RepulsivePangolin7

 *          *          *

 The nurse that entered his room a few minutes later was the visual opposite of the nurse who had met him as the orderly rolled him into his new room.

Tall was replaced by short, slender by stocky. She looked more like she belonged in the suburbs of LA than in a hospital in the middle east. Instead of a wrap around her head, she had long brown hair tossed up in a messy bun on top of her head, but the friendly smile was just as warm.

“Hi Mr, Carter, I’m Emily. I’ll be the nurse you’re going to see the most of this shift.” She smiled at him as she stepped closer with a machine to measure his blood pressure and other vital signs in tow, “How are you feeling? I read they gave you some morphine before moving you from post-op…”

“Just call me Scott…” He smiled back at her, “And yeah, they did.”

“And it’s got a good effect on the pain you was in?”

He nodded, “Yeah, right now I can’t complain.”

“That’s great!” she nodded a little, then she looked over at Full Metal’s legs.

He followed her gaze.

“I read that it was a pretty bad set of injuries you sustained.”

He nodded, “Yeah. I probably outdid myself this time.”

She nodded, then she pulled the blood pressure machine a bit closer. “So, you’ve probably met this machine before.”

He nodded and stretched out his left arm so securing the BP cuff would be easier for her. “Yeah. Not my first time in a hospital bed.”

She nodded as she wrapped the cuff around his upper arm. Then she found a small gadget and put it on one of the fingers on Full Metal’s opposite hand.

She quickly did the whole assessment and jotted down some notes on a piece of paper she pulled out of her pocket. Then she looked back at where his legs laid covered. “Okay, Scott… I have to check your bandages as well. I promise to be as careful as possible, but just let me know if I cause you any discomfort. Okay?”

He nodded.

“Have you seen your leg after the surgery?”

“No. I haven’t.” he shook his head, “Didn’t feel ready for it yesterday.”

She nodded, “If you want to look away that’s completely fine.”

He nodded again, “Yeah, but I have to see it sometime, don’t I?”

She shrugged, “Yeah, but you don’t have to right now, if you don’t want to.”

He shrugged a little, “I think I’m ready for it.”

“Okay, but if it becomes too much and you need to look away, that’s very understandable.”

He nodded.

She stepped closer to his legs. She grabbed a hold of the duvet. Slowly and carefully she lifted it up and over his left leg, revealing it.

There was pins sticking into the top of his thigh and shin, connected by a metal rod. Most of the bandages were partially soaked through, one or two of them were almost dry. The parts of his shin that wasn’t covered by bandages had a deep bruised color.

He sucked a breath, “Looks nasty.”

She shrugged, “But considering what you went through, it’s looking better than expected.”

“Yeah?”

“Looks as healthy as it can get in this state.” She nodded and looked at his foot. “I’m sorry, I have to check for a pulse. It’ll probably not be a pleasant experience for you.”

He nodded, “Go ahead.”

She apologized when he flinched a muttered a curse word, “At least you’ve got a good and strong pulse there.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded, “-and none of your bandages need changing.”

“That’s good.”

She nodded, as she gently packed the duvet back over his leg. “Any questions you think I might be able to answer?”

“I heard something about a second surgery…?”

She nodded, “Yeah, that’s the plan. We don’t know yet if that is going to happen here or after you ship home stateside, but they want to put you in a larger ex-fix system.”

“Ex-fix?”

“External Fixation. Those metal pins that goes into your leg to secure your bones.” She nodded along, “But they wanted to wait a bit since the risk of infection is pretty high with all of those wounds you’ve got. But they couldn’t put you in a cast because of the swelling and because we need to check on your bandages every now and then. And they couldn’t do nothing about it either, so they decided on fixating your leg with the bare minimum of pins at first.”

He nodded, “Figured those four pins seemed a bit scarce to fix all of the breaks in my leg.”

She nodded, “Anything else?”

“No, ma’am.” He shook his head, and sighed. “Well, actually… Visitors are allowed here, right?”

She nodded, “And your teammates have already called to make sure it’s okay that they come.”

“Yeah?”

She chuckled, “Yeah. We told them that it’s okay, as long as you feel well enough to have visitors, and that due to your injuries you might need more peace and quiet than normally.”

He flashed a grin, “Good.”

“They said they would come by later, unless you requested that they didn’t.”

“No, I want them here.” Full Metal shrugged a little, “Hopefully they’ll bring something to pass the time with as well.”

She nodded, “If not, then maybe they can bring something the next time they stop by.”

He nodded.

She offered up a soft smile, “Now, breakfast is just around the corner. Are you hungry?”

“Yeah.” he nodded, “Very.”

“What would you like, we have…” she stalled a bit as she tried to remember this morning’s specialties.

“Just pick something for me, I can eat just about anything.” He chuckled a little, “But coffee, that’s the important part. Black, no sugar.”

She chuckled, “Alright. Any milk or juice to drink?”

“A glass of milk would be good. And a glass of water if that’s possible.”

She nodded, “I’ll come by with that as soon as the kitchen is ready. Might take a few minutes.”

*          *          *

 He was relieved to see that some sort of shape continued where his leg was supposed to go. At least he hadn’t joined the ‘some-assembly-required’ squad yet. But he didn’t like that the pain was constant, even though he had just woken up, nor did he want to settle with the amount of pain he was experiencing.

He managed to get the attention of one of the post-op/ICU nurses.

“Hey there…” she smiled at him, “Anything I can help you with?”

“Can I get something for the pain?” any other circumstance and he would have played the tough-strong-SEALoperator card, maybe offer up a pick-up line, but the pain was close to breaking him. “Or am I maxed out?”

“You’re in pain?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, “Lots. Solid 8, at least.”

“I’ll go check.” The nurse nodded, “Just a moment.”

He nodded.

 *          *          *

 A few moments later, she came back with two syringes filled with clear liquid. One of them had a red cap on the end and a sticker taped on it. The other one had a white, shorter, cap.  “How does a dose of IV morphine sound?”

“All for it!”

The nurse offered up a gentle smile as she stepped closer and unscrewed one of the caps on the three-way valve. Then she took the cap off the syringe with white cap and twisted it on the valve.

“Just have to flush the line first.” she informed as she opened up the valve and started flushing the line, “Feel any pressure or pain when I do this?”

“No, just feels cold.”

“That’s okay.” The nurse nodded, “But your skin feels a little cold, do you freeze or are you staying warm enough?”

“Not much. Probably just the blood loss.”

She nodded, “Do you want me to find an extra blanket for you?”

“Could you?”

She nodded, “I’ll do that once I’m done with this.”

He nodded.

When about half of the saline inside the syringe was gone, she twisted the valve again and removed the saline syringe and placed it on the bedside table. Then she reached for the morphine syringe, twisted the red cap off and twisted it onto the port. Then she opened the valve and slowly started to push the morphine a little by little.

“So, Scott. It was a pretty impressive injury you came in with…”

He huffed a laugh, “Yeah. Apparently, I don’t do anything half-assed.”

“No, I wouldn’t say…” the nurse winked, “Can I ask how you managed it?”

“Haven’t had time to read up on me yet?”

“No.” she admitted, “Shift started five minutes ago. You managed to catch me before I even got over to the nurse’s station.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be…” She chuckled as she gave the plunger another little push before letting it rest a little, repeating the push and pause cycle every 15 to 30 seconds.  

He nodded a little, “Well, I’m a soldier. Had a close call with an RPG. And a concrete wall fell on my leg.”

“Ouch…”

He nodded, “Ouch is right. So, you’re not from around here. Your American is way too perfect for that.”

She chuckled, “No, but my parents are both from this area. Moved to the states before I was born, and I grew up in Colorado.”

“Colorado’s a nice place. What made you decide to move halfway across the world?”

“I moved here because I was guaranteed to get experience with trauma cases. I’ve been here for eleven years now, because this has just the right pace for me.”

“Must be a pretty high pace.”

She nodded, “I work both here in post op, and in the ER. So, it’s fast paced some of the time at least.”

He nodded.

“How’s your pain now?”

“Better.” he nodded, “Still not good, but I’m not about to break down because of it.”

“That’s good.” She smiled, “Scale from 1 to 10?”

“5…” he shrugged a little, “Can ignore it, but can’t really relax.”

“We’ll go for a couple more milligrams then.”

“Thank you.”

“Must’ve scared your team mates a bit, huh?”

He shrugged a bit, “Yeah, guess so…”

“So, are you looking forward to go home for a spell, or?”

He shook his head, “No. I’m too damaged for home-life. I need the action and adrenaline to function.”

“Like many other career military…”

“Hey, haven’t decided on making a career out of it yet…” he smirked.

“No?” she raised her eyebrows, “You’re not exactly fresh out of high school.”

“Just a bad joke which runs in my team.” He shrugged, “Many of us has been in for 15-20 years.”

She chuckled a bit, “So, about that pain…”

“Still notice it, but it’s okay.” He shrugged.

“Annoying?”

“A little.” He admitted, “Call it a 3 or something.”

She nodded, “Feel like you can relax?”

“Yeah. I don’t feel tense anymore.”

“That’s good.” She gave the plunger a little push, the last quarter of a milliliter up to the next whole number, “Think we’ll call this good, and then you just let me know if you need more?”

He nodded, “Thank you.”

“No problem.” She smiled back, as she twisted the valve shut, picked up the red cap and unscrewed the syringe of morphine, replaced the red cap, placed the syringe on the table and picked up the saline one to flush the line. She hooked it on, opened the valve, flushed the line, shut the valve, discarded the empty saline flush and put on a new cap on the three way valve. “I’ll go write the morphine into our charting program, you need anything you use the call cord, okay? And I’ll be by with that blanket in a couple of minutes.”

But one thing was for sure, life had an impeccable way of telling you to take a breather every once in a while. Nature’s way of telling you to slow down a bit. A sucking chest wound, an arterial bleed, blood loss, a massive concussion. You know, stuff like that.

He tried getting his bearings as the dust settled. Last thing he remembered was someone yelling ‘incoming’ and diving for cover.

His sight was blurred and all sound seemed warped. His ears was ringing and his head was spinning, but it was nothing compared to the immense pain that was his left leg.

He forced himself up on his elbows, positive he was going to hurl as the world tilted on its axis. The sight that met him didn’t help too much.

One of the concrete walls had caved and landed on his leg. He barely stopped himself from trying to tug his leg free, he knew damn well it wouldn’t budge and all that would happen was that the pain would tenfold and he would probably do more damage to his leg than there already was.

Blood was soaking his tactical pants right above where the concrete block ended. First thing needing to happen was a tourniquet, then he had to get that thing off of his leg.

He barely noticed Bravo 1 ordering a radio check and sit rep before the fifth time he called him up by his nickname.

“Yeah. I’m here. Hear you Lima Charlie.” He sucked some air through his teeth, “My leg’s stuck under some rubble. Think I busted it.”

“Do you need assistance getting loose?”

“A-firm.” he took a second look at the bloody mess under the block of concrete, “Gonna need a tourniquet and help moving as well.”

“Okay, you’ve got it.” Jason paused, “Bravo 4, this is Bravo 1, you’re closest to Full Metal. Can you get to him? Out.”

“Bravo 1, Bravo 4. Sure can! Out.”

 *          *          *

 “Oh, damn…” Trent grumbled as soon as he had a visual on Full Metal, “How bad is it brother?”

“Think my leg is crushed.”

“Actual crushed?”

“Worse than just a break…” Metal gave a minimal shrug, but the pain written all over his features spoke volumes, “Hurts like hell.”

Trent nodded as he sat down beside Full Metal. “Tourniquet first. Then we’ll figure out how to move this.”

Full Metal nodded a bit, “I will be of minimal help during that part of this OP.”

“What? When we’re moving the block of concrete?”

He grimaced, “Something tells me whatever pain I’m experiencing right now is just a taste test of what’s to come once the initial shock wears off and my leg actually gets jostled.”

“I think you might be right, buddy.” Trent nodded, “You might want to administer at least 10mg of morphine before we start.”

“Already did.” Metal answered and reached for the spent auto-injector pen in order to wave it around and show it to Trent.

“Is it enough?” he asked as he dug a tourniquet out of his gear.

“Look at my leg. What do you think?” Full Metal growled, “Not gonna take anymore just yet, I’m gonna need it later as well.”

“Pretty sure the rest of us will be willing to share ours.”

“I don’t want to take so much one of you will actually have to keep an eye on me, to monitor for overdose.”

“I think you’re big enough to handle 20mg of morphine.” Trent shrugged as he leaned forward in order to wrap the tourniquet around Full Metal’s thigh, “This is gonna hurt…”

Full Metal nodded and placed his gloved knuckled between his teeth.

Trent wasn’t surprised when Full Metal suddenly went lax. He didn’t know the full extent of his injury, but one thing was for sure, it had to be painful as all hell. Full Metal wasn’t exactly one to fuzz over nothing, actually, he wasn’t one to fuzz over anything as far as Trent knew him. And syncope was a natural response to pain.

“Bravo 1, this is Bravo 4. We need additional manpower here to get Full Metal loose. Out.”

“Bravo 4, good copy. You think you’ll get him loose if Bravo 2 and 3 join up?”

Trent looked over the rubble and Full Metal, “Might need more. I estimate this block of concrete weighs 2.5 metric tons. We also need someone to drag Full Metal free once we’ve got that weight off his leg. He passed out when I put on the TQ. Think he’s coming back around now…”

“Okay, Bravo 5 you keep watch on the south corner, alert us of any movement south or east. The rest of us, help Bravo 4.”

The confirmations came in one after another.

“Havoc, this is Bravo 1. We are forced to divert from our plan, please alert us of any movement close to our position. Out.”

“Bravo 1, Good copy. Do you need anything else? Out.”

“Might need medevac. Out.”

“Site is considered a hot-zone. Is it critical? Out?”

“Haven’t got eyes on yet. Stand by for further information. Out.”

 *          *          *

 Clay, Sonny, Ray and Jason managed to lift the concrete block enough for Trent to pull Full Metal out from under it. None of them surprised when the big guy passed out for a second time.

The guys let go of the slab and it fell down, resting on some other rubble 3 or 4 inches off the ground.

“Let’s try to check and stabilize his leg while he’s still unconscious.” Trent called out as he started cutting away at the fabric of Full Metal’s pants. “Clay, find quickclot combat gauze, tape and regular gauze. Sonny, find cravats or anything that can be used to splint his left leg against his right leg. Jason and Ray, anything that can be used as cushioning between his legs and between his left leg and the cravats.”

They all hurried to their tasks.

“How does it look?”

“Open fracture above his ankle and below his knee. Multiple deformities from knee down. Lots of soft tissue damage. He needs to get proper medical attention, he’s at high risk for crush syndrome.” Trent rattled off as he took the things Clay handed him, “Clay, can you find Sodium Bicarbonate, a peripheral IV line and a FAST1.”

“Sodium Bicarb, peripheral IV line and FAST1.” Clay nodded, “Got it.”

*          *          *

 He woke up to one of Trent’s thighs on each side of his head, not exactly his favorite position.

“Heya buddy, really hoped you would be out for 30 seconds more…” his teammate winked down at him. “I’m just gonna place a FAST1. Already have an orange IV running in your left arm. How are you feeling?”

“-Like I got run over by a wall.” Full Metal answered, trying to mask a grimace, “How’s my leg?”

“Crush injury, like you predicted. You’ve still got a pulse distal to most of the injuries, if you wondered about that. Have sodium bicarb trickling into that IV you have in your arm. We’re waiting for medevac, tricky situation with this still being a hot-zone.”

Metal nodded, “But I guess you think I need it?”

Trent nodded, “The sooner the better. But, I also think you could handle a couple of hours delay. I just want to avoid that if possible. We managed to cover the worst gashes and stabilize your left leg against your right while you were out of it.”

Full Metal nodded a bit, taking in the information. “So. Crush injury. Muscle mass gets damaged, releases toxins. Clogs up kidneys. Renal failure. Am I right?” Full Metal met Trent’s eyes.

“Kinda. But that’s what the sodium bicarb is for.” Trent winked, “That, and they’ll probably load you up with saline once medevac gets here. How’s your pain?”

“Way too damn high.” he rolled his eyes a little, “7, I guess.”

“I’d guess 8 or 9…” Trent shrugged, “You passed out. Twice.”

“Probably won’t be the last time either.”

Trent nodded, “But, just looking at you and listening to you. I’d guess about a 4.”

“That’s why we call him Full Metal…” Sonny winked as he came into Metal’s view as well, “Seriously man, you are allowed to show that this hurts. I would’ve sounded like an air-raid alert. How are ya?”

Full Metal shook his head a bit, “Not good.”

“Maybe you should take that second injector…” Trent said as he readied the FAST1 introducer, “No need for you to suffer more than necessary.”

“You said it yourself. This is still a hot-zone. Medevac has unknown ETA.” Full Metal swallowed hard, “Might be here in 15 mikes, might take 6 hours. Or more. Have to save some for later.”

“We’ve got plenty.” Sonny said as he squeezed his shoulder, “You’re in pain. A lot of it.”

“I’m nauseous enough already.” Full Metal shot back, “Can’t remember morphine helping any in that department.”

“No, but it’ll help with the pain. And that might ease nausea.” Trent quipped back as he placed the introducer against Full Metal’s skin, “Ready?”

He got a short nod in return and pushed the introducer down.

The operator on the ground let out a single expletive and gritted his teeth.

“Sorry about that…”

“We’re good.” Full Metal nodded and held his fist up for Trent to bump it.

All of the sudden their earpieces buzzed on, “Bravo team, this is Havoc. Looks like we’ve a group of 4, potentially 5, Tango’s headed your way in a pickup with a mounted machine gun.”

Jason replied. The guys got their orders and quickly followed through.

“Bravo 1, this is Bravo 5, I have eyes on the pickup. Should I engage? Out.”

 *          *          *

 By the time Trent, Sonny and Clay had carried Full Metal to safety, the building they were in was once again taking heavy fire.

This time, Full Metal hadn’t passed out due to pain from being jostled. Probably because the injection had been given the time to reach full effect.

“You think you’ll be okay down here by yourself?” Sonny asked as he helped Metal lean up against his backpack.

Full Metal nodded slightly, his eyes squeezed closed as he prayed for the pain to pass.

“Hey, Full Metal…”

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to be okay down here by yourself?”

He nodded a bit more, “Yeah. As soon as I stop feeling like I’m gonna pass out.”

“Do you want me to stay here with you?” Sonny asked, “Or Clay, or Trent…”

“No-NO…” Full Metal shook his head, “I’m a big boy. Can take care of myself.”

Trent raised an eyebrow, “Alright, big boy… Just radio if you change your mind.”

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

 “So-so sorry blondie…” Jack grimaced as he secured the final knot on Cooper’s sling, “So sorry bud…”

As he stepped away, he watched Cooper hyperventilate due to the pain. He almost wanted to punch himself. He never liked being the direct cause of his friends’ pain.

“How are you doing?”

Coop didn’t answer, he just shook his head and kept on grimacing.

“Not good, huh?”

Cooper nodded, his breath slowly starting to even out.

“I could go ask Pete if he’s got some morphine in that nice little purse of his…” Jack offered with furrowed brows, “That might help a lot…”

Coop shook his head, “Nah…”

“Hey, you’re in pain.” Jack frowned, “Some pain relief could do you good.”

Coop shook his head, “I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Cause the bird left when we got dropped off. That’s…” Coop paused as he squinted down at his watch and calculated how much time had passed, “That’s 6 hours ago. We can’t call in and request a medevac. So when I get down there I’ll have to walk towards that pass where they’ve set up a checkpoint. That’s 5-6 hours on a good day… This isn’t a good day, and I remember how loopy I got the last time Pete gave me up with anything stronger than Motrin.”

“Last time he decided Morphine was a better alternative…?” Jack smirked as he thought back at the memory of a drugged up Cooper.

“I’ll just have to power through this…” Cooper frowned, “There’s no way I’m making that hike with narcotics in my system…”

“Unless Dunc carries you…” Jack teased.

“Yeah, that’s not happening…” Cooper shook his head.

“Figured…” Jack chuckled, “I could blow this op. Make up some lie about our gear being broken. Maybe the wire snapped when we were winching the package up here… Call in early exfil…”

Coop shook his head, “No. There’s hostages that needs to be saved.”

“And you need medical attention.”

“Hey, it’s only my arm…” Coop winced, “It hurts a lot, but I’m not entirely handicapped either…”

“You’re in a lot of pain.”

“Haven’t passed out yet.” Determined green eyes glared up at Jack, “I have wished for it, I’ll admit that. But I haven’t passed out from pain, and I’m not likely to do it either. There are at least 12 hostages, and they need our help. Look, I get why you’re sending me back, I would slow you down. I know that. But for you to blow this op just because I got my hand smacked around a bit, that would just be plain selfish!”

“I don’t like this.”

“You don’t have to…” Cooper shot back, “Look, I’ll be fine. I’ll have Duncan to look after me, even though that’s completely unnecessary… You, Box and Pete have a mission to finish.”

Studying Coop for a few seconds, Jack nodded. “Okay, I could ask if Pete’s got some Tylenol, Motrin or Advil to give you? Since you’re dead-set on not letting him give you any morphine.”

“He already gave me a bit more than what’s recommended of Motrin…” Cooper said looking over at Pete and Box, “Doesn’t feel like it’s doing a damn thing yet though… Might take a few more minutes to kick in.”

“Okay, so you’ve already got as much over-the-counter in you as Pete will let you have?”

Coop nodded.

“Okay, anything else you need?”

Coop shook his head, “Nope… Nothing we’ve got here at least…”

“Okay… Just… Hang in there buddy, we’ll get you down pretty soon…”

“I know…” he nodded once more.

 MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

 “How’s he holding up?” Boxer drawled as Jack made it over to him and Pete. Worried brown eyes darting to where Duncan and Cooper sat.

“He’s not comfortable…” Jack shrugged, “But other than that he seems to be okay enough…”

“Sucks that he’s got to hike that far to get help…” Pete shot in, “Wish we could just call in a tiny medevac over the sat phone.”

“I know…” Jack nodded, “But you know as well as me that nobody should know we’re here. And unless there is a critical medical emergency…”

Pete nodded, “Yeah…”

“Cooper knows that too…” Jack offered a glance back at the two other men, “I wish things were different… But…”

Boxer nodded, “Yeah. The worst part is, this missi-“

“Don’t you dare try calling it what it sounded like you were about to call it…” Jack held up a warning finger in front of his long time pal, “You know things go sideways in a hurry if you use the E word.”

“I wasn’t about to call it anything. I was about to say that this mission wasn’t set up as one where we have to be alert all the time. There’s no high-intensity about it. We’re not coming in HALO in a hot zone. We’re not going in guns blazing!”

Jack nodded, “Yeah, this mission is as close to a regular hike as you’ll get it. Just with a bit extra load and five targets to gun down at the end of it. And of course the rescue of those hostages…”

Boxer nodded, “And we’re supposed to come in like ghosts. No one is supposed to know we’re even out here. Hell, we’ve only got three desk-jockeys and two pilots that even know we’re out here! Apart from the five of us, there’s only five other people in the world that knows that there are Americans in this area!”

Pete and Jack nodded.

“Look, you know I would go against direct orders if Coop asked me to right now. You know I hate seeing my men in pain.” Jack sighed as he -ran two hands through his short dark hair, then brought them down to rub over his face, “But the stubborn Californian is determined. He’ll walk out of here on his own. He’ll find the pass, the check point. And he’ll get transport from there.”

“You were hoping that he’d beg you to call it in?” Pete’s eyes flickered to Jack, not at all surprised when the older man nodded.

“Honestly? Yeah.” Jack rubbed his own neck as he cast a glance over to Coop, “Knowing how well he usually push through pain… The kid is scaring me a little bit now…”

Pete and Boxer nodded in agreement.

“I really don’t like this…” Jack sighed.

“Well, it’s the correct thing to do…” Pete shrugged.

“But is it the right thing to do?” Jack shifted his weight nervously as his frown deepened.

“He’s not having it any other way, Wyatt.” Boxer shrugged, “And the last time I checked, that boy over there is just as stubborn as you. Changing his mind just won’t happen.”

“Guess you’re right…” Jack sighed and folded his arms across his chest for a short second, before he brought his left hand up to scratch his chin.

“The harness is ready…” Pete shrugged, “No need in dragging this out longer than we have to…”

Jack nodded.

“Ready Boss?”

“No…” Jack shook his head, “But let’s go ahead anyway…”

“I’ll go help him up…” Boxer informed with a slap on the back of Jack’s shoulder. “You can go over the harness one last time.”

 MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

“Ready to get going, soldier?” Boxer asked as he reached Cooper. “Your chariot awaits…”

Just the small tug of Coop’s lips eased Boxer’s mind a lot. It helped him calm down the worry Coop’s cries had caused a short time earlier.

“Ready…” Coop gave a short nod, before he held out his left hand, “Help me up, will ya?”

“Of course.” Boxer nodded and grabbed a hold of the larger man’s uninjured hand, using his own weight to help the other man back up. Once the taller man was vertical, Boxer studied the sling Jack had put Coop’s arm in. “How are you holding up man?”

“Good enough…” Coop answered as his brows knitted, “Don’t think I’ll play the piano for the next couple of weeks though…”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like shit…” Boxer said as he scrounged up his nose, “Hey, by the way… I’m so sorry I touched your hand earlier… I know it had to hurt a whole lot…”

Cooper huffed a short laugh that held no humor, “Don’t worry ‘bout it… I had it coming…”

“Not really sure you did, kid…” Boxer’s eyes crinkled, but not with a smile or joy.

Letting out a long held sigh, Cooper stopped in his tracks and looked down at the short Texan, “Tell me, when are you guys going to stop calling me ‘kid’?”

Boxer stopped and turned to face Cooper, pulling his shoulders up in a shrug he looked the man up and down, “When you’re no longer the youngest one…”

“Dunc’s barely older than me…” Cooper sighed as he placed his left hand protectively over his right elbow, “Why don’t you guys call him ‘kid’ from time to time?”

“He’s not the youngest, that’s why…” Boxer chuckled, “Come on now, let’s get you on your way.”

 MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

 “Okay, are you guys ready?” Pete asked as he helped Coop tighten his harness.

“Not that I trust this thing, but…” Duncan shrugged, “I don’t see any reason for wasting any more time up here…”

Pete nodded, “And how about you tough guy? You ready?” Pete asked as he looked up at Cooper.

“Got a general distrust aimed at all of this…” Cooper answered with a nod to the wire and the winch, “But thankful that I won’t have to climb down…”

Pete nodded, “How’s the paw?”

Scoffing, Coop pulled up his left shoulder in a shrug, “Like expected…”

“Painful, huh?”

“You could say so…” Coop admitted.

“Well, I stuffed a bottle of Motrin in the upper pocket of Dunc’s backpack. In case you need more of them…”

“Thanks, I appreciate that Pete…” Coop nodded, and glanced down at his right arm, “Not really sure if it’s helping all that much though…”

“It would probably hurt even more without them…” Pete pulled a short grimace. “But remember, no more than what I gave you at once, okay?”

Cooper nodded, “Okay, Doc.”

“I swear, if you guys keep calling me Doc, I might end up applying to med school when I’m done with my last tour…”

“You’re not leaving us?” Cooper’s face hardened a little bit with the question.

“No!” Pete chuckled, “Not for another decade at least!”

Cooper smirked, “Good, cause I plan on hanging around for a while myself. And I’ve gotta have my Doc with me… Obviously.”

Pete chuckled.

“Same goes for me,” Duncan shot in, “You’re the only Doc I trust.”

Pete looked at the two slightly younger Delta operators and smirked, “Well, looking at those two old-timers over by the winch, I’ve still got a bunch of years left in me… So don’t you guys worry…”

“Hey! WE HEARD THAT!” Jack called out in mock anger.

Duncan smirked as he took in Pete’s guilty grin, “Well, we better get going. It’s already kinda late, but if we hurry we might actually reach the checkpoint by nightfall…”

Pete nodded, “Take care…”

“You too…” Coop nodded, “And thanks…”

“Don’t mention it…” Pete nodded, “Just heal up and get back to us, alright?”

Cooper nodded, “Of course…”

“We’ll see you if we get back to camp before they send you stateside.” Pete nodded and reached out to give Coop’s shoulder a squeeze.

“Alright…” Cooper nodded, “Kick some ass for me too, okay?”

“Always…” Pete chuckled, “Okay, see you soon.”

“So, ready to take the shortcut down?” Duncan asked as he studied the three other men working with the wire.

“Not all for it…” Coop frowned.

“Which part don’t you like?”

“Maybe the part about being suspended more than 100 feet up in the air, with one hand that just don’t work…” Coop shrugged his left shoulder. He was cautious to move anything that connected to his right hand, even if it was as far away as his shoulder.

“Don’t tell anyone this, but that might have freaked me out a little bit too…” Duncan admitted in a whisper, causing Cooper to smirk.

 MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

 “It was a real nasty wound…” Pete frowned as he secured two harnesses to the hook on the wire.

“How bad do you think?” Boxer looked up, worry written all over his round face as he went over the harnesses themselves, “Like, what should he prepare for?”

Pete shrugged, casting a glance back over his own shoulder. “All depends on whether he gets an infection or not… And how bad that infection might end up being.”

Boxer shook his head, “Poor kid…”

Pete nodded. “And, before he gets that wound cleaned out and checked by a real doctor, there’s no way of telling how bad the wound is in itself. It bled too much for me to evaluate beyond ‘it bled a lot’… All I really know is, surfer boy over there is taking it a lot better than I would have expected.”

“Well, I didn’t see it up close before you had already bandaged it, but if you mean he’s taking it better than he ought to… That’s kinda scary…” Boxer paused what he was doing and looked at Pete, “What are you most worried about?”

“Look, I’m no doctor…” Pete started, “But apart from infections and fractures, big guy over there might have cut over sinews and ligaments. Maybe even nerves. I’ve got no way of telling right now, not without causing him unnecessary amounts of pain and possibly harming him even more.”

Boxer nodded and looked past Pete to watch the two youngest Delta’s. “Looks like he’s a little more comfortable now at least…”

“It’ll probably feel just as bad if he moves his hand again…” Pete shrugged.

Boxer nodded, “Yeah, I remember one time a bull tossed me off. Broke my wrist, not a bad break, but still enough to have the doctor decide that I needed a cast for four weeks or so. Hurt bad at first, but then once I had put some ice on it and kept it still for a while it wasn’t half bad…”

“And then?”

“Then I almost convinced the judge that I was good for my second ride. He tricked me into shaking on it…”

“…And?”

“I hit my knees! Ol’ Herman Reeves had hands that could crush stone!” Boxer chuckled, “I didn’t end up riding…”

“No wonder…” Pete answered with a roll of his eyes.

“How’s it coming along guys?” Jack asked as he joined them, finally done with preparing their package for when they could be on their way. He had divided the stuff that originally should have been divided between 5 backpacks into 3 piles and sorted out the stuff that wasn’t absolutely necessary. He could hide that here until they made it back.

“Almost ready Boss.” Pete answered as he pulled down on the harness with his full weight.

“Good.” Jack nodded, before he walked towards Dunc and Cooper.

 MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

 “Ready to get down from here?” he asked as he knelt down next to Cooper.

“Wish I could stay and finish the mission…” Cooper answered looking away, “Feels wrong to just pack up and leave.”

“Don’t worry about that…” Jack shook his head and gave Coop’s shoulder a solid squeeze, “Better send you back now and get you back sooner, than having you struggle through this mission and end up in need of more help to get back to normal…”

Coop looked up into Jack’s dark brown eyes, then he looked back down at his own arm. “I feel like a wuss…”

“We all feel like that from time to time.” Jack smirked in a hope that it would get Coop to relax. He only needed one look at the man to know the younger soldier was downplaying how bad his hand actually hurt. It wasn’t necessarily all that hard to fake the desperate look in his eyes, but Jack knew that the blond couldn’t start sweating like this on command. Not when he had appeared completely dry two minutes before he started winching the package up. “Right now it’s your turn to feel like one. But trust me, none of us see you as one.”

“You don’t?”

Jack shook his head again, allowing himself to ruffle his hand through Coop’s short blond hair. Then he trailed his hand down to where he knew he would find Coop’s pulse. He placed two fingers, frowning slightly at how rapid the beats were. Cooper didn’t seem to mind him checking his pulse.  “Of course not, but you don’t press a lame horse, not when it’s likely to heal up with a little rest.”

“Is that really another one of your Texas proverbs?” Duncan shot in, almost amused by all the different things that had come out of their Boss’ mouth over the years they had known each other.

“Dunno…” Jack shrugged, “We might make it one!”

He studied the Californian for a few seconds before he looked towards his backpack, “We should probably fix a sling for you before you need to start moving around. Best to keep that paw sort of elevated.”

“You don’t need to Boss…” Cooper ground out, “I can just hold my arm like this, don’t spend time on making a sling…”

“Just holding it in that position will start aching quickly.” Jack shook his head to deny Coop’s suggestion, “Trust me, you want a sling.”

The blond was just about to protest when Duncan answered for him, “Thanks, a sling would be awesome.”

“Traitor…” Cooper muttered under his breath, much to Dunc and Jack’s amusement.

“I’ll be right back…” Jack noted as he pushed off the ground and went to find some fitting material for an decent sized sling, “Don’t go anywhere…”

“Funny…” Coop sighed and rolled his eyes, then he twisted to meet Dunc’s eyes, “I really don’t need a sling…”

“Sure you don’t big guy…” Duncan answered as he rolled his eyes, “Just humor me, alright?”

“I don’t n…”

“Just take it, alright.” Duncan stared hard at the blond, “If you decide not to wear it later, I won’t force you to. But just take the damn sling, okay? It might come in handy.”

With a heavy sigh Cooper nodded, “Okay. I don’t like it though!”

“Of course not…” Duncan shook his head, with an amused smirk forming on his lips.

“Seriously, I hope you guys don’t think I’m this fragile thing that can’t take pain, it’s just a fracture… Alright… I’m not even sure it’s fractured!”

Shaking his head, Duncan twisted around Cooper so that he could reach the larger soldier’s right elbow, “Coop, it wasn’t just a fracture…”

“It’s not sure that it’s a fracture even…”

“I’m pretty damn sure it is…” Duncan noted as he gently forced Coop to move his hand into his line of sight. “Even your fingers have started bruising…”

“It’s not that much…”

“It’s barely 15 minutes since you got injured!” Dunc frowned, “This much bruising and swelling in that short a time is bad. Can you even move your fingers?”

“Don’t want to yet…” Coop frowned, “Bet it’ll hurt like a bitch.”

Duncan nodded, as he studied the exposed parts of Cooper’s hand for a few seconds more. “Probably will…”

“What do you think? Are Desert Sand colored slings in this season?” Jack joked as he returned with two 4x4 squares of cloth cut from the tarp that had been used to camouflage their package earlier. “Sit up a little straighter so that I can tie you up as best as I can…”

Coop nodded and sat up, careful of his right hand.

“Now, I think it would be best for you to have your hand up next to your left shoulder, kinda like when you pledge allegiance, what do you think?” Jack asked as he folded the first square into a triangle. “Least movement that way I think…”

Cooper nodded passively, “Sure…”

“Okay, then we do it like that, and we wrap this other one around your chest to anchor your arm to your chest… How does that sound?”

“Great…” Cooper nodded. Not entirely enthusiastic, but understanding that it probably was his best option. “Wanna help me get my backpack back on first?”

“You’re not carrying a backpack.” Duncan intervened, “That hand disqualifies you from carrying anything.”

“It’s my hand, no my shoulder that’s messed up! And we can’t really leave it here either!”

“Then I’ll carry it!”

“No. Not a chance in hell!” Cooper stared at Dunc with ice cold eyes, “You’re not carrying my bag in addition to yours. That’s like 140 pounds or something total!”

“It’s better that I carry that much than that you carry those 70 pounds…” Duncan challenged, “I’m not letting one of my best buddies trek through this desert with a banged up hand and a full pack!”

“It’ll be easier for me to carry my pack, even with my hand like this, than it’ll be for you to carry both.” Cooper shot back, his jaw set in determination.

“It’s not happening.” Duncan shook his head.

“Well, we can’t leave it either. You know that. And we can’t put it on the others either. They have to carry extra just cause we’re not going on the rest of the mission.”

“You’re not carrying the full load, do you hear me?” Dunc repeated, “Or does the altitude steal all the sound?”

Blowing air through his nose Coop looked away, towards his backpack. He spent a few seconds looking at it before he looked back at Duncan, “Hey, how about we compromise?”

“Compromise? How?”

“The detachables on my pack. We click them off and hang them on yours.” Cooper looked over at Duncan waiting for a reply, when none came he continued, “That way I won’t be carrying all the weight, and you won’t have to carry the double…”

Eyeing the backpack for a moment, Dunc started to nod slowly. “Okay, but I take everything that comes off that pack.”

Cooper looked over at the pack again, judging just how much of it that was possible to disassemble before he nodded, “Deal.”

“And, I’m carrying your rifle too.”

Cooper frowned at the thought of not being armed with his own rifle, “I might as well walk naked back to the camp!”

“Please don’t…” Duncan grimaced, “None of us want that image stuck in our heads…”

“Just let me carry my own gun…” Cooper shrugged.

“You can’t use it anyway!” Duncan knitted his hands in frustration, “You’ll still have your 9mm!”

“I’d still like to carry my own rifle…”

“Just let me carry it, Coop!” Duncan sighed, “Promise I won’t mess with it!”

Running his uninjured hand through his hair, Cooper glanced over at the spot where his HK416 rested. After a long second he looked back at Duncan, “Okay…”

“Great.”

“But only because it’s useless in my hands right now.”

“Okay, Duncan…” Jack started and cleared his voice, “Tear Coop’s backpack apart and hand me the skeleton. Think he better have it on before I start tying this sling around his neck…”

“Got it Dalton.” Duncan nodded and hurried along with his new task.

 MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

 It wouldn’t work to downplay this. He had already screwed up that shot. Dunc had turned in to one of the most overprotective siblings he could ever imagine, Pete had seen his hand up close and the last two Delta Operators had both made up their mind about how bad his hand was.

He had to admit though, it hurt. Every beat of his pulse set fire to the surrounding tissue. Every teeny-tiny movement felt like shards of glass rubbing against the bones and muscles in his hand.

He decided to hold his arm like Jack had suggested a shy minute ago. At least until he could get his backpack on, or whatever was left of it after Duncan had stripped it of everything that could be taken off. Knowing Dunc, the man would probably take off everything that was meant to be taken off, and then some.

He squeezed his eyes shut as another wave of pain surged through his right hand and forearm. It was blindingly painful, it even felt like all the sounds around him got morphed into a static noise for a second. Then it cleared up again.

“…ood there Coop?” he only caught the tail end of the question, but had enough to piece together what Jack had asked him.

“Yeah. Fine.” Oh how he wished his voice could have sounded a little bit more convincing. A little bit more like the tough as nails Delta Operator he was supposed to be.

“You paled…” Jack’s voice broke through to him once more, he didn’t have to open his eyes to see the worried frown he knew their Boss was displaying, “Literally paled…”

“Just jarred my hand or something…” Cooper winced, “I’m good…”

“Would have been a little more convincing if you weren’t giving Casper the Friendly Ghost good competition on who could reach the whitest level of white…” He could hear as the frown deepened on Jack’s face, “We could radio for medevac…”

“Nah… Would be embarrassing to get medevac’ed for something as silly as a beat-up hand…” he did his best to keep his tone level. “Just help me with the pack and the sling and everything’s good…”

“Here. That’s EVERYTHING I’m letting you carry.” Duncan’s determined voice forced him to open one eye to look at the stripped backpack.

“There’s barely anything left of it…” Cooper complained as he tapped the fabric with two fingers, “I told you to remove all the parts that could be clipped off… I didn’t tell you to re-pack most of it to your bag…”

“Well, now it’s done.” Dunc straightened up and folded his arms over his chest, “I really don’t think you’re in any condition to pack from my bag and over to yours again. Just put it on and Jack can fashion a sling for you.”

Hesitantly reaching for the near empty backpack, Cooper started running through options of how he was going to get the backpack on his back without causing himself fresh loads of pain.

“Let me help you, before you hurt yourself further…”

He wouldn’t admit it, but Dunc’s offer was a godsend. A fractured hand shouldn’t hurt this much, now should it? It never had before.

He needed to toughen up. Needed to pull himself together and just power through it. It wasn’t so bad… He was just having a bad day. One of those where everything seems worse than it is. Where a little splinter stings enough to make you cuss, yeah. He was having one of those days. He just needed to get his act together. It couldn’t be that hard.

“Thank you…” he whispered, barely audible, as Duncan held the first strap out for him to just guide his hand through. It truly made getting the backpack on a lot easier.

“Hey… No problem…” Duncan smiled, “You’d do the same for me…”

“You sure?” Cooper allowed himself to tease, thinking back on a few missions where everything hadn’t gone as planned.

“Yeah.” Duncan smirked, “You’ve already done stuff like this a few times.”

There was a couple of seconds filled with the sound of the winch running free, before it abruptly stopped as the break mechanism decided to kick in long after it was supposed to.

“You good there Coop?” Jack asked without even looking towards the tall Californian.

Fighting to keep his cool, Cooper shook his head. He had automatically tucked his hand into the nook of his elbow in a hope to protect it and to ease the pain.

“Coop?” Duncan asked when Cooper didn’t answer, “You good there buddy?”

“Nh…”

“Co-, CRAP!” Duncan almost shouted as he turned to look at Cooper, “Pete, Coop’s bleeding!”

“Wha…?” Pete looked up, then towards Cooper, “Shit man! That looks bad! Put pressure on it.”

Pete kept his eyes on Cooper as he took his backpack off and his hands found the med-kit. “Coop. Pressure!”

“Helvete det værker!”

“And he’s cursing in Norwegian…” Duncan frowned. “How are you holding up, bud?”

“Jævla vinsj jækel!”

“Pressure. Coop.” Pete repeated as he started to unzip the med-kit. “You’re bleeding a lot!”

When he understood that Cooper wasn’t going to do what Pete requested him to, Duncan scurried over and took matters into his own hands. Knowing that he was likely to get a hammer of a fist thrown towards him if he went directly for Coop’s injured hand, he knitted his fist and trapped it under Coop’s armpit.

“Good thinking Dunc…” Pete nodded as he finally found the right dressing in his kit and crawled over to Cooper, “Man, what happened?”

Doing his very best to keep from crying, Coop sucked in a sharp breath. “Winch. Slipped.”

“The winch slipped?” Pete asked as he tried to pry Cooper’s right hand away from him so that he would be able to put a pressure bandage on the wound to keep it from bleeding as much.

“Breaks didn’t work.” Cooper bit out, “Bit my hand.”

“Come on big guy, let me see that paw of yours…” Pete coaxed as he tried lifting Coop’s elbow to get to his hand.

“Is it bad?” Jack asked over his shoulder, he was on his belly looking over the edge, seeing of the package had went all the way to the ground or if it was hanging mid between the ledge they were on and the valley floor.

“Think he took out a blood vessel or two…” Duncan answered for Pete and Coop, as he started rubbing his free hand against Coop’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort the tall blond.

“Pete, how bad is it?” Jack asked as he moved back to the group, taking in the scene in total.

Pete shrugged and grabbed a hold of Cooper’s forearm, trying to overlook the fact that the large man tried to squirm away from him. “Dunc’s definitely right.”

“How’s the cut looking?”

“A little deep, and about 4-5 inches long.” Pete shot back as he started applying the bandage.

If it hadn’t been for Duncan already holding on to Coop’s left arm, Coop would have hit Pete square on the jaw.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry…” Pete shrank down as he kept applying the bandage, “I’m so sorry man, I know this hurts.”

The cusswords seemed to blend together as Cooper tried to twist free from Duncan and Pete.

“Okay, Dunc…” Pete ran a quick tongue across his lower lip, try to let go. Gotta see if this bandage holds up.”

Duncan freed his right hand from under Coop’s armpit, and tugged the larger man closer to himself, acting like a back rest.

“Well, it’s not bleeding through in five seconds flat at least…” Pete let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding.

“Maybe you should stitch it up?” Duncan offered as he tried to provide as much comfort as he could, “It’ll probably bleed through pretty quickly…”

“Look at that winch…” Pete threw a hand out to point to it, “It’s greasy and rusty and an infection waiting to happen!”

Pete paused to wait for an answer from Duncan, when none came Pete continued, “For the same reason we don’t stitch up animal bites, I probably shouldn’t stitch up that before someone cleans it out properly!”

Cooper pressing air through pursed lips brought their focus back to him after a few seconds.

“How are you holding up?”

“Hand hurts like hell…” Cooper winced, looking down at his bandaged hand, “Think it’s broke…”

“Jack…” Pete turned and waved their leader over, his face serious as their eyes met. He didn’t wait for the Texan to get all the way over to him, before he stood up and closed the distance. He lowered his voice as they reached each other, “We should get him back to camp. He can power through and finish this mission, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“You don’t think so…” Jack nodded, he agreed.

“No, he’s in pain. But that’s not the main reason, that cut is dirty. I’m almost certain that it will get infected unless we get someone to do some magic on it in a sterile environment. And he might be right about his hand being broken too, it was already swelling pretty intensely.”

Jack nodded again, casting a look over at Coop and Duncan. The bigger soldier sat leaned up against Duncan, his right hand wrapped up in a bandage and held protectively to his chest.

“Look, the rest of us can go on, but I don’t like the idea of keeping him on. Infections are hard to calculate. He might get a mild superficial infection, a little puss running from the wound… That might be all, if we’re lucky. But he might also end up with sepsis, and we don’t want that. Especially not on a mission.”

“We can’t send him back alone. Can we?” Jack furrowed his brows.

Pete shook his head, “Infections can progress quickly. I don’t want to send him off on his own. And he’s gonna need help to get down a few of the climbs.”

Jack nodded, “We could zip-line him down, then he won’t have to climb.”

“True…” Pete nodded, eyeing the wire that was set up between the mountainside and the bottom of the valley, “We could use the winch to slow his decent…”

Jack nodded, “I was also thinking about that.”

“Who are we gonna send with him?”

“I can’t, because I’m the one in charge. I’d like to have you here if something else goes caca…” Jack started counting off.

“What about Box?”

“We probably need that mule for something later… If we meet someone who’s only speaking Kurdish, we need him.”

Pete nodded, “That leaves Duncan.”

Jack nodded, looking over Pete’s shoulder again. “He knows how to stop a bleed momentarily, he’s strong enough to help that giant if they need to climb…”

“And he knows what to say and do to make all of this a little less painful for…” Pete didn’t say Coop’s name, he just jerked his thumb towards the man.

“Exactly.” Jack gave a short nod, before he turned and looked towards the wire again, “Before we can use that to get them down quickly, we need to get the package up.”

“Don’t look at me. I’m not touching that winch.”

“I think it’s a two-man job anyway…” Jack informed before he called Boxer over to tell him their immediate plan.

 MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

 “Alright Wyatt…” Boxer nodded, after the three of them had gone over the plan, “Two of us winch that sucker up, pretty boy here guides it down when it reaches the top. Then we hook Coop and Dunc up and send them down the wire… Sounds good to me.”

Pete and Jack nodded and looked over at Cooper who had started shaking.

“Hey, Coop…” Jack cleared his throat and stepped towards the Californian, “You ready to get back to camp?”

“No, we’ve got a mission to finish…” Cooper winced as he tried to straighten up. “I’m good, we should get going.”

“Coop, I don’t think y…”

“Shut up Dunc!” Cooper grimaced, “We’re already past the hard part of this mission…”

“We’re not.” Jack truth-bombed, “We’ve got a lot of hard parts left.”

“He’s right Coop, you shouldn’t… You should just get back to camp, get medical attention.”

“Nah, man…” Cooper tried swallowing to mask his pain, “Gimme five minutes and I’m good to go…”

“Hey, big guy… This ain’t no question…” Boxer chimed in as he moved closer, hunching down beside Dunc and Cooper. “You’re going back to camp.”

“No, no need to…” Cooper squared his jaw and did his best to fool the others that he was actually doing kinda good, “It doesn’t hurt that bad anymore. I’m good to go on.”

“Kid, you ain’t fooling no one…” Jack sighed and shook his head.

“I’m good.” Cooper argued, “Let’s just get that damn package up here and we can get going!”

Boxer looked up at Jack and Pete, as if he was asking for permission. A short nod from the two of them led him to look back at the tall Californian before he unceremoniously went for the man’s wrapped up hand. Causing the larger man to cry out in pain.

“See, y’ain’t foolin’ anyone…”

“SonOfABitch!” Cooper cussed with his eyes squeezed shut. “Hell, that hurt!”

“I barely touched your hand…” Box sighed, “You’re goin’ back to camp, end of discussion.”

“But…”

“Nah-uh…” Boxer shook his head, “You heard me. You and Dunc are going back. Me, Pete and Wyatt can handle the rest on our own…”

“Sounds good Box…” Duncan nodded.

“Alright, Wyatt… Wanna give me a hand with the winch?” Boxer nodded towards the offending winch as he stood back up.

Jack nodded and stepped over to the winch, waiting for Boxer to join him. “Pete, take a second look at his hand. See if there’s something else you can do for him.”

“Alright Boss.” Pete nodded, “Just let me know when you need me.”

 MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

 “You said you thought it was broken?” Pete asked as he knelt down in front of Cooper.

“Yeah…” Cooper dragged his answer out, “I no longer think that’s the case…”

“And that scream you let rip when Boxer touched your hand, that was just a ploy?” Pete rolled his eyes, “Come on man, tell me what part of your hand hurts the worst.”

Letting out a heavy sigh, Cooper’s eyes found his boots.

“Come on buddy…” Pete pressed as he tapped Cooper’s knee, waiting for Coop to answer his question.

“Alright…” Cooper shook his head slightly, his voice barely audible, “Thumb… My thumb’s worst…”

“Your thumb?” Pete repeated, “Can you move it?”

When Cooper didn’t answer Duncan nudged his shoulder, prompting him to answer Pete’s question.

“Well, I might…”

“Might?”

“I might…” Cooper’s jaw muscles twitched, “I just really don’t want to check…”

Sharing a look with Duncan, Pete reached for his med kit once more.

“Now, Coop… I’m gonna need you to let me have a look at that hand of yours again. You might want some support for that thumb…”

“Nah… Not necessary…” Cooper grit his teeth, “I don’t need it…”

“Are you for real? Or are you just afraid of how much it’ll hurt when he fixes some support for it?” Duncan asked as he rubbed Coop’s chest.

“I’ll take the silence as ‘he’s just stalling’…” Pete smirked as he unzipped the kit again and pulled out a foam covered metal thing and an ACE bandage. “Hand me your paw.”

Cooper reluctantly did as Pete instructed, letting out a gasp as Pete placed the foam covered splint against his thumb to judge the size of it.

“Okay, just hold your hand there for me, while I fix this a little bit…” Pete locked eyes with Cooper for a split second, long enough to know that Coop was understanding what he was saying. Then he found a pair of scissors and cut the foam covered splint into two pieces. One long and one short.

Looking back up at Cooper he flashed an apologetic grin, “Sorry, this is gonna hurt.”

“Already does…” Cooper chocked out, his voice was uncharacteristically thin.

“Here’s to hoping it’ll be a bit better once we’ve splinted it…” Pete shrugged as he cradled Coop’s right hand in his left and started forming the largest of the two metal splints after Coop’s thumb and wrist. Then when he was satisfied with the first part of his splinting job, he went on to wrap the smaller part of the splint over the tip of Coop’s thumb, crossed to the original splint.

“Hey kompis…” Duncan whispered, he had his arms wrapped around Cooper’s chest and left arm, to make Pete’s task safer, “Kompis, you’re doing good. He’s almost done, just the bandage left now, right? Right Pete?”

“Yeah, right.” Pete nodded, “Just gotta wrap it up and we’re done.”

Taking a few rapid breaths to get some sort of control back, Cooper nodded.

“There, how does that feel?” Pete asked as he sat back on his heels. He was not pleased to see how Coop’s face contorted in pain.

“Ask me again in 5 minutes…” Cooper winced, “Think my hand has been tortured enough for this day now…”

“Yeah, kompis…” Duncan nodded, “I think you’re right.”

“Kompis?” Cooper repeated as he began to relax, “Where’d you get that from?”

“Remembered Charlie calling you that a few times things went sideways…” Duncan admitted as he brought a hand up to rub tension from Coop’s neck, “Figured it might help…”

Cooper nodded, “Kinda did…”

“What does it mean by the way? Was it a nickname?”

Cooper hitched up his left shoulder in a one-sided shrug, “It means the same as ‘buddy’… Charlie used to call me that when I was a kid.”

Pete and Duncan weren’t sure whether the pained tone in Coop’s voice was from the physical injury, or from being reminded of his older brother and that he would never be there for him again.

“Think the splint’s helping a bit Doc…” Cooper exhaled and looked down at his bandaged hand. “Still feels abused though…”

“No wonder,” Pete nodded, “You gonna agree that heading back to the camp will be best for you now?”

Looking every bit the part of a sulking 5 year old, Cooper nodded.

“Good, just sit here and rest while I help Jack and Box bring the package down on the ground. Then we’ll get the two of you back down the valley…”

“Two of us?” Cooper looked up in confusion, “Look, I can go by myself.”

“No-no-no…” Duncan shook his head, “I’m tagging along. What if you run into the wrong people…”

“Then I’ll do that alone.” Cooper twisted to look at Duncan.

“Hey, I will fight you on it.” Duncan looked hard back at Cooper, “And right now your chances don’t look all that great.”

Recognizing when he was defeated, Cooper nodded. “Okay. You win.” And the translations, bear in mind, not everything translates well. I might switch between doing word for word translations, and translations that makes the most sense. *Helvete det værker – Hell it hurts (This is word for word translation) *Jævla vinsj jækel – Fucking winch fucker (Could also be ‘Bloody winch sucker’ or something along those lines. This one did not translate as well…) Oh, and for later reference, I wrote this before I started nursing school. So... Some of the technicalities later on might be a bit off, or shady.  I’ll try to edit it to make it better in this posting (if anyone actually likes or retweets enough times for me to feel like I’m not just bothering people by posting OC-heavy MacGyver fics...)