I'll just go and get it." Jack left the meeting room to go and retrieve the paperwork he'd forgotten."
Meanwhile, Nikki, Thomas and Clarissa continued their discussion with DI Lucas.
Jack didn't come back.
Is he not back yet? How long does it take to retrieve some paperwork that was 'on his desk'?" The Di grumbled impatiently.
"I'll go and see where he is!" Nikki threw an amused look at Thomas and Clarissa, before leaving the room.
"Jack?" She called, walking into the lab and heading towards the office she shared with him.
Upon seeing him crumpled in a heap by his desk, She yelled, "JACK! THOMAS AMBALANCE, NOW!"
Nikki dropped to her knees and gently turned him over to reveal a wound in his middle. It was oozing blood. His eyes were closed and she could hear his shallow breaths. Placing his head on her knees, she pulled off his t-shirt and inspected the damage to his torso, before applying pressure to the wound, causing a gasp to escape his lips.
Kissing his lips, softly, she whispered, "Jack? Come on, darling, I didn't survive Mexico to lose you now."
He coughed feebly and opened his eyes.
"...the Lyell Centre. I don't know, hang on. " Thomas came in, talking on the phone. "Nikki, what happened?"
"I don't know, but I think he's been stabbed." Jack gasped as she applied more pressure to his wound with his t-shirt that was no longer pale blue but a nasty shade of crimson. "I can't see how bad it is but he is losing a lot of blood."
Thomas repeated this down the phone, as he crouched down to examine Jacks wound.
Clarissa came into the lab with the DI behind her. "Who did this?" She asked, deeply worried about Jack.
"Josh...was...ste...al...ing...I caught...him." Jack gasped, his speech slurred and stunted by the injury he'd sustained. He grasped Nikki's hand. "I'm...so...rry. Took...me...by...sur...prise."
Nikki shushed him. "Shusshh, don't try to talk. Just try to stay awake, ok?" She looked at Thomas. "AMBALANCE, THOMAS?!" she barked at him.
"It's on the way, Nikki." the older man answered her, patiently.
"Well, tell them to HURRY UP!" She shot back. "Clarissa, he needs some water!"
"Still...boss...ing...eve...ry...one...about...Nikki" Jack mumbled.
"Yeah, you'd better believe it! Stop trying to talk" She replied, quietly.
Clarissa appeared next to her with a glass of water.
"Thanks."
Nikki gently tilted Jack's head back as Thomas took the glass off Clarissa and slowly poured a little water into Jack's open mouth with his free hand.
Jack coughed and spluttered a little.
"Alright, easy"
Nikki's hands resumed their position on his chest and re-applied pressure, causing him to gasp again.
Jack gripped Nikki's arm.
"...go..."
"What?"
"...better...go...might...come...back" he stammered.
"I'm not going anywhere, Jack. None of us are."
"Josh..." He started again.
"We are not going to leave you here to bleed to daeth, so just forget about it!" Nikki told him firmly.
"Thomas, where is the bloody ambulance?!"
"I'll go and let them in when they arrive." He answered.
Jack gripped Nikki's arm again.
"tis...o-k" He gasped, wanting to give her reassurance despite the predicament he was currently in. . She kissed the top of his head and sighed with relief as the sound of sirens became louder.
"...stab wound to the chest and he's bleeding a lot." Thomas cam in with two paramedics.
"Conscious?" One of them was asking him.
"At the moment." Letting the paramedics tend to Jack, Nikki grabbed her coat and bag off the back of her desk chair.
"...Nikki..." Jack whimpered as the paramedics lifted him onto the stretcher and picked it up.
She appeared back at his side.
"It's ok, I'm here." She whispered as his clammy hand grasped hers.
"You go in the ambulance and we'll meet you at the hospital." Thomas placed a reassuring hand on Nikki's shoulder. "He'll be ok, Nikki."
He better be. She answered silently.
