New
Arrivals
Author-Suzie
Titles
I Saw a Dragon Fly
by Suzie
Summary: Jim takes a nasty spill.
Disclaimer: Some of the characters in this story belong to the UPN Network and Pet Fly Productions as part of the television show The Sentinel. I do not claim these characters as my own. No money has changed hands.
Detective Jim Ellison and his grad student/partner, Blair Sandburg, had followed their suspect into a wooded park. Hopefully he would lead the partners to an exchange of drugs with a supplier. Or at the very least an arrangement would be made for the exchange to take place.
The northwest Washington rain that was falling was washing away any trail that could be easily followed at a distance ... by the average person, that is. However, Jim's special abilities as a Sentinel allowed him and his partner to follow the suspect, David Kable, without getting too close. His sensitive hearing could pick up every footfall, every brush of fabric against trees and bushes, even Kable's breathing could be heard and used to track him.
Jim and Blair had been moving along steadily, but not rushing, when Jim suddenly pulled up short. Blair ran into Jim's back and nearing slipped on the muddy ground.
"Steady there, Chief," Jim grinned as he caught hold of the smaller man's arms.
"What is it Jim?" Blair questioned, pushing wet hair out of his face.
"Kable has stopped. It must be their meeting spot." Jim cocked his head and extended his hearing a little further. "He's still alone. We need to get closer before that supplier shows." He pointed to a small rise a short distance up the trail. "We should be able to see them from there. Stay close."
Blair nodded and did as he was told.
The muddy, sloppy ground was slippery as they made their way up the trail. They hadn't gone very far when the earth suddenly shifted and slipped under them.
**********
Blair opened his eyes, and found himself looking up at the gray sky. The hard rain washed the mud over his face and into his eyes, making it hard to see clearly. What happened? Blair wondered silently. He raised himself carefully to sit up, blinking to clear his unfocused eyes as he looked around. Where's Jim?
"Jim?!" Blair called, but not as loud as he'd hoped for. Pulling himself out of the mud to stand a bit unsteadily, he tried again with more volume. "Jim?! Where are you, man?!" Blair looked up the slope to the trail they'd been on; it was gone! He was now standing some fifty feet below where the trail had been. The sodden ground had given way beneath them.
Slowly Blair moved to check his surroundings. His head was beginning to thump dully and he pushed a hand through mud soaked curls with a low groan. The unstable ground moved just enough to unbalance him and Blair sat down with a muddy splat. "Ah geez! How am I gonna get outta here?" he whined. "And where the hell is Jim?!"
At that moment, something caught Blair's eye about fifty feet or so further down the slope. Jim!? Sudden realization made its way into Blair's still foggy mind and was telling him to panic. "OhmyGod!" He pushed himself up again, slipping and sliding as he made his way down the slope to where Jim was laying ... unmoving.
"Jim!? Oh God, Jim!" Blair cried, as he pushed the mud away from Jim's face and carefully moved the detective from his side onto his back. "Jim ... you have to be okay man!" Shaky fingers felt for a pulse. "Oh thank you," Blair whispered breathlessly, when he felt the slow steady beat in the Sentinel's neck. "Okay ... calm down and think," he told himself aloud. "Roll reversal. What would Jim being doing right now?"
Quickly and carefully Blair checked Jim for injuries. There was a nasty gash running vertically along the right side of his head, about three inches long, over his temple. It was bleeding, but Blair didn't have anything clean to use as a bandage and chose to leave it so long as it didn't get worse. "I wish I had your touch, man," Blair whispered to the still form, as he gently moved his hands over Jim's arms and legs. "I can't be sure if anything's broken."
"Chief?" a quiet voice moaned. "You talkin' to me?"
Blair jumped, startled at the unexpected sound of Jim's voice, then scrambled up to look into cloudy blue eyes. "How you feel?"
"Head ... hurts," Jim managed in a whisper.
"Yeah ... not surprising, big guy. Anything else?"
"No." Jim squinted to take in Blair's muddy appearance. "You ... all right?"
"Yeah ... yeah, I'm fine."
"What the hell happened?"
"The trail slid out from under us. All this rain has made things pretty soggy."
"Didn't notice," Jim muttered. "Should have ..."
"You were focused on Kable and the drug deal," Blair reminded him. Then he noticed Jim's eyes closing as he began to fade out again. "No, stay awake Jim!" Blair said quickly, squeezing Jim's shoulder.
Jim pulled his eyes open wide, but they began to droop again immediately. "Phone ..."
"Your cell phone! Oh man, I didn't even think!" Blair cried as he started going through Jim's pockets. "I mean I thought about mine being in my backpack in the truck, but I ..." Blair saw that Jim's eyes were closed again. "Open your eyes! C'mon, Jim, stay awake!"
Jim's eyes popped open as Blair pulled the muck covered phone out. He managed to scrape enough off to use the buttons and punched in 911.
"Hey ... Chief?" Jim mumbled. "You see that?"
Blair looked around, hoping that maybe someone had come to help them. "What?"
"I can see a dragon fly."
"What? Jim, there's no dragonflies here." The 911 operator answered. "Yes, my friend's been injured. He's a detective with Cascade PD," Blair told her. "We're in Cornel Park ... about a half-mile up the main trail. The trail collapsed and we fell."
Jim lifted one arm to point up at the sky, "Don't you see them?"
"My name? Blair Sandburg," he told the operator. "No, Jim, I don't see any dragonflies," Blair replied quickly to Jim. "What? Ellison ... Jim Ellison. He works in Major Crimes and Simon Banks is his Captain." Blair paused to listen for a moment. "How far? 'Bout a hundred feet I'd guess. He's got a gash on the side of his head ... and he's not real coherent. Please hurry."
Jim started to move around, grabbed Blair's arm to pull himself up to a sitting position.
"No, Jim, lie down. Help's coming," Blair said, trying to push the bigger man down with his free hand.
Jim shook his head slowly, "Can't see them now. They moved. Want to watch the dragons fly."
Blair was trying desperately not to panic, as he looked into Jim's unfocused eyes. Restraining Jim Ellison under the best conditions was hard enough, trying to do so when the man was slick with mud, determined, and while Blair was holding the cell phone in one hand made it impossible.
"They're leaving, Chief," Jim said. He used Blair to steady himself as he got to his feet.
Grabbing Jim's hands as the bigger man's weight made him sink further into the mud, Blair lost his grip on the small phone. "Dammit Jim, will you stop!" He reached to retrieve the cell phone, but Jim's constant, unsteady movements caused a suction that pulled it under the watery muck. Shit!
"Where'd they go?!" Jim asked, still leaning heavily on the smaller man's shoulders. "Sandburg, did you see where they went?!"
Blair lost all hope at reaching the cell phone as his knees disappeared under the wet, gucky, brown mud. "Jim, let me stand up man!" he grimaced.
Jim straightened up and took several staggering steps away from his Guide.
"No, Jim, wait ... stay here!" Blair pleaded, as he was trying to pull his folded legs out of the suction grip the mud now had on him.
"Don't worry, I'll find them," Jim said as he stumble off toward the trees.
"JIM!!"
**********
With a little time and lot of effort, Blair finally clawed his way out of the mud. "JIM!!?" He thought briefly about trying to find the cell phone, but decided it must have been sucked half way to China by now.
Jogging through the trees, Blair followed the uneven tracks Jim was leaving in his wake. He hadn't noticed it before, but the rain had stopped, so the footprints he was following weren't being washed away. "JIM!? Where Are You?!"
Blair had never felt so afraid and helpless before. Jim was delirious, no doubt had a concussion, and was running around a soggy forest looking for dragonflies. Blair had seen Jim hurt, he'd seen Jim sick ... but *never* like this! What do I do when I catch up with him? Throw a net over him? Blair thought worriedly. "JIM, ANSWER ME!" he shouted.
Blair stopped to catch his breath for second. Cold, exhaustion, and an overwhelming concern for his injured friend were beginning to take their toll.
"SANDBURG?! Over Here!" Jim suddenly called. "I *found* them!"
"Oh thank God!" Blair whispered to himself. Then yelled, "Stay put! Don't Move! I'm coming!"
"Hurry!"
Blair pushed through the undergrowth and saw Jim as he disappeared beyond the trees. "NO! Dammit Jim, Wait For Me!" Cursing under his breath as he ran after Jim, he tried to keep the bigger man in his sights. Where's a net when ya need one! Blair thought. He could hear Jim crash through the brush, obviously staggering occasionally. How can he keep going?
**********
"Captain, it's the 911 operator on line 2," Rhonda said quietly into the receiver.
Simon sighed, knowing instinctively who was involved, "Okay, put it through."
There was a soft click as the call was transferred.
"Hello ... this is Captain Banks. Who is this?" Simon said.
The voice on the other end identified herself as Carol Flesher. She proceeded to explain her conversation with Blair, and that the line had suddenly gone dead. Police, medical and rescue teams had been dispatched, but, as a courtesy, she wanted to let the captain know that one of his detectives was involved and injured.
Now the captain was standing on the muddy trail above the slide.
His friend and colleague, Joel Taggert, acknowledged a message on the radio he held, then turned to Simon. "The chopper reports that this is the only slide in the area. They have to be here."
Simon nodded as he chewed on his cigar. "ELLISON!? SANDBURG!?" he called. There was no response, and he whispered to himself, "Great ... just great!" He didn't know if he should be angry or worried ... or both. "Where the hell would they go?!"
"Maybe they're trying to walk out," Joel offered hopefully. "The 911 operator said the connection was lost. Maybe Blair wasn't sure the message got through."
"Yeah ... maybe," Simon replied. "She also said Jim was injured. Sandburg wouldn't leave him ... and he sure as hell couldn't carry him."
A member of the rescue group that was gathering at the scene stepped up to Simon and Joel and said, "Sirs, we're getting ready to go down to check the woods. I need names and descriptions."
**********
Blair had finally managed to tackle Jim. They went down together, struggling, and Jim succeeded in smacking Blair across the face with one flailing fist. Running on pure adrenaline at this point, Blair didn't seem to feel the blow and managed to straddle Jim's hips.
"Have to follow them!" Jim cried, trying to twist away from his partner.
"Jim, Stop!" Blair said loudly, as he tried to pin Jim's arms.
Jim planted his feet and heaved himself upward, tossing Blair aside easily. Scrambling to his feet, Blair prepared to tackle his partner again. But, Jim just sat there, staring straight ahead ... at nothing. Then his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell back limply, unconscious.
"Jim?!" Blair cried. "Oh no! Nonono!" He hurried to feel for a pulse, and was relieved to find it was strong, though understandably fast. Suddenly feeling out of breath and weak-kneed, Blair slumped to sit next to the inert figure. "We'll just rest here a minute, okay big guy?" he gasped, patting Jim's arm. "I gotta figure out where the hell we are anyway."
Blair was sitting with his head between his knees, trying to catch his breath when he thought he heard someone call his name. "Jim?" he whispered, looking at the still unconscious man at his side.
"JIM ELLSION!" a voice called through the trees. "BLAIR SANDBURG! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"
"OhmyGod! Someone's looking for us!" Blair muttered, as he tried to get to his feet. Overbalancing, he fell back to his knees. "HERE! WE'RE HERE!" he yelled at the top of his voice.
"STAY WHERE YOU ARE! WE WILL COME TO YOU!"
"HURRY!" Blair looked down at Jim, "Please hurry."
**********
As the medics pulled the stretcher with Jim on it inside the ambulance, Simon and Joel helped Blair out of his mud soaked clothes and wrapped him in blankets.
"Is-is J-Jim okay?" Blair asked. His teeth chattered as he strained to see into the back of the ambulance from where he was standing outside.
"Be still, Sandburg!" Simon barked. "We need to get you warmed up."
Shock and mild hypothermia were setting in and Blair was shivering violently.
"Jim's doing fine. The medics said his vitals are strong," Joel said, gently wrapping a second blanket around Blair. Then he turned to the Captain, "The medic said Blair would be okay, but it wouldn't hurt to have him checked at the hospital. Why don't we transport the kid ourselves? At least the car would be warm."
"The car" meant Simon's car, and the captain winced. But looking down at the shivering, muddy young man made him sigh, "Yeah ... good idea." Jim would kill me if the kid got sick to protect my interior. Simon handed Joel the keys. "Go start it up and turn the heater on." He turned to see Blair moving towards the back of the ambulance. "I'll bring him."
"Sandburg?" Simon said quietly as he stepped up next to him. "Blair, c'mon. We'll meet them at the hospital."
"N-no, s-sir," Blair chattered. "I w-want to be w-with him."
Simon placed an arm around the smaller man and could feel the constant shivers. "They're about ready to leave. We'll be just ahead of them."
Blair looked up at the tall man beside him with very wet, very blue eyes. Simon simply patted his back and led him towards the waiting car.
**********
Blair stubbornly refused to leave the hospital as long as Jim was still unconscious. So, the nurses took pity on his miserable muddiness and found an empty room where he could shower. Simon went to the loft for clean clothes and shoes for Blair, while Joel stayed behind to keep an eye on things.
Upon Simon's return he found Blair and Joel in Jim's room. Blair sat, clean and wrapped in blankets, in a chair next to the bed, napping. Joel was sitting near the window, glancing absently through a magazine.
"Hey Simon," Joel said quietly with a slight smile. "Get the mud outta your car?" He knew the captain would've stopped to do so.
Simon shook his head and returned the smile, "Yeah. Well, most of it anyway. How're things doing here?"
"Jim's got a nasty concussion and eighteen stitches. The doctor says he should be waking up any time. Blair has some minor bumps and bruises. They were both a little shocky, and slightly hypothermic, but nothing serious to worry about."
Simon nodded. "Did you get anything more about what happened?"
"Not really. Apparently when Jim came around the first time after the fall he was seeing ... dragonflies."
Simon cocked on eyebrow up, "Dragonflies?"
"That's what Blair said," Joel shrugged. "Then Jim started chasing the dragonflies, and Blair started chasing Jim ..."
"Yeah, I get the picture," Simon said, raising a hand in understanding. He moved over to stand beside Blair and lightly shook one slumped shoulder, "Hey, Sandburg, wake up. I brought you some clothes."
"Huh?" Blair sat up quickly and looked at the bed. "Jim?"
"No, it's me," Simon smiled at the confused look on Blair's face. "I brought you some clothes."
Blair sighed and tried to wake up. "Oh ... hi Captain." He took the bag from Simon. "Thanks man." Standing, struggling to keep the blanket around his naked body, Blair shuffled to the bathroom.
"You sure he's okay?" Simon asked Joel after the bathroom door had closed.
Joel nodded and smiled, "He's exhausted, but he has refused to leave Jim until he wakes up."
When Blair returned, dressed but still wrapped in the blanket, Simon asked, "Want a ride home?"
Blair sat back down in the chair nearest Jim and shook his head. "No, thanks anyway. The doctor said Jim would wake up soon. I want to be here."
Simon knew better than to argue and simply replied, "Okay, I'll check back with you later. Call if you need anything. Joel and I will go get Jim's truck." He turned to Joel, "Let's go."
**********
"Sandburg?" Jim whispered. He woke to find Blair curled up in the chair next to him with his head resting on the edge of the bed. Reaching out a shaky hand to gently tousle the long curls, Jim tried again, "Hey, Blair. Time to wake up sleepy head."
Blair mumbled sleepily and raised his head to meet Jim's eyes. "Jim?"
"You with me here Chief?" Jim smiled.
Slowly realizing where he was and why, Blair sat up and blinked several times to clear his head. "Jim?! You're awake!"
"Yeah, it would seem that way. But I've got a hell of a headache."
"Oh man, Jim, you really scared me! It's been hours! The doctor kept tellin' me you'd wake up soon, but it's been like forever! After what happened and ..."
Jim grabbed Blair's hand to stop his rambling. "It's okay now. I'm alright."
"Yeah ... yeah, I know. You are ... now," Blair said. "Oh ... sorry. Let me get a nurse in here. You need something for your head."
"S'okay, I'll just use the dial."
"No ... let's try the pain meds first. Just relax. Don't concentrate on anything for a while, okay?" At Jim's slow nod, Blair turned to ring for a nurse.
"Hey, what's this?" Jim asked as he caught sight of the dark bruise on Blair's right cheek. "How'd you get that?"
Blair pushed the call button and answered, "Oh ... ah ... guess I hit it when I fell."
Jim took hold of Blair's chin to examine the bruise. He could see the slightly darker spots that indicated knuckles had been involved. "When you fell, huh? Whose fist did you fall on?" A slight surge of anger rose in Jim's tired voice.
Damn! I was really hoping to avoid this, Blair grimaced silently, backing his chin out of the other man's gentle grip. "Guess you don't remember too much about what happened, do you?"
"Actually ... no I don't."
"Well, um ..." I could lie ... but, he'll know. He always knows. "You were a little ... incoherent after the fall ... and I was trying to hold you down because you kept trying to run off ... you were struggling big time."
Jim's eyes filled with horror, "I *hit* you, didn't I?!"
Blair was quick to try and explain the situation, "You didn't know what was going on Jim. I know you didn't mean to ..."
"I'm *so* sorry, Blair," Jim said.
"It's okay, big guy. Really ... don't worry about it," Blair tried to reassure his distressed friend. "You weren't exactly yourself then."
"I don't even remember doing it."
"Jim, please ..."
The nurse's voice came on the small intercom above the bed, "What can I get you?"
"Mr. Ellison is awake with a real bad headache," Blair replied, thankful for the interruption.
"Okay," she said pleasantly. "I'll see what I can give him and be right there."
"What about David Kable and the meeting?" Jim asked.
"Um ... don't know. He was gone long before help came for us." Blair gave a slight shrug, "Sorry."
"Not your fault, Chief. There'll be other meetings," Jim smiled. "We'll get them."
The nurse appeared with Jim's medication. Blair watched as she pushed the liquid into the IV in Jim's left hand. Surprisingly, it seemed to take effect fairly rapidly and by the time the nurse left, Jim was feeling sleepy.
Satisfied that his Sentinel would be all right, Blair gave Jim's hand a light squeeze. "You get some rest now. I'll be at home if you need anything, okay."
Jim managed a nod as he drifted off to sleep.
Just outside the door of Jim's room, Blair leaned against the wall. The stress of the past day was suddenly gone, leaving him lightheaded and feeling weak. Taking a slow deep breath Blair closed his eyes for a moment, and leaned his head back against the wall. A barely audible whisper passed Blair's lips as he said a "thank you" to God.
**********
The following afternoon found Jim restless and wanting to go home. But, the doctor was keeping for another twenty-four hours.
"But my head doesn't hurt anymore," Jim sighed. "I want to go home. I can rest there."
"Your head doesn't hurt because you've got the dial down to what? One ... zero?" Blair stated, knowing his friend well. "That ... is cheating."
Jim gave Blair a look of disgust, "I've got it on two, and if I don't think about it, it doesn't hurt."
Blair grinned, "It is *soo* good to have you back Jim." Then he looked serious and said, "You really scared me out there."
"Well, now that I'm remembering bits and pieces of what happened, I'm just glad you stuck with me, Chief," Jim smiled warmly. "Simon came by this morning. He told me you wouldn't leave."
Blair blushed slightly. "I didn't want you to wake up and be alone. I wanted to make sure you knew everything was okay."
"Thanks, I'm glad you did."
They sat quietly for a time, happy enough just to be in one another's company.
"Ya know, Jim," Blair said at last. "Most people see stars when they hit their head ... or maybe even little tweety birds." He grinned up from his chair, "But *nooo*, you see dragonflies."
"Dragonflies? I don't remember any dragonflies." Jim frowned as he thought for a moment. Then smiled as he recalled what he had seen, and said, "No Chief, not dragonflies. I was seeing *dragons*. I was watching the dragons fly."
Blair cast a doubtful look at the Sentinel, "Dragons!? You mean, like, fire breathing winged reptiles?"
Jim nodded, "Well, they weren't breathing fire, but ..."
"You *are* talking about the dragons of legends ... folk lore?" Blair didn't try to hide the little smirk on his face. "Dragons are way huge, Jim. If there were dragons flyin' around in the park, I'm sure I would have seen them."
"They weren't that big, Chief," Jim explained earnestly. "In fact, they were no bigger than a Robin ... or maybe a Scrub Jay. Their wings were kind of like transparent butterfly wings ... only not as wide. Real delicate looking."
Blair's face creased with concern. "I'm worried about you, big guy."
Jim ignored the comment. "Their eyes were big and bright. Oh, and they had these fantastic tails. As long as their bodies and slender ... like little whips," he said, making motions with his index finger like a whip.
"Jim, you're scaring me here man," Blair said, standing up nervously. "I think I'm gonna go find the doctor ... okay?"
Jim smiled fondly at the look on his partner's face. "Wait Chief. I know they weren't really there. It was just the concussion. But ... at the time ... they seemed real. I could see them plain as day."
"Don't do that!" Blair scolded as he relaxed back into the chair. "I thought you were having some kind of relapse or something!"
"I'm sorry," Jim said. Then he grinned broadly, "But, have you ever *seen* a dragon fly?"
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