I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: Thank you for the wonderfully exciting comments and reviews! I hope everyone has a lovely Passover, Happy Easter and a nice holiday! Everyone should be writing fun, whumpy little codas .. come on .. write and post! Do it! ;-)

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CHAPTER TWO

Wrung out, Danny lay limply on his third gurney in the hospital's stepped-up trauma department. After three hours of unending questions and tests, only parts of him felt better and that wasn't saying much. Anti-emetics had ceased the worst of the nausea and morphine had dulled the pain. But his arms were tight, sore and streaked with scabby superficial cuts after being gently scrubbed clean. If he dared to move or if a doctor even traced a finger across his abdomen, his discomfort returned in spades.

Yes, he'd been treated after the incident.

Yes, he'd taken all medication prescribed.

Yes, he'd seen his own doctor for a followup.

Well .. no, he wasn't feeling entirely well of late. Sleep had been evasive and he was admittedly tired. Thirst and lack of hunger were top of his short list of complaints over the last day or so, too.

No, he never thought that he was in trouble - that something might be wrong.

Eyes closed again, Danny had been told his diagnosis and he was surprised even if he didn't outwardly show it due to his overwhelming lack of energy. In those three hours, his temperature was also rising at an alarming rate. His blood pressure was low but at least had been stabilized, yet he still felt quite sick. He was reliant on nurses and doctors to get him from point A to point B with the least amount of distress. As the fever rose, it was easier to allow these critical decisions to be made on his behalf.

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Steve sat quietly in the waiting room at the hospital. As he had impatiently explained to the emergency room doctor, ten days earlier, his partner had dutifully been catered to by a team of paramedics at the scene of the building collapse. He had been taken on to the emergency room for triage. Danny had been released hours later after examinations proved the short length of rebar had missed major organs exactly as Steve had claimed. He then didn't have much to offer the doctors because Danny had his week off after the incident. It might not have been the week his partner had wanted, but he'd taken the time off to rest. He was diligent in taking antibiotics on schedule or pain medication as needed.

Flushed, stitched and sent home with prescription medication, Danny had made his call to Steve and that was that until he returned to work.

Now, on his second day back on the job, Danny was slightly sore but seemed none the worse for wear.

The only other clues Steve shared related to his partner's poor night of sleep and recent penchant for drinking more water than usual over the last day or two. In rummaging through the typically neat Camaro, he'd found the empty water bottles. Of all the things he had to say, those water bottles had been of most interest to the doctors.

At the time, he hadn't been told that his descriptions and evidence matched one for one with their new patient's complaints.

Flanked by Chin and Kono, Steve leaned back in the chair and reflexively crossed his arms. The cousins were equally puzzled and rendered silent by the strange affair. They'd been with Danny at the hospital after the building collapse, had gotten checked out themselves, and then had returned later with Steve as they shoe-horned him into being checked out after his confrontation with Edward Cobb, the ex-CIA Agent who had been responsible for the deadly setup.

"What the hell is taking so long?" Steve groused angrily. It was bad enough that Steve had brought such danger to his friends' universal doorstep, but the fallout seemed to be continuing. Once again, he truly had no control over it and the fear was beginning to settle deeply in his chest.

"I don't get it." Kono finally spoke into the floor while repeating herself over and over. "He was fine and the bleeding just now was superficial. Why is he in so much pain? They said he was fine a week ago."

The paramedics had been quiet on the ride in with their patient and none of the team could hazard a guess as to what was going on. Feverish and complaining of stomach cramps once he'd been transferred off the hot pavement to a gurney, Danny had succumbed to his nausea and his respiration had completely altered.

Stopped from entering the trauma area, the team ranged across three seats just outside its doors. Movement caught their eyes though, and as one, they surged to their feet as Danny's trauma room doctor strode out to them.

"He's going in for surgery." The doctor's first rushed statement completely lacked preamble and Steve's mouth flapped open momentarily in surprise. But in a way, he had already anticipated the very worst as he heaved in a deep breath to hold it nearly indefinitely.

"Surgery?" Chin recovered faster than his two friends. "He was fine .. he's been fine … what happened?"

Not entirely unfriendly, the doctor absorbed the trios combined intensity. His response was more succinct due to the urgency of his patient's needs and not lack of professionalism. "We pulled his records from the trauma he experienced ten days ago. The examination conducted at that time didn't show … and it wouldn't have necessarily shown … the superficial bruising on a section of his intestine. That same area abscessed over the last many days."

Knitting his brow cautiously as part of him hoped for anything but what the doctor might finally say, Steve had to force a rising surge of emotion into a hard check to keep his voice determinedly calm. The only way he could do that successfully was to use the controlled rush of his exhale to force his words out. "What does that mean? His injury was worse and someone missed it?"

"Not missed per se; it was something no one would have seen without a more invasive examination. From his records, Detective Williams was not presenting in a manner to require surgery or greater intervention at that time." The doctor was patient as he tried to explain what had occurred. While none of them liked it, each understood the point that he was making.

"But he needs surgery now." Steve brought the doctor back to his original statement. "Why? What's exactly wrong?"

"My diagnosis is that he is suffering from secondary peritonitis caused by the abscess. The tissues were weakened and beginning to perforate. However, that weak section has ruptured due to the onset of today's incident and subsequent severe fall he described in detail." The doctor cut to the chase quickly which the team both appreciated and found quite disturbing.

"Peritonitis. That's very dangerous." It was one of the things he'd feared and Steve ground it all out while eyeing the doctor's demeanor for more clues. He was alluding to one of the scenarios Steve had replayed scarily thorough his head, but had remained loathe to say out loud.

The doctor nodded in agreement. "He would have wound up in the hospital eventually .. very soon .. presenting only slightly different symptoms. This fall today though, hastened and possibly made worse his condition due to the ruptured abscess."

After that, Steve's rant nearly mimicked his partner's own best as fear took over and he fought the diagnosis that he sensed was coming from the physician. "How exactly did this happen? Danny was checked out and put on a medical regimen. He hasn't said a word about being in pain. He came in and got thoroughly examined the day of the explosion. You said yourself that he had no initial symptoms and no cause to be concerned. Plus, he's been fine for days now."

Frustrated and with anxiety growing heavily amongst them all, Steve glanced to the cousins to second and third what he was saying. Kono nodded vigorously to agree as the doctor heaved a sigh and attempted to explain the reason for the complication. "Detective Williams did everything right. He was prescribed the proper course of action. No one could have foreseen the bruising to his intestine which weakened those tissues."

Chin made a face and a soft sound at that. His expression begged to differ since obviously, something hadn't been done correctly. Acknowledging the doubt, the doctor continued in his explanation which did little to make any one of them feel better.

"The initial and very superficial bruise was not something a scan would pick up. There really was no real way to know that this would happen. However, the lesion became inflamed and infected over the course of this week and created an abscess which did continue to grow. There was a likely a small tear already leaking and infection beginning to enter his bloodstream."

The doctor paused when Steve shook his head dismally. "It's why he was so damned thirsty. Why he refused to eat much of a lunch, today."

"This infection was already in his system?" Chin asked to confirm that he understood the path of events only to become disheartened when the doctor confirmed it.

The four stood in a circle off to the side as their conversation continued in earnest. The doctor was thorough but wanting to move faster as he made an obvious glance towards his watch. "Yes. When he fell, the tissue fully ruptured. He needs surgery to repair the tear and remove the inflamed areas. To reduce the bacterial load in his system and to overcome the worst of the infection, a lavage of the abdominal cavity will be done while he's under."

"This sounds serious .. and he was on antibiotics." Kono hesitantly added. Her own stomach flipped when the doctor steadily agreed with the worried team. "Is he going to be alright?"

"It is serious and I certainly won't argue that point. As for the antibiotics, the strain of infection is being analyzed and I anticipate a different spectrum of antibiotics by intravenous. But first, we plan to act aggressively. He needs surgery immediately to repair the tear and combat infection before it gets more out of control." The doctor ended by looking to Steve because he knew the ex-combat officer would understand the next major hurdle should it occur; then, Steve didn't disappoint him as he finally verbalized it.

"Sepsis." The word had come out of Steve's own mouth right before he'd removed the rebar himself while trapped underground. He had said it himself and the worry had returned ten-fold that very morning. Based upon what the doctor was now saying, Danny could be right back at risk all over again despite everyone's best efforts.

'Yes, he's at a very high risk. We need to get in there … make sure that does not happen. Though it may get worse before it gets better, his chances will be greatly improved." The doctor finally offered a somewhat sympathetic smile. The mortality rate for septic shock was a startling fifty-fifty and he held his tongue for the moment as he measured their tense postures. "You can see him now. Before he goes up."

"We can?" Happily surprised, Kono dared to smile at the invitation.

The doctor grinned in return. "In his own words, he feels pretty lousy. But yes, you all can poke your head in for a few minutes."

Opening the door to the team, the doctor ushered the three into the private trauma room where Danny had been at least made more comfortable. However, it was obvious by the hectic but purposeful activity taking place around him that they only had a few short minutes before he'd be taken away once more.

"Hey." Danny's attempt at a wry smile fell woefully short. It was apparent that he didn't feel well or feel much like talking, yet he pushed through. "Doesn't hurt so bad but I guess that's the least of my problems." Gesturing weakly to the IV in his arm, he tried to make light of the pain medication being pushed into his system.

"Why didn't you say something?" Stuck on his old, senseless question, Steve strangled the foot of the bed's frame at the same moment the reprimand burst out. "Anything."

The shrug was apologetic but far from entirely contrite. "Didn't know." Danny's truth was simple. Other than minor discomfort and some fatigue which he blamed on a poor night's sleep, he didn't have any real complaints.

"From our conversation, Detective Williams has been relatively asymptomatic. He didn't realize that his thirst or loss of appetite were indicators for trouble. With the oral antibiotics he's been taking regularly, that's a common enough oversight." The doctor quietly offered and gently reminded them of those facts to support his patient.

"Don't tell me that I'm unpredictable, buddy." Steve chided him, nonplussed when Danny's face pinched into a somewhat amused squint.

"You? No, Steven. You are never unpredictable. You my friend, are the exact opposite." Danny managed a thin smile as the doctor tapped his watch to indicate he'd be moved very soon once the orderlies arrived.

"Grenades, bombs, big guns .. nope. Unpredictable you are not." Danny added while ticking each off on a finger. While the pain had been lessened considerably, none of them missed the uncomfortable wince and pinked cheeks proving that the fever was steadily increasing in intensity.

"He's got you there, boss." Kono forced a light laugh as she rounded on Danny's opposite side. She was incredibly worried though as she studied her friend's face. He suddenly looked care-worn and pinched; more tired and she felt the heat rising from him as she took his opposite hand.

"We'll be here when you get back." Chin promised, looking up when the orderlies finally arrived and the doctor gestured the team away. "We'll see you in your room, Danny. You're in good hands."

The three reluctantly gave ground as Danny was prepared to be moved. Finally letting go of the bed as it was levered away, Steve was the last to stop trailing the small group before they disappeared entirely. The expression on Danny's face was one of barely disguised anxiety as the doors swung open to admit everyone through, except for Steve.

"We will be here, Danny. You're going to be fine … perfectly fine." Forced to stop, Steve further made the strong affirmation as he disappeared through the final trauma bay doors and on to the surgical unit.

~ to be continued ~