[MacsChick]

Things are about to get stranger for our Mac...

Second Strike Part Two
Rated: PG

“He sustained multiple injuries common to victims of extreme electrical shock—ventricular fibrillation, burns, singed fingernails,” the doctor said as he walked with Pete through the winding corridors of the hospital toward MacGyver’s room. “We were able to revive him and we bandaged the burns to prevent infection, but really they are minor, superficial actually. They should heal quite nicely on their own. What’s so unusual about your friend’s case Mr. Thornton is that his injuries were not even more severe. We’ve run several tests on him and have found no internal burning or damage of any kind, no broken bones from the jolt and intensity of the shock, which from a direct lightning strike is rare indeed. We will keep him here for observation for a few days and monitor his progress, but all signs indicate that he will recover just fine without any complications. Your friend is rather fortunate.”

Pete sighed in relief. He had heard this often about his friend’s remarkable and miraculous ability to overcome even the most impossible odds, but he never ceased feeling overjoyed whenever he heard it. “That’s great news,” he said. “I just wish this didn’t have to happen to him.”

“Well, the probability of being struck by lightning is somewhere within the vicinity of 1 in 700,000,” the doctor said. “I suppose your friend just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, unfortunately.”

“Yeah,” Pete said, sighing again. “I guess so.”

He let his curiosity get the better of him again, he thought. If he hadn’t stopped…but who would have thought lightning would strike in the exact same spot as it had before?

They reached MacGyver’s room, entering it silently.

“He’s still unconscious, but he’s stable,” the doctor whispered. “Talk to him. Reassure him with your voice. I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”

“Thank you,” Pete said.

The doctor left, closing the door behind him to allow some privacy. Pete approached MacGyver’s sleeping form carefully, trying not to make any sudden moves or noises to startle him awake. His entire left side near his ribs was bandaged, but there didn’t appear to be any other signs of burns on his body except for the few blackened, scorched fingernails on each hand. He looked peaceful, as if nothing traumatic had happened at all. Pete still couldn’t believe when he saw the blast from the lightning bolt cutting him down so violently. He was sure his friend would never resuscitate as he performed CPR on him, panicking. When they were still out in the wilderness, the extent of the damage done to his friend seemed much more serious, his shirt ripped open, blood seeping from his side, smoke and heat surrounding him. He had been so lifeless.

“It’s all right, Mac,” he said quietly in soothing tones, taking his limp hand in his. “You’ll be okay now. I’m here. I won’t leave your side, buddy.”

At the sound of Pete’s voice, MacGyver began to moan and stir. He saw a bright, blinding light flash before his eyes and he snapped them wide open, staring and bewildered as the intensity of the light faded and then disappeared, revealing the neutral, sterilized surroundings of the hospital room. He clutched Pete’s hand tightly as he looked around in confusion, dazed, searching for something that made sense, something that would connect him and reorient him to the present reality, but he couldn’t explain how he had ended up there. His eyes still searching wildly, they locked on Pete’s finally and he relaxed slightly.

“Wha…happened?” He asked, his voice weak.

“Don’t you remember at all?” Pete asked, concerned that physically his friend might be fine, but mentally the strike could have done something to impair his memory. He gripped his hand tighter for support, hoping his burned fingernails didn’t hurt.

“We were hiking…there was a storm…” MacGyver said, his dark eyes wandering, trying to figure everything out and gather the broken fragments of his memory together in order to make something coherent.

“Yes. Do you know what happened after that?”

MacGyver licked his chapped lips. “Lightning struck a tree very close to us. I…I wanted to get a closer look…after that, I don’t know. Somehow, I ended up here, but how? Pete, what’s going on?” He asked, a lost look in his eyes.

“Lightning struck you, too,” Pete said.

“What?” MacGyver asked. He struggled to sit up to examine himself, amazed that he was still alive.

“Try to stay calm, Mac,” Pete said, gently pressing him back down onto the bed. “You can’t imagine how awful it was, how helpless and terrified I felt. I…didn’t have time to warn you. It all happened so quickly. It just struck you as if out of nowhere, hitting you right near where it had hit the tree. I’d never seen anything like it.”

“Then…how did I survive? Why don’t I feel more pain?”

“I don’t know. I can’t explain it. All you have are some minor burns. The doctor had to restart your heart, so it still could have killed you, but overall he tells me you’re in excellent condition for someone who has been hit with that much voltage. You should be out of here in a few days, he said.”

MacGyver examined his black fingernails, still completely stunned by the events that occurred. “Wow,” he said. “I can’t believe it.” He dropped his hands and looked at Pete. “You must’ve been scared to death, having to watch me get hit. I’m sorry.”

Pete shook his head. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” he said. “I was more worried about you than myself. I…I was sure you were dead. You don’t remember anything that happened when the lightning struck you? Anything at all?”

“No,” MacGyver said. “I was standing there, looking at the tree. The next thing I know, I’m in here.”

“I guess that’s a blessing,” Pete said. “You don’t have to remember the pain of the strike. It must’ve been excruciating.”

“Yeah, well it was so sudden, as you said. I probably didn’t have time to react, much less feel anything.”

“It knocked you to the ground pretty fast. I don’t mind telling you…yes, I was scared.” He took MacGyver’s hand again, squeezing it.

MacGyver smiled slightly. “Well, you don’t have anything else to worry about now,” he said. “As you said, I’ll be out of here in a few days, and I’ll have a new, bizarre, and exciting story to add to my repertoire.” He winked.

Pete laughed slightly, feeling his concern and tension ease, glad to see his friend back to his joking self, realizing again how close he had come to losing him and not taking him for granted for a single moment.

“Things will all be back to normal in a few days,” he said, smiling and patting his friend gingerly on the leg. “It’s good to have you back, MacGyver.”

***
A few days later…


“Pete, would you stop hovering? I don’t need any help. I can walk fine by myself!” MacGyver said as they reached the front door of his house boat. He brushed his friend’s supportive hand away in annoyance.

“Look, I’m sorry, I just want to make sure you’ll be all right,” Pete said.

MacGyver sighed and looked at him. “I know, and I appreciate it, but really…you don’t have to stand so close. I can handle it,” he said. He smiled. “I promise.”

“Okay. You’re right I suppose. Maybe I am being a little too overbearing.”

Pete watched him as he unlocked his door and stepped inside, still getting used to the idea that he was healthy again after experiencing something so potentially lethal. It always took him a moment to adjust any time after his friend had been incapacitated to see him moving around freely again, his brushes with death all seeming so final, making him appear so fragile and completely beyond help that when he was restored to full strength it seemed unreal, part of his wishful thinking.

As MacGyver reached the switch to turn on the lights, he felt a small shock that tingled more than caused pain. He pulled his hand away, more in surprise than anything else.

“What is it, Mac?” Pete asked.

MacGyver laughed slightly. “Oh, nothing,” he said. “It was probably just an electrostatic shock caused by the friction of me walking across the floor.”

“Are you all right?”

“Sure. It’s just…even a shock that small is probably going to startle me for awhile after what I’ve been through.”

“I can imagine. Listen, do you need anything? Would you like me to stick around?”

“No, I think I’d like to try to get some rest.”

“I’ll bet. Well okay, I’ll call and check on you later. Get some sleep.”

“I’ll sure try to. Thanks, Pete.”

***

Over the next few days, strange electrical anomalies began to occur around MacGyver. They started out small when his hairdryer stopped working. All he did was touch it to turn it on, and nothing happened. Figuring his outlet needed to be tested and reset, he pressed the buttons, hoping that would bring the dryer back to life. When that failed to work, he towel dried his hair as best as he could and went outside to examine his fuse box. No circuits had been tripped, so he decided to try his hairdryer again. Still, nothing happened. He even resorted to taking it apart to study its components, but he could find nothing broken or malfunctioning. Hating to buy a new hairdryer when the one he had should have been working perfectly fine, he decided it was some kind of odd fluke and waited to try it until the next morning when he showered again.

Then, his microwave exploded. He couldn’t understand why. He hadn’t put any metallic objects inside it—he was merely warming up a leftover casserole in a safe dish, nothing harmful about it at all. It was something he had done countless times before without incident. This time, after his finger pressed the start button, the oven began to spark and arc, vivid blue bolts of electricity wrapping around it, creating a loud, buzzing sound of high voltage. Before he could try to stop it, the door flung open, followed by flames bursting out of it as if it were a dragon’s mouth, causing him to duck behind his countertop to avoid getting burned by flying shrapnel as the plastic casing from the microwave, pieces of the casserole dish, and hot globs of food sprayed across his kitchen in a dazzling, violent display. Running to grab his fire extinguisher, he worked quickly to douse the flames. When he was sure they were completely out, he grabbed his over mitts and yanked the melted oven from its socket, completely disconnecting its power source to ensure something more dramatic didn’t happen, like an electrical fire. Trembling with shock, fear, and adrenaline, he stared at the incomprehensible disaster that had struck his kitchen that made his dead hairdryer seem insignificant in comparison. He couldn’t understand how it could have happened. Still shaky, he reached for his phone and quickly called Pete.

***

“I’m telling you, something really strange is happening around here,” he said, gasping from his shock more than any exertion he had performed. “My hairdryer stopped working, but I checked it and the circuits to the house out, and everything should be fine. Then…my God, Pete, you should have seen it! Like a massive fireball! My microwave just blew up in spectacular fashion!”

“Whoa, slow down Mac! Wait a minute, here. You said your microwave exploded? Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, but I don’t think the microwave is going to make it,” he said, beginning to relax enough to make a small joke.

“Well…did you place any metal objects inside it before you started heating?”

“Pete, you know me better than that. I’m always very careful. I’m very aware of the hazards involved with placing metal inside a microwave, believe me.”

Pete knew he was right. MacGyver could be clumsy and accident prone, but when it came to machinery or electronics of any kind, he always knew what he was doing.

“Was it an old microwave? Maybe it just shorted out after a long period of use,” he said.

“No Pete, I just had it installed recently. It was brand new.”

“That is pretty strange, I’ll admit. Maybe you should have a professional, licensed electrician come out and inspect the house boat. Maybe it has some faulty wiring or something.”

“I doubt it, but you’re right—it’s not a bad idea. I should do it, at least as a precaution if anything else.”

“You do that. After all, you just got struck by lightning. I’d hate to see you get electrocuted in your own home, where it’s supposed to be safe.”

MacGyver smiled, hearing the worried tone in Pete’s voice. He heard something else as well. A steady, low hum over the phone line.

“Pete, do you hear that?” He asked.

“Hear what?”

“Like a humming sound over the phone.”

“No, it’s nothing on my end.”

“Because I hear it over here…very steady and persistent.”

“Listen, get off the phone with me and call an electrician now, before things escalate. Do you hear me?”

“Okay, Pete. I’ll do that. Bye.”

When he hung up the phone, he received another shock. Something unusual was happening around his house, and it all seemed to have started the moment he got home after being treated at the hospital for being struck by lightning. Although he was tempted to make some kind of connection, he was too skeptical to believe they actually had anything in common. It was just a string of weird coincidences, he told himself. That’s all it was.

To be continued…

[MacGyverGod]

I guess he better starts using gloves to touch things.