Cooper VS Winch (3/50)
It hurt deep down in his soul when Cooper growled as Jack helped him secure the sling that would cradle his arm. It was unsettling, downright uncomfortable to see one of his best friends in such an amount of pain.
His chest seemed to remember Coop’s tense shoulders pressed up against him. The way that the taller man had started shaking a minute or so after the accident. The way he went white as a sheet as Pete had worked on his hand, and now again when Jack helped him put on the improvised sling.
He felt the need to interfere. Felt the need to stop Jack, to pull Cooper away from what was causing him so much pain. But he knew Jack was doing something that needed to be done.
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.”
Dunc and Cooper nodded.