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Flashpoint
Author: Pixie Rating: PG Classification: Jag Story. Romance/Angst Spoilers: Anything's possible… Disclaimers: JAG and its characters are the sole property of DPB Productions. No copyright infringement is intended.
****** Part 3 ******
1330 Zulu (2230 Local)
Harm pulled up a chair beside Mac’s bed. The room was familiar to him now, and he found the array of machinery less daunting somehow. He picked up Mac’s small hand in his own larger one, noting that her skin felt hot and dry. He felt her forehead. She was still feverish. The doctor had told him they were treating the fever, but Harm wished there was something more he could do for her. He sat down, continuing to hold her hand gently while he talked. "Hi, Mac. I’m back. I’ll bet you thought you’d gotten rid of me, huh?" He gently rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. "No such luck. I just had some things I had to take care of. "It took the Joint Chiefs a long time to make up their minds, but we’re going to cut down the tree, Mac. It wasn’t an easy decision. I think some of them were mad enough to go in there with guns blazing and take out everything in a fifty mile radius." He paused, content just to look at her face for a moment. "There’s a meeting with the North Koreans in the morning. I can’t imagine what they have to say, but it’d better include an apology. They were completely out of line. They’re not even supposed to cross the bridge, much less attack a work crew." His hand tightened on hers as he thought about what had happened. Most people would have been terrified, but he’d bet Mac had been spitting mad. "That must have been some fight, Mac. I’d bet you were furious when they came after you." Sudden tears sprang to his eyes then. He pictured Mac fighting for her life and the lives of the soldiers around her. Imagined her pulling a PKA soldier off of one of her companions and delivering one of her deadly double punches. When he thought about the man who had snuck up behind her and clubbed her, his free hand balled into a fist, while the other tightened its grip on Mac’s. So help him, he’d better never find the man who did this to her. He felt his blood pressure rising, and decided a change of subject was in order. "You know, I haven’t even gotten around to calling Mattie since I’ve been here. Guess that makes me a pretty terrible father. I’ll check in with her when I leave here, but I’m sure she’s fine. You know, Jen offered to look after her while I’m over here. Now don’t glare at me. I didn’t ask. Jen offered. She wouldn’t even consider my asking Bud and Harriet or calling my mother to come for a week or two. She’s a good kid, Jen is - a little irreverent at times, but a good kid at heart." He chuckled softly. "She’s still trying to convince me that boxer shorts are not underwear when a girl wears them. It’s not working. Boxer shorts are underwear, no matter what gender has them on." He grinned at Mac. "I know. You think I’m a prude." He glanced at his watch. "I have to go soon. I still have the drive back to base, and there’s that meeting first thing in the morning. Thanks for letting me vent, but I sure wish you’d wake up so that you could give me a hard time like you usually do. I miss my best friend and sounding board." He stood up and eased her hand back onto the sheet. He stayed beside her for a moment, staring down at this woman who had come to mean so much to him. He’d always avoided getting close to people, not wanting to expose himself again to the agonizing pain that moved in when the person you loved was lost to you forever, but somehow Mac had snuck past his defenses, and he knew that if by some awful twist of fate she didn’t pull through this, he’d never fully recover from the loss. He placed a gentle goodbye kiss on the tip of her nose, and turned to go, glancing back for one last look as he went through the door. He had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but for her sake, he’d do whatever he could to right the wrong that had been done. Harm made the trip back to the base without incident, despite the crushing exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm him and the terrible condition of the road. For the first time, he noticed the number of driving ranges that lined the road on both sides, surprised that the South Koreans seemed to enjoy golf almost as much as he did. After he finally got back to the base and cleared security, Harm staggered to his room, barely remembering to take off his shoes before collapsing on the cot. Somehow, he found the presence of mind to put in a quick call to Mattie, but he got the answering machine at their apartment. Mattie was probably at school, Jen, at JAG. He left a brief message that he was fine and that Mac was holding her own. Then, unable to stave off his fatigue for another moment, he closed his eyes. Harm slept the dreamless sleep of the truly exhausted, dragging himself back to the world of the living only with extreme effort, roused by the nagging voice of an army private buzzing in his ear. "Sir? General Singleton says I’m to make sure you’re awake." Harm looked blearily at the young soldier. He swung his legs to the floor and stood up, swaying slightly before catching himself with one hand against the wall. "I’m up, Private." "Yes, Sir. I’ll inform the general, Sir." "You do that." Harm knew he sounded ungrateful, but for God sake, he’d had less then six hours sleep in the past thirty-six. He had a right to be cranky. He sent the private out of the room and picked up his cell phone to call the hospital. Dr. Lee was on morning rounds, so he wasn’t able to speak to Mac, but the duty nurse assured him that there had been no change in her condition since Harm’s visit the night before. Mac still had a fever, but it was under control. The best news was that her intracranial pressure was finally starting to drop. If this kept up, Doctor Lee felt optimistic about her chances of survival. Harm thanked the nurse for the update and disconnected. Thirty minutes later, showered, shaved, and having gulped down a mug of steaming coffee, Harm presented himself at General Singleton’s office. He was still tired and worried about Mac, but a few hours sleep had made a world of difference in his outlook, and he faced the general now with a glint of determination in his blue eyes. "Glad you could make it," Singleton said, though less sharply than he’d spoken yesterday. "Let’s get going." The two men left the office and climbed into the waiting jeep for the short ride to the JSA. Rather than taking a direct route to the MAC conference room, Singleton detoured to point out the Bridge of No Return, the problematic Poplar tree, and the two observation posts whose line of sight was obscured by the tree’s leafy branches. They stopped for a moment and sat in silence near the tree. They were not alone. Heavily armed security patrols - both North and South Korean - patrolled up and down the boundary line of the JSA, eyeing each other across the river. The air itself felt heavy and tight, and Harm found it surprisingly difficult to take a deep breath. Harm stared at the tree and listened while Singleton explained how an enterprising young soldier had finally ended the battle by driving a 2 ½ ton truck over Lieutenant Belzer’s battered body, protecting it from the North Koreans. The PKA soldiers had retreated across the Bridge of No Return, and calls for help and medical assistance poured into Camp Liberty Bell. The scene that awaited rescuers had been gruesome. Injured soldiers lay battered and bleeding. Those who were able were working desperately to help the more seriously wounded. Every face expressed shock, pain, and anger. How was it possible that a simple mission to prune a tree could spark such violence from the North Koreans? General Singleton shook his head. He’d been stationed here for nearly a year, and he knew the North Koreans were an unpredictable bunch, but even he had never guessed things could turn this ugly, this fast. He glanced at his watch, and put the jeep in gear. It was time to face the enemy across a conference table. They pulled up in front of a simple building that gave no indication of the critical nature of the proceedings about to occur inside. Long and low, it was identical to the buildings on either side. On one end, American soldiers stood guard, glaring at their North Korean counterparts who faced them across the scant two feet of concrete that divided North and South Korea in this portion of the Joint Security Area. Harm and General Singleton entered the building from the South Korean side to find the meeting ready to start. South Korean and American officers glared at their counterparts across a plain wooden table with the United Nations flag in the center. U.N. Command staff glanced uneasily around, and began the meeting. Harm listened and jotted notes, but since most of the meeting consisted of each side politely insulting the other, he allowed his mind to drift. The door at the Northern end of the conference room suddenly opened, drawing the attention of everybody in the room, including Harm. A young Korean soldier entered, flanked by two grim looking guards. One of the guards uttered a sharp command, and the soldier quickly removed his cover, coming to attention, but glaring daggers at the assembled group. A North Korean officer stood from his place at the table and turned toward the soldier, saying a quick sentence to him in Korean. Harm didn’t understand what was said, but evidently it was important because the tension in the room escalated measurably. He felt the small hairs at the back of his neck stand up. What was going on here? Finally, the soldier spoke in surprisingly flawless English. "I am Lieutenant Kim. I desire to speak my regret for the incident in which some of your soldiers were injured." He said the words with a subtle but noticeably insolent sneer, and Harm fought a sudden urge to slam the man against a wall. Lieutenant Kim glanced toward his commanding officers and apparently decided to throw caution to the wind. "On the morning of eighteen August we requested an unauthorized work detail to cease cutting a rare shade tree. We were ignored. We approached them to ask why they did not honor our request." The lieutenant paused for a moment, considering the wisdom of his next words, but apparently not considering it very carefully. "The Americans had a woman with them." The way Kim said ‘woman’ made Harm’s skin crawl, even though he knew that Korean culture still had women walking two steps behind the men. "The woman instructed them to continue cutting the tree." He shrugged as if to say there was nothing he could do. "They did not honor our request. We were forced to act." Lieutenant Kim exchanged glances with his fellow North Koreans. "A man officer would perhaps have made a wiser choice." Only General Singleton’s instant fierce grip on Harm’s forearm prevented him from jumping to his feet in anger. Evidently aware that the tension in the room was about to spiral out of control, the two guards hustled Lieutenant Kim out the door, and Harm relaxed, but only slightly. He fixed an image of the young soldier firmly in his mind, silently vowing that if he should ever meet the man again, he would express his own "forced action." The meeting ended shortly afterward, and Harm was still fuming when he left the conference room. General Singleton met him at the jeep. "What was THAT about?" He got right in Harm’s face as he yelled. "You almost lost it in there, Commander! That would have cost you your career AND landed you in the brig! And we won’t even TALK about the international incident you would have created!" He glared at Harm, fully aware that the younger officer was on the brink of doing something that would land him in a world of trouble. "Get out of here! I don’t want to see your face again before oh eight hundred tomorrow morning! Do I make myself clear?" Singleton’s last words were loud enough that Harm was pretty sure everybody in the country had heard them. He wanted to retaliate. Wanted to haul off and send the man spinning. But he had just enough self-control left to keep himself out of the brig. He spun away, but before he could take two steps the general stopped him. "Commander!" Harm turned back. "Don’t get any ideas about going to Seoul, either. We’re locked down until this is over with." "I thought we weren’t locking down until tomorrow morning." "Changed my mind." Harm glared at Singleton. Just what he’d needed. Forced captivity. He understood the need to prepare the base for whatever the next few days might bring, but he’d go crazy not being able to visit Mac. He suspected Singleton knew it, too. "Yes, Sir." With a great effort, he kept his tone respectful. Then he turned and stalked off, his long, angry strides carrying him quickly back to camp. Harm went directly to his room in the VOQ. He stripped off his sweat dampened shirt and tossed it over a chair before grabbing his cell phone and flipping it open. He’d finally gotten around to programming the hospital’s number on his speed dial, and within moments he heard the familiar voice of the duty nurse. "Critical Care Unit." "This is Commander Rabb, calling to check on Colonel Mackenzie." "One moment please. I’ll pull her chart." He heard a clatter, and then the rustle of paper. "There’s been no change in her condition since your last call, Commander. Would you like me to see if Dr. Lee is available?" "Yes. Please." "One moment, please." While he waited, Harm pulled out a change of clothes. After he checked on Mac he was going to grab some lunch and then see what kind of hard manual labor he could find to do. Anything to keep his mind off of Mac and make the time pass faster. "Dr. Lee here." "Dr. Lee. This is Commander Rabb. How’s Mac doing?" "The colonel is stable for the moment. Her pressure has dropped enough that we hope to be able to remove the shunt within the next twenty four hours. We’re a little concerned about her fever, though. It had come down some, but it’s been inching its way back up today. We’re administering antibiotics. About all we can do now is wait and hope that she’s got what it takes to fight her way back." "She does, Doctor. I’m sure of it. Can I talk to her?" "Um… sure. Call me back on my cell." "Thanks." Harm disconnected and dialed Dr. Lee’s cell phone number, grateful that the doctor was willing to help him make contact with Mac. "Commander?" "It’s me." "O.K., here she is." Harm waited for the rustle and then the distant sounds of the monitors before he began to speak again. "Mac? It’s Harm again. How’re you holding up?" Harm settled himself on his bed and leaned back against the pillows as he talked. He was exhausted, and he knew it was evident in his voice, but he just couldn’t bring himself to be peppy and supportive this time. He needed to vent, and Mac had always been there for him in the past. He could only assume that, if she really could hear him, she’d understand. "We met with the North Koreans today. Near as I can tell, the main point of the meeting was to allow the PKA officer in charge of the attack on your squad an opportunity to apologize." Harm snorted derisively. "Instead, he managed to insinuate that the entire incident was our fault for putting an unpredictable, emotional woman in charge. I wish you would have been there." Then he chuckled. "Well, maybe not. As it was, Singleton had to restrain me from going after the officious jerk. It probably would have taken an entire battalion to keep you from going after him." Harm shifted the phone to his other ear and stretched his free arm out. "Speaking of Singleton... Did you tell him something about me? He sure doesn't seem to like me much, and I'm a pretty likeable guy." He paused and smiled. "C'mon, Marine, that's your cue to rip on me a little. Who else can keep my ego in check?" He shifted one of the pillows behind him to ease the ache in his back. "Anyway, I'm trying not to take Singleton's behavior personally, but my patience is fairly limited right now. You probably need to wake up soon. I might end up needing a good lawyer." His smile faded, and he sighed. "You need to wake up soon, anyway, because I miss you. I miss hearing your voice. I miss the way you tease me when I’m late for work. Heck, I even miss the smell of greasy hamburgers. If that doesn't prove how much I love you, I don't know what will." "Commander Rabb?" "Yes?" "Sorry to interrupt. We’re taking the colonel for some tests. She should be back here in a few hours if you would like to call back." "I would. Doctor?" "Yes?" "Listen. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back down there. The base is locked down for at least the next day or two. If there’s any change in Mac’s condition, please call me right away."
"I’ll do that." "Thanks."
**** End Part 3 ****
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