Page 104 of Fire and Ice

He waved the beam of a flashlight on her eyes. Her pupils remained dilated and she was unresponsive.

"Shit, she's got severe concussion and is in shock. We need to get her to the trauma unit ASAP."

The AGS chopper descended a short distance from the grouping of emergency vehicles parked in front of a massive colonial-style home. A gaping hole was visible in the side of the house. The implication of an explosion and someone in critical condition kept replaying itself in Jack's mind. He kept consoling himself that if Rick was okay, then Maia should be too. Hadn't she just survived a boat explosion? Christ, wasn't that just a little over a week ago? At the rate he worried about her, it was surprising he had not had a heart attack by now.

Jack spied Rick Grayson among the numerous police officers, firemen and EMTs at the scene. The minute the helicopter touched down, Jack jumped off and headed straight for the DEA agent.

"Rick!" Jack yelled. Grayson turned and broke into a smile.

"Jack! Can't believe how glad I am to see your ugly face."

"You OK, man?"

"Banged up and a bit deaf but otherwise ..."

"Is Maia with you?"

Rick's face sobered which sent a twinge of fear racing through Jack's nerves.

"They're stabilizing her. They should hoist her up any moment."

"What?" Jack had trouble comprehending what Rick meant.

"Come on," Rick said as he walked over to the crater over the first floor. A police officer moved to stop them but Rick explained that they were part of the team involved in the operation.

"Jesus Christ, what happened here?" Jack said as he took in the rubble and the smattering of bodies and body parts. And then his heart stilled as he spotted Maia in a neck brace getting hoisted up in a stretcher. "Maia!"

Turning to Rick, "What the hell happened?"

"Short story?" Rick sighed. "We were running out of ammo, Reznikov and his men were bearing down on us, Maia decided an illeoic gas tank explosion was the best option."

Jack was speechless. Though he wanted to throttle his woman for coming up with such insane idea, he couldn't disagree that it wasn't an effective plan given the circumstances.

"Why am I not surprised?" Viktor muttered behind them.

"The blast threw her against the wall. Believe me, we were arguing about who was going to take the shot, but she insisted it be her. Said I was the most qualified to dig her out."

"Hmm, it would be a shame to have her survive the explosion only to be murdered by her boyfriend," Derek added as he watched Jack's jaw clenched in response to the news of Maia's disregard for her safety.

"And Reznikov?" Viktor asked.

"Somewhere between the wall and the floor, I presume," Rick said showing no regret about the Russian's brutal demise. Turning to the three men he said solemnly, "No doubt, Maia is one crazy chick and we've had our differences on how to handle things. But no question, she saved my life."

Rick suddenly gripped the crown of his head. "I need to have myself checked out. I have this blasted headache and my hearing is not a hundred percent. I'll probably see you guys around at the hospital."

Maia's stretcher reached the first floor and Jack rushed to meet it. A paramedic cautioned him on what to expect. "She has some cognitive difficulties."

But Jack didn't seem to hear him. His focus was on Maia. "Hey, babe. You are going to be fine." He walked with the stretcher towards the waiting medical chopper.

Her blue eyes were glazed in pain, her face had some bruising and a frown creased her forehead. "What?"

"Maia, babe, everything is going to be all right, I'm right here."

"Sorry...who...who... are you?"

Jack stopped short in dismay as they loaded the stretcher on the chopper and slammed the double doors shut in his stunned face.

Derek and Viktor caught up with him. He turned to them and said slowly, "She doesn't know who I am."

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