Hello people of fanfiction :) So, I will update Nalowale Kane soon, but I'm still working on it. In the meantime, I'm bored. Oh, and I took my nieces and nephews to see Frozen today. Highly recommend it to people of all ages!
Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. Danny had lost track of how many times that phrase had flitted through his mind, but it was starting to annoy him. The quote he couldn't place mocked him. Ha ha, very funny, he snarked at the teasing voice in his head repeating those same words over and over. In truth, those nine words quite accurately represented his current situation. Danny knew he was dehydrated, but everytime he contemplated raising a handful of the azure liquid around him to his lips, another voice that sounded suspiciously like Steve's joined the irksome one. Don't do it, Danny. Salt water will just make you sick, buddy. When Steve's voice had finished warning him, Danny would roll his eyes, but lower his hand nonetheless. Well just what do you propose I do Steve? I look like a friggin' prune! After a while, Danny wasn't sure whether he was speaking out loud or not. He had been swimming for a long time now. Too long, really. He wasn't sure if it had been hours or days, but he knew he couldn't hold out much longer. His clothes were sodden and weighing him down, but he'd only been able to kick off his shoes. He worried that if he tried to remove anything else, the rough waves would pull him under, never to resurface. The waves also made floating on his back impossible. The swells would crash over his head, filling his mouth and nose with ocean water. Water. He needed it so desperately, and here it was all around him. He sighed. Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. He wanted to tell the voice to shut the hell up, but he just didn't have the energy anymore. He had been in bad enough shape before he had been dumped off the boat, but now, an indeterminable amount of time later, he was far worse for the wear and rapidly circling the drain. He could barely keep his head above water now as he shivered violently. Funny, Hawaii's water's were legendary for being warm. It's shock, got shot, remember? Oh yeah. He had almost forgotten about the poorly bandaged wound on his thigh that was still leaking blood. At least the salt water no longer stung. He knew he was dangerously low on fluids, but he couldn't risk drinking the water around. Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink, the voice teased. Danny fell into a violent coughing fit as a wave crashed over his head and spilled into his lungs. The weather was getting worse by the minute, with high winds and heavy rain. Over the thunder and the lightning and the sound of his own retching, Danny never heard the roaring of the Coast Guard boat's motor. As his eyes drifted shut, he never saw a frantic Steve at the bow, being held back by several Coasties who were hell bent on keeping the desperate man in the boat and not in the choppy water. It was only when he felt strong hands on his shoulders heaving him up from beneath the turbulent surface of the ocean that he realized that he was no longer alone.
"Danny!" Steve' voice yelled from so far away, almost as if he were on the other side of a very tall wall. Danny wanted to respond, he really did, but he had no voice left. As he lay there, he realized he no longer had any breath either. His thoughts drifted from that subject as he became aware of a pounding on his chest and air being forced into his lungs. Suddenly, his lungs violently expelled what must have been at least half of the Pacific onto the deck of the boat. Slowly, his senses returned. He could feel rain beating down on him, gentle hands turning him on his side, frantic activity around his leg. He could taste salt and the sharp tang of bile on his tongue. He could hear the howling of wind, the booming of thunder, and the pleas for him to open his eyes. Danny wanted to, but he just didn't have the energy.
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"Commander, you need to stay here!" One of the Coasties yelled over the cacophony of the storm.
"That's my partner! I need to get to him!" Steve nearly screamed in desperation. "Let me go! I need to-DANNY!" He struggled against the muscular arms of the men that held him and even his legendary strength could not break their hold. He had just watched the familiar blonde head of his best friend sink beneath the waves and the urge to to dive in and save him was growing stronger by the second. Every moment he spent safe aboard the deck of the boat while Danny drowned was unbearable.
"Sir, please! We're almost there, and you jumping in won't help anyone! We don't need two people to rescue." Steve knew this was true, but that didn't stop him from bellowing his partner's name into the wind. When they finally reached the place where Danny had slipped under, Steve and another rescuer leaned over the side to grab one of Danny's arms that still floated near the surface. Quickly, they pulled him up. When it became apparent that he was no longer breathing, Steve immediately began CPR. A minute of fervent compressions crawled by with no change in the drowned man's condition. Then, Danny's body jerked and Water began to spill from his mouth as he coughed up the water that had filled his lungs. Steve was quick to turn him on his side so he wouldn't choke. He noticed the bloody rag tied around Danny's thigh, but a medic was already assessing it, so he concentrated on keeping a continuous flow of soothing words to Danny as he rubbed his back. When the coughing had subsided, Steve helped them load Danny onto a gurney to take him below deck and out of the rain for the duration of the trip to shore. Ideally, a helicopter would have been the first choice of rescue vehicle, but the storm had eliminated the possibility of flight. Once out of the harsh elements, Danny was stripped down to his boxers and wrapped in heated blankets. A drip of warm saline was placed on an IV rack near his head to help combat the shock. Steve watched as the medics efficiently removed the bloody rag from Danny's leg, revealing a sluggishly bleeding bullet wound. The skin around it looked red and inflamed, surely infected from spending so long in the bacteria rich ocean. It concerned Steve that even as they doused the wound in antiseptic and began to apply a pressure bandage, Danny did not stir. Once his leg was bandaged, it too was wrapped in warm blankets that did little to stop the shivering. When Steve finally took his eyes off of Danny, they landed on one of the medics frowning faces as she studied one of the machines Danny was attached to.
"What it is it? What's wrong?" Steve asked frantically. She looked up and her frown deepened.
"I'm worried that his kidneys are beginning to shut down. Swimming for that long overworked his muscles causing a dangerous buildup of proteins on his body." she replied. Steve's eyes widened at the news of his partner's worsening condition. He pulled up a crate next to Danny's litter and sat down next to his friend. He took Danny's wrinkled and ice cold hand in his own and squeezed it gently.
"Just hang in there buddy. We're almost there."
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Twenty-Two Hours Earlier
Danny had known from the start that this wouldn't end well. How could it? He had been taken from his home at gunpoint to the Yakuza leader's boat. The little 'chat', as Koshimoto had called it, had turned into a three hour interrogation, ending in the discovery that one of Koshimoto's men had been selling the Yakuza out to local drug dealers. While the man was forced to kneel before a gun, Danny attempted to escape his bonds and take control of the boat. It would have worked too, if the man they were about to execute hadn't decided to rat Danny out. Though he had gotten free of his cuffs, the wasn't lucky enough to escape the bullet sent his way. It struck him in the thigh, instantly making blood pour from the wound. While Koshimoto finished putting a bullet in the rat's skull, Danny lay bleeding on the deck of the expensive yacht. Seeing a rag just big enough to fit around his leg, he quickly tied it around the wound. A moment later, there was a deafening bang, followed by a short conversation in Japanese. The next thing Danny knew, he was being roughly thrown off the boat in the middle of the ocean.
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Present
Steve sat quietly next to Danny's bed, a million thoughts running through his mind. Logically, he knew that Danny was going to be okay, but he just couldn't believe that until he saw his friend awake. The ride back to shore had gone down hill quickly as Danny's condition continued to deteriorate. Moments before they reached the dock, Danny began to seize. One his body had stilled, his heart did as well. Eventually, they were able to restart it, but Steve still worried over how long that had taken. After that, the ambulance arrived and Danny was quickly loaded into it. Once at the hospital, steve was shunted aside by the nurses who told him there was no more that he could do and promised that Danny was in good hands. Four hours later they had successfully removed the bullet from Danny's leg and he was moved to the ICU, where they set about working to keep his kidneys from shutting down and hooking him up to IVs. Steve had lost count of how many antibiotics they had given Danny, but he wasn't complaining. The infection was nearly gone after just two days on that aggressive regimen. On the third day he was moved out of the ICU. His doctor said that his kidneys were functioning normally and his wound was healing up nicely. Danny was weak and exhausted, to put it simply. Steve understood that it would take a while for him to wake up, and yet he found himself wracked with concern because Danny had yet to open his eyes. He told himself to be patient, but it did little to calm his irrational fears. He was alone in this. Kono was still in China and Chin had flown out to help her. Rachel had taken Grace to England to visit her grandmother. There was no one there to tell him he was being ridiculous, and so he was left to imagine every worst case scenario and allow his imagination to roam unchecked. Now, four days later, he was on the verge of panic, so it came as a huge relief when he looked down and saw to blue eyes blinking blearily up at him.
"Danny!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Hey man, it's good to see you awake. How are you feelin'? Danny blinked a few more times.
"Thirsty." he croaked. Steve nodded, then grabbed a cup with a straw off the bedside table and held it close so Danny could drink. After one sip, Danny decided he would never take funny tasting, tepid water for granted again. When he was done, he sank back into his pillows.
"Water water, and finally a drop to drink." he mumbled tiredly.
"What was that, Danno?" Steve asked.
"Nothin'. What's wrong? You got a face." Steve gave a short strained laugh.
"Okay, I'll give you that one. I probably do have face."
"Why? You okay?" Danny asked. He was still too exhausted for more than a few syllables at a time, but his concern for his friend overpowered his lack of energy.
"Me? You're seriously asking about me? I'm not the one who got kidnapped, shot, and dumped in the ocean in a storm for nineteen hours."
"That long?"
"Yeah, buddy. You were missing for a while and I had no one to help me find you. I was scared I was gonna lose you. Hell, I did lose you for a minute there."
"What do you mean?"
"You're heart stopped, Danny. You came this close to leaving Gracie without a father." Steve said, his voice shaky and showing the vident stress of the past few days. Danny frowned, then turned his expressive eyes towards his partner.
"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. Okay?" Danny asked again, even though Steve had already given an answer. Steve smiled.
"Yeah, Danny. I'm okay now." Danny returned Steve's smile and closed his eyes.
"Good. I don't wanna see another aneurysm face when I wake up, 'kay babe?" Danny said as he began to drift off to sleep again.
"I promise, Danno. We're all okay now."
Well, I'm posting this a little later than I intended, but you can all see it tomorrow. And yes, I know that there's not really a machine that would be present on a Coast Guard rescue boat that could detect kidney failure, but for the sake of the story, I invented one. And I sort of left Catherine out of this, even if it is current season. She's an okay character, but (*SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE CURRENT SEASON YET! See? I put in a warning this time.) I prefer her working with the Navy and as only an occasional character, not a part of Five-0. Anyway, I hoped you guys liked it! Sorry for any mistakes! I read it over, but I'm using Google Docs and they have a terrible spelling and grammar check option. Anothe rhting that really scks is that the little blinking thing that tells you where you're typing (I have no idea what that's called) is not aligned and it's like in the middle of the word I'm typing, instead of after the last letter I typed. Very annoying!