The Fall
Inside Building Near Nazeri Residence
"Time to go," Jason said as he crouched in front of Clay.
With effort, eschewing offers of help, batting away Sonny's hand, Clay pushed himself up and leaned his left side against the wall after gaining his feet … unsteadily, but nonetheless on them.
Sonny took no offense, he would want to rise unaided too if it were him. He waited close by to catch the kid if he started to fall, but would allow him the dignity of doing what he could for himself.
Jason rose and eyed Sonny. The message clear in his gaze, keep our guy safe, but he said out loud, "Check in when you arrive at the exfil location."
"Copy," Sonny replied and followed Clay out the door.
Reaching the staircase, Clay gripped the rail, bound and determined to make it under his own power. He took a deep breath and began down the steps. He sensed Sonny right behind him and appreciated his teammate didn't treat him like an invalid … but he was damned close, and he knew it.
Four treads down, a sharp pain caused him to gasp, lose his grip, and start to lean forward, if not for Sonny's instant clasp of his vest, Clay would've pitched forward and tumbled down the stairs.
"Easy." Sonny decided to maintain his hold as they made it down the remainder of the stairwell.
Jason observed from the top, his gut twisting as he wished to send more than only Sonny with Clay, but this op was too important, and he was already down two shooters. His mind caught up, and he grinned as he did the math. Six plus six minus three meant he was actually up three shooters. He could spare one more to go with Sonny and Clay.
"Brock, go with them," Jason ordered and received a nod in acknowledgment from Brock.
Cerberus' ears perked up as his handler moved from his position and he needed no command to fall into step.
Ray turned to Jason, "Why send Brock?"
"Early warning detector. They won't have a drone over them, Cerberus will alert them of any potential incoming hostiles."
Winds eyed Blaze. "Wish we had all the toys the Americans do."
Blaze shook his head and smiled. "What would be the fun in that. Old school tactics serve us well, my friend."
"Just saying, we could've used the eyes in the skies and a canine sniffer many times, especially with all the shit Blondie got into."
En Route to Exfil Location
His environment swathed in green again, Clay stumbled along at a sorry pace. If I crawled I might go faster, he chided himself. Sonny was never more than a grasp away and saved him from face-planting more times than Clay wanted to count in the last twenty minutes.
Brock took point with Cerberus trotting ahead, clearing their path, and the Canadian took rear guard, sandwiching him and Sonny between them. His pride taking a huge hit, and worrying what the repercussions would be to him, Clay kept his mouth shut and pushed through his pain.
Cresting one of the many ravines they would traverse, Clay experienced another stab of pain in his right flank. He couldn't keep the gasp silent this time and found himself halted by Sonny's grip.
"Time for a quick rest," Quinn ordered as he guided Spenser to a handy cluster of rocks and forced him to sit.
Duncan moved in and took a knee. "Health status?"
Eyeing the medic, Clay didn't understand his query but settled on saying, "Same as before."
"Sorry, shorthand for my unit. Something my predecessor started. What is your pain level?" Duncan explained. He learned Blaze expected a lot from him … he had big shoes to fill after taking over for Patch as unit medic.
"Three."
"Liar," Sonny scoffed. He held out water to the kid.
Not willing to admit to more, Clay took the bottle and sipped, hoping like hell the liquid would stay down.
Duncan grinned. "I know how painful a kidney infection can be, so I'll just double what you tell me. Six it is. Don't consume much water … just wet your mouth for now. If your kidney function is compromised we walk a fine line."
After a five-minute break, Sonny reached down and assisted Clay to his feet, noting the soft hiss. Damn, the kid is hurting … bad.
They made it to the bottom of the ravine and began the steeper trek up the other side. Half-way up, Clay stumbled on the loose rocks. Sonny grabbed his arm to steady him, but his boots slid on the rocks and with Clay's weight off-balance, both of them pitched to the right and fell. Try as he might, Sonny couldn't change his trajectory mid-fall. Clay hit the ground first, on his injured right side and Sonny landed on top of him.
A strangled yelp and, "Aaaargh," emitted from Clay as his back slammed into the hard-packed, rock-strewn earth. He would've released another cry when Sonny's full weight crashed down on him, but the air expelled from his lungs, leaving him nothing.
It only took Sonny a second to roll off. "Son of a bitch! Spense?"
Cerberus reached Clay before Brock, but only by a moment. "Breathe, kid. Breathe."
Clay sucked in a lungful of air and began panting through waves of pain. Nausea kicked back up, and he started making gagging sounds. Three sets of hands turned him to his left side, two hands holding his shoulders, and the other four tugging his shirt up again as he began retching up the little water he consumed only minutes ago.
His body began shivering again, not a damned thing he could do to stop the vibrations which caused agony, which caused more tremors … a vicious cycle he was powerless to stop. Vaguely aware of a pinprick in his thigh, Clay realized Duncan must've shot him up with more morphine.
When the heaving stopped, spent, Clay didn't fight the fact Sonny cradled his head in his lap. He concentrated on breathing, attempting to gain the upper hand on his pain … a hard-fought battle only won with the aid of meds. As his panting evened out to a more regular cadence, Clay managed to slur out, "I'm good."
Brock sat back on his heels. "Yep, you're tough as nails, kid." He rose and gave a soft verbal command to Cerberus before he said to Sonny, "I'm gonna scout the area while Doc Duncan gets the bleeding under control again."
Sonny nodded then turned his attention to Duncan. "What damage did I do to him?"
Putting a fresh pad over the now gushing wound, the old one soaked through, Duncan didn't want to add guilt to the man holding his teammate, so he answered accordingly. "Wound opened. Only need to put some pressure on it to control the bleeding again." He swapped out a second pad when the first became saturated.
By the sixth soaked pad, Sonny realized he did more harm than the medic indicated. Aw shit, Jason is not going to like this one damned bit. Hell, I don't like this. I fucked up. He caught Duncan's gaze and realized things were going downhill. In his arms, Clay stilled, but the heat coming off him could almost fry an egg.
Duncan could no longer pretend. "He's losing too much blood. Something else might have been embedded. I need to turn on a light to see what the issue is … he won't make it to exfil if I can't stop the bleeding."
"A light out here will be a beacon to hostiles who patrol the area," Brock said as he returned.
"Did you find any indication of hostiles in our vicinity?" Sonny asked.
"No, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there." Brock took a knee and gazed at Clay, noting he didn't move or open his eyes. "I spotted an outcropping of rocks not too far from here, opposite direction of exfil and all uphill. We'll have to carry him. But once there, we can create a shield of sorts and Duncan can examine Clay."
Sonny pressed his coms. "TOC, Bravo Three."
"Go Bravo Three," Davis answered.
"Deviating from the original course." Sonny provided the direction, approximate coordinates, and the reason for the change.
"Copy. Arranged for another drone. We'll have eyes on you in about fifteen minutes."
"Copy." Sonny shifted, rocks poking him in the ass making sitting here uncomfortable, but he didn't complain. His discomfort nowhere near Clay's. "Pack it tight, and I'll carry him," he instructed Duncan.
Duncan did as required, packing the wound and wrapping gauze tightly around his torso. When he finished, he held Spenser as Quinn stood.
"Alright, kid, no complaints. I'm carrying you now." Sonny adjusted his vest and rifle, then squatted to hoist Clay over his shoulder in a fireman carry. He became worried when Spenser made no response. "Kid?"
Glazed over eyes blinked open and stared before the heaviness of his lids caused them to lower again.
"I gave him a full dose. If he was six before the fall …" Duncan trailed off.
"At least I won't be hurting him too much then." Sonny lifted Clay, noting the kid was heavier than his slight frame indicated … the kid's all muscle. Picking his way up the slope, Sonny moved with care not wanting to repeat falling and hurting Clay again.
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AN: Sorry for the shorter chapter, but my muse has been stubborn lately.