Jack refused to leave Mac's side; and it was well known enough, in the little hospital, that everyone had stopped asking. Instead they asked other questions.

"Have you eaten today?"

Jack didn't look up from his partners face, eyes glued to the heavy purple and black bruises over the blondes sleeping face. Of course sleeping was a generous description. Mac was in a coma.

Which made Nikkis question rather irritating, because who the hell cared about what Jack was doing?

"No."

Nikki sighed, taking a seat beside her teammate, and patting Mac's good leg. "He'll be right here when you get back, you know. He wouldn't want you sitting here day after day. You need to take care of yourself."

Jack sighed, annoyed. "Don't tell me what he would want. He's not gone. He'll come back."

Nikki looked down at her lap, fingers fiddling with the sandwich she'd brought for him. She threw it on the side table, and sank further down in the chair. "Sorry."

Jack knew that Nikki missed him too, that she loved him too, but she hadn't known Mac as long as he had. Jack had met Mac in the desert, disarming bombs, and serving their country. Mac was his; and he knew that sounded crazy, but he couldn't let go of the need to protect him.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to get rid of the tension he'd had trapped in his shoulders for the last few days. "I'm sorry. I just...I need him to wake up."

Her voice was small as she replied. "Me too."

The room was quiet, and still; like the world was completely separate from them, as they waited for any sign of life from their friend in the bed. And then Mac started choking.

One moment, it was all quiet, and Macs eyes were closed just as they had been for the last two days, and the next, they were blinking and twitching.

Jack noticed immediately of course, having watched his partner like a hawk since he was brought in. He froze for a second, watching Mac scrunch his eyebrows, and squeeze his eyes shut, before he jumped from his chair, and grabbed at that limp hand.

"Mac? Can you hear me, buddy?"

The blondes face was contorting around the breathing tube, scared, and in pain, and Jack did everything he could to reassure his partner, as Nikki went to call for a nurse.

"It's okay, mac. That's there to help you but they'll take it out soon. Just calm down."

The heart monitor was screaming, unhappily, as Mac struggled against the tube. He couldn't struggle much, not even able to move his head, with the brace in place, and that's when Jack noticed.

Mac wasn't moving. His fingers barely twitched in Jacks hold, but if Mac was that panicked they should have been squeezing him, or fighting to rip out the tube himself. He wasn't even kicking.

Jack looked down at the kid, heart picking up speed to thump in, rapid rhythm with Macs.

Another cough and gurgle came from the kid, tears rolling down over his temples, and Jack snapped out of it, running a hand through that blonde hair and leaning in close.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm here Mac. Just calm down. You're safe. I got you."

The whispered mantra seemed to work, as he repeated it over and over until the nurse came, and Jack allowed a smile to curve the corners of his mouth as Mac turned his head as much as he could towards his partner.

"That's it. Just calm down. You're okay. Open your eyes Mac."

The nurse was fiddling with the iv and Jack knew she'd be adding sedatives so that they could extubate; but he just needed to see those blue eyes again.

Macs chest arched a little, as he tried to get closer to Jack, fingers twitching in his hold, and finally those eyes flickered. Just a peek of blue between his eyelashes, before he winced, choking again on the tube, and squeezing his eyes back shut.

Jack couldn't let him go just yet, he needed Mac to see him; to know he was there. He brushed his hand through Macs hair again, talking softly as he held those limp fingers to his chest.

"Come on, buddy. Let me see you. Just for a little bit. You can do it, come on I'm right here."

The heart monitor was calming, and Jack didn't know if it was because of him or the sedatives but it didn't matter, really. He watched Macs face, the way it was relaxing as the pain eased.

His eyelids flickered once more, and he seemed to sigh, before finally opening his eyes just enough for Jack to see the bright blue iris around the huge drugged pupil. His gaze was glassy and unfocused but it settled on Jack for just a second, before closing again as he fell back asleep.

Jacks eyes were damp as he took his seat again, Macs hand still clutched firmly in his. "There you go, kid. You hang on, we'll get you out of this."

….

Mac didn't know much about where he was, or what had happened, but he thought that, through the pain, and fear, he had seen Jack.

Something hurt, actually most of everything hurt, but he couldn't think clearly enough to decide what exactly was happening.

It was dark where he was, but sometimes it was noisy too. Beeps, and the sounds of machines nearby, and voices close to him. He didn't recognize them all, but one of them kept pulling him forward, making everything solidify as if it were a dream being made real.

"-and I'll be right here waiting for you. So, you just open those eyes before I start singing. I know how much you hate my singing; don't make me sing everyone's ear off."

MacGyver was so close to reality, he could feel pressure in his hand where Jack was holding it, his thumb rubbing soothingly over his skin.

"There you go, Mackie. Come back to me."

His eyes blinked open, for a moment or two; enough time to see Jack there, hovering above him with a big smile. Sometimes Jack would run a hand through Mac's hair, and he'd feel like everything was okay. Jack's voice was warm, and Mac latched onto it for as long as he could.

"Hey, there buddy. Are you going to open your eyes for longer than a second, this time? I'm really missing you, man. You gotta wake up for good, so we can go home."

He didn't understand all the words, but they sounded nice. Nikki was there too, sometimes, as well as Thorton, and they chatted, and Nikki held his hand; but no one pulled MacGyver back like Jack did.

"I don't know how much more of this blinking I can take. He doesn't wake up for more than a few seconds at a time, and he's barely moving. When's he gonna wake up for real?"

Doctor Williams looked back through the small window in his patients door, to see the young man in the bed. He'd been extubated without complication, but was in a vegetative state for now. Which was not something he wanted to tell Mr Dalton, lest he be punched in the face.

"We can't predict something like that, at this stage. It could be any time...or no time. He sustained a serious head injury and-"

Jack clenched his teeth, fingers curling into fists at his side. "What about the movement? Why isn't he moving? Is he paralysed? You said there wasn't any damage."

The Doctor was getting nervous. He'd dealt with difficult patients, and family members before, but he knew that the man in front of him had some army experience, and a lot of pent up aggression. And if that wasn't bad enough, the other woman, Miss Thorton was even more terrifying.

"The scans didn't initially show any signs of damage to the spinal cord, no. But severe neck injuries, like the one Mr MacGyver sustained, can have some prolonged effects that must be corrected with time, patience, and physical therapy. He's got a long road of recovery ahead of him, but the first step is just getting him to progress to a minimally conscious state, at least. He's not interacting with or reacting to his environment just yet, he needs more time."

Jack's expression was something between anger, and anguish, making him hard to look at directly. "How long till he's ready to go home?"

"I don't know."

Jack's fist met the wall with a crack, and a scream of rage, making Doctor Williams flinch. "How come you don't know anything?! I need him back! I need him to be okay!"

He sighed, pressing his forehead against the wall as he attempted to focus, his voice going quiet. "We have someone waiting for us at home."

Dr Williams sighed. He knew how hard it was to wait, when so little could be done to speed things up. It was a form of torture in his opinion, and not many people handled it well.

"I'm sorry. I know it's hard."

Jack sniffed, pushing away from the wall, and rubbing a hand over his wet cheek. "I'm sorry for losing it. I just...I wasn't supposed to let anything happen to him. And now I got people at home asking where he is, and I can't tell them. I don't know what I'm going to do if he's not okay."

The Doctor placed a hand on the man's shoulder, no longer worried about what he might do, because this wasn't just a guy too angry to know what to do with it. He was a concerned friend, who was desperate to get his teammate back.

"I know it doesnt seem like it, but you talking to him, and holding his hand will help. A lot of patients that come out of comas, say that they remember those sorts of things. You can bring in sounds and smells he's familiar with too, like his favorite music or food. It all helps. Don't give up."

Jack took his hand, shaking it firmly. "Thank you, I really do appreciate everything you're doing."

The Doctor left, and Jack looked back through Mac's little window, wondering how he would be able to get the smell of gunpowder and grease into Mac's room.

…..

Mac could smell something.

It was strong, and familiar, like he'd been smelling it his whole life. It wasn't pleasant in the normal sense, but he knew he liked it for some reason.

Sounds came with it; voices. "You hold your shirt near his face any longer, and he'll stay in the coma for sure, Jack. You don't exactly smell like anything I'd want that close to my nose." That was Thorton, Mac could smell her perfume amid the other scents in the room.

Then Jacks voice came, grumbly, and not at all amused. "That's not even a little bit funny. He knows this smell, it's going to bring him back. The only other familiar scent I could get for him, was his old leather jacket, and a tiny bit of motor oil, 'cause you wouldn't let me smuggle any bullets, or any other explosive chemicals in here."

Mac breathed in another lungful of Jacks scent, and his partner was right; while the smell wasn't anything you'd get from a scented candle, it was like home to Mac and he could feel it pulling him from his sleep.

But it wasn't all Jack had brought. Music clicked on, and Mac recognised it as one of his favorites.

"Little nerd loves this one. It's no Willie Nelson but his grandad used to play it all the time."

The smells, and the music, filling the room, brought back so many memories at once, it was like Mac was swimming in his own mind. And then there was another sound, one that Mac had heard a million times before.

It was the ripping, sticky sound, of duct tape. Mac could hear Thorton start to laugh, as Jack chuckled. "Man, if he doesnt wake up for this, I don't know what's gonna do it. Should we get some tin foil? What noise do paper clips make? I could rattle 'em next to his ear."

Thorton's voice was closer, and Mac felt a hand touch his arm. "He'll wake up, Jack. He will."

Jack sighed, sounding defeated and tired. "I just...I miss him."

That did it. That snapped something awake in Mac's mind, and he blinked his eyes open.

Blink. White ceiling and walls. Blink. Jacks smiling face.

"Mac? Hey, bud. Please keep your eyes open this time."

He looked so worried, his smile a fragile curve, that was sure to drop any second, if he didn't get what he'd asked for.

Mac blinked, focussing on his partners face, before pulling his mouth into what felt like a smile. "J...ack."

Jacks smile grew until it lit up his whole face, as he picked up one of Mac's hands and pressed it to his chest. "You're awake! Boy, you had me so worried!"

Mac still couldn't move his fingers so well, but he smiled as Jack's eyes filled with tears, watching as they spilled over to roll down his cheeks.

His voice was warped with emotion, as he sniffed, still smiling. "We almost lost you, Mac."

Thorton smiled from behind Jack, patting the older mans shoulder. "It's good to have you back, MacGyver."

Mac couldn't agree more, and his eyes found the piles of supplies on the side table. "Is th...at a bomb timer?"

Jack let out a wet, shaky laugh. "Only the timer, I promise."