She should have pulled the trigger.
This was what Clara Seger-Garrett thought when Onario shot her. She knew that she was bound to get hurt with a job like hers at some point. Suddenly she heard a door fall then a loud bang which she knew was a gun, then Onario fell to the ground.
"Scarpa! It's over." A voice said, she knew that voice, it was her colleague, Jack Garrett. "Ja- aaargh" she tried to say his name, but the pain got to her before she could.
"What happened, Clara," Jack asks her after seeing her on the couch bleeding from her right shoulder. She could barely let out the name Onario. "Hang on, Clara," he said while putting pressure on the wound. "Jack," she choked out, "Don't let me die'' the kids need me, she didn't need to tell them to know he heard the last part. "Clara! Hang... on... para... medics... are... on... there... way..." she hears Mae say panting. "Okay," Clara said weakly, half-dazed from the loss of blood.
When they get to the hospital, the doctors rush Clara to the Operating Room while the rest of the team waits. They all sat in the waiting room in silence, still shocked about what happened. Isa was comforting herself with a song on repeat and rewind, Mae was just staring into space, Matt was well Matt, Emma was having a panic attack, and Jack was trying to help Emma calm down. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever until a doctor came into the waiting room and said "SSA Clara Seger-Garrett" they all stood up Mae and Matt looked shocked and confused, Isa almost swore, Emma looked like a little kid getting caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and when the four of them turned their heads to face Jack his face was completely unreadable.
"Yes, we're her colleagues" Jack spoke up first then Emma came a bit closer next came Isa and finally Mae and Matt who were still in shock from what they heard. "SSA Seger-Garrett lost a lot of blood during the surgery, but thankfully the bullet didn't hit any major Arteries, and we were able to extract the bullet. She did need a blood transfusion due to the loss of blood. I suggest she takes it easy, but other than that she would make a full recovery. We are also keeping her here overnight to monitor her condition, and then she's all clear to travel back to the US." they all exhaled in relief, "Can we see her?" Emma spoke up, worry still in her voice "Of course but only one at a time." they all nodded, then Matt turned to his boss and said, "You should go first Jack" Jack nodded and followed the doctor to Clara's room.
After Jack left, the rest of the team looked at each other. "What in Quezon's name just happen" Isa spoke up first somehow keeping her voice low
"They are so screwed after this" Mae said like a little kid catching their older sibling in a compromising position "I'm calling Monty" quickly putting Monty on speed dial "Hey Monty you're on speaker" Mae said casually "Mayfield Ruth Jarvis why are you calling me at this time of the night" Monty said from the phone "Sorry Monty, but you will not believe what we just heard" Mae and Isa said at the same time now intrigue Monty said "I'm listening"
Mae, Isa, Emma, and Matt did a quick game of rock paper scissors then Matt said "Okay, so we were waiting on an update on Clara since she got shot-" Monty cut Matt off by saying "Hold up Clara got SHOT!" none of them wanted to talk about it, but Mae spoke up saying "Yea in the shoulder" Matt spoke up before Mont could say anything "and when the doc came to talk to us he said wait for it SSA Seger-Garrett" Mae interjected saying "That's still weird hearing that" Monty who was in complete shock about what his friends said "Why is Clara's name hyphenated to have both her and Jack's surname?" Mae exhaled in annoyance, "Isn't it obvious" Isa and Emma replied with a simple nope. "Jack and Clara are married, " Mae said emphasizing the word married
"Jack and Clara there is no way that's possible they're married and if it was true, I would have started a third EDSA revolution." Isa said slightly raising her voice emphasizing the word third "Please don't" everyone replied concern in their voice, "Plus haven't you seen the way they interact with each other" Mae asked Isa and Emma "Ummm yea," Isa was the one to reply "but from my perspective, they're just really close friends" she added Emma nodded in agreement. Mae, Matt, and Monty had enough of the two playing dumb but said nothing then Monty said, "Lets talk about this with both Jack and Clara with us" Mae who was reluctant to back down but was also tired said "Fine but if they are married you and Matt owe me 100 bucks". Matt and Monty simultaneously said "deal" then Mae hung up on Monty.
While the team was having this conversation, Jack was with Clara. Just as he was going to leave and tell the team to get some rest.
Clara's eyes started blinking open as she tried looking around. Jack was almost to the door.
"Jack" she said weakly. Jack turned around to see Clara, he gave a quick smile and said, "Good to see you're finally awake." Clara gave a sad smile and said, "This is all my fault I should have seen the blood drops, I knew I had a backup weapon, I know youd figure out eventually that he was our guy, and youd come and find me, I knew one way or the other, I could keep myself safe, but I somehow didn't know he would shoot me." afterwards Clara just started crying.
"It's hard to get over it because its been a while. I know youre an agent, and a very good one, but still, things like that can still scare us. We are all human." Jack told her, his tone of voice was calm and kind.
Clara looked at her boss and husband and gave another sad smile. She now regretted speaking in the first place.
"I am here if you want to talk. I care about you, and your wellbeing, and as much as I understand that in a few days you will be fine, I want to know, now, that youll be okay once we got home. Honey, you can admit that what happened a while back scared you or threw you off balance." Jack said softly, placing his hand on her cheek.
"I hate feeling this way. Its always the smallest things. I feel as though I should have handled the situation better. I was on my own and I saw drops of blood on the floor, I went into the room without checking, and the minute I got over the threshold and felt an arm around my neck, I knew I should have checked. I felt like I had forgotten a vital part of training, and then, I sat for what felt like a lifetime, trying to figure out how to talk to this kid and in the end, he shot me" Tears streaming down her face.
"Whatever you need. I sometimes think we could all do with a little comfort." Clara remained silent at his statement, but her mind was screaming. Jack got up and placed a kiss on her forehead and said, "I'm going to get the doctor to check on you." Clara managed to let out an okay. After a few beats, Jack came back with the doctor. "Good to see your awake SSA Seger-Garrett" Clara gave a meek smile "You were very lucky SSA Seger-Garrett the bullet didn't hit any major Arteries. We'll be keeping you here overnight to monitor your condition, then you'll be able to join your team on the flight back to the US. I also suggest you take it easy and don't put too much stress on yourself." after the doctor was done explaining, Clara asked, "The teams not going home tonight?" Jack looked at her and said, "You think we'd leave if one of our own was hurt? Hell no," Clara gave another meek smile and said, "Good to know". "I'll leave you two to talk," the doctor said then quickly left the room, Jack turned to Clara and said, "I'll just go and tell the team to go to the hotel and get some rest" Clara nodded then said "okay".
When Jack returned to the waiting room, he was expecting his team to bombard him with questions about why Clara's surname was hyphenated to also have his surname, but to his surprise, Emma was asleep, Mae was half asleep, Isa was playing her ukulele, and Matt was wide awake. Matt was him first and got up and asked him "Clara, okay?" Jack replied, "Yea, she woke up before I left to join you guys." Matt nodded and said, "Look about a while back I'm not prying or anything but what's with Clara having her name hyphenated." Jack sighed and said, "Don't tell the others yet, but Clara and I are married. 26 years, to be exact." Matt nodded and said, "Explains why you two are so close". "You guys head back to the hotel. I'll stay with Clara," Jack said not wanting to leave Clara alone for a long time especially since that happened to her, Matt nodded and said "okay" remembering what Mae told them said to Jack "Oh one more thing give Clara a head up since Mae said she's gonna bring up the fact that her surnames hyphenated at some point tomorrow before the flight." Jack gave a small smile and said, "Thanks for letting us know." Then he turned and headed back to Clara's room.
There he was greeted with a soft hey. "Hey, you're still up" he asked, sitting on the edge of her bed, "And you're still here?" she said in reply. "I'm not leaving you alone, Clara," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "You don't have to do that, you know" she said looking at him. "But I want to, especially since what happened," he said, the tone of his voice telling her that he was staying.
"Matt gave me a heads-up saying that Mae's gonna bust us before the flight home," Jack said, deciding to tell Clara since they agreed not to keep secrets from each other, all Clara's response was a little nod. "I thought I lost you a while back." he said, holding Clara closer to him, "You didn't lose me Jack I'm right here," she said to him softly "I know," he said lightly kissing her temple. They stayed like that for the rest of the night.
The next day Clara was discharged, and the team had lunch together. Mae decided that it was time to rip the band-aid and said "Sooo Clara, why is your surname hyphenated" Clara decided to play dumb by replying "What do you mean my surname has always been the same." Mae wasn't backing out of a fight that easily said, "Oh really, then explain why the doc from the hospital saying, and I quote SSA Seger-Garrett, and why your surname is hyphenated with Jack's" she said leaning into her chair and crossing her arms. Clara glanced at Jack, then raised her hand in mock surrender and said, "You got us. We're busted." turning to Jack, she said, "No more hiding". Mae turned to Matt and said, "You and Monty owe me" Mat just gave a small laugh and said handing Mae 100 buck "Remind me not to bet with you next time" everybody burst out laughing.
After everyone calmed down Isa raised her hands are said "Okay that's it I am hopping on the next plane to the Philippines, start EDSA Rev. 3, and after that bury myself at Manila North Cemetery" and just like the last time she said that there was a chorus of please don'ts and why would you do that's. Isa then gave a reassuring smile and said to them "I'm just kidding, plus do I look like I want to overthrow the current President" with that everyone burst into laughter again.
After everything that happened, things change, but something will never change.