Chapter 8

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. Please leave feedback if you are so inclined, it is the only form of 'payment' we get for our stories. There will be one more chapter after this one to wrap it all up. 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.

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The First 24 Hours

It is said that the first 24 hours are the key to a patient's recovery. If the first 24 hours are good then the patient's recovery should go smoothly, if they are not, well the patient could be in for a rough go of it.

The commotion coming from the direction of Rick's room could be heard as soon as T.C. stepped off the elevators.

"I told you I am fine. I know my name, I know what day it is, I know where I am, I know what happened to me. I don't feel dizzy, I don't feel nauseous, and the only headache I have is you not letting me go check on my buddies in ICU." Rick's voice travelled down the hall.

"And we've told you Mr. Wright, that the doctor ordered a concussion protocol with a 24 hour hold till 6 am tomorrow." came the firm reply from whom T.C. presumed was the unlucky nurse to get Rick as a patient.

"Then I want to sign out AMA," Rick thundered back.

Before the nurse could reply T.C. stepped into the room and filled the doorway. "Orville Wright, get your ass back into that damn bed and let this poor nurse do her job. You ain't signing out against medical advice."

Rick sank down onto the edge of the bed and ran a hand over his face. Looking down at the floor, his voice came out lost and defeated, "T.C., I've got to see them. I've got to see for myself that they are going to be okay."

"I can take it from here," T.C said to the nurse as he walked over and sat down next to his friend, putting an arm around his shoulder, allowing Rick to lean into his side and draw strength from him. "Our boy is going to be okay. He's been through worse. As for Mac, he's young and strong. I'm sure he is fine too."

"You should have seen him T.C., he dropped to the floor of the bird like he was a puppet and his strings had been cut." Rick recalled the last time he had seen Mac. "And I know Tommy's been through worse, but I can't help remembering the state we found him in at the hospital in Germany. You know if he wakes up and he's alone, he's going to freak."

"It's all been taken care of. We were able to talk to Magnum's doc, and he's agreed to allow one person in the room at all times. Higgy is sitting with him now. I'll spell her in a little while and take the night shift. As for Mac, Desi is sitting with him. Tomorrow, if your doc says that you're okay, then you can take a couple hours, but not the whole day. Until then, I'll see if I can't convince them to let you take a ride in a wheelchair, under my supervision, to the ICU unit for a quick visit." T.C. moved his arm from around Rick's shoulders and gently ruffled his hair, which earned him a swat from Rick.

"I don't need a wheelchair!" Rick called out to the retreating form of his friend.

"Yes you do!" T.C. called back as he exited the room.

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Mac was never one to blindly jump into a situation. He preferred to take a step back, gather all the facts, make a plan, and then execute it. So when consciousness started to return, he slowly took stock of the situation as various senses came on board. The first thing was sound, he heard the slight woosh of the O2 as it escaped the nasal cannula and was directed up his nose. He heard the beeping of machines in a steady rhythm. So he was in a hospital. That would mean he had been injured and Jack would be sitting in some uncomfortable chair waiting for him to wake his sorry ass up. Mac smelled the air, no Old Spice aftershave. Mac almost panicked at that. If Jack wasn't there, then that meant Jack was injured too. Then he remembered, oh yeah, that's right, no Jack, Jack left. Mac almost wanted to shut back down at that point and disappear into the nothingness, but then he caught the scent of a softer, gentler smell. Sandalwood and lavender? Desi. That's right, Desi was with him. Mac smiled a little as he heard the soft tune she was humming. It was the one her grandmother always sang to her when she was younger, to help comfort her. Desi had sang it to him on the plane ride back from one of their earliest missions.

So Desi was sitting watch and he was in the hospital. Why was he in the hospital this time? Mac slowly let the rest of his senses come on board. HIs body felt heavy. Conclusion, he had been under sedation. His shoulder ached, his head ached, hell, his whole body felt like it had been a pin cushion for a hundred sharp objects. Conclusion, he had been in an explosion. The pieces to the puzzle fell into place. He had been helping Magnum locate a fugitive, and when they found her, she had set off an explosion that brought the ceiling of a bunker down on top of Magnum and had thrown him and Rick clear of the room.

Mac opened his eyes and blinked a couple times to adjust them to the light. Turning his head toward the humming he tried to say something but it only came out as a strangled craggly whisper. Before his brain could catch up to the fact that she moved, Desi was standing by his bed offering him a cup of water with a straw in it.

"Here, take a few sips before trying to speak again."

Mac nodded and accepted the straw between his lips, pulling in the cool refreshing liquid. Clearing his throat he tried again, "Magnum? Rick?'

Desi gave a half smile and shook her head, "Jack had said that you would always inquire about everyone else before you ask about yourself and that you wouldn't rest until you found out how they were."

Mac just raised one eyebrow and gave her a look that conveyed the message of 'well don't keep me in suspense'.

Desi rolled her eyes and gave a short laugh, "T.C. brought Rick by just a little bit ago. Rick is fine, you know the extent of his injuries from the medic in the bunker, nothing new for him. They are holding him for 24 hours." Desi paused and drew in a deep breath before continuing. "Magnum is a different story. He's in pretty bad shape, but the doctors are confident that he will make a full recovery."

Seeing that Mac's eyes were already starting to droop, Desi reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair out of his eyes, "Get some more rest, I'll be here if you need anything." She stood by his bedside and gently hummed an old Vietnamese lullaby until his breaths evened out in sleep.

Returning to her chair she pulled out her phone and texted the team back at Phoenix, 'Mac just woke up, asked about everyone else first of course (eye roll emoji), wasn't awake long but docs said that is to be expected... HE"S GOING TO BE OKAY!'

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As promised, Rick had stayed in his own room for the required 24 hours to ensure there were no complications from the concussion. And true to T.C.'s word, he was only allowed to sit watch for a couple hours when he was discharged. It was during that time that the doctors advised them that the first 24 hours had not seen any improvement for Thomas. Infact, if anything, they had gotten a little worse. They would need to place Magnum in a medically induced coma for a minimum of 72 hours due to increased swelling of the brain. Higgins had looked down at Magnum and stated that she had always known he had a swell head, but that she thought he was taking it a tad too far this time.

When his 'couple of hours' were up Rick initially resisted leaving, before Kumu, with her infinite strength of willpower, gently removed him from the room and drove him home to rest. But rest was not easy for Rick, it never was when someone he cared for deeply was hurt. He roamed his apartment looking for something to do and feeling more and more like a caged animal. Rick hated the feeling of being caged. Finally he settled on the couch to mindlessly watch some show on the T.V. about Prohibition, Rum Runners, and Speakeasies. He must have dozed at some point as the next thing Rick knew, Higgins was knocking at his door with dinner.

While they ate, Juliette filled him in on news from the hospital. Mac was recovering nicely and the doctor's were guardedly optimistic that he would be discharged tomorrow. Juliette extended the hospitality of Robin's Nest to Mac and Desi while he recuperates and until he is given clearance to fly back to California. As for Magnum, the Anesthesiologist was able to successfully place him in a medically induced coma. Juliette commented on how abnormal and disconcerting it was to see him lying there so still, hooked up to so many machines. The doctors had advised them that the machines would provide them with all the necessary readouts to assure that the medicinal pump was delivering the proper amount of the drugs to keep Magnum sedated at a level that his brain has a chance to heal. Even though the doctor's insisted that he would be in a deep enough state that he wouldn't register his surroundings until they started bringing him out, T.C. hadn't budged on wanting someone with him 24/7.

"I want to take my turn at sitting watch," Rick stated matter-of-factly as he rose and prepared to clear the table.

"There was no doubt you would," Juliette smiled as she stood to assist. "I've set up a schedule for each of us to take a 6 hour shift. Kumu and I will be taking the evening and overnight shifts from 6 pm to midnight and midnight to 6 am. T.C. is taking the morning shift since the afternoon and evenings are the busiest at Island Hoppers. That leaves you with the noon to 6 pm shift which allows you time to open up La Mariana in the morning before heading to the hospital and then helping with the evening crowd."

"Thomas always says you are aces at scheduling and organizing things." Rick said, sounding impressed.

"One has to be if they are going to be successful in maintaining an estate like Robin's Nest. I'm glad to hear Magnum appreciates my skills. Now, if he could only learn to follow a schedule."

"What's the old saying? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."

Juliette laughed, "Knowing Magnum, something would distract him on the way to the water and he would never reach it. Speaking of distractions, T.C. told me you own all 4 of the movies Humphry Bogart and Lauren Bacall made together."

Rick's eyes lit up, "Higgy, you never told me you were a Bogie fan. I've got all his movies!"

"Actually, more of a Bacall fan."

"Did you know that he was 44 and she was only 19 when they met on their first film, To Have and Have Not?" Rick said as he slid the first disk into the player.

Juliette spent the evening and late into the night watching Bogie and Bacall with Rick and listening to his endless knowledge on the two actors and their movies. It was at some point during the third movie that he finally drifted off to sleep. When the movie ended, Juliette quietly turned off the T.V., gently covered Rick with a blanket she had found, and silently slipped out the door to head to the hospital to relieve Kumu.

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It was dark. The kind of dark where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face if you tried.

His thoughts were fuzzy and he hurt everywhere. He was in the pit, they had tortured him and he had passed out. He heard footsteps approaching. His captors were returning, he had to be ready for them.

Magnum's eyes flew open and his heart rate increased as his system immediately jumped into fight or flight mode. He tried to bring his hands and arms up for protection but they refused to respond. Shit! They had drugged him again! How long had he been out? Hours? Days? Had they done things to him again while he was out of it? There was something in his mouth, he couldn't breath, he was choking. Oh God no! Not again! Magnum's heart rate skyrocketed. Loud shrill noises. Loud shouting voices. A hand on his face. He violently flinched. Then he heard it, the one voice that cut through it all. The one voice that grounded him and meant he was safe.

When Magnum's eyes had sprung open and the machines started screaming, Rick sprang from the chair where he had been sitting and reading. He knew that his friend had instantaneously woken up and was 'somewhere else'. Magnum never did anything gradually. As the throng of medical personnel came hustling into the room, Rick shouted, "Back off, I've got this.

"Tommy, you're okay, you're safe. Come on babe, you've got to settle down." Rick quietly said as he leaned over the bed and guided Magnum's head so that he was looking at Rick. "Come on Tommy, come back to me. Just listen to my voice. You know my voice. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you."

Magnum's heart rate decreased and the machines quieted. He blinked a couple times and then Rick could see the moment recognition occurred. "There you are." Rick said with a smile. "Welcome back brother."

Magnum eyes scanned the room before returning to Rick's eyes.

"You're in the hospital and you've been in a medically induced coma for the past 3 days. I don't know where your brain has you right now or how much you remember. I don't want to overload you so I will keep it simple. You are in Hawaii, you were working a case, you got caught in an explosion."

Magnum's eyes roved over Rick and his eyebrows rose when he saw the cast on Rick's arm.

Rick shook his head and gave a short laugh, "I'm fine, the rest of us are all fine, you of course are not fine."

Magnum's eyes blinked a couple times, each time staying closed a little longer.

"Close your eyes and rest Tommy. Someone will be right here when you wake again."

With those words soothing the last of his worries, Magnum slid back into unconsciousness, this time of his own volition.