Disclaimer: If they were mine, they would have been together in the 3rd
season!
Feedback:That would be nice. Scully6431@aol.com
Spoilers:none
Author's note: Becca, thank you for talking me into putting these in
fanfiction.net luv ya chick
Summery: That would mess it all up now wouldn't it!
Blackout
JAG HQ
1500 Zulu
"AJ, we're doing everything that we can. I've got every available man I have out there." Clayton Webb started. "Well, it obviously isn't doing a damn bit of good Web! Other wise they'd be here; and NOT OUT THERE!" Admiral Chegwidden shouted back. He was starting to loose his cool. It had been two days since Major Sarah 'Mac' Mackenzie and Commander Harmon 'Harm' Rabb had been missing.
They had accepted, yet another, crazy mission brought on by Webb. And yet another crazy mission had gone array.
Somewhere deep in the Appellation Mountains
1530 Zulu
"Come on, Mac. We've got to keep moving. We have to find shelter before it gets any darker." Harm panted. Two days they had been out there and still no word from anyone. The shelter that they were in the night before got rained out. Mac had a sever concussion and despite Harm's efforts, was drifting in and out of consciousness. He knew that she was getting worse, and didn't know how much longer she was going to make without proper medical attention.
After about another thirty minutes of searching, they found comfort in a small cave. He set Mac up against a near by wall. He gathered some branches and dried bark, and made a small fire. By the time he was finished, Mac had lost consciousness. He walked up beside her to rouse her. "Mac, come on. You got to wake up." He said, smacking her gently against her pale, clammy cheeks.
Her eyes slowly pushed open. "Harm," She barely whispered. "I'm so tired...
Harm." He pushed her hair out of her face, and in the process felt her forehead. "Oh man, you're burning up. Mac, we've got to get you out of here."
Mac swallowed and tried to find her voice. "Where we ganna go? You can't see and I...I need to...sleep." Her eyes closed and she fell limp. "Mac, wake up." With a jerk, her eyes ripped open.
"Come on now, you've got to stay with me. You hear me?" She looked at his ice blue eyes. "Just a little. I'm so tired." Her eyes and voice pleaded for just a little sleep. "Mac, you have to stay awake. Can you stay awake for me?"
It took all she had to nod her head.
JAG HQ
0700 Zulu the next morning
"Okay people. Listen we know where they are; kind of." Webb announced after hanging up his cell phone. "Kind of? What is kind of, Webb?" AJ barked.
"Well," Webb began to explain, "We know that the helo went down in the
Appellations. Somewhere in here." He pointed to a place on a map standing in
front of him. He continued, "I've got every man I've got going out there to
meet us and start a search party." AJ glared at him. "Webb, is there is so
much as a scratch on either one of them, I swear to you that that broken nose
WILL FEEL LIKE PARADICE" With that he walked back into his office to gather a few things before he left. Most it was just to keep the urge of killing Clay down.' God please let them be okay.' He silently prayed.
The cave
0745
Mac was getting worse. Every ten minutes or so, Mac would get dizzy. Every time it was worse than before. The attempts to keep her awake were getting more difficult. She had a high fever. Harm knew that she wouldn't make one more day out there. As the time passed, Harm grew more scared.
Admiral, Clay and about 40 other men in black, all met at the crash sight.
They split into small groups and began to search. Harm decided to stay or leave would be a risk. He might as well risk it and try to find help, rather than risk it and stay put. He picked Mac up and carried her out of the cave. The morning sun shinning bright. "Sarah, I'm ganna get you out of here. I going to lift you up and find help." Slowly he brought her into his arms. Mac looped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. "Mac, keep talking to me." She didn't answer right away. When she did, it was low. "I'm still here." He smiled down at her, and kept walking. "HARM! MAC!" some one yelled from the distance. "Mac, did you hear that?" When she didn't answer, he looked down at her face. She was out once again. He guessed she blacked out because of the pain.
"HARM! MAC!" He heard the calls again. "Webb?" He asked himself. "WEBB! Clay, we're over here." He answered the calls. Ten seconds later, a very tired Clayton Webb came running out of the brush. He was tripping over twigs and branches that had fallen along the way. "Clay, we've got to get her out of here. She won't last much longer." Clay looked at the almost lifeless body Harm held in his arms so protectively. He flipped out his cell phone and dialed. "Johnston, is the helo here?....Okay, we're coming." The next call was to AJ. "Admiral, I've got them.
Meet me at the life flight. No...I'll fill you in later, I've got to get them out of here." He hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket. "Here, let me have her." Clay reached out to Mac. "No, I'm not letting her go." Clay looked at Harm and he knew that this was one argument that he wouldn't win. "Okay, lets go." Clay said turning around, motioning for Harm to follow. It didn't take long to get back to the helo. "Are you okay, Sir?" A paramedic asked once Harm was inside. "Just a few cuts and bruises." He made his way over. "Here, let me take a look." Harm shook his head. "I'm fine. Help her."
Back on the ground
"How are they?" AJ asked once he was standing by Clay's side. They watched the helo disappear into the distant treetops. Webb really didn't want to tell AJ the news about Mac. "Harm seemed okay." He said, trying to find away out of this one. "And what about Mac?" AJ asked, turning to face him. Webb took a deep breath. "Mac, she wasn't so lucky. She has a major concussion and she was unconscious when the helo took off. They're on their way to Bethesda now."
Bethesda Naval Hospital
1150 Zulu
Every one was waiting for news on Mac. Harm paced back and fourth, Webb was trying to figure out what happened to the helo and why it crashed and was yelling at his people to find out, AJ sat in a chair with his head in his hands, Harriet TV and Bud watched Harm. "Sir, she'll be okay." Bud said walking in front of him. Harm hadn't said a word since Mac was out of his site.
Bud and Harriet had tried to get him to talk, but had long since given up.
Harm looked at Bud. "Thanks Bud." Happy that he finally got his friend to talk,
Bud smiled at his friend. Just then the doctor came from behind the two metal, swinging doors. "Commander Rabb, Major Mackenzie made it through the operation okay. She slipped into a trauma-induced coma; which isn't uncommon. It's up to her whether or not she'll come out of it. Harm tried to talk, but couldn't.
"Can...Can I see her, please?" Harm pleaded. The doctor looked over at the
Admiral, who gave him a reassuring nod. "Come this way, Commander." Harm followed in silence. They stopped at Mac's door. "Listen," The doctor started,
"She looks a lot worse than she really is. She's got a lot of tubes and IV's hooked up to her and she's on a respirator. Just to give you a fair warning.
Remember, it's not as bad as it looks." He turned and walked away, leaving
Harm standing there.
"It's not as bad as it looks." He repeated to himself. He slowly reached for the silver knob. It was cold on his sweaty palm. He turned the handle and pushed the door open. It slowly squeaked open, shutting half way. It was like a scene from a horror flick. He half expected some one to come up behind him with a knife. Keeping his eyes focused on the floor, he walked into the room. He kept his eyes on the floor, gathering his courage to look at Mac, his Sarah. When, after a good five minutes of staring at the tiles under his feet, he looked up. His skin lost two shades of color, and his blood ran cold.
He felt weak and sick. Here was his best friend, the one he loves unconditionally, lying a there in a coma with a very sever concussion, and he walked away with minor cuts. Never taking his eyes off Mac, he grabbed a chair and pulled it up beside the bed. He reached out with a shaky hand and brought hers into his grasp. He planted small kisses on the palm of her limp, cold hand. He softly ran his fingertips over her soft skin, caressing her face. "Mac," He whispered in a low crackly voice, "Can you hear me? Please Mac, you got to wake up."
All the tubes and monitors scared him to his very soul.
Muffled sounds were all she heard. One minute she was lying in the protective embrace of Harm and the next all she saw was darkness; and all she felt was cold.
The coldness of the coldest night. Harm was gone and she was alone. She was walking down a hallway of darkness that secede to end.
Harm lost all track of time. He had sat for hours on end. "Commander Rabb," Were the words that busted through his wall of thought. He jumped slightly and turned to face the voice. Behind him, he saw a young Lt. Blonde hair neatly pulled back and eyes as black as the night. "Visting hours have been up for an hour." The young woman smiled. "I talked to your Admiral earlier. He told me that there was no way to get you out of here, and if we tried you'd be kicking and screaming." Harm smiled a sad smile and looked back at the bed. "But," She continued, "I have a feeling you'll behave yourself. You can stay, but I didn't know about it." Harm smiled again. "Thank you, Lt..." "Nelson."
She checked all the machines and made sure that they were working properly.
Harm waited until she was finished writing on her clipboard to speak.
"Is she going to be okay?" Lt. Nelson put the final touches on her paper before looking to meet Harm's eyes. She thought for a second on how to word her answer. "Commander, I'm not going to lie. When she decides to wake up, it's going to be a long recovery. As I'm sure you know, she suffered a lot of blood loss. The extent of her condition is much worse than anyone could have anticipated. When she hit her head, she struck a spot called Parasympathetic Nervous System; which works parts of the memory, simple stuff like walking, like in the Major's case. That's what I meant by a long recovery. She's going to have to take PT for about three months, pending on how much she wants it and how fast she works. It's going to be long and stressful." Harm looked down at the floor in shock. "Thank you. Can I have a few minutes please?" Nelson nodded. "Sure, I'll be back in a couple hours to do my checks.
Harm held Mac's hand for the next hour. "Mac...please." He chocked out. Still not letting go of her hand, he fell asleep.
Monday
Bethesda Naval Hospital
1030 Zulu
Harm woke up at about 0700 and was surprised that the Admiral hadn't ordered him home yet. No sooner did this thought cross his mind, did he walk in the door. "How's she doing?" AJ asked, walking to the other side of her. "She'd not any better, but not any worse. They say that she won't be able to walk. She has to re-learn. Admiral, how cal I tell her that, Sir?" AJ studied his officer who toyed with Mac's hand. "She's not going to want you to beat around the bush on this. Tell her strait forth. All you can do is be there for her." Harm only nodded. "I'll be back later. Bud and Harriett should be up here soon.
They left last night sometime close to midnight. I'll go wait for them."
Again, Harm only shook his head. Once he was sure that he was alone, he talked.
"Mac, you got to snap out of it. I have to tell you something, and it's not going to be easy to hear; or say for that matter." The muffled voice was a little clearer now. She couldn't quite recognize it, but the yearning of it of his tone...she knew that voice. Suddenly it dawned on her. 'Harm.' "Mac, please wake up." She heard him say. Mac's grip tightened on his hand. He jerked his head up and looked at Mac's face. She turned her head back and fourth, trying to come out of the darkness. Light filled her mind as she slowly emerged from the black hallway. "That's right, come on. Open your eyes." Harm encouraged.
Her eyes were hazy, but quickly came into focus. "Mac, can you hear me?"
She blinked rapidly, trying to take in her surroundings. "Harm," She said once her vision was clear. "Harm, what's wrong?" "Mac," He paused trying to figure out how to word his other than great news. "The, doctors will tell you all this medical talk, but I want you to hear it from me. You have to take physical therapy, Mac. You have to relearn how to walk again." His voice was breaking and he couldn't make eye contact. "Harm, why can't I walk? Harm!"
She grabbed his hand and held it tight. She was scared. She didn't know how to take this. "Hey, calm down." Harm knew that she was scared and it broke his heart to see her this way. "Mac, let me get the doctor, she can tell you better than I can. He moved to get up, but Mac grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down before he could get away. "No, Harm; don't leave me. Don't leave please." Tears that she didn't try to hold back continued to flow, making wet trails down her pale cheeks. "Mac, I've got to go get the doctor. I'll be right down the hall." Mac didn't let go of him. "No, Harm. Push the button, but don't leave." Her cries turned to sobs; Harm gathered her into his arms.
She was shaking. Harm rocked her back and fourth. "It's okay, Mac." He soothed.
His warmth, presents and the safe protected, feeling she felt in his arms calmed her down. He didn't let go until her shaking and cries subsided. He guided her down to the pillow and punch the red button to call the doctor.
Harm ran the pad of his thumb along he cheeks and underneath her eyes and brushed her tears away. Lt. Nelson appeared after only a moment. "Major
Mackenzie, glad to see you're back among the living." Once again, she jotted something down on her clipboard. Neither Harm nor Mac spoke a word. Harm didn't even look up, just kept a hold of Mac's hand. Harm looked up when Lt. Nelson spoke. "Okay, I won't sugar coat anything, because I know you don't want that." Mac interrupted. "Why can't I walk?" Her voice cracked some.
"Major," She pause, trying to word everything right. " When you went down, you hit your head, giving you a very server concussion. Because of this and the blood loss and lack of medical treatment, it got worse. When you hit your head you got the part that controls mobility. When you blacked out that last time it shut down; so to speak. That's why you can't walk. Now, you're going to be in physical therapy for about three months at the least; like I told the Commander, depending on how fast you work. Now any other questions, I have more rounds to do." Mac couldn't speak. "When can she start PT?" Harm asked slowly. She looked at her clipboard. "1300 tomorrow." She concluded. "Thank you."
She gave a small nod and left them alone. Emotion filled the room. Mac's eyes filled tears, but fought to keep them at bay. One slid down her cheek.
She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting any more to fall. Harm just held her hand that is until he saw her cry some. "Hey, Mac." He whispered, getting up from the chair and climbing into bed. Being careful of the IV's he slid in beside her. When he was settled, Mac dug her face into Harm's chest and wrapped her arm's around him the best she could. "It's okay, Mac. We'll get through this.
I'll be right by your side the entire time." They stayed that way for a good hour.
Finally, Mac pulled away and looked into Harm's eyes. The sight of Mac like this was tearing him up. What made it worse it that he couldn't take her pain away. All he could do was hold her. After she stopped crying and the redness around her eyes disappeared, Harm spoke. "You up for visitors? Bud and every-body has been waiting on you to wake up." Mac shook her head 'no'. "Not right now, okay." Harm shook his head in understanding. "Okay. Let me go tell them that you're awake and to go home. I won't be long, I promise." She nodded and loosened her grip around his waste. The lump in her throat even growing bigger as he lifted off the bed and walked out. "I'll be right back." Were the last words that he said.
Lobby
AJ stood up at the sight of Harm. "How is she, Sir?" Bud asked walking up beside him. "She's awake. She does not want visitors right now, so I figured that
I'd tell you that she was awake and to go home. The doctor filled you in on everything, right, Sir?" He asked AJ. "Yeah, she came in about ten minutes ago." Harm nodded. "Okay, I'm not leaving her, so if you need to reach me, you know where to find me. Uh, Bud, will you stop by my place and pick me up a change of cloths? I don't want to leave her alone." Bud nodded. "Yes, Sir. Count on me, Sir." Harm smiled. "Thanks, I owe you one. You guys go on home and get some sleep. I'll call if anything happens. Harm took one more look at the people in front of him and ran back to Mac's room. By the time he returned, Mac was already asleep. He knew that she was exhausted. He once again pulled a chair up beside her bed. He stroked her hair until he was almost asleep. He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, Sir." Bud said trying not to laugh. "Brought you your cloths." Harm took a deep breath, making an attempt to wake up. "Thanks, Bud." Harm took the bag a laid it at his feet, checking on Mac before looking back up again. "You're welcome, Sir. How's she doing." He asked, absently taking hold on Mac's hand. "She'll be okay, Bud.
It's going to be a hard few months, but she'll make it." Bud shook his headin agreement, still looking at Mac. "Well, Sir, I've got to go. Hariett is
waiting down in the car with Little AJ." Harm smiled at the thought of his
Godson. "Goodnight, Bud." They made eye contact before Bud answered. "Goodnight
Sir. I'll see you tomorrow." Bud made his way to the door bu before he left
he turned around. "Sir, I wouldn't worry about her too much. She's got you to
help her through." Without waiting for a reply, Bud exited the room and left
him alone with his thoughts. Once he was alone, he unwillingly fell back asleep.
The next day
1000 Zulu
Harm woke up at about an hour before Mac. After changing into a new, fresh
pair of cloths; a navy blue Navy T-Shirt and some wind breaker pants, he dug
through his bag. "Thank you, Bud." He whispered to himself pulling out the book
Bud packed for him. There was a note stuck inside the book. It read,
'Dear, Sir, I know you have books at home, but I didn't know what you've
already read. So, here's on of mine. It's a good one."
Harm flipped to the front to examine the paperback cover. "Skin." He said
out loud. "Only Bud would Pack me an X-Files book." HE smiled to himslef
and began to read.
1100 Zulu
Mac woke up hoping that everything that had happened was just a bad dream
that was too detailed and too long. But, when she got hold of her surroundings
she knew that it wasn't possible. Harm heard her moving around. His thoughts
were ripped from the words down in front of him. A smile came to his lips
when he saw that her eyes were open. "Hey, Ninja girl." He said lightly in
her ear, and kissing her forehead. "Hey." She repeated half asleep. "What time
is it?" Mac asked rubbing her eyes. " Internal clock off?" He asked smiling.
"You know, if I had the strength, I'd hit you right now." They both grinned.
"To answer your question, it's 1100. You've still go time.
Harm turned around at the sound of the door opening. Lt. Nelson walked in,
smiling. "And how are you feeling this morning?" She asked, checking everything.
"I'm okay. I want to get out this bed." Nelson smiled. "Well, that's what I
came to talk to you about. If you're up to it, we can start in ten minutes.
We are a lot less crowded than we thought we would be. In fact, besides one
other person, we'll be the only people in there. All the other people....
well, I'm sure you don't care, I won't bore you with it all. Oh, the other
guy will only be in there for the next 15 minutes or so, so it'll pretty
much just be us." Mac stopped her before she could leave. "Lt. Is it okay
if Harm is in there with me?" She asked, her voice pleading. "Whatever you want.
I'll be back in ten." Then the door was shut, and they were once again alone.
Mac took a shaky deep breath. "Hey, it'll be okay. I'll be right there the
whole time." She smiled her thanks. Ten minutes came and went. Before either
one of them knew it, Lt. Nelson was walking back into the room; wheelchair
in front of her. Harm moved out of the way as Mac was loaded into the chair.
Mac was ready to go. She wanted to start out on the walking bars. Despite her
protest, that would come later. They started her with the 3 lbs. weights.
"Come on, Mac. Come on, straiten your legs out. You've almost got it." Harm
encouraged. She had been trying to get her legs strait for the last 45 minutes.
She only had 15 minutes of PT left. For the first few weeks, it's only an hour
per session. That way, your body can get used to the physical activity.
She hadn't gotten her legs up yet, and was being poignant towards herself.
She dropped her legs and let out the breath that she'd been holding. "You
did good, Mac." Harm rubbed her back in upward and downward strokes. "Yeah
right. Come on, Harm, I can't even get my legs up half way." Harm slid his
arm all the way around her. "Mac, this is your first day. These things take
some time. Come on, by this time in a week or so, you'll be mastering those
walking bars. Hell, you'll be doing back flips on that mat over there." He
pointed at the mat across the room. This made her laugh some, Harm laughed
with her, and was glad he could, even for a second, bring a smiled to her face.
"Come on, Major. Times up." Lt. Nelson said as she walked up pushing the wheel
chair." We'll see you here at 1100 tomorrow." She helped Mac into the chair
and proceeded out the door. "Lt. do you mind if I take it from here?" Harm
asked stopping her at the door. She smiled at Harm and stepped aside. "Yeah.
I have some running around to do anyway. Major, you did real good today.
Take it easy for the rest of the day." With that she walked down the hall,
opposite of the way Harm and Mac were going. "So, is this Jarhead of mine
hungry?" Harm teased as they proceeded down the hall. "No, not really."
Feedback:That would be nice. Scully6431@aol.com
Spoilers:none
Author's note: Becca, thank you for talking me into putting these in
fanfiction.net luv ya chick
Summery: That would mess it all up now wouldn't it!
Blackout
JAG HQ
1500 Zulu
"AJ, we're doing everything that we can. I've got every available man I have out there." Clayton Webb started. "Well, it obviously isn't doing a damn bit of good Web! Other wise they'd be here; and NOT OUT THERE!" Admiral Chegwidden shouted back. He was starting to loose his cool. It had been two days since Major Sarah 'Mac' Mackenzie and Commander Harmon 'Harm' Rabb had been missing.
They had accepted, yet another, crazy mission brought on by Webb. And yet another crazy mission had gone array.
Somewhere deep in the Appellation Mountains
1530 Zulu
"Come on, Mac. We've got to keep moving. We have to find shelter before it gets any darker." Harm panted. Two days they had been out there and still no word from anyone. The shelter that they were in the night before got rained out. Mac had a sever concussion and despite Harm's efforts, was drifting in and out of consciousness. He knew that she was getting worse, and didn't know how much longer she was going to make without proper medical attention.
After about another thirty minutes of searching, they found comfort in a small cave. He set Mac up against a near by wall. He gathered some branches and dried bark, and made a small fire. By the time he was finished, Mac had lost consciousness. He walked up beside her to rouse her. "Mac, come on. You got to wake up." He said, smacking her gently against her pale, clammy cheeks.
Her eyes slowly pushed open. "Harm," She barely whispered. "I'm so tired...
Harm." He pushed her hair out of her face, and in the process felt her forehead. "Oh man, you're burning up. Mac, we've got to get you out of here."
Mac swallowed and tried to find her voice. "Where we ganna go? You can't see and I...I need to...sleep." Her eyes closed and she fell limp. "Mac, wake up." With a jerk, her eyes ripped open.
"Come on now, you've got to stay with me. You hear me?" She looked at his ice blue eyes. "Just a little. I'm so tired." Her eyes and voice pleaded for just a little sleep. "Mac, you have to stay awake. Can you stay awake for me?"
It took all she had to nod her head.
JAG HQ
0700 Zulu the next morning
"Okay people. Listen we know where they are; kind of." Webb announced after hanging up his cell phone. "Kind of? What is kind of, Webb?" AJ barked.
"Well," Webb began to explain, "We know that the helo went down in the
Appellations. Somewhere in here." He pointed to a place on a map standing in
front of him. He continued, "I've got every man I've got going out there to
meet us and start a search party." AJ glared at him. "Webb, is there is so
much as a scratch on either one of them, I swear to you that that broken nose
WILL FEEL LIKE PARADICE" With that he walked back into his office to gather a few things before he left. Most it was just to keep the urge of killing Clay down.' God please let them be okay.' He silently prayed.
The cave
0745
Mac was getting worse. Every ten minutes or so, Mac would get dizzy. Every time it was worse than before. The attempts to keep her awake were getting more difficult. She had a high fever. Harm knew that she wouldn't make one more day out there. As the time passed, Harm grew more scared.
Admiral, Clay and about 40 other men in black, all met at the crash sight.
They split into small groups and began to search. Harm decided to stay or leave would be a risk. He might as well risk it and try to find help, rather than risk it and stay put. He picked Mac up and carried her out of the cave. The morning sun shinning bright. "Sarah, I'm ganna get you out of here. I going to lift you up and find help." Slowly he brought her into his arms. Mac looped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. "Mac, keep talking to me." She didn't answer right away. When she did, it was low. "I'm still here." He smiled down at her, and kept walking. "HARM! MAC!" some one yelled from the distance. "Mac, did you hear that?" When she didn't answer, he looked down at her face. She was out once again. He guessed she blacked out because of the pain.
"HARM! MAC!" He heard the calls again. "Webb?" He asked himself. "WEBB! Clay, we're over here." He answered the calls. Ten seconds later, a very tired Clayton Webb came running out of the brush. He was tripping over twigs and branches that had fallen along the way. "Clay, we've got to get her out of here. She won't last much longer." Clay looked at the almost lifeless body Harm held in his arms so protectively. He flipped out his cell phone and dialed. "Johnston, is the helo here?....Okay, we're coming." The next call was to AJ. "Admiral, I've got them.
Meet me at the life flight. No...I'll fill you in later, I've got to get them out of here." He hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket. "Here, let me have her." Clay reached out to Mac. "No, I'm not letting her go." Clay looked at Harm and he knew that this was one argument that he wouldn't win. "Okay, lets go." Clay said turning around, motioning for Harm to follow. It didn't take long to get back to the helo. "Are you okay, Sir?" A paramedic asked once Harm was inside. "Just a few cuts and bruises." He made his way over. "Here, let me take a look." Harm shook his head. "I'm fine. Help her."
Back on the ground
"How are they?" AJ asked once he was standing by Clay's side. They watched the helo disappear into the distant treetops. Webb really didn't want to tell AJ the news about Mac. "Harm seemed okay." He said, trying to find away out of this one. "And what about Mac?" AJ asked, turning to face him. Webb took a deep breath. "Mac, she wasn't so lucky. She has a major concussion and she was unconscious when the helo took off. They're on their way to Bethesda now."
Bethesda Naval Hospital
1150 Zulu
Every one was waiting for news on Mac. Harm paced back and fourth, Webb was trying to figure out what happened to the helo and why it crashed and was yelling at his people to find out, AJ sat in a chair with his head in his hands, Harriet TV and Bud watched Harm. "Sir, she'll be okay." Bud said walking in front of him. Harm hadn't said a word since Mac was out of his site.
Bud and Harriet had tried to get him to talk, but had long since given up.
Harm looked at Bud. "Thanks Bud." Happy that he finally got his friend to talk,
Bud smiled at his friend. Just then the doctor came from behind the two metal, swinging doors. "Commander Rabb, Major Mackenzie made it through the operation okay. She slipped into a trauma-induced coma; which isn't uncommon. It's up to her whether or not she'll come out of it. Harm tried to talk, but couldn't.
"Can...Can I see her, please?" Harm pleaded. The doctor looked over at the
Admiral, who gave him a reassuring nod. "Come this way, Commander." Harm followed in silence. They stopped at Mac's door. "Listen," The doctor started,
"She looks a lot worse than she really is. She's got a lot of tubes and IV's hooked up to her and she's on a respirator. Just to give you a fair warning.
Remember, it's not as bad as it looks." He turned and walked away, leaving
Harm standing there.
"It's not as bad as it looks." He repeated to himself. He slowly reached for the silver knob. It was cold on his sweaty palm. He turned the handle and pushed the door open. It slowly squeaked open, shutting half way. It was like a scene from a horror flick. He half expected some one to come up behind him with a knife. Keeping his eyes focused on the floor, he walked into the room. He kept his eyes on the floor, gathering his courage to look at Mac, his Sarah. When, after a good five minutes of staring at the tiles under his feet, he looked up. His skin lost two shades of color, and his blood ran cold.
He felt weak and sick. Here was his best friend, the one he loves unconditionally, lying a there in a coma with a very sever concussion, and he walked away with minor cuts. Never taking his eyes off Mac, he grabbed a chair and pulled it up beside the bed. He reached out with a shaky hand and brought hers into his grasp. He planted small kisses on the palm of her limp, cold hand. He softly ran his fingertips over her soft skin, caressing her face. "Mac," He whispered in a low crackly voice, "Can you hear me? Please Mac, you got to wake up."
All the tubes and monitors scared him to his very soul.
Muffled sounds were all she heard. One minute she was lying in the protective embrace of Harm and the next all she saw was darkness; and all she felt was cold.
The coldness of the coldest night. Harm was gone and she was alone. She was walking down a hallway of darkness that secede to end.
Harm lost all track of time. He had sat for hours on end. "Commander Rabb," Were the words that busted through his wall of thought. He jumped slightly and turned to face the voice. Behind him, he saw a young Lt. Blonde hair neatly pulled back and eyes as black as the night. "Visting hours have been up for an hour." The young woman smiled. "I talked to your Admiral earlier. He told me that there was no way to get you out of here, and if we tried you'd be kicking and screaming." Harm smiled a sad smile and looked back at the bed. "But," She continued, "I have a feeling you'll behave yourself. You can stay, but I didn't know about it." Harm smiled again. "Thank you, Lt..." "Nelson."
She checked all the machines and made sure that they were working properly.
Harm waited until she was finished writing on her clipboard to speak.
"Is she going to be okay?" Lt. Nelson put the final touches on her paper before looking to meet Harm's eyes. She thought for a second on how to word her answer. "Commander, I'm not going to lie. When she decides to wake up, it's going to be a long recovery. As I'm sure you know, she suffered a lot of blood loss. The extent of her condition is much worse than anyone could have anticipated. When she hit her head, she struck a spot called Parasympathetic Nervous System; which works parts of the memory, simple stuff like walking, like in the Major's case. That's what I meant by a long recovery. She's going to have to take PT for about three months, pending on how much she wants it and how fast she works. It's going to be long and stressful." Harm looked down at the floor in shock. "Thank you. Can I have a few minutes please?" Nelson nodded. "Sure, I'll be back in a couple hours to do my checks.
Harm held Mac's hand for the next hour. "Mac...please." He chocked out. Still not letting go of her hand, he fell asleep.
Monday
Bethesda Naval Hospital
1030 Zulu
Harm woke up at about 0700 and was surprised that the Admiral hadn't ordered him home yet. No sooner did this thought cross his mind, did he walk in the door. "How's she doing?" AJ asked, walking to the other side of her. "She'd not any better, but not any worse. They say that she won't be able to walk. She has to re-learn. Admiral, how cal I tell her that, Sir?" AJ studied his officer who toyed with Mac's hand. "She's not going to want you to beat around the bush on this. Tell her strait forth. All you can do is be there for her." Harm only nodded. "I'll be back later. Bud and Harriett should be up here soon.
They left last night sometime close to midnight. I'll go wait for them."
Again, Harm only shook his head. Once he was sure that he was alone, he talked.
"Mac, you got to snap out of it. I have to tell you something, and it's not going to be easy to hear; or say for that matter." The muffled voice was a little clearer now. She couldn't quite recognize it, but the yearning of it of his tone...she knew that voice. Suddenly it dawned on her. 'Harm.' "Mac, please wake up." She heard him say. Mac's grip tightened on his hand. He jerked his head up and looked at Mac's face. She turned her head back and fourth, trying to come out of the darkness. Light filled her mind as she slowly emerged from the black hallway. "That's right, come on. Open your eyes." Harm encouraged.
Her eyes were hazy, but quickly came into focus. "Mac, can you hear me?"
She blinked rapidly, trying to take in her surroundings. "Harm," She said once her vision was clear. "Harm, what's wrong?" "Mac," He paused trying to figure out how to word his other than great news. "The, doctors will tell you all this medical talk, but I want you to hear it from me. You have to take physical therapy, Mac. You have to relearn how to walk again." His voice was breaking and he couldn't make eye contact. "Harm, why can't I walk? Harm!"
She grabbed his hand and held it tight. She was scared. She didn't know how to take this. "Hey, calm down." Harm knew that she was scared and it broke his heart to see her this way. "Mac, let me get the doctor, she can tell you better than I can. He moved to get up, but Mac grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down before he could get away. "No, Harm; don't leave me. Don't leave please." Tears that she didn't try to hold back continued to flow, making wet trails down her pale cheeks. "Mac, I've got to go get the doctor. I'll be right down the hall." Mac didn't let go of him. "No, Harm. Push the button, but don't leave." Her cries turned to sobs; Harm gathered her into his arms.
She was shaking. Harm rocked her back and fourth. "It's okay, Mac." He soothed.
His warmth, presents and the safe protected, feeling she felt in his arms calmed her down. He didn't let go until her shaking and cries subsided. He guided her down to the pillow and punch the red button to call the doctor.
Harm ran the pad of his thumb along he cheeks and underneath her eyes and brushed her tears away. Lt. Nelson appeared after only a moment. "Major
Mackenzie, glad to see you're back among the living." Once again, she jotted something down on her clipboard. Neither Harm nor Mac spoke a word. Harm didn't even look up, just kept a hold of Mac's hand. Harm looked up when Lt. Nelson spoke. "Okay, I won't sugar coat anything, because I know you don't want that." Mac interrupted. "Why can't I walk?" Her voice cracked some.
"Major," She pause, trying to word everything right. " When you went down, you hit your head, giving you a very server concussion. Because of this and the blood loss and lack of medical treatment, it got worse. When you hit your head you got the part that controls mobility. When you blacked out that last time it shut down; so to speak. That's why you can't walk. Now, you're going to be in physical therapy for about three months at the least; like I told the Commander, depending on how fast you work. Now any other questions, I have more rounds to do." Mac couldn't speak. "When can she start PT?" Harm asked slowly. She looked at her clipboard. "1300 tomorrow." She concluded. "Thank you."
She gave a small nod and left them alone. Emotion filled the room. Mac's eyes filled tears, but fought to keep them at bay. One slid down her cheek.
She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting any more to fall. Harm just held her hand that is until he saw her cry some. "Hey, Mac." He whispered, getting up from the chair and climbing into bed. Being careful of the IV's he slid in beside her. When he was settled, Mac dug her face into Harm's chest and wrapped her arm's around him the best she could. "It's okay, Mac. We'll get through this.
I'll be right by your side the entire time." They stayed that way for a good hour.
Finally, Mac pulled away and looked into Harm's eyes. The sight of Mac like this was tearing him up. What made it worse it that he couldn't take her pain away. All he could do was hold her. After she stopped crying and the redness around her eyes disappeared, Harm spoke. "You up for visitors? Bud and every-body has been waiting on you to wake up." Mac shook her head 'no'. "Not right now, okay." Harm shook his head in understanding. "Okay. Let me go tell them that you're awake and to go home. I won't be long, I promise." She nodded and loosened her grip around his waste. The lump in her throat even growing bigger as he lifted off the bed and walked out. "I'll be right back." Were the last words that he said.
Lobby
AJ stood up at the sight of Harm. "How is she, Sir?" Bud asked walking up beside him. "She's awake. She does not want visitors right now, so I figured that
I'd tell you that she was awake and to go home. The doctor filled you in on everything, right, Sir?" He asked AJ. "Yeah, she came in about ten minutes ago." Harm nodded. "Okay, I'm not leaving her, so if you need to reach me, you know where to find me. Uh, Bud, will you stop by my place and pick me up a change of cloths? I don't want to leave her alone." Bud nodded. "Yes, Sir. Count on me, Sir." Harm smiled. "Thanks, I owe you one. You guys go on home and get some sleep. I'll call if anything happens. Harm took one more look at the people in front of him and ran back to Mac's room. By the time he returned, Mac was already asleep. He knew that she was exhausted. He once again pulled a chair up beside her bed. He stroked her hair until he was almost asleep. He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, Sir." Bud said trying not to laugh. "Brought you your cloths." Harm took a deep breath, making an attempt to wake up. "Thanks, Bud." Harm took the bag a laid it at his feet, checking on Mac before looking back up again. "You're welcome, Sir. How's she doing." He asked, absently taking hold on Mac's hand. "She'll be okay, Bud.
It's going to be a hard few months, but she'll make it." Bud shook his headin agreement, still looking at Mac. "Well, Sir, I've got to go. Hariett is
waiting down in the car with Little AJ." Harm smiled at the thought of his
Godson. "Goodnight, Bud." They made eye contact before Bud answered. "Goodnight
Sir. I'll see you tomorrow." Bud made his way to the door bu before he left
he turned around. "Sir, I wouldn't worry about her too much. She's got you to
help her through." Without waiting for a reply, Bud exited the room and left
him alone with his thoughts. Once he was alone, he unwillingly fell back asleep.
The next day
1000 Zulu
Harm woke up at about an hour before Mac. After changing into a new, fresh
pair of cloths; a navy blue Navy T-Shirt and some wind breaker pants, he dug
through his bag. "Thank you, Bud." He whispered to himself pulling out the book
Bud packed for him. There was a note stuck inside the book. It read,
'Dear, Sir, I know you have books at home, but I didn't know what you've
already read. So, here's on of mine. It's a good one."
Harm flipped to the front to examine the paperback cover. "Skin." He said
out loud. "Only Bud would Pack me an X-Files book." HE smiled to himslef
and began to read.
1100 Zulu
Mac woke up hoping that everything that had happened was just a bad dream
that was too detailed and too long. But, when she got hold of her surroundings
she knew that it wasn't possible. Harm heard her moving around. His thoughts
were ripped from the words down in front of him. A smile came to his lips
when he saw that her eyes were open. "Hey, Ninja girl." He said lightly in
her ear, and kissing her forehead. "Hey." She repeated half asleep. "What time
is it?" Mac asked rubbing her eyes. " Internal clock off?" He asked smiling.
"You know, if I had the strength, I'd hit you right now." They both grinned.
"To answer your question, it's 1100. You've still go time.
Harm turned around at the sound of the door opening. Lt. Nelson walked in,
smiling. "And how are you feeling this morning?" She asked, checking everything.
"I'm okay. I want to get out this bed." Nelson smiled. "Well, that's what I
came to talk to you about. If you're up to it, we can start in ten minutes.
We are a lot less crowded than we thought we would be. In fact, besides one
other person, we'll be the only people in there. All the other people....
well, I'm sure you don't care, I won't bore you with it all. Oh, the other
guy will only be in there for the next 15 minutes or so, so it'll pretty
much just be us." Mac stopped her before she could leave. "Lt. Is it okay
if Harm is in there with me?" She asked, her voice pleading. "Whatever you want.
I'll be back in ten." Then the door was shut, and they were once again alone.
Mac took a shaky deep breath. "Hey, it'll be okay. I'll be right there the
whole time." She smiled her thanks. Ten minutes came and went. Before either
one of them knew it, Lt. Nelson was walking back into the room; wheelchair
in front of her. Harm moved out of the way as Mac was loaded into the chair.
Mac was ready to go. She wanted to start out on the walking bars. Despite her
protest, that would come later. They started her with the 3 lbs. weights.
"Come on, Mac. Come on, straiten your legs out. You've almost got it." Harm
encouraged. She had been trying to get her legs strait for the last 45 minutes.
She only had 15 minutes of PT left. For the first few weeks, it's only an hour
per session. That way, your body can get used to the physical activity.
She hadn't gotten her legs up yet, and was being poignant towards herself.
She dropped her legs and let out the breath that she'd been holding. "You
did good, Mac." Harm rubbed her back in upward and downward strokes. "Yeah
right. Come on, Harm, I can't even get my legs up half way." Harm slid his
arm all the way around her. "Mac, this is your first day. These things take
some time. Come on, by this time in a week or so, you'll be mastering those
walking bars. Hell, you'll be doing back flips on that mat over there." He
pointed at the mat across the room. This made her laugh some, Harm laughed
with her, and was glad he could, even for a second, bring a smiled to her face.
"Come on, Major. Times up." Lt. Nelson said as she walked up pushing the wheel
chair." We'll see you here at 1100 tomorrow." She helped Mac into the chair
and proceeded out the door. "Lt. do you mind if I take it from here?" Harm
asked stopping her at the door. She smiled at Harm and stepped aside. "Yeah.
I have some running around to do anyway. Major, you did real good today.
Take it easy for the rest of the day." With that she walked down the hall,
opposite of the way Harm and Mac were going. "So, is this Jarhead of mine
hungry?" Harm teased as they proceeded down the hall. "No, not really."