Avalanche

by Kristine Williams

  In his guilt, Blair didn't noticed they had taken him into a room, instead of the waiting area. Mr Smyth and a nurse were trying to force him onto the bed. "No, I'm okay." he tried to protest, then felt the prick of a needle in his arm. "No, dammit, I'm all right!" but it was too late. Before he could form another protest he felt himself drifting rapidly. Gentle hands forced him onto the bed just as sleep overtook him.

  *******

  Blair woke slowly. He remembered being worried about something. Terribly worried. And a strong feeling of guilt. But why, he wasn't sure. Then he remembered, and was awake instantly.

  "Jim!?" he tried to sit up, but Dr Stuart was there, holding him down.

  "Relax, take it easy. Your friend is fine." she said, pushing Blair back down. "He came out of surgery just fine. So did you."

  "What? Me?" Blair was confused. Did she say Jim was okay?

  "Yes. You ripped out every last stitch in that leg. Even the deep ones. You were bleeding almost as much as Mr Ellison was."

  Blair sat back, trying to recall details. "You said he's okay?"

  She nodded, pulling the blanket back over him. "Yes. The bullet went right through, missed the bone. He'll be fine after a few days rest. So will you."

  "Can I see him?"

  "Just relax for a while, okay? You need rest too." She stood then, glancing out the window that was now letting sun into the room. "The Feds arrived this morning and took Tom Hanks into custody."

  "The Feds? You mean the roads are clear?" Blair wondered then what would have happened if they had just waited a few more hours. If Jim hadn't gone down to confront Hanks when he did. But then, if he hadn't waited outside that door as long as he had...

  "Yes, they cleared a path sometime last night." Dr Stuart was saying. "For some reason, they knew about Hanks. I guess they were after him, I don't know. And, I don't care. I try to stay out of those things." She sighed, "That's why Eddie and I left the big city and came out here. I thought I left crime back there."

  Blair closed his eyes, focusing on the fact that Jim was going to be all right.

  "You, get some rest. Your friend was worried about you."

  "Me?"

  "Yes, when he came around last night they told him you were in surgery. The two of you are quite a pair, you know?"

  He laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess so." he replied.

  "He's a good friend."

  "Yes. Yes he is."

  She smiled then and left, shutting the door.

  Blair sat back, pushing his head into the pillow. God Jim, I'm sorry. How was he going to make up for this? He was convinced now that Hanks had pulled the trigger because of the electricity that had hit his back. If he had acted sooner, Jim wouldn't have been shot. Maybe if he hadn't even gone to Mr Smyth. Blair had taken a big chance, hoping he had something in his little personal arsenal of toys. What if he hadn't? What if Blair had come back down the elevator and found Jim already dead? How could I be so stupid? All Jim needed was a diversion. He should have simply opened the door when he first found them in there. Jim could have taken out Hanks with a moment's diversion.

  Blair's head was beginning to swim with 'what ifs' and he sat up carefully. He was too frustrated to sit still. He was scanning the room when he spotted the crutches against the far wall. Slowly, and with some considerable pain, he eased himself out of bed and over to the crutches. Once there, he had to wait several minutes for his head to clear. He opened the door quietly, checking for any sign of Dr Stuart. When he was convinced the coast was clear, he crossed the hallway to what he had figured out was the only other room in that small aid station. He opened the door and peered in. Jim was there, sitting up in bed, the phone sitting on the bed beside him.

  "What are you doing out of bed?" he asked, watching Blair maneuver into the room.

  "Shhh!" he said, making his way to the chair beside Jim's bed. "She'll hear you. That woman's got it in for me."

  Jim shook his head, "And well she should. Sandburg, do you EVER do what you're told?"

  Blair sat down, easing his right foot onto the radiator to raise his throbbing leg. "Have you ever known me to?"

  "As a matter of fact..."

  "Listen, Jim..." Blair held up a hand to stop his friend from delivering the speech he knew would be coming. "I know you're mad. You have every right to be. And I know.....after this, you might not want me around anymore, but I just had to..."

  "What do you mean, not want you around?" Jim interrupted.

  "I screwed up big time. This is entirely my fault and I know it"

  "Sandburg, what are you talking about?"

  "Hanks...you getting shot...this whole mess." Blair replied, trying to convey what he was unable to say without having to say it. "I should have been there sooner. That damn tazer, that's why he shot you. I might as well have pulled the trigger myself." He couldn't meet Jim's eyes then and had to look away. "I mean, if you had died, it would have been my fault. And I don't think I could live with that." He looked up again. Jim was smiling in an odd way. "You're my partner, and I let you down." His friend seemed more than willing to let him continue. "And, you're my friend...and if I had...."

  "Listen. First of all, you didn't shoot me, okay Chief?" Jim interjected. "Hanks had me figured out before I even got the chance to talk to him. He was coming up to meet us both when I ran into him downstairs. I misjudged this guy and it's my fault he got the drop on me."

  Blair was listening, but he still didn't believe any of this would have happened if he hadn't been so slow to act. "But that gun went off because I fired a tazer into him."

  Jim shook his head, "Wrong. That gun went off before you fired." Blair was shaking his head and Jim continued. "Yes, Chief. I'm the Sentinel, remember."

  Blair conceded. If Jim wanted to try and make him feel better by convincing him the gun would have fired anyway, he wasn't above letting him think he had.

  "That Mr Smyth was really something. Good thing he had those little toys of his around." Jim replied, letting the subject change. "I'm going to have to recommend him to the Department, next time we need some high-tech gadgets."

  "Actually, he already supplies the Department with most of his stuff. Remember those protein transmitters a few months back?"

  Jim remembered the transmitters, and nearly being killed because of them being discovered. "Don't tell me, he makes those?"

  Blair smiled sheepishly, "Well, actually no. He makes the little scanner that detected those."

  Jim rolled his eyes. "Great, Sandburg. Just whose side is he on?"

  "Ours, Jim. Definitely ours." he paused, looking around the room for a moment. "Jim, listen, when you were lying there...I really thought you might die." He was uncomfortable with the memory and Jim seemed to understand. "I just wanted to say...I really don't know what I would do without you." He looked up then, feeling a little braver with Jim's silence. "I mean, this Sentinel business is one thing. But it's gone beyond that. I mean...I really respect you...not just as a cop, or a Sentinel. It's more...."

  "It's about friendship." Jim finished for him.

  "Yeah. Exactly." There, he said it. Sort of. At least Jim seemed to understand what he was trying to say. The nagging fear of Jim's rejection, that had been lurking around the back of his mind all these months seemed to fade away.

  The phone on Jim's bed rang. "Must be Simon finally calling back." he said as he picked up the receiver.

  Blair sat back, listening.

  "Simon...Yes, the Feds arrived this morning....No, just Hanks....Yes....No I'm fine. But we're going to be up here a while longer...No, I'm fine Simon, I just can't drive the truck right now...No, that avalanche nearly killed him. And the doctor won't let him out of bed now for a week...No, we'll be fine...Yes. Yes Simon, we'll be fine. Okay." Jim hung up and set the phone back on the bedside table. "Well, looks like we'll finally get that week of rest and relaxation after all."

  "Did you tell Simon everything that happened?"

  "Everything that mattered Chief." />
  "He's pretty pissed, isn't he?"

  Jim shook his head, smiling. "No, not really. Why should he be?"

  Blair opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Dr Stuart's abrupt entrance.

  "There you are!" She stormed over to the bed. "I told you to get some sleep." she said, glaring at Jim. "And you. Do I have to chain you to the bed? You get your butt back down that hall...wait, don't you move. Orderly! I need a wheelchair in here. Mr Ellison, don't encourage him." Jim had been laughing at Blair's scolding, then abruptly stopped. "You, get back to your room this instant and STAY there." She pulled Blair by the shoulders into the wheelchair that had been brought in. "Move it mister!"

  "Rest and relaxation." Blair said under his breath as he wheeled himself out of Jim's room. Behind him he could hear his Sentinel friend laugh at the remark he was sure to have heard. Then it was his turn to laugh as he heard Dr Stuart begin scolding Jim. "Okay. This I could enjoy."

  End