Hey guys- Experimenting a little bit with this chapter. I started writing this late one night in a rather dark room. As a result, I found myself overcome with the urge to write something a bit on the creepy side. May or may not have actually pulled it off. Oh well...that is experimentation for you eh?!
Thanks for reading.
::Jack- Northwestern Hospital- Mac::
The room was dark except for the soft glow of at least three separate laptops that surrounded the curled up form of an utterly exhausted (and now finally sleeping) Matty.
Jack let out a big breath that he had been holding for no reason at all.
The agent was always amazed that his boss could create an ad hoc Phoenix Office in the most unlikely of places. Even in the small confines of a hospital room corner, she had managed to continue personally directing not only A. the remaining St. Paul operatives, but also B. what seemed to be at least a half-dozen other clandestine assignments being conducted simultaneously across the globe. How she was able to keep communications secure in a major metropolitan hospital such as this, Jack had no idea.
Sometimes he swore she wasn't a mere mortal such as himself.
The ex-Delta rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes and turned his attention to a bed that was situated opposite his own. The ICU unit was dark enough that he could only vaguely make out the shapes of some of the larger instruments surrounding the intensive care station. To Jack's ongoing distress, there was still no sound or movement from the patient lying quietly in the middle of it all. Despite having already being weened completely off of the prescribed pentobarbital, Angus MacGyver continued to prove unresponsive to outside stimuli.
The doctors didn't know why Mac's coma was being persistent.
This scared the older agent beyond words as it meant that his partner was officially in trouble in a way that Jack had no clue how to fix.
For Jack, it had been five days since he had gotten his transfer from St. Joseph's over to Northwestern where Mac had initially been admitted. A full two of those days were spent tirelessly arguing with hospital staff over double occupation policies for their ICU wing.
Jack had found the whole ordeal beyond frustrating.
After his escalation from polite inquiry, to concerned questioning, to threats, to all out physical attempts to forcibly move his own bed into Mac's ICU suite (which was in itself a minor disaster), Matty had finally intervened on the older agent's behalf. It only took five minutes of 'private hallway discussion' between the Director and Northwestern's legal management team before the medical staff did a complete about-face and hastily acquiesced to Jack's demands to be roomed with Mac. There were full apologies all around. This, Jack surmised, was proof that the Director of Operations had done more than just ask nicely for Jack's transfer. As far as Jack was concerned, Matilda Webber was one of the supreme beings of the universe that could make anything happen.
God bless his scary, ball-busting boss. He could not thank her enough.
In no time at all Jack found himself comfortably set-up across from where his partner lay, pleased to some degree to be able to monitor the young man's progress first hand.
Despite the initial relief of finally getting to see Mac in person though, Jack continued to find sleep elusive. He had traded the fear of the unknown during his time at St. Joseph's with a new fear of routine at Northwestern. The days at the new hospital were monotonous with no observable change in Mac's status.
This had begun to take it's toll on Jack.
What if Mac never got better? What if the coma was permanent?
With these questions perpetually bearing down on the former Delta, the man quickly developed an obsessive need to watch Mac nearly every second of every day, willing his partner to twitch, flutter an eye, or even just attempt to breathe on his own.
Jack couldn't bring himself to let down his guard for one second.
Instead, he spent most nights lying awake listening for the soft clicks and wisps of the ventilator that indicated that his partner was still breathing. Jack found the rhythmically mechanical sound both a blessing and a curse. Although it was a constant reassurance that Mac still had one foot planted firmly here in the land of the living, it was also a painful reminder that the Mac was still just out of Dalton's protective reach.
Jack's daylight hours on the other hand, were spent reading aloud page after page pulled from engineering articles, electrical magazines, and any other nerd science the Delta could get his hands on. In some of his more sentimental moments, the Texan even made a go at orating get well cards from acquaintances at work. Anything that Jack thought might comfort the boy genius as he navigated through whatever murky abyss he was currently lost in.
In the quietest of times, Jack cried, begging Mac to give him a sign he was going to be ok.
Jack rubbed his eyes again and leaned his head back against his pillow. As per the usual routine, night had again descended and Jack just lay there listening to the click, whoosh, click, wisp cadence of the life support.
The man was both physically and emotionally drained.
Unexpectedly, a gentle breeze brushed across his cheek. He welcomed the cool air as something new. Something that would prevent his mind from spinning into an endless loop of worry that tended to happen about this time of night.
It was then that Jack realized that something was off.
There shouldn't be a breeze.
The agent frowned and peered through the darkness beyond Mac's bed. He could just make out that two of the room's windows had been opened outward as far as they could swing. This caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand straight up. A bead of sweat began to run down his neck despite the sudden chill.
The protection detail that Matty had assigned to the entire 15th floor of the ICU would never have allowed those windows to be unsecure like that. He turned, slightly alarmed, towards Matty's still sleeping form.
That was when he became aware of a presence hovering next to him.
The Delta nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a whisper within inches of his ear.
"I'm afraid of heights Jack."
The older agent spun around as best as his broken body would allow to face the intruder that had managed to slip into what Jack quickly recognized as a close combat kill zone position.
Shocked, Jack suddenly found himself looking directly into the clear blue eyes of his best friend.
"Mac!? Jesus Christ! "
He felt like he was about to hyperventilate, but managed to stutter out a few more words through the hammering in his chest.
"What…you're….Oh my god, you're awake!"
The fear Jack had felt only moments ago transformed into excitement mixed with more than a little relief.
"Thank God you're awake Bud! How did you…..I mean…..I missed you so much man. I've been so worried. You have no idea, but damn you about gave me a heart attack. Come here."
He began to reach out to pull his brother in for one of his famous crushing embraces when something about Mac's appearance stopped the older man. In the scant light that was available in the darkened room, Jack could plainly see that the blonde was unusually pale. What was even more alarming was that he hadn't moved at all during Jack's roller coaster ride of emotional responses. Instead, his friend just stood there motionless, bowed like a penitent statue next to the bedside.
The former Delta could feel his brow knit together in confusion. Despite the other agent's cryptic greeting clearly being addressed to Jack, Mac's gaze seemed to be fixed at some distant point across the otherwise empty room. It was as if Mac was looking though the other man.
"Mac?" Jack tried to take a steadying breath despite the tightness building in his chest. "Mac…What's wrong?"
The young genius tilted his head as if to pose a question, but then slowly stood back up to his full height. He whispered something else.
Jack could just barely make out the words.
"Don't worry, I'll save you."
Though he tried to keep his voice outwardly calm and even, Jack was internally petrified.
"What? Mac, I don't understand. We're safe now. We made it. You're scaring me a little…..Look at me Bud. …Tell me what's wrong."
The sound of something dripping caught Jack's attention. He couldn't quite tell how long that particular environmental cue had escaped his awareness. As he focused closer on the sound, it reminded him of a broken pipe. Maybe from one of the floors above? It was as if someone had allowed the water to bore its way through the ceiling tiles and into the protected sanctuary of Mac's hospital room.
The dripping sound felt intrusive and out of place.
Jack shivered as he tried to make sense of it all.
The Delta looked back at his friend and noticed that the blonde's hair was matted down against his forehead. Upon closer inspection, he became aware that the young man's hospital gown was also completely soaked through leaving it plastered against the kid's lean frame.
A steady trickle of water had and was continuing to fall from the trim of the gown onto the tiles beneath Mac's bare feet. A queasy feeling began to overwhelm Jack's ability to think straight. "Mac…..what's going on?"
Jack was having trouble breathing.
The Delta suddenly flinched at the sound of a gun cocking. His mind went blank as his eyes darted wildly around the room trying to identify the location of the new threat. His hands reflexively clutched the rails of the bed as if he meant to bend them in two.
Fully aware that he was totally incapable of engaging in any sort of physical altercation, Jack glanced back at Mac in panic. His blood then froze as his mind grappled with the tableau laid out before him.
A Glock semi-automatic pistol had materialized out of nowhere and was being pressed hard against the kid's temple.
Jack's heart began to beat out of his chest as he abruptly became aware of a dark shadow shifting ever so slightly out from behind the young man's impossibly stiff figure.
'Oh my god. Please…..not this."
The shadow stepped further out from behind his hostage to reveal a living nightmare.
The antagonist had clearly suffered severe damage to the thin bones forming the left side of his face. It gave the man the appearance of having had his skull caved in. In addition to the obvious crush injuries, the man's jaw hung loosely at a grotesque angle. In horror, Jack recognized that it was barely attached.
Despite the horrific disfigurement, Jack was able to instantly identify the mutilated face as belonging to one Alex Temar.
It was the face of a monster.
All of Jack's carefully honed survival instincts completely shut down. He could think of nothing except getting Mac out of the clutches of this madman.
"Please don't hurt the kid. Take me instead. I did this, do you understand? Do you remember? Just don't hurt the kid…I am begging you."
Up until this point, Mac had maintained an utterly lifeless expression. But now, something about the pleading in Jack's voice caused the young agent to relax. He then made direct eye contact with the Delta operator for the first time.
Jack paled as, in absolute incongruity, Mac's mouth curled up into one of his carefree wry grins. In a crystal clear voice, Mac spoke one last time.
"I'll always save you Jack."
Jack's mind began to unravel as he registered what a slight shift in Mac's stance foreshadowed. With more speed than Jack had thought possible, the blonde shoved all his weight back into Temar's bulk and began to drive both their bodies toward the open windows.
Jack screamed as he helplessly watched his friend and the monster disappear into the night 15 stories above a concrete parking lot below.
Mac's smile had never faltered.
Jack continued to scream.
::ICU Unit::
"Dalton! Dalton stop! You have to calm down! Dalton!"
Jack felt like he was drowning. He couldn't breathe.
"Dalton, you are hyperventilating. Wake-up!"
There was someone trying to hold his shoulders down, while another was grasping his head in a vice-like grip. His eyes felt open, but he wasn't able to see anything except darkness. Every muscle in his body was tight and sweat was pouring down the sides of his face.
As if someone had flipped a switch, his vision suddenly cleared causing him to blink a few times. He instantly recognized the faces of both Matty and Riley.
Both women looked as terrified as Jack felt.
Matty spoke quietly, but forcefully, "Jack! You need to calm down, or they will remove you from the ICU wing. They'll take you from Mac."
Straightaway the older agent understood what the Phoenix Director was saying.
He forced his arms and legs to relax.
"Are you with me Jack?"
He could start to feel the adrenaline loosen its grip on his system.
"Jack you have to give me verbal confirmation."
He finally got his breathing back under control.
"Yeah boss, I'm here."
Jack felt the weight of the two women's bracing hands lift and it was then that he noticed Riley was openly crying.
He instantly felt like the world's biggest asshole.
With hand still shaking, he reached out to her.
"No. Honey. It's ok. I'm ok. I'm so sorry to have scared you. It's ok."
He pulled the young hacker into an embrace and let her freely sob into his shoulder as he stroked her hair trying to calm her as much as himself.
"Shhhhh...shhh…shh. It's ok Darlin'."
Matty had stepped off to the side. Her right hand unconsciously moved to smooth down her hair and rub her temple. Jack recognized this as Matty's own silent tell of distress that she obviously was too preoccupied to catch.
Jack couldn't help but feel a tidal wave of guilt crash down on his shoulders for causing so much pain to two women that he loved. He couldn't do this anymore.
With determination and more than a little anger in his eyes, he caught the Director's attention.
"Matty, I've had it. I want off these meds. None of this is worth it. I can't keep havin' these nightmares every time I close my eyes."
"Jack, we can always try another adjustment to the pain medication cocktail. There are…"
"No! No more adjustments. The doc doesn't give a damn about how those things are fucking me up inside. I can't do this anymore. One thing. Just tell him one damn prescription at a time. To hell with pain. Anything is better than this."
Matty nodded her head in understanding. "Ok. You win. Let me see what I can do." With that, she turned and exited the room still shaken by the effects of Jack's latest nightmare.
Jack silently thanked the heaven's for his boss and then turned to focus all his attention back to the shaking young lady he currently had curled up in his arms.
"I'm so sorry you had to see that Ri. I'm ok…really."
Over the span of a few more minutes, Riley's sobs had quieted down to periodic hiccups, but Jack could still feel a wetness to her cheeks as he stroked the side of her face against his shoulder.
He just held her as best he could knowing that she must have been carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders over the last week or so.
"Ri, you need to talk to me Honey. You shouldn't keep things locked up inside. It isn't doing anyone any good, much less you. Talk to me Ri."
The young hacker hesitated for a few moments before finally speaking up, "I was so scared when you went over the railing. I thought you were dead…..and then….Mac…::hiccup::…he just….he just followed you down. I thought I had lost both of you and it happened so fast. Everything just happened so fast."
Jack could feel her start to cry again.
"Baby, I am so so sorry this happened. You know that I would do anything to get back home to you, I would move mountains. And Mac, well…both you and I are going to have a little chat with that guy about his beloved Darwin and self-preservation theories and such once he comes around. Ok?"
That elicited a sound that could only be described as a cross between a laugh and a sob from the junior agent.
Jack chuckled a bit himself and craned his neck down to look at the top of Riley's still buried head.
"For someone smarter than Alex Trebec, our boy can be as dumb as a rock huh?"
Riley made another sound that was now about 80% laugh and 20% sob.
'Improvement' thought Jack, so he continued.
"That's why I'm here Ri. I'm here to protect you young-buck millennials that are too smart for your own good. Ol' Jack is tough, grizzled, and street wise, yeah?"
He pulled in a deep breath and slowly let it out. As exhausted as he felt, he needed to be strong right now.
"I'm y'all's Obi Wan and I take that job very seriously. I never want to give up that responsibility. Not ever. Comprende?"
He felt her nod her head against his shoulder.
"I just messed up a little this time, didn't I, and I am so sorry for that. But, you know what?"
Riley pushed herself up into a sitting position to get a better look at the older man's face.
"I'm just that much wiser for it and I can guarantee that I won't let this happen again- to any of us."
The talented computer tech sniffled a little, but was no longer actively crying.
"I love you Darlin' and I'm sorry Mac and I scared you so much."
After a few moments of trying to re-gain her composure, Riley replied, "I get it ol' man…"
She wiped the last of her tears away and put on as much of a brave face as she could muster.
"…but don't be surprised if I wire-up a tracking collar for the both of you. I might even install taser capabilities so I can take you two idiots down remotely the next time you decide to run headlong into some psychopathic bad guy."
Jack laughed at that, "Aw honey, you and Matty would have Mac and I twitchin' around like Mexican jumpin' beans before we ever set foot out of the surveillance van if you had one of those. Hell, Matty would press the button just to entertain colleagues at dinner parties."
Riley laughed fully for the first time in what felt like weeks, which did wonders for melting away some of the aches and pains that had plagued Jack since waking up at St. Joseph's.
He gave one of his best Jack Dalton smiles, "There we go. There's that lovely face. Come here."
The big Delta pulled Riley into one last hug before he held her back at arm's length with a look of all seriousness across his face.
"Riley, I need a favor."
The young lady visibly stiffened in surprise, but nodded attentively, "Of course Jack, anything."
"Could ya' do me a solid and find me the newest issue of Elite Tactical? I swear my brain is going to melt if I have to read one more chapter on some obscure 1.21 giggawatt flux capacitor component to Mac."
Riley rolled her eyes dramatically in relief and stood.
Jack continued on with his game face.
"Today I want Mac to learn about high precision FN Ballista sniper laser scope additions."
"Jack, even I would find flux capacitor schematics a more fascinating read than your gun laser comics. By the way, you do know flux capacitors aren't even a real thing right?"
Jack's shot his eyebrows up in feigned exasperation, "I'm your Obi Wan remember. Stick with me and I'll teach you the fun stuff, flux capacitors and all"
With that Riley groaned and turned to face the exit. As she made her way through the swinging door, Jack could hear her mumble something about 'love you too big guy' before the door gently closed behind her.
Jack smiled to himself, but as he looked over at his partner's bed, he couldn't stop a wave of sadness and worry from washing back over him. The physical pain he was having to endure was nothing compared to the pain in his heart as he tried to figure out what to do about his other kid- Angus Macgyver.
Somehow Mac had developed this twisted and highly self-destructive sense that self-sacrifice was an immediate and viable solution to every damn problem encountered in life. It made Jack angry. Angry at Mac's father, his teachers, at every adult that had passed through the young genius's life without taking the time to really understand what the kid was going through. What he was thinking, his fears, his insecurities, all the little lessons in life that wove together to build the foundations of a man's belief system.
Something was fundamentally broken in Mac's belief system and Jack was determined to set things right.
Mac was not expendable.
How on earth was he going to get that idiot genius to understand that?
Too choppy? Too bulky? Not sure why I'm feeling so insecure about this chapter! Hahaha. I have no idea where I'm going to take things from here, but I'll scheme up something to try to wrap things up.
Cheers- WriterEl