New
Arrivals
Author-Suzie
Titles
In a Moment
by Suzie
Summary: Blair, coffee, and a loose wire.
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.
Notes: Thanks, oh great and wonderful Beta Beast!
"How rare and wonderful is that flash of a moment when we realize we have discovered a friend."
~~ William Roisler ~~
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It was 10:30pm in Cascade. Detective James Ellison and his partner/observer Blair Sandburg were alone in Major Crimes finishing up the paperwork on a drug bust that had gone down earlier in the day. Captain Simon Banks promised that if they could get the reports out of the way they'd have a weekend free to relax.
Blair looked up and checked the time. "I wish Simon would get here with the food, man. I'm starving." His stomach growled loudly as if to punctuate the statement.
Jim chuckled, "He should be here soon."
Blair yawned and stretched in his seat at the computer. "Think I'll get some coffee. You want some, Jim?"
"Yeah ... thanks, that'd be great, Chief," Jim replied with a tired smile.
Blair stood and headed off toward the breakroom.
**********
Blair poured the last of the coffee into two mugs, then filled the coffee maker with water and scooped coffee into a fresh filter. He flipped the switch to on, but nothing happened. The little orange light next to the switch didn't come on. Shit, now what? Blair thought with tired frustration. He pulled the coffee maker away from the wall and saw that it was unplugged.
Blair didn't know about the leaky pipe under the sink, was too tired to notice the small puddle of water that had formed where his right foot was. He was yawning as he grabbed the plug off the counter, not seeing the loose, bare wire sticking out, and proceeded to push it into the wall socket. Blair heard a sizzle just before the jolt traveled up his arm into his chest. With a scream, he was flung back across the room to crash into the wall next to the door.
**********
Jim felt the sudden burst of electricity as it was released into the air, making the hair on his head tingle. Then he heard Blair's scream and the subsequent crash, and was on his feet running for the breakroom.
"Blair?!" Jim called as he stepped into the room, nearly tripping over the inert form of his partner. The acrid smell of burnt electrical wiring made him gag before he could turn down his sense of smell. He knelt beside the young man and felt for a pulse. Nothing! "Oh God ... No!" Jim gasped and quickly set about starting CPR.
Chest compressions. One - two - three - four - five. Jim tilted Blair's head back, pinched his nose closed, and blew air into his open mouth. Jim watched Blair's chest rise and fall. One - two - three - four - five - breathe. Jim checked for a pulse. Still nothing.
"Sandburg! Don't you dare do this to me!" Jim cried, tears welling in his eyes.
One - two - three - four - five - breathe.
"C'mon, Chief! Breathe Dammit!!"
One - two - three - four - five - breathe.
Jim felt again for a pulse. A faint thump against his fingers. Jim gasped, "Please ..." Another faint thump. He opened his hearing and heard the next one as well. "Yes!"
Blair took a small gasping breath.
"That's it, buddy, breathe for me!" Jim coaxed.
Blair took another breath and began coughing violently.
"Easy, Blair," Jim soothed as he pulled Blair up into his arms.
The coughing spasm passed and Blair finally was able to open reddened eyes. "Jim?" he managed to croak out in a whisper. "What hap ..."
"Shhh ... you're going to be alright." With a shaking hand Jim reached for the phone on the wall above them. He listened to Blair's raspy breathing as he called for medical aide.
Blair started coughing again and Jim dropped the phone to wrap his arms around his friend.
"Oh God, Jim, I hurt all over, man," Blair rasped, his entire body tensing as he grabbed a fistful of Jim's shirt. "What the hell happened?"
Jim looked around the room. He quickly saw the blackened electrical socket on the wall behind the coffee maker. Jim's eyes scanned down the counter to the floor where he noticed the water dripping from under the counter into the growing puddle on the floor. Oh My God!! he thought. Jim quickly checked both of Blair's hands and found his right palm burned with blisters forming.
"Jim ...," Blair whispered. "I'm cold."
"Help's on the way, Chief," Jim said, pulling the smaller man impossibly closer.
Blair felt something warm and wet hit his face and he looked up to see tears flowing down his Sentinel's face. "Jim? Jim, what's wrong, man?" He reached a shaky hand up to lightly brush the tears off Jim's cheek.
"I think my greatest fear is that one day through my job I'll lose you. A bust will go bad or someone I put away will hurt you, try and use you against me," Jim said quietly. "But we're here, right in the precinct, and something as silly and mundane as making a stinking cup of coffee almost took you away from me." Jim shuddered and closed his arms around his Guide in a tighter embrace. "It just scared me, Chief. I nearly lost you," Jim whispered to his Guide and took a trembling breath.
What Jim said took a minute to sink in. Then Blair buried his face in the broad chest he was being held against and shivered. "Don't let go, Jim," he sobbed softly.
Jim's grasp tightened slightly and he rested the side of his face on top of Blair's head. "I've got you."
Down the hall from the breakroom the elevator doors opened. Paramedics and the Captain of Major Crimes, Simon Banks, rushed out.
Simon set the bags of take-out food on the floor next to the elevator. "The breakroom is down this way." he told the medics, as he led the way.
Jim heard them coming, but he didn't move, and wouldn't until he was forced to. So he sat there with his arms full of Guide, listening to the beat of his heart and the rasp of his breath.
As the medics worked on Blair, and all the way to the hospital, Jim managed to keep in constant contact with his young friend. Smoothing the hair on Blair's head, holding his hand, or pressing his hand gently against his shoulder.
**********
The Doctor kept Blair in the hospital overnight, but said there would be no permanent damage. Jim spent another night in a hospital room in an uncomfortable chair, silently thanking God that he still had his friend beside him and wondering at how uncertain life really is.
Jim turned in the chair and took his sleeping Guide's hand between his own. He silently vowed to enjoy each day they had together, to show the respect he felt for this intelligent, kind, caring person who he loved like a brother ... and to try just a little bit harder to be the Sentinel his Guide deserved.
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