"Oh, come on. You've got to be kidding me." Danny expressed his not-at-all-pleased feelings.
"Surprise!" Steve grinned in response, very proud of his accomplishment.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning and both detectives were off shift for the day. Steve had come to Danny's apartment unannounced at dawn and basically dragged his partner out of bed without any further explanation. Two hours and a car ride full of grumpy Danny and overly excited Steve later, the pair was standing at the pier in front of an 'extreme sports' type of a shop, which, much to Danny's unliking, specialised in scuba diving. This was bound to be the start of a very pleasant day.
"You got that right." Danny responded to Steve's happy but mean face, and continued. "But I am not going in here."
"Oh, honney, I know you're not" Steve laughed "That's why I booked everything in advance." He laughed some more and patted the shell shocked detective on his back. He knew it only pissed Danny off more, but he couldn't help but enjoy himself.
Danny was just about to say something, when he was interrupted by an unknown voice. "McGarret!" Danny noticed a rather muscular figure jogging towards them. If his blue and green uniform with a logo was anything to go by, he was an employee at the shop. Awsome, so this bloke knew Steve. Perfect. "Detective Wiliams, it's an honor." He threw his right hand towards Danny, expecting a shake in return, but sadly for him the detective wasn't in the mood.
"Good for you." Danny barked in response, not offering his hand. He didn't even bother being nice, nor did he care. If Steve had the guts to barge into his apartment in the middle of the night (even if it was in reality seven in the morning), he should be willing to put up with an annoyed Danny for a day. It's not like it was the first time he was grumpy. And it was Steve's fault, so no hard feelings.
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said he was a piece of work." the arogant employee continued sarcastically.
Steve laughed again, appreciating the fact that someone else had noticed. "Hey, only I get to insult him" he said as a warning, but it was really ment as a joke. Turning to his pouting partner, he continued "Danny this is Mano, Mano my grumpy partner, who hates Hawaii, but lives here anyway." The two men laughed while Danny sniffed and looked away from them, focusing on something distant.
"Ready, bro?" Mano asked, trying to make eye contact with the blonde detective, obviously not succeeding.
"All right, Steve. You can stop messing with me now. You got your laugh and now, we can leave." Danny stated, hoping this was all a stupid joke, however forty minutes later, he found himself standing on a boat in the middle of nowhere, aka the ocean, dressed in diving gear and about to jump in the water.
Thanks to the fact that the only thing he'd consumed since the previous day was coffee, he was starting to get hungry, and more importantly, really thirsty. The heat radiating from the sun wasn't helping that either, so he decided to get this diving thing done and over with as soon as possible. Or, even better, avoid it altogether.
"Come on, Danno. Stop acting like a five year old. What's the problem?" Steve said, patting his partner's shoulder.
"Problem? What problem? I'm loving this" he replied as sarcastically as he possibly could.
That made Steve exhale heavily, to keep himself from exploding. "Danny."
"The problem is that I hate water. I hate the ocean, I hate swimming, and guess what? I also hate scuba diving!" He paused to regain himself and stop yelling on top of his lungs. "You know what, I actually hate Hawaii in general. I don't do scuba diving, Steve, and you know it."
So, there it was. The upset and pissed off Danny not many people got the chance to know. Steve, on the other hand, was very familiar with him, and in this case it was an advantage.
"Alright. Listen, I'll be down there with you and you know I'm a pro. It's safe, so you'll be fine." Steve tried to talk some sense into his partner, showing off in the process. He just wanted Danny to experience the joy of diving like he knew it and hopefully lose his hatred for water along the way. That was all there was to it. "If you really end up hating it that much, I will bring you back out immediately, and never force you to do something like this again. I promise."
Danny didn't respond to that, so Steve decided to pull the 'you're like a brother to me' card. "Please, just give it a go. For me." He knew that was a really low blow, but he also added the best puppy dog face he could master.
Danny rolled his eyes and exhaled heavily, before saying "Fine, but lunch is on you."
"Deal."
H50
Another ten mintes of a hell of a lot of instructions and eye rolling later, they were finally ready to go.
"Just stay close to me and do as I say. Understand?" Steve lectured his partner, who was already starting to get sunburned. After receiving a nod, he continued. "In case we're both born under a very unlucky star and something goes terribly wrong, you can pull this" he said, indicating an orange piece of plastic on the front of Danny's gear "and it will take you to to surface in seconds."
"Brilliant" Danny smiled for the first time in the last few hours. That orange thingy sounded useful.
"But don't pull it, unless you absolutely have to. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Promise me, Danny."
"Aright, I promise" he grunted, the heat really starting to get to him. "Can we just go before I get a heat stroke?"
"Fine, let's go" Steve exhaled and prepared both his and his partner's gear for the dive. They jumped in the water and started going under.
I hate this, I hate this, I hate this Danny kept repeating to himself, while swimming deeper and deeper. Steve was only a couple of feet away, but he was starting to feel somewhat panicked. His heart was racing and his fast breaths were coming in shallow, making him nauseous. He glanced at his wrist, which informed him they were already 93 feet underwater. Is it really that deep? Suddenly, his chest felt tight and he couldn't catch his breath. Steve must've noticed, because he was now almost next to his parter, looking at him with a questioning and worried look.
Come on, Danny. Take a look around, this is so much fun. Just give it a chance. Steve incouraged his brother in his mind, hoping to figure out what was wrong with his partner.
Out. I want out. I need air. Danny was starting to freak out completely. It's too tight. I need air. He noticed, Steve was swimming away from him now, sadly unaware that it was only an attempt to get him to follow and relax. He's leaving me. I can't do this by myself. I don't know how. Steve. I need to get out. Danny was nkw only taking gasping and shallpw breaths every few seconds, which was not quite working out for him as it only made him feel worse. The range thingy! Danny's hands started grabbing at the gear, trying to find the piece of plastic. After a few seconds of fumbling with it, his fingers finally closed around it. Holding his breath, he pulled.
In that very moment, Steve turned to see where his partner was, noticing that he isn't following him. In fact, he was still in the same spot as before, freaking out even more. What is he doing? The fiddling finally stopped and the realisation hit Steve like a train. No, Danny, don't-
But he was too late. Danny had already pulled the piece of plastic, making a balloon fill with air and before he knew it, he was being lifted towards the surface. Too fast.
Steve looked at his wrist. 107 feet.
Damn it.
He started swimming upwards as fast as he could, making two stops on the way, just to be on the safe side.
After what seemed like forever, he finally reached the surface and took a breath of fresh air. Turning around, he saw Danny holding onto the edge of the boat with one hand, gasping for air.
"Danny! God damn it, are you crazy?!" he yelled, while swimming towards him. "Did you not understand what 'don't pull unless absolutely necessary' means?! You could've killed yourself!" Steve decided to shut up and start paying attention to his gasping and pale friend instead. "What happened?" he asked with a softer voice.
"I was starting to feel claustrophobic" Danny responded, finally able to breathe'a bit better.
"Underwater?" Steve questioned.
"No, Steve. In my head, back at home" the other detective responded with an edge.
"Whatever, let's just get out." Steve said, completely forgetting his previous worries. Pulling himself up, he helped Danny on the boat aswell. "You okay now?"
"Fine."
"You sure?"
"I'm fine!"
"Um... you guys okay?" Mono asked, making his presence known. He'd been unpurposely eavesdropping from inside the cabin, noticing something was off.
Both Danny and Steve awarded him with a glare, so he shut up wanting to keep his head on the neck. The SEAL turned his attention back to Danny, whose breathing had become normal again.
"Let's just go back" Steve declared, tired of fighting with his partner.
Without saying any more, Mono walked back into the cabin and started the boat to drive back.
"Would you please be so kind and stop staring at me like I'm a mannequin in the store?!" Danny grunted to Steve, making him roll his eyes while hissing in anger and walk off. Thank you very much. He thought before scratching his arm and leg. He was so not enjoying himself.
H50
"Well, that didn't go as planned." Steve stated walking into the cabin.
"He giving you a hard time?" Mono smirked in response. "What happened down there anyway?"
"I, um... well... to be honest it was kinda my fault. I shouldn't have forced him to do something I knew he wouldn't like. I should've known better." After a minute of silence, Steve continued. "I'm such an idiot."
"Yeah, ya kinda are" a raspy voice startled both Steve and Mono. Danny was now standing behind them, violently scratching both of his arms, which were already turning red. "I'm glad you noticed."
Steve decided to keep his mouth shut in order not to say anything offensive. After all, Danny was right. This was on him.
"Jeez! What is with all this..." Danny said, before bending forward and atempting to scratch his legs through the gear. Obviously it didn't work.
"What is with all this what?" Steve wondered, watching his partner carefully as he was now simultaneously scratching every single bit of skin his fingers landed on.
"Itching." Danny replied, before his knees buckled. He would've face planted if it weren't for the wall he managed to catch himself on. Steve launched forward and was at Danny's side immediately.
"Danny!" he said alarmed. "What's wrong?"
"What?" the detective asked with a confused expression once he managed to find Steve's eyes.
"Okay, let's take a sit" Steve suggested, gently placing his hands on Danny's back to guide him towards one of the chairs.
"Why? I'm perfectly fine" Danny disagreed, standing back up and stepping out of Steve's reach. As soon as he was back on his feet, his legs gave out once again, only this time, it was Steve who caught him.
"Alright, let's get you down" he said softly, lowering his partner to the ground, so that he was propped up by the wooden wall. "Danny?" he tried getting his attention, without any use. He was kneeling down in front of him giving him a once over. "Come on, Danny. Talk to me, bud."
After receiving no response whatsoever, he placed two fingers on the side of Danny's neck to check his pulse. It was irreirregular.
Shoot.
"Danny? What's wrong?" he tried again. "Tell me what's going on, buddy."
"Is he okay?" Mono joined in on the conversation, making it a dialogue instead of the previous monologue.
"I don't-. Something's wrong." Steve supplied, slapping Danny's on the cheek lightly. "Danny! Look at me, bro."
That finally got his attention. "Wha...? What happened?" he asked in total confusion. "Steve?"
"Yeah, buddy it's me. How are you feeling?"
Danny glanced around, taking in his surroundings, before looking at his legs.
"Steve..." Pause. "I can't feel my legs."
That made Steve's hear drop to the bottom of the ocean.
"Why can't I feel my legs, Steve?!" Danny asked, starting to panic.
"Oh no" Mono exhaled, his face turning white as a sheet. And that's when Steve connected the dots too.
"What?" Danny asked seriously. "What's going on?"
"Call baywatch right now" Steve instructed Mono.
"Steve?" Danny tried to get a response from his partner.
"On it" Mono confirmed and rushed to the radio. "Baywatch, this is Makani2000 (Hawaiian word for wind)."
"Steve!" Danny yelled at his partner, but not out of anger. No. He was yelling out of fear. There was definitely something wrong with him. He was itchy everywhere, his joints were sore, his chest was aching and most of all, he couldn't feel his legs.
"It's okay, Danny." Steve tried to soothe his brother, while pushing him on the ground.
"For god's sake, will you talk to me already?! Steve!" Danny yelled, unable to do anything else. "What's wrong with my legs?"
At that, Steve finally looked at his partner's face. He could hear the tremble in his voice. He was scared. Tears were already running down Danny's cheeks and his breaths were starting to get shallow. He was panicky and anxious.
"Alright, Danny. It's okay." Steve said, placing both of his hand on Danny's shoulders. "You're getting symptoms of depression sickness. When you resurfaced too fast, your body got overloaded with nitrogen and it's now causing problems. But don't worry, we'll get you the help you need."
"Wh- Come on. Seriously, Steve" Danny argued. "I knew it. I freaking knew it. I specifically told you I didn't wanna do this, but what'd you do? You made me go down anyway. Thanks, pal."
"Alright, I know, I know, and I'm sorry, okay? I'd switch places with you right this second if I could. But you need to shut up now and let me fix you."
"Yeah, now you're looking out for me. Where were you befo-"
"Oh for God's sake, will you shut up already and save your precious energy?" after a few more seconds of squirming, Steve added "I'm serious, Danny. You could die."
That made Danny shut up immediately. The fear in his eyes was more than obvious and mirrored in Steve's eyes aswell.
"I know you're scared, so am I, but I promise you that you'll be just fine, okay?"
"Okay."
"Good. Now just stay put and focus on your breathing."
Mono reappeared, informing them that they were going straight to the Baywatch Central, where they could take care of Danny properly. "Hang in there, kaikua'ana." He then rushed back into the cabin and drove as fast as he could.
Danny's condition was deteriorating fast. He was complaining of blurred vision and he was getting more and more confused. The shallow breathing had turned into tiny gasps every here and then. Steve had striped him down to his waist and turned him into the recovery position. That helped his breathing a bit, but his skin was turning into fifty shades of grey by the second. Steve had brought over a tank of oxygen and was now lying on his stomach, facing Danny. He was holding the oxygen mask very close to his partner's face, but avoiding placing it on it. Danny was already scared and freaked out. The last thing he needed was to feel claustrophobic again because of an oxygen mask.
"That's it, buddy. You're doing great." Steve encouraged him. "How far out are we?" He asked in the direction of Mono.
"Seven minutes" he replied. "How's he holding up?"
"Not so good."
In that moment, Danny's eyes rolled back and his lids slid shut. "Danny?" No response. "Shit. He's out!" Steve announced to Mono, checking Danny's pulse and breathing. He was able to find a faint and abnormal pulse, but his partner's chest was no longer rising.
Steve jumped into action, grabbing an ambu mask and placing it on his best friend's face. Forcing air into his lungs, he yelled "He stopped breathing! You gotta step on it, man."
He could feel the boat moving even faster.
"Hang in there, Danno. We're almost there."
H50
"Come on, people. Let's get him into the chamber" one of the lifeguards said, pushing the gurney into a big room. Steve immediately recognized the hyperbaric chamber, which his friend was about to go into. There were also some other machines he didn't care to acknowledge.
Another person, who looked like a doctor, pushed Steve away from his still unconscious partner, before he asked "How deep did you go?"
"Huh?" Steve came back from his oblivion.
"When you were diving, what depth did you reach?" he repeated.
"Um, about 107 feet."
"Okay. Let's bring him down to 130 feet."
Danny was now inside the hyperbaric chamber, prone on the gurney. Two nurses were in there with him, one squeezing the ambu bag, the other one checking vitals.
The lifeguard started to close the door of the chamber, when Steve spoke up "Wait! I wanna go in with him."
"I'm sorry, I can't let you do that. Only personal is allowed inside."
"No, wait. You don't understand. I need to be th-."
"Sir. You need to calm down. I'm sorry." he apologized, slamming the heavy metal door shut.
Steve exhaled in frustration and went over to one of the windows on the chamber to be as close to Danny as possible. "I'm here, Danno. I've got you." He noticed the doctor was now standing directly next to him. "How are you treating him?"
"We'll take him to 130 feet as fast as we can and then let him stabilise for about fifteen minutes. After that, we'll slowly bring him up to 100 feet over the course of thirty minutes, then pause again and so on. Unless there are any setbacks, he should be out in about four hours or so. We have him on pure oxygen to hopefully improve his stats."
"When will he wake up?"
"Baring any complications, he should wake up once we reach 130 feet, by the book at least, but it's really impossible to tell. It's more of a waiting game."
According to Steve, Danny never did anything health related by the book, so that was not making him feel any better.
"Okay. But he will be okay though, right?"
"I think so, yes. This is a severe case of DCS, but so far he's holding his own. I have my money on him."
That made Steve smile. "Thanks." He turned his attention back to his partner. "Hear that, Danno? You're a champ, so keep fighting. Don't wanna let anyone down, do you?"
All Steve got in response was silence.
H50
True to the doctor's word, Danny started to stir once they reached 130 feet. He still wasn't breathing on his own though, which scared the crap out of Steve, not that he'd admit that anytime soon.
"Come on, Danno. Wake up" he whispered, more to calm himself than anything else.
After about ten more scary minutes of an ambu bag forcibly pushing air into the detective's lungs, Danny's eyelids finally fluttered.
"Danny!" Steve exclaimed.
"Mr. Williams? Can you hear me?" the nurse squeezing the ambu bag asked. Danny didn't respond, but at the next puff of air, he started coughing violently. The nurse quickly removed the ambu bag and replaced it with an oxygen mask. "Mr. Williams?"
"Can he hear me?" Steve asked the doctor, who gave a nod in response.
"There's a microphone. You can talk to him if you'd like."
Steve focused on his partner, whi was now heaving and wheezing. "Danny? Can you hear me, buddy?" Receiving a small nod, he smiled and continued. "You're okay, buddy. Just calm down and breathe. You're gonna be just fine." As much as steve tried, none of his soothing helped. If anything, Danny was doing worse and worse with every second.
What the hell is wrong with him? Steve thought to himself, while continuing his mantra of encouraging words. He's at 130 feet, he's awake and on hundred percent oxygen... So why is he not getting better? And that's when it hit him.
Danny was having a panic attack. The oxygen mask and the chamber. How did he not see it coming? He's a horrible friend.
"I need to go in there right now" he urged the doctor.
"I already told you, you can't. I'm sorry, but there's just no-"
"Listen to me! He's claustrophobic and as you can see, he's freaking out. And let me tell you, he is not going to calm down on his own. Trust me on that. Now unless you wanna sedate him, I suggest you let me in there."
The doctor stayed silent for a few seconds, glancing back and forth between the two detectivesx before sighing in defeat. "Fine, you can go in, but if anything happens step back and let the nurses do their job, clear?"
"Crystal" Steve responded and launched towards the metal door.
He was soon standing next to his panicked brother, trying his best to help him.
"Danno, hey! It's alright, buddy. Breathe."
A pair of blue eyes finally opened and stared directly at him.
"Stv?" he slurred in between heaves.
"Yeah, Danny, it's me. I'm here now" he responded. Sadly, his presence didn't seem to make a difference, as Danny was still in full-blown panic mode. One of the nurses had announced that his oxygen levels were bottoming out again, and had pressed the ambu bag on Danny's face, forcing air into his lungs. That had to suck. Steve needed to do something and he needed to do it fast.
Without asking for permission, he lifted the top half of Danny's body, and slid himself in between his partner and the stretcher. Straddling his legs on either side of him, Steve pressed Danny close to his chest, hugging him from behind.
"Danny, listen to me. You need to breathe. Alright? I know you're scared, but I'm here. I promise you, I won't let anything bad happen to you. I'll get you out as soon as I can, but in the meantime, you have to breathe. Okay?"
Danny finally gave a small nod, while all the nurses and doctors stared in awe.
"Just breathe with me. In and out. Slow deep breaths. Feel my chest moving." After a few seconds, Danny began to relax a bit. "That's it, you're doing great. It'll all be over soon, just calm down."
After about ten more minutes of Steve's coaxing and Danny's struggling, the panic attack was finally over. The oxygen mask was back in its place, but Danny was now relaxed, slumped back at his partner's chest. He was exhausted, but no longer so frightened.
"Steve?" his whisper was muffled by the mask, but Steve understood it nonetheless.
"Yeah, buddy, I'm here."
"I don't think I like scuba diving."
They both laughed at that.
"I know, buddy. I know." Steve replied. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You still owe me lunch."
"More like dinner in say six hours." Steve corrected him with a grin.
"What?! Six hours?! What the hell do you mean by six hours?!"
Yeah, Danny was not having it, so Steve explained to him that the process of decompression was slow and would take hours to complete. He could feel his partner tense up.
"You're saying I have to stay in here for six more hours?"
"Pretty much."
That made Danny shiver. The closed space did not sound all that appealing.
"Hey, don't worry, buddy. I promise, I'm not going anywhere." Steve felt Danny relax again. "I got your back."
THE END
A for Air Embolism
(The connection between the letter and the story will be written at the and instead of the title, as I don't wanna spoil anything.)
Heey!
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed.
Please leave reviews and tell me what you think. Should I continue and write all 26 oneshots?
I'm sorry for any mistakes that I make, or anything awkward sounding. I'm not a native English speaker, so feel free to correct me.
As said, these will be long-ish oneshots. I just started first year of college, so I have no idea what my life is gonna look like, therefore I can't promise to post regularly. I will try my best to post as often as I can though. Please be patient.
Till next time.
Love, N
Disclaimer: Listen to me very carefully, I shall say this only once (I mean it, this will only be written in the first chapter, because I find disclaimers pretty unnecessary and kinda annoying). I don't and probably never will own Hawaii 5-0 and its characters. I wish I did, but I don't. What can you do, right?