The night was falling rapidly, and the small group of soldiers knew that they weren't in the safest place to hide.
Jason had to move quick or some really bad things could happen.
They all knew that.

Clay respiratory problems were getting more and more solid, and he was struggling to keep his eyes open.
Davis settled a few meters from him, with her gun firmly in her hand.
'Just in case...' She thought, nervous.

"You good?" Sonny asked her, noticing she was not only exhausted, but even a little lost.

"Yeah," she forced a smile. "It's just... not my thing, you know."

"What are you talking about? You're doing great girl!"

"You are...doing great..." Clay bubbled, without opening his eyes.

The other two chuckled, crossing their looks, acknowledging the kid was talking in his sleep.

They were trying to calm down, and recover from the adrenaline rush they had, when they heard some footsteps approaching.
Sonny immediately took his gun, and prepared for the fight.

"Guys," Jason drew their attention. "I got something."

They both sighed in relief, and jumped to their feet.

"Abandoned building, a couple minutes from here," Jason made them a sign to move. "Let's go."

"Hey, sleeping beauty," Sonny gently slapped Clay on his cheek. "Wake up, we gotta go."

"Mmm..." He growled, "You really have to... stop doing that... it's not... a good... awakening."

Sonny chuckled helping him getting up, but as they started moving Clay limped, fatiguing to stay up.

"Come on, we can do this!" Davis sustained him on the other side, and they could finally follow Jason to the newly-found refuge.

...

They reached the small, creepy house Jason found, and settled in the best they could.

"Here," Davis brought a dusty blanket, "It's not perfect, but it's all I found," she said, spreading it on the ground.

Sonny made his beaten friend lay down on it.
"It's ok, you can sleep now."

'Oh, thank God, I couldn't be able to do a single more step,' Clay thought touching the ground.

"Alright guys," Jason said. "I'll take the first shift, you try to relax."

"You sure?" Sonny asked, wanting to be useful.

Jason nodded, taking position. "You just rest for now."

Sonny and Davis sat down near Clay's position, leaning on the wall, and staring at him.

"He is gonna be fine," Sonny looked at his concerned friend. "He is, right?"

Davis continued staring at the kid, silent, not exactly knowing what to think.

With the night going on, the weather turned colder and colder, and that old house was full of drafts.
The floor was so cold that they couldn't even change position to not waste the little warm spot they created for themselves.

Sonny noticed Clay was hardly shaking, and took his jacket off to give it to him.

"No...t-thanks..." He muttered, acting though. "You... need it..."

"You need it more," he put it on Clay's shivering body.
"Besides, I can't sleep with the sound of your teeth chattering."

Clay made a goofy smile at his teammate, feeling relieved from his gesture, and quickly fell back asleep.

...

It was almost two in the morning when Clay started tossing in his sleep. He was winding, barely able to breathe.

"Hey, hey," Davis approached him, "We're here Clay, calm down."

"Let me go... my team needs me... let me..." he bubbled, uncontrollably shaking.

"You're right," Sonny approached him too, "We need you, but we need you safe, C'mon, kid let it go."

"Shh, someone's approaching," Jason cut out.
"Keep him quite!"

"You heard that?" Sonny grabbed both Clay's arms to keep him still, but he wouldn't stop moving.

'Damn it!' Jason quickly glanced back at them, crossing Sonny's helpless look. "You need to make him silent," he quietly said, then he put all his attention on monitoring the incomers.

"Shh, it's ok, it's all good." Davis whispered at Clay's ear, softly passing her hand on his hair. "We're here, you'll be good."

Clay stopped whining, but they could still feel his body shaking under their grab.

'Oh, Come on! come on...' Sonny thought, hating to not be able to help his friend any further.

They all held they breath as the small group of hostiles passed along the house, without acknowledging their presence.

There were a couple of endless minute of complete silence, then they heard Jason soundly sighting, and relaxing in his sit.

"They're gone, all clear." Jason said, keeping looking out.
"What's wrong with him now?" He glanced back at his teammates.

"Who knows, bad dream maybe..." Sonny quietly got up, while Davis kept taking care of the kid.

"He's freezing, his body can't keep the heat..." she was trying to worm him up caressing him.

"My turn know." Sonny sniffed, approaching Jason. "You gotta rest too, C'mon."

...

It wasn't long before the sunrise when Davis approached Sonny.
"Come on, It's my turn now."

"I'm ok, you don't need to."

"You don't trust me for this job?" she looked at him annoyed.
"Just because I don't usually do such things it doesn't mean I'm not able to!"

"It's not that, don't get your blood heated up." He tried to tone down the conversation, to not bother his sleeping teammates.
"We are all tired, I was just trying to do you a favor."

"If you are tired, you should take a break, and let me do this job." She stared at him.

"Fine, it's not that either." He exhaled.
"I can't stay there doing nothing..." He glanced at Clay. "I can't just stare at his pale skin, and listening to the sound of him winding... I can't close my eyes, knowing that when I reopen them I might not find him awake..." he bit his tongue. "I just can't, ok?"

"I know..." she put a hand on his shoulder,
"Then you stay here with me, but you have to rest too," she stated severally.
"I can't help transporting him if he can't walk, you will need all your strengths."

"Yeah, ok..." he nodded, leaving her his place, and sat near her, glancing now out the window, now at the kid.

...

As the sun raised Jason got up, and went straight to take a look outside.

"Alright, pack up, time to go!" he ordered, as gunfights sounded once more in the air.
"We have to reach the new extraction point, or we're gonna lose the ride again."

"Hey, the sun's up, kid," Sonny gently shock him. "C'mon, we gotta go."
He looked at Davis, worried as Clay was totally unresponsive, then he took a quick look at the wound.
'Damn,' he thought as the dressing was again soaked in infected liquid.

"We have nothing left to change it again, he has to keep it like that..." Davis looked in her medical bag.

"He's barely berating." Sonny grabbed Clay's pulse to sense his heartbeat, then she put he ear next to his mouth.
"He's gone... totally gone..." Concern filled the room, as they stared at their ghost white, motionless friend.
"No chance he can make to exfil on his feet."

The three looked at each other, deciding what to do.

"Ok, I got him," Sonny took Clay on his shoulders, "We're not gonna miss another train."

...

The small group was headed toward their destination, when gunfire sounded near them.

"C'mon guys, we have to move faster." Jason led them, always gun pointed, and always tensed at maximum.

Davis was standing right next to Sonny as he couldn't defend himself while transporting Clay.
Suddenly she had to start shooting at a group of hostiles that were approaching them.

"C'mon, let's go, let's go!" Jason yelled, taking cover, and shooting back at them.

Sonny saw a broken car and hid behind it. He put Clay down, immediately taking out his gun.
He fired a couple of shots, then turned back to check on his teammate.
He was still out of consciousness, completely motionless, and totally unresponsive.
"C'mon, kid, stay with us. Come on!"

For a few minutes the atmosphere heated up as hell, with gunfire coming from everywhere. Then total silence filled the air.

"Jason! You good?" Ray's voice sounded in the distance.

He and Sonny looked at each other, then he sneaked his head out, finding Bravo and Alfa Teams clearing their path.

"Yes!" Sonny got up, relieved, as his friends approached them. "I knew it!"

"You thought you could keep all the fun just for you?" Trent got to them, immediately losing his smile at the sight of Clay, again poorly beaten up.

"He'll be ok, he just needs some rest." Jason reassured him.

"How did you get here?" Davis curiosity had best of her. "I thought you were going home."

"We were, I made the plane turn as soon as heard about the situation here." Blackburn said.

"C'mon, let's move, postpone the greetings, the fight is not over." Ray jumped in impatient.

"Alright, I'll take him." Trent knelt, and Sonny helped him lift their teammate's motionless body.

When they got to the plane, two corpsmen were waiting for them.

"Here," Davis handed them the medical chart she stole from the hospital, so they could take proper care of their patient.
"He has an infected cut there," she pointed at his side, "And his kidneys... they are not properly working."

"Thanks, we got him now." The corpsmen said, making the patient lay down on a stretcher.

The rest of the soldiers quickly follow them on board, impatient to take off, and go back home.
They all settled in their usual positions, persistently staring at Clay, and waiting for some good news from his caretakers.

...

Jason watched one of the corpsmen go toward the cockpit.
"What's going on?" he headed to the other one.

"All good, we can go now." He said, drawing all the soldiers' attention.

"Can we take him home?" Jason looked at his injured teammate.
Clay was still unconscious, with an oxygen mask well placed on his mouth, and an IV in his arm.
"Can he handle such a long flight?"

"We'll keep an eye on him, but he is stable now. He will probably need another dialysis in a couple of days, but yes, there's no need to make stops right now."

"That's good," Blackburn stated, "Really good."
"Now, take a sit, we are taking off." he tapped Jason on the shoulder.

They sat down, and an unreal silence filled the compartment. They were all emotionally and physically exhausted, thinking of home, of family, and of course keeping an eye on their injured team member.

As they could move again on the plane, all Bravo Team approached Clay's stretcher, to make sure he was really going to be ok.

"I tell you something guys," Sonny broke the silence. "What case of beer? He will own us an entire distillery."

They all laughed, realizing that Bravo Three probably wasn't kidding.

"Hey," Ray interrupted the fun, noticing Clay was blinking.
"You're with us?" he asked, but the kid didn't answer.

"Come on kid, let us see your baby blue eyes." Sonny encouraged him.

Clay looked at them confused, his vision wasn't clear, and he felt like he was wrapped in cotton wool.
He couldn't talk, or move, but he managed to slightly lift his hand, and grab one of his friends' arm for a little moment before his strengths abandoned him again.

"He knows you are here for him, let him rest now, guys." The corpsman reproached them. "He needs to sleep."

They had no choice but step away, but before doing that they all stared for a moment at their teammate, his skin was coloring back, and despite the mask they could clearly tell his expression was now way more relaxed.

...

Clay started to regain consciousness,
'Wait, where am I? How did I get here?' he asked himself, extremely disoriented.

He heard familiar voices around him, and opened his eyes, moving to see where they came from.

"Hey there," Stella took his hand, with tears in her eyes. "Thank God you're awake!"

"Hey," he put his confusion aside to greet his girlfriend, and squeezed her hand. Then he looked around, inspecting the room and finding Sonny again asleep on the chair next to his bed.

"He's still here?" Clay asked.

"He refused to leave you." Stella was trying hard to not break out.

"Everyone did," Davis smiled at him, from behind Stella, and pointed at the door.

Clay felt her hand on his shoulder, then he watched her getting out of the room.

'This makes no sense... they're here, but so does Stella...' he thought as his confusion was growing.
'Wait, did they move me into another room? This is so different...' his head was spinning, and he couldn't really focus.

"Where are we? Y-you took a flight to Africa?" He asked, trying to maintain control.

"No," she smiled at him. "You're home, bebe."

"Yeah?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Yes kid, finally we all are." Blackburn stepped in approaching his bed, with all Bravo Team following him.

"Guys?" He stared at them. "What did I miss?"

They all laughed, relieved he was feeling better.

"We came back for you," Ray explained, "We loaded you on our plane, and took you home, you're welcome by the way," he smirked.

"Yeah, I-I remember something, the plane... I had a strange dream though... you were all there, laughing at me..."

"It wasn't a dream Blondie!" Sonny jumped up from the chair. "We've been there all the time."

"Yeah, and for the laughing part, it was all Sonny's fault." Ray added, as they all, including Clay started laughing again.

Davis looked at Stella, she was overwhelmed by emotions, and she clearly didn't know where to stand among all those soldiers.

"Alright guys," Davis interrupted them. "Time to go now."

"Yes," Blackburn added, noticing Davis' glance. "We have a ton of paper to fill!"

"Aah! They can wait! We just got back together." Sonny objected.

Davis looked straight at him, and made him look toward Stella.

"Ow... yeah, of course. You have something better to do." Sonny winked at the kid.

"Thank you guys," Clay greeted them as they got out. "For everything..."

"Yeah, thanks," Stella tried to smile, "Thank you very much."

"Yeah, no problem." Sonny said, getting out as last of the group, "And, go easy on him girl, alright? We had a pretty rough week back there."

"Yeah, me too..." Stella whispered, watching them leave.

...

"Hey, come here," Clay made Stella sit on the edge of his bed, as he couldn't get up yet.
He looked at her straight.

"Hey bebe, " he noticed her touching expression. "You don't have to worry for me, I'm fine."

"I'm not worried," She harshly said. "I was, now I'm not... now I'm just mad."

"You, you are mad?" he looked down at his condition, "A-at me?" he looked back at her.

"Look, I have no idea what you have been through, but you neither about me, ok?" She was holding his hand, and her eyes were constantly full of tears.

He sighed.
"I'm sorry," he kissed her hand. "So, so sorry... but you know, this is my job..."

She got up and silently looked away.

"Hey," he made a move to sit up, but he was still too weak.
"Ugh..." his whining drew Stella's attention back on him.

"Do not do this again!" she rushed toward him, preventing him to move even more.

"I won't, if you don't turn your back at me..."

"That's not what I meant," she stared at him, severely, "And you know that."

"Yeah, you know, this is not very fun, I have no intention to go through this again..."

"But you can't promise..."

"Can we just don't think about that right now?" He leaned his head on the pillow,
"I missed you, and I need you..."

"I need you too, that's the whole point of this conversation!"

"And I love you." Clay continued, avoiding to peek up the argument all over again.

"And this is why I can't really be mad at you for long." She exhaled, caressing him.
"Just close your eyes now, you have to rest, you earned it."

"I don't want to leave you again."

"Appreciate," she smiled at him. "But you need to do as I said!" she laid down next to him.
"I won't move from your side, that I can promise you."

.

AN: And it's over!
Clay is finally having the proper medical cares he needs. He will necessitate a solid period of rest, but eventually he will completely recover.
No long term consequences for anyone, at least for the physical aspect.
The Team won't leave Clay alone in this, obviously popping up to visit him at the most inappropriate times, creating awkward moments, just as real siblings would do.
And Stella will really enjoy having him around full time, not having to ask herself where he is, or what he is doing. At least till the doctor clears him for full duty again.

Now the family can be together again, compact and stronger as it never was before.

Thank you so much for staying with me during this journey, I appreciated every single review, and every single comment.
See you next time!

PS: Thanks for the correction,
Actually corpsman is an enlisted medical specialist of the US Navy. I'm pretty sure they used this therm on the show.
Thank you all for the kind words.