Jack was surprised he didn't hurt when he woke up. He opened his eyes and let out a deep sigh of contentment. He felt pretty darn good. He took in his surroundings. He was at Phoenix medical. Above his a forest of half empty bags hung over him. He grinned seeing the morphine drip. That explained the noticeable lack of pain. There would be world peace if everyone had their own morphine drip, Jack thought stretching. He frowned feeling a pull in his side. He raised the bedding to see a tube stuck in his side draining blood and other stuff. That was gonna hurt when the drugs were taken away. There weren't any other dressings only a spectacular set of thick bruises and a deep red line where the cable dug into his waist. Jack dropped the blankets and yawned. For jumping more than 200 feet, it wasn't all that bad.
Jack looked at the empty chair beside his bed and felt a moment of panic followed by a lurch in his gut. Mac! Jack grabbed the bed rail intending to get up and find his friend when he noticed Mac standing in front of the window. Jack studied the kid, not liking what he saw.
Mac's left shoulder was fixed in a hard brace that forced it against his side. He wore a sling. Jack winced. He new from experience having a broken collar bone sucked, having one and having it braced was a whole new definition of pain. Not that you could tell in Mac's posture. He stood stiff as if he had been ordered to attention in the military. Even in profile he could see the complete emptiness in Mac's face. Jack frowned. Mac glared out the window with a look he'd seen when Zoe had died. Then Mac had a staring contest with all of Los Angeles. Out in the empty hills around Phoenix Jack had no idea what Mac was staring at. Of course, Jack told himself, Mac probably wasn't seeing anything except the hell of his own mind playing scenarios of what could have been over and over in his imagination. Jack pushed the button on the bed until he was sitting up. He closed his eyes and held the tube at his side gasping in pain.
He was surprised Mac didn't move, didn't flinch. Was he ignoring Jack? Jack tried to swallow. His mouth was too dry. He rubbed his face. He felt his own guilt stab his heart. Hanika. He'd liked her and thought she could have been something special for Mac. Jack poured himself a drink eyeing Mac over the rim of the plastic cup. The cool water soothed his throat and filled his belly, in a good way. Mac stood like a gargoyle glaring at the doors of a church. Jack noticed cotton shoved in his partner's ear and cursed himself. He'd forgotten about the damage to Mac's ears. Jack thought about the long flight from France to LA and winced in sympathy. It must have been hell. Jack's heart broke in half. He should have been there to comfort Mac. Once again he'd failed the kid. Jack shook his head and braced himself for a hurricane. He emptied the plastic cup then threw it at Mac.
He didn't have Mac's preternatural hand and eye coordination, but the cup flew true. Mac jumped when it bounced off his shoulder. Jack cringed hoping he hadn't hurt his buddy. Mac whirled panic in his eyes. He took in the room then focused on Jack. His mouth dropped open. Jack chuckled.
"Careful, you're gonna catch flies in that trap." Jack's voice was a husky scrape along the back of his throat. Mac grinned, strode forward and gave Jack an awkward hug. Jack closed his eyes taking in Mac's presence. He knew Mac wasn't mad at him. Mac stumbled a step as he straightened. A grunt that could have been from annoyance or pain escaped as the younger man caught himself on the bed rail. Jack held onto Mac's right shoulder and left side to help study him. Mac slowly straightened. He moved like a frail 80 year-old dying man.
"Mac?" Mac turned away as he fell into a moist coughing fit. The blonde plopped into the chair and leaned his head back.
"I'm fine." Mac's voice rasped as much as Jack's. Mac laughed and met Jack's disbelieving gaze, "I totally get what Laffy Taffy feels like." Jack managed a half-hearted smile remembering Mac's screams and the sinister whine of the winches of the rack he'd been strapped to. Mac tilted his head and studied Jack's face. Jack could see stains of bruises and swollen cuts pepper both sides of the kid's face. What worried him the most was the deadness in his brother's bottomless eyes.
Mac smiled sadly and winced as he raised a foot and slipped it into the hole in the rail. He rested an elbow on his raised knee and cupped his chin in his palm.
"Seriously, big guy, are you ok?" He said softly.
"Are you?" Mac dropped his arm and leaned back. He tilted the chair and rocked it on it's back legs.
"I'm not the one who had all his internal organs mashed and ribs broken." Mac said.
"No, you're the one with the dislocated arm, broken collar bone and…" Mac jumped up, his chair thumping down on the tile. He crossed to the foot of the bed putting distance between him and Jack. Mac began to pace. His face was still a granite mask but his right hand pumped into a white-knuckled fist with each step. Mac absently banged it against his leg as if he held a knife and couldn't stab himself deep enough.
"I was going to say, bad ears." Jack finished. He decided to play the long game. Mac paused and half-turned giving Jack an apologetic half watt smile.
"They said you will have that tube out later today then you can go home." Mac's tone was light, too light.
"Mac…"
"It's fine, Jack. You're going to stay with Bozer and me, no arguing?" Jack sighed as if he was upset. In actuality, he was happy at the arrangement. He needed to stay close to his boy. Jack knew the meltdown was coming. He wondered if Mac wasn't having him over because he knew it too.
"Well I don't know, bud, your old TV sucks." Mac raised an eyebrow and his mouth quirked into a wry grin.
"You're the one who bought it."
"Four years ago! And that's only because you didn't have one."
"Not everybody needs to rot their brains in front of a TV."
"You would have no culture if it wasn't for Bozer and me." Mac chuckled and sat back down.
"I wouldn't have to put up with endless Star Wars quotes." Mac said with false grumpiness.
"Ok, first you would you just wouldn't get them, and second you loved those movies." Jack yawned and wiped his face. Mac leaned forward resting his good elbow on his thighs. He stared at his fingers who kept moving along the denim of his pants hungry for something to fiddle with. Jack figured it was hard to make paper clip sculptures one-handed.
"I don't blame you, you know." Mac said softly. Jack gulped. He reached out a hand. Mac stared at it a long minute before putting his on top of it. Jack knew he was doing it more for Jack than for himself. Jack felt sad. Mac just wouldn't let himself be comforted.
"I 'preciate that, bud." Jack husked. He fought a yawn. He wanted to sleep for a year, but Mac was more important, "I had no choice. We...the whole world…" Mac pulled his hand away knowing what Jack truly meant. He stood up and crossed to the window. Jack moved to pull the blankets away he was going to comfort his boy whether the kid wanted it or not.
The door suddenly filled with boisterous chaos as Bozer, Riley, Cage and Matty blew into the room. They laughed and ran to the bed happy to see Jack awake. Jack grinned just as happy. He glanced over his heart sinking. Mac had slipped out silently behind the others.
Mac leaned against the wall listening as the others laughed. He rubbed his face. His headache was worse. His ears felt like someone had shoved a spear through one side of his head to the other. Mac broke off mentally counting his aches and pains. Man up. He told himself. His pain didn't matter. Hanika...Mac swallowed. Maac! Ahhh! Mac straightened and turned to stride down the hall. He wasn't running, not really. A hand on his shoulder jolted him out of his reverie. The sirens buzzing in his ears stopped him from hearing anyone sneak up on him and to be honest it was starting to piss him off. His ire increased when he saw who it was.
"What the hell do you want?" Mac growled. He was in no mood to be social or kind. Sally wasn't bothered by his surliness which pissed him off more.
"Izzy wants to put in more ear drops before you go." Mac glared at the red head silently beheading Phoenix's head nurse. He didn't hate her, not really.
"I'm busy, go away." Mac turned pushing past her. He walked faster knowing he would outpace her easily. He ignored the pain jangling in every joint and muscle and the dizziness which made the tile wobble like water in a storm. He glanced over his shoulder and was surprised to see Sally hadn't followed him, but had turned into Jack's room.
Mac slowed and let out a long sigh of relief. The ear drops felt like acid. They were necessary to prevent infection, they'd take down the swelling so he could hear better, blah, blah, blah. He wished they'd just let him go home with a bottle. Although, he conceded, he probably wouldn't take them. He hated ear drops. Mac growled. Honestly, right not he hated his ears...hell, everything. Mac genuinely hated everything at that moment.
Mac let out a startled gasp when he looked up and almost walked into Doc Carl. The young doctor looked up from a chart just as surprised.
"Hey, Mac." Mac could barely hear him over the chainsaw buzzing playing in stereo across his head, but he knew the doc would be ridiculously cheerful. Mac wanted to punch him. He managed to growl a hello before stepping around him. Doc Carl reached out and captured Mac's good arm. Mac stopped but didn't turn.
"What?" He snarled.
"Grams was looking for you." Mac ground his teeth together. He liked Doc Carl and his grandmother, Izzy, the newest addition to Phoenix medical, but he wasn't in the mood.
"Tell her I said, hi." Mac said around a throat full of frustration. He tugged free of Doc Carl's grip and stormed the rest of the way down the hall. He thought he heard yelling behind him through the grinding of his ears, but didn't care. He ignored the elevator and jogged up the stairs. Mac ignored the squeezing pain in his chest and the fatigue in his muscles. Being waterboarded and stretched on the rack sucked, but he'd had worse.
Mac's chest heaved as he sucked in air. He ran all the way to his jeep. He knew the others would kill him if they knew he was driving, but he didn't care he had to get away, to be alone...to forget...Mac swallowed the sob that threatened to vomit from his chest. He ignored the blurry world as he whipped through the parking lot. He didn't notice how wet his face was as he stomped on the gas and whirled into traffic.
Mac took the back roads. He decided he didn't want to go home. He drove blindly, losing himself in the random turns and twists that were the back streets of LA. Mac came to himself when his car slammed into a tree. The bag exploded in his face. He screamed in pain as his shoulder snapped forward then back with a crack. The bag deflated. Mac moved with it curling over. He felt his chest heave in pain and airlessness. He closed his eyes and shook. It took him a long time to realize that the painful crash had shaken out his tears. From physical and emotional, Mac found himself sobbing and choking with his face buried in the hard plastic of the steering wheel.
A hand on his shoulder jolted him awake. He groaned turning his head. He hadn't realized he'd passed out. He blinked surprised to see it was night. He frowned trying to remember when he'd been at Jack's bedside. He had no idea. The hand reached out and brushed hair out of his face.
"MacGyver? Can you hear me?" Mac squinted through the haze in his brain. He closed his eyes.
"Go away. Why won't you all go away?" Izzy laughed and gently reached out. Mac hissed as the old woman's hands roamed over his body finding every hurting knook and agonizing cranny. He pushed himself back in his seat and felt how wet his face was. He rubbed his cheek with his good hand and found it to be blood not tears. Mac let out a breath relieved. He hated crying and he really hated crying in front of someone. Especially someone other than Jack. Mac grimaced taking in the hood of his jeep curled around a solid oak. He pushed himself to sitting. Steam flooded from the engine and he could smell gas and oil. His insurance was going to skyrocket.
He'd crashed on a deserted dead end. He frowned. Where the hell was he? There were no houses or buildings only the thick scraggles of scrub and trees. He realized that the cement blockade in front of him was lit by headlights. His weren't lit. Mac turned his head and blinked at Izzy who studied him as she talked into a cell phone. Behind her a giant truck growled unmoving. It was surreal. Mac closed his eyes and rested his head on the steering wheel. He couldn't hear what the old woman was saying into the phone, but could guess who she was speaking to. Mac winced as pain wracked his left shoulder as it slumped. Back to the hospital, back to his worried friends who would pester him with questions he had no answers to and worst, the pity in their eyes.
"Angus?" Izzy was again at his elbow. Mac didn't move his head, he wasn't sure if he could.
"How did you find me?" His tiredness came out as irritation.
"I didn't, you found me." Mac slowly turned and frowned at her. She shook her head and slid her phone in her pocket, "We all searched for you for hours. I came home to get a bite to eat."
"Home?" Izzy pointed in the general direction of the cement barrier.
"You live in the woods."
"Yes, in a way. Come with me, Angus. We'll get you sorted." Mac blinked at her.
"You aren't taking me to Phoenix?"
"Your body is no more hurt than it was when you started out."
"It feels like it is." Mac grumbled forcing himself to move. Izzy laughed like an indulgent grandmother.
"That's what happens when you viciously attack a tree. They are very brave and do not step aside when they see you." Mac blinked at her.
"What?" The old woman didn't say anything. Her hands were warm and calloused and she had a surprising solid strength. Izzy almost carried Mac to her truck and pushed him up into the cab. The world tilted and swirled. Mac closed his eyes and leaned against the door. He cringed at the roar as Izzy started the throaty engine. Mac sat up straight as they turned into a hidden drive. Mac cried out as they bounced over haddocks and through holes. It wasn't a hidden drive, it was a fucking deer trail.
"Why did you attack my tree, Angus?" Izzy said calmly. Mac glared at her bracing himself against the dash. His teeth were almost jolted out of his mouth as they bounced down the barely there track.
"I did not attack your tree!" Mac gritted. Izzy turned and studied him a long minute. No matter what obstacle pummelled the truck the old woman seemed to ride it gracefully. Mac closed his eyes. The woods around them were so thick his heart lurched with panic.
"Watch the road!" He howled.
"Your spirit is very perturbed." Izzy said sadly. Mac glared at her. She sat easily in the driver's seat barely able to see over the steering wheel.
"No shit!" He yelled. She frowned at him. Mac turned away guilty. He hated how he became a child in trouble told to stand in the corner of the classroom at her slightest glare.
"I think there is a reason you were led here." She said with a sigh. Mac almost bit off his tongue as they bounced over a boulder.
"I wasn't led here. It's just coincidence." Mac said loudly as air whumped out of him.
"There is no such thing. Here we are." Mac let out a relieved breath as the track became smooth and straight. Mac raised his eyebrow in surprise. A short driveway led to the side of a house unlike any he'd ever seen before. It was built into the side of a bulwark and was made out of tires, bottles and cans. Mac marvelled at the long line of solar panels that reflected in the bright headlights. Weirder still, there was no lawn. There was a dirt path leading to a door made of old railroad ties. Trees and bushes came up to the building separated only by a narrow dirt path.
"Wow." Mac whispered awe in his voice. Izzy smiled and turned off the truck. The buzzing in his ears sounded like cicadas singing in summer heat. Izzy crossed to his side and caught him as he flopped out of the truck.
"Is he ok?" A familiar voice said from the darkness.
"Jack?" Mac asked surprised. He felt the older man come to his side and pull Mac's arm across his broad shoulders. Mac tried to pull away when he heard Jack hiss in pain. Izzy's hands around his waist on the other side kept him upright.
"You freaked everybody out, kiddo." Jack said. Mac closed his eyes partly out of guilt partly from the nausea burning through his gut. He dimly heard Izzy say something. He heard 'attack' and 'tree' and huffed in frustration.
"I did not attack your tree." He slurred. He felt his knees wobble and groaned as his bones melted. He was dimly aware of being cradled by his partner's arms. He could feel Jack's chest rumble as he spoke. The volume and speed of the vibrations told Mac the older man was in pain and on the verge of panic. Mac tilted his head further into Jack's chest hoping that would comfort his partner. It was all he had to give.
Jack hissed in pain as he staggered after Izzy. Izzy navigated the darkness like a damned chupacabra. Jack stumbled and winced as his fingers dug into Mac's flesh. Izzy's heavy wooden door opened with a loud shriek.
"I gotcha, buddy." Jack winced as he was suddenly enveloped in bright lights. He squinted up at a flood light over the door. The door led into a short greenhouse. Almost every square inch was covered with something green. Jack felt the heat of the sun against his bare arms. The flood light was a grow light.
Jack turned sideways and stepped up two stone steps then into the house. He blinked until his eyes adjusted to dimmer light. There was no furniture in the usual sense of the word, only thick cushions spread across the room. The walls glinted like gems the bottoms of glass bottles reflected the lights of the fire.
"Nice fire." Izzy said admiration in her voice. Jack grinned stupidly. The woman had a gift for making him a proud 10 years-old who'd just done something good. Jack fell to his knees on a round cushion and hissed in pain as he carefully laid Mac out on a long fluffy cushion. Jack fell back onto a pile of round cushions closing his eyes. He was exhausted and hurt all over. He let out a contented sigh and studied Mac's still form. Jack reached out and moved a thick strand of hair from the kid's face. He winced at the stickiness attacked to his fingers.
"Ok, let's get you settled first." Izzy said crouching at Jack's side. Jack opened his mouth to protest but snapped it shut at one dark-eyed glare of the old woman. Damn if he didn't nod and follow her meekly to a longer cushion on the other side of the room. He watched the flames flicker over Mac's flaccid face as Izzy ran her fingers across his body. Her touch was light and warm. Jack felt his eyes sag. No matter what his brain told them, the stubborn things closed as he relaxed into sleep.