I'm so sorry that this is such a late update and I have nothing else to say apart from that, so here's chapter 4.
Jack's breathing was laboured and Ianto could do nothing, but sit beside him and watch the captain suffer. Apart from the breathing of the four of them everything was silent. No one had spoken for what seemed like hours, but in real time it was only minutes.
Movement could be heard above them, presumably cave rescue setting up whatever it was that they needed to. Ianto couldn't be bothered to look up. In the past few minutes – while he had been sat down uselessly – the earlier pain that had been in his ribs had returned.
He couldn't help but sigh as he tried to focus his mind on something else other than the current situation and how helpless and useless he really was to everyone, however even that wasn't enough to make him forget the pain that was running through his body. He could taste something slightly metallic in his mouth and was pretty sure that it was blood.
Everything started to go out of focus as his vision blurred and his head started to pound as he felt himself falling slightly to the right, he felt something scratch his cheek and then nothing.
Owen heard Tosh's voice come through the radio breaking through the silence that had settled.
"Owen how are you all?"
"We're doing alright. Jack's not looking to good and I think Ianto's alright, aren't you Ianto?" No answer, even Tosh could hear that, "Ianto?" Owen decided to look round and check on the young Welshman. At first he couldn't see him and thought that he was sat over by Jack that was until he noticed where Ianto was, realised what had happened and mentally slapped himself for being such a bad doctor in not noticing.
"Owen?" Tosh's voice asked again, "Is everything alright?
"No I need to get Ianto to a hospital now."
"Why? Owen what's wrong what's happened?"
"I'll explain later Tosh, now just get that rescue team to hurry up and get us out of here." Tosh didn't even reply, however there wasn't really much that Owen could think she could say back to that.
Gwen's voice was the next voice that Owen heard through the handheld radio and felt happy with the news that he was told.
"There on their way down now to you now."
"Thanks." Owen replied on the radio before mumbling "About time," to himself, although he was sure that doctor Strong had heard him. He turned to the rocks and started to try and move them. Bob caught in on and started to help him, not even questioning the talent doctor. He'd known him long enough to know that if Owen thought that something was worth one of his 'no, I need to get someone to hospital moments' that it was serious.
And he was talking about a friend this time and that made it all the worse.
Owen slipped through the now enlarged version of the once small hole in the rocks – not trying to be offensive, but he was the slimmer of the two and the more agile – doctor Strong didn't mind and was already busy looking through the first aid kit for anything that Owen might need, so that he was ready to hand it to him.
"I am such an idiot." Owen told himself as he carefully lifted Ianto's body, so that the younger's head was resting on his lap. He noted the cut on the Welshman's cheek and felt even worse. He should have known to check Ianto for injuries after the rock fall. He asked, but that was different.
Ianto was no doctor. He couldn't have been expected to know the extent of damage that he had done.
He was still trying to ignore the burning pain in his right arm and was cursing himself at the same time for being so stupid. One of the first things he learnt when he was training as a doctor and he let it go completely out of the open window in his brain and then out of the door of his mind.
He double checked, however he already knew that he would be right and he was. Three fractured ribs - two on the right, one on the left – Ianto's breath came in what sounded like pained shouts as he obviously struggled to get his breath out of his mouth.
Since he was unconscious, Owen – no matter how good a doctor he was – couldn't say that Ianto had all of the symptoms, but he could sort of guess from the breathing and the state that he had found Ianto in. Most likely a sharp, stabbing pain in his chest that was most likely worsening with his breathing, if he was even more unlucky it could move to his back or shoulder and he could start coughing.
Owen was sure that Ianto was most likely already in shock and if he had all of the symptoms that Owen had just mentally gone through then the doctor could only hope that they reached a hospital in time.
He took Ianto's pulse and it was rapid. If he took blood pressure ad well he was sure that it would have decreased. He had lost his consciousness and Owen knew that a punctured or collapsed lung could lead to death.
All it had to do was rapidly deteriorate into a tension pneumothorax.
He sighed in relief and released a long breath as he heard Doctor's Strong's voice speaking to another two people. The cave rescue team were here at last. The three moved the rocks, while Owen held onto Ianto trying to keep the Welshman in a safe position, so that he wouldn't choke if he started coughing up blood, which Owen knew was majorly possible.
Hemoptysis was something that Owen couldn't risk treating down here in the dark and without the hospital background that he was used to. Even Torchwood's autopsy bay was better than treating someone stuck down here.
Above Andy fiddled nervously with his fingers as Gwen shouted out orders. She was doing a good job sending down two people from the rescue team one at a time, while Tosh talking to Doctor Strong, updating Gwen is something was happening down there or if the pair could see something that they couldn't.
Like more rocks giving way.
Doctor Strong greeted the two men quickly before getting their assistance in moving the final rocks so that they could get to Owen easier.
Jack blinked his eyes open and looked onto the sight of Ianto cradled in Owen's arms. For a moment he thought the worst, before his eyes focussed better to the dark and noticed Ianto's breathing pattern. Doctor Owen Harper looked determined to get Ianto out of here alive.
"I…Ianto..?" The Captain reached out an arm and Owen couldn't help, but shuffle closer. He hadn't said it to Ianto, heck he hadn't even told Jack, however both he and Bob had discussed that the rock being on top of Jack would kill him – was killing him.
Owen felt like he was completing a dying man's request, maybe two dying men's request – if he couldn't save Ianto – which he was now beginning to believe he couldn't do. The doctor extended Ianto's hand towards Jack an allowed the Captain to take it.
He obviously knew that Ianto was awake and was in a bad way as well as the state that he was in, however that didn't stop him from trying to talk. Went Owen stopped him from doing so the glare was like looking into the eyes of a tiger. Fierce, wild and reckless. The Captain just wouldn't stop talking, Owen figured that he had something that he wanted to say and he just wasn't willing to stop him.
The Captain stopped himself though as Doctor Strong appeared beside Owen and asked what they were going to do. Owen thought for a moment before deciding on what to do.
"Take Ianto up and get him to a hospital right now, I can move this rock off of Jack with help from these two." He indicated to the two members of the rescue team. Bob nodded before going to take Ianto from Owen, who had to fight Jack to get him to let go of the Welshman's hand.
He couldn't help the suspicion of a relationship between the pair of them which increased the more he saw of their actions down here. They managed to move the rock and Owen began to wonder if they had moved it too quickly when Jack yelled out in what he presumed to be pain before managing to speak between deep, effortful breaths.
"Owen… promise me," He broke off to cough and that's when Owen realised that Jack had already worked out that he was as good as dead, "Promise me.. t…that Ianto will be al..alright, yeah?" The doctor nodded in reply as he watched the Captain eye lids slip closed, so he tapped his arm desperately.
"Jack, stay awake, stay with us." He responded and opened his eyes again, however it was only a matter of time and Owen knew that. He quickly turned to the rescue team and then shouted out orders of his own, "We need to get him out of here." He loved his position of authority sometimes and would usually bask in the glory of it, especially when people moved to do as he said with no questions asked.
However now was not the right moment and he just couldn't find it in him to feel that way.
Tosh couldn't help, but gasp as she saw the state that Ianto was in. Gwen turned around and Tosh's gasp and Andy's horrified looking face, she knew why as soon as she saw and couldn't help, but wonder what state Jack was in.
They all gathered that Owen was still down there with their boss and as Ianto was carried into an ambulance on a stretcher they all noticed doctor Strong nod to them slightly solemnly as he left without a single, determined not to be late for one moment in his life, for one point of time.
He'd like to be remembered for something other than being the late doctor Bob Strong, who was always late for everything, even surgery and saving people's life.
Doctor Strong turned on a radio which Gwen assumed put him through directly to Rockwood Hospital from the way that he was talking, "ETA ten minutes, I repeat ETA ten minutes."
As soon as Ianto was in the ambulance Doctor Strong was sorting out oxygen masks and various forms of pain medication to give Ianto as they sped off to Rockwood Hospital. It was only a ten minute drive which was made even quicker in an ambulance as no busy school holiday traffic could stop them.
Jack was brought up a moment later and the team knew from the look on Owen's face that he was exhausted. His arm was held close to his body, cradled as if it was injured, which they could easily guess that it was. However that didn't stop Owen from shouting out orders.
"Hey be careful, he's losing a lot of blood." Owen was aware of Jack's uncontrolled internal bleed, however he had numerous smaller cuts that were bleeding now, that Owen had noticed after moving the rock off of him.
The rescue team started to take down all of their equipment and Tosh and Gwen went to join Owen trying to check that he was alright. Andy followed, however he wasn't looking at Owen, Gwen and Tosh he was looking more directly at Jack.
"I'm sure he's not supposed to be breathing like that." Andy said breaking the remainder of the team's happiness at being reunited. Owen turned around and was desperate to say that the officer was wrong, however he knew when he saw Jack that he was right.
Owen dropped down to his knees, beside their boss and desperately started Cardiopulmonary resuscitation using chest compressions, at least 5cm deep and at a rate of one hundred per minute in his effort to create an artificial circulation, that may just give Jack the few minutes that they needed to get him to hospital in time to save his life.
Tosh, Gwen and Andy could do nothing but watch him. Andy went about calling orders for people to continue doing what they were doing and not to worry. Tosh and Gwen knelt on either side of Owen looking on in despair as he winced every time he pressed down on Jack's chest due to the pain that flooded through his arm.
However that wasn't going to stop him.
He had promised Jack that Ianto would be alright and ideally he wanted Jack to be there to see the young Welshman return to his usual health. Because Owen – even though he had been given no actual conformation of the relationship that the pair had – knew that if one of them didn't make it, the other would be very upset.
He couldn't help but allow his mind to drift for a moment for as to what would happen if Jack made it and Ianto didn't. After all he had promised. The doctor shook his head, he couldn't allow himself to get side tracked from what he was doing.
The rain began to poor down and Gwen and Tosh couldn't think that it wasn't meant to mean something to them. Owen was taking so little notice that they believed he hadn't already noticed that the rain was soaking him and running down from his head on to Jack's great coat that they were already mentally noting to give to Ianto.
The rain made Jack's face look blue and cold and it was quick for the girls to see that Owen looked like he hadn't noticed that he was trying to resuscitate a dead man. Toshiko placed her hand on Owen's shoulder and Gwen tried to grab his hands to stop them from uselessly hurting his injured arm.
Owen only came back to the world of rain and darkness when he could imagine seeing a flat line running across his mind and a beeping that he thought he had left behind when he stopped working in a hospital as a doctor.
He had seen this too often before. When CPR was stopped because the subject regains what they call return of spontaneous circulation or ROSC as it was better known among doctors as the time when they declared someone as dead.
"Owen, Owen he's dead." Tosh told him as Gwen finally managed to stop his hands from pressing down on Jack's chest. Owen lowered his head in defeat and the girls didn't need to see his face to know that tears were running down it. The pair stood up as Owen punched the ground and Gwen caught the look on Andy's face as he realised that Jack was dead and watched as he sighed before turning away.
"I'm sorry Jack." The doctor mumbled down heartedly even though he knew it was unlikely that the Captain could still hear him, he knew that he had to say it.
The rain was falling in turrets now, the girls hadn't been able to convince Owen to move for the past few minutes, however they had finally managed it and the three walked away from the scene in silence - Tosh's arm draped around Owen who was constantly looking back to make sure that Andy was still following them - carrying Jack's dead, stone cold body.
Alright my next update will be done by three to four days maximum, however I hope to have it up before then, so some time over the weekend. Thanks for reading and please review.