An Unlikely Ally (A MacGyver 1985 Fanfiction)

AN UNLIKELY ALLY Ch. 11: MacGyver's "Aunt"

The doctor hovered over MacGyver as he flashed his penlight in MacGyver's eyes. He blinked rapidly and shoved the light away. "His pupils are dilated," the doctor stated as he tucked the penlight inside of his breast pocket. "Do you remember your name?" he asked MacGyver pointedly.

MacGyver exhaled slowly and thought for a moment. "My...my name's...MacGyver."

"That's good." The doctor made a note on his chart and then asked, "Do you remember what happened?"

"I...I had just...finished breakfast and I...I got up from the couch...and I...I heard glass breaking and somebody...somebody shot me." MacGyver's breathing became uneven as the recollection of the event became real to him once more. The heart monitor started beeping faster.

"Get him some oxygen," the doctor ordered. Nurse Forbes jumped at the doctor's command and returned the oxygen mask to its rightful place on MacGyver's face. "Now listen to me, MacGyver, focus on breathing deeply. You're in good hands here. We're going to take care of you, so try to relax." He turned to the nurses. "Forbes, Summers, would you join me outside?" He opened the door of the room, letting the ladies pass the threshold into the hallway before stepping through himself and shutting the door behind him. "The dilation of his pupils is not a good sign. We will have to do some tests to see how bad the concussion is. Nurse Forbes if you will assist me."

"What about me, doctor?" Murdoc asked.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait out here."

AN UNLIKELY ALLY

Pete revisited the hospital map he'd been given on the first floor. Finally, he spotted the nurses station. "Hey, excuse me," he said, raising his hand trying to get someone's attention. "I am looking for my friend."

"I'm sorry, pal. But I'm busy," the nurse replied curtly, scribbling some notes down on her clipboard.

"You!" Pete pointed at her. "You're the one I talked to on the phone."

"Let me guess, you're Peter Thornton." Pete nodded, confirming her suspicions. "Like I told you on the phone, Mr. Thornton, we do have such a thing as a patient privacy policy. And you told me yourself that you're not family so that takes care of that."

"I'm the closest he's got to real family."

"Mr. Thornton lies don't become you. His aunt is real enough."

"You keep mentioning an aunt, but MacGyver has no aunt. His last living relative was his grandfather, and Harry died several years ago. I'm all he has left."

"Not according to his aunt, Carol Summers, who is right over there. If you want to access information about Mr. MacGyver, then you'll have to talk to her. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." She gave a huff and busied herself with her paperwork.

Pete surveyed the woman sitting on the other end of the hallway. She was blonde, looked to be middle aged, and was wearing a nurse's uniform. He approached her slowly and tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me."

The woman looked up. "Oh, hi. You must be Peter Thornton. I've heard so much about you."

"I'm afraid I only know your name because the nurse over there said you were MacGyver's aunt." He pointed to the grumpy nurse who gave him a scowl when she caught him pointing.

"You mean MacGyver didn't tell you about me?" Murdoc blinked his long fake eyelashes.

"No, he didn't."

"Well, to be fair, we only found out a couple of weeks ago. The genealogist connected us."

"Well, Ms. Summers?

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to tell me what the heck happened?"

Murdoc nodded and let out a sigh, smoothing his skirt. "MacGyver was supposed to drive me to the hospital this morning because I have to shadow here as a part of my nursing training. But he didn't show up at my house, so I got worried and begged one of my friends to drive me to his houseboat. When I got there, there was a little boy who had seen the whole thing happen. He said that a man shot Mac, but two plain-clothed policemen caught the bad guy and took him away. The boy was confused why they didn't help him. So, he broke the glass in the doorway and let himself in. He called 9-1-1 but couldn't stay with him because he would get in trouble with his parents. That's when I walked in and took over. I stayed with MacGyver until the paramedics came, and I went with him in the ambulance. When we got here, they rushed him to emergency surgery."

"How did the surgery go? Is he okay?"

"Calm down, Pete." Murdoc put a hand on Pete's knee. "Can I call you Pete?"

"Yeah, sure. But is MacGyver okay?"

"Let me finish the story. So, he went into emergency surgery and when I spoke with the doctor afterwards, he said that MacGyver had nearly died a couple of times on the operating table. He was stabilizing but still unconscious until about an hour ago."

"He's awake? Let's go see him then."

"No." He put his hand on Pete's arm. "He was a bit disoriented when he regained consciousness. You see, when he fell from the shot, he banged his head hard. They found some evidence that he might have a serious concussion so they're running tests right now."

"Oh, I see."

"Listen, Pete. You look exhausted. How about you go home and get a goodnight's sleep? They probably won't even let us in to see him until morning anyway. I'll stay close by."

"No, I can't let you—" Pete started.

"No, I insist. I was going to stay here tonight anyway. I am shadowing here, you know. I have been assisting in monitoring MacGyver."

"Well, I don't know."

"Come on, Pete. You know you get cranky when you've had a long day and don't get any sleep. You're miserable."

"How did you know that?" Pete asked sharply.

"Like I said, MacGyver told me all about you...flaws and all."

"Hmm. Well, alright. But I'll be back first thing in the morning."

AN UNLIKELY ALLY

"Carol, we've finished with the tests. Now all we must do is wait for the results. Would you give MacGyver his next round of pain killers and antibiotics so I can check in on the new patient?"

"Sure." Murdoc walked into the room and closed the door behind him.

MacGyver lay still on the bed. As Murdoc approached, he could see that MacGyver was asleep. He saw the instructions and medicine laying on the table beside the bed. He took the first syringe and emptied into his IV then the second one. Once he had reset the drops per minute he went over and grabbed MacGyver's hand. He flinched awake. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to check your pulse. I've just given you your next dose of medicine and painkillers." He pointed in the direction of the IV bag. MacGyver nodded and waited patiently as Murdoc put two fingers right above the veins in MacGyver's wrist. After a few moments, Murdoc released his hand and pulled the sheet up so that he wouldn't be too cold.

"What's the prognosis, nurse?"

Murdoc offered a small smile. "I think you'll live...How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by a train." He sighed and fingered the bandage on his head.

"The painkillers should be kicking in anytime now."

"Let's hope so." Murdoc sat down in the chair and started to read the pamphlets for real this time. "You're sticking around then?"

"Yes, if you need anything, let me know."

A few minutes later, MacGyver was lulled to sleep by the painkillers.

~Don't forget to like and comment!