Back inside the crumbling structure, a short wave radio crackled to life with orders for the bearer to respond. Still in a crouched position Tevez extricated the radio from inside his jacket and eventually responded to his superiors pleas.
"Six two eight responding, over," he replied calmly.
"Are you guys alright in there, over?" Chief Davis enquired.
"We're okay so far," Tevez replied. "The roof came down but we're located on the exit ramp between the second and third floor. We've got the injured agent and we're on our way down, over," he explained.
"Roger that. Get outta there now. Over and out," Davis ordered still sounding concerned.
Tevez got to his feet and was joined by the three others dusting themselves off. The dust was starting to clear and they could see result of the latest collapse. A massive slab of intact concrete had fallen and was leaning from the roof of the third floor crushing a number of vehicles parked on the third floor. The ground on the side of the structure close to the elevator had disintegrated, vanished. Danny looked over in disbelief, realising that they had been standing there only minutes earlier. It had been a close call. He, Martin and the two fire officers exchanged relieved glances before bending down and grasping hold of the stretcher handles once more. They hoisted the stretcher off the ground and slowly and deliberately descended the ramp. As they reached the second floor they could see the effect of the recent collapse. The entire area was coated in concrete dust. Car alarms still droned incessantly.
The four men trudged onwards. Danny and Martin glanced from time to time, checking on their injured boss, making sure he was still with them. Eventually they reached the ground floor and made their way out onto the street. Fire crew and paramedics rushed over to them and offered their assistance. A couple of them took over from Danny and Martin carrying the stretcher. They rushed Jack over to one of the waiting ambulances, placed him on a gurney and began to work on him. Martin and Danny followed loyally to the ambulance. Another paramedic insisted on checking on Danny. There was dried blood caked into his hair on the back of his head and a noticeable blood stain on the collar of his shirt. As Danny protested, Elena, Samantha and Vivienne came running onto the scene, escorted by Fire Chief Davis.
Elena threw her arms around Danny and they kissed passionately. Samantha rushed passed the pair and then stopped dead when she saw Jack lying on the gurney about to be lifted into the ambulance. The initial sight of him shocked her. She knew he had been hurt but had no idea how badly. The sight of the object protruding from his abdomen alarmed her immensely. She wasn't prepared for the amount of blood on his clothing. A medic covered him once more before lifting the gurney up into the back of the ambulance. She consciously tried to avert her gaze away from the horrendous injury and instead looked into Jacks face. He looked so deathly pale it frightened her. His chest barely rose as he inhaled. The paramedic was about to close the door of the ambulance when she finally spoke up.
"Can I ride with him?" she asked, her voice shaking noticeably.
"Sure, climb in, Miss," he replied.
Samantha climbed on board and sat where the other paramedic told her. He remained close to Jack monitoring his condition. She saw Martin and Vivienne watching them just before the doors of the ambulance slammed shut and the engine started. With siren sounding, they were quickly underway to the nearest Trauma Centre. Samantha took hold of Jack's uninjured right hand and held it tightly. She spoke to him. She wanted him to know that she was there.
"Jack," she said gently touching his cheek with her free hand. "You're going to be okay, Jack."
She caught the paramedic looking at her and feared that he knew something she didn't.
"He is going to be okay, isn't he?" she asked him, fretting. He looked uncomfortably at her.
"With this type of injury it's hard to tell. In all likelihood he's bleeding internally. I'm struggling to stabilise his B.P. Between that and the blood loss from the gunshot wound, the sooner we get to the E.R. the better," he explained honestly.
"Gunshot wound?" Sam exclaimed. She had no idea what had happened up there. She looked back at Jack and squeezed his hand even harder, willing him to fight. The ambulance hurtled onwards to the E.R. As the ambulance finally screeched to a halt, she was relieved. She allowed herself an ounce of hope as the ambulance doors burst open and a team of medical personnel surrounded the gurney. Sam followed the crowd as it hurried into the E.R. and onwards to a Trauma Room. Sam slipped into the Trauma Room unnoticed and watched as the nurses and doctors began their battle to save their patient.
Jack was quickly intubated and attached to a cardiac monitor while a nurse cut his clothing from his broken body. Sam stared in disbelief at the metal protruding from Jacks abdomen and the myriad of bruising all over his chest. Thankfully the nurse covered him with a sheet which broke her trance. A team of doctors surrounded him discussing his treatment. One concentrated on his abdominal injury. Sam watched as another released the air from the splint on his left leg and examined the damage. The more she saw of his injuries the worse she felt. She covered her mouth with her hand and felt herself getting weak. She decided it was best not to be in the Trauma Room any more and quickly escaped to the waiting area outside. She found a seat and gulped the air to quell her growing nausea. She couldn't believe this was happening. She had never seen Jack so severely injured in her life. It scared her. She soon realised that she couldn't bear the thoughts of losing him. She had resigned herself to the fact that their relationship had fizzled out and that it would be best all around if they both moved on.
Jack had pulled away from her since Maria and the kids moved to Chicago. It was obvious to her that he wasn't ready or able to move on. He clung onto the guilt of splitting up his family and she often wondered if he partially blamed her for her part in it. Typically, they never discussed it. There were still subtle looks and stolen glances that served to keep her guessing on the state of their relationship. As it stood, she really had no clue if Jack still felt for her what she felt for him. She had tried dating other guys to take her mind off him but most of them barely got past the first date. Her heart wanted what it wanted. She knew his position in his job prohibited the pursuit of their relationship. He knew it too. But somehow a relationship had developed, their feelings grew and in the past they had both surrendered to their desires. Sitting there, wondering if he would survive, she cursed all the wasted opportunities she had to tell him how she felt. Now she realised that she may never get the chance. She was sitting there, lost in her thoughts when the ambulance with Danny and Elena pulled up.
Danny was being ushered to a treatment area when he saw Samantha sitting outside the Trauma Room. He broke away from the nurses escorting him and rushed over to her.
"How is he, Samantha?" he asked anxiously.
Sam looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. She bit on her bottom lip and tried to stifle the rising tide of emotion. Try as she might she failed miserably and broke down. Danny and Elena sat down beside her. Elena hugged her warmly while Danny rubbed her back and looked towards the door of the Trauma Room. He couldn't stand not knowing.
"Sam?" he said softly. "Is he....?" he asked fearing her response.
"Oh God Danny," Sam replied and turned to hug him. "I've never been so scared. He's strong. He's going to be okay, isn't he?" she asked looking for reassurance. Danny breathed a sigh of relief. He half expected her to tell him that he hadn't made it. He hugged her tightly into him.
"He's tough, he'll make it," Danny assured her.
As they sat there a nurse came looking for Danny. Despite his utterances that he was fine, she insisted that he be checked over. Elena went with him to make sure he didn't give the staff a hard time. As Samantha sat there alone, the doors of the Trauma Room flew open and the gurney bearing her supervisor whizzed past her. She stood up and watched as he was hurried into a waiting elevator. She didn't know whether to follow them or to stay where she was. A nurse noticed the lost look on her face as she exited the Trauma Room and spoke to her.
"They're taking him to surgery now," she informed her.
"How is he?" Samantha asked desperately.
"He's holding his own," she said kindly. "I'll get one of the doctors to talk to you when he returns."
Samantha thanked her and sat back down. Martin and Vivienne arrived at the E.R. around then. They found a dejected looking Agent Spade waiting for news.
"How's Jack?" Martin asked as he sat beside her.
"They've taken him to surgery," she replied looking up with red eyes.
"How are you doing?" Vivienne asked, knowing how hard this must be on Samantha. Sam smiled at her thoughtfulness. She was unable to answer for fear of crying again. Viv saw this and put a comforting arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards her.
"He'll be fine," she said confidently. "This is Jack Malone we're talking about."
Martin and Sam both smiled at her attempts to reassure them both. They were only a few minutes sitting there when the doors of the elevator opened and one of the doctors who treated Jack in the Trauma Room approached them. Samantha recognised him immediately and stood up.
"Are you relatives of Jack Malone?" he asked.
"Yes," Samantha interjected before anyone could explain that they were in fact just work colleagues.
"He's currently being prepped for a laparotomy and during the course of that the object will be removed from his abdomen. The extent of damage from both the bullet and the object can then be assessed. The prognosis is unclear until we can determine what organs have been compromised. If he remains hemodynamically stable the orthopaedic surgeon will simultaneously carry out the surgery to repair the femur and the radial fracture," the doctor explained. The three agents listened intently.
"You can wait in the waiting area on the surgical floor is you wish. Someone will come and talk to you once the surgery is complete," the doctor told them.
The three agents thanked the doctor. Sam and Viv followed his directions to the fifth floor while Martin went to look for Danny and Elena and fill them in on what was going on. It looked like it was going to be a long day.
A/N - well thats my first chapter of the decade. Hope u like it. Its going to be pretty angsty from here on in. R & R appreciated as always.