Part II

Ducky watched his young assistant duck out of the wrecked bus, then turned his attention to the twenty or so passengers who, for the most part, were staring at him with considerable confusion.

"My name is Dr. Mallard," he said in his calm way. "My assistant and I had the same misfortune you have had, the mudslide has destroyed our vehicle and effectively trapped us here. No need to worry, however, I know a search will be mounted for us shortly. In the meantime I will do what I can to treat your injuries and make the wait for rescue just a bit more comfortable."

He carefully moved forward, toward a young woman cradling a toddler in her arms, rocking in an instinctual way to comfort her child. "My dear, are you injured?" Ducky queried gently.

Huge brown eyes turned to him, and she mutely shook her head in the negative. Up close Ducky could see the youngster was a girl, perhaps three years old. "And your daughter? Is she injured?"

Without speaking the young mother moved her child out from her a ways, allowing Ducky to see where the child's arm had bled profusely, staining her mother's side and leaving a small puddle below.

"Oh, my, we do need to take care of that," he said, not letting his dismay color his tone. The young woman's expression and actions indicated that she did not understand English well, so the words were of less import than the tone of his voice. Searching about he saw a bandana amongst the rubble, and he grabbed it eagerly. "Ah, just what the doctor ordered, so to speak." It was dark blue and emblazoned with skulls and crossbones, but he doubted the child would much care.

Moving slowly and speaking reassuringly, he was able to bind the child's arm, stopping the flow of blood. The girl was conscious, but mostly unresponsive, which worried the elder man. Finding a coat lying nearby he carefully wrapped the small body in the warm folds, encouraging the mother to hold the child close and keep her warm. Then he moved on to the next victim.

This was an elderly man, wearing an expensive suit, perhaps a few seasons out of style, but well-made and probably quite costly in its day. And now liberally spattered with blood and mud. He'd had a nosebleed, from the looks of things, and had been seated by one of the few windows that had broken, allowing an influx of the mud into the bus's interior.

"Are you in pain?" Ducky asked shining his small light over the fellow's extremities to look for additional bleeding, unusual positioning, or any other sign of problems. Not finding any the Medical Examiner looked into the elder gentleman's eyes, not surprised to find them a bit distant and confused.

"No, no pain," he said, his voice oddly soft and gentle. "This isn't what I expected," he added.

"Who could expect this? Let's get you a jacket, I'm thinking you are a bit in shock, no?" Dr. Mallard replied, liberating another jacket from the jumbled mess amongst which his patients were scattered.

Patting the oldster's shoulder reassuringly, he moved on to the next pair of patients, two teenage boys, bright eyed and anxious.

"Is someone gonna come for us?" the blond one asked, peering past Ducky's shoulder as if he expected rescue in the next ten minutes.

"I'm very sure someone will, but it will take time. There's no way to know how large this mudslide is," he replied with a reassuring smile. "Are you injured?"

"No man, me and Sean here, we're fine. It's a little freaky, like that movie, you know, the Poseidon Adventure, you know, with the ship's upside down, stuff hanging from the ceiling, weird shit like that," the teen replied.

"Ah, well, yes, I don't believe we will sink any further, so that's a comfort at least. And what's your name?"

"Joey. Joe. I'm Joe. Me 'n Sean, we're heading out to visit my brother in college. See if we want to apply to there. Ah, who am I kidding? We wanted to check out the babe situation before we applied," the youth grinned. Dark haired Sean grinned in agreement, causing Ducky to chuckle.

"Well, perhaps you two could help a bit? There's so much..um…stuff, here on the ceiling, or floor so to speak, it's making it difficult to move about. Perhaps you could take some of it to the front, and move it outside for now? Not jackets or clothing, I can use those, but packages, purses, that sort of thing. Don't take them too far, in fact try not to actually leave the bus if you can avoid it. But, remember, folks will want the items back, they just don't need to be under foot right now," he asked, smiling at the eager nods from the boys. He'd already used a jacket to cover the deceased driver as well as possible, so he figured it to be okay for these two wiry young men to do some rearranging of the interior. Who knew how long they'd be stuck in there. "Oh, and keep an eye out for any food. Set that aside, just in case."

"We can do that," Joe assured him, reaching out and looking at the items nearest them. "And I promise, we'll be careful."

"Thank you, lads. That's a big help."

And so it went. A middle aged woman in shock with a dislocated shoulder. A bearded biker type – Ducky wondered if it was his bandana he'd used earlier – with a goose egg size knot on his head. An elderly couple who were uninjured but confused by the circumstances and perhaps having problems with the altitude. A young couple who had been sitting near the middle of the bus. The wife seemed okay, but the husband had a back injury which worried Ducky a great deal. A pregnant woman who had an inward turning look that also worried the medical examiner. Before heading toward the folks at the back of the bus, he heard Jimmy return.

Sean and Joey had met the assistant M.E. at the doorway, leading to both parties being a mite startled. But the teens' faces had lit up at the prospect of supplies that could help the other passengers, and they reached out with eager hands to help Jimmy. Ducky hurried to the door, then chuckled with fond appreciation at his assistant's resourcefulness.

Jimmy had used one of the sturdy plastic sheets they used to wrap bodies in as a makeshift sled, loading all the bandages, salves, and braces he could find, as well as their emergency rations, a change of clothing for himself and Ducky, and assorted other paraphernalia as he thought Ducky might need or be able to utilize. At the back of the 'sled' were two stacks of folded plastic and canvas wraps.

"Well done, Mr. Palmer. Very well done. You got it all in this one trip?" Ducky asked with a proud look at his assistant.

"I think so. Not much left in the van, truth to be told," Jimmy replied with a grin. "It's not easy to walk in that muck, I figured if I could do it in one trip that'd be best."

"Good thinking, lad. Well, let's see what I have here. Jimmy, that lady there has a dislocated shoulder, we don't want to deal with it right now, too much else to do, but could you perhaps bind it better? And get this neck brace on that fellow in the middle. I've not checked the folks in back as yet," Ducky instructed as Sean and Joe went back to their task of clearing out the bus.

"First, I was thinking, we should probably change our clothes, at least from the pants down, so we don't get this mud everywhere. I grabbed our extra shoes even," Jimmy suggested and the stack of clothing was handed in by Sean.

"Excellent idea. And it will help keep us warm."

For the next hour the two men worked diligently. At the end of that time Ducky and Jimmy met at the front of the bus to confer. By Ducky's count they had twenty three patients, only six of whom had escaped injury. Five were what Ducky considered serious: the small child with the cut arm, who remained oddly unresponsive, the young man with the spinal injury, the pregnant woman in shock, a teenage girl with a compound fracture of her left leg, and a middle aged man who was deeply unconscious. While the two medical men were discussing their options, their helpful teenager companions came up, interrupting their discussion.

"Um, Doctor, Sean and I were talking about it, and we think it'd be a good idea if we went for help. I mean, it's nowhere near night time, and we aren't injured. And we both run track, we're plenty strong and can go a long ways. We can head out for help, make sure folks know we have survivors here," Joe offered, while the always silent Sean nodded in the background.

"Oh, no, lad, I can't condone that. What if something happens to you? No, someone's bound to have noticed the mudslide by now, and help will be forthcoming. I can't risk anyone's life, especially since we don't know for certain if any more slides are in the works," the Scotsman replied, touched at the offer from the two teens.

"Yeah, but they won't know to hurry if we don't tell them. You were saying that guy in the back, the one who's still unconscious, he could die if he doesn't get to a hospital. We walk out, we find the rescuers, and we can maybe have them fly in, whatever. This bus might not be missed for several more hours. And you guys might not be, too. We noticed that the lodge appeared to be open when we passed, and that wasn't more than a couple of miles back, that's where we'd head," Joe argued.

Ducky stared the resolute young man in front of him, hating that he really could not refute his arguments. If rescue was delayed, at least one patient might not survive. The coming night was guaranteed to be bitterly cold, and the small amount of food Jimmy had brought from the van would amount to hardly a mouthful per person. The plastic and canvas wraps would help against the cold, but between the chill and the damp a night in the disabled bus could be disastrous. Plus, noticed but not spoken of, was the fact that mud was pressing hard against all the passenger side windows. If they gave way, the bus could quickly fill with mud. The two boys, sixteen years old, were sturdy and athletic, full of the vigor of youth. As he debated his decision, a call came from the back of the bus: the man with the head injury was having a seizure. It only lasted a short time, but it decided Ducky as nothing else could have.

"Okay, lads, if you're sure. I want your word, you will stay together. Look after each other," he instructed, reaching into his pocket for his cell phone. "When you get to safety, I want you to call #1 on the speed dial, tell him Ducky told you to call. Tell him what happened and where we are." Ducky glanced over at the stack of clothing the teens had gathered earlier and spotted a bright pink t-shirt. "Here, put this up on the road above the bus. That can serve as a signal for the rescue crews. Try to elevate it a bit with a stick or something," he suggested.

"Will do. And you have our word, Doctor. We'll be careful. We'll get you the help they need. I promise," Joe replied, taking the man's hand in a firm handshake. Sean stepped forward to also shake Ducky's hand, a soft smile lighting his face.

"Thank you," he said softly.

"No, thank you boys. God be with you," he said as they pulled on their letterman's jackets and ducked out the doorway.

"All right, Mr. Palmer, back to work."

NCISNCIS

It was at least five hours to the highway where it appeared Palmer's phone had come to a stop. With Gibbs driving, and McGee monitoring the phone's position continuously on his tablet, it was up to DiNozzo to break up the monotony of the trip.

"So, Boss, did you call Bishop?" he asked at last, curiosity overcoming his better judgment.

"She's spending the time with her husband, he took the time off to be with her," he growled, maneuvering into the fast lane to pass a slower vehicle.

"Oh, so you just called us two?" he asked, all innocence.

"Don't remember calling McGee," Gibbs countered, shifting back into the right lane and going around yet another slower vehicle.

"Hey, that's right, you didn't," the younger agent agreed, looking at his boss in the rearview mirror. "Why didn't you call me in, Boss?"

"Figured you'd be with Delilah," the team leader shrugged. "Didn't want to interfere with your time with her."

"Oh, so you figured I was the only one with no one to spend the time off with?" Tony whined.

"Were you with someone?"

"Well, sure. It was McGee, but it could have been someone else," DiNozzo noted.

"Look, I needed someone who could trace their phones, you seemed the most likely to have free time on your hands. When you get yourself a full time girlfriend, then I'll start calling someone else," he commented reasonably.

"Oh, well, no pressure there," Tony grumbled. "So, what do you think of our new wonder kid anyway?" he asked.

"I think she's going to be an asset, otherwise she wouldn't be on the team," Gibbs grumbled, jockeying into the correct lane to catch the interstate.

"Yeah, but she's awful young. And green. Makes the Probie back there look downright aged," Tony commented, with a grin at his teammate.

"We all started somewhere, DiNozzo."

NCISNCIS

Joe grumbled as his foot once again sunk knee deep in the mud, threatening to suck off his sneaker as he pulled it free.

"Quite a workout we're getting, isn't it?" he asked of Sean with a grin.

Away from others, the shy teenager was free to express himself to his best friend. "Coach Saunders would be impressed. We better not tell him about it or he'll find a way to duplicate it for practice," the dark haired teen agreed with a grimace at the surrounding mess.

"Wow, we'd be popular then, wouldn't we?" Joe snickered.

"Uh huh," he agreed, looking back. "Well, at least we're finally out of sight of the bus. Not exactly making good time."

"Well, this can't go on forever," Joe figured, taking yet another giant step. They'd discovered that it didn't make it any easier to take small steps, so they maximized the distance with every step.

"Actually, look up there," Sean said, pointing to the mountainside ahead. "See how it has that rough edge? That may be the edge of the mudslide. Not sure, of course, but it looks like it."

"Yeah, I think you have something there," he agreed with a grin. "That'd be great. Heh. Race ya!"

Laughing the two teens picked up the pace, anxious to find help for the others. Speed however led to being less cautious and the inevitable happened.

"Arghhh" Sean cried out as his foot came down on a rock that rolled under the pressure, twisting his ankle. The young man tried to stay upright but pain and the awkwardly long step he'd taken worked against him and he sprawled in the mud, struggling to keep the viscous stuff out of his mouth and nose. Joe hurried over and grabbed a flaying arm, struggling to pull his sodden friend from the mud's tenacious grip. He nearly fell himself, but finally got a good enough stance to support his friend's efforts to get to his feet.

"Oh, crap, that's nasty!" Sean griped, spitting out mud and trying ineffectively to wipe it from his face. He was standing on only one foot, the other pulled up out of the goop. Only Joe's grip kept him upright.

"How bad is it?" the fair haired teen asked anxiously, looking ahead and not seeing the end to the mud within sight. Granted, there was a turn in the road not far ahead, and he hoped they'd find clearer going at that point.

"I can't even put it down," Sean moaned, feeling both chilled and sweaty with the shock of the injury. "You're going to have to leave me here," he said.

"Not happening, man. We go together. You'll have to use me as a crutch, but you will come with me," Joe insisted, a stubborn determination making him look far older than his years. "You wouldn't leave me, would you?"

Sean had no answer for that, just looked at his friend glumly. Joe positioned himself at Sean's side, then coached his friend to put all his weight on his back as he leaned over, then to hop a step. Sean did as instructed, then Joe moved forward and they repeated the process. It was much slower, but they were moving again.

NCISNCIS

"What do you think, Dr. Mallard?" Jimmy asked as the two men stood at the front of the bus and surveyed their patients. They'd removed the driver's body earlier, and had carefully stored their supplies in that area.

"What worries me, Mr. Palmer, is not what we know, but what we don't know," Ducky commented with a frown.

"I'm not following you," his assistant replied slowly.

"The injuries we've treated so far are for the most part not too severe. Yes, we have a couple who I am very concerned about, but my real fear is if any of them had internal bleeding, or even if our head injuries had small brain bleeds brewing, that sort of thing."

Horror dawned on Jimmy's face as he looked around again. "I didn't think of that. That's why you're telling everyone to stay still, isn't it?"

"Well, that and the fact there's nowhere for them to go," he added reasonably. "There's barely room for us to move about."

"So, what do we do?"

"What we've been doing. Treating the injuries we know about. With that in mind, we need to fix that woman's dislocated shoulder, the longer we wait the worse it will be and the more likely she will have permanent damage,"

"Have you ever done that?" the younger man wondered.

"Actually, yes, when I was serving as a medic in the military. I expect it to be a two man job this time, we don't have any muscle relaxers, and I'm frankly not quite as young as I used to be. Although, brute force is not what is required, but finesse. We need to get the humeral head to its normal place in the glenoid fossaI. If we get lucky it will go back in quickly. If not we will have made an enemy of what seems to be a nice enough woman. Let's go see if she's willing," he said, carefully moving over to where the injured passenger was seated.

"How are you feeling, my dear?" Ducky asked solicitously.

"If I don't move or breathe its miserable. Moving or breathing changes it to agonizing," she said with a grim smile. "But, it could be much worse. And I appreciated the ibuprophen you gave me," she added. Ducky noticed how misshapen her hands were from what he assumed was a fairly advanced case of arthritis. He figured she was unfortunately familiar with pain.

"Well, we might be able to make it much less painful, however, to do so will temporarily increase the pain level," Dr. Mallard explained.

"You want to 'pop' it back in, don't you?"

"You've had a dislocated shoulder before?"

"Oh, God, no. But I've seen the Lethal Weapon movies," she said with a twinkle in her eye despite the pain she was experiencing.

Ducky was at a loss to understand and turned to Jimmy, who was quietly chuckling at her comment. Seeing his boss's confusion, he hastened to explain.

"Mel Gibson's character could purposely dislocate his shoulder, then would repair it by slamming it into a solid object. It was a recurring joke throughout the, um, second movie, I think it was. Kinda gross, actually."

"I should think so," the elder man commented with a frown. "Well, we won't be slamming it into a hard surface, but we will try and maneuver it back into its proper place. It may slip right back it, or it may defy us completely. There's no way to tell until we try. It would help if we had muscle relaxers, but unfortunately, we don't have any with us."

"Darn, if we had access to the luggage, I've got a couple of bottles of Merlot that could do the trick," she offered.

Ducky chuckled, impressed with the woman's attitude. "So, you are willing to give it a try?" he asked. "We can't, we won't, force you, but the longer we wait the more likely permanent damage becomes."

"Well, it doesn't sound like much fun, but I really don't need any more permanent damage, so I say let's do it. My name is Gail, by the way. If you are planning to torture me, at least you should know my name." She offered her left hand to shake, given the right one was in the sling.

Ducky took the hand gently and replied. "Dr. Donald Mallard, at you service. My friends call me Ducky."

"Your parents named you Donald Mallard? They should be shot," she grinned.

"My father never got the joke, my mother never tired of it," he replied, smiling at the memory. He reached out gentle hands, removing the brace and carefully probing the shoulder to determine the best way to proceed. Jimmy crouched down at his side.

"Oh, probably shouldn't have teased the guy getting ready to unbreak my shoulder, should I?"

Ducky smiled, thinking how like Anthony her humor was: a defense against fear and pain. He quickly outlined to Jimmy the plan, and the younger man positioned himself to both provide stability to Gail while Ducky manipulated her arm, and to help guide the humeral head back into position. Luck was with them this time, a quick hard pull and twist and the deed was done.

"FUCK!" Gail screamed as the joint slipped back into place, startling both the men.

"Wow, that was quick at least," Jimmy said, letting go of the woman carefully.

"Oh, sorry, that just slipped out, but damn that hurt," she groaned, cradling her right arm with her left.

"No worries, my dear. All appears to be back in place. We'll put the brace back on, but once the initial discomfort passes you should find you have less pain," Ducky assured her, working with Jimmy to put the brace back on.

"It already feels tons better, thank you," she said sincerely. "You guys are lifesavers."

To be continued