Part 2
He grasped the handle and tried to open the door. It wouldn't budge. He knew he'd have to pull Tony out through the window. All of the glass had shattered during the accident, so at least that was taken care of. Leaning through the opening, ignoring the burning pain that had quieted down to a dull ache in his stomach, Tim unlatched Tony's seatbelt. Tucking his arms under Tony's armpits, Tim locked his hands behind Tony and pulled. Sharp jabs of pain shot through his belly. He grit his teeth, locked his feet, and pulled harder. Tony folded out of the car, then dropped like a sack of potatoes on top of McGee. McGee held still, his heavy breathing laced with groans. Tony's breaths tickled his neck. Finally, he pushed Tony to the side and rolled to his knees.
He needed a plan. A quick search through both their pockets yielded no phones; they must have been lost in the crash. The weather was warm; humid. At least they didn't have to worry about suffering through cold. Food. The ache in his belly seemed to be pushing away the need for food, at least for now. They could do without food for awhile, but finding water was absolutely essential. Shelter. The car would do for a temporary shelter, but they needed to find help and get both of them to the hospital. He pressed his palm against his abdomen, mindful of the twisting ache there. DiNozzo had a head injury, obviously, but there was a possibility he had other injuries.
A groan raised the hairs on the back of McGee's neck. He turned. Tony shifted on the ground. Tim scrambled back to his side.
"Tony? Hold still - you're hurt."
"McGee? Wha - happen?"
"We had an accident. Open your eyes. Look at me." Gently, Tim grasped Tony's face. "Look at me, Tony."
Tony's eyes fluttered, then opened. Tim noted with relief that his pupils were equal in size.
"Head - hurts."
Tim shifted one hand to Tony's injury and brushed it lightly with his thumb. He froze when Tony sucked in a breath. "Sorry. Does anything else hurt?"
"M - leg."
Tim shifted to check it out but Tony moaned and he moved back to look at his face. "Tony?" When Tony didn't answer, Tim gently patted one check. "Tony, you with me?" Silence was his only answer. Checking his pulse and finding it steady, Tim moved to check for other injuries. A painful twist in his gut folded him double for a minute. When the pain faded and he caught his breath, he began checking Tony over. McGee had no idea what a broken bone would feel like, but he gently searched anyway, figuring he'd know it if he found a major injury. He barely touched Tony's leg just below the knee, but got an instant reaction: Tony woke up with a yell.
McGee grabbed for Tony when he sat up suddenly. "Easy, easy, Tony!"
Tony sank back to his elbows on the ground.
Carefully, McGee shifted back to Tony's leg and checked it out as best he could without touching. Something had cut through both the material and Tony's leg, leaving a deep gash behind. While it looked deep, he didn't think it went clear to the bone. McGee leaned back and rested on his haunches. "I don't think it's broken, but there's a bad cut we need to bind up with something."
"I'll just get the first aid kit and we'll fix it right up." Sarcasm laced Tony's voice. He sighed deeply and wiped a hand across his face. "No phone, no medical assistance, no car – could it get any worse?"
A deep rumble sounded in the distance, like the sky clearing its throat. McGee looked up and noticed, for the first time, clouds darkening and gathering near. "You had to ask, didn't you?" Shaking his head, Tim began pulling his shirttail out.
"What are you doing?"
"Using the only thing I have to make a bandage for you."
"You don't have to -"
"You're bleeding, Tony." He continued as Tony reached to touch his head. "Besides, if it makes you feel any better, I'll let you buy me a new shirt once we get back to D.C."
"Gee, thanks."
Tim succeeded in pulling his shirt out. He tugged it to his mouth, clenched the material in his teeth, and ripped a strip off his shirt. The simple movements left him breathless and weary. The familiar twist in his gut shortened his breath, but he kept his breathing as steady as possible so as not to alert Tony to his problem. Finally, armed with several strips of material, he created a small pad and secured that to Tony's wound with the other longer pieces. Satisfied, he sat back to study his work. Maybe not as neat as he'd like, and not as professional as something Ducky would do, but still, it would suffice.
"Ready to see if you can stand?" McGee waited until Tony nodded, then slipped his arm around him and pulled while Tony struggled to his feet. Thunder rumbled again in the distance as they stood. Pausing a moment while each caught their breath, they finally straightened up. McGee pointed upward. "It's too steep to try and make it back the way we came. Let's follow this ravine a ways and see if it takes us closer to the road."
Tony just waved a hand at him, still focused on catching his breath. Tim took a step and Tony took one with him. After a few faltering feet, they found a rhythm and made steady progress. When it became clear that the ravine angled deeper into the trees, McGee altered their course and started them slowly up the incline back to the road. He imagined it had taken the car a matter of seconds to leave the road and tumble down to the bottom of the ravine, but estimated it would take he and Tony nearly an hour to make it back. He hooked a finger in his tie, loosened it, then pulled it off. He thought of dropping it, but decided it might become useful later, so he wadded it up one-handed and stuffed it into his pocket. He reached for Tony's tie to do the same.
"What -?" Tony lifted his hand toward his neck before he realized what Tim was doing. "Oh. Thanks." He hadn't realized how uncomfortable he'd been until Tim loosened the tie and slid it off. But when Tim began crumpling it up, he protested. "Hey! That tie cost three- too much for you to wrinkle it like that. Give it here." Tony stopped and released his hold on Tim so he could use both hands to neatly fold the tie and stuff it into his pocket.
McGee shook his head. "Why do you -" The sound of a vehicle snapped his attention to the road. He hadn't realized they were this close. "Stay here. I'll be right back." His pain forgotten, Tim scrambled up the rest of the embankment to the road. His feet slid out from under him and he ended up on his knees, hidden in the underbrush. Determined to be seen, he lifted one arm and prepared to shout, but ducked back into cover as soon as he recognized the SUV rounding the curve toward him. Snatches of memory flashed through his mind. The SUV was the same vehicle that had followed them out of Sutton Town in West Virginia. It drove slowly with the windows down. Fear tingled across McGee's scalp. He sunk low out of sight and watched it drive by. The men's faces were clear to him as they passed within yards of his hiding place. Again, memories rose to the surface, superimposing themselves upon Tim's vision - these were the rough-looking men who hadn't been at all pleased with the NCIS Agents' line of questioning.
The vehicle kept moving. There was no doubt in Tim's mind what they were looking for: he and Tony. It was just a matter of time before they found the place where their car had left the road, then they'd be on their trail. They had no phones and no weapons. They needed to get out of there and find help. Now.
