An Unfortunate Mix-Up ✔️

Chapter 27: The Rescue

Kelly lowers the backboard into the room slowly, as he looks between Jay and Alex. 

"Jay..." Kelly says as he looks over at his friend, who simply just nods his head in return. 

"Help...him.." Jay lets out quietly as he lays back against the wall, taking a series of deep breathes, the darkness threatening to close on him once again as he fought with everything to keep his eyes opened. He made it this far. It wasn't going to be long now.

"That's why I'm here, for both of you." Kelly then takes a deep breath as he looks over Alex, noticing the tube placed in his chest. "Nice job with the insertion."

"Will...talked...me through....it..." Jay could feel each breath getting harder to take as he watched Kelly place the backboard right next to Alex.

"Do you have enough strength to help me?" Jay nods his head as he shifts back close to Alex, knowing already what Kelly was thinking as they looked over his unconscious body. "If it gets too much, tell me-"

"Help him..." Kelly wasn't about to argue, knowing that was just a matter of wasted time and energy. He had already warnings from the engineer about spending any amount of time below the debris. 

The pair roll over Alex lightly, placing the backboard as close as they can to his body, before rolling it onto the board. Kelly looks down at his side, seeing how tight the wound was packed, but yet watching a bit of blood seep out. He could only bite his lip as his worry grew with getting a better look at the gruesome scene before him.

He runs the straps across Alex's ankles, followed by his legs, stomach and chest. He makes sure each one as tight as he can, his eyes never leaving the wound on his side.

"Collapsed lung, penetration to the left side," Kelly reports back up on the radio as he gives a tug of the rope. It was all that was needed as they watched the backboard slowly rise up, courtesy of Matt and the rest of the group. "I need another oxygen mask down here!"

Kelly finally allows his eyes to leave the backboard and Alex once considerable space had been gained, allowing his eyes to finally settle in on Jay. He could see everything that had happened the past day and a bit was written all over his face as he sat there, strength at a minimum right now.

"Put this on Jay, please," Kelly requests as he takes the oxygen mask, slipping it over Jay's face  without much of a fight at all. He knew that wasn't a good sign, as he had never seen Jay co-operate with doctor's orders in all of his previous wrongdoings. He even chuckled when heard Jay was trying to escape the hospital just a day after being shot. "Stay with me, man. Tell me how I can help you, please..."

"My...shoulder..." Jay lets out as he allows his right hand to reach up and rest on his left shoulder, already knowing the result of what he was feeling. He knew when he had been pulling at the wall trying to break the bounds that held him to help Alex that he had been able to escape, but not without cause in moving his shoulder out of place. "Pop it bac-"

"Are you insane?" Jay almost chuckled in response, as a lot of people had that comment for him when they heard the amount of pain and craziness he could endure in a single sitting. Some even accused him of being psycho for what he could endure.

"Did it in the field....I know the pain..." Kelly wasn't about to argue with the detective, just thankful they could be having this conversation after having heard the series of events which had taken place. He also knew taking steps he wanted was keeping Jay just enough alert they could interact until a second backboard was lowered for his rescue. 

"Take a deep breath..." Kelly places his hand on the shoulder, followed by his other on the end. He then follows the twisting motion, hearing the pop, followed by a moan by the man before him. He had obviously accomplished the feat in feeling everything back in place, but knew the pain it had caused in the process. "Jay, breathe..."

"Fuck!!!" Kelly wasn't surprised by the outburst, or the fact he could see tears starting to form in Jay's eyes as his body weak from dehydration and torture fought against the pain he was enduring. 

"I'd say the same thing in your situation..." Kelly then glanced down at Jay's left leg, noticing the deformity that was clearly visible. "I can't believe you helped Alex despite how you're feeling.." He then scours through the debris, grabbing a long stick. He then places against the length of Jay's leg, followed by taking off his own shirt, ripping it in two, utilizing those pieces to tie it around. He knew he had to stabilize it before moving him to decrease the risk of further injury.

"Kelly..." Kelly immediately looks up, noticing the eyes slightly closing, instantly grabbing Jay's hand and squeezing it as hard as he can. The notion causes the eyes to open back up, and glance into his own. He felt his own heart break immediately in noticing the pain, and tears that lied just beneath the surface. 

"Squeeze my hand!" Jay followed the instruction as Kelly continued to look over his friend, wanting to do as much as he could as he impatiently waited for the next backboard to come down into the hole. "Keep squeezing." 

"My chest..." Jay takes his other hand, placing it on his heart, which Kelly quickly follows the same motion. The men lock eyes as Kelly feels exactly what Jay is feeling, already knowing the cause as a single glance at Jay's back told that whole story. "He shocked me...multiple times..."

"Just focus on breathing, keeping yourself calm, and squeezing my hand..." Kelly wished he could do something for the burns on his back, but knew that'd be up to the EMTs. He also they needed the rescue sooner than later, in noticing the heartbeat waver slightly, followed by a muscle spasm that caused the entire body before him to twitch at once. 

"I can't do-"

"Yes you can, Jay. You've been this strong this long. Just a little longer, buddy......"