Maggie glanced at the clock as she raced to the front door. Five in the morning, the others in the house would start stirring around seven. That only gave them a few hours to asses any injuries Face had and to figure out how to explain them to everyone else without letting them in on what transpired tonight. Standing beside Hannibal, she could feel the nervousness in his body as the black car pulled up in front of the house.
Hannibal opened the passenger side door and stepped out of the way to let Maggie get the first look. "He's been in and out since I got him to the car," the Able said coming around from the drivers side.
"What happened?" Hannibal growled angrily. "You were supposed to watch his back!"
"I did, Colonel," Able six replied harshly. "After the General shot Trigorin, the whole damn house exploded! The only reason I'm even alive is because he pushed me out of the way and shielded me from the blast! I'm pretty sure that I owe him my life, sir!"
"John," Maggie said looking up from checking Face's vital signs. "We need to get him in the house. I can't tell how bad he's hurt so you've got to be careful."
Hannibal, along with Able six's help got Face safely into the house and brought him to the study where Maggie said to bring him. Placing him on the leather sofa, everyone moved back to give the Doctor room to work.
Hannibal pulled the Able aside as Maggie started her assessment of Face's condition. "Did anyone see you, Carl?"
"No one, Colonel," he replied grimly. "There were no survivors. Trigorin is dead!"
"Alright, you can go on out to the guard house and get some rest," Hannibal said with an appreciative nod. "I'll debrief you later after we know the General's okay."
"Yes, sir," the Able replied before leaving the room.
"How's he doing, Mo?" Hannibal asked as Maggie put away her blood pressure cuff and stethoscope.
"His vital signs are good," she said looking up from where she was sitting in a chair next to the sofa. "But, I'd feel better if he would come around."
"Concussion?"
"More than likely," Maggie said with a nod before getting to her feet to exam Face's head. "His pupils are the same size and contracted when I used a pin light on them so there's no damage that I can detect." Hannibal nodded as he watched Maggie use her fingers to gently probe Face's scalp. "Found it," she said parting the hair on the back of his head to reveal a small shallow cut that by the looks of it, had bleed profusely. "Carla," Maggie said looking at the woman seated behind the desk. "Can I get a bowl of worm soapy water. I need to clean this up before I can tell if it'll need stitches or not."
Hannibal smiled slightly at the woman he loved. When someone needed her help, she instantly switched into full Doctor mode. The sudden change in her personality from an ordinary woman to medical professional was one of the things he found attractive about her.
"Can I help?" Hannibal asked when Maggie produced a pair of scissors and started to cut Face's shirt off.
"I need to check for internal injuries," she said meeting Hannibal's eyes. "And, I'm worried about his back. If he took the brunt of that blast, it could have aggravated the area where he had the spinal cord injury."
"I hadn't thought about that," Hannibal said helping her cut away the remainder of Face's clothes. Clad in only his boxers, Maggie covered him with a blanket when Carla returned with the water. Checking his reflexes, she looked up at Hannibal with a look on her face that indicated she wasn't happy with the results.
Returning to his head wound, she washed most of the blood away before determining the gash needed at least a few stitches. She figured it'd be best to do it now while he was still unconscious.
Hannibal sat by Face's side while she worked and waited to see if there was any response from the younger man. He wasn't disappointed. Face's return to consciousness was abrupt and violent. When he started swinging his arms around, Hannibal jumped to his feet and grabbed them all the while talking to Face and trying to reassure him that he was not only okay but safely at home.
"Hey, kid," Hannibal said soothingly. "It's okay, everything's fine. You're at home!"
"Home?" Face said slowly looking around.
Maggie finished stitching up the head wound before shooing Hannibal away and retaking the seat by Face's side. "I thought, I told you to be careful," she said with a grin.
"Sorry," Face replied tiredly closing his eyes.
"Hey," Maggie said tapping his cheek. "You just woke up, you can't go back to sleep until I've had a chance to check you over, okay?"
"Sure, Doc," Face said sounding more like himself and aware of what was going on.
"I want to take a look at your back," she said meeting his eyes. "Are you in any pain?"
Face snorted. "Oh yeah! You name it, it hurts!"
"I'll see what I can do about that in a minute," Maggie said with a smirk. "Let's have a look at your back first." When Face made a move to sit up, Maggie stopped him with a firm hand on his bare chest. "I want you to relax and let me do the moving, okay?"
"Should I be worried?" Face asked as Maggie shook her head no.
"Not yet anyway," she said gently pulling his shoulders toward her. "Any pain?"
"A little," Face replied with a nod.
"That's good," Maggie said reassuringly. "What about numbness or tingling?"
"Is that bad?" Face asked as Maggie's expression became serious once again.
"I don't want you telling what you think I want to hear, got it," she said sternly. "I want the truth!"
"Yes," Face said nodding. "A little tingling, like it's trying to go numb."
"Okay," Maggie said looking over at Hannibal. "I need you to hold his shoulders like I'm doing while I try to find the trouble spots."
"Got it," Hannibal said taking Maggie's seat when she stood up.
With just her hands, Maggie gently probed Face's back. Only stopping when she hit a particularly sore spot that made the younger man suck in a breath and curse. "Possible broken rib," she said before continuing her exploration. "Multiple bruises around the lower back." Running her hand over the lumbar region which had been the site of Face's spinal cord injury, she stopped when she noticed him suddenly stiffen up. "If this gets to be to much for you, I need to know!"
"Just sore, Doc," Face said breaking out into a sweat.
"Uh huh," Maggie said shooting a glance at Hannibal's that said, she knew better. "Okay, I'm going to stop now. You can relax."
Face sighed when Hannibal helped him lay back against the soft cushions of the couch. "What's the prognosis, Doc?"
Maggie clicked her tongue before running a hand across her forehead. "I'm pretty sure you aggravated that old injury," she said quietly. "And, I think you could use some time in the back brace to allow it to heal properly."
"No," Face said petulantly. "Not the back brace! I hate that thing!"
"Would you rather take a trip to the hospital?"
"Given the choice," Face said smirking. "I'll take the brace."
"I figured you would," Maggie replied with a frustrated sigh. "The rest of the house will be up soon and if you don't want everyone to know what happened tonight, we've got to come up with a believable story."
"Tell em, I fell off a chair trying to get something out of the closet," Face replied wearily.
"That might work," Carla said with a shrug as Face looked up at Maggie.
"I'm going to need to make some sort of appearance at breakfast, Doc. Can I get up and take a shower?"
"Are you feeling up to it!" Maggie asked as Face looked apprehensive.
"Not really, but my laying here's going to make Gloria and Ellen panic!"
"He's right, Mo," Hannibal said with a grin. "The less they know, the better."
"Alright," Maggie said evenly. "As long as you let John help you. The last thing I need is you falling in the shower. After your done, I'll wrap your ribs and get you into some pajamas and the back brace. They'll still ask questions but the less they see of the injuries the better."