*Mitchell's POV*
Everyone is panicking now and she is slumped against his shoulder.
The amount of blood she is losing is staggering.
He can imagine the amount of blood he had lost when he lost his arm. This was different. This was happening to someone else, someone he cares about...again.
He had already lost his best friend a few years ago and he didn't want to go through that again.
His vision is suddenly blurry and he blinks back tears. "Come on, [your name]...stay with me...us," Mitchell says quietly as Soap and Gideon shout orders at the pilot.
She's unresponsive and it's scaring him. He puts more pressure on the wound, his hands quickly becoming covered in blood.
They land and Mitchell is still in a daze. Gideon shouts his name and he looks at him. "Carry her inside!"
Mitchell looks down at her. She's so pale. His hands are covered in her blood. He lifts her and she's nothing but dead weight in his arms. Gideon is ahead of him and looks back every now and then, worried. Mitchell assumes they're still in Russia somewhere. I have no idea how long we were on that helicopter. He gets inside of a run down building and sees hospital beds with other injured soldiers on them. A makeshift hospital?
Soap and Gideon are running ahead looking for a doctor or anyone that can help. "She's been shot!" you hear Gideon shout at a man in scrubs. Gideon looks almost as pale as she does. The doctor ushers you into a room and you put her down gently. "You all have to leave!" the doctor orders. Gideon looks fit to burst but leaves the room. The last thing Mitchell sees as the door closes is the nurse putting an oxygen mask on her face and the doctor tearing her jacket open.
Mitchell's legs give out and he plops down into a chair. He looks at Gideon and Soap. Soap is leaning against the wall with his head in his hands and Gideon is just standing in the middle of the hall staring at the door.
Soap mumbles something. "What?" Gideon says quietly and turns to face Soap. "This is your fault," Soap repeats calmly. Mitchell sees Gideon's hands ball up into fists. Oh no.
"If you would have just let her leave the first time she got hurt this wouldn't have happened," Soap continues.
Gideon moves closer. "Shut up," he says quietly.
"She could be dying in there and it's your fault!" Soap shouts.
"Shut the fuck up!" Gideon shouts and lunges at Soap. Mitchell jumps up and grabs for Gideon but he's already pummeling Soap.
"Stop!" Mitchell yells and pulls Gideon away. Gideon is breathing heavily and Mitchell swears he sees tears in his eyes.
"This is not what she would want, Gideon. You know that," Mitchell says. "And you," he turns to Soap, "This is no one's fault."
Soap gives Mitchell a look and walks away wiping his lip.
Gideon sits down and shakes his head, "Fuckin tosser!"
Mitchell sits next to him, "She'll be fine. She's strong..." He tries to sound certain, but his voice waivers. Gideon looks at him and now he's sure there are tears in his eyes. "What if she's not fine? What he said...he's right. I should have let her go!"
"No, Gideon, she would have stayed no matter what," Mitchell tries to comfort him. "You can't stop bad things from happening. They just happen," Mitchell says sadly. "Unfortunately, it seems to happen to people we love and care about." Mitchell's mind flashes back to Will's funeral. When he looks at Gideon again he's looking down at the floor. Mitchell puts an arm around Gideon's shoulders and pulls him to his chest.
"You don't always have to be so strong. You don't always have to be the protector," he says. He can feel Gideon's body shaking and it brings tears to his eyes.
Mitchell doesn't know how long he held Gideon that way or how long they were there. Period.
Gideon finally sits up when he hears the door open and he jumps out of the chair. Mitchell stands up and he's not sure if he wants to hear what the doctor has to say. The doctor's scrubs are covered in blood and he looks tired. He doesn't say anything as he takes his gloves and mask off.
"Well?" Gideon says anxiously, "How is she?"
The doctor sighs before answering, "She lost a lot of blood, but we were able to remove the bullet and close her up. Luckily, the bullet hit nothing vital."
"Can we see her?" Mitchell asks.
"Yes, you can. She's still under so I don't know how responsive she'll be but I'm sure when she wakes up, you two will be the ones she wants to see." Both Gideon and Mitchell nod and the doctor walks off. They look at each other then at the door. Mitchell knows that Gideon won't do it so he moves forward and opens the door...
*Gideon's POV*
He couldn't do it. He couldn't go into that room. I don't want to see her like that.
Mitchell opens the door and walks in first. He looks back at Gideon, "It's okay. I'm here," he says. Gideon takes a deep breath and follows behind Mitchell. He freezes when he hears the beeping sound. I can't...
He's about to turn around and leave when he feels Mitchell's hand on his shoulder.
He looks at Mitchell and nods.
Mitchell walks over to the bed. Gideon finally looks at her and he nearly breaks down. My god...she's so pale. She looks so small and weak.
She was always a small woman, but somehow she looked even smaller in that bed.
She shouldn't have all those tubes and machines around her. If she could see herself she would probably be cursing at the doctor. Gideon smiles to himself.
She's sleeping and she doesn't look like she's in any pain. Thank God. Gideon finally finds the strength to move closer. He just looks at her. I'm sorry, so sorry. He takes her hand in his. So small. So fragile. Please forgive me. And almost as if Mitchell was reading his mind he says, "It isn't your fault, Gideon."
He looks up into Mitchell's eyes and smiles. "Thanks, mate."
Gideon thinks of a million things he wants to say to her.
That fucking beeping is driving him crazy.
"Hey, [your name]," Gideon says, "I know you can hear me and I need you to wake the fuck up."
Mitchell laughs. "She's stubborn. She'll wake up when she wants."
"She'll wake up when I tell her because I'm her captain," Gideon says jokingly.
Suddenly Mitchell asks him something that almost stops his heart. "Do you love her?"
Gideon's head pops up and he squints his eyes at Mitchell. "What?"
"You heard me. Do you love her?" Mitchell asks looking Gideon right in the eye. "Mitchell, I...I don't know." Gideon looks away unable to look Mitchell in the eye any longer. "What does it matter? I can't even protect her properly."
Mitchell runs his hand through his hair, frustrated, "It's not your job to protect her. Once you get that through your thick skull maybe you'll think more clearly." Mitchell sits down and all is quiet except for the beeping. The goddamn beeping.
Gideon realizes he's still holding her hand. He finally lets go and sits down. He's tired. Exhausted. When he looks over at Mitchell his eyes are closed and he assumes he has fallen asleep. Gideon closes his eyes and out of nowhere Mitchell begins to sing. His eyes fly open and he looks over at Mitchell who still has his eyes closed. His voice is so haunting. So beautiful. I never knew...
Mitchell continues to sing. Gideon has no idea what song it is, but he doesn't care as long as Mitchell doesn't stop.
His eyes close again as Mitchell's song blocks out the beeping. He focuses on Mitchell's voice until it's all he can hear and soon he hears nothing at all.