I needed to get this down on paper. This is a little different than I had originally planned and that has to do with "Screwdriver" No spoilers in this chapter, but some may be coming. What we learned from this chapter gave me some different ideas on where to take this story. I do hope you enjoy.

Once the emergency helicopter had lifted off, Jack and Riley headed to the car. Jack saw something out of the corner of his eye and realized it was Mac's leather jacket. He knelt in to pick it up trying not to look too carefully at the ground around it...trying not to picture the young woman who had been lying there.

"Do you think Mac will really want that back," Riley asked, her face dubious. "After...," she stumbled for words, "...after what happened."

Jack looked at the jacket and saw the myriad of darkening stains. The jacket had a history and meant a lot to Mac, but no, he was not at all sure that Mac would ever even want to see it again. He tossed it in the back of the car as he got in and gunned the engine.

As the crow flies, it was only about fifteen or twenty minutes to get to Cedar's Sinai. For Mac, watching the paramedics fight to stabilize Cory, the time was interminable. He could hear the paramedics talking among themselves through his headset, but his focus was on Cory. He did not need to hear the conversation to know that things were bad; they were not able to slow down the blood loss and Mac understood enough about the monitoring equipment they were using to see that Cory's vital signs were fading fast.

He wanted to be with her and to hold her hand. Especially when he saw her body convulse with her ongoing struggle to breathe. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity and it tool Mac a minute to register what was happening. The senior paramedic had reached for the defibrillator and was applying the paddles to Cory's chest. Mac watched in horror as Cory's body convulsed with the electric shock being applied in an effort to restart her heart. "Please," he whispered to nobody in particular.

"I am sorry," Mac heard the voice through his head set and almost involuntarily turned his head toward Thornton. He had thought her unconscious, but she was looking at him, her eyes unreadable. "None of this was supposed to happen." Mac had nothing to say and no energy to spare on a shouted conversation, so he nodded almost imperceptibly and turned away.

A triumphant call followed the third administration of the paddles. "We got her." There was not time to celebrate of even for Mac to get closer. They were quickly descending toward the roof of the hospital. Mac looked out and saw a team waiting for them. Cory was quickly loaded on to another gurney and the trauma team set off at a run to get her to the OR. Mac ran with them not willing to let his sister out of his sight even for a moment.

His progress was stopped by the OR doors. He was ready to barrel through them and to follow his sister, but a nurse came out and gently, but firmly held Mac back explaining the doctors needed to do their work with no distractions. Mac wanted to argue, but the still-remaining rational part of this brain knew that the nurse was right. "We have the best doctors," the nurse said kindly, "they will do everything that they can."

"Everything that they can,"...that phrase continued to echo in Mac's mind as he stood in the hallway in front of the OR. People looked at him and moved on. Eventually, it occurred to him to wonder why everybody was staring at him. He looked down his shirt and at his hands and bile rose to his throat. Everything was covered in blood...her blood. Mac was not squeamish...he'd been in the army and saw had gotten used to seeing bloody and injured people. Hell, now that he worked with Jack, so injuries were a fairly common occurrence. But this was different. This was his sister.

Mac balled his hands into fists to hide the blood and to prevent them from shaking. Standing stock still, he took deep breaths trying to regain his composure; he was useless to Cory if he could not get it together. Mac rested his back against the wall which felt cool against his back and breathed; the noise of the hospital faded into an indistinct buzz.

That is how Riley and Jack found him.

Mac was so focused on breathing, staying upright and not visualizing Cory's bloody body behind his eyelids, that he did not notice the arrival of his friends until Jack put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mac?" The younger man's eyes opened as he jerked upright. Jack was about to ask if he was OK, but the look on his friends face indicated that this would be a very stupid question. Mac was definitely not OK. The man who was always analytical and logical was clearly struggling to keep his emotions in check; an understandable reaction for anyone, but made more difficult by Mac's usual tendency to internalize and compartmentalize – the problem was he was being swept away by an overwhelming tide of feelings that no amount of compartments could contain.

Jack noticed the momentary panic in his friend's eyes. "Hey," Jack said quietly. "Cory made it this far. They have the best doctors. If anybody can will pull her through, they can."

Mac chose not to comment on the fact that Jack just echoed what the nurse said and that he was having as much trouble believing Jack as he had the nurse...another look into his friend's eyes and Mac reconsidered. No - he actually believed Jack more; Mac clung to the hope that Jack had offered.

"MAC!" Bozer blew in. He immediately went to his best friend and the two briefly embraced. "I just heard, man," Bozer's voice was low. "Damn. I am so sorry. But she is getting the best care. She'll be OK." Mac just nodded. It did not occur to anybody at that time to wonder how Bozer managed to leave the Phoenix Foundation – the man could be very clever and persistent when he needed to be.

Mac, surrounded by his friends, sat down to wait as the minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness.

Four hours and an equal number of cups of coffee later, the doctor finally stepped out of the OR. The doctor immediately focused on Jack, since he was the largest presence in the room, but Mac stood up. "Doctor?" He said quietly.

"Are you Miss MacGyver's family?" When Mac nodded, the doctor went one. "I won't lie. It was tough. She lost a great deal of blood and her organs began to shut down. One bullet tore through her lung and the other one grazed her heart." He stopped as if needing to let this information sink in. "Its quite miraculous that she lived long enough to get to the OR." Jack watched his partner's face as different emotions from joy to fury to relief and then back again. "We have her intubated right now," the doctor continued, "to help her get enough oxygen while her lung tissue heals. We also have her heavily sedated. She will remain in the ICU for the next several days and we will reevaluate at that time."

"When will she wake up, Doc," Jack asked.

"We will start cutting back on the medication in about five days. She will slowly wake up over the next several days after that."

"And she'll be OK?," Mac managed to ask.

"We hope so." At the surprised look, the doctor explained. Miss MacGyver suffered a great deal of trauma and is in deep shock. The fact that she is young, strong, and otherwise healthy, is promising, but we cannot be certain what type of impact her injuries would have on her ability to recover until she, in fact, recovers." Mac nodded again, is mouth working silently as he coped with the information.

"Can I see her?"

The doctor smiled gently at the clearly distraught young man and nodded. "Yes for immediate family. A nurse will be here shortly and escort you."

"Thank you, doctor," Mac said.

About ten minutes later a nurse came in and took Mac to the ICU. Entering the room filled with hissing, buzzing, beeping equipment, Mac took a deep breath, He had a moment of irrational panic when he could not find Cory. Then he saw her amidst the wires and leads and surrounded by machines. "Cory," Mac breathed. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." He pulled up a chair and took the small, fragile seeming hand in his. He sat there, holding Cory's hand, lost in thought. The longer he thought, the more certain things became clear.

The rest of the team was outside waiting for Mac and in about an hour he came back. The change in him was palpable and Jack's heart skipped a beat. Mac's eyes were downcast and his mouth compressed into a line. His face was haggard and stark.

"Do you need anything, Buddy," Bozer asked with forced joviality, but Mac shook his head.

"No. Thanks. I'm good."

"OK, then," Jack said, also trying to elicit some type of reaction from his partner. "I'm assuming you're staying the night." Mac just nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow then. I'll come by with a change of clothes and we'll drive to Phoenix. You'll need to debrief with...," Jack never had the chance to finish his thought.

"No," Mac said.

"What do you mean no," Jack was genuinely confused.

Mac's voice was exhausted and emotionless. "I'm not going back to Phoenix. Not tomorrow. Not ever...," Another pause as Mac took a deep, shuddering breath, "I'm resigning."

Yet another cliffhanger. Sorry about that. I hope you like this. I tried to take some wonderful advice and go slower. I hope it worked and I hope that you like this chapter. Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you for taking the time to read and review.