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"How long has she been gone?" Mac asked.
"No more than five minutes." Hawkes told him. "She'll be fine, remember she's limping, it's hard to walk fast."
"Sorry, it's just I'm not happy with her wandering off into the dark on her own." Mac told him.
"I know but she wouldn't have wanted one of us to go with her." Hawkes told him.
"What if something has happened to her?" Mac asked getting more agitated. "I couldn't live with myself if it did." He told Hawkes trying to stand up but falling to the ground, wincing in pain. "Damn it!" He cursed looking at his shoulder; blood was now seeping through the bandage again.
"Let me have a look." Hawkes told him, trying to calm him down.
"Mac let Hawkes have a look, you won't be any use to Stella if you're unconscious." Lindsay told him while Hawkes wrapped another bandage around his shoulder.
"What's going on?" Stella asked, emerging from the trees.
"Stella are you ok?" Mac asked looking at the scratches on her face and hands.
"Yeah, just got into a bit of a fight with a thorn bush, what about you though? What happened?" She asked looking concerned.
"Nothing…" Mac started.
"He's bleeding again." Hawkes said interrupting Mac, still bandaging his shoulder. "He got worried and tried to go and look for you."
"Mac, I wasn't gone for long." Stella told him.
"I know but I didn't want anything to happen to you…" Mac mumbled.
"Are you ok, you look kind of pale." Lindsay interrupted Mac who now looked ill.
"Hmm…I'm good…" Mac told them unconvincingly.
"Damn, he's still bleeding." Hawkes told them, "we need to find a way out of here soon or else he's in serious danger." He told them gravely.
"How are we going to carry him?" Lindsay asked.
"Two of us should go and find a way out while the other stays and looks after Mac." Hawkes told them.
"You and Lindsay go, I'll stay with Mac." Stella told them firmly looking at Mac who was now shivering violently.
"Ok, me and Lindsay will try and find a way out." Hawkes told them taking off his jacket and placing it over Mac. "You need to keep pressure on the wound and keep him warm." He told Stella before heading into the trees followed by Lindsay.
---
"Here we are." Flack said as they pulled up next to the two CSI vehicles outside the woods.
"There's no sign of them." Danny said getting out of the car and checking over the vehicles. "They're locked, no sign of foul play." He said as search and rescue and patrol cars arrived. "Looks like they went into the woods."
"Maydon field is no more than a ten minute walk through the woods from here." Flack told the group turning on his torch. "So we have four CSIs somewhere in either the woods or the field. The last contact we had with them was over seven hours ago, it's dark and cold so I don't need to tell you of the danger that they could be in." Flack told them leading them into the woods.
---
"Mac, you need to keep your eyes open for me." Stella said pleading with him without much luck. Mac just couldn't keep his eyes open.
"Lindsay?"
Stella thought she could hear someone shouting.
"Mac?"
Was she imagining things?
"Hawkes?"
No, she definitely wasn't imagining things.
"Stella?"
"Danny, Flack?" She shouted into the darkness.
"Stella is that you?" She heard Flack's voice call back.
"Yeah, it's me!" She called back in relief.
"Is anyone with you?" Danny called; it sounded like they were getting nearer.
"Just Mac, he's been shot, he needs help!" She shouted back desperately. As she did Danny and Flack came running towards them followed by uniform and search and rescue.
"Where are Lindsay and Hawkes?" Danny asked.
"They went looking for a way out when Mac's condition got worse." She told them, watching as Mac was put on a stretcher. "We've got to find them, they were both hurt in an explosion."
"Don't worry we'll find them but you need to go with Mac and get yourself checked over. Flack said trying to stop Stella from following them.
"No I want to be here when you find them." Stella told him. She knew Mac was in good hands now.
"Ok, ok, you can come with us but if you need to stop, make sure you do." Flack told her handing her a torch and following Danny further into the trees.