Mac saw it then, the dark red that stained the blanket, covering Jack's lower half, was more noticeable when he leaned forward for a closer look. The blanket wasn't touching the exit wound so it hadn't soaked up any of the blood that had pooled under Jack's leg.
Mac lifted the blanket to the side to expose Jack's leg wounds. The bullet appeared to have traveled right through the meat in his friends thigh. Blood flowed steadily out of the two holes.
The surgeon's assistant squeezed past the nurse and Mac to help Jack. She put a thick pad of gauze over each of the wounds, then cinched a pressure bandage snugly over the gauze, eliciting a groan from Jack.
"It's bleeding heavily, but it's not arterial. This bandage should hold until we get where we are going."
"Where are we going?" Dr. Costas asked, looking expectantly at Mac.
"I've been thinking about that, I just need to make a call first. Anybody have a phone?" Something in the back of his mind was screaming at him to pay attention, that he was missing something.
The surgeon reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell. He dialed Phoenix and listened to it ring. It was something Sinclair had said…
"Son of a bitch! That's how those merc's knew where we were." Mac had completely forgotten he was still on the phone until heard the line pick up. The young agent ended the call without a word and dialed Riley's private cell instead.
The hacker answered on the first ring. "Riley, we ran into some trouble at the hospital here and we uh… had to leave." Mac tried to explain their current situation gently. He certainly didn't want to tell her that not only had he been shot but so had Jack, again.
"What happened?" Riley asked.
"Listen Ri, I can't go into detail, but I think Sinclair had someone from The Phoenix on his payroll and now he is trying to get rid of uh, the evidence," Mac hedged.
"Are you guys okay?" Riley asked, with obvious concern.
"We will be." Mac unconsciously looked at his partner's heavily bandaged leg, then followed the bloody dressings and bruises that decorated his chest, his gaze stopped on his friend's face. It was still a shock to see Jack in that condition. There was hardly a spot on his face that wasn't marred by a bruise or cut. Mac could easily make out the hand prints around the former Deltas neck. His left eye was swollen and deep purple with a gash on his eyebrow and a large split on the same cheekbone, both had been closed with stitches. His bottom lip had also been split open from a particularly hard hit, gravity had pulled the bruising, from there, to just under his chin. There was a thin cut on his neck from when Sinclair had nearly taken Jack from him for good.
"Mac… hey buddy, you okay?" Jack questioned. His hoarse voice barely audible in the aircraft.
Mac met Jack's worried eyes and broke out of his daze.
The young agent cleared his throat. "Yeah. Uh, Riley, can you find another hospital a safe distance away and keep our location off Phoenix channels."
"Way ahead of you, Mac, Matty has contacted the Assuta hospital in Tel Aviv, they will be ready for you when you arrive, which should be in about… three hours, based on your current location and Mac… how's Jack?" Riley asked nervously.
Mac looked over to his friend again. Jack's attention was still focused on him. Mac could tell his friend was in a lot of pain and he was trying to hide it. Jack was a helluva spy and he could bluff with the best of them, but Mac could always tell when he was in pain, his eyes gave it away every time. Even with the evident pain and the additional bullet wounds, Jack seemed to be doing better. His vitals were much improved since the transfusion.
"I think he's going to be okay, Riley."
The hacker let out a sigh of relief. "You two really scared us this time," Riley admitted.
'He scared me too.' Mac silently agreed. He threw his eyes back to his partner, who looked close to sleep, each blink lasting longer than the last.
"Whoever this mole is, talked to Sinclair at least once, can you search for any calls made from the Phoenix to Turkey? Maybe they were stupid enough to use their private cell or a Phoenix line."
"You got it, Mac." Riley answered.
"Be careful, all of you. If Sinclairs informant is willing to go after us, he might go after you too."
"We will, Mac." Riley answered then ended the call. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she hacked into the cell records of Phoenixes employees.
"What's the plan?" Dr. Costas asked. Her expression was one of discomfort. He guessed she wasn't used to being the one asking for direction. The other two women just looked scared. A pang of guilt shot through him. He had put these women and his best friend in mortal danger. Anyone of them could have been killed because he didn't think about the informant Sinclair had bought at The Phoenix and Jack had been shot, again.
"The Assuta hospital in Tel Aviv. We will be safe there." Mac answered.
"You guys aren't missionaries, are you?" The assistant asked.
Well, at least he knew what their cover ID's were now.
"I can't tell you what we do. I can only say I'm sorry for dragging all of you into this mess and for putting you in danger. I made a mistake and I will make it right, I promise." Mac assured. Dr. Costas conveyed the destination to the pilot and he nodded in acceptance, then he gently pulled the stick to the left to adjust their course.
Mac felt drained. The adrenaline from their encounter with the mercs had worn off and left him exhausted. It wasn't long before the steady whoop whoop from the helicopter blades lulled him to sleep.
Jack glanced over to where his partner sat and his heart leapt into his throat when he saw his friend unconscious with his features lax and his head resting on the chopper wall.
"Is he okay?" Jack asked worriedly.
The assistant curled two fingers around Mac's wrist to check the agents pulse. It was strong and steady. "He's fine, he's just resting. You should get some rest too," She advised.
Jack relaxed his head back onto his pillow. With his concern abated it wasn't long before he too went to sleep.
Jack drifted in and out of consciousness, his sleep disturbed by dreams of missions gone wrong, pain, and death. The older agent groaned loudly, his eyebrows pulled together in a grimace.
Mac jerked awake at the sound of his friend in pain. He leaned forward to take Jack's hand in his own, trying to offer any comfort he could.
"His rest has been fitful. I'm afraid he is going into septic shock. Those IV bags contained antibiotics, pain medicine and fluids and as you know they were destroyed by those men." The assistant spoke forlornly. "His fever is increasing as is his pain level and there's nothing we can do to help until we get to the hospital." She shook her head hopelessly.
Sinclair's goons hammered away on Jack's midsection. His insides throbbed and burned as they traded off pummeling him. Alex got bored with Jack and stepped over to Mac, he reared back and slammed his meaty fist into the kid's abdomen. All the air whoosed out of his partner. "No! Mac!" Jack screamed at the son of a bitch to stop his attack.
"Jack, hey buddy. It's okay, I'm right here." Mac consoled after hearing his best friend call out his name in anguish.
Brown eyes fluttered open and searched out the owner of the voice he knew so well. "Mac..." Jack's face crumpled up in misery as another wave of pain hit. His breathing quickened and a deep guttural groan was ripped from within him. Jack's left hand gripped and twisted a wad of blanket tightly. "Mac, somethin's wrong…"
"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Mac asked, pleadingly.
"Not until we get him to the hospital." The assistant responded apologetically, while she adjusted a blood pressure cuff just above his elbow.
Mac placed his bandaged hand on top of Jack's shoulder, being careful to avoid the knife wound. He was taken aback how hot his partner's skin was to the touch. Once again he felt utterly helpless.
The monitor beeped and 72/41 flashed onto the screen.
The pain caused Jack's breath to catch with every inhale, which made him feel even more breathless. "Breathe through it buddy, just breathe through it." Mac coached.
Jack's eyes locked onto his partner's. He tried to focus on blocking out the pain in his abdomen and slowing down his breathing. Just as he felt the pain start to lessen another wave crashed into him. The former Delta cried out again, too weak to hold it in.
"How much longer until we reach the hospital?" Mac shouted so he was heard above the noise of the helicopter.
"About ten to fifteen minutes," The pilot responded.
Mac frantically looked around the chopper searching for a solution. He had an overwhelming urge to get up and make something until he realized there was nothing he could fashion that would help his friend, not this time.
Jack let out another anguished cry. Guilt slammed into the young agent again. This was all his fault. If only he had remembered what Sinclair had told them about there being an informant among the higher ups at the Phoenix, when he had called Matty, then Jack wouldn't be going septic, he wouldn't have been shot again, and he wouldn't be in so much pain right now.
He hated seeing his friend like this. Moisture threatened to breach his lower lids. "I'm sorry, Jack." Mac apologized softly.
"Don't do that. This isn't on you, brother. Okay?" Jack said through clenched teeth.
Mac just shook his head, he doubted his friend could ever say anything that would make him feel any better about this.
Jack started shivering uncontrollably. After searching a few compartments, Mac found a blanket and spread it out over his friend. He could feel the heat from his partner coming through the blanket.
"Better?" Mac questioned. Jack nodded yes in return.
"Five minutes out," The pilot tossed over his shoulder.
"Almost there," Mac said more to himself than to Jack.
"Hey, stay with me," The young agent commanded, when he saw his friends eyes droop down for too long.
"Mm tired," The former Delta slurred in reply.
"I know buddy. I'll let you take a nice long nap after we get to the hospital. Okay?"
"Kay." Jack agreed.
Seconds later, they touched down on the helipad. The back doors opened and two ER nurses carefully unloaded Jack. Mac followed, at a jog, beside his partner.
To be continued...