushing some stray hairs off Mac's forehead as he moved away from the boy. Mac was closer to thirty than twenty now, but still, when he was injured, he always seemed so much more like that 19-year-old boy Jack first met in the desert.
"Thanks Jack" Mac whispered, his eyes starting to close on their own, but stubborn as always, he opened them back up and asked, "What is the plan Jack?" They needed to leave Cuba, obviously, so he wanted to know what their next move would be and when?
Jack sighed. "Right now bud, the plan is that you get some rest; I will call Mattie and coordinate our exit tomorrow, but right now, neither one of us is up for much more than some rest, so close your eyes and get some sleep bud; I'm not going anywhere, OK?"
Mac wanted to argue, to tell Jack that he was ready and able to go now if need be, but, his body betrayed him, because he barely heard Jack's "OK" when his eyes just closed on their own and he was out cold.
Jack looked down at his young partner and realized Mac was already out. Well, he thought, at least that was easy….He then grabbed the small chair from the corner of the room and placed it beside the kid's bed. He sat down with a grunt and proceeded to keep watch on his young charge.
Tomorrow they would leave Cuba, by way of Phoenix Medical (even if he had to drag the kid in kicking and screaming), but tonight, he would slumber lightly as he sat beside he whom he loved more than his own life, his boy, to make sure Mac was OK throughout the night.