On the third floor of the parking structure, Jack was drifting in and out of consciousness. Danny had examined the beam that was pinning him, trying to see if there was any way he could get it off him. He had the jack from the car and considered using it had it been feasible. But now, knowing that Jack was impaled on the steel rod, he realised that it was no longer an option. He checked Jack's pulse for the umpteenth time. It was thready and weak. He noticed that Jack's skin felt cold and clammy to the touch. He removed his jacket and placed it over Jack to try and keep him warm and maybe delay the onset of shock. However looking at the injured agent, he could tell he was already suffering from the effects of shock. With the exception of the sound of the blaring car alarms, it was eerily quiet. His cell phone rang and Danny jumped with a start.
"Yeah?" he replied quickly.
"Danny, how are you holding up?" Elena asked her anxiety evident.
"I'm fine, Lena. What's the hold up? Why has no one come?" Danny asked frustrated and scared.
"They're worried that there's going to be a collapse. The second floor is unstable and could collapse at any time. They said that if you can you should try and get out using the car ramp on the west side," Elena said hoping he would take her advice but knowing that he wouldn't.
"What? I can't move Jack on my own and there's no way I'm leaving him," he replied crossly.
"I know baby, I know," Elena replied tearfully. "Some fire fighters have volunteered to go up there. Martin's going with them. They'll be there soon," she told him.
"Thank God. I hope they hurry. Jack's not doing so good," Danny informed her.
"Good luck," Elena said to him. "I love you."
"I love you too," Danny replied before hanging up. He turned to Jack. "Did you hear that Jack? They're coming. They're coming," he repeated more to reassure himself than Jack. Jack didn't respond. His breathing was more laboured Danny noticed. He hoped they weren't going to be too late.
Down at ground level, Martin and one fire officer, Jorge Tevez, and a paramedic, Lee Rickman, were beginning the trek up the car ramps to the first floor. Everything looked pretty normal on the ground floor. The two FDNY boys chatted, sounding relaxed as they walked. Tevez carried some heavy equipment with him. It looked like cutting gear to Martin. Rickman carried a medical bag on his back and some heavier equipment also. Martin helped by carrying the fold up stretched and another bag of medical supplies in a backpack. He was quiet though, fearing what he might find when they finally got to Danny and Jack. When they reached the first floor they looked around and you couldn't tell that there had been an explosion. They only unusual thing was the thin layer of dust that coated all the parked cars. Once they reached the second floor the damage was much greater. There was a massive hole in the roof close to the elevator and several cars were crushed beneath fallen masonry and other rubble. There was an ominous looking crack in the roof extending quite a way along it. They did a quick check to see if anyone was injured or trapped in the vehicles but found no one. Then they continued on their way to the third floor. Martin was appalled to see the destruction on the that level as they arrived there. Some cars were on their sides, others were smouldering wrecks. Those vehicles that had survived all had their windows shattered. Again another tear had been blasted through the roof on that floor. The entire elevator had disintegrated. It was apparent even to Martin that this was the origin of the blast. As they arrived onto the level, Danny heard them and stood up and called them over to him. He had never been so pleased to see anyone in his life.
"Over here, guys. Over here, hurry!" he hollered standing up and waving to get their attention.
The three men quickened their pace and finally reached an exhausted looking Danny Taylor.
"Jeez, Danny, are you alright, man?" Martin asked noticing the blood on Danny's shirt sleeves.
"Yeah, I'm fine, it's not mine," he replied looking at the blood stains on his clothing. "He's in a bad way, Martin."
Martin looked at his colleague. He was obviously very shaken and overwrought but doing his best to disguise it. He led Martin and the two rescuers to where he had left Jack lying. Martin's sharp intake of breath was the only sign of shock he displayed outwardly. Jack was lying, covered by Danny's coat, his lower body obviously trapped under the fallen masonry. His face was deathly pale and streaked with blood and grime. His eyes were closed and Martin had to pause for several seconds to try and see if he was still breathing. The two men who accompanied him into the bomb site were quickly by Jack's side. Rickman, the paramedic, immediately began to assess Jack's condition. Tevez was on his hands and knees trying to see if it would be possible for them to get the masonry off Jack. As Tevez began to try and lift it with his bare hands, Danny shouted at him to stop. At the same time, Rickman let a shout at him also.
"Don't!" Danny shouted urgently. "You'll kill him. One of those reinforcing rods has gone though him." Tevez stopped immediately and looked closer at the man trapped beneath the concrete. Rickman lifted Danny's coat off Jack revealing the full extent of his injuries to all. Martin swallowed hard to fight back the rising bile in his throat. He wasn't prepared for what he saw.
"Did you bring any cutting gear?" Rickman asked Tevez, his words snapping Martin out if his stupor.
"I have this," he said taking out large bolt cutters and displaying them.
"They should work. Right, we need to try and cut the steel first and then we'll try and free him from under the masonry. The hard part will be keeping the rod still while you're cutting it," Rickman said looking up at Tevez. He knew what his colleague meant. They had both seen similar injuries before.
"How's he doing?" Martin asked the paramedic.
"Not too good. The sooner we get him out of here the better," Rickman replied earnestly. He was taking antiseptic and a bag of saline out of his bag when Jack began to stir again. Slowly his eyes opened and he blinked and stared at the blurred figure looking down at him.
"Danny?" he said weakly.
"No, Jack. My name's Lee Rickman. I'm a paramedic. We're going to get you out of here, okay?" Rickman told him. "Jack, can you tell me where you feel pain?" he asked trying to assess the extent of his injuries.
"My chest ….," Jack replied breathlessly. "Leg…"
"Right, Jack. I'm just going to put this over your face. Try and breathe normally," Rickman advised taking out a small cylinder of oxygen and a face mask. Normally? I wish, Jack thought as he took another short painful breath.
"Any neck pain at all?" Rickman asked. Jack shook his head slightly. Rickman put a collar around his neck just in case.
"I'm going to give you a shot for the pain. It should help some," Rickman continued. He noticed Jack's glassy brown eyes trying to focus on him. "How long have you been an agent then?" Rickman asked trying to keep Jack alert and talking.
"Almost twenty years," Jack replied faintly.
"Twenty years? You must have seen some action," Rickman commented. Jack just nodded and tried to smile. He felt a small pin prick in his hip as Rickman administered the pain relief. Then Rickman began to tap the inside of Jack's free arm, explaining to him that he was trying to find a vein. After several attempts he managed to insert a cannula for the IV. He asked Martin to hold the saline bag above and to squeeze the saline through. Rickman was concentrating on stabilising Jack as much as he could before Tevez got to work.
"Okay, Jack. Here's what's going to happen. My mate Jorge here is going to cut the metal rod away from the masonry. Once its cut we can then try and move the concrete off you. I'll give you some local anaesthetic to numb the area," he said referring to his abdomen where the rod was impaled.
By that time, Jack didn't really care. He was struggling to stay lucid and barely caught half of what Rickman was telling him. Rickman nodded to Tevez who prepared to cut the rod. He asked Martin to hold the rod steady while Rickman knew he had to keep Jack from moving. Tevez placed the jaws of the bolt cutters around the rod and indicated to the others that he was ready to cut it. He applied all the strength he could to the arms of the cutters and tried to force them together thus closing the jaws. He could feel the resistance as they reached the metal. He squeezed even harder. Martin could feel the increased pressure as he fought to keep the rod from moving and causing Jack even more injury. He couldn't bear to look at Jack's face but he could tell from the short sharp breaths that Jack could feel everything.
Much to Martin's and everyone's relief they heard a pronounced snap which signalled to them that the rod had broken. The sound of the crack was echoed by an agonised cry from Jack as the steel rod severed and was freed from the concrete mass. No matter how hard Martin had tried to ensure that the rod stayed steady, movement from the suddenness of the break was inevitable. He turned to look at the sweat covered face of his injured boss. Jack was fighting to stay conscious and obviously losing. His breathing was becoming more laboured. Martin could feel the warmth of Jack's blood as it started to seep through the make shift bandage Danny had tied around the rod. For the first time, Martin began to doubt if Jack would make it out of that parking structure.
"He's out again," Rickman announced to all concerned. "Pulse is steady though."
"Come on then. Let's try and lift this off him," Tevez said anxiously. He placed a small lifting device under the fallen masonry. He hoped that it would be powerful enough to lift it the few inches they needed in order to free Jack. The small compressor motor started running and soon it could be heard straining under the weight of the concrete. Tevez was lying on his stomach looking to see if it was doing what it was supposed to be doing.
"I think it's going to work," he said sounding pleased and relieved. As the concrete rose ever so slightly, he placed supports under it to stop it falling back onto Jack's already broken body.
"Danny, grab him under the shoulders," Rickman said needing help moving Jack. "When I tell you I want you to gently pull him towards you."
Danny positioned himself at Jack's head and prepared to do as Rickman ordered. Tevez gave the go ahead, indicating that the masonry was lifted enough and that they should be able to free Jack. Rickman told Danny to pull and Danny carefully hauled his bosses limp body from under the broken masonry. Once he had him clear, Rickman was quickly over to reassess his patient. He quickly examined his abdomen from where the rod still protruded. He tore Jack's shirt open to get a better look and it was then that he noticed another circular wound in his side. He gently rolled Jack onto his opposite side so that he could check his back. There was a similar, slightly larger wound on his back.
"He's been shot," Rickman announced having seen more than his fair share of bullet wounds in his career.
"What?" Martin said completely stunned and leaning down to have a closer look.
"Yeah, the bullet went straight though," Rickman told him.
"I heard automatic gun fire just before the explosion," Danny informed them. "It must have happened then. Is it bad?"
"Pretty minor in comparison to his other injuries. At least the rod hasn't gone through so it will be easier to move him," Rickman informed him. "His legs a mess though and I'll need to stabilise that arm," he commented as he reached for the inflatable splint from his kit. He placed it around Jacks leg from foot to thigh and inflated it, therefore immobilising it. He similarly supported Jacks left arm in preparation to move him.
As he worked the others noticed that the creaking and groaning noises coming from the building were getting more frequent and louder. They were mindful that parts of the structure were unstable and that it would be in everyone's best interest to get out of there as soon as humanly possible. Tevez brought over the collapsible stretcher that Martin had carried earlier. He opened it out close to where Jack lay. He looked at his colleague.
"It's not going to hold for much longer," he said referring to the floor on which they stood. There were noticeable cracks in the concrete spanning out from the epicentre of the blast which was now just a gaping hole looking down into the second floor of the structure.
"Okay," Rickman replied, knowing the danger. "Give me a hand to lift him onto this," he said referring to the stretcher. Danny once again took hold of Jack's shoulders and Rickman carefully lifted Jack's legs. They secured him to the stretcher, lay the oxygen bottle alongside him and covered him with a foil blanket. Rickman was thankful that Jack was still unconscious because he knew that all the manoeuvring would have been excruciating for him. He stood up and they quickly arranged how they would carry the stretched. They each agreed to take one corner. Their pace quickened as the creaking increased and their realisation of impending disaster grew.
Being careful not to jostle Jack around to much, they walked smartly towards the vehicle ramp which would take them to the second floor. They had just started their descent when the building emitted a spine chilling groan and the floor, on which they stood not seconds earlier, crumbled onto the floor beneath. The whole building shook and a cloud of dust spewed into the air. They lowered the stretcher to the ground and each of them crouched in an attempt to find clearer air. Some of them pulled their clothing over their mouths and noses to try and avoid inhaling the dust. Jack was still wearing the oxygen mask so he was protected from the clogged air.
Outside, however onlookers, including Vivienne, Elena and Samantha watched in horror as the latest catastrophe unfolded in front of their eyes. A fresh cloud of dust billowed from the second and third floors of the parking structure. They had never felt so helpless in all their lives. Elena was desperately trying to call Danny's cell phone again. Sam just watched and prayed. Her eyes turned to the Fire Chief trying to gauge his reaction. He had rushed to the radio in the fire tender as the collapse became evident and was desperately calling his men who he knew were still inside the building. She watched as he sat radio in hand, undoubtedly worried, listening desperately for a response. She watched as he waited. It was torture not knowing. They had to be okay, they just had to.
A/N - I used a bit of literary licence with the length of time Jack was in the FBI. Haven't a clue. If anyone does, please let me know.