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Riley walked over to Jack. She tried to keep her eyes away from his leg.
The leg was partially covered with fiberglass cast. The doctor had fixed the leg holder to the bed, and had Jack's leg in traction. The cast wrapped around the thigh, just above the knee. The cast was stretching down the length of his calf wrapping around the underside of his foot, it left the front side of Jack's leg free. An ACE-bandage was wrapped around Jack's ankle and tied to the foot end of the bed to keep traction on the leg. The wound was covered by a large adhesive dressing.
The method of casting was far from regulation, but so was the whole damn situation. And they needed something to keep his leg still, and keep traction if they were to move soon. The cast would be discharged and changed with a new one as soon as the situation allowed it. This was basically a sturdy splint.
Blood had seeped through the pad of the adhesive dressing. Jack's leg had started to swell and bruise.
Riley didn't want to look at the leg more than necessary. It wasn't a pleasant sight.
"Hey, tough guy…" she greeted him.
"Hi Ri…" Jack rolled his head sideways to look at her.
"So… Ready to get out of here?"
Jack nodded, then looked around for Mac.
"He's not back yet. He's checking out the third tunnel…"
"Oh… Okay…"
"He'll be fine, Jack… You're the one we worry 'bout…"
"Can't see why…" Jack attempted to joke, but it fell flat. Dr. Turner's words still sent chills down Jack's back.
"Jack…" Riley sighed as she took Jack's hand in hers. "It's gonna be fine, Mac's taking care of it…"
"A few years ago you would be a lot more worried for him…"
"A few years ago I would be sitting safely behind a laptop, home at PF…" Riley raised her eyebrows a fraction. "Besides, Mac's proven himself before…"
"I hope his luck doesn't run out. I've got a bad feeling about this mission…"
"Can that have anything to do with your leg being crushed by a wall?"
Jack shrugged, "I'm just worried for our boy…"
"He's gonna be fine, Jack…"
Riley had barely finished when the basement trembled again. The first bombing in almost two hours.
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"Oh SHIT!" Mac yelped and braced his hands against both the walls of the narrow corridor. Somewhere above ground a missile had hit, and it made the whole escape tunnel quake.
He continued moving towards the exit. He had to know where the tunnel ended up, and if it was possible to get out of it or if the strikes on the city had mad that impossible.
His heart hammered in his chest as he jogged on. One strike probably meant there were more to come. Probably meant that whoever was shooting up the city had received more ammo. Bad news for the people hiding in the hospital's basement. Bad news for him.
After ten minutes or so, he got to an incline. He was probably getting close to the end of the tunnel.
A few seconds later he found a door to his right. This was the first of the tunnels to have a regular door at the end. The two prior ones had ended with a trapdoor in the roof.
Mac took a deep breath before he pushed the door open. Just enough to peek out. Once he was fairly certain no one else was there, he opened the door completely.
There was no one in the room he entered. He noted he was on street level, good thing considering all the people in hospital beds. And Jack…
He took up his phone, opened the GPS and waited for the blue dot to center. He was almost two miles from the hospital itself, and just a few hundred yards away from the location he had agreed with Patty on. This tunnel seemed to be their best bet, it didn't matter that it was long as heck…
He took a screenshot and sent it to Patricia. Giving her the location of where they would exit. Then he went back inside the tunnel and closed the door. Then he sprinted back.
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"Riley!" Jack's eyes glued to hers, his look telling her about all the grim things inside his imagination.
Riley tightened her grip around his hand. Her thumb rubbing circles on the back of his hand. She tried to comfort the older man in any way she could think of. She knew he was scared, if not for himself, then for Mac.
"He's fine." She tried to sound certain, tried to leave no room for doubt. "I think the hit was on the other side of the building."
Another missile hit either the building or the ground nearby. Sending a buzz of terror through people there as the basement vibrated.
"You can't know that…" Jack looked up at her with desperate eyes. "Ri, what if the tunnel he's in collapses? What if he dies?"
"Jack, look at me." Riley leaned forward, her face just a few inches away from Jack's. "It's Mac. Just trust that either luck or wisdom is going to keep him alive this time too…"
"Riley… I.." Jack had to stop himself from letting out a wet sob. "I can't…"
"It'll be fine, it'll all be over soon…" Riley cooed, just as much for her own sake as for Jack's.
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The bombs going off above seemed closer and more persistent as Mac got nearer the hospital again.
One of the hits made the tunnel he was in tremble enough to make Mac take a nosedive. He got back up quickly and ran towards the basement. There wasn't much time to lose. He had no way of knowing if the tunnel, their escape route, would handle the bombs raining down above.
He had to hurry.
He could see the door to the basement. He ran faster. Ran as fast as his legs would carry him.
Another bomb hit, and he crashed against the basement door.
He staggered backwards, mildly confused, shaking his head. The right side of his forehead stung, a telltale sign of a bruise to come. Great story, ran into a door…
He rubbed a calloused hand over his face, before shaking his head vigorously. Then he placed his hand on the doorknob, and opened the door. He was back in the basement.
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He walked through the crowd, and found Riley and Jack.
He saw them before they saw him. Giving Mac the opportunity of seeing how scared his friends were.
Riley's eyes were red-rimmed with wet trails running down her cheeks. He saw the way she clung on tight to Jack's hand, and he could hear her muttering something sounding like; It's fine, it's alright…
Jack… Jack's eyes wasn't red-rimmed. No… The whole area above and under his eyes were rubbed red, probably from trying to wipe away tears threatening to fall. His bottom lip was trapped between his teeth, Mac knew why. Jack was doing his best not to break down and cry out loud.
Mac wasn't sure whether it was from pain or fear.
Jack's free hand was curled into a fist, the knuckles shining white with the force Jack used to knit his fist.
"I found our way out of here…" Mac declared as he reached the bed, making both Jack and Riley snap their head in his direction.
In a split second, both of them broke into smiles. Quite different from the second before.
"Mac!" Riley squealed, running over hugging Mac.
Mac stood there frozen for a second, not really understanding what was happening, before Riley dragged him over next to Jack.
"About time you got back!" the older man's voice was trembling, like it was about to break any second. "What the hell took you so long?"
"The tunnel is almost two miles long…" Mac rubbed his neck. Riley's arms were still wrapped around his waist. "Took some time to run…"
Jack seemed to acknowledge the explanation.
"So… You found our way out?" Riley asked, looking up at him.
Mac nodded, "Yeah. And it gets us pretty close to where Patty will have transport ready for us…"
"That's my man!" Jack grinned, looking like a proud dad.
Mac smiled, "I just have to find Jeffrey again, have him prepare you to be moved…"
"Please say that doesn't involve more surgery while I'm awake…" Jack almost begged.
"Nah… Think it's just a matter of making that traction thing work even if you leave that bed…"
Jack accepted that, and leaned back against the elevated back of the bed. He didn't even flinch when a new strike shook the floor.
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A quarter of an hour later, the cast around Jack's leg was fixed in a way that put some traction on his leg without him having to be tied to the hospital bed. He was helped over in the waiting wheelchair and they were ready to get out of there.
Okay, so… Guess that happened.
And before any of you might feel inclined to throw shadow because of how I chose to describe the cast on Jack's leg… I know that it is far-fetched… I know that it probably would have been done a differently… But let's just say the doctor(s) were MacGyvering it… (And… What the hell… This is fiction… Fanfiction even… Land of artistic liberties…)