Blood Brothers

Tag to ep 4.19 Ku I Ka Pili Koko (Blood Brothers) - Spoilers

A/N: The characters are not mine

A/N: No Beta. All mistakes are mine.

A/N: I have to say that Ku I Ka Pili Koko (Blood Brothers) is my absolute favorite H50 ep. (I Ka Wa Mamua (In a Time Past) is second.) Hurt Danny just gets my blood flowing and Scott Caan was so, so, so good (as he always is). Way too many times a character gets an injury in a show and the actor fails to play it throughout the ep. Scott was excellent at keeping us all well aware that Danno was badly injured without overplaying it – a groan, a grimace, a cough, some pressure on the wound – all while delivering his lines with his usual brilliance. He delivered the old cliché "I'd laugh but it hurts too much" line so dryly that it made me laugh.

A/N: I'm not a medical professional. I did some quick internet research and just "winged" the rest. Given the liberties H50 took with emergency medical protocol in this (beloved) ep, I figured its ok if I do as well.

H50 H50 H50

After the sushi dinner with Catherine, Steve laid awake unable to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the pile of rubble crushing his partner, only his shaking arm showing any kind of life, saw the piece of rebar penetrating his abdomen, saw the tears in his eyes as he writhed in agony from the peroxide. He heard his best friend's simple cough that let him know he was alive, heard his desperate plea not to leave him just yet. He felt Danny's worried grip as he clasped his hand, felt his strangled cry and frantic heartbeat as he cleaned the wound. He remembered the fear that gripped him more than once that day that Danno wouldn't make it home to Grace, wouldn't make it home to ever watch his back again.

Finally forcing his mind to focus on the positives he saw his best friend's mega-watt smile as he hugged Grace and Amber, heard Danny's voice as he said 'love you man', and felt Danno's warm presence as he embraced him. With these thoughts in mind, he drifted off to sleep.

Steve woke to his phone ringing. Removing his arms carefully from around Catherine so as not to wake her, he picked it up and answered groggily, only half awake. "McGarrett."

"Steve?" There was a pause as Steve grunted. "Remember - how you - told me to think - positive? - It's not working."

"What are you talking about? Go back to sleep, Danny." It was then that Steve noticed the frantic pace of his partner's breathing. Something wasn't right. "You okay?"

"I'll probably - be a little late - coming in. - I have - to bring Grace - to school and - I don't - feel so good."

"Of course you don't, you had a building fall on you. Heal up and then come back. What happened to taking Amber to Maui anyway?"

"I told you - I have to bring - Grace to - school. Rachel - is away. I'm - trying to be - positive - but I - can't. Something bad - always happens." Danny groaned in pain.

"Danny? Danny?"

His voice was even more strained and panicked when he spoke again. "Steve, - my heart - feels like - it's gunna - pound right - out of - my chest!"

Danny's breathing was still heavy and he wasn't making complete sense. Now he was talking about his heart pounding. That and the fast breathing definitely couldn't feel good with a broken rib and a side full of stitches. Now fully awake, Steve's mind did a quick review. It wasn't hard to figure out. Danny was claustrophobic. He had been pinned under debris for half an hour and then trapped under the collapsed building for several hours more. Then there was the second cave-in when Danny got a little more banged up. He was having a delayed panic attack. "I'm on my way. Just hold on, alright?" There was no reply so Steve tried again. "You hear me, Danny? I'm on my way."

"Okay. - Can't breathe."

"You're gunna be ok, buddy. Just relax. It's all over. You're out of there and you're safe."

"Okay"

Steve was already moving by the time he hung up, explaining the situation to a now awake Catherine. He felt a bit like a traitor telling Catherine about Danny's claustrophobia but he couldn't just walk out on her without proper explanation. "He was trapped in that building for hours and didn't complain…"

"Danny didn't complain?" Catherine asked with surprise.

"Well, no more than his usual nonsense," Steve replied with a soft chuckle as he reached for his cargo pants. "Seriously, it was a bit overwhelming to be trapped down there like that and I'm not claustrophobic and I wasn't injured. He was crawling around in there, helping me move debris so we could get through, all with a concussion, a banged up knee, a hairline fracture in his pelvis and a busted rib and we were using duct tape to keep him from bleeding out from the hole in his gut. I had no idea his leg was so messed up until he limped away when we were out. He didn't say a word and just didn't show it. I don't know how he held it together so long. I have to go check on him. Grace is there and he just didn't sound right." He paused a moment, taking a deep breath to center himself as all of the images came rushing back. Seated on the side of the bed, he put his head in his hands. "We could have lost him today, Catherine," he whispered hoarsely. "I almost lost him."

Catherine hadn't realized how much this day had affected Steve. She knew he and Danny were close but now that she was around all the time she was just beginning to realize just how much he meant to Steve, just how much he had helped Steve to open up. Suddenly she wondered if this new-found closeness that she and Steve shared would have been possible if Danny hadn't opened the man's heart the way he did. With that realization, Catherine knew she couldn't leave Steve alone and, for that matter, she knew she had to help Danny as well. "I'll go with you then." Steve was ready to protest but Catherine pulled out the ace card. "Maybe I can help with Grace."

"You're the best," Steve told her as he leaned down for a kiss.

When Danny hung up the phone he wasn't sure what hurt the most, the concussion headache, his swollen knee, the fractured pelvis, the cracked rib or the stitches in his side. Or maybe it was his heart that was trying to pound it's way through his ribs, or his lungs that couldn't seem to fill with air. But he had to take Grace to school so he forced himself out of bed, groaning as he moved. When he finally managed to get himself seated on the edge of the bed, he waited while the room spun around him, nausea nagging at his throat.

He moved gingerly to the window and opened the curtains. It was dark outside. He looked at the clock. 3 am. Why was he up? To take Grace to school. But it was too early for that. His head was spinning. Then he thought of Steve. Did he really just speak to him? Why couldn't he remember it clearly? He checked his phone. Yes, he had called him 15 minutes ago. He put his phone down. Why was he so confused?

Knowing he couldn't sleep, Danny made his way to the kitchen, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. It was slow going. Dizziness didn't help but he finally made it in one piece. Now he just had to remember why he was here. With no other plan in mind, he opened the freezer and pulled out a few ice packs. Minutes later he was settled on the sofa with one on his knee, one on his hip and the other cradled against his ribs. His heart was still pounding frantically, his breathing was still rapid, and he was trying his hardest not to throw up.

When they arrived at the house, Steve didn't want to awaken Grace so he called Danny's cell instead of ringing the doorbell. After a couple of tries with no answer he gave up and started knocking on the door, increasing the volume when he got no answer. "Danny? Danny? Open up!" He truly wished he had a key to Danny's house right now. "Danny?"

Danny heard the knock at the door and forced himself off the sofa, ice packs dumped to the floor, but it was a slow process. He just didn't feel right. "I'm coming. - I'm coming," he tried to shout, but it came out more like a rasped mumble. He reached the door and opened it up. "Hey Super - SEAL, - can you - keep it - down? - Grace is - sleeping."

Steve was relieved when the door opened, but was taken aback when he caught sight of Danny. He definitely did not look good, much worse than when he had watched him walk off with Amber and Grace. His torso, especially the right side, was a mottled mosaic of bruises, the white bandage covering his stitches standing out in sharp contrast. His right knee, visible beneath the shorts, was swollen and bruised. Sweat covered his face, neck and chest. Catherine slipped past the stunned SEAL. "Come on Danny, let's get you off your feet."

Steve moved in then and put his arm behind his friend's back to steady him as they headed to the sofa. Suddenly, Danny stopped moving, stomach roiling. "Don't feel - s'good."

Noticing the green tint to his skin, Catherine quickly grabbed the trashcan sitting next to the sofa and pulled it towards him just in time as he bent over and emptied the contents of his stomach. The heaving stomach contractions sent shock waves through his injured abdomen making his knees buckle as he cried out in pain. Steve's strong grip around him was the only thing keeping him from crumbling to the floor.

"Shit," Steve shouted as he watched his friend collapse in pain. He had broken a rib before and knew the kind of pain it caused, especially with movement. He couldn't begin to imagine the agony of vomiting while having one. When the heaving had mercifully stopped, Danny was sweating and shaking and could barely stand.

"Steve?" Danny whispered hoarsely, barely able to breathe. "How'd you get here?" He was so confused.

"Doesn't matter, buddy. I got ya. You're gunna be okay," Steve soothed as he managed to move Danny the rest of the way to the sofa and lay him down on his side. "This is definitely not anxiety," he said to Catherine. "Something's seriously wrong. Call 911."

As Catherine made the call, she headed to the back of the house to check on Grace, then stopped in the kitchen and grabbed some towels, wet them with cool water and, returning to the living room, placed one on Danny's forehead. She then cleaned the trashcan and brought it back.

Danny laid panting and sweating on the sofa, holding his arm against his abused side in a futile attempt at easing the pain, pure panic in his eyes as he tried to breathe and looked at Steve who had seated himself on the edge next to his legs.

Steve had seen that look once before, when Danny had been poisoned by Sarin and was losing his ability to breathe. He hadn't known Danny long at that time, although they had been becoming close, and that was hard enough to deal with. This now, was just unbearable. He couldn't sit here and watch the best friend he ever had struggle so hard to breathe. But he had to be here for him, so he had no choice.

"There goes your streak," Steve told Danny with a hint of humor despite the seriousness of the situation. He didn't want to start crying. Danny always used humor to deal with stress so Steve would try it out.

"Huh?" Danny was confused. Why was everything such a jumble?

"Guess you have to start a new one," Steve told him as Catherine looked at him in confusion. "He hasn't vomited since 1996," he explained. Catherine nodded but it was lost on Danny. So much for trying humor.

"Grace?" Danny then asked in a whisper.

"She's sleeping," Catherine assured him. "I just checked."

Danny nodded gratefully and then groaned in pain. Sitting by his legs, Steve spoke in as calm a voice as he could muster, while rubbing soothing circles on his back. "Help is coming. Just hang in there, Danno."

"Don't call - me Danno," Danny ground out with no malice.

"Try and stop me, Danno," Steve taunted in a friendly manner. Anything to distract his friend from the pain.

"When - I can - breathe - again, - I'm gunna…"

"Gunna what?" Steve teased playfully but then stopped short as he felt Danny tense.

"No! No! No!" Danny whimpered as he felt his stomach begin to heave again. The pain in his side was excruciating and he tried to will his stomach into settling down but to no avail. "Steve?" he pleaded softly for help, relief, anything, just as his body began heaving again, sending white-hot tendrils of pain blazing through his ribs and abdomen as Steve pulled the trash can close again.

All Steve could do was hold onto his partner so he didn't tumble right off the sofa. A part of him wished Danny would just pass out so he didn't have to endure this torment. As Danny finally began to settle again, Steve helped him move into a more comfortable position but noticed a sticky wetness on his fingers as he moved him. Blood. The bouts of retching had torn the stitches in Danny's side. Catherine passed him a towel and he pressed it against the wound, eliciting a pained hiss in return. "Sorry partner," Steve told him.

Danny gave a barely perceptible nod, and then whispered his daughter's name again.

"She's fine Danny," Catherine soothed.

"What - time - is it? - She has - school," Danny whispered. Steve smiled a knowing smile as Catherine shook her head in surprise. Amidst all of this, he still thought of his little girl first.

"She'll be fine. I'll take good care of her. You just get better yourself."

Danny closed his eyes but continued his harsh breathing. Steve placed his hand on Danny's chest, dismayed to feel that his heart was still beating at a frantic pace. It occurred to him all at once. "It's sepsis! Where is that ambulance?"

Danny opened his eyes again. Just pained slits now, but he looked at Steve. His words came out in spurts, separated by struggling breaths. "Sepsis? - Seriously? -What - happened to - 'I have to – take - that rebar - out. - I have - to use - this – peroxide - so you don't - get sepsis. It's - going - to hurt – real bad - but all - you - have to - do is - stay - conscious.' - Stay - conscious! - That's - all - I have - to do? - Really? - Just - don't - die – Danny - and you'll - be alright. - You get - an MD - with that - trident – Super - SEAL?" The breathless rant surprised Catherine and nearly wore Danny out but it brought a goofy smile to Steve's face. It was vintage Danny and he loved it.

The paramedics arrived and after receiving a quick review from Steve and a doing cursory check of Danny they decided they needed to 'scoop and run'. Danny's breathing difficulty was dangerous. They got him on the gurney and put an oxygen mask over his face and headed for the door.

Danny swiped at the mask and tried to move, panicked. "Grace? Grace?"

"She's okay," Steve assured him as he put the mask back in place while they headed out the door. "Catherine is with her. She's fine, Danno. Now we have to take care of you."

In the ambulance, Danny faced another bout of vomiting and the paramedic administered an anti-emetic through the IV line that had been established, along with a bag of saline to help rehydrate him. He asked for Grace a few more times, insisting that he needed to get her to school.

At the hospital, Steve was relieved that they allowed him into the emergency room. Danny was somehow still conscious but between the breathing trouble, pain and confusion, he wasn't exactly able to provide any useful information, simply confusing the hospital staff by his mumblings about seals, ninjas and Neanderthals. Another part of him, however, preferred not seeing Danny like this. In all honesty, it scared him. They poked and prodded, took blood and asked questions, lots of questions, about allergies and patient history and about what had happened that day. Through everything Steve answered the best he could and watched helplessly, wishing he could do something to help ease Danny's suffering and hoping, even praying, that he got Danny here in time. He could tell by the frantic pace of the doctors in the trauma bay that Danny's condition was critical.

They worked on stabilizing Danny through the night. Eventually, the doctor was able to speak to Danny and explain the situation while Steve was allowed to listen in. "We can't be certain until the lab results come back, but it appears highly likely that you are suffering from sepsis, a blood infection, caused by the open wound you suffered earlier and the delay in being able to get it properly treated. We are administering broad-spectrum antibiotics at the moment. When we get the lab results back we can determine what more specific antibiotics you will need. Through the IV you are also receiving saline, which will keep your fluid level up and help stabilize your blood pressure. And we are continuing to give you an antiemetic to control the vomiting. The oxygen mask will help your breathing. I know you don't feel any better now than when you came in but treating sepsis takes time. Do you have any questions?"

Danny was awake but barely able to follow what the doctor was saying. He was too busy focusing on breathing. He shook his head no.

Steve listened carefully, his eyes never straying from his partner's face, his hand gently resting on his shoulder to give him reassurance.

When the doctor left Steve followed him out. He didn't want to leave Danny's side but he needed more information than the doctor had just provided, and he didn't want to ask in front of Danny. "Is he going to be alright?" Steve asked urgently. "He can barely breathe."

"I won't lie to you," the doctor replied. "Sepsis is very dangerous. There's much more to it than his struggle to breathe. Organ failure is a distinct possibility. Sepsis can even be fatal. However you got him here quickly and that will help his chances considerably. We will do all we can for him and his body will have to do the rest."

"He'll be fine, then," Steve predicted boldly. "That's the toughest, strongest man I know," he said as he pointed back into the trauma bay at Danny. He gave a soft chuckle, mixed with a soft sob. "He's afraid of everything but doesn't let anything stop him."

"Good. He'll need that attitude. Even so, if he has family, you should consider calling them," the doctor advised.

By the afternoon, Danny's wound had been re-stitched, the sepsis diagnosis was confirmed and additional antibiotics were started. Thanks to the anti-emetics the vomiting had stopped, although he was still a bit nauseous. The confusion had cleared for the most part but Danny's heart rate and breathing had only eased slightly. The nurses kept a careful rotation of icing Danny's knee, hip and ribs. He had remained stubbornly conscious through the whole ordeal and Steve had stayed by his side as much as the doctors allowed him.

The patient was now settled into a room in the ICU, heavy doses of IV antibiotics pumping into his veins to hopefully kill the infection swirling through his blood. A nasal cannula helped his breathing as the saline drip continued to keep his blood pressure stable. Machines monitored his heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels continually.

Having gone for some lunch as they moved Danny into the room, Steve was now back and tiredly sank into the chair beside his bed. Danny's condition was more stable now that he was being treated, but his battle with the infection in his blood was far from over.

"What time is it?" Danny asked, pausing to catch his breath. "I need to get Grace - from school. - Rachel's away." His voice was rough from the pain and exhaustion, his breathing still quite labored. But his mind doggedly never let go of Grace.

Steve smiled. Even on deaths door, Danny thought of Grace. He truly was the kind of father everybody wanted. "Relax, Amber will pick her up and bring her here when school gets out."

"How did Amber…?" he started, but then quickly figured it out. "You took - my cell phone?"

Steve smiled even bigger. "You, my friend, must be a detective."

"And you, my friend, - are a thief. - Where's my phone?" He smiled, his voice weak and rough.

Steve pulled the phone from his pocket and placed it on the nightstand next to Danny's bed. "I called Rachel, too." He held up his hand to forestall any possible protest from Danny. "When she got up this morning, Grace wanted to call her and tell her what happened but Catherine promised her that I would do it."

Danny nodded his thanks, too tired to speak.

"You want me to call your parents?" Steve asked. That would be a tough call. His parents were so far away and would feel so helpless, yet they would want to know. As much as Steve wanted to believe that Danny would be just fine, it was still too early to tell. If the antibiotics didn't work… No, Steve wasn't even going to think that way.

"Thanks, but - I should – call them. - They'll worry – if they – don't speak – to me. – Maybe – later – I can – breathe better."

Steve nodded in agreement. Danny had a point.

They sat in silence for a while, Steve wondering if Danny might finally be asleep until he heard his gravelly voice. "Thanks for - saving my life – again. Twice in one - day. I, uh…"

Steve nodded, but the thought that he could still lose Danny kept plaguing him. "I'm just glad you called me. For once, I'm glad you're an anxious, paranoid, freak who can't stay positive to save his life." The harsh words were spoken with a soft voice and smile. That's the way they communicated.

After a few minutes of companionable silence Danny spoke again. "You look exhausted. - You should - go home. – I'm fine."

Due to fatigue, the stress of the past 24 hours and the fear he still harbored for Danny's life, Steve's emotions finally got the best of him and he snapped. "You are not fine, Danny. You look like crap and you've got an infection in your blood that could still kill you!" he shouted.

Instinctively, Danny responded in kind. "Don't you think I know…" He couldn't finish the sentence. He couldn't breathe. Pulling in a single, wheezing, agonizing breath was nearly impossible. His heart rate shot up even higher and alarms started going off. His panicked eyes locked with Steve's.

Medical personnel ran into the room and Steve was quickly ushered out, forced to leave his friend's side so the doctors and nurses could help him. He paced outside the door like a caged animal.

Finally, Steve was allowed back in. Danny looked a shade paler than he had before and the back of the bed was now positioned higher easing the stress on his airway. Pain lines showed clearly on his face but his eyes were open and aware.

Steve came back in eager to see his friend again. He rested his hand on Danny's shoulder. "I'm sorry…"

Danny held his hand up to stop him from the guilt trip. "Wasn't - your fault."

"You scared the crap out of me," Steve admitted.

"Scared – me too."

"I guess it did, yeah."

Bone-weary, Steve sat in the chair again, looking at this best friend of his. Brother was an even more accurate way to describe him. A blood brother without the ceremonial ritual.

"How are you feeling?" he queried, leaning forward in the chair now.

Danny sighed, as much as his battered body would allow, anyway. "Like I lost - a fight - with a train. - Hurt all over."

It was an admission he wouldn't make to anybody else and they both knew that. Steve nodded silently.

"You need to rest so you can heal. Why don't you get some sleep before Amber and Grace come?"

"I still want to - take Amber to Maui. - Still want to try - that positive thinking - you kept going on - about."

"Get better and you do that. Take all the time you need to heal right. I want my partner back in one piece."

Danny's eyes were drifting close now. All the adrenaline from the fight for his life was gone. "You really - should - go home - and get - some sleep," Danny told his partner, eyes still closed.

"I'm not going anywhere, Danno. Just sleep. I got your back, buddy." Steve gave Danny's hand a tender squeeze before leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes. It had been a long day and night and he was tired.

"Love ya, man," Danny whispered quietly before finally, mercifully, falling to sleep.

"Love ya too, brother," Steve replied, wiping a few stray tears from his eyes. "Love ya, too."

The end