A beautiful Sunday to all of you!
Here´s the next part of this story for you - and I promise... no cliffhanger this time!
Part 11
Pete Thornton had taken off at a full run from the helicopter but had been forced to slow down a bit once he´d reached the trees due to the uneven terrain in the forest and the undergrowth he had to fight his way through. Nevertheless, he was panting heavily after only a few minutes. He trusted the doctor to follow him without checking back with him, yet also knew he wouldn´t be able to keep up the same pace carrying his emergency case. Thornton had just passed another thicket when he spotted a tall figure limping through the forest at a little distance.
MacGyver. Alive. Back on his feet. Thank God.
Relief made Pete stop for a brief moment and draw in a deep breath. He hurried on when he saw the lanky man drop to his knees, but immediately get up again and stagger on. Concern and worry took over in him once more when Pete had to watch Mac sway, stumble and collapse only a couple of steps later. He called out MacGyver´s name and dashed forward, not caring about the terrain anymore. Thornton reached the young man only moments later, crouched down next to him, and quickly grabbed on to his arms once he noticed Mac was trying to push himself up again.
MacGyver initially flinched at his sudden touch, but then fought to get up despite the firm hold. Whoever was there… hindering him… he had to break free… he still had to reach that chopper.
“MacGyver, stop it!” Pete called out to him. “It´s me… it´s Pete! Stop fighting!”
Mac briefly froze as he recognized the familiar voice. He half-turned toward its bearer.
“Help me get up.” He asked with a raspy voice, his mind still solely focused on the rotor´s sound. He couldn´t muster up the strength to raise his head fully to face his boss, but he knew he had to get to his feet again. “The helicopter…” Mac urged on when Pete didn´t loosen his hold. He resumed his attempt to push himself up. “I can´t give up now.” Some despair seeped through into his voice. “I need to…”
“It´s alright, MacGyver.” Pete cut him off firmly and kept trying to restrain the young man´s movements. The strength with which Mac struggled against his hold only moments after he´d collapsed was surprising to the senior agent. “Take your time.”
“But they´ll leave if we´re not there,” Mac continued to argue, his body still tense with determination.
“Mac, they´ve seen you. They know you´re here.” Pete lowered his voice a little and did his best to add a soothing tone despite his worries about his rookie's condition. “They´ll wait for you. They won´t leave without you.” He added after a moment and was relieved when MacGyver finally stopped fighting his hands.
Pete´s words needed a few seconds to fully register in MacGyver´s mind but then part of his despair made room for some relief. He sighed and gave in to Pete´s hold.
“It´s okay… now take it easy and let me have a look at you,” Pete asked softly once Mac´s body relaxed.
With gentle force, he urged the young man to turn over and lie on his back. He subconsciously held his breath when Mac looked up at him for the first time, and Pete noticed how glassy and unsteady his gaze was and how pale and moist with sweat the skin of his face was. Then Pete´s eyes caught on the huge, dark red stain on the left side of MacGyver´s shirt.
“My God…” Pete´s heart clenched at the realization of why Mac´s condition had gotten that much worse. “They shot you.” One of his hands quickly moved to the tear in Mac´s shirt but stopped at the young man´s hoarse answer.
“No… just grazed me.” MacGyver feebly shook his head. His breath came in strained gasps. “But it´s been bleeding… had no means to stop…”
He broke off with a coughing fit. His face screwed up with the pain racing across his chest, and he tried to curl up on his side, but Pete reacted fast. His arm wove around the back of MacGyver´s shoulders, and he quickly pulled him up to a half-sitting, half-leaning position to make breathing easier for the young man. MacGyver´s whole body shook with the coughs as he struggled to regain control over his breath, while Pete cradled him sideways against himself. The senior agent sensed the feverish heat radiating from Mac all the time he steadied him until his breath had somewhat calmed down. Mac briefly looked up at him.
“Thanks, Pete.”
Then his head tiredly dropped against the front of Pete´s shoulder and he allowed his eyes to close. His desperation faded even further as the realization settled in his mind that he wasn´t alone in his dire situation anymore. Pete Thornton was here with him. He´d help. Just as he had on the day before. He felt Pete adjust his hold around him.
“Quiet. Spare your strength.” Pete ordered low but then noticed that the doctor still hadn´t caught up with them. He looked over his shoulder to where he´d come from.
“We could use some help over here!” Thornton called out loudly.
MacGyver winced in his arms with the unexpected shout.
“Almost there, Sir!” the doc replied.
MacGyver barely heard the answer coming from beyond the thicket and the hurried steps of another man coming closer. He was still concentrating on slowing down his labored breathing and mentally pushing against the waves of pain rushing through various parts of his body when a third hand was laid on his shoulder and a fourth touched his forehead. Mac flinched back with surprise once again, quickly turned his head to see who was there, and sensed Pete tighten his hold so Mac wouldn´t lose his balance.
“It´s okay,” Pete said as MacGyver still tried to focus his eyes on the unfamiliar man next to him. “Doctor´s here to take care of you.”
Mac nodded weakly and let go of the tension that had returned to his body. After a quick first assessment, the doctor shot Pete a serious glance before he turned to the emergency case he´d set down beside himself.
“Lay him down, Sir,” he asked curtly.
Pete´s worries grew once more with the doc´s terse reaction, and he obeyed at once and eased MacGyver back to the ground. That Mac had stopped resisting his doing and just let his body sag down didn´t help alleviate his concerns either.
MacGyver drew in one deep breath after another in an attempt to gain a little control over his agony. He let his eyes fall closed after the doctor had checked them, seeking some rest while the doc continued his examination and took his vitals. But he only got a few moments before he felt Pete´s hand grab on to his shoulder.
“MacGyver? Stay awake, will you?” His boss demanded firmly. “Don´t you dare give up on me now!”
Mac blinked his eyes open and tilted his head toward the older man.
“Don´t plan to.” he breathed with a tired smirk.
The fog clouding his mind had mostly cleared during the last minutes as had his eyesight. He saw Pete´s concerned smile at his remark but then a realization dawned on him.
“You came back,” Mac stated slowly.
“Of course I did.” Pete broke eye contact and looked sideways at what the doctor was doing.
“To look for me.” Mac continued. “Earlier than we agreed.”
“Yes,” Pete answered. “I heard gunfire… twice… I had to…”
“You shouldn´t have.” Mac cut him off.
Pete´s gaze returned to MacGyver´s exhausted face. He was puzzled.
“The films.” Mac carried on with some worry in his voice. “You promised to take them…”
How can he still be more concerned about the evidence? In his state? Pete couldn´t believe what Mac had just said. Has he really expected me to leave him behind?
This time the senior agent interrupted his rookie.
“The films are safe onboard the chopper.” Pete hurried to assure the young man. “I did meet them as I promised… but when you didn´t arrive in time, I had the feeling you might need some assistance.” Pete sighed. “So I ordered the pilot to search for you.”
MacGyver nodded weakly. He opened his mouth to respond but then his breath caught in his throat as he suppressed a sudden pained groan. His body stiffened abruptly and his arm, which had lain spread out sideways, curled up. His hand found Pete´s arm and he held on to it.
Pete´s head snapped toward the medic and he saw him probe along the bullet graze with his fingers and wipe the blood off Mac´s chest. He´d opened up MacGyver´s shirt and cut open the t-shirt while the two had been talking, frozen for a moment as he´d taken in the bruisings covering a good part of his upper body but then concentrated on the tear in MacGyver´s skin.
“That´s gonna need some sutures.” The doctor assessed and turned to fetch some suitable dressings from his case. “But you´ve been lucky… You´d be dead by now had that bullet torn into your lungs.”
MacGyver nodded while the agonized expression slowly faded from his face. He felt his boss squeeze his shoulder briefly. His eyes found Pete´s again. A feeble grin flashed across Mac´s face.
“I was lucky Moreno was convinced it had done just that,” Mac added between gasping breaths while the doctor took care of his wound and then resumed examining him.
“Lucky again, hm?” Pete couldn´t help but smile for a second. Then he sighed sympathetically. “So your distraction didn´t work out as planned. Can you tell me about it? What went wrong?”
Mac drew in a deep breath and sorted the memories in his aching head.
“No, my diversion actually worked just fine.” He weakly shook his head. “But they called in reinforcements and were on my tail faster than I had expected. Moreno was with them himself.”
He licked his dried-out lips and closed his eyes for a moment. MacGyver also eased up his hold on Pete´s arm, now that the hurting in his chest slowly diminished. Another short squeeze of Thornton´s hand on his shoulder brought his concentration back to his boss. His eyes drifted back open.
“I made a bad decision.” MacGyver related hoarsely. “I chose a way that seemed easier to walk down but provided little cover for a few minutes. That was when they spotted me.” He held his breath subconsciously when the feeling of his crutch shattering beside him returned to the forefront of his mind.
“So they caught up with you?” Pete asked after a moment of patiently waiting for Mac to carry on.
“No.” MacGyver´s dark eyes locked onto Pete´s. “Moreno had some kind of rifle… with a scope… probably suited for a sniper,” he explained. “The first shot hit my crutch… the second…”
But suddenly MacGyver broke off with any agonized, hoarse cry. He pressed his eyes shut, his grip on Pete´s arm tightened again, and his body went rigid at once. After only a split second of surprise and shock, Pete´s gaze shot sideways to the doctor and saw him at the beginning of removing the bandage below Mac´s knee. Pete´s stomach went tight as a knot as the memory of MacGyver cauterizing his wounds instantly returned.
“Doc, don´t!” he called sharply and also reached out with his free hand to stop the doctor.
The medic looked up at him confused.
“Those injuries seem to be infected.” he assessed. “I need to…”
“They are.” Pete didn´t let him finish.
“Well, even more reason to have a look at them.” The doctor wanted to resume his work. “Most possibly what´s causing the high fever he´s running.”
MacGyver´s body tensed up again with only a small movement of the doc´s hand. He was silent now, but his face was screwed up with pain. Pete noticed it and tightened his hold on Mac´s shoulder.
“Agreed, but not now!” he snapped at the doctor, who froze and looked up again. He held Pete Thornton´s intense gaze for a moment.
“Sir, he´s heading toward…” he then started out but Pete interrupted him again.
“I´m aware of that.” Thornton´s voice had taken on the same authoritative tone as before in the helicopter. “But for now, just stabilize him so we can make it to the chopper. We need to get out of here fast. This territory isn´t safe.” Inwardly, he also wanted to spare Mac some of his suffering… but he wasn´t about to admit that to the doctor.
The medic considered Pete´s words for a few seconds and then gave in with a nod. He closed the bandage and turned around to his case.
MacGyver had done his best to mentally focus on the steadying presence of Pete´s firm hand on his shoulder to keep his composure during their conversation and to distract himself from the doctor´s doing, but once the medic had started to remove the dressing that partially stuck to the wound below his knee, the fiery blaze erupting throughout his leg had been too sudden and too intense to counter. He´d heard Pete bark at the doctor to stop, and he´d heard both men arguing but he hadn´t been able to concentrate on the words.
Now, as the doctor´s hands left his leg and the burning agony slowly diminished, MacGyver urged his body to relax once more. He couldn´t suppress a shiver running over him while he, bit by bit, sagged back to the ground. When his hand slipped off Pete´s arm, the older man was quick to catch it in his own and instead rest his free one on Mac´s shoulder.
“You still with me, MacGyver?” he asked with a short squeeze of MacGyver´s hand.
The question gave MacGyver something to concentrate on apart from his suffering. He blinked his eyes half open, found the concerned expression of his boss hovering beside him, and planted a feeble smile on his face.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Sort of.”
“Good.” Pete couldn´t bring himself to return the smile. “Because you got to be able to walk to the helicopter.”
“I will,” MacGyver assured with another nod although he wasn´t the least sure if he still had enough energy and strength left to do so. But he wasn´t about to let his boss see that.
Only a moment later he was distracted by the doctor pushing up the sleeve of his shirt and cleaning the crook of his arm with a cool alcohol wipe. Mac turned his head and questioningly looked up at the syringe the doc held in his hand.
“This´ll boost your circulation, raise your blood pressure a little… help you keep going.” The medic explained while he administered the medicine. “It´ll be a minute or two until you´ll feel its effects.” He left the needle in Mac´s arm and reached for another syringe. “Pain caused by infection is very intense and hard to fight… This should ease it.” He continued and inserted the second one into the needle. “The effect sets in almost instantly… don´t be surprised.”
MacGyver wanted to nod but when the doc pressed down the plunger and the clear liquid reached his bloodstream, a sudden wave of warmth flooded his senses. At once, he felt light, like floating, and the hurting in various parts of his body subsided. Mac drew in a shuddering deep breath, closed his eyes, and slowly let the air flow out of his lungs again. The abrupt relief almost overwhelmed him.
But then he felt the doctor squeeze his arm and address him.
“MacGyver? I need you to stay concentrated!” he urged. “Look at me!”
Mac forced his eyes to open and had to blink a few times to get them to focus. The medic waited those couple of seconds before he let go of Mac´s arm.
“You can´t drift off… not yet. You gotta be able to walk, remember?” he continued softly. “Feeling better?”
“Yes.” Mac nodded once. “Thanks, doc.”
Then the doctor looked up and met Thornton´s gaze.
“See that he stays awake,” he said before he turned back to his case. “And help him to sit up… slowly.”
MacGyver tilted his head back to his boss, who let go of his hand but kept the contact to his shoulder.
“You heard the doctor,” Pete stated once MacGyver´s eyes had found him. “Whenever you´re ready.”
MacGyver nodded and little by little started to push himself up. Pete´s hands were immediately there to secure and support him. He swayed dizzily once he was sitting, sensed Pete´s arm wrap around his shoulders, steadying him, but couldn´t bring himself to really care about it. His thoughts and emotions faded into the distance as a medication-induced fog sent his mind swimming. The only thing he knew was he was glad about the pain being mostly gone… the second one that mattered was getting to that helicopter.
Later on, MacGyver couldn´t remember much of the following minutes or their way to the helicopter. The noise and wind caused by the rotors brought him a little more back to the present. He shielded his face with his free arm and continued to hold on to Pete with the other one while they closed in on the chopper. Pete helped him climb into the Huey, and Mac crawled further inside it on his hands and one knee, dragging his wounded leg behind. MacGyver moved on somewhat automatically, not fully aware of his surroundings anymore, when he suddenly sensed Pete´s hands grab on to his shoulders from behind.
“It´s okay, Mac… stop.” The senior agent suggested. “Lay back.”
MacGyver felt Pete turn him around with gentle force until his upper body was resting against Pete´s belly and his head lying against his arm. His eyes fell closed although his mind hadn´t calmed down yet. His body remained tense. He only vaguely noticed the doctor and the armed soldier getting on board but the sharp sound of one of them slamming the door shut startled MacGyver.
His eyes snapped open with alarm; he bolted up but gasped at the pain the sudden motion caused to flash through his leg. Whatever the doctor had given him, the throbbing around his knee was already getting worse again. Pete Thornton was surprised for a split second by Mac´s intense reaction, but then quickly tightened his hold around the young man.
“It´s alright, MacGyver!” he hurried to assure when he sensed Mac struggling instinctively against his hold. “Just the door! Calm down!”
The young man froze but his body remained rigid. His dark eyes darted around the inside of the Huey nervously.
“Easy. You made it.” The senior agent continued in a soothing tone, well aware that the medication combined with the fever was probably messing with MacGyver´s senses and perception. “You´re safe… we´re taking you to a hospital.”
It took a couple of seconds until the words fully registered in MacGyver´s mind, and he slowly sank back against the older man. His labored breathing evened out during the next moments and he shot Pete an apologetic glance.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
Pete chose not to react to it. He couldn´t think of anything his rookie had to apologize for.
“Just relax… try to rest,” he responded and sensed Mac´s body loosen up a little more. “You comfortable?”
The young man closed his eyes again and nodded weakly.
“Yeah… thanks.” His answer came low and faint.
Pete raised his gaze to the doctor and saw him signal to the pilots to take off before he turned to his case. Almost instantly, the dull roar of engine and rotor grew, and only a moment later Pete felt the chopper lift off the ground. But he also sensed Mac´s body tense up in his arm and heard him draw in a sharp breath. His concentration returned to the young man and he laid his free hand on Mac´s shoulder.
“What?” Thornton hurried to ask. “What´s wrong?”
MacGyver shook his head but his face was marked with pain.
“Just the helicopter moving,” he answered through clenched teeth. “I´m fine.”
Then a shiver ran over his body. Pete puffed out a sigh and looked around himself.
“Hand me the blanket,” he ordered the soldier once he had spotted the Huey´s emergency kit.
The soldier complied immediately and together they covered Mac to at least keep him warm. The medic had been preparing an infusion in the meantime and now focused on inserting the needle into Mac´s arm, when the helicopter tilted into a turn along his way through the valley.
MacGyver bit back a moan and stiffened again. Pete Thornton adjusted his hold on the young man but looked up at the doctor with serious concern. Once the medic was satisfied with how the IV line was secured to MacGyver´s arm, he met Pete´s gaze.
“The fluids will help stabilize him,” he explained.
“But it seems the painkillers are already wearing off.” Pete countered.
“Probably.” The doctor admitted. “I had to keep the dose low and it´s been a substance only suited for short-time emergencies.”
“Then give him…” The senior agent argued but broke off when MacGyver faintly muttered his name.
“Pete… I´m fine… there´s no need to…” he tried to assure his boss that he could bear with the situation.
“Quiet, MacGyver.” Pete cut him off softly and squeezed his shoulder. “Just hang on, friend.” Then his eyes found the doctor´s again.
“I can´t give him more of it.” The medic declared. “I´d risk a collapse.”
“Then find another way to help him,” Pete said low but with a tone that left little room for argument.
A tense silence stretched between the two men while the doc held Pete´s demanding gaze. A couple of seconds later, when Mac winced again and his breath hitched with the chopper´s next turn, the medic nodded with a sigh.
“There is another way.” With that, he turned to his case, and Pete lowered his eyes to the young man in his arm and readjusted the blanket covering him.
MacGyver half-opened his eyes and noticed the serious concern in his superior´s expression. A word, his boss had used only moments ago, still floated around in his head. He wasn´t sure what to make of it.
Friend?
While pain and dizziness were back with almost full force, the medicated fog had mostly lifted off his mind, and he was grateful to be able to think more clearly again. Having lost track of time, not being able to remember what had happened although he´d been conscious, unnerved him.
“I´m okay.” He told Pete between labored breaths. “I can cope with it.”
Pete forced a smile onto his face, although he didn´t feel like it at all, and remained silent. His concern about MacGyver´s condition had the upper hand inside his mind. His struggle to stay emotionally detached and keep a professional distance from Mac failed badly at the moment. And what could he say to the young man whose refusal to give up or surrender impressed him beyond measure anyway? That young man who was still trying his best to stay vigilant and still going beyond his limits?
But then the doctor caught Pete´s attention as he straightened himself and reached for the IV line with a syringe in his hand. MacGyver´s eyes followed Pete´s and he tried to rise with alarm at the sight. He´d appreciated the pain lessening in the woods, but now he was determined to handle the agony since having medication meddle with his perception was definitely not what he wanted. Pete´s hold on him tightened instantly.
“Don´t.” Mac breathed as he strove to escape Pete´s hands. The realization that he wasn´t strong enough anymore to break free sent a small wave of fear through him. “Please… I don´t need…” But his words trailed off with a pained grimace when a turbulence rocked the helicopter and jarred his leg.
The doctor shot Pete a questioning look, who nodded just once.
“No…” MacGyver´s eyes were locked onto the milky fluid making its way into his veins as the doctor injected the content of the syringe into his IV. He sensed himself getting tired and his consciousness fading away within a few seconds, but kept struggling against the feeling and Pete´s firm arms around him.
“Don´t fight it, MacGyver.” The doctor ordered at Mac´s reaction. “It´s just helping you fall asleep. That´ll make it easier for you.”
“But I… I need to stay…” MacGyver tried again while his vision already started to black out.
“Mac, it´s okay. We´ll take care of you.” Pete cut him off. “Relax. You´ll be alright. I´ve got you.”
Pete Thornton´s soothing assurance made MacGyver freeze only seconds before the medication finally took over. The words had just enough time to register in his head and make him feel safe before everything faded into dark nothingness. Pete let out a long, quiet sigh after the young man´s body had gone limp in his arms.
“Keep him under close watch… especially his breathing rhythm.” The medic said low to Pete.
He heard the doctor´s advice but couldn´t take his eyes off the pale, now expressionless face. Exhaustion and pain had marked MacGyver´s features. One of Pete´s hands automatically moved from Mac´s shoulder to the middle of his chest. He´d feel the rise and fall with every breath a lot easier there.
“I will,” Pete answered softly.
++++++++++
Silence…
Warmth and softness enveloped him…
Vaguely familiar smells… a bed… a hospital bed probably…
But then the warmth grew into a wave of uncomfortable, dry heat within moments. Instinctively, MacGyver tried to stretch a little, to evade the heat, but froze almost instantly as pain assaulted him from various parts of his body. His leg suddenly felt like shimmering fire. With the agony returned the dizziness and a bout of nausea. He drew in a deep breath to fight the sick feeling in his stomach and couldn´t suppress a groan.
“Mr. MacGyver? … Calm down.”
The soft, female voice startled him. His eyes had still been closed; he hadn´t known about anyone being here with him. Wherever here was…
A cool, slender hand grabbed on to his wrist only a second later, feeling for his pulse. Mac tilted his head to the side and slowly blinked his eyes open. The image remained blurry and unsteady but MacGyver figured it had to be a nurse looking down at him. The room they were in was only dimly lit, with just darkness outside the one window he could see behind her.
So it has to be night, Mac thought wearily.
But the thought was gone as another wave of awful heat and agony rushed through him. He gasped with a low moan. Both his hands closed into tight fists due to the intense pain.
“Just a moment.” The nurse let go of his wrist and turned sideways to a small table. She picked up something Mac couldn´t see clearly and reached for his IV line. “This´ll help quickly.”
In some small part in the back of MacGyver´s mind, he knew, under normal circumstances, he probably would have protested but he couldn´t muster up the energy to do so. He couldn´t bring himself to care. His whole body felt unbearably heavy and the hurting pressed him down even further. Even trying to focus his eyes and concentrate on the nurse next to him exhausted him to the core.
Within a couple of moments after she´d injected the medicine into his IV drip, a medication-induced haze settled in MacGyver´s head, dulled his thoughts and senses, and the searing pain faded. Mac let out a deep, relieved breath and didn´t resist this time when silence and darkness swept him away again.
++++++++++
The medication-induced fog had mostly lifted when MacGyver´s consciousness made it to the surface for the next time. He quickly recognized the hospital bed he was lying in and heard the familiar bustle of faint hospital sounds while he lay with his eyes still closed and strove to internally assess his condition. But then feverish heat, vertigo, and pain flooded his senses almost as badly and quickly as the last time. He hardly bit back a moan and tried to shift his position, tried to find another one where his leg wouldn´t feel like being on fire. Almost instantly, he heard the rustling of clothes and hurried steps closing in on him.
“Lie still, MacGyver. Don´t move.”
A concerned male voice addressed him. He knew that voice.
Pete.
A wave of relief washed through him. Mac turned his head toward where he´d heard the voice from and let his eyes drift open. Pete Thornton´s worried smile came into focus after a moment. But the sick feeling in his stomach returned with the room swimming dizzily before his eyes.
“Hey there.” Pete greeted him. “Good to have you back.”
“Hey.” Mac´s response was feeble and hoarse.
His mouth and throat felt completely dried out. He attempted to return the smile but knew it wouldn´t look all too convincing. His boss looked tired and worn out… as if he hadn´t slept for a long time. His clothes were rumpled. But the room was much brighter now. Light came in through the window. It had to be the next morning.
“How are you feeling?” Pete asked.
The older man was standing beside Mac´s bed and now took Mac´s hand into his. MacGyver slowly closed his fingers around Thornton´s hand.
“Awful.” Mac croaked. “Nausea.” He took a deep breath to keep the sickness under control. “Hurts.”
Pete nodded sympathetically and glanced over his shoulder. Only then MacGyver noticed that a nurse was in the room with them, and that she´d been observing him and the monitors he was hooked up to. She gave Pete a quick nod and then turned away to prepare something.
“You´re on heavy medication since you´re out of surgery.” Pete´s words returned Mac´s concentration to him. “You gave me quite a scare, partner.”
MacGyver raised his eyebrows questioningly, hoping the senior agent would continue to explain.
“The infection of your wound had already started to spread when we found you in the woods.” Pete sighed deeply. “You were already heading toward a serious sepsis. Thankfully, it´s beginning to respond to the antibiotics you´re on. But they need more time to do their work. According to your doctor, it´ll be at least another day or so until you´ll be feeling a little better.”
MacGyver needed a couple of seconds to process all the information. He swallowed dryly. He hadn´t realized that his condition had already been that critical on his way to the pick-up site.
“How long have I been out?” he then asked hoarsely, needing to know how much time he´d lost.
Pete glanced at his watch.
“It´s been about a whole day since we´ve brought you here,” he replied.
A whole day? Mac momentarily held his breath with surprise and shock. Moreno and his men will be long gone by now… and the remaining weapons will be gone with them… to some different operation base, the DXS probably has no knowledge of… way out of our reach… with no way to bring them to justice. That´s quite a setback to this important case, he realized.
Mac´s heart rate went up with his thoughts which caused one of the monitors to set off an alarming beeping and the nurse to gaze at it and MacGyver concerned. She turned around with two syringes in her hand and shot Pete a warning glare. But MacGyver wasn´t ready to end the conversation yet. He had to know if at least the information, which gathering had cost him so much, was safe.
“But Pete…” he asked between strained breaths. “The films… did you…”
“Yes, MacGyver.” Pete cut him off quickly when the nurse reached for his IV line. “Safe and already developed.”
The nurse administered the first of the syringes. Pete knew Mac would be falling asleep in a few moments.
“It´s hot stuff, not only concerning the arms smugglers but also their customers. We´ve already put some of it to use… Good work.” Pete continued with an appreciative nod.
Mac felt the meds clouding his senses and the pain diminishing while the nurse emptied the second syringe. He had so many questions floating around his head he needed to ask Pete, but knowing his boss was satisfied with the intel, relieved MacGyver of some of his worries. The DXS would make a new attempt to bring those guys to justice. Hopefully, although he´d almost blown his assignment, he would be allowed to be a part of it. But before he could ask, Pete spoke up again.
“I´ll tell you all about it once you´ve gotten a little better. For now, calm down. You need to rest.”
Mac distantly noticed that the monitor had quieted down by the time the nurse set down the second syringe. The haze settled back into his mind. His thoughts started fading away. But just a moment ago, there had been important things he´d wanted to know from Pete. He strove to focus on his superior.
“But Pete...” he tried to form any coherent question as his vision already blurred.
“It´s alright, MacGyver. Everything´s under control.” Pete interrupted him again and gently squeezed his hand. “Sleep. Rest. I´ll be here when you wake up.”
Pete´s soothing words echoed within Mac´s mind as the darkness swallowed him up once more and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
++++++++++
When MacGyver awoke for the third time, he instinctively knew that his condition had changed for the better. The feverish heat had lessened as had the haze clouding his mind. His mouth still felt parched and some nausea remained. Mac drew in a deep breath and cautiously tried to stretch a little, very well remembering the searing pain his last attempt at this had caused within his wounded leg. But it earned him only a serious throbbing this time.
Bad, but bearable, he decided internally. For the first time, he noticed the bandages and the brace which made bending his knee almost impossible. Mac bit his lower lip and strove to relax his strained body with something between a sigh and a low moan. Instantly, he heard the rustle of clothes and sheets of paper.
“MacGyver? … Are you awake?”
Mac tilted his head sideways and opened his eyes. He saw daylight filtering in through the window and Pete Thornton sitting in a chair next to it. Since it has been early evening the last time I remember being awake… the next morning maybe?
“Yes, Pete,” he answered hoarsely. “Good morning.”
Pete laid the folder he´d just closed aside and got to his feet. He forced a smile onto his serious face while he walked up to MacGyver´s bedside. The senior agent had changed into fresh clothes but he still looked tired and worn out.
“Rather a good evening, MacGyver,” he corrected. “How are you doing?”
“Better,” Mac replied automatically but then held his breath for a moment when the older man´s response sunk in. “I´ve lost another day?” he then asked baffled.
“Don´t you call those two days lost!” Thornton scolded him. “You´ve been through a lot. Your body needed the time to recover.” He straightened himself and sucked in a deep breath. “By the way, your doctor´s quite impressed by how swiftly your condition is improving.”
For a few seconds, Mac was bewildered by how harsh and at the same time fatherly and protective his superior´s voice sounded.
“He is?” Mac managed to ask before his dried-out throat made him cough.
Pete´s hand was on MacGyver´s arm in an instant. He waited until MacGyver had regained some control over his breath, but his smile turned a lot more concerned while he observed the younger man.
“Shall I call a doctor?” Thornton then asked quickly. “Do you need anything?”
Mac feebly shook his head as he willed the pain that had raced across his chest to subside.
“Just some water.” he croaked.
“Sorry… they won´t let you drink water yet,” Pete replied with an apologetic half-shrug. “Something about the side-effects of the strong meds probably causing you to get sick… But the nurse left some ice chips for you.”
“Please.” Mac nodded.
The head-end of his bed was raised a bit, but MacGyver tried to push himself up a little more while Pete turned sideways to pick up the cup with the ice and a spoon. He noticed Mac´s attempt out of the corner of his eye.
“Hey!” he snapped and laid one hand on MacGyver´s shoulder. “Stay still! You´re not supposed to sit up yet.”
Mac froze at the stern look Thornton pinned him with and then slowly let himself sink back into the pillows again. This small movement had been incredibly strenuous anyway. He obediently opened his mouth when Pete offered him a few ice chips on the spoon and sighed with relief as the moisture and coolness seeped in while he held the ice in his mouth. He let his eyes fall closed and breathed deeply.
“Your doctor´s been here to check on you about an hour ago,” Pete told him while he set the cup and spoon aside. “Your temperature isn´t back to normal yet but he´s quite happy with how well the sepsis is responding to the treatment and how fast you´re beginning to heal. He said, that mashed root of yours was a good initial treatment. He´ll be back later in the evening.”
Mac heard Pete let out a huffed sigh and opened his eyes only to see the older man look down at him with a dark, worried expression. Mac´s brows narrowed into a questioning frown.
“He also said… had it been three hours later until we´d found you…” Pete continued slowly. “You maybe wouldn't have survived the sepsis… even with immediate treatment.”
MacGyver was silent for a moment, held his superior´s gaze and then swallowed the last tiny bits of ice that hadn´t melted yet.
“So your decision to look for me at once saved me,” he stated low. “I owe you my life. Thank you.”
“Yes, probably… but since we´ve first met… I owe you mine a couple of times.” Thornton tried to brush off MacGyver´s thanks and smiled briefly. “Can we not count the occasions, but agree that should we get into serious trouble again in the future… we´ll help each other to get out of it alive?”
“Agreed.” An earnest smile widened on Mac´s features as he nodded.
Then the memory of the folder Pete had closed and laid aside before he´d gotten up reminded Mac of Pete´s promise to tell him all about how the DXS had already put some of the intel on the films to good use. It also reminded him that, with another day having passed, Moreno and his men would for sure be gone by now. The realization made his heart sink and his smile died.
“But Pete…” he started out cautiously. “The films, the information… you said, you´d tell me about it.”
Pete´s expression grew serious again as he drew in a deep breath.
“The films… of course.” He lifted his gaze off the young man and sorted through his memories of the last two days. “As soon as I was sure you were in medical care, I had the films developed and prints made. In the meantime, I called headquarters and updated them about what you had told me and what I had seen myself.”
“You said the information will help bring the arms dealers and their customers to justice.” MacGyver cut in.
“Definitely,” Thornton confirmed. “I had a look at the prints before Agent Rogers came to take them to L.A. yesterday. Our analysts are already working on the whole thing. I was just scanning through my copies when you woke up.”
MacGyver let out a deep relieved breath.
“Glad to hear that getting myself almost killed has led to at least something good.” He replied with a lopsided, weak grin. “Too bad that Moreno and his men will have left by now… most likely to somewhere we can´t reach them.”
Mac was surprised when a content smile widened on the senior agent´s face.
“What? … Why are you smiling?” He frowned up at Pete.
“MacGyver, you do remember the military helped us out with the helicopter flights,” Pete answered with a chuckle at the younger man´s confused expression.
“Yeah.” Mac nodded, but his body tensed up a little.
“It´s also the hospital of the military base we took off from in the first place we´re currently in,” Pete explained. “After my report, our department chief immediately talked to the base commander about lending the DXS helicopters once again and about assembling a team of soldiers. He ordered me to lead them to the smuggler´s camp as soon as possible and arrest those criminals. Moreno and his men were completely taken aback by the nightly raid of our strike force. He´d thought they were safe up there hidden between the mountains since he believed he´d killed you and had never known about my presence. They put up quite a fight nevertheless… some of them got wounded but we got them all. No casualties on our side, thank God.” Pete lowered his eyes for a beat and sighed quietly when the worries he´d had about MacGyver that evening returned to his mind. “The doctors weren´t sure if you´d make it by the time I had to leave for the raid. We apprehended Moreno and his henchmen under the assumption that they had added the murder of a government agent to their charges.”
MacGyver needed a few moments to digest all that Pete had told him.
“So they are arrested?” he then asked for confirmation.
“All of them. Behind bars.” Pete reassured. “A few of our agents are at the camp right now… securing and collecting even more evidence.”
MacGyver slowly let out a deep breath he hadn´t known he´d been holding. His inner tension and worries made way for another, even bigger wave of relief. But with the inner pressure lessening, his body reminded him how sore and weakened he still was. He let himself sink back into the mattress and the pillows exhaustedly.
“That´s good… great, in fact,” Mac replied after a moment of silence. “Although I gotta say that I´m happy they´ll only be charged with attempted murder.” A lopsided grin flashed across his face.
“So am I,” Pete admitted low.
He forced himself to return the smile while he held MacGyver´s gaze and fought back the thought that he´d made the final decision to send the rookie off – to an assignment that had almost ended Mac´s life. Thornton still hadn´t figured out why it bothered him so much – concerning especially this young man. He wasn´t the first young agent Pete had guided into their special line of work, and he wouldn´t be the last. But in many ways, this man was so different compared to anyone he´d met before. He sighed inwardly, but noticed with relief that the sparkle had returned to MacGyver´s dark eyes with the good news, although his energy reserves seemed spent for the moment.
“You look tired,” Pete stated low and laid his hand onto Mac´s arm, carefully sparing out the IV lines. “Will you be able to go back to sleep by yourself? ... Or shall I…”
He broke off as MacGyver shook his head. Pete voicing it had made Mac aware of how totally worn out he was. That he already had trouble keeping his eyes open and focused on the senior agent.
“I´ll be fine.” Mac slowly let out a deep breath.
“I´ve kept you awake for way too long.” Pete apologized and softly squeezed Mac´s arm. “I´m sorry… I shouldn´t have…”
“Don´t be.” Mac cut him off while his eyelids were getting heavier. “I´ll sleep a lot better knowing that Moreno´s in custody.”
A feeble smile crossed MacGyver´s features as his eyes fell closed. Pete Thornton returning that smile was the last thing he saw before he drifted off into the comfortable darkness of an exhausted, but restful sleep.
The stuff is already there. I just find a different way to use it.
that kind of erodes his determination to keep up a professional distance 
- where Mac is also out cold after getting shot and dropping down the cliff - but at least Moreno does check closely with the binoculars - Yanif didn´t 