Brother + Sister

by A. Rhea King

MacGyver sat near a window in a hospital children's playroom. His leg was up on a stool. His ankle was bandaged and resting in a walking boot. Crutches leaned on the wall nearby, and there was an IV hanging from a stand behind him, dripping fluids through the tube and needle into his hand.

Near him, a seven-year-old girl was preparing their pretend tea. She made it with sounds and mixed stuff in the two cups, then hopped up and handed him one.

He smiled, saying in Farsi, "Thank you."

She smiled, waiting. He took a 'drink' and winced. "Oo. That's hot. Can you cool it down for me?"

She giggled but blew into the empty cup. He tried again and nodded. "Much better."

She got her cup and the teapot and came to stand beside him. The two were merrily drinking their tea when the door opened.

Matty stormed in and stopped. She looked at the dark-skinned, black-haired child, then at MacGyver.

"You have some explaining to do, Mac," Matty told him.

He nodded. "I know."

She walked toward them, and the child quickly moved behind MacGyver's chair, staring at her. She grabbed hold of his arm with both hands.

In English, he told the child, "It's okay. She's a friend. You don't have to be afraid of her."

The child looked up at him with beautiful dark eyes. "She won't take me?"

He shook his head. "No, Parbeen. You're staying with me right now. Until I find you a family."

"This was not part of the plan," Matty snarled at him.

It made Parbeen cower further. Seeing this, Matty relaxed some.

"I'm sorry, Parbeen," Matty said. "I'm very tired, and I didn't mean to say that so mean. I am not mad at you. Right now, you're staying with MacGyver. Please don't be afraid of me."

Parbeen moved from behind Mac's chair a little, but she still held tightly to his arm. He smiled at her, patting her hands. Then he turned his attention to Matty.

"I know this wasn't part of the plan." He only moved his eyes toward Parbeen. "But her brother got the information on what happened to Micheals, and his belongings. And he only did it after I promised to take her to America, get her citizenship, and find her a good family."

"That's a lot," Matty said. MacGyver could tell she was careful about letting her anger show now, but she was livid with him. It couldn't be easy for her to do. "What happened that got us here?"

He let out a long, tired sigh. "Nothing went as planned. And then the whole mission blew apart, so I had to run away from Exfil. And then I fell off a cliff, and this happened." He waved his hand at his ankle. "That's how I met Parbeen's brother and how she and I made our way here."

Matty scrubbed her forehead with her fingers. "Just… Start at the beginning. Start with where we lost contact."

He nodded and began telling Matty how he had left on a mission to do one thing but failed that mission and returned with a child.