Meeting MacGyver
Joanna felt like pond scum as she crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She thought about MacGyver, lying in the hospital hurt and alone, and her stomach churned. Since finding the abandoned pups, she had felt the barriers around her heart begin to crumble and found herself falling in love with Mac all over again. Not that she had ever truly stopped loving him in the first place. Yet, when the doctor at the hospital had asked if he had someone to take care of him and Mac shot her an expectant, even playful look, a part of her panicked leaving him to be tended to by strangers in a place he hated. He most likely now hated her as well. He would never know that she had refused to leave until it was confirmed he was settled comfortably in his room and the nurses assured her he would be well taken care of. He would never know that she stood in the doorway of his room, needing to watch the steady rise and fall of his chest to assure herself that he had once again escaped a deadly encounter. All he would know was that she had left him when he had needed her.
The following afternoon, Jo hurried over to Challengers as soon as school was dismissed for the day. She had called Cynthia last night and explained what had happened and asked if she could step in for MacGyver while Joanna was at work even though Mac had originally given Cynthia the week off. Because of that, Jo wanted to relieve her as quickly as possible. Breezing past Rosie seated at the reception desk, she stopped short when she saw MacGyver sitting behind the desk in his office where she had expected to find Cynthia instead. Their eyes met uncomfortably as she stared at his pale face accentuated by the white gauze pad taped to his temple.
"What are you doing here?" she blurted out.
"Working."
"But I thought the doctor wanted to keep you for at least twenty-four hours?"
"I was feeling better so I signed myself out. Sorry to disappoint you." His tone was flat, but his words found their mark. Refusing to rise to the well-deserved bait, Joanna decided to change the subject.
"Where are the puppies?" she asked, noticing the large box was conspicuously missing.
MacGyver must have sensed her concern because his features softened slightly. "Animal control came and got 'em. They're 'evidence'." Jo frowned. "Don't worry, they'll be well taken care of and then put up for adoption," he added for what she hoped was her benefit.
"Excuse me," Rosie quietly interrupted from the doorway. "There are some people here to see Joanna."
"Oh! The school volunteers! I completely forgot!" Jo exclaimed as she turned on her heel and headed to the small group of teens gathered by the reception desk. "The posters are over on that table," she told them pointing them in the proper direction.
"What's going on?" Mac asked from behind her.
"These are students from nearby schools. They're picking up the anti-drug and anti-gang posters to take and display in their classrooms."
Within minutes the task was complete and Joanna turned to head to her office when a bout of dizziness overtook her, causing her to stumble into MacGyver. Immediately two strong arms steadied her.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "I just must've moved too fast." With every ounce of determination she possessed she pulled out of his grasp. To her dismay, he dogged her every step.
"Are you sure you're okay? You look a little pale."
"I'm fine," Jo repeated. "I'm just kinda tired."
She slumped into the chair behind her desk, glanced at her calendar, and moaned.
"What's wrong?"
Joanna propped her elbows on the desk and began to massage her own temples which were beginning to ache. "Last week I scheduled a meeting for this Saturday to discuss Challengers' participation in a river clean-up project next month. I totally forgot about it and have nothing prepared."
"You've had a lot on your mind lately," MacGyver soothed. "Anything I can do to help?"
Dare she ask a favor of the man she had been treating so poorly? "I'd appreciate it if you could attend," she answered sheepishly. "A handful of community representatives from the planning committee will be here. I've also asked Cynthia to come."
"No problem. I'll be here," Mac promised.
"Good." She summoned a smile. "Now get outta here so I can start working on an agenda and make notes on a couple issues I want to discuss."
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By the time Joanna dismissed her final class on Friday all she wanted to do was crawl under her desk and go to sleep. She had been fighting a headache and nauseated stomach all day. She blamed it on lack of sleep, too much work, and generalized MacGyver-related anxiety. Unfortunately, rest was still not an option for her. She needed to go to Challengers and finalize the meeting notes for tomorrow. She had agreed to have the club participate in this annual project when she thought MacGyver was still safely tucked away in Los Angeles. His surprise return, and the surge of emotions that came with it, had totally knocked her off stride and now she was paying the price.
When Joanna arrived at the club she greeted Geena who was working the reception desk but didn't stay to chat. Instead, she headed to the kitchen area and began to root through the refrigerator hoping to find some white soda to settle her stomach. Realizing her search was fruitless, she dug in her purse for some change and was about to raid the vending machine in the recreation room when MacGyver appeared in the doorway.
"I was hoping you could fill me in on this clean-up project before the meeting tomorrow," he said.
Jo's stomach suddenly rebelled and she tried to push him out of the way but he wasn't fast enough and the remains of her lunch promptly landed on his shoes. With tunnel vision and a singular purpose, Joanna rushed passed him to the staff bathroom where she hit the floor in front of the toilet just in time to empty the remaining contents of her stomach. She sensed rather than saw MacGyver kneeling beside her. He reached out to keep wisps of her hair away from her face, but she slapped his hands away.
"No," she muttered between clenched teeth before her stomach tightened and she began to gag again. She felt his large, comforting hand rubbing her back and she elbowed him away, even in the midst of dry heaves.
After several vomit-free minutes, Joanna flushed the toilet and sagged against the porcelain bowl, her body tired and drained. Slowly she became aware of her surroundings and saw Mac at the sink, working to dampen a wad of paper toweling.
"Here, let's get you cleaned up," he said softly as he crouched next to her and gently wiped her mouth and chin.
"I can do it," she murmured, reaching for the toweling while keeping her eyes averted. MacGyver reluctantly released the wad of paper and stood. Jo felt her cheeks flame with embarrassment. To her, there was hardly a worse sight than watching someone throw up. It was the grossest, most vile bodily function in existence. She never even allowed her own mother in the bathroom when she was sick. And today she'd done it all right in front of MacGyver.
Feeling a bit stronger, she pushed herself up off the floor and leaned against the sink.
"I'm sorry about your shoes."
"I never liked this pair anyway," Mac replied with a crooked smile.
"I'm sorry I pushed you away."
"It's no big deal."
No, she supposed it wasn't a big deal, but for some reason it was important to Joanna that he understand why she did it.
"Touching me…" she paused to temper the bile that threatened to rise in her throat while taking deep breaths as she explained. "Touching me makes it worse. Always has. Since I was little."
"Like I said, it's no big deal," MacGyver assured her. "How about you lie down for awhile. Can you make it upstairs?"
Jo nodded and they took a few steps before she reached back and grabbed a small plastic trash container. "Just in case," she said with a small smile.
As they were approaching the stairs to the dormitory, Geena bustled toward them, impeding their progress.
"Oh my goodness! What happened?! Joanna, are you alright?!"
"I think she just went a few rounds with the stomach flu," MacGyver answered for her. "I'm taking her upstairs to get some rest."
"I'll scrounge up some tea and dry toast," Geena declared, but Jo shook her head as vigorously as she could while fighting back more nausea.
"Maybe later," Mac suggested and Joanna breathed a sigh of relief. Under his tender guidance, she gingerly settled into one of the beds in the dorm room closest to the bathroom, her arms still wrapped around the waste basket. She curled up on her side as he tucked a blanket loosely around her.
"Do you want me to stay?" he asked.
Yes! Stay! Don't ever leave me! "No, I'll be okay. Go calm Geena down."
MacGyver bent and kissed her ever so tenderly on the forehead. "Holler if you need anything. I'll be back to check on you."
Jo nodded and fell asleep before he even left the room.
When Joanna next opened her eyes it was to find MacGyver sitting on the bed across from her, staring at her as if she was some sort of science specimen.
"How you feelin'?" he asked.
Jo took a moment to do a quick internal evaluation. Her heart was beating fast and the palms of her hands were sweaty, but that had nothing to do with the flu and all about the man who had taken care of her. "My stomach's better," she confirmed truthfully.
"Good," he smiled warmly. "Then maybe you can eat something."
She followed his gaze to the small nightstand between them holding a can of white soda and a small bag of pretzels.
"How did you know?"
"I called your mom, but Geena still has tea and toast waiting for you downstairs."
They both chuckled as Joanna sat up and Mac placed a pillow behind her back for extra support.
"When you feel up to it I'll drive you home and I don't want to see you back here until Monday."
Joanna immediately protested, "But what about the meeting tomorrow?!"
"Cynthia and I can handle it," he replied calmly. "You need to concentrate on getting well."
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"What do you mean you don't have the agenda?! The meeting starts in fifteen minutes!"
"Don't take that tone with me, MacGyver. Joanna was still working on it the other day and apparently didn't get a chance to print it out before she got sick," Cynthia explained.
"Then she must have it stored in her computer, right?" Mac asked hopefully.
"I would assume so, but she probably protects her work with a password."
"No problem," MacGyver replied, cocking his head and shooting Cynthia a mischievous grin.
"You know her password?"
"Of course I do." Well, not really, but he could make an educated guess. He sat down behind Joanna's desk and fired up the machine. The prompt for the password appeared and he took a shot, making sure Cynthia couldn't see the letters he typed in. He held his breath and soon was granted access. There were several files available with abbreviated or disjointed titles that probably only made sense to Jo.
"Which one do you think it is?" Cynthia asked, now looking over his shoulder. "Maybe we should call her and ask."
Mac shook his head. "It's early and she needs her rest. Let's try this one."
He clicked on the icon titled 'Meeting MacGyver'. An essay-type document appeared on the screen, the first line quickly capturing his attention:
Her story begins on January 10, 1995. That was the day she first laid eyes on Angus MacGyver and lost her heart, not to mention her ever-lovin' mind!
Mac swallowed a snort of amusement at her snide remark before fully realizing what he was looking at. Joanna kept a diary!
"Did you find it?"
Cynthia's voice snapped MacGyver back to the present moment and his eyes away from something he instinctively knew he shouldn't be reading.
"Um, no. Not yet. Give me a minute." Mac swiftly closed the file and examined his options. He found and clicked on an icon titled 'River Clean-Up' and the sought after meeting agenda, along with Jo's notes, appeared on the monitor. He printed enough copies for everyone and hurried back to his office where members of the planning committee huddled around his desk.
The meeting lasted for over an hour, but MacGyver would have been hard pressed to list the topics discussed, much less any details. His mind kept wandering back to the document he had opened on Joanna's computer. Initially he assumed it was her private journal, but the fact that she kept referring to herself in the third person didn't make sense. In his literary experience it read more like a novel. A novel about him...and her...them.
Mac pasted on a smile and impatiently offered friendly farewells as the committee members left the building with promises to stay in touch. He regretted not being able to give them his undivided attention...or any attention at all, but he was too caught up in the urge to read what Joanna had written about them. He knew he probably shouldn't give in, but he apparently played a role in the story so he figured he had a right to read it, he rationalized.
"I'm going to head home if you don't mind," Cynthia announced, donning her coat and tucking a legal pad into her briefcase. "I'll get my notes from today's meeting together and share them with Joanna when she's feeling better."
After watching Cynthia leave and ignoring Geena's suspicious glances, he settled himself behind Joanna's desk, fired up the computer once more, and sat back to read 'Meeting MacGyver'. With one hand on the mouse, Mac scrolled through page after page of the story. Every now and again, something would catch his eye and tug at his heart:
What a man as experienced and worldly as MacGyver would want with a girl like her she couldn't comprehend. Surely Mac could have his pick of women, why was he wasting his time on her? She wanted so badly to believe MacGyver's growing feelings for her were real, but he was here on a Phoenix assignment. As soon as his job was done he would go back to Los Angeles and forget she ever existed. She only wished she could say the same about him.
She stared at the diamond ring Mac had put on her finger. He really loved her! The most wonderful man in the world loved her and wanted to be with her forever!
Her mind kept replaying the dinner conversation with Nikki and Craig. They confirmed what she already knew: MacGyver was a very special man. Way too special for her. He was meant to do great things, not waste away in a Midwestern town with a naive, modest wife. That would be like Lois Lane marrying Superman. He would eventually resent her for clipping his wings, or cape, as the case may be.
Now her only question was how would their story end?
MacGyver leaned back in the chair and considered everything he had just read. Waves of despair rolled over him as he struggled to think of a way to quell Joanna's uncertainty about his love for her. He closed his eyes and sighed, ready to go home for the day and deal with his emotions later when suddenly all of Jo's words began to make sense, fitting together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Mac knew why she was struggling to commit and he was fairly certain he had a way to fix it.
Mac rang the Fairfax's front doorbell later that afternoon. Judy answered and invited him.
"We're just getting ready to leave for church," she told him. "Jo's in the den resting. Go on back."
He smiled and nodded before heading to the back of the house. There, Joanna sat in a recliner, legs raised and covered with a brightly colored afghan. Her attention was on the television, but when she saw him standing in the doorway she quickly grabbed the remote and turned it off.
"There is absolutely nothing good on TV on a Saturday afternoon," she pouted.
Mac couldn't help but chuckle. "I came by to see how you were doing but since you're complaining I assume you're feeling better."
"I am," she confirmed, her eyes softening in a way they hadn't since he'd returned last week. "Wanna join me for dinner?"
She tipped her head toward the small table next to her where a glass of flat white soda and bag of pretzels sat. MacGyver sat in the matching recliner on the opposite side and grabbed a handful of the salty treats.
"So how did the meeting go this morning?" she asked eagerly.
Uh oh. "Fine," he shrugged. Everyone had left with a smile so he figured that was fair conjecture. "Cynthia took copious notes as usual and said she'd go over everything with you once you're better."
"Good," she replied, taking a sip of her drink before lowering the foot rest so she could turn to him. "Mac, I owe you an apology for everything I've put you through," she confessed.
"You don't need to apologize for getting sick," MacGyver remarked. "And if you're worried about my shoes-"
"No, I meant everything I've put you through these past weeks. You've proved your love and commitment to me over and over again and I was an idiot to question it. I know I told you we couldn't pick up where we left off and I meant that. We can't undo what happened while we were apart, but do you think we could just put it behind us and move forward?"
Mac's heart thudded in his chest and his mouth went dry. He couldn't believe he was finally hearing this. "Forward as in…?"
"Being a couple in love with a wedding to plan."
"I'd like that a lot," he confirmed. "There's just one thing missing." He watched her brow furrow in confusion as he dug in the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out his grandmother's, and now Joanna's, engagement ring. He reached for her hand and slid it on her finger.
"You've been carrying that around with you?" she asked, eyes wide.
"Yes ma'am. I like to be prepared for anything." The smile she gave him was warm and genuine and he wanted this moment to last forever but there was something he had to know. "What made you change your mind about us?"
She turned away and bowed her head. "You'll probably think it's really silly, but I knew, really knew with all my being, that you loved me when I threw up on you."
MacGyver worked his mouth but nothing came out. He was speechless and thankful when she continued.
"See, I think that is the absolute grossest thing in the world. I won't even let my mom see me like that. But you didn't let me push you away...literally. You stayed, filthy shoes and all, and took care of me." By now her voice was thick with emotion and Mac didn't much trust his own either.
"Aw baby," he reached over and cupped her cheek with his hand, "I'd do it all over again and a whole lot more. I'd give my life for you."
Jo's eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill over onto her cheeks. "I know, and I'd do the same for you. I'm so, so sorry I kept questioning my feelings."
"Hey, I thought we were putting that all behind us," he said with a quirky grin as he wiped away an errant tear with his thumb. Joanna offered him a watery smile, her face full of hope and love, and he knew he had to come clean with her. He reached into his jacket and withdrew the manuscript he had printed off earlier and handed it to her. Confusion spread across her face.
"How did you find this?" she asked softly.
"I was looking for the agenda for this morning's meeting when I opened it by mistake."
"You know my password?" She shot an accusing look his way.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Well, why wouldn't you?" she muttered. After all, there were only a few people in the world who knew his first name so she figured it was the safest password ever.
"You read it," she surmised, her demeanor surprisingly calm.
"When I realized what it was, I thought it might help me understand you better," Mac explained. "And it did."
This piqued her curiosity. "Go on," she prompted, raising one brow.
"Ever since we met, I was determined to keep my past in the past so it wouldn't ruin my chance at a future with you, but it turns out it did exactly that anyway." He stopped and jammed his splayed fingers through his already disheveled hair. "By not talking about my time at Phoenix and the DXS, you ended up hearing bits and pieces about what I did, but never the whole story. You made me into some kind of hero, someone you thought didn't deserve you, but I am and always have been just a regular guy with a kinda weird job. I mean, I'll admit that I've done and seen more than most people could even begin to imagine, and maybe I tend to approach problems from a different angle than most, but I also got stuck with a lot of dull, lonely work no one else wanted to do."
"Like what?"
MacGyver thought for a minute. There was so much to choose from!
"Well, this one time I spent three weeks above the Arctic Circle monitoring whale migration. I came home with a frost-bit finger and found Jack building a plane in my living room."
Joanna tried but failed to hide the grin that tugged at her lips.
"Then there was the time I spent four weeks crammed inside a stuffy space simulator testing lab…"
"Okay, I get it," Jo conceded. "I went a little overboard romanticizing your adventures."
"And that's my fault," Mac declared. "Instead of burying my past, I should've shared it with you and that's what I plan to do from here on in. No more hiding, no more running. If you want to know something, just ask. I'm an open book!" He spread his arms wide and smiled as she laughed.
"There's something else," he added, his tone serious. "I don't want you to ever think that you are not the absolute best thing in my life. I don't regret my past...well, at least not most of it...but I'm ready for a different future. One where I have a wife, own a home, have a family and do a job I love that won't get me killed and you are the only person I want to have that with. Are we clear?"
Jo nodded, her countenance a reflection of certainty and peace. Still, he had to know one more thing.
"Are you upset that I read your story?" he asked.
Joanna appeared thoughtful before shaking her head. "I probably should be if for no other reason than you invaded my privacy, but given the outcome, I'm glad you did."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," she confirmed with a playful grin as she pushed herself out of her chair and went to stand in front of him, taking his hands and urging him to his feet as well.
"What are you doing?" he asked, brows knitted in confusion.
"I was planning on kissing my fiancé senseless," she smirked.
She reached out and wound her arms around his neck with a sly smile.
"Well, it's about time!" he exclaimed as he lowered his lips to meet hers before she could say another word.