New
Arrivals
Author-Suzie
Titles
A Random Act of Kindness
by Suzie
Summary: Blair gets stuck in a snowbank.
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: Jen thought up the title. Jen did the beta. Jen even liked the ending the first time through. <VBG> Thanks, Jen!
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes ~
######
Snow in Cascade was not exactly unusual, but it had been snowing for three days. *That* was unusual … and cold. The daytime high had been lucky to get to fifteen degrees and the wind chill was minus three degrees. Overworked DOT employees had been working overtime to keep the roads plowed and sanded.
**********
“Ellison,” Jim said into the phone on his desk.
“Hey, Jim, it’s me,” Blair said loudly.
Jim turned his hearing up to hear his partner over the noise in the background. “Hey, Chief, I was expecting you an hour ago.” He wasn’t angry … just a bit concerned. “Where are you?” What *is* that noise?
“I’m … um … stuck in a snow bank,” Blair replied.
Jim stood and looked through Captain Banks’ office to see out the window that it snowing again … hard. Damn! “Are you all right?!” Renewed concern in his voice. Jim suddenly realized that the background noise was the wind howling.
“I’m fine, big guy,” Blair assured his Sentinel. “The car in front of me stopped suddenly and I slid off the road. I called for tow truck, but they said it might be tomorrow before they can get to me. Jim, I hate to ask, but …”
“Where are you?” Jim asked.
“At the intersection of Cromwell and 24th. I’m off the road in one of those piles of snow the plows leave behind, but you should be able to see the car.”
“Is there someplace you can get inside to wait? It’ll take about twenty minutes for me to get to you.”
“I checked, but everything’s closed up. I’m sitting in the car now.”
“Okay, Chief. Sit tight and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thanks, man, and be careful.”
Jim hung up the phone and went into the Captain’s office. “Sir, I’m going to go pick up Sandburg.”
Simon looked up from his paperwork with a faint smile, “Kid afraid to drive in the snow?”
Jim chuckled, “I wish he were. He slid off the road into a snow bank.”
“Is he all right?” Simon said with a note of concern.
“Yeah, but the tow truck won’t be able to get to him any time soon with all the cars off the road.”
“Okay, go ahead … then go on home. No point in coming back here in this weather.” Simon looked at his watch, “It’s after 3:00 anyway.”
“Thanks, Simon. I’ll see you in the morning.”
**********
Blair sat huddled in the front seat of the Volvo, pulling his coat tighter around himself. His fingers were cold even though he was wearing thick wooly mittens. His feet were numb in his boots. Starting the car and turning the heater up to full in hopes of thawing out a little, Blair stared out at the falling snow. He shivered and wondered if it would ever stop as it gathered quickly on the windows and windshield. The road was again covered with a thick blanket that was quickly turning to ice since the last time the plow passed by.
Blair had been sitting there for about ten minutes and had just switched off the ignition, since the heater wasn’t putting out much anyway, when he heard a low rumble over the wind. He turned in the seat, but couldn’t see through the snow covered back window. “Maybe it’s the tow truck getting to me sooner then they thought,” Blair hoped aloud.
The rumbling got louder as Blair unlocked the door. He had just pushed the door open when a mountain of snow and ice hit him, knocking the air out of him, and pushing him back into the car and across to the passenger side. The tired snowplow driver never saw him.
**********
Rush hour. Why don’t people stay home in this kind of weather?! Jim thought impatiently as he slowly made his way up Cromwell Street. I know I heard them say on the news that people should stay off the roads today. It had already been thirty minutes and he’d told Blair twenty. The kid’s going to be frozen. Jim took his cell phone from a pocket and hit the speed dial that would connect him to Blair, but all he received was a recorded message saying number he was dialing wasn’t working. The Detective frowned as he clicked the phone off and dropped it back into his pocket. Jim used enhanced sight to see a street sign through the snow. Two blocks to go.
**********
Blair regained consciousness slowly. The first thing he was aware of was how cold he was. Jim, where are you, man? he thought as he opened his eyes. Then he tried to move and found that couldn’t. Snow and ice had packed into the front half of the Volvo and pinned him against the passenger side door. What the hell happened?! Blair tried to push the heavy snow away to free his arms, but he couldn’t budge. “HELLO! Is anyone out there?!” he cried, his voice sounding loud and hollow in the little car. “Please … someone HELP me!”
**********
Jim pulled to a stop at Cromwell and 24th next to the fresh pile of snow the plow had pushed against the curb to join the bank that had accumulated over the past couple of days. He didn’t see Blair’s car. Jim stepped out of the truck and looked around. Where is he?
“HELP?!”
Without his Sentinel hearing, Jim would never have heard the muffled cry that he recognized immediately. “Blair?”
“HELP ME!”
“BLAIR!” Jim called out, his words thrown back into his face by the wind. He looked around frantically, then spotted the top of a car just peeking out of the snow bank … a *green* car!
“HELP ME!”
“Shit!” Jim muttered as he sprinted across the street. “BLAIR?!”
**********
The pressure of the snow and ice against Blair’s body seemed to push the cold in through his clothes faster, making it hard to breathe. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering, he could no longer feel his hands or feet, and he was having trouble catching his breath. Oh God, please let Jim find me. I promise to not do anymore Sentinel testing … well, for a few months anyway, he thought groggily. Why am I so sleepy all of a sudden? Blair’s eyes slipped shut and he thought maybe sleeping wasn’t the best thing to do, but couldn’t figure out why.
Something thumped on the roof of the car. Blair opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling.
Thump! Thump! “SANDBURG!?” Jim called, beating the roof of the car with gloved fists.
Blair blinked slowly. “Jim?” he whispered, hoping he wasn’t just hearing things.
Thump! Thump! “SANDBURG! ANSWER ME!” Jim yelled over the howl of the wind.
“Jim? OhmyGod … JIM!” Blair cried, “HELP ME!”
“Okay, buddy, just hang on!” Jim called back. “I’m here!”
“Please hurry!”
Jim pulled his cell phone from a coat pocket and dialed 911.
After giving the information to the operator and being told that help would be there as soon as possible, Jim started pushing the snow off the car until he had cleared a small portion of the windshield. But the inside of the car appeared to be as white as the outside.
“Oh my God!” Jim breathed as he realized that the inside of the car was packed with snow. “BLAIR, can you hear me?!” he called, knocking on the windshield.
“Yeah, J-Jim,” Blair shivered.
Jim could hear the telltale grogginess that signaled hypothermia was setting in. “Help’s on the way! Are you hurt?”
“I’m numb.”
“Can you move at all?”
“N-no … I’m pinned.”
“Is the backseat clear?”
There was no answer.
“Blair?! Answer me!”
“Jim?” Blair’s quiet voice called.
“Don’t go to sleep, Blair!” Jim told his partner, turning his hearing up to hear him. “You have to stay awake, Chief!”
“But I’m so tired,” Blair mumbled. “Wanna sleep.”
“No, stay awake! I need your help here, Chief!”
Blair pulled his eyes open, concerned. “What’s … wrong?”
“I can’t see you! Are you in the front seat?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you see what’s in the back seat? Is it clear?” Jim called over the wind.
“My backpack … and laptop …,” Blair wheezed.
“No snow?!”
No answer.
“SANDBURG!!?”
Still no answer.
“Shit!” Jim pushed himself across the top of the car to the backend. He madly dug and pushed the snow away from the back window. “BLAIR!!! You have to stay awake!!” Jim cleared away a section of the back window, but it was fogged up on the inside. Dammit!! his mind screamed as he slid off the car and raced back to his truck.
Blair had barely heard Jim’s voice and was less aware of his surroundings. He was slipping in and out of consciousness as his chest continued to tighten. Where am I? he thought through the growing fog in his mind. Why won’t Jim let me sleep? I don’t have school tomorrow. I want to sleep.
Jim pulled the jack handle from the toolbox in the back of the truck and started back to the Volvo as a bright orange City of Cascade DOT sanding truck pulled up. Jim jumped up on the step as the driver rolled down the window.
“You the one that called 911 about a man buried?” the burly man asked. “We heard the call on the scanner.”
“Yes … God yes!” Jim said gratefully. “My friend is buried *inside* his car!”
“*INSIDE*! How the hell …”
“Please … just help me get him out!” Jim cried as he hoped down and rushed over to the car.
The driver and his partner scrambled out of the big truck, each grabbing a shovel from the back before joining Jim.
“I’m going to try to break in through the back window!” Jim called over the howling wind. “He’s in the front seat. You two start digging!”
The two men just nodded as Jim climbed back onto the car.
“BLAIR! Hang on, buddy!” Jim yelled. “I’m almost there!”
With a grunt, Jim swung the jack handle in a downward arch and smashed the back window of the Volvo. The window cracked in every direction but, because it was safety glass, it did not shatter. Jim hit it again, this time breaking a hole in the glass. Then with his gloved hands he began to tear the sheet of glass away.
Jim quickly slid into the car onto the snow and ice that filled the back level with the seat. “Sandburg! I’m here!” Jim moved forward and cupped Blair’s face in his big hands. “Blair, wake up!” He pushed the hair away from his Guide’s ghostly white face, “C’mon, you have to wake up, Chief!” His lips are blue! Jim pulled off his gloves and pressed his fingers to Blair’s neck. A slow pulse thumped against his fingers.
“HEY!” came a voice from outside. “Is he alive?!”
Jim felt the icy cold of Blair’s skin as he answered, “Yeah, but he’s pinned! We need to dig him out quickly!” He could hear the two men outside speed up their efforts. Jim pulled his gloves back on and began pushing the packed snow away from Blair’s chest. “Wake up, Blair! Talk to me, dammit!”
“J-Jim?” Blair whispered weakly.
Jim turned back to see half opened, dull blue eyes looking at him. “How’re you doing there, Chief?”
“Okay … just tired.” Blair’s eyes drifted closed again.
“No, stay awake!” Jim said, patting the icy cheeks.
“No … Jim … let me sleep.”
“Blair, talk to me. Tell me what happened.”
“Hmmm? Happened?” Blair muttered.
“Yeah, how’d you get buried in all this snow?” Jim asked, trying to keep his voice calm.
“Snow?” Blair opened his eyes and blinked slowly, “Is it snowing?”
Jim continued to push the snow from the front seat into the back, letting it pile up next to him. “Yeah, buddy, it’s been snowing for a while now.”
“Jim, why is there snow in my car?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.” Jim listened to the two men outside. “How’s it coming out there?!” he called.
“We just uncovered his legs! We should be through any second!” came the reply.
Jim looked back at Blair to see that his eyes were shut again. “No … Blair, stay awake!” he said, patting the cold cheeks.
Blair groaned weakly, his eyes opening, “Am I gonna die?”
“Of course not!” Jim sputtered. “Don’t even think that!”
“I’m not cold anymore.” Blair’s voice was little more than a hoarse whisper.
As Jim uncovered Blair’s torso, arms, and lap, he realized his friend wasn’t even shivering. He was limp, numb with cold.
Jim pulled the snow-encrusted mittens off Blair’s hands and grimaced at the blue tinge in the icy fingers. “Move your fingers, Blair.”
The fingers twitched so slightly that Jim nearly missed the movement.
“Is the movie over? I think I dozed off … at the end,” Blair wheezed.
“Movie?” Jim questioned as he pulled his gloves onto Blair’s hands.
“Yeah … Die Hard. Did you fall asleep too?”
Die Hard? We watched that last night. “Don’t worry, we’ve got it on tape. We’ll watch it again.”
Suddenly the snow shifted and moved out away from them.
The truck driver stuck his head inside the car and looked at Blair, “How’s he doing?”
“Not good,” Jim replied. “We’ve got to get him out of here.”
“We’ll put him in my truck. It’s running and the cab’s warm.”
Jim nodded, crawling into the front seat behind Blair as the three men eased him out of the Volvo.
Inside the cab of the big orange truck, Jim started pulling off Blair’s frozen clothes.
“My name’s Tom,” the burly, middle-aged man said as he retrieved two blankets from behind the seat. “My partner’s AJ.”
Jim spared a glance at the man in the driver’s seat. “Jim Ellison … thanks for the help.”
“No problem. We’ll be at the hospital soon. AJ’ll follow in your truck.”
Jim nodded, “The keys are in it.” He continued wrapping the blankets around Blair and pulled him close in an effort to force heat into him. “Hang on, buddy. You’re going to be okay,” he whispered, listening to the too slow heart rate and labored breathing of his partner.
**********
Blair’s body temperature was 83 degrees when a frantic Jim carried him into the emergency at Cascade General. An hour later, Blair’s vitals stabilized and he was admitted into ICU, unconscious and wrapped in a mound of blankets. Warm IV fluid and a mask with warm, humidified oxygen was used to rewarm him. It was a slow process, too slow as far as the Sentinel was concerned. But he watched as Blair began to shiver, his skin began to turn pink, and his heartbeat strengthened.
Then, some twelve hours later, the pain settled into Blair’s limbs as the feeling began to return with a vengeance, forcing him toward consciousness. With a groan, Blair opened his eyes.
“Hey, Chief,” Jim smiled faintly as he pressed his hand to his Guide’s cold forehead.
“J-J-Jim,” Blair breathed softly. “Hurts.”
“I know it does.” And it’s going to get worse before it gets better. “But you’re going to be fine.”
“C-c-cold,” Blair shivered.
“Your temperature is getting close to normal.”
“S-still c-cold.” A spasm of pain shot through Blair’s arms and legs and he cried out, “OhGodOhGodOhGod!”
Jim sat on the bed, gathering Blair and all the blankets into his arms. “Shhh … hang in there.” He reached out and pressed the call button to bring the nurse.
Blair arched and cried as the sharp, burning pain intensified.
Jim held him tightly in strong arms until the nurse arrived with a morphine injection.
Blair went limp as the drug first took the edge off the pain. “J-Jim … oh God,” he whimpered, shivering again, tears streaming down his face.
Jim pulled the blankets snuggly around his friend as he continued to support him against his chest. “It’s all right, Blair. You’re going to be fine.” He gently wiped the tears from Blair’s face with the palm of one hand.
Blair groaned and shifted into the warmth that held him. “I’m so … tired.”
“Then sleep,” Jim whispered. “You’ll be warm soon and I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Blair snaked a hand out from under the blankets to take hold of Jim’s as the drugs slid him into welcome oblivion. The hours ahead of them would be difficult and painful has Blair’s body temperature rose toward normal.
Jim smiled as he felt his Guide’s breathing even out in sleep. He carefully lowered Blair onto the pillows and slipped out of the room to use the phone.
“Department of Transportation, how may I help you?” A pleasant female voice answered the phone.
“My name is Jim Ellison and I’m looking for two of your people that were working the storm late yesterday.”
“Do you know their names?”
“The driver was Tom and his partner was AJ … I didn’t get their last names. They helped me over on 24th and Cromwell.”
“Hold on, please. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you.”
Jim leaned against the wall next to the payphone and closed his eyes. He was suddenly feeling very tired.
“Hello?” came a familiar voice. “This is Tom Murphy.”
Jim jumped, started at the sudden sound of the voice in his ear. “Yeah … hi. I don’t know if you remember me,” he began. “My name is Jim Ellison. We met yesterday … you helped me with …”
“How could I forget!” Tom interrupted. “How is your friend?”
“He’s going to be fine.”
“Great! I’ll be sure to tell AJ.”
“Look, Tom … I just wanted to thank you and your partner for your help yesterday. If you hadn’t come along I don’t know if …”
“Well, let’s not go there, all right?” Tom said sternly. “Everything worked out okay and that’s all that matters.”
Jim swallowed hard past the lump in his throat. “I just wanted to thank you both.”
“Hey, what’s your friend’s name. AJ and me thought we’d send him a card … if you think that’d be okay.”
Jim smiled, “Sandburg … Blair Sandburg … and yeah, I think he’d really like a card.”
**********
Blair spent the first forty-eight hours in the hospital doped up on morphine. Some of what he remembered was of the pain, but mostly he remembered Jim being there. Holding him, speaking softly to him until the next dose of morphine sent him into painless sleep again.
They were home now. Blair was ensconced on the loft’s sofa wearing a set of sweats and thick woolen socks, and wrapped in a heavy quilt. Jim had a fire going soon after he’d gotten his Guide home that afternoon and was now settled on the opposite end of the sofa.
“How you doing, Chief?” Jim asked, noticing his Guide staring out at the snow that covered the balcony.
Blair smiled, “I’m fine. Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“I still don’t remember what happened.” Blair reached out and picked the card up off the coffee table. “I just can’t get over that these two … strangers stopped to help like they did. I mean they went way out of their way after hearing the call on the scanner.” He opened the card and looked once more at the scrawled handwritten signatures *Get well soon! Tom Murphy and AJ Peters.* “I didn’t think people did that anymore.”
“What’s that?”
“People helping people just because they need help. Not expecting anything in return.”
Jim smiled as he looked over at his friend, “What? Do you think you were the only one left like that?”
Blair blushed, but didn’t look away as he whispered to his Sentinel, “No, I thought you were.”
<>~~<>~~<>
end