OK, so now they are at the beach house; let's see what happens with our boys
Thanks again for all the kind reviews and encouragement to continue.
Jack looked at his very quiet partner as he finally pulled into the driveway of the beach house he had rented for the week. Mac had slept about 4 hours at the clinic, which was doing nothing to abate Jack's concern for the boy, Jack had then promptly gathered Mac's discharge instructions and scripts, commandeered a wheelchair on which Mac sat without complaint, again making Jack's skip a few beats from the mounting anxiety, and gotten the kid situated on the passenger seat of the SUV for their short drive to the beach house.
Jack had made a quick stop on the way to pick up the kid's medications along with some light groceries. Mac waited in the car, quietly looking out the window, unmoving. He tried to engage his partner in conversation, but all he received in return was a few "Hums" and "Uh Hus" so he quickly gave up, turned on the radio to some Country Music and drove quietly the rest of the way.
When Mac did not seem to be moving to exit the vehicle and go inside the house, Jack put a hand on the kid's shoulder and lightly shook him; "Mac, kiddo, you are getting out or what?"
Mac blinked at him, a bit startled, almost as if he had forgotten Jack was with him; he then nodded, undid his seat belt and exited the car stiffly. Jack shook his head and walked around to the back of the car in order to retrieve their go-bags and the groceries; Mac came around and started to take his go-bag from Jack who swatted the kid's hand away, giving him the key code to the house's front door instead and asking him to go inside, turn on some lights and find a couch or something comfortable to sit on or better yet, lie down.
Once Jack had gotten all the bags inside the house and locked up the car he went in search of his partner. Mac had indeed found a place to sit, out on the house's back deck, facing the ocean, the kid was seated on a rocking chair. He was looking out in the direction of the water, at darkness basically since there was not enough light for anything to be seen.
"There you are son" Jack said walking to stand beside the boy, placing his hand on the kid's shoulder. "Don't you just love the smell of the ocean at night?" Jack asked rhetorically. "I used to love coming to the beach as a kid with my mother; she was always enamored with the ocean, she used to say it was so peaceful and yet so powerful, it was a contradiction that Nature likes to flaunt to us humans to remind us that nothing is necessarily quiet as it seems"
"Yes, it's nice" was all that Mac said quietly; he then shook himself as if waking himself from a bad dream before asking Jack if he needed help with anything?
"Nah, I'm good brother, you relax" Jack told the boy who again nodded and went silent.
Jack sighed quietly as he walked back inside the house to finish putting things away, checking the rest of the house out, securing the doors and taking a long hot shower which, he used not only to work out the kinks from his very long, weird day, but also to think about what could possibly be going on with his partner? Jack knew Mac had "manipulated him" on the plane to have him handle Matty and get them taken off the mission, just because Jack had allowed it, doesn't mean he was not aware it was happening. What worried Jack is that it is not like the kid to let others speak for him, on the contrary, Mac has always been assertive and responsible, he was not like other kids his age who often expected others to handle things for them so that they could take the easy way out.
Jack stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, wiping it clear with his hand, he looked tired he knew, Mac was going to almost certainly give him more grey hairs this week, of that he was sure. He finished getting dressed for bed and then padded out to the back deck where he had left Mac; of course, the kid was not there, Jack could not help but smile, see kiddo, he thought, grey hairs indeed…
"Mac, kiddo! Where are you?" he yelled for the blonde. He heard a soft spoken "here" so he walked back inside locking the sliding door behind him. Jack found Mac in one of the rooms, lying on the bed, fully clothed, one arm over his eyes, the other wrapped around his midsection protectively, he looked pale and winded.
Jack walked over to the kid and sat on the bed, he carefully grabbed the kid's arm that was covering his eyes, so he could get a good look at the boy, "are you hurting kid?" Jack asked as he took in Mac's pale demeanor.
"No, I'm OK, I'm just tired Jack" Mac answered his pseudo father. He knew Jack was really worried about him, after all Mac was not behaving like himself, he was being quiet, docile, compliant. He felt bad for putting his friend through this, this… whatever this was, Mac was still trying to figure that part out, but he needed to, there was a part of him that needed to not be OK and that needed his "father" to be there for him.
Mac's head was pounding again, and his shoulder was throbbing. "Um Jack" he said looking up at his friend.
"Yeah?" Jack asked with concern. He was filling a cup with water, he stopped and looked at Mac.
"Is one of those pills in that bag of tricks good for a headache? Mac asked wistfully.
Jack raised an eyebrow at the kid, surprised he was admitting to pain, and asking for meds, again… "Sure kid, I'm sure we can find something that will help with that and maybe help you get some shut eye"
Jack rummaged through the meds, found one that should handle both the pain and put the kid out for a while, at least according the label.
"You should eat something with these bud" Jack said as he handed two pills to the boy as well as the now full glass of water.
Mac shook his head, "I'm not sure it will stay down Jack" Mac's stomach was doing flips at the mere mention of food, Mac was not sure it would be able to stay put if actual food was introduced.
Jack nodded, "I get it kid, but at least try a bite of a cracker, if you have those on an empty stomach it is liable to not end well" Jack unwrapped a packet of crackers and handed one to the boy.
Mac took the offered cracker from Jack only because he knew Jack was right, taking strong meds on an empty stomach was not usually a good idea; he took a tentative bite, then another, giving his body a minute to adjust to the idea of food.
"OK kid", Jack said, "are you feeling up to a shower, maybe a change of clothes?" Those pills won't kick in for 15 to 30 minutes so now would be a good time he figured, to get the kid cleaned up.
Mac thought about it for a second, he really could use a hot shower, maybe it will help him clear his head and some of the aches and pains of the last 36 hours; he nodded and began to sit up, accepting Jack's hand when it was offered, allowing the older man to basically lift him to a sitting position while he held an arm around his ribs protectively.
"Thanks" He huffed. Jack nodded.
"Go take a shower then kid, I will bring your bag in here" Jack said as he started heading out to retrieve the kid's go-bag; "don't lock the door" He added as an afterthought.
The last thing Jack needed was having to kick in the door to the kid's bathroom if something happened. The way the kid was acting, and this day had gone, Jack would not be surprised if it ended on a low note.
Mac went to the bathroom, slowly removing his clothes, hissing with pain a few times; once he was in the shower and the hot droplets were hitting his body, he leaned his head on the tiles, closed his eyes and tried to let the water relax him, maybe wash some of the tension he was feeling in every fiber of his body away. The pain pills Jack gave him were starting to slowly encroach on his level of consciousness he realized when he opened his eyes and found himself shivering because the water was starting to run cold. He heard Jack's voice through the door.
"Mac, kid, you fall in?" Jack yelled from the other side of the closed bathroom door.
Jack had given the kid some space and some privacy, but once 20 minutes had passed and he could still hear the shower going he got worried and went to the bathroom's door to check on his friend.
"Sorry Jack" Mac said, "I'm OK, I will be out in a minute" He turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around himself and stepped out a bit unsteadily, a light Opioid-induced fog starting to develop in his brain.
Jack saw the kid sway as he exited the bathroom, so he grabbed the kid's arm to steady him. "Wow kid! those meds kicking in?"
Mac only nodded as he headed towards the bed, not resisting Jack's support.
"Here" Jack said handing the kid some shorts and a t-shirt, "can you get these on before you pass out, or do you need help son?"
Mac took the clothes; "I can manage, thanks"
Once Mac was dressed Jack helped him lie back down on the bed, Mac was basically already asleep before his head hit the pillows, so Jack took some liberties, basically tucking the kid in and then brushing some hair off the boy's forehead tenderly.
"Tomorrow you and I are going to talk kid" Jack told his sleeping partner. Jack got up, turned off the light and left the bedroom door ajar in case his boy needed something later, Jack wanted to make sure he would be able to hear him; maybe I need to start carrying a baby monitor in my go-bag he thought with amusement as he walked around the house one last time to make sure all was secure before turning in for the night as well.