-24-
Jack threw the radio in the general direction of the desk, he missed, and heard the radio clatter to the floor. He grabbed a handful of hair at the back of his head, and pulled on it for a while before he let go, eventually deciding to go into the Nielson building and find Nina for himself.
People were still running in the opposite direction, faster than before, panicked. The explosion had blown out the windows a few storeys up, but from the outside at least, the building looked structurally sound. Nina had run up to the twenty-ninth floor, where the explosion was, and Jack wasn't looking forward to running up the stairs especially with the contraflow of traffic, but she hadn't answered her radio in the last five minutes, and he was getting panicked.
He heard his name being called and he focused on the voice, Copell, after a few seconds he heard his voice behind him again, closer. Jack had just reached the door, and he was forced to turn as he felt Copell's hand on his shoulder. "Jack, where are you going?" he asked.
Jack didn't think much before he answered. "Nina's in there!"
Copell pulled a little on Jack's shoulder as he began to lever himself round the door and into the stream of traffic "She could have put her radio down to help somebody, do CPR, help somebody out...Jack you can't go running in there yet!" Jack started for the door again, and Copell yanked on his shoulder swinging him back against the stone pillar by the door so hard that Jack reverbed off of it. "Jack, we don't know its safe yet, and we have to get all these people out before we start running in there."
Jack bit his lip and glared at Copell, for a moment, the older man wondered if he was about to take a swing at him, but Jack eventually broke the gaze and stalked back to the tent. "Check your radio." He called to his back, and received no acknowledgement.
The passage of people broke a little a few seconds later, and Copell made his was back to the tent. Jack was on his mobile phone, holding the radio in his free hand. He had only just started the call, and was introducing himself. A few seconds later Copell heard him request "Tony, get a hold of an explosives expert on payroll, Carrey, Fred Carrey, I think." He ordered the caller, more than a little irritated.
Copell had noticed that Jack was exceptionally agitated, although in general over the last few hours it seemed as though he himself had gotten more tightly wound, Jack had managed to stay in the same mood that he was always in. Whilst Copell had begun to live on coffee, Jack seemed to be awake and thriving, and Copell suspected that was to do with Nina. Whilst he'd only seen him working with a few of his own agents, but they seemed to work well together, Nina followed orders, and suggested her own points, and Jack seemed more willing to accept contributions from her than other agents. Copell wasn't stupid, he realised that Jack was probably attracted to this woman, he certainly found her attractive, and couldn't imagine why Jack wouldn't, especially as he'd seen a photo of his wife once in his wallet, and they had similar features. Most of the features that dimished her from his person choice were present in Jack's wife, and so he presumed that he was attracted to her too.
Right now it was more likely this type of concerns that were playing on his...friend's mind, and he couldn't let him run into that building, especially if the decision was, for the majority, made by his personal involvement. He couldn't imagine talking to his wife about what had happened to her husband.
Jack was off again, he abruptly ended his conversation, and shut the phone, sprinting across the plaza and back up the steps into the Nielson building. Copell caught what he'd spotted, a security guard walking out of the building carrying someone. He was too far, and didn't know her well enough to tell, but as he chased after Jack, he was sure that the person being carried was Nina.
-24-
Jack dropped to his knees as the security guard placed her on the ground. The flow of people had slowed, partially due to the paramedics and firemen running into the building, and the lack of people remaining. Those moving past ebbed their way around them, allowing him to panic about Nina lying unconscious in his own time. "I brought her down the elevator, I know I'm not supposed to, but..."
For the first time Jack acknowledged the security guard. He glanced up, taking a quick mental all points bulletin, he didn't even realise he was doing it, it was just a habit that he'd picked up, having worked in enforcement for so long. Short brown hair, grey eyes, height indeterminate, although from his build he guessed five eight, muscular, no visible tattoos. "It doesn't matter." Jack didn't care how he'd gotten Nina out, he was just glad he'd gotten her out of the building.
He was glad he was good under pressure. Remembering his first aid training he pressed on both her shoulders and called her name. "Nina!" he shouted. Tapping on both shoulders meant that if she been paralysed down one side she would still be able to feel him. No response.
Next step. "Nina, open your eyes." he told her, ordered her. If she was in terrible pain or nearly unconscious, it was likely that she would respond to an order, such as to open her eyes, rather than to open her mouth and start talking. There was still no response.
Danger. Response. He reached his hand for her neck as the security guard interrupted. "Is that her name?" he asked.
"Yes." Jack growled up at him, glancing over only for a minute. He pressed his index and middle finger of his right hand under her chin and pushed upwards, tilting her head back. Her mouth opened slightly and he slid his left index finger into her mouth and felt for any obstructions, he doubted she was chewing anything when she was knocked unconscious, but he check anyway, and then used the finger to hold her mouth open wide enough to see inside, last check to make sure her airway was clear.
It was, he took his hand out of her mouth and it shut slightly, he continued to support her chin as he lowered his ear to her mouth and listened for ten seconds, looking out across her body at Copell's shoes. Even if he hadn't heard the soft sounds of her breath, he could see her chest moving slowly up and down, by using Copell's shoes as a reference, one second he could see Copell's shoe laces, the next, Nina's chest. He moved back from her face and surveyed her body.
Danger, no more to himself than usual. Response, none. Airway, clear. Breathing, yes. Circulation... there was a gash in her hair line that had at one point been gushing, and was now trickling blood down her face, it was clotting across one side of her forehead, her eyebrow and cheek. Her shirt and skirt were damp with a dark liquid, and as he pressed a finger to the divide between the two, a red liquid adhered to it. As best he could tell, the shirt wasn't adhered to it, so he began unbuttoning the lower buttons with his free hand when a paramedic appeared on the other side of the security guard.
"Let her go with the paramedics." Copell suggested, and one held a collar under her neck. Jack slowly slid his fingers away as the collar was moved in place to provide support, and he stood, taking a step back and giving the men space to work. When the stretcher had been moved out of the space between them he walked over to the security guard.
"You got her out of there?" he asked.
The security guard dragged his eyes from the vanishing stretcher to answer. "Yeah, she was lying on the floor, I saw her run in to help a few people up in JayKays, the, uh, marketing firm, and then this massive block of concrete fell on top of her, and so I pulled it off her and got her down here. I figured she was with you guys out here, cos of the jacket and all."
Jack nodded, Nina had taken an FBI flack jacket out of the tech support van, she'd left hers in his car. "Why weren't you out of the building already?"
"I was trying to get all the people to come out with me, they were all working on something or other."
Jack glanced over at the man, "Thank you for getting her out mister..."
The security guard filled in the blank. "Paulie Davison."
"..Mister Davison, she's vital to the investigation." The security guard shook his hand and Jack wandered back over to the tent with Copell.
The older man quickly fell into step besides him, Jack was wishing he could avoid him, having witnessed his display a few minutes ago, but knew it was stupid to do so. "They're going to take her to Memorial, it's the closest." Copell told him, "I can hold this place down, so you can go with her..."
"I've called in Fred Carrey from CTU again, I'll need to be here to liaise with him." Copell nodded, "I'll probably bring in another member of my team from CTU as well later in the day." Jack told him. They reached the table and he dropped his radio back on the desk, he didn't need it anymore.
-24-
Jack threw the radio in the general direction of the desk, he missed, and heard the radio clatter to the floor. He grabbed a handful of hair at the back of his head, and pulled on it for a while before he let go, eventually deciding to go into the Nielson building and find Nina for himself.
People were still running in the opposite direction, faster than before, panicked. The explosion had blown out the windows a few storeys up, but from the outside at least, the building looked structurally sound. Nina had run up to the twenty-ninth floor, where the explosion was, and Jack wasn't looking forward to running up the stairs especially with the contraflow of traffic, but she hadn't answered her radio in the last five minutes, and he was getting panicked.
He heard his name being called and he focused on the voice, Copell, after a few seconds he heard his voice behind him again, closer. Jack had just reached the door, and he was forced to turn as he felt Copell's hand on his shoulder. "Jack, where are you going?" he asked.
Jack didn't think much before he answered. "Nina's in there!"
Copell pulled a little on Jack's shoulder as he began to lever himself round the door and into the stream of traffic "She could have put her radio down to help somebody, do CPR, help somebody out...Jack you can't go running in there yet!" Jack started for the door again, and Copell yanked on his shoulder swinging him back against the stone pillar by the door so hard that Jack reverbed off of it. "Jack, we don't know its safe yet, and we have to get all these people out before we start running in there."
Jack bit his lip and glared at Copell, for a moment, the older man wondered if he was about to take a swing at him, but Jack eventually broke the gaze and stalked back to the tent. "Check your radio." He called to his back, and received no acknowledgement.
The passage of people broke a little a few seconds later, and Copell made his was back to the tent. Jack was on his mobile phone, holding the radio in his free hand. He had only just started the call, and was introducing himself. A few seconds later Copell heard him request "Tony, get a hold of an explosives expert on payroll, Carrey, Fred Carrey, I think." He ordered the caller, more than a little irritated.
Copell had noticed that Jack was exceptionally agitated, although in general over the last few hours it seemed as though he himself had gotten more tightly wound, Jack had managed to stay in the same mood that he was always in. Whilst Copell had begun to live on coffee, Jack seemed to be awake and thriving, and Copell suspected that was to do with Nina. Whilst he'd only seen him working with a few of his own agents, but they seemed to work well together, Nina followed orders, and suggested her own points, and Jack seemed more willing to accept contributions from her than other agents. Copell wasn't stupid, he realised that Jack was probably attracted to this woman, he certainly found her attractive, and couldn't imagine why Jack wouldn't, especially as he'd seen a photo of his wife once in his wallet, and they had similar features. Most of the features that dimished her from his person choice were present in Jack's wife, and so he presumed that he was attracted to her too.
Right now it was more likely this type of concerns that were playing on his...friend's mind, and he couldn't let him run into that building, especially if the decision was, for the majority, made by his personal involvement. He couldn't imagine talking to his wife about what had happened to her husband.
Jack was off again, he abruptly ended his conversation, and shut the phone, sprinting across the plaza and back up the steps into the Nielson building. Copell caught what he'd spotted, a security guard walking out of the building carrying someone. He was too far, and didn't know her well enough to tell, but as he chased after Jack, he was sure that the person being carried was Nina.
-24-
Jack dropped to his knees as the security guard placed her on the ground. The flow of people had slowed, partially due to the paramedics and firemen running into the building, and the lack of people remaining. Those moving past ebbed their way around them, allowing him to panic about Nina lying unconscious in his own time. "I brought her down the elevator, I know I'm not supposed to, but..."
For the first time Jack acknowledged the security guard. He glanced up, taking a quick mental all points bulletin, he didn't even realise he was doing it, it was just a habit that he'd picked up, having worked in enforcement for so long. Short brown hair, grey eyes, height indeterminate, although from his build he guessed five eight, muscular, no visible tattoos. "It doesn't matter." Jack didn't care how he'd gotten Nina out, he was just glad he'd gotten her out of the building.
He was glad he was good under pressure. Remembering his first aid training he pressed on both her shoulders and called her name. "Nina!" he shouted. Tapping on both shoulders meant that if she been paralysed down one side she would still be able to feel him. No response.
Next step. "Nina, open your eyes." he told her, ordered her. If she was in terrible pain or nearly unconscious, it was likely that she would respond to an order, such as to open her eyes, rather than to open her mouth and start talking. There was still no response.
Danger. Response. He reached his hand for her neck as the security guard interrupted. "Is that her name?" he asked.
"Yes." Jack growled up at him, glancing over only for a minute. He pressed his index and middle finger of his right hand under her chin and pushed upwards, tilting her head back. Her mouth opened slightly and he slid his left index finger into her mouth and felt for any obstructions, he doubted she was chewing anything when she was knocked unconscious, but he check anyway, and then used the finger to hold her mouth open wide enough to see inside, last check to make sure her airway was clear.
It was, he took his hand out of her mouth and it shut slightly, he continued to support her chin as he lowered his ear to her mouth and listened for ten seconds, looking out across her body at Copell's shoes. Even if he hadn't heard the soft sounds of her breath, he could see her chest moving slowly up and down, by using Copell's shoes as a reference, one second he could see Copell's shoe laces, the next, Nina's chest. He moved back from her face and surveyed her body.
Danger, no more to himself than usual. Response, none. Airway, clear. Breathing, yes. Circulation... there was a gash in her hair line that had at one point been gushing, and was now trickling blood down her face, it was clotting across one side of her forehead, her eyebrow and cheek. Her shirt and skirt were damp with a dark liquid, and as he pressed a finger to the divide between the two, a red liquid adhered to it. As best he could tell, the shirt wasn't adhered to it, so he began unbuttoning the lower buttons with his free hand when a paramedic appeared on the other side of the security guard.
"Let her go with the paramedics." Copell suggested, and one held a collar under her neck. Jack slowly slid his fingers away as the collar was moved in place to provide support, and he stood, taking a step back and giving the men space to work. When the stretcher had been moved out of the space between them he walked over to the security guard.
"You got her out of there?" he asked.
The security guard dragged his eyes from the vanishing stretcher to answer. "Yeah, she was lying on the floor, I saw her run in to help a few people up in JayKays, the, uh, marketing firm, and then this massive block of concrete fell on top of her, and so I pulled it off her and got her down here. I figured she was with you guys out here, cos of the jacket and all."
Jack nodded, Nina had taken an FBI flack jacket out of the tech support van, she'd left hers in his car. "Why weren't you out of the building already?"
"I was trying to get all the people to come out with me, they were all working on something or other."
Jack glanced over at the man, "Thank you for getting her out mister..."
The security guard filled in the blank. "Paulie Davison."
"..Mister Davison, she's vital to the investigation." The security guard shook his hand and Jack wandered back over to the tent with Copell.
The older man quickly fell into step besides him, Jack was wishing he could avoid him, having witnessed his display a few minutes ago, but knew it was stupid to do so. "They're going to take her to Memorial, it's the closest." Copell told him, "I can hold this place down, so you can go with her..."
"I've called in Fred Carrey from CTU again, I'll need to be here to liaise with him." Copell nodded, "I'll probably bring in another member of my team from CTU as well later in the day." Jack told him. They reached the table and he dropped his radio back on the desk, he didn't need it anymore.
-24-