"Pins and needles"by Roo
Part 1
Captain Banks' car screeched to a halt in the back of the alley behind the Olympia building. Other patrol cars blocked in the fleeing would be assassins. Blair scrambled out as soon as he could. For a split second Blair's heart lurched, as he spotted a body sprawled on the ground near a van that had crashed into a dumpster. What if it was Jim?
Banks shot out of his car and pulled the female driver out of the van, but the other occupant had been knocked out in the crash.
"Get out of the car! Where is he? You have three seconds to tell me where Jim Ellison is!" he shouted.
"Simon," said Blair softly, and Simon looked over then followed his gaze upward.
And as they both looked up, they saw Jim standing on the rooftop above. He seemed ok.
As soon as everyone was secure, Blair and Simon went with a uniformed officer to the top floor; both slightly worried that Jim had not made his way down to them already.
When they got there, Jim was still standing in roughly the same place as they had last seen him. He was watching the proceedings below.
"Jim, are you alright?" Blair asked noticing the marks on his coat and the discarded sniper's rifle by the parapet.
"Uh huh," came the slow reply, reassuring neither Blair nor Simon.
"Come on, Jim, it's all over now," said Banks authoritatively.
At this, Jim turned round at last to face them. He was dishevelled, unshaven, and bruised about the face and neck.
Concerned, Blair stepped closer, "What's going on, Jim?"
"I'm fine," replied Jim distantly, not moving.
"What did he do to you?" barked Simon.
"Mind games," said Jim, finally moving towards them and the open roof door, but staggering, even bumping into Blair slightly.
As Blair grabbed his arm, Jim turned to him and asked dully "Is it ever really over?" before suddenly dropping to his knees, Blair going with him and supporting him on the way down. Simon hurried over and propped him up on the other side.
"Jim, are you hurt anywhere?" Simon asked looking for a wound.
Blair reached out and grabbed Jim's face so he could look closely at him. Blair immediately noticed that Jim's eyes were unfocused.
"Drugged me," said Jim before Blair could speak.
"Jeez," exclaimed Simon.
"What with? Do you know?" asked Blair worriedly.
Jim shook his head. "Nail. Helped focus and fight it off some," Jim explained quietly.
Blair and Simon looked at each other before looking for damage. Sure enough one clenched hand bore a ragged wound across the thumb, which still oozed blood through Jim's fingers.
"Oh man, come on, Jim. Stay with us just a little longer, please," entreated Blair.
"'m tryin'" said Jim tiredly. "Lemme up," he ordered finally. He took a deep breath and the other two helped him up. Simon and Blair could feel the faint tremors running through Jim's body as he fought to stay upright and conscious. Slowly they made their way to the elevator and went down, willing it to go faster.
In the silence, Blair noticed a nail on the floor of the elevator. "Is that…?" he asked Jim, seeing him stare at it as well.
Jim nodded and unconsciously clenching his fist again, blood dripped to the floor.
"Don't!" said Blair.
"Had to," murmured Jim. They both remembered their early morning conversation concerning anaesthetics and pain relief, and wondered what was going to happen next.
At last they reached the ground floor, but when Simon and Blair tried to steer Jim to the waiting ambulance, he insisted on looking at the body lying in the alleyway first. In Jim's minds eye he could see his bullet hit Colonel Oliver high in the shoulder toppling him off the rooftop, his body bouncing off his accomplices' car below. He stared at it hard for a minute, cataloguing everything before moving away.
Blair darted off suddenly while he was doing this, and returned as Jim turned around. "Simon!" he called, gesturing as he saw Jim lurch and falter.
Simon's long legged stride made it to Jim before Blair could. "Hey, Jim. Hang on, I've got you," he soothed as he guided his detective to the ambulance at last. Simon knew the Feds would want to talk to Jim, but they would just have to wait until he was fit to do so.
Simon hovered outside the ambulance as the uniforms reported to him. Eventually he cleared the scenes for Forensics. "I'll catch up with you guys later," Simon said as the doors closed.
As the ambulance drove to the hospital the paramedics checked Jim out. Blair warned them that Jim had been drugged, while sitting as close as he could to keep one hand on Jim's arm to keep him focused for as long as possible.
"What's this, sir?" asked on of the paramedics, pointing to a red point on Jim's neck.
"Dart, knocked me out at the garage," explained Jim, wondering for a second what day it now was.
"You mean you've been drugged twice recently?" replied Blair horrified.
Jim nodded.
The paramedics noted this down. "How about this bruising on the other side of your neck, sir?"
"Karate chop to the neck. Stopped me for a bit," said Jim his eyes closing and drifting off, not wanting to remember how Tanya had surprised him.
"Were you unconscious at all?"
"Not long."
"Okay."
"Could you let us examine this wound on your hand sir?"
"No! I'm okay," said Jim rallying slightly, but still clenching his fist, still tense.
"Jim, let go, man. They're only trying to help you," urged Blair.
But Jim was now lost in remembrance of the underground bunker and fighting off Oliver's goons. Blair put his hand back on Jim's arm to try and get him to wake up a bit more. Jim reacted instinctively, pinning his hand over Blair's and aiming his other hand for his throat.
"Jim, don't!" cried Blair.
"Hey, let go!" the paramedics shouted, wrestling with him to free Blair.
Blair grabbed Jim's wounded hand and squeezed hard, hoping the pain would get through to Jim, whilst frantically saying, "It's me, Jim! Blair. Just come back." It worked. Jim let go with a gasp, as he opened his eyes and found himself looking at a startled, concerned Guide.
"It's okay, Oliver's dead. We've got everybody. You can relax; you're safe now," continued Blair desperately trying to reassure and calm his Sentinel.
"Sure?" asked Jim tiredly, his eyed fluttering shut once more.
"Sure, I'm sure," confirmed Blair as the medics swiftly hooked Jim to an IV, and monitors.
"Do you know what caused this wound, sir?"
"This," said Blair holding up the rusty, sharp nail in a tissue. "Is he going to be okay?"
"En route to the hospital we'll monitor him for a possible concussion and any potential reaction to the drugs he's been given, like heart arrhythmia. Once there, I expect they'll do blood tests to identify the substances and take it from there. Plus making sure he doesn't have any infection from the rusty nail. He'll need a tetanus booster too. Other than that he's got some bruising and a mild concussion."
Digesting this gave Blair something to think about as the ambulance wove its way through the traffic. He sat next to Jim's gurney, his hand placed on the nearest forearm ready to respond the moment Jim woke up. It was a comforting link between them that often kept Jim calm and grounded in times of stress or injury. At this moment, Blair just wanted to hang on to something real.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Later in the hospital, after Jim had been taken for tests and scans, Blair sat and waited. There was nothing else he could do. Wait for the results. Wait for Jim to wake up again and tell them more. Wait for Simon to come by; they were questioning the accomplices in case one of them knew what Oliver had given Jim. Wait for the Feds to turn up and talk to Jim.
Blair was trying to keep calm, but he had been on a rollercoaster ride for the last day or so. He had been worried when Jim hadn't returned from meeting his Army friend. Then he'd almost been killed in the apartment and evaded the hit men using all his wits even though it meant spending the night in the jail with interesting company. All the time, he worried where Jim was and what was going on. Then things got worse when Blair and Jack Kelso had found an encrypted file and Jack had been shot. Blair worked himself into a frazzle wondering if Jim would still be alive.
Simon arrived at the hospital, tired but anxious to hear about Jim.
"How's it going kid? How's Jim doing?"
"Okay, sleeping off the drugs. They weren't intending to kill him just delay things a bit. Jim doesn't seem to have reacted badly to them, but the doc said they might give him some bad dreams. He already had a minor flashback in the ambulance."
"That doesn't sound too good, Sandburg."
"We all got a bit of a surprise. He's calmed down some now, but while they were doing the tests and stuff he kept trying to pull the bandages and IV off, so they've had to put light restraints on. I don't like it, but he needs to rest and heal." Blair sighed.
Before Simon could think about his best detective being 'lightly' restrained, a nurse appeared. "Mr Sandburg? Mr Ellison is ready in room 305, if you'd like to go on in. Just don't worry too much about the IV and the monitors. They're just a precaution."
Blair and Simon made their way to room 305. Jim lay on the bed; light bandages covered his wrists where Oliver's men had handcuffed him. The bruising on his neck and scrapes on his hands and arms were showing up more as time passed. Further up his arms were more light bandages but these were attached to the metal side frames of the bed.
The doctor said the drugs would wear off soon, but they seemed to be taking their time to do so. Blair was stuck waiting again. At least Jim didn't have a serious head injury, although they were keeping an eye on it. Usually concussions didn't go well with knockout drugs.
Simon sat by the bed. He'd managed to convince Blair to get some food and take a break and Joel had gone with him for company.
Jim still lay asleep quiet and still. Simon found it very unnerving as he was used to Jim's powerful presence both in the bullpen and off duty.
As Simon stared into space, he thought he heard a noise, and looked over at Jim. Had he moved?
Jim was beginning to move restlessly, gently tugging at the restraints. Simon leaned forward and pushed the call button to alert the medical staff.
Suddenly Jim jerked upright, clenching his fists, shouting, "Noo! Holland!"
Simon nearly fell off his chair in surprise. "Jim?" he asked carefully.
Jim lay back on the pillows, a light sheen of sweat on his brow.
"Untie me, dammit," he said, pulling at the restraints.
"It's okay, you're in the hospital. I'll get Sandburg," said Simon.
"Untie me! Now!" Jim shouted.
"What's all this fuss?" asked the doctor appearing in the room.
"Why am I tied up like this?" asked Jim angrily.
"You kept pulling at the IV and bandages when you were brought in several hours ago. It was just a precaution. You needed the fluids since you were dehydrated and had a slight infection when you were admitted."
"I'm fine now. Just let me go," said Jim stubbornly.
Interesting choice of words, thought Simon, watching the byplay, as a nurse checked the chart and passed it to the doctor.
"Right, you're almost done with the IV, another hour or two should do it. Try and get a bit more rest Mr Ellison, it's late."
"What time is it, Simon?"
"It's ah, 11.30 pm."
"Where's Blair? He's okay, isn't he? You were all on the rooftop weren't you?" asked Jim beginning to be worried at the absence of his friend.
"He's fine, he's with Joel in the canteen, getting some food," reassured Simon.
"We did get everybody, didn't we? Oliver's dead, and I left a guy in the lift."
"Colonel Oliver is very dead, and, yes, we found your guy in the lift and the two in the van."
"Huh, 'Tanya' tried to trick me by pretending she was hostage too," said Jim annoyed with himself.
"Really? That's different," said Simon.
"Colonel Oliver's type of mind games. I should have realised!"
"Jim, you did the best you could. Oh, Jim, I have to tell you…"
"About Sam Holland? Guess he's dead, isn't he?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, Jim. I know he was a friend."
"Yeah, well. People die. At least I got Oliver, which makes it even. I think I am tired after all," said Jim shortly and, closing his eyes, turned his face away from Simon.
Simon left Jim to his thoughts, and met Blair and Joel in the corridor on their way back to the room.
"Simon, is everything okay? Feel like I've been away too long," explained Blair.
"Jim's awake."
"Great, is he okay? I should have some back sooner. I should have been here; I shouldn't have left him…"
"Blair, slow down. You needed a break. I was here."
"Oh, sorry, Simon, it's just…"
"I understand, but I need to tell you some things before you go in and see him."
"What? You're scaring me here, Simon!"
Simon recounted Jim's abrupt waking, reaction to the restraints, and his dismissal of Sam Holland's death.
"Thanks for filling me in so I can get a handle on how to approach him. It's no surprise he's in a bad mood," said Blair, before going up the corridor to Jim's room.
When Blair went in Jim looked to be asleep again.
"I'm not in a bad mood!" came a quiet voice from the bed.
"Hey, you're supposed to be resting. Anyway it was a private conversation."
"About me!"
"Only in your best interests Jim! We're trying to help. Just relax, take a deep breath…"
"Sandburg!" growled Jim, and opened his eyes to glare balefully at Blair.
Blair came closer to really look at Jim again now he was awake. He looked feverish and in pain. Concerned, Blair laid one hand on Jim's forehead and the other lightly on one forearm.
"What?" asked Jim with a yawn.
"Nothing, just checking. That's why the IV's are still going. Just a bit longer, big guy." said Blair removing his hand from Jim's forehead.
"Okay," replied Jim feeling much calmer now Blair was here.
"How are the dials? Any trouble?" asked Blair.
"Not bad, a few small spikes…"
"Take a few deep breaths, and picture the dials. Move them to their normal positions and you should feel better," instructed Blair. Blair waited while Jim relaxed and reorganised his dials in the quiet stillness of the room.
"That's it, just relax," soothed Blair.
"Can hear you breathin'," mumbled Jim.
"I'm supposed to be breathing! Now rest. And, Jim, I am sorry about your friend. We can talk about it later."
Jim gave a small grunt in reply, moments later he was fast asleep again, on the road to recovery.
Blair stayed in the room. An hour or so later the nurses removed the IV's and restraints, but Jim slept through it, much to Blair's surprise and concern. When he questioned the doctor, Blair was reassured that Jim was just catching up on lost sleep, and his body needed time to repair itself from the traumas of the past 24 hours.
Blair spent the night on a cot bed in Jim's room, just in case he was needed. They both slept through the rest of the night.
The following morning, the other federal agencies took turns getting Jim's statements, having waited impatiently under medical advice since the previous day. Simon and Blair had already given their side of the story repeatedly.
When Jim was discharged at lunchtime, he insisted on going to see Jack Kelso before going home, since he was in the same hospital. He was concerned that Kelso and Blair had been shot at and in such danger because of him. It looked like Kelso would make a good recovery considering his disability.
"Come on, Jim, let's go home now. You've checked and your tribe is okay for now. But I could really do with some lunch, and I guess you could too after all that talking this morning." prodded Blair as Jim paused outside Kelso's room.
"You win, Darwin." Jim said with a tight smile.