Anatomy of a Field Operation

Part 6. Hands

by Oracle

Sixth story in the Anatomy of a Field Operation Series

My mind seems strangely detached as my hands press at the wound, blood pumping over them. Other hands push mine aside and press harder. Buck's hands are larger and they press gauze down into the bloody well and it slows. His hands cover the hole, compressing blood vessels beneath and preventing the escape of that all important essence of life - blood.

Ezra's hands are just below Buck's now, holding the leg still with a strength you don't expect from those slender well-manicured hands. They look odd now with blood dripping down over them, making dark lines as it seeps under the nails. Ezra ain't gonna be happy. He'll be scrubbing for days trying to get all that out from under those perfectly maintained nails. But he doesn't seem to mind much right now. There's fear and worry in his eyes. You don't see that much. He usually keeps his feelings to himself, but if you know how to look you can see it all just plain as day.

Chris' hand is clasped firmly on a forearm, holding tight in that symbol of the bond, the connection that holds us all together. There are spatters of blood on the back of his hand and arm. There's blood everywhere it seems.

More blood on J.D.'s hands and body mic that he's keying up calling for help. His voice is high-pitched and slightly frantic, though he's trying to talk slowly enough to be heard clearly.

"Agent down!" he says into the mic, leaving bloody fingerprints where he clutches it tightly. "We need EMS in here NOW!"

I reach toward my duffle bag. Someone has brought it from where I had it stashed close by but out of the center action. My brain is already moving ahead. Planning what I need from there to fix this, to make everything all right again.

Josiah's voice above me catches my attention. I feel his large hands holding my head, holding it steady. Slowly what he's saying gets through to me.

"Nathan! You're going to be all right. Just hold still and don't fight Buck and Ezra. It went all the way through. Buck's got the bleeding under control now and the ambulance is on the way."

I nod up at him and the pain finally hits me like a sonic boom. I know that whimper I just heard couldn't be me.

I can feel another hand on me now and realize it's been there all along, feeding me strength from its grip on my shoulder. Slender and graceful but I've never doubted its strength whether gripping the arm of his best friend and soul-mate or cradling a rifle as he saves my life before he even knows who I am. Or like now, soothing and giving support to one of us he loves like his own family. I look up into another set of blue eyes and hear Vin's raspy voice.

"Hold on Nathan. Stay with us. You're gonna be all right. We won't let it be any other way, ya hear. We gotcha."

And I am... because they do. Their hands hold me all around, keeping me with them, holding the pain away. I'm all right because we're all here together, holding on to each other just as we did before we left the safety of the office. The bond between us is still strong and alive as are we. We're still complete.

I hear the wails of the siren as the ambulance pulls up outside. Usually, that sound gets my blood pumping, but not this time. I rest in the hands of my team as I wait for the medics to come to me. Everything will be all right. The hands tell me so.

Continues in Part 7. Heart