Disclaimer: I do not own either of the Mission: Impossible series or any of the characters therein. I receive no compensation or any other tangible benefit from this story. I am just a fan who enjoys taking the team out for an adventure every now and then. 🙂
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Nemesis Chapter 27
Halfway down the stairs, it occurred to Nicholas that he couldn't just waltz into the triage room looking for his friends - it would provoke too many questions that he didn't care to answer. So he had to find another way.
As he entered the ground floor, he saw a door with a sign in Italian that said 'Hospital Staff Only'. Taking care to make sure he was not seen, he reached for the doorknob, praying that it was unlocked.
It wasn't.
Nicholas cursed to himself. He would just have to wait for an opportunity.
Several minutes later, a very impatient Nicholas, practically itching with curiosity, watched as a doctor approached the door and unlocked it. Quickly, Nicholas darted behind the physician, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. As he had hoped, the doctor courteously held the door open for the dark-haired agent, who followed him inside.
Nicholas quickly found a white coat that looked like it would fit and threw it on. Then he proceeded to make his way to triage.
He easily mingled his way into the plethora of doctors and nurses without a second glance. When he approached the nurse's desk and asked which of the more than twenty triage rooms held the two patients that had just come in by helicopter, he was given the information readily.
Nicholas approached the first of the two triage rooms he came to, took a deep breath, and pulled back the curtain.
"How are you feeling, sir?" he asked formally, mostly for appearances, as he entered the room and closed the curtain again. Then he turned to face the patient just as the patient looked up at him.
Nicholas' heart skipped a beat.
"Nicholas?" Max asked incredulously.
"Max!" he breathed. "Thank God you're alive!" Nicholas scurried over to his friend, eager to exchange an embrace - or at least a handshake - but quickly realized that both of Max's arms were incapacitated. So instead, he laid his hand on Max's uninjured shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"The chopper crashed," Max muttered. "The transmitter messed up."
"We know," Nicholas responded softly as he surveyed Max's injuries. "We thought you were dead. How are you feeling?"
"I'll be okay," Max assured his friend.
"You got lucky," Nicholas smiled.
Max returned his smile briefly, then sobered. "Grant's hurt worse," he advised. "I almost lost him."
I'm sure you did everything you could not to let that happen, Nicholas thought fondly. "I'll go check on him," he promised. "I'll see you a little later." He turned and walked toward the curtain.
"Nicholas, wait," Max called. His friend turned around, and Max's face held a puzzled look. "How'd you know we were here?"
"Long story, my friend," Nicholas answered. "I'll fill you in later. I'd better go before someone gets suspicious."
"Are Jim and Shannon all right?" Max persisted, his mind working overtime, sensing that the only way Nicholas could have known where to find his teammates was if he'd already been at the hospital. Besides, his friend's brow looked a little singed.
Nicholas tried to flash his trademark smile, but his countenance was somewhat sad. This was classic Max, injured himself but worried about the rest of his team.
"Jim's going to be fine," Nicholas replied honestly. "Shannon's still critical but she's holding her own. Gotta go."
"Later, pal," Max called after him, but he had already disappeared behind the curtain.
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A couple of minutes later, Nicholas entered Grant's room. Grant was lying still on his stretcher, head and shoulders slightly propped and eyes closed. Two bags of fluid hung on an IV pole above his bed. His right shoulder and forehead were bandaged.
Nicholas' stomach flip-flopped as he drew closer to Grant's bed and laid his hand on Grant's left shoulder. He winced as heat radiated from it. Grant was definitely running a fever.
"Grant? Can you hear me?" he asked softly.
Grant opened his eyes. It took him a moment to focus on the "doctor," but then he smiled.
"Hey, Nicholas," he greeted with a half-smile, reaching out his left hand to clasp Nicholas' own.
"How are you doing?" Nicholas asked anxiously.
"I've been better," he replied with a sigh, "but at least I'm here." Grant's eyes met Nicholas', and the fear that he saw there made the latter's blood run cold. "Wouldn't have been, if not for Max. How's he doing?"
"He seems okay," Nicholas answered. "He's worried about you."
That sounds like Max, Grant smiled to himself.
Suddenly, Nicholas heard someone approaching the room. "I'd better get out of here," Nicholas said urgently. "I'll be back to see you later on, okay?"
Grant nodded, and Nicholas made a hasty exit just as the real doctor came in. It troubled him somewhat that Grant hadn't been more curious, or asked more questions, as Max had. But at least they both were alive, and Nicholas couldn't wait to tell Jim the good news.
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(c) 2016
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