Chapter 7

Hi Everyone, thank you again for reading and following me. I didn't get much feedback on the last chapter, so I hope people are still enjoying it. I will probably be wrapping this story up in two more chapters after this one. This story takes place in both the MacGyver and Magnum realms so I am cross posting in each. As always feedback is appreciated. I don't own any of the characters that you may recognize, I just enjoy writing about them.

Queen's Medical Center Helipad.

The pilot of the Blackhawk landed with skilled precision at Queen's Medical Center and was greeted by a flurry of activity. The report had come into the Emergency Department that there was one trauma patient and two ambulatory patients. The first out to greet the helicopter was the trauma team, and Thomas Magnum was quickly transferred to the gurney and whisked to the awaiting trauma bay. As the trauma team and their patient cleared the landing pad two orderlies approached with wheelchairs. Rick slowly climbed out of the bird, tucking his splinted arm in tight to his abdomen and wincing at the discomfort in his head from where it had smacked the floor when he had been thrown by the explosion from the room. Turning back to the helicopter he shouted back to its remaining occupant who had yet to move.

"Hey Mac, our ride's here. The sooner we get in there and checked out, the sooner we can check up on Magnum."

Mac looked up and then out to where Rick was getting settled into the waiting wheelchair. Confusion clouded his features. When had they arrived at the hospital? Drawing in a shaky breath he slowly stood up. Pain flared in his head and nausea threatened to overwhelm him. The muscles in his back and legs seized up as the numerous wounds from the debris and shrapnel reasserted their presence. Looking at the two orderlies and Rick, Mac tried to tell them that he didn't think he was going to make it, but he only got as far as, "I don.." before darkness overtook him and he crumpled to the floor of the helicopter.

Rick tried to leap from his wheelchair when Mac went down but a restraining hand on his shoulder kept him in place. "Your friend's in good hands, let them do their job," the large orderly incharge of his wheelchair said as the medic from the helicopter immediately sprang into action and the other orderly called for an additional gurney and alerted the hospital that they now had a second trauma victim.

Queen's Emergency Department Room 10

"I tell you, I'm fine, damnit." Rick's exasperation at not knowing the fate of his friends was wearing his patience thin. "I just want to know what's happening to the two guys that came in with me."

"Mr Wright, we've been over this before," his nurse, Alani, patiently explained again as she escorted her wayward patient back to his room. "Your friends are in good hands and a member of the trauma team will stop by once they have them stabilized. Until then I need you to get back on the bed and stay there until Dr Altwood has a chance to review your x rays."

Rick looked down at the petite yet imposing woman who was now blocking the exit from his room. Shoulders sagging in defeat Rick returned to the bed and sat down, "You don't understand, both of them are exmilitary and saw heavy combat in Afghanistan. I don't know about MacGyver, but my friend Thomas is going to be disoriented and scared when he starts to come around. He was a POW and has a history of PTSD."

"I will make sure to pass that along to the teams working on your friends." Alani reassured him as she pulled the blanket up over his lap and raised the rail on the side of the bed. Before she left the room she smiled and said, "I'll see if I can hurry Dr. Altwood along."

"Thanks." Rick replied as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

Trauma Bay 2.

As consciousness slowly returned, MacGyver tried to make sense of what had happened and where he was. He hurt all over, as if someone had really worked him over. His head hurt and his chest felt tight. He was having difficulty breathing. There was a mask on his face! Can't breathe! El Noche! They were waterboarding him with nitrous oxide! Can't breathe! Have to get the mask off!

"Dr. Lee, he's regaining consciousness." Aaron, the lead nurse called out from the trauma bay to the doctor standing in the hallway consulting with one of the other trauma doctors on the cases that had just been brought in by the aerial rescue team. As if to accentuate the remark, the machines monitoring the heart rate, blood pressure, and respirations started screaming as the numbers quickly climbed to unacceptable levels. "I need help over here! He's becoming combative." Aaron shouted as he grabbed the flailing hand with the IV and held it securely while placing his other hand firmly on the patient's uninjured shoulder.

The trauma team went into action for the second time since the patient had arrived at the hospital. The anesthesiologist immediately went to the head of the bed and reestablished the patient's airway, placing the oxygen mask, which had been knocked to the side, back over the patient's mouth and nose. The patient arched his back up off the bed and tried to jerk his head to the side. With strength born from desperation, the patient pulled his hand free from the nurse restraining him and clawed at the oxygen mask.

"He seems to have issues with the face mask. Possible claustrophobic reaction. His oxygen saturation levels are at an acceptable level, I'm going to switch to a nasal cannula," the anesthesiologist reported. With the removal of the mask the patient collapsed back onto the bed and took in deep gulping breaths.

Dr. Lee checked the monitors, noting that the numbers were slowly returning to normal. "I'd like 10 mg of droperidol administered to help sedate and calm the patient. Once the patient is sedated I want his one arm with the IV restrained. I don't want him possibly pulling it out."

Aaron, who had stepped away to consult with someone at the door, turned back to advise the team of the new information he had obtained. "I've just been alerted that our patient is a veteran with heavy combat experience with possible PTSD."

Dr. Lee looked down at the young man on the table, "Damn, he doesn't look old enough to be out of college let alone experience heavy combat. Okay, with this new information, belay the restraint, but I want someone with him at all times until he regains full consciousness. Once CT is done with the patient from Trauma Bay 1, I want a full scan to confirm we are not missing anything."

Trauma Bay 1.

Dr Lani Kekoa looked at the mangled leg in front of her as the team read off the stats and worked on further stabilizing their patient. The lead anesthesiologist disconnected the portable vent and connected the intubation tube to the hospital's O2 system while one of the nurses proceeded to hook up the multitude of other machines. The patient had experienced a crush injury to the left leg above the knee. Thankfully the blood flow had not been compromised enough to completely cut off circulation to the lower extremity. Re-examination confirmed capillary refill in the foot and a pedal pulse. As a precaution the field medics had established two IV's. The first one with a large bore catheter pushing normal saline and ketamine, replaced fluids and administered pain meds. The second one was used to administer sodium bicarbonate solution and D5W to counteract any toxins released due to possible crush syndrome that would result in potential kidney failure.

"Okay, before I take this guy up to surgery to fix that leg, I want a full CT done. I want a full picture of what we are facing. I don't want any surprises." Dr Kekoa addressed her team.

With the efficiency of a well oiled machine, having predicted the needs, the CT department had already been placed on alert and was ready when they arrived. The scan revealed, as expected, that the femur was broken in three places just above the knee. No major internal injuries to the pelvic, abdominal, thoracic areas or upper extremities. The only other concern was when they reached the head and found a compressed fracture approximately 2.5 cm in diameter to the right temporal bone. After a brief consultation with the Neurosurgeon, Dr. Choi, and the rest of the trauma team it was determined that the patient was stable enough to allow for them to repair both the femur and the skull fracture at this time.

As the patient was wheeled from the CT room to be prepped for surgery Robert Ioni, the Emergency Department Chaplin approached, "Lani, I've been advised that Mr. Magnum's family just arrived and are wanting to know his condition." Robert stated. As Chaplin, it was his duty to act as a liaison between the doctor, the family, and the patient.

"Thank you Robert, I was just going to check if he had anyone here for him. If you can let them know that Mr. Magnum is stable and is being prepped for surgery now. Riley, was our recorder for this trauma and can give you the specifics of Mr. Magnum's injuries."

"Thanks Lani. Also, we were advised by one of the other patients brought in with Mr. Magnum, that he is a former prisoner of war in Afghanistan and suffers from PTSD."

Lani Kekoa nodded, "That would explain the evidence of previous injuries noted in the x-rays and CT Scan. Mr. Magnum is certainly no stranger to trauma. I noted at least a dozen previous injuries, several of which looked like they healed without proper care. Could you please let Riley know so she can add that information to his chart? Also check with his family and determine if there are any accommodations we will need to make when he is transferred to the SICU."

Emergency waiting room

T.C., Juliette, and Desi were the next off the mountain, having been airlifted from the site to Hickman Airfield and then shuttled to the Hospital where Kumu had met up with them. The four of them, three of whom still bore the dirt and dried sweat from their labors, took over a small corner of the room so as not to affect any of the other patients and families waiting to be seen. It was there that Chaplin Ioni found them huddled together. Recognizing Kumu from their work together on cultural ceremonies, he approached and greeted her, "Teuila, are you related in some way to the three that were brought in from the cave in?"

Kumu stood up and greeted the approaching man, "Robert, it's good to see you. Yes, we are the closest thing that Thomas, Orville, and Angus have to family." Turning to indicate the rest of the group, Kumu quickly made introductions.

T.C. was the first to speak up, addressing all their concerns, "You're the Chaplin, has something gone wrong? Are they okay?"

"Let me first assure you that all three of them are currently stable. Mr. Wright, who is having difficulty staying put, has a fractured arm and a concussion. He is going to be admitted for 24 hour observation. Mr. MacGyver's status changed when he arrived at the hospital and lost consciousness. The trauma team advised me that he has a dislocated shoulder, fractured ribs that had impeded his breathing, a hairline skull fracture, and several small wounds and contusions on his back and legs. He came to, briefly, in the trauma bay and fought the use of a face mask for oxygen."

"A couple years ago, he was tortured and waterboarded with the use of nitrous oxide delivered through a mask," Desi spoke up. "He's had issues with them ever since."

Robert nodded and made notes on the additional information before continuing on, "Mr. Magnum is our biggest concern. Besides the fractures in his femur, they discovered a depressed skull fracture about the size of a quarter. They're taking him to surgery to repair both his leg and the skull fracture. There doesn't appear to be any injury to the brain, but they may place him in a medically induced coma for a couple days to allow the brain some time to heal . Both he and Mr. MacGyver will be admitted to the SICU after their surgeries. It's going to be several hours before anyone can see either of them. I'll be sure to update you when I receive any further information."

T.C. spoke up before the man could leave, "Chaplin, I'd like to request if at all possible to be in the room with Thomas when he wakes up. He may experience flashbacks from his time as a POW, and both Orville and I have experience helping him through those episodes."

"I am sure that can be arranged, but I think you should probably go home and clean up first." Robert said as he smiled and excused himself from the group.

Kumu turned and addressed the group with a tone that allowed for no argument, "Okay, you heard the man, go home, get cleaned up, and get something to eat. I will go sit with Rick until you get back." With that she handed the keys to the Range Rover to Juliette and headed to the back to locate Rick and relieve the hospital staff from babysitting him.

Juliette dropped T.C. off at his place so that he could get cleaned up. He declined a ride back to the hospital, stating that he had some calls he needed to make before heading back. Juliette and Desi continued on to Robin's Nest in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. After reaching the estate and washing off a day's worth of dirt and sweat, the two sat at the small kitchen table picking at the left overs they had heated up.

Juliette was the first to speak up, "Have you contacted Matty yet to fill her in?"

Desi shook her head and sighed, "What do I say? I'm sorry, I had one job, to keep Mac safe, and I failed?"

"I am sure Matty won't blame you for what happened to Mac."

"Matty won't, but Jack will."

"Jack?"

"Jack was Mac's partner at Phoenix, but they go back further than that. They met back in Afghanistan and after a bumpy start they've been together ever since, except for the brief period when Jack rotated out of the Army before Mac, and now of course. Jack was called back up to help track and apprehend a terrorist that he was familiar with. Before Jack left he reached out to me and asked me to watch out for Mac while he was gone and to keep him out of trouble. I've been with the team for only a couple months and Mac ends up in the hospital requiring surgery."

"So let me see if I got this straight, the entire time Mac was partnered with this fellow Jack, he never got injured or was in the hospital?

Desi chuckled, "No, hardly. You could say that Mac is a bit of a trouble magnet and no stranger to injuries in the line of duty."

"I know a thing or two about trouble magnets," Juliette smiled, thinking of the numerous times Magnum had returned to the estate with some injury and some ridiculous explanation. "So, if this Jack person was incapable of keeping Mac from being injured, how is he supposed to expect you to do what he couldn't?'

Desi nodded, "It sounds like you've been through this before."

"Let's just say that I've been around that block a couple times. T.C. and Rick take Magnum's knack for getting injured very personal."

"Thanks," Desi said as she stood up from the table, "I should probably go make my phone call now."