Pin hole leak + Mac
Author: NYWCgirl
Fandom: Macgyver 2016
Pairing: none
Characters: Angus Macgyver, Jack Dalton, Bozer
Warning/genre: Hurt/comfort, sickness, injury, broken bones, fever, team as family
Spoilers: none
Rating: Gen
Author's Notes: This fic was written to fill the ‘wild card (fever)’ square on my H/C bingo card.
Word Count: ~2590
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine…
Summary: We see Mac and Jack in the trash compacter in S01E19. Jack breaks his arm, but what if Mac also got injured?
This fic can also be found on AO3.
‘See those rivets? There should be a hydraulic line just on the other side of that. So if we can puncture that it would stop this thing, if it works.’
‘What if it doesn´t work?’ Jack asks, already knowing the answer.
‘Then we get crushed to death.’
‘Yeah yeah, do it, do it.’
Mac pushes with his SAK on the middle rivet.
‘For the compressive force to overcome the puncture resistance, we’re gonna have to hold the pipe perfectly normal to the walls, OK?’
‘Dude nothing about this is normal.’
Jack takes the pipe behind them while Mac asks Riley about a distraction. The metal starts to groan and Mac starts having his doubts whether his idea is going to work but holds the pipe in place.
‘Keep it steady. Steady!’
Suddenly the rivet gives and hydraulic fluid bursts out. At the same time he pipe bends and Jack whimpers.
‘Are you OK? Is it broken?’
Jack scrunches his face in pain, ‘I can´t even think straight right now.’
‘Definitely broken.’
Once the distraction is placed, Riley and Bozer help them get out of the container. They get to exfil without further interruption. Once on the plane towards the States, Jack and Mac are requested to take a shower. Jack received a temporary splint and since it is an inflatable one, he can take a shower with it. Once it is Mac´s turn, Mac is glad to be under the hot water and being able to clean himself.
Jack has put his clothes in a large plastic bag and Mac puts his in it as well, tying it close. He goes back to the cabin and lays down on the couch. Everybody on the team knows it is his favorite spot when he is tired. He glances up at Jack who is sitting across from him and seems asleep already, probably due to the heavy duty pain killers Riley fed him.
‘He will be alright, Mac.’
Mac gives Bozer a sleepy smile and closes his eyes.
He wakes because someone is shaking him. His eyes fly open.
‘What´s happening?’
Bozer is crouching next to him.
‘How are you feeling?’
‘I´m fine, why?’
‘I think you are running a fever.’
‘Probably exhaustion or a bug. I´m fine.’
Bozer nods, accepting mac´s explanation.
‘We are getting ready to land, so it would be good to buckle up.’
Mac sits up and winces when everything around him sways. When was the last time he ate? He is pulled from his thoughts when Bozer tries to wake Jack, who is pulled from his sleep swinging.
‘Wow Jack, it´s just me. You are alright. We’re already in descend and you need to buckle in.’
Jack rubs in his eyes, ‘sorry, I…’
‘It´s OK, we’re cool.’
Jack does his best to buckle himself in while searching for Mac. He smiles when he sees him and then a frown appears.
‘How are you feeling?’
Mac rolls his eyes, ‘shouldn´t I be the one asking that question? I´m not the one with the broken arm.’
‘Yeah, well I am not the one that looks like he is about to keel over.’
The touch down goes without a hitch and before they know it they are at Phoenix medical. Riley, Bozer and Mac leave Jack with the doctors and go to the war room for their debrief. On the coffee table are a large box of donuts and a can of tea and coffee are waiting for them. Mac immediately takes one of the donuts, not wanting to get another preach from Matty, who seems pleased that he is eating.
‘Our techs already checked the data Riley sent us and it is exactly what we feared, but now we can be one step ahead of them, so you all did great. I have three agents waiting for you for your debriefing, after that, you are free to go home.
All three of them nod and leave the room. Just as Mac is walking through the door, Matty calls out to him, ‘hey Blondie, are you alright? You look pale. Take another donut.’
‘Sure Matty.’
Mac quickly walks over to the box, picking up a donut and walking towards debriefing.
* * *
‘Riley couldn´t access the controls of the trash compactor, so…’ he stops talking because a dizzy spell makes him waver for a second.
‘Agent Macgyver? Are you alright? Do I need to call medical?’
‘No, it´s…’
‘You don´t look so good.’
‘It was a long day… Where was I?’
‘The trash compactor.’
‘What trash compactor? Mac´s confused. What was he talking about? How did he get here? And where is Jack?’
‘We were on a mission and Jack… Wait, where is Jack?’
The agent picks up on his confusion, ‘Jack is at medical, let´s go see him, OK?’
Mac nods. That is a good idea. He gets up and the room seems to spin and he closes his eyes. When he opens them again, everything stabilized.
‘Do you know where Jack is?’
The agent looks a bit surprised, but answers, ‘yes, he is at medical.’
‘OK, let´s go.’
While the other agent guides him, he feels a pain in his hand and he studies his hand. There is a little red spot and it looks a bit swollen. When did that happen?’
‘Agent Macgyver, what ´s wrong?’
‘Nothing.’
‘You were looking at your hand, is there something?’
‘It´s a bit swollen.’
‘Can I see?’
Mac can´t think of a reason why he wouldn´t be allowed to see it, so he extends his hand.
‘Where you injected with something?’
Mac shakes his hand, but stops when it makes him nauseous. The agent accompanying him has seen enough. He takes a pen and draws a circle around the swollen area.
‘OK, let´s go to medical.’
The agent takes Mac´s arm and they slowly make their way to the medical bay. The duty nurse doesn´t look up when they enter but doesn´t seem surprised.
‘If you are looking for Jack, he is in curtain two, waiting for his cast to dry.’
‘Can you ask one of the doctors to have a look at agent Macgyver. He is disoriented and confused. His hand has a small red swelling, like an injection mark.
‘Stat. Why don´t you take Mac to see Jack and I will get one of the docs.’
The agent nods and gently pulls Mac with him, ‘come Mac. Let´s go see Jack.’
Mac staggers but follows the other agent to the cubicle. The moment they open the curtain Jack smiles, ‘hey Mac, good to see you. Man, I feel great, they must have gotten me the good stuff when they set my arm.’
‘Hey Jack.’
The submissive tone and his paleness, alert Jack, even in his drugged up state.
‘Hey man, you don´t look so good.’
Mac frowns, ‘are you hurt?’
Jack´s worry suddenly skyrockets. He studies Mac´s pale face with the flushed cheeks, ‘do you have a fever?’
‘Maybe. It´s warm in here.’
Jack looks at the other agent, who explains he already asked for a doc to come and examine Mac. Within minutes one of the on duty docs enters.
‘Hey Mac, nurse Nancy told me you are not feeling too great. I will start with checking your vitals. And in the meantime, why don´t you tell me what happened.’
‘Nothing happened. Jack here broke his arm.’
‘I was told you have a swelling on your hand, care to show me?’
Mac obediently holds out his hand. The redness is already half an inch outside the marked area.
‘Where you injected with something?’
Mac shakes his head, but quickly stops. Suddenly all color seems to drain from his face.
‘I´m not feeling well,’ he stammers.
Before the doc can take a kidney bowl, Mac throws up.
‘…’m sorry. I…’
‘Hey kid, it´s OK.’ Jack rubs his back while the doc calls for housekeeping.
‘Jack, was he with you at all times?’
‘Yeah, he was fine, we were hiding in a trash compactor when it suddenly activated. It would have squished us to death if it weren´t for my man Mac here. He pushed that little pocket knife of his in a rivet and suddenly this fluid comes gushing out and the machine stopped.’
The doctor suddenly grabs Mac´s hand again, ‘was it hydraulic fluid?’
‘Yeah, Mac mentioned something about the hydraulic line.’
‘OK, I know what is wrong with him, he was injected with hydraulic fluid. We need to get him into surgery. Mac, nurse Nancy is going to prep you for surgery. I need to go make some calls. Why don´t you lay down?’
Once Mac is laying down on the bed Jack vacated, the doctor leaves, Jack following him.
‘Doc, what is wrong?’
‘Look Jack, let me makes some calls and then I will come back and explain things, OK?’
Jack nods, realizing the urgency in the doctor´s appearance. The doctor leaves and Jack quickly makes his way back to Mac´s side taking his phone out to call Matty to let her know what is happening. When he enters Mac´s room, nurse Nancy is holding a kidney bowl in front of Mac, who is doing his best to impersonate the exorcist. Mac looks miserable at Jack and he needs to do his best not to pull Mac in a bear hug.
‘You’re going to be alright.’
Mac blinks sleepily at Jack. Jack looks at Nancy, who mouths sedative. Jack has had enough operations to know that the little pill, which is supposed to make you relax, really takes it out of you if you are already miserable.
‘Just close your eyes, Mac, I´ll be here.’
Mac hums and closes his eyes. When Jack is convinced that Mac is sleeping, he leaves to find the doctor.
‘Hi Jack, come in. I just got off the phone with doctor Cohen, he is a hand specialist at Good Sam.’
‘What is wrong with Mac, you mentioned hydraulic fluid?’
‘Going by what Mac told me, I suspect he was injected with hydraulic fluid, when he penetrated the rivet.’
‘Injected? The fluid just shot out of the line.’
‘Yeah, but I think he was injected by the initial pin hole leak. When hydraulic fluid enters the body it begins to kill tissue.’
‘OK, so that is why you want to operate.’
‘Well, there is always a risk for gangrene, blood poisoning and bacterial infections, depending on what was mixed with the fluid, but since you were in a trash compactor…’
‘What is the plan?’
‘I asked doctor Cohen to dome and remove the dead tissue and clean out the injected fluid from the wound.’
Jack nods, this is way more serious than he expected.
‘We will take good care of him Jack, that is why I called in a specialist.’
‘Thanks.’
‘No go back and keep him company until we come and get him for surgery. I don´t want him to bail on us. I will ask Nancy to get you a sling, the cast is dry.’
‘Yeah, that would be great.’
* * *
It is several hours later when Mac is wheeled out of the OR. Jack is sleeping in one of the beds, but as soon as ac´s bed is wheeled in, he sits up, wide awake.
‘How did it go?’
‘Doctor Cohen says he is extremely lucky, since the amount of fluid injected was limited. We got rid of all the dead tissue, there was nog nerve damage so he will make a full recovery. The scarring looks bad at the moment, but it will be minimal once it heals and he will have full function once the swelling goes down. If he wants to do something about the scarring, we will address that later.’
‘Thanks, that is good to hear.’
‘Now rest yourself. Mac will probably sleep through the night. We will monitor him from the nurses’ station. He will be alright, but you need to rest too.’
The new duty nurse, called Jo, points at the bed next to Mac and Jack reluctantly steps in it and allows Jo to tuck him in. She hands him a cup with a pill and he immediately shakes his head, but she shushes him, ‘this is just some over the counter pain pill, it won´t make you drowsy, but it will take the edge off.’
Jack takes the cup and chucks the pill, dry swallowing it. Jo sighs and hands him a cup of water, which he drinks. Satisfied, she dimes the lights after checking on Mac.
Jack listens to Mac´s even breathing and smiles tiredly, his boy will be alright. He takes a deep breath and can feel the pain in his arm fade to the background as he closes his eyes and lets himself be pulled under.
* * *
Mac wakes because of the pain in his hand. It pulses and it seems to creep up his arm. He must have moaned because someone is leaning over him.
‘Hey Mac, it’s me, you with me?’
‘J’ck?’
‘Yeah, you are in hospital. How are you feeling?’
‘Hand hurts,’ he grits out.
‘Yeah, I will call the nurse.’
‘What happened?’
‘You were injected with hydraulic fluid.
‘That´s bad.’
‘It is, but you are going to be alright. The doctor who operated will come in the morning to explain what he did.’
Mac nods and watches as a nurse enters.
‘Hi Mac, my name is Jo and I will be your duty nurse until the morning. How are you feeling?’
‘My hand hurts.’
‘Well, let me check your vitals and the wound first.’
Mac agrees and Jo quickly and efficiently checks his vitals, in putting them in the laptop that is near Mac´s bed and then she cuts away the bandages around his hand and arm. Mac holds his breath when he sees his hand. There is an ugly line of sutures going from his ring finger all the way up to his wrist.
‘It looks bad, but the side is healing s expected and there are no signs of infection.’
She aids some ointment and re-bandages the hand and arm.
‘When can I leave?’
‘That is up to the doctor, but I guess later today.’
‘Good.’
‘Now, here are some antibiotics and a pain pill.’
‘I don´t need the pain pill.’
‘Oh honey, please don´t…’
‘Don´t what?’
‘Pretend that you are not in a world of pain. Just take the pill, your body needs rest to heal. Now let me see If I can find you some descend food.’
When the nurse leaves, Jack lets out a breathy laugh. Mac studies him for a moment.
‘Ah, you were worried.’
‘Yeah man, they mentioned gangrene, You know the kind where you need to cut of parts. Hell yeah, I was worried.’
‘I am sorry jack, but I really didn´t feel being injected.
‘The doc said that most hydraulic fluid injections are painless. The pain comes after hours or sometimes after days, so you couldn´t have known.’
Jo enters with a plate of mashed potatoes, chicken and broccoli and Mac delves in.
‘Sorry, this is all we have extra.’ She promises ice cream if he finishes his plate and Jack chuckles at the determination in Mac´s face.
Hi boy is going to be alright.
Fandom: Macgyver 2016
Pairing: none
Characters: Angus Macgyver, Jack Dalton, Bozer
Warning/genre: Hurt/comfort, sickness, injury, broken bones, fever, team as family
Spoilers: none
Rating: Gen
Author's Notes: This fic was written to fill the ‘wild card (fever)’ square on my H/C bingo card.
Word Count: ~2590
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine…
Summary: We see Mac and Jack in the trash compacter in S01E19. Jack breaks his arm, but what if Mac also got injured?
This fic can also be found on AO3.
‘See those rivets? There should be a hydraulic line just on the other side of that. So if we can puncture that it would stop this thing, if it works.’
‘What if it doesn´t work?’ Jack asks, already knowing the answer.
‘Then we get crushed to death.’
‘Yeah yeah, do it, do it.’
Mac pushes with his SAK on the middle rivet.
‘For the compressive force to overcome the puncture resistance, we’re gonna have to hold the pipe perfectly normal to the walls, OK?’
‘Dude nothing about this is normal.’
Jack takes the pipe behind them while Mac asks Riley about a distraction. The metal starts to groan and Mac starts having his doubts whether his idea is going to work but holds the pipe in place.
‘Keep it steady. Steady!’
Suddenly the rivet gives and hydraulic fluid bursts out. At the same time he pipe bends and Jack whimpers.
‘Are you OK? Is it broken?’
Jack scrunches his face in pain, ‘I can´t even think straight right now.’
‘Definitely broken.’
Once the distraction is placed, Riley and Bozer help them get out of the container. They get to exfil without further interruption. Once on the plane towards the States, Jack and Mac are requested to take a shower. Jack received a temporary splint and since it is an inflatable one, he can take a shower with it. Once it is Mac´s turn, Mac is glad to be under the hot water and being able to clean himself.
Jack has put his clothes in a large plastic bag and Mac puts his in it as well, tying it close. He goes back to the cabin and lays down on the couch. Everybody on the team knows it is his favorite spot when he is tired. He glances up at Jack who is sitting across from him and seems asleep already, probably due to the heavy duty pain killers Riley fed him.
‘He will be alright, Mac.’
Mac gives Bozer a sleepy smile and closes his eyes.
He wakes because someone is shaking him. His eyes fly open.
‘What´s happening?’
Bozer is crouching next to him.
‘How are you feeling?’
‘I´m fine, why?’
‘I think you are running a fever.’
‘Probably exhaustion or a bug. I´m fine.’
Bozer nods, accepting mac´s explanation.
‘We are getting ready to land, so it would be good to buckle up.’
Mac sits up and winces when everything around him sways. When was the last time he ate? He is pulled from his thoughts when Bozer tries to wake Jack, who is pulled from his sleep swinging.
‘Wow Jack, it´s just me. You are alright. We’re already in descend and you need to buckle in.’
Jack rubs in his eyes, ‘sorry, I…’
‘It´s OK, we’re cool.’
Jack does his best to buckle himself in while searching for Mac. He smiles when he sees him and then a frown appears.
‘How are you feeling?’
Mac rolls his eyes, ‘shouldn´t I be the one asking that question? I´m not the one with the broken arm.’
‘Yeah, well I am not the one that looks like he is about to keel over.’
The touch down goes without a hitch and before they know it they are at Phoenix medical. Riley, Bozer and Mac leave Jack with the doctors and go to the war room for their debrief. On the coffee table are a large box of donuts and a can of tea and coffee are waiting for them. Mac immediately takes one of the donuts, not wanting to get another preach from Matty, who seems pleased that he is eating.
‘Our techs already checked the data Riley sent us and it is exactly what we feared, but now we can be one step ahead of them, so you all did great. I have three agents waiting for you for your debriefing, after that, you are free to go home.
All three of them nod and leave the room. Just as Mac is walking through the door, Matty calls out to him, ‘hey Blondie, are you alright? You look pale. Take another donut.’
‘Sure Matty.’
Mac quickly walks over to the box, picking up a donut and walking towards debriefing.
* * *
‘Riley couldn´t access the controls of the trash compactor, so…’ he stops talking because a dizzy spell makes him waver for a second.
‘Agent Macgyver? Are you alright? Do I need to call medical?’
‘No, it´s…’
‘You don´t look so good.’
‘It was a long day… Where was I?’
‘The trash compactor.’
‘What trash compactor? Mac´s confused. What was he talking about? How did he get here? And where is Jack?’
‘We were on a mission and Jack… Wait, where is Jack?’
The agent picks up on his confusion, ‘Jack is at medical, let´s go see him, OK?’
Mac nods. That is a good idea. He gets up and the room seems to spin and he closes his eyes. When he opens them again, everything stabilized.
‘Do you know where Jack is?’
The agent looks a bit surprised, but answers, ‘yes, he is at medical.’
‘OK, let´s go.’
While the other agent guides him, he feels a pain in his hand and he studies his hand. There is a little red spot and it looks a bit swollen. When did that happen?’
‘Agent Macgyver, what ´s wrong?’
‘Nothing.’
‘You were looking at your hand, is there something?’
‘It´s a bit swollen.’
‘Can I see?’
Mac can´t think of a reason why he wouldn´t be allowed to see it, so he extends his hand.
‘Where you injected with something?’
Mac shakes his hand, but stops when it makes him nauseous. The agent accompanying him has seen enough. He takes a pen and draws a circle around the swollen area.
‘OK, let´s go to medical.’
The agent takes Mac´s arm and they slowly make their way to the medical bay. The duty nurse doesn´t look up when they enter but doesn´t seem surprised.
‘If you are looking for Jack, he is in curtain two, waiting for his cast to dry.’
‘Can you ask one of the doctors to have a look at agent Macgyver. He is disoriented and confused. His hand has a small red swelling, like an injection mark.
‘Stat. Why don´t you take Mac to see Jack and I will get one of the docs.’
The agent nods and gently pulls Mac with him, ‘come Mac. Let´s go see Jack.’
Mac staggers but follows the other agent to the cubicle. The moment they open the curtain Jack smiles, ‘hey Mac, good to see you. Man, I feel great, they must have gotten me the good stuff when they set my arm.’
‘Hey Jack.’
The submissive tone and his paleness, alert Jack, even in his drugged up state.
‘Hey man, you don´t look so good.’
Mac frowns, ‘are you hurt?’
Jack´s worry suddenly skyrockets. He studies Mac´s pale face with the flushed cheeks, ‘do you have a fever?’
‘Maybe. It´s warm in here.’
Jack looks at the other agent, who explains he already asked for a doc to come and examine Mac. Within minutes one of the on duty docs enters.
‘Hey Mac, nurse Nancy told me you are not feeling too great. I will start with checking your vitals. And in the meantime, why don´t you tell me what happened.’
‘Nothing happened. Jack here broke his arm.’
‘I was told you have a swelling on your hand, care to show me?’
Mac obediently holds out his hand. The redness is already half an inch outside the marked area.
‘Where you injected with something?’
Mac shakes his head, but quickly stops. Suddenly all color seems to drain from his face.
‘I´m not feeling well,’ he stammers.
Before the doc can take a kidney bowl, Mac throws up.
‘…’m sorry. I…’
‘Hey kid, it´s OK.’ Jack rubs his back while the doc calls for housekeeping.
‘Jack, was he with you at all times?’
‘Yeah, he was fine, we were hiding in a trash compactor when it suddenly activated. It would have squished us to death if it weren´t for my man Mac here. He pushed that little pocket knife of his in a rivet and suddenly this fluid comes gushing out and the machine stopped.’
The doctor suddenly grabs Mac´s hand again, ‘was it hydraulic fluid?’
‘Yeah, Mac mentioned something about the hydraulic line.’
‘OK, I know what is wrong with him, he was injected with hydraulic fluid. We need to get him into surgery. Mac, nurse Nancy is going to prep you for surgery. I need to go make some calls. Why don´t you lay down?’
Once Mac is laying down on the bed Jack vacated, the doctor leaves, Jack following him.
‘Doc, what is wrong?’
‘Look Jack, let me makes some calls and then I will come back and explain things, OK?’
Jack nods, realizing the urgency in the doctor´s appearance. The doctor leaves and Jack quickly makes his way back to Mac´s side taking his phone out to call Matty to let her know what is happening. When he enters Mac´s room, nurse Nancy is holding a kidney bowl in front of Mac, who is doing his best to impersonate the exorcist. Mac looks miserable at Jack and he needs to do his best not to pull Mac in a bear hug.
‘You’re going to be alright.’
Mac blinks sleepily at Jack. Jack looks at Nancy, who mouths sedative. Jack has had enough operations to know that the little pill, which is supposed to make you relax, really takes it out of you if you are already miserable.
‘Just close your eyes, Mac, I´ll be here.’
Mac hums and closes his eyes. When Jack is convinced that Mac is sleeping, he leaves to find the doctor.
‘Hi Jack, come in. I just got off the phone with doctor Cohen, he is a hand specialist at Good Sam.’
‘What is wrong with Mac, you mentioned hydraulic fluid?’
‘Going by what Mac told me, I suspect he was injected with hydraulic fluid, when he penetrated the rivet.’
‘Injected? The fluid just shot out of the line.’
‘Yeah, but I think he was injected by the initial pin hole leak. When hydraulic fluid enters the body it begins to kill tissue.’
‘OK, so that is why you want to operate.’
‘Well, there is always a risk for gangrene, blood poisoning and bacterial infections, depending on what was mixed with the fluid, but since you were in a trash compactor…’
‘What is the plan?’
‘I asked doctor Cohen to dome and remove the dead tissue and clean out the injected fluid from the wound.’
Jack nods, this is way more serious than he expected.
‘We will take good care of him Jack, that is why I called in a specialist.’
‘Thanks.’
‘No go back and keep him company until we come and get him for surgery. I don´t want him to bail on us. I will ask Nancy to get you a sling, the cast is dry.’
‘Yeah, that would be great.’
* * *
It is several hours later when Mac is wheeled out of the OR. Jack is sleeping in one of the beds, but as soon as ac´s bed is wheeled in, he sits up, wide awake.
‘How did it go?’
‘Doctor Cohen says he is extremely lucky, since the amount of fluid injected was limited. We got rid of all the dead tissue, there was nog nerve damage so he will make a full recovery. The scarring looks bad at the moment, but it will be minimal once it heals and he will have full function once the swelling goes down. If he wants to do something about the scarring, we will address that later.’
‘Thanks, that is good to hear.’
‘Now rest yourself. Mac will probably sleep through the night. We will monitor him from the nurses’ station. He will be alright, but you need to rest too.’
The new duty nurse, called Jo, points at the bed next to Mac and Jack reluctantly steps in it and allows Jo to tuck him in. She hands him a cup with a pill and he immediately shakes his head, but she shushes him, ‘this is just some over the counter pain pill, it won´t make you drowsy, but it will take the edge off.’
Jack takes the cup and chucks the pill, dry swallowing it. Jo sighs and hands him a cup of water, which he drinks. Satisfied, she dimes the lights after checking on Mac.
Jack listens to Mac´s even breathing and smiles tiredly, his boy will be alright. He takes a deep breath and can feel the pain in his arm fade to the background as he closes his eyes and lets himself be pulled under.
* * *
Mac wakes because of the pain in his hand. It pulses and it seems to creep up his arm. He must have moaned because someone is leaning over him.
‘Hey Mac, it’s me, you with me?’
‘J’ck?’
‘Yeah, you are in hospital. How are you feeling?’
‘Hand hurts,’ he grits out.
‘Yeah, I will call the nurse.’
‘What happened?’
‘You were injected with hydraulic fluid.
‘That´s bad.’
‘It is, but you are going to be alright. The doctor who operated will come in the morning to explain what he did.’
Mac nods and watches as a nurse enters.
‘Hi Mac, my name is Jo and I will be your duty nurse until the morning. How are you feeling?’
‘My hand hurts.’
‘Well, let me check your vitals and the wound first.’
Mac agrees and Jo quickly and efficiently checks his vitals, in putting them in the laptop that is near Mac´s bed and then she cuts away the bandages around his hand and arm. Mac holds his breath when he sees his hand. There is an ugly line of sutures going from his ring finger all the way up to his wrist.
‘It looks bad, but the side is healing s expected and there are no signs of infection.’
She aids some ointment and re-bandages the hand and arm.
‘When can I leave?’
‘That is up to the doctor, but I guess later today.’
‘Good.’
‘Now, here are some antibiotics and a pain pill.’
‘I don´t need the pain pill.’
‘Oh honey, please don´t…’
‘Don´t what?’
‘Pretend that you are not in a world of pain. Just take the pill, your body needs rest to heal. Now let me see If I can find you some descend food.’
When the nurse leaves, Jack lets out a breathy laugh. Mac studies him for a moment.
‘Ah, you were worried.’
‘Yeah man, they mentioned gangrene, You know the kind where you need to cut of parts. Hell yeah, I was worried.’
‘I am sorry jack, but I really didn´t feel being injected.
‘The doc said that most hydraulic fluid injections are painless. The pain comes after hours or sometimes after days, so you couldn´t have known.’
Jo enters with a plate of mashed potatoes, chicken and broccoli and Mac delves in.
‘Sorry, this is all we have extra.’ She promises ice cream if he finishes his plate and Jack chuckles at the determination in Mac´s face.
Hi boy is going to be alright.