"The tissue is badly damaged." He said in a raspy voice, stained from all of the cigarettes he had smoked over the years. It was quite a coincidence, a doctor who knows all too well the effects of smoking, yet still goes through al least twenty a day.
"Then fix it." Daniel said. He waited a moment, before adding, "Please, just make it better."
"I will Daniel I will; I just don't know what to do for the best. What he needs is a skin graph and surgery, but we obviously don't have the resources. I can clean it and wrap it, or put some burn substances on it, and leave it without any bandages, I just don't know which one he would benefit from most." He placed his hand under his chin as he thought, clearly torn between the two choices.
Joel spoke up for the first time since he had arrived. The doctor had unravelled the bandages, revealing Jacks skin. The sight nearly made him sick. "Wrap it." He wasn't saying this from concern, it was simply because he thought he would actually be sick, or faint if he saw the sight of raw and burnt flesh again.
The doctor looked at Daniel for confirmation before proceeding. "Do it, its got to be less painful." Daniel ordered.
The doctor began wrapping fresh sterilised bandages around Jacks stomach, then the full length of his arm. "I have to say, he is still going to suffer immense pain once he awakens. I can leave you some pills which will help; but nothing is going to take it away. He needs to be in a hospital." The doctor warned.
"I know. Thank you."
The doctor nodded and continued covering the wounds. Jack lay still, oblivious to it all.
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Michelle sat next to Adam, sighing wearily as she rubbed both of her eyes, the need for sleep creeping up on her. But she could not go home now, not a chance. With an agent missing in action, two others rescued from a kidnap operation, an unexplained explosion and a potential terrorist threat on the city, Michelle knew she would not be leaving any time soon.
Right now, the only thing on her mind, other that her husband was the mysterious Daniel Bauer, and his relationship to Jack. Looking directly at Adam she spoke,
"So, what do we have?"
"Well, it's pretty clean cut - they are brothers. From reading background checks and police reports, I was able to gather a basic gist of what happened. Their parents died in a car accident when Jack was...." He paused to double check the information in his notes, before continuing, " Fifteen. From then on the only living family they had was each other, and so Jack was placed in Daniel's care, who was.. eighteen then. From then on theirs not much, up until two years later. It seems their was some kind of incident, Jacks records show he was hospitalised at the same time a warrant was put out for Daniel. I couldn't find out what happened, though it appears the two have been estranged from then on."
"Okay, good. I want you to did a little deeper, try find out what happened. Then cross reference Daniel Bauer with every thread we have. We need to know what he is up to, and what he wants with Jack."
"I'm on it." He replied, his head down, already typing away.
Michelle walked through C.T.U, heading towards the clinic. She had to step over large chunks of concrete that were left from the earlier battle that had destroyed half of C.T.U.
She finally arrived at the clinic, and instantly saw Tony, who was signing some forms at the main reception desk, signing himself out.
She sneaked up behind him and snaked her arms around his waist from behind, squeezing him tightly. "Hi sweetie, are you okay?" She asked.
He pulled her around to face her and kissed her softly. "I am fine. Not a scratch on me. What's happening?" He asked, pulling away to look at her, his love, his life.
"Jesus...." She trailed off, not knowing where to start. "Well, we identified one of your attackers." She paused, more for effect than anything else.
"And?" He prompted her.
"It's Jack's brother."
"What!?" Tony said, startled and as shocked as she had been. "I didn't even know Jack had a brother."
"I know. It checked out. Daniel Bauer. Seems when they were younger he was Jack's guardian. At some point some incident happened, which resulted in a warrant on Daniel, and Jack in the hospital. We don't know what happened, but Adam's looking into it. Seems as though they've been estranged from each other since then, so whatever happened, it must have been serious."
"What's going on!" He said more to himself than Michelle.
"I know." She whispered, leaning her head on Tony's chest for support, she was so tired.
"You okay hun?" He asked, concerned.
"Yeah. How's Chloé?" She asked.
Tony rolled his eyes. "She's fine, I checked on her before I came to sign out. The doctors have stitched her up. It was only a grazing wound, yet she still thinks she had a near death experience. Jesus Michelle, I could've killed her myself in there..." He trailed off as Michelle began to chuckle at his remark.
"She's not that bad Tony, just different."
"Michelle, if your ever locked in a room with her for more than an hour while she constantly complains; trust me; you will change your opinion."
The two laughed together and linked arms as they walked steadily back to C.T.U. They knew they would have no time to spend together when they got back, so they walked as slowly as possibly, treasuring the brief time they had together.
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Slow chapter, I know! But, next chapter should be better, more Jack! Keep them reviews coming!! ;]