Hey y'all! I realized that I don't touch on Mac and Bozer's friendship a whole lot. While this series is about our two super spy bros, I feel like the friendship between Mac and Bozer is detrimental to who Blondie is as a person. So, I came up with this little chapter that touches on it. Of course, Jack is a part of it (duh!) and he helps Mac along through the chapter. Read and tell me what you think! Enjoy!
Mac stared at the letter in his hands, shock rendering him unmoving. Bozer had been in a car accident and was in the hospital. A hit and run, drunk driver while his friend was on the way to a screenwriters convention. Bozer had written him telling him what had happened to keep him from worrying, but it hadn't helped. He'd insisted that he wasn't too hurt, but Bozer's aunt had written him and given the exact information she'd known he'd needed. Bozer had three broken ribs, a snapped femur, and his hip had been dislocated. He'd had minor internal bleeding that they'd managed to get under control, but he still had a horrible concussion. He's had to dictate his letter to his mother so she could write it for him. His car had been flipped off the road and landed upside down, trapping him inside. He hadn't been found until the drunk had woken up the next morning and had remembered what he'd done, calling the police immediately. Bozer had been unconscious when they'd found him and the rescue workers had thought he was dead until he had shifted and made noise. His ID had been lost in the crash and his phone had been shattered, so he'd been a John Doe until he'd woken up and been able to communicate. He'd been an unknown for a week before his family was notified. They'd gone a week with zero contact from him. They'd been in a panic when they'd gotten the call that he was in the hospital. They'd driven through the night from Mission City to get to him. Had he not woken up...
Mac sat back in his cot and tried to control the trembling in his hands. Every fiber of him needed to see Bozer alive right that minute, but it was midnight where his friend was. Mac couldn't wake him up in the middle of the night just because he wanted to see him. The blonde found himself walking mechanically over to his crate. He grabbed Bozer's hoodie that he'd stolen before coming out here. It had been a running thing between the two boys, taking each other's clothes and then seeing who noticed first. Bozer had laughed long and hard when he'd realized that Mac had taken the challenge to Afghanistan because he'd stolen one of Mac's t-shirts and kept it in America. Know, Mac was glad that he'd grabbed something of Bozer's before leaving. He threw it over his head and curled into it, breathing in the scent of his friend that remained. It was a comforting combination of plaster and cheap cologne. Distinct and familiar. Mac dropped back onto his bunk and slumped against the metal framing. Bozer had almost died. He'd almost died and Mac hadn't been there.
Had he been home, Bozer would have been found sooner. He would have known instantly that something was wrong when Bozer didn't come home that night. They lived together in Mac's grandpa's old house so Bozer usually had someone who could check in when he got home. But with Mac half-way across the world, there wasn't anyone there to look out for him. Mac bit his lip as, for the first time, he questioned his choice in coming. Had he been selfish leaving Bozer alone like that? His friend always worried, and hadn't ever wanted him to leave, which was another reason entirely for Mac to stay in Cali. Coupling that with the accident now, Mac was starting to have serious reservations about having left his friend alone. Had he done the right thing in coming? Or had he been selfish to leave his friend vulnerable and alone in California?
***Line Break***
Jack stared at the letter in his hands, confused. Bozer, Mac's best friend from home, had written him. The delta opened the letter slowly, confusion making him hesitant. He knew who Bozer was, of course. He'd even talked to the kid a couple times when he'd been on facetime with Mac. Bozer seemed like a good guy and Jack was glad that Mac had that connection from home. But that didn't discount his worry and uncertainty about the letter. He shook the envelope and two letter fell into his hand. One was addressed to Mac, and the other was addressed to him. He unfolded the piece of notebook paper with his name on the outside and read the wobbly writing on it, his mouth hanging open at the contents:
Jack,
Look, I know we don't know each other really at all but if you aren't with Mac right now I need you to go find him. I sent a letter to both of you at the same time hoping that you get them at the same time. I was in a wreck and I know my aunt wrote Mac with the details. I tried to reassure him that I'll be okay, but I know he's freaking out and probably finding some way to blame himself right about now. Since I'm not there to help him, I need you to. I know it's a lot to ask, but if you're as close with him as I think you are by now then I need you to help him out of his head. The low down for matters of knowing what the hell is going is this: I got hit by a drunk driver. It was a hit-and-run. I wasn't found until 24 hours after it happened and then I was a John Doe and unconscious for about a week after that. I had internal bleeding but they got it under control. I have a concussion, three broken ribs, a snapped femur, and I dislocated my hip. I'm seeing triple and have a killer headache, but am expected to make a full recovery. They've got me on the good stuff and the guy who hit me turned himself in to the police. The officer who talked to me said it was a whole movie-esque dramatic thing where he ran into the police station and said 'I think I killed someone'. Nearly gave the receptionist a heart attack apparently. He's being charged with reckless endangerment but I'm pushing to have the charges dropped. He was just being stupid and shouldn't have to go to jail for a stupid drunk decision. Anyways, now that you're caught up I really need you to go find Mac. Reassure him then give him the letter I sent to you that's addressed to him. Keep him OUT of his head. Please. Thanks. I'll be fine and recover completely. Stay safe over there and don't get shot! Keep our boy out of trouble!
-Bozer
Jack was walking towards their tent before he even finished the letter completely. He shoved it into his back pocket and ran the rest of the way. He burst inside to see Mac sitting on his bunk dejectedly. His face was completely devoid of emotion and his hands were shaking he was holding two letters in his hand and Jack had no doubt what information they held. He sighed quietly and crossed over to his friend.
"He said he's okay, Mac," Jack assured his partner, dropping down next to him and startling the blonde out of his head, "docs said he should make a full recovery."
"He wrote to you?" Mac asked in confusion, "why?"
"Wanted to make sure I knew," Jack shrugged, "gave me the facts pretty much and gave me a couple pointers on how not to get shot over here. What'd he tell you."
"Bare minimum facts, that he's fine and not to worry," Mac snapped bitterly, the letter crumpling slightly as he clenched his fists, "how did this happen?"
"A guy made a really stupid and reckless decision," Jack sighed, "it's not Bozer's fault and it's not yours."
Mac's head jerked up in surprise at Jack's words, "how did you-?"
"Because I know you, Mac," Jack shrugged, "you think that if you hadn't come here then you would be home with Bozer and he would have had a better support system. You would have known he wasn't home, you would have alerted the authorities, you would have called the hospital to check, you could have done something. And right about now, I would bet the family farm that you're doubting whether or not you made the right decision in coming here or not."
Mac stared at the delta in shock, "how... am I really that easy to read?"
Jack laughed a little, "only once someone gets really close to you, Mac. You take everything that happens and you run it over and over in your mind, trying to figure out how you could have fixed it. You don't need to do that to yourself, kid. Look at it this way, because you weren't there, Bozer was conscious when his family found him. A man was able to fix his mistake, and learned some personal responsibility. And Bozer gets to put in to practice some amazing, unfathomable forgiveness. He's trying to get the guy's charges dropped, the guy is helping pay for Bozer's hospital bills instead of bailing himself out. And, on top of it all, Bozer will make a full recovery. Mac, there were lots of good things that came out of this whole situation. Look on the bright side a little, kid."
A smile quirked up at the corner of Mac's mouth, "how do you do it, Jack?"
"Do what, kiddo?" Jack grinned, pulling him closer and reading over his shoulder a bit, seeing the reassurances that Bozer had sent to his friend and grinning wider, "what did I do?"
"Take something so exponentially horrible and put a positive spin on it," Mac sighed, resting his head against his over-watch, "it feels impossible."
Jack thought about that for a moment before replying, "well kid, my head isn't so full of statistics and information that I can't. That's why we work so well together kid. You know what could go wrong, I know what could turn out great. Realist and optimist," he shrugged, "that's how teamwork works, Mac."
"My head's just so full of images and memories of this kind of thing going so wrong that..." Mac's voice trailed out as his eyes started to glaze over again.
Jack snapped his fingers in front of his partner's face, "hey, look at me kid. Bozer's okay. Is he a little banged up? Yes, but he's going to be just fine. Besides, he told me that they've got him on the good stuff. He's not feelin' anything but a headache right now."
Mac scrubbed a hand across his face, sighing in an attempt to relieve stress, "yeah... he'll be okay I guess," he hesitated, "I just wish I could see him."
Jack squeezed his shoulder in sympathy, "I know, kid. It'll be okay though. Bozer's fine and safe. Don't worry, Mac. It'll all be okay."
The blonde slumped against the metal bed frame and heaved a deep sigh, "I just... I'm so tired of... people I care about keep getting hurt."
Jack ran a hand through his mohawk and bit his lip, "I know you are, kiddo. Trust me, I completely understand that feeling. A lot of people I've known and cared about have been hurt before. It sucks, I know, but you have to keep moving, kid. Bozer will make a full recovery. He's going to be okay," Jack took Mac's face in his hands and met his friend's gaze firmly, "he's going to be fine."
With that last reassurance, Mac's walls crumbled. His eyes lost the blank stare and he crumpled into Jack's arms, "he's hurt so bad, Jack. He... and I..."
"I know kiddo," Jack carded his fingers through Mac's hair, "let it out, bud."
***Line Break***
It took Mac a bit to calm down, but once he had, he pulled his defenses back up. He pulled away from Jack and laughed a bit at himself, "sorry, Jack. Kinda lost myself for a second there. My bad," he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.
Jack allowed the moment to be waved away. It was what Mac wanted; so, Jack would allow it, "no biggie kid. You're all good. What do you say you take a look at the letter Bozer sent for you. He sent it through me. Said for you to take a look at it. I'll be in the mess hall if you need me," the delta handed over the letter before walking out of the tent leaving Mac to Bozer's reassurances.
Mac stared at the second letter, reading the funny hospital stories over and over again and restraining laughs. Apparently, Bozer's neighbor was an avid sports fan and his other neighbor hated sports, resulting in some humorous shouting matches. And apparently there was also an very attractive night shift nurse. Mac grinned at the stories Bozer wove about the staff and other patients. It was exactly the reassurances that Mac needed.
He grinned at the genius spread between his friends. Between Jack's reassurances nd Bozer's humorous stories, Mac was able to sleep peacefully that night. And if there were a couple extra stories told about Bozer and Mac's escapades the next day... well, Jack wouldn't be the one to point it out.
There y'all go! Hope you enjoyed it! This one was kind of interesting to write. I struggled a bit with how to integrate Bozer into Jack and Mac's army life, so... I figured letters were the best option. I hope y'all like the way I portrayed Jack and Mac's reactions. I figured Bozer would definitely write to Jack in order to keep Mac from holding it all in. Double O Boze is smart that way ;) Anyways, hope you enjoyed the story! Love y'all!
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