Chapter 4
"Jack?... Jack?" The next thing Jack became aware of was somebody calling his name. "Oh my God! What happened to him?" Gwen asked, as she noticed the pool of blood – stooping down beside him. As she reached over to undo the top button of his shirt Jack reached over, grasping her wrist weakly with one clammy hand in the way he often did when reviving from death…
Only he'd clearly been alive when they'd arrived, groaning and writhing on the ground in pain.
"Gwen?" He moaned, his eyes searching as he opened them, and locking onto her. Her eyes, he noticed, were wide with shock – like an animal caught in headlights.
"I need to get some fluids into him!" Owen exclaimed. "And we need to get this coat off so that I can get a better look at his injuries! He's probably sustained some significant internal trauma!"
"Jack?" Ianto asked, approaching him cautiously and stooping down beside him. He didn't seem to care about the fact that he was getting the soles of his shoes soaked in Jack's blood.
"Oh Jack…" He sighed, immediately taking over from Gwen as he scooped his lover gently up in his arms. Jack was still writhing and shivering, despite Ianto's embrace and attempts to reassure him.
"Ianto…" Jack groaned weakly.
"It's alright I'm here." The young man whispered, and this seemed to sooth Jack somewhat as he stopped writhing in his arms. Ianto turned to Owen, who had already started working on Jack. He had the medical kit laid out before him on a sheet of sterilised tarp – a little more sophisticated than the average first aid box, the Torchwood medical kit came complete with anti-toxin kit, bags of saline and blood with the relevant name tags attached, as well as various other drugs including painkillers such as morphine, anaesthetics, hypodermics, sterilised syringes and even a small canister of oxygen.
Owen had theorised that it would be quicker and safer for them all, and would raise less questions this way – especially with regards to Jack.
"What's happened to him?" Toshiko asked him, her fear clearly written all over her face. "Can't you do something for him?"
"Jack I need you to keep still while I examine you!" Owen insisted. He hooked the small oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, but Jack, in his agitation, quickly ripped it away and, not wanting to distress him further, Owen handed it to Gwen to hold a few centimetres away from his face.
"Can you tell me exactly what happened?" He asked him. "This is probably going to hurt, but just keep talking to me OK Jack? It'll help keep your mind off the pain!"
"FUCK!" Jack screamed as he felt himself being lifted by strong arms from behind. His team's actions were gentle, but still caused his pain to shoot up a level – it was now off the sale. He felt his shoulders being forced back, as his heavy greatcoat was peeled away from his aching body. He felt every inch of its journey as it was lifted from his back, before his arms, elbows and finally his wrists where gently worked out of the sleeves. The cold evening air struck like a blade to the exposed flesh-wounds – the numerable weeping grazes, seeping gashes and welts oozing blood, and the bruising generated by the inevitable broken bones he'd also sustained.
It occurred to him, in a moment of panic, that he was going to pass out – or, he thought, perhaps this was death coming to claim him all over again. But then, as his head finally began to clear and his panic subsided somewhat, he heard a tearing sound, and somebody started rubbing the back of his hand with something cold and wet. It made him shiver as he felt the sting of a needle penetrating his flesh and puncturing through a vein. His whole hand and wrist ached badly – but the unpleasant sensation had already began to fade by the time Owen got around to taping the line in place.
"Jack," He explained, "I've just got an IV going so that we can get some blood and fluids into you. Don't pull it out!"
"It's alright sweetheart…" Gwen soothed him, as he felt Ianto's gentle fingers awkwardly brush a single stray strand of hair away from his face. He felt the man's soft lips against his forehead – his warm breath caressing his cold skin. Jack's eyes were closed, but he could imagine Ianto glancing around uncertainly at the rest of the team before planting the kiss quickly… and the thought of this would have, under normal circumstances, made Jack smile… if he could have done… if he hadn't been in so much pain.
"Just keep talking Jack… tell me…" Owen insisted. "I need to know what happened!"
"It was John!" Jack explained, through gritted teeth. "The bastard pushed me off the roof! He tried to kill me!"
"What, right from the top?" Gwen gasped, looking up and counting all nine stories of the high rise building.
Jack nodded, as best he could. The pain in his neck generated from this gesture was instantly excruciating. "I landed with my back on the fucking bench!" He cried.
"Dear God!" Gwen exclaimed under her breath, as she observed for the first time that the bench beside them was also dripping with Jack's blood.
Ianto handed Jack's greatcoat to Tosh – damp and saturated with his blood – before assisting Owen in helping him off with his blood soaked shirt and braces. Both men recoiled as they caught their first glimpse of his injuries. Jack's back was severely bruised, there was a deep gash and some significant grazing down the full length of his spine.
As Owen gently palpated the area around the swollen ribs he felt the bone beneath his fingers shift and crunch, and Jack flinched involuntarily away from him, crying out in pain – a heart wrenching, primeval scream of deep distress. He held on tightly to Ianto – who buried his head into Jack's shoulder and continued to whisper words of comfort and reassurance in his ear.
"Sorry." Owen sighed, withdrawing his hand. "Jack, the good news is that your spine has actually healed quite nicely, but I'm quite concerned about the amount of soft tissue damage you've sustained, and your ribs are still broken." He explained. "We really need to get you somewhere quiet where you can rest, and where I can treat you without the risk of being seen. I need to strap those ribs up, and it's really important that you don't move around too much, if you want to avoid a punctured lung. I don't know why you're not healing at your usual rate, but I'm seriously worried about the risk of internal injury, and you may still be bleeding internally."
Jack groaned. "Just… just… give me something… for the pain… Owen." He panted – evidently still having some difficulty breathing despite the small amount of oxygen he'd received. "I can deal…with the rest. We need to get back to the Hub… John."
"It's alright Jack…" Ianto soothed him, and held his lover closer as Owen started to get to work with cleaning what he could of the deep wounds. "I've got you… everything's going to be alright… John… that bastard can wait… "
All four of the Torchwood team were surprised by Ianto's language – and even Owen momentarily stopped what he was doing to look up at him. Ianto meanwhile didn't appear to notice – and if he did he didn't say anything. Jack was his world at that moment – blinkering him to everyone else.
"Jack you've lost a lot of blood…" Owen told him, "and I won't lie to you, I know you said that you can't die, but I'm still seriously worried so this is what we're going to do, I'm going to give you something for the pain, and give the fluids time to treat the shock. Then, and only then will I consider letting you go after John, when I'm convinced that you're strong enough… John Hart can wait! I'll check you out for any series internal injuries later, after all of this is over!"
"But…" Jack began, before Gwen stopped him gently, with a finger to his pale lips.
"Shhhh." She hissed. "Best just to let Owen take charge for now hey sweetheart?" She asked, and Jack slumped back against Ianto, exhausted.
Owen injected several ccs of morphine into his IV line, before dosing himself up with painkillers. It had by now been several hours since his last dose, and he was beginning to feel the pain of his own gunshot wound. Once Ianto and Gwen had helped Jack into the back of the SUV he then began the process of dressing his wounds.
When he was finished Owen then gave him another injection into his IV port - this time a sedative - and took up position in the driver's seat, breathing a sigh of relief as he sunk back into the soft upholstery. It didn't much matter that he was under the influence of the morphine – they wouldn't be going anywhere for a while yet anyway.
He watched as Ianto clambered into the back seat beside Jack – who, already in a deep, morphine induced haze, found himself powerless against the effects of the sedative Owen had given him. Gwen took the other – sandwiching Jack between herself and Ianto – and Toshiko slipped into the front beside him.