Back inside the devastated structure, Danny remained by Jack's side and wondered why the rescue services hadn't reached them yet. As he sat there feeling slightly nauseous, he was startled as Jack groaned loudly and started to come around.
"Jack, it's okay. Just take it easy," Danny said leaning closer. Jack's eyes opened and he instinctively tried to get up. Danny put his hand on this shoulder to halt him.
"What happened?" Jack asked through gritted teeth. He was slowly becoming more aware of the pain which was pulsing through his body.
"There was an explosion, Jack. It brought down part of the roof," Danny told him. Jack started to cough violently as the airborne dust caught his breath. He cried out in agony, the coughing motion causing indescribable pain. Danny felt helpless, unable to ease Jack's pain. Jack gasped for air and eventually got his breath back. He was starting to realise that he was in serious trouble.
"How … bad?" he managed to ask. Danny could see Jack's pain reflected in his usually smouldering brown eyes. They were bloodshot and intense. He allowed his eyes to travel lower and check Jack's injuries. He could see a very obvious break in Jack's left forearm as it lay twisted under smaller pieces of rubble. His visual examination continued further and he could see the chunk of concrete pillar across Jack's abdomen. There seemed to be blood pooling underneath him. Danny couldn't see exactly where it was coming from. The same large piece of concrete covered Jack's left leg. Danny tried to see what damage was done but without moving the debris, it was useless. What should he tell Jack? Would it be kinder to withhold the seriousness of the situation from Jack? He was about sugar coat the truth when Jack spoke up.
"That good, eh?" Jack asked weakly, reading the grim expression on Danny's face.
"It's pretty bad, Jack. But you need to be strong for me, do you hear? The rescue crews are on their way. We'll have you out of here soon, okay?" Danny insisted, talking loudly and deliberately to Jack. Jack blinked back the pain and tried to concentrate on listening to Danny. The darkness seemed to be creeping in from his peripheral vision and he felt as if he was going to pass out again.
"Stay with me, Jack," Danny insisted, noticing how Jack was struggling to stay conscious.
Danny looked at his dust covered face and was trying to think how he could make Jack more comfortable while they waited for rescue. Then he remembered that he had left a bottle of water in their car which was parked on the other side of the car park.
"Jack, I'll be back in a couple of minutes. You just hang in there, okay?" Danny said, standing up. Jack nodded feebly.
Danny clambered back over the fallen pillar and hurried back over to where he knew their car was parked. As he neared it he thought he could hear his cell phone ringing. He checked his pockets but it wasn't there. As he got closer to the car, the ringing grew louder. He searched for the cell phone and couldn't believe his luck when he found it. It was on the ground beneath the car, where he had been thrown by the earlier blast. It must have fallen out of his pocket. It had stopped ringing though. He checked it and had several missed calls from Elena. Without hesitation, he returned her call.
"Danny! Thank God, where are you?" she asked eagerly, unable to hide her delight at hearing from him.
"I'm in the parking garage, on level three," he told Elena.
"Oh my God, are you hurt?" she asked, hearing the fear in his voice and looking up towards the third floor.
"No, I'm okay. Jack's hurt though. It's pretty bad, Elena. When are the rescue crew coming? He needs medical attention urgently. He's trapped beneath rubble," he told her.
"I don't know, Danny. The Fire Chief won't let his crew enter until the bomb squad have cleared the area," Elena told him.
"Elena, listen to me. You've got to tell them to get in here, now! Tell them there are survivors in need of urgent medical attention, do you hear me? Tell them to hurry. I don't know how long Jack can hang on," Danny explained.
"I'll try, Danny. I love you," Elena told him emotionally.
"I love you too," Danny replied. He hung up the phone and then opened the door to the car. He found the bottle of water under the passenger seat. He remembered that there was a first aid kit in the trunk. He opened the trunk and took out the medical kit and also took the wheel jack and some other items that he thought might be useful. Laden with several items, he hurried back to Jack.
"Jack? Are you still with me, Jack?" he asked as he returned to kneel back at Jack's right arm. Jack's eyes remained closed. Danny touched him gently on the cheek and Jack's eyes fluttered open. "Hey," Danny said sympathetically looking into his pain filled eyes. "I've found some water," he told him. He wet some gauze from the first aid kit and cleaned the dirt from Jack's bloodshot eyes and his mouth and nostrils.
"Okay, Jack, I'm just going to try and see where the blood is coming from," he said leaning over Jack's torso and straining to see where the bleeding was originating. It was difficult to see because of the position of the concrete slab across his torso. Danny decided to check the accessible parts of Jack's body instead. He opened Jack's long black overcoat and got even more worried when under the suit jacket, his white shirt was soaked with blood. He pulled the clothing away as best he could and was appalled when he saw the source of the blood. There was a rusted steel rod protruding out of the concrete slab. It had pierced Jack's upper abdomen when it fell on him. He couldn't tell without moving Jack but judging from the pool of blood congealing underneath him, he assumed that the rod had gone straight though him. What he couldn't see was the bullet wound which had pierced his side as well. Danny felt himself pale at the realisation of the horror of Jack's injury. He glanced back up at Jack's bloodied face. He saw those brown eyes watching him intently so tried to suppress his revulsion.
"How are you doing Jack?" Danny asked him, knowing that he had to keep talking to him.
"You tell me," Jack replied breathlessly.
"Better than I thought. Your leg is most likely broken though," Danny told him, hesitating about telling him about the metal rod.
"Yeah," Jack replied. "And what about this skewer…." Jack started before pausing momentarily because of the pain. "…going through me?"
"Well, once you stay nice and still you'll be fine," Danny informed him praying he was right. "The bleeding's not too bad and when the rescue guys get here they'll get you out."
"'kay," Jack replied tiredly.
Danny looked over his shoulder, wishing to see their rescuers coming from somewhere, anywhere but there was no one. Silently, helplessly Danny watched as Jack fought for every breath. He tore the sleeve from his shirt. He used it to tie around the rod at the point where it entered Jack's body. He needed to try and stop any further bleeding. Once that was done, he took more gauze from the first aid kit and wet it with some water from the bottle. He used it to moisten Jack's lips. Then Jack broke the silence.
"Danny, will you do something for me?" Jack asked hoarsely.
"Sure, Jack. What is it?" Danny asked leaning in towards his injured boss.
"Kate….Hanna….if I don't make it….." Jack began before Danny interrupted.
"You can stop there," he said forcefully. "If you have a message for your kids, you can tell them yourself, do you hear me? You're getting out of here, Jack. I'm not going to let you give up on me," Danny insisted getting a little annoyed with him.
Jack smiled at the young man's insistence. He's a good kid, he thought. He's going to make a fine agent some day. He reached out and took hold of Danny's wrist with his uninjured right arm. He gave a slight squeeze of reassurance and Danny looked down at him with tear filled eyes. It was the last thing Jack saw before succumbing to the pain free comfort of unconsciousness. Danny panicked when he saw Jack's eyes roll back in their sockets as he passed out and his head lolled to one side.
"Jack! Jack!" he said his voice growing louder and more unnerved. "Don't do this to me Jack!"
He placed his finger tips lightly on Jack's carotid pulse. It was still there. He collapsed back onto his backside with relief and put his head in his hands and sobbed. He thought he had lost him that time but gratefully realised that he had just passed out. He was scared.
Outside on the street, Elena was relaying what Danny had told her to the rest of the team. Naturally Samantha was distraught when she heard that Jack was seriously injured. She begged Martin to talk to the Fire Chief and get help to them as quickly as he could. Martin knew that it would probably do no good but he passed the cordon, showed his I.D. and approached the Fire Chief. He introduced himself and explained to Fire Chief Davis that they had received a call from an agent trapped inside the building. He told him that another agent was wounded and required immediate medical assistance. Davis looked at him seriously.
"Look, right now I can't be sure if there's another device in that building or not. I will not order my men in until I am sure the area is clear. Bomb disposal are doing a sweep of the ground and first floors as we speak. They'll make their way up to all floors eventually. When I get the go ahead, I'll send them in," Davis explained rationally. Martin understood his reasoning and if it wasn't so personal for him he wouldn't have dared interfered. But it was Jack and Danny trapped up there. He had to do something.
He returned solemnly to Viv, Elena and Samantha. Their faces portrayed hope and the anticipation of good news. The news he bore, however, was not what they wanted or needed to hear. Sam looked at him in disbelief as he relayed exactly what the Fire Chief had said to him. Elena couldn't see beyond her heart and refused to accept Davis' reasoning. Being the ever practical one, Vivienne understood but still offered her support to her distraught colleagues. Elena's relationship with Danny was well known, established and understood by all. Samantha's relationship with Jack, however, was always shrouded in secrecy and while everyone suspected they had at some point had a relationship, no one really knew what the current status was. Viv often wondered if even Sam or Jack knew. Judging by Samantha's reaction to the current situation, she definitely had feelings for Jack, way beyond just work colleagues.
"We can't just leave them there, Martin," Sam said dabbing the tears on her cheek with a tissue.
"What can we do?" Martin asked feeling just as helpless as she but unable to see a way around it.
"I don't know. Talk to the Fire Chief again. Do something!" she pleaded.
Martin looked at her, feeling her distress. She joined him as he returned to look for the Fire Chief. As they walked across the street to one of the fire trucks there was a call on the truck radio. It was warning of the possibility of a collapse. Martin and Samantha exchanged worried looks. Chief Davis hurried around the cab of the truck and met the two agents.
"What's going on, Chief?" Martin asked.
"Not sure. The bomb disposal guys are telling us that some support columns on the second floor are damaged and that they may not hold," he replied with dread. "If your guy is able to walk tell him he should get out of there, now."
Samantha bit her lip to stifle any tears that were threatening to flow.
"They're only on the floor above. Can't you send someone up to help them? At least try," Martin implored. Davis looked at the young agent and at the obviously upset young woman. He hated having to make the tough decisions but his first priority had to be the safety of his men. But they were good men and good men didn't leave people to die.
"Okay, I won't order any of my guys into that situation but I will talk to them and if any of them want to volunteer, I'll let them go," Davis decided.
"Thank you," Sam said wanting to hug him but restraining her self.
Davis walked away from the two agents and joined a group of his men who were waiting on instructions. Martin and Sam watched anxiously as he talked to them, explaining the situation and the risks. Several of the men turned and looked over at the two agents before turning back to listen to their superior. Davis then shook the hands of a couple of the men and returned to Sam and Martin.
"Okay, I've got two volunteers. They're gearing up now," Davis told them.
"I'd like to go with them," Martin said much to Samantha's surprise.
"They don't need to be babysitting anyone up there," Davis said shaking his head. "They've got a job to do."
"I know. I won't get in the way. I can help," Martin insisted. Davis looked at him and could tell from his stance that he was fit and capable.
"Okay then. I'll get you some gear," Davis said returning to the fire truck. Martin turned to Samantha and the pair hugged. Martin shared her fear and dreaded what he may discover up there. He took a deep breath and tried to mentally prepare himself for whatever may come.
So - what do you think so far?
By the way, it's set somewhere before Samantha has her son.