Two Hours Later

MacGyver slowly opened his eyes. It was much darker than he last remembered. When he tried to wet his dry mouth, he found grit in his mouth and on his lips.

"Mac," Mathilda said, appearing at his side.

She looked worse than when he last saw her. A new wound ran down her temple. It had bled down the side of her face until it dried. She was very dusty, and her black dress had one sleeve.

"Hi," he whispered.

She smiled. "Hi. I was worried you'd decided to take a really long nap on me."

He barely shook his head. "Got tired of sleeping."

She chuckled. "So, I learned a lesson. You shouldn't try pulling on rubble after an explosion."

"Collapsed, did it?" he asked.

"You should have told me."

"Wasn't I unconscious?"

"Trivial."

He smiled a little. He wished he didn't hurt so much because it really was a good joke.

"Do you remember what was on the list?" she asked.

He slowly shook his head, not wanting to set off a headache. It didn't work. He closed his eyes to keep the pain from stabbing them again.

He whispered, "Do I have any head injuries? This headache…"

"You have a nasty goose egg on your forehead. It looks pretty bad."

He didn't respond. Matty didn't press him to speak to his surprise, instead allowing him to lay still and quiet. His headache began to back off, and he felt like he could try thinking now.

Again whispering, he asked, "What's on the list?"

"I have to cross some off because the movement buried them." She found a pen and crossed off items as she read the list. She finished, lowering the notepad to her lap. MacGyver looked unconscious again, so she started to move away.

"Find something to get into my phone. Then find some thin wire. Next, grab a tack, screw, or nail, anything like that. Take something apart for that if you have to." Mathilda started circling items as he continued. "Need a couple paperclips, rubber bands, the ruler, any one of the silver coins, tape, and the box the manila folders are in."

"Got it."

"I'm going to stay here and rest my eyes."

She smiled, patting his arm. "You do that. I'll tell you when we're ready to MacGyverize."

He smiled a little. Mathilda began gathering the supplies.

By the time she returned to his side, he was unconscious again. She sat next to him, staring at the walls of their rubble prison. She didn't want him to make something to save them; she wanted someone to appear and get him to a hospital instead. But all she could do was wait.

When he tried to inhale as he woke up, MacGyver was quickly reminded of the piece of metal in his back. Followed by the throbbing pain from a chunk of cement crushing his foot.

"Hey," Mathilda said. "Hey there."

"Hey," he whispered, opening his eyes. "I wish I were Superman."

She laughed. "Why?"

"I wouldn't hurt."

"Oh. And here I thought it was because you could get us out of here if you were."

"I could. Without pain."

"Yes. You could. So, I gathered everything you told me to. Do you remember what you asked me to get and what it was for?"

He closed his eyes. "Not offhand, no."

"Oh." She sounded very disappointed, not that he blamed her.

"Just… Give me a moment. My head is killing me."

"I'm pretty sure there isn't any part of you that is not in pain." He lifted his left hand and shook a finger. "I remember. A telegraph." He let his hand drift back down.

"What?" Mathilda asked.

"I'm telling you how to build a telegraph."

She looked around the area. "The desk is covered by rubble, and I don't think it had a phone anyway. And neither of our phones work."

"No. No. It's, uh, to make a noise that the dogs or the audio detectors can hear."

"They can't hear us talking?"

MacGyver looked up at her. "Have you been talking when I was unconscious?"

"No, but…" She looked at the battered cardboard box she'd gathered the supplies. "How is anyone going to hear this?"

"The speaker and battery from the phone will amplify it. The thing is, you'll have to keep tapping the key when I'm…" He paused when everything swam around him.

"Mac?"

He didn't answer.

"MacGyver."

"When I'm unconscious," he barely whispered.

"Okay. Okay. Walk me through this."

He swallowed to wet his dry mouth and started walking her through building a telegraph machine.