A/N: This is short, but I wasn't sure where to end it so….
Miracles
Chapter 6: Six
Harm's POV
Mac is dead. Mac is dead. Mac is dead. That's all I can think as I stare down at her broken body. Her right arm is at an unnatural angle, dark red blood surrounds her white face, and her breathing seems labored, like she can't get—
Wait.
She's breathing. If she's breathing, she can't be dead…she's not dead.
No, Mac isn't dead, but I know she won't survive for long if she doesn't get to a hospital quickly. I run down to her, yelling at Mic to call 9-1-1 as I pass by. He makes no move to do so and I shout at him again, falling to my knees when I reach Mac. His face is white and his mouth is hanging open, and it takes another shout from me to bring him out of his stupor. It's clear, though, that he won't get his act together fast enough to do anything useful. I rip my phone out of my pocket and quickly call for an ambulance, giving the dispatcher a description of Mac's condition and how she sustained such injuries. The dispatcher tells me the ambulance should be there in less than ten minutes and I bite back an angry response that ten minutes isn't fast enough. She says something to me about keeping her head stable in case she's injured her neck and tells me to stay on the line, but just then Mac moans and shifts a little. I toss the phone aside and take Mac's face firmly between my hands to keep her from moving. "Shhhh, Mac, honey…don't move, sweetheart, help's on the way." Her eyes are still closed but her forehead wrinkles up and I know she's in pain.
I glance upward and see that Brumby is still standing there like an idiot. Yes, I want to kill him, torture him. This is his fault, I know it, but Mac needs me so Brumby 's going to have to wait. Not for long, though, I hope. "Mic!" I hiss. "Get down here and at least help me!"
Mic finally meets my eyes. "I-I just wanted to get h-her away before…before you…she pulled a-away…I couldn't s-stop h-her…"
"Harm?"
I'm barely listening to Brumby anyway, but Mac's whisper of my name makes him and everything else fade away.
"Mac, baby…shhhh…don't try to talk…"
"What…Wha hap-happened?" She seems to be struggling to breathe more now and her face has become ashen.
"You took a l-little…a little f-fall."
"W-Why…w-why are you…cry—crying?" Her voice is so much quieter now and her cheeks that I hold in my hands feel colder. I feel the tears slipping down my face for the first time now and a few land on Mac's face.
"It-it's because…I…I'm…go…ing…to d-die…"
"Don't say that, Sarah…help's almost here…c-can't y-you hear the sirens?"
"I d-don't hear…any…thing…"
"You hear me, don't you?"
For a moment there's a ghost of a smile on her pale lips and then her eyes begin to drift shut.
"Sarah! Stay with me, marine!" I all but shout, and to my relief, her eyes open again, but there's something in them I don't like.
"H-Harm…it d-doesn't h-hurt."
She's really struggling to breathe now, and I can see the strain even in the muscles of her neck. The sirens, thank God, are right outside the building but I'm still feeling an overwhelming sense of doom.
"H-Har…I luf oo." Her words are slurred, labored but I understand, and I want so much to break down and really cry because why did it happen now? When she's probably going to…no, I won't say it. No.
Somehow, I manage to stop the tears and smile. "Oh, baby…I love you too. Always." I hear a choking sound behind me, and then I hear the stairwell door slam shut. I glance over my shoulder and Brumby is no longer there, but I don't have any time to care about that because the paramedics are finally here, barreling up the stairs. I look back down at Mac to give her the good news, but her eyes are closed.
She's not breathing.
"Tracheal deviation to the left. She's hard to bag…no breath sounds on the right…gimme those scissors…I'll take the 14-gauge…"
"I'm in. Getting breath sounds now…"
"She's breathing on her own…Sarah! Come on, squeeze my hand. Can you open your eyes? Sorry, this is going to hurt…I'm getting a GCS of eight, where's that C-Collar? All right, on three…
"Sir, you can't go with us…we're going to Georgetown…sir, I'm sorry…but you're going to have to follow us…"
"Sir, we gotta get going…"
Words…words that just blur together and I don't even know how much time has passed since they took my Sarah away. Any moment I expect them to come out and tell me she'd dead, that we were too late. That the bleeding on her brain couldn't be fixed or drained. That her fractured skull caused too much damage…or that she's paralyzed. I think they said she didn't have any fractures in her neck…but when they told me she had a seizure on the way in and arrived here completely unresponsive with a tube down her throat because of something called an epidural hematoma, I tuned everything else out. Mac's in surgery now and I think I called the admiral…but it's all just…a blur…oh god, I think…I think…I think I'm going to be sick…
"Son, are you okay? Harm?"
I'm leaning over a toilet in the men's room near the surgical waiting room, having just lost everything I've put in my stomach when I hear the admiral's voice. I take a moment to make sure I'm done vomiting then shakily stand and step out of the stall.
"Admiral…what are you…you didn't have to come. She's still in surgery so I don't know anything…"
"Harm…I'm not just here for her," Admiral Chegwidden says gently, and I acknowledge his words with a nod. I wash my hands and then the two of us head back to the waiting room, finding seats in the far corner of the room. I know he's going to ask what happened, and I'll tell him, but I don't look forward to telling him how much of this is my fault.
"Here, son."
A cup of coffee appears before my eyes and I take it from the admiral gingerly, mumbling a 'thank you' before taking a sip. He sits down beside me, and I feel his eyes on me while I take a few more sips to stall any conversation.
"Harm…what—"
"You want to know what happened? I don't even know, really…"
"Harm…"
"Brumby was there…on the stairs…"
"You mean he…he pushed her?!"
"No…yes…I don't know…"
"Son, why don't you just start at the beginning."
"Okay."
"So, you see, sir…it's my fault, no matter if he pushed her or not. If we hadn't…if I hadn't…"
The admiral heaves a long-suffering sigh. "Harm…you two…"
"What, sir?"
"Nothing…just…well, just know this was absolutely not your fault!"
"But— "
"Dammit, son..." Admiral Chegwidden shakes his head. He opens his mouth to say more but then someone across the room calls for the family of Sarah MacKenzie and soon my CO and I are following a nurse down a corridor to a consultation room.
Three hours later…
If she wakes up…if she wakes up…if she wakes up…
The neurosurgeon's words keep echoing in my mind as I sit in the ICU waiting room. Obviously, Mac made it through surgery, but she's in a coma now, and Dr Ira Reynolds explained that the bleed was quite extensive. If they'd gotten to her any later she most certainly would have died. As it was, he was only giving her 50/50 odds, and if she did survive, she would likely have a myriad of physical and mental deficits.
In short, my ninja girl needs a miracle, and I...well, I just sit there and sob.
End Chapter 6