Mac reached out and grabbed the phone without opening her eyes. "Mackenzie," she muttered groggily into the receiver. She tried to shake off her covers anticipating that her sleep for the night had come to an end. Calls that came in at 0136 were never good news and almost never afforded the opportunity to go back to sleep.
"Colonel Mackenzie, my name Captain Collins. I apologize for calling you at this early hour, but I'm afraid there's been an incident aboard the Allegiance." The unfamiliar voice coming from the phone had an undertone to it that everyone in the military instinctively recognized.
Mac was positive she felt her heart stop. The Allegiance… His carrier. Just because it was his carrier didn't mean that he was involved. "What's happened?" Mac asked quickly as she sat up and flicked the light on, her mind now cleared of the fog of slumber.
"There was a fire in the cargo hold." Captain Collins spoke calmly, but Mac could hear the hesitation in her voice. There was more that she didn't want to be the one to have to say.
"Any fatalities? How many injuries?"
"We're still receiving information about the precise number of injuries, Ma'am. No fatalities reported at this time," as Collins paused, Mac braced for the bad news. "Colonel Mackenzie, I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this but Captain Rabb sustained critical injuries while attempting to evacuate and protect members of the crew. He's been evac'ed to Bethesda."
This time Mac knew that her heart stopped for a beat or two as she heard the words. She acutely remembered the feeling from so many years ago; she had experienced it when they received word that Harm and Skates had punched out and that he was missing. It was a combination of panic, terror, disbelief and devastation that was nearly paralyzing. Her eyes lost focus and she realized that she was holding her breath but couldn't remember how to make her lungs work. She felt as though the bed beneath her had disappeared and she was falling into an unknown oblivion. She finally was able to force out the word "Bethesda?"
"Yes Ma'am, the Allegiance was on her way stateside when the incident occurred." Collins took a deep breath before she spoke again. "Colonel, we've sent a car to your home. It'll be outside ready to bring you to Miramar. There's a transport waiting to take you to DC, wheels up as soon as you're onboard. A helicopter will be standing by when you arrive to bring you to Bethesda."
"Who arranged for all of this?" Mac asked as she tried to remember how to move her feet.
"Admiral AJ Chegwidden, Ma'am." Collins voice softened now. "Permission to speak freely?"
"Yes." It was more of a breath than a response.
"You'll want to be on that plane as quickly as humanly possible."
"Understood." Mac nodded automatically as the words registered. "Thank you, Captain." She didn't wait for a response, she hung up the phone and darted across the room to the closet. She donned a pair of jeans and quickly pulled a simple black turtleneck over her head. She grabbed her purse and cell as she ran to the front door, slipping her feet into a pair of sneakers as she pulled her keys from her purse. She locked the door in a fluid motion and as she turned to face the street saw the sedan sitting out front with the rear door open and the driver already back in the driver's seat. She sprinted across the lawn and jumped into the backseat. Before the door was closed the driver was accelerating.
Mac turned her cell on and ran her hands through her hair, vaguely aware of the breakneck speed with which the car was moving. She tried not to focus on it. If the driver was going this fast, it's because AJ had given them special instruction to do so; he wouldn't have done that unless… She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. No, she wouldn't even think it.
When her phone finished powering on, the alerts began coming in one after another. Voicemail notifications, emails, messenger pings, texts, the names were flashing in such quick succession that she barely registered them. Hetty, Harriet, Clay, Callan, Sturgis, Bud, Mikey, AJ, Tiner, Coates, Mattie, Harm…
Harm.
She opened the list of unread messages and scrolled to the email that had come in from Harm's address. When she opened it, her head swam and she felt like she was going to black out. The subject was simply For Sarah and the body of the email contained only a solitary line.
دوستت دارم
The scrawling script was familiar to her, she'd grown up with it. The phrase was the only Farsi that Harm had managed learn. I love you in the language that Mac's grandmother had spoken. Her mind flashed back to a memory from too long ago.
"Why do you keep trying to learn how to say that?" Mac had asked him as she suppressed a giggle at one of his less than successful attempts at mastering the pronunciation the phrase. They were sitting on the porch swing in their backyard, watching as the sky shifted with the kaleidoscopic brilliance of the West Coast sunset.
"Because I want to be able to tell you that I love you in a way that means something important to you," he'd answered simply and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"It's always important to me every time you tell me that you love me."
"Good to know. However, someday I could be crossing the street and get hit by a bus. Wouldn't it mean just a little more to know that the last time I said I love you it was in the same language that your grandmother used to say it?" He'd smiled that flyboy smile that melted her.
"Way to turn a sweet gesture depressing, Rabb," she'd laughed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I suppose it would, in a way. Well, no matter the language, as long as you're saying it, it's always going to be the most perfect sound in the world to me."
She hadn't realized that the tears had started falling. She stared at the screen, frozen in shock at the realization of what was happening. Harm would have only sent that if he believed, truly believed, it was the last message he would send. She was oblivious to the sound of the driver speaking into the communications gear he was wearing. She was still staring at the screen, her heart feeling like it was pounding against her ribcage as the car drove through the open gate, and straight to the tarmac.
When the car jolted to a stop it shook her back to reality enough for her to realize where she was. The trip from her house to Miramar should have taken twenty-eight minutes; the driver had done it in only sixteen. She wiped her face quickly as she opened the door without waiting for the driver and took the stairs of the private jet that was only feet from the car. As she mounted them two at time, the car sped away to clear the runway. She was absently aware of the sound of the pilot and co-pilot speaking as she lurched into the cabin and collapsed into the first seat she came to. By the time she touched the supple leather, the door was closed and only other passenger was making their way to the seat beside her.
"Put your seatbelt on," Clay's voice was familiar but so unexpected that she didn't understand what he was saying and simply stared at him. He reached for her belt and secured it around her as the plane began picking up speed along the runway. "I was in San Diego liaising on a case."
"How badly is he hurt?" Mac barely recognized her own voice when she spoke. It was shaky and quiet. Webb closed his eyes and drew a breath. She knew it was bad. "Is he…"
"He's alive. He's in surgery now. Chegwidden is at the hospital with Mattie, Bud and Harriet." There was no sound other than the dull whine of the engines. After a moment, Webb spoke again. "It doesn't look good, Sarah."
"What happened?" she asked as she stared down at the screen of her phone. She couldn't bring herself to look at anything else.
"There was a fire in the cargo bay. We don't know yet how it started but the damage it caused resulted in the surrounding cargo becoming unstable. When the fire alarm went off, he responded and started clearing crew from the area. A few crew members were injured, he was attempting to get them to safety when a column of cargo collapsed. He tried to protect one of his crew and he got pinned by falling cargo. He sustained burns as well as injuries to several internal organs."
"How serious are his injuries?" Mac asked.
"Mac, I don't – "
"Damnit Clay don't treat me like a civilian. How serious are his injuries?" she demanded.
"Shipboard medics weren't as concerned about the burns as they were the crush injuries. The cargo that pinned him was a large engine and it landed on his torso. They know that he has several shattered ribs and damage to his lungs, liver and spleen. They also think there may be spinal damage."
"Oh God," she breathed as she brought her hand to her mouth. "He emailed me that he loves me. He would only have sent that if he believed he was going to…" she couldn't make herself say the word. The tears came running down her face again.
"Don't give up on him, Sarah. If there is one thing in this universe that can improve his odds, it's you. The two of you have always had a connection that was damn near mystical. Be strong for him." Clay touched her shoulder and squeezed it gently. His body stiffened as his phone began buzzing in his pocket. He moved to stand.
"No, put it on speaker. I need to know what's happening." Mac locked eyes with him now. "Please."
"This is Webb." He held the phone between the two of them.
"Webb, it's Chegwidden. Has Mac made it to the plane yet?"
"I'm here, Admiral." Mac managed to stop her voice from shaking long enough to say it.
"We just took off. We should make DC in approximately three hours and fifty minutes." Clay watched Mac's face as she looked down again at her phone.
"Clay," AJ said in a quieter voice. "Tell the pilots to put it to the firewall."
"Understood." Clay disconnected the call and saw the fresh tears on Mac's face. She'd understood too. Four hours might be too long. He stood and went to the cockpit. He spoke to the pilots for a few moments then returned to sit beside Mac. The rest of the flight passed in silence as Mac clung to her phone and prayed to every deity she could think of and the very universe itself that their story wouldn't end like this.
Between pushing the plane to its max and catching a few lucky tailwinds, the pilots managed to shave nearly an hour off the flight and Clay escorted Mac onto the helicopter for the short hop to the hospital. They landed on the roof helipad and were met by Chegwidden. He simply nodded as they approached and followed him into the building. When they got to the waiting room Mac felt her heart sink. She knew from the way they all looked at her that things were not going well.
"Mac," Mattie whispered and went to her. They hugged one another tightly for a few moments.
"Any update from the doctors?" Webb asked AJ quietly.
"Nothing in the last hour." AJ crossed his arms over his chest. "Thank you for doing this Clay. I know Rabb isn't your favorite person."
"No thanks necessary. I just hope that it wasn't in vain." Clay watched as Mattie and Mac sat beside each other and Harriet and Jennifer joined them. "Any word from the investigators on the Allegiance?"
"No word yet on what started the fire." He sighed angrily after a few seconds.
"Let me make a few calls and see if I can get anywhere." Clay moved to step away. AJ held his hand out to him and they shook tensely. Clay disappeared down a hallway and the rest of them settled into an uncomfortable silence as they waited.
It was three agonizingly long hours before a doctor appeared in the hallway and walked towards them. "Admiral Chegwidden?"
"Yes," AJ turned to face the doctor.
"Captain Rabb is out of surgery. We had to remove his spleen, a section of his liver part of his left lung. The good news is the interior of his lungs are in much better shape than we had initially thought, there was no inhalation damage as was originally thought by the medics onboard. He sustained several broken ribs, however we saw no indication of spinal trauma. Still, he suffered some significant internal hemorrhaging and lost a lot of blood, the next twelve hours will be critical. I wish I had a better report for you, Sir," she explained.
"Is my dad gonna be okay?" Mattie asked quietly from beside AJ.
"I wish I could give you a definitive answer, but the truth is it's too soon to tell. We'll do everything in our power to give him the best shot possible, but he has a tough fight ahead of him."
"Can I see him?" Mattie sniffled as she wiped her face on the end of her sleeve.
"I'm afraid he hasn't come out of the anesthesia yet. You can go to his room, but I have to insist only one visitor and only for a minute or two."
"Talk to him, let him hear your voice so he knows that you're here," Mac said encouragingly to Mattie as she squeezed her shoulders. Her chest felt like it had been cracked in half and everything inside her was tumbling out. "Remember after your accident, you told him that you heard him talking to you, it made you want to open your eyes. That's what he needs now, he needs to know that he has someone here to open his eyes for."
"Come with me, please Mac. I don't know if I can do this."
"Yes, you can, Mattie. I'll come with you and wait in the hallway." Mattie nodded without saying anything and she and Mac followed the doctor to his room. She looked at Mac uncertainly. Mac nodded and forced a grin before Mattie walked into the room.
Mac looked through the door as it swung closed and caught a glimpse of his face. His color was terrible, there was a large bandage on the right side of his forehead, and he had a breathing tube taped into his mouth. As soon as the door clicked closed, she spoke without looking at the doctor. "He's not going to survive, is he?"
"It's possible he will, but right now those are longer odds than I would like. If you have any favors that the universe owes you, it might be a time to call one or two in." They stood in silence until Mattie came back out.
"How long will it be until we know if he's going to be okay?" Mattie asked, her eyes were full of tears.
"Right now, everything is really hour to hour. If he remains stable or shows some improvement in the next twelve hours, that would definitely be a good sign."
"He's going to pull through. He doesn't know how to give up on anything." Mattie insisted as she looked at the door to his room. "How often are we allowed to see him?"
"I'll leave orders that he's permitted to have one visitor every two hours. But I have to be very clear; if those rules are not followed, I will change it to no visitors."
"I understand. Thank you, doctor." Mattie nodded and looked down at her watch. "Two hours."
Mac and Mattie walked back to the waiting room in silence. When they got back, they saw that Clay had rejoined the group.
"Mr. Webb, did you find out how this happened to my dad yet?"
"I'm sorry, Mattie, the investigation is still under way and I haven't been able to find out much. One thing I do know is that the crew member who he was trying to protect is going to be okay. They sustained only minor injuries thanks to your dad's bravery and quick thinking."
"Good, he'll be happy to hear that when he wakes up. Dad's ridiculously protective of his crew." She looked around at the group. She stopped and forced a little smile as she looked at AJ. "I wonder where he got that from?" Her smile was almost genuine now as she looked at the man that she'd come to think of as a sort of surrogate uncle over the years.
"I think you can credit yourself with a lot of that instinct, kiddo. You changed your dad more than you realize." AJ said then chuckled a little. "He was a hell of a loose cannon and a proper pain in the six back in the day. I'm pretty sure he's the reason what little hair I have left is grey."
"Really?" Mattie grinned. "I have a hard time picturing him being reckless." Almost in unison, everyone in the room laughed. Mattie looked around. "Okay, I feel like there are stories I have not heard."
"Oh, without a doubt." Clay said nodding.
"He fired an automatic weapon in open court one time," AJ commented.
"In his defense, the witness claimed that the weapon had jammed and was incapable of firing. In retrospect he probably should have loaded it with blanks," Bud replied. "He jumped on the skid of a helicopter that was taking off one time."
"He broke out of the brig," Clay added.
"On your directive. Hell, you snuck in the gun that he used," Bud quipped.
"True." Clay shrugged. "He ejected the Admiral into the middle of the George Washington National forest out of a Tomcat."
"That was an accident, and in fairness he actually didn't eject me; he performed a maneuver that caused me to bounce around the cockpit and end up unintentionally pulling the ejection lever." AJ acknowledged somewhat begrudgingly.
"He stepped in front of a moving tank to stop a soldier who was kidnapping his son," Harriet mentioned.
"Resigned his commission and flew to Paraguay to rescue Mac and I when an assignment went sideways," Clay added.
"Clung to and scrambled along the side of a moving frigate, what, three times, while it was doing about 20 knots in open waters to try and stop a terrorist group who had taken command of it." Mac commented.
"He kept another F-14 from going down in enemy territory by getting underneath them and essentially piggy-backing them until they made it over open water so the pilot and RIO could eject safely," Jennifer added.
"Let a sniper take a live round shot at him to prove that the guy had hit the mirror of the Humvee intentionally and not missed a shot at another officer," Bud contributed.
"Wandered out into the woods with a hitman who had been hired by a client to take him out to lure the guy out of hiding," Clay mentioned.
"And he gave me grief for skateboarding without wrist guards? Ugh, unfair." Mattie rolled her eyes.
"He became much more cautious after you came into his life. He wanted to make sure he was there for you," Jennifer told her. "He's very protective of you. You have no idea how much he knew about that guy you started seeing just after you moved in with me."
"What the – he promised he wouldn't to do a background check on Matt!"
"He didn't, technically. I did, at his request," Bud remarked.
Mattie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "He's always there for us. Now it's our turn to be here for him."
"We will be," Mac commented as she squeezed Mattie's hand.
"I think you should go in the next time he's allowed a visitor. It'll do him good to know you came," Mattie said as she locked eyes with Mac. "I know you being here will mean a lot to him."
"We'll see in two hours who goes in next." Mac tried to keep her voice even. The idea of going into Harm's room terrified her.
The paging system went off then and they all froze as they heard CODE BLUE ROOM 921, CODE BLUE ROOM 921 called from the speakers.
"No, no that can't be right." The color drained from Mattie's face. "That's Dad's room."