Pilikia

Chapter Four

Zebraboymom

Disclaimer: Not belonging to me.

Author Notes: There's a breakthrough in more than one way. Will the happy couple be at each other's throats as soon as they see the light of day?

Kono woke to the sound of Steve moaning her name softly.

"Kono. No! Kono. Kono!"

"Steve wake up. You're dreaming. Steve."

Kono reached up to touch his face and realized he was covered in sweat. He was burning up with fever. As she sat up to assess him further he whimpered. It broke her heart. What if he died? They had finally talked and she had been so happy last night.

"Steve, baby it's okay. I'm going to get help okay? I love you Steve."

She hated it when she cried, but she couldn't help herself. An unwelcome tear spilt out and trickled down her face. She was so angry at the situation. Steve was in pain and she couldn't do anything to help him. Now she understood how Steve felt when she was in danger. She got it now. I have been so stupid. I hope I get a chance to tell him that.

Just then his cell rang. It was Danny calling in. Kono grabbed a cloth, cradled Steve's head in her lap and wiped his face as she pulled his phone from the clip.

"Danny! You have to get us out of here now!"

"Kono, slow down, calm down. Why didn't Steve answer?"

"Oh, I don't know Danny, maybe because he's burning up with fever and a little delirious. This is bad Danny, really bad. His head injury has to be way worse than we thought it was. You need to get us out now!"

"I can't Kono. We can only go so fast. If we collapse the whole building on you it won't matter then, will it?"

Kono softened then. "I'm sorry Danny. I really am. It's just hard, you know?"

"I know. Listen, I do have some good news. I have a trauma team here and that includes a doctor who specializes in head injuries. Let me put him on."

"Thanks Danny. I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"It's okay Kono. We're all under stress. I know you love the guy. I don't know what happened between you two, but I know he feels the same way and we are going to get you out of there. They made some major progress during the night and we are getting close to punching a small hole through to pass you some more supplies. Okay? Hang in there. Here's the doctor."

"Hello? This is Dr. Stevens. I'm a neurologist so let's talk about the head injury. First off, a lot of TBI patients run a fever at some point. The best treatment is actually no treatment. For whatever reason when we try to give medication to treat the fever, it can actually hurt the healing process. The best treatment is no treatment. Keep him hydrated as best you can."

"We're down to only one bottle of water."

"Try to get him to drink it all."

"He's semiconscious right now."

"Keep talking to him and strip him down to cool him off. As soon as they get this hole through, they will send more water down. We can actually see your bodies with thermal imaging. I'm looking at you right now. Granted, you're a red blur, but we are pretty sure we can get the hole close. Then I'm going to send a camera down to look at the wound. Are you keeping it clean?"

"Yeah, there was a first aid kit in the pack and I cleaned it, put antibiotic cream on it and bandaged it up. I don't have any more dressings though."

"We'll send some more down when we send the water. Has he vomited any more or had blurred vision?"

"No, just dizzy."

"That's good. Relax. Kono is it? He's going to be okay."

"Thank you."

"Here's Danny back."

"That's good news, right?"

"Yes. Yes it is, but I'll still feel better when he's out of here and in a hospital."

"Me too, Kono. Me too. Listen. Once you get Steve cooled down, start listening for the drill. They've got the debris over you guys stabilized and they can bring it in now. It's only about 6 inches wide, but we'll be able to send down the water, food and some more bandages. The doc will send a video feed down as well to look at Steve's wound. It will take a while to drill down, but don't worry, when it gets close to breaking through, it will get louder. Watch for it to be near the top of where the stairs start down. If this drill makes it through, they will try wider ones until they can reach you guys and lift you out, okay? Talk to you when we get the hole drilled. Take care Kono."

"Take care Danny."

Kono hung up. She pulled the last bottle of water out and set it by Steve. She lifted him up and pulled his shirt off. He began to mumble again and Kono stroked his cheek with the back of her hand.

"It's okay Steve. Let's help you cool off, okay?"

"Kono?"

"Yeah, Steve, I'm right here."

"I'm so hot."

"I know. Let's get you out of some of these clothes so you can feel better."

She gently laid his head on the pack and slid down to his feet. She removed his socks and shoes and then reached for his belt. She unbuckled it and slid it out of the loops, then reached for his snap and zipper. She suddenly felt very embarrassed. It felt very intimate and she was unsure. They had only been together for a couple of weeks before the fight. She hesitated.

"If you're going to take advantage of me woman, then get on with it will you?" Steve's voice was weak, but he still tried to joke with her.

Kono looked down to see two beautiful hazel eyes looking tenderly up at her. She smiled back at him and reached her hand up to cup his cheek. He leaned into her hand and attempted a smile. She undid and slipped his pants down. Steve lifted his hips to help her. Now he was down to his boxers and his tank top. Kono helped him to sit up and stripped off the tank as well. He was weak. That was for sure. He leaned into her heavily. She handed him the bottle of water.

"Drink all of this."

"No. That's the last bottle."

"They are drilling through with more supplies. The doctor said you have to drink it all because of the fever."

"Kono."

"Don't argue with me Steve. I can go three days without water and they say we'll get some before the day's out. Now drink it or so help me Steve…"

"Yes, ma'am."

Steve slowly drank with Kono's help. Afterwards he slumped forward again and laid his head on her shoulder, exhausted from the fever. He felt really weak. For once, the tables were turned. Kono ran her fingers through his hair and let him cuddle. When Steve was finally able to lift his head she kissed him tenderly. His lips were overly warm from the fever.

They heard a sound above them. It was the drill. Dust and debris started falling down just to their left. They scooted as far in to their space as they could and Kono covered Steve this time.

"You know, they whole macho woman thing is starting to turn me on." Kono chuckled.

"Flattery would get you everywhere if you were in any shape to back up that statement."

The next thing they knew, the drill was withdrawn and a tube came down. Kono moved away from Steve, lifted it up and pulled on it. She felt a tug back. It was putting out oxygen. It felt really good, so she pulled it over to Steve after she took some breaths.

"Here, this will make you feel better."

Steve inhaled some of it and smiled.

"Nectar of the God's."

The next thing to come down was a small basket with a large bottle of water in it. More bottles followed. Then some more bandages, ointment cream, some food and finally a cable with a small camera and mic attached to the end of it were sent down. Kono picked it up and smiled into the camera.

"Doctor Stevens I presume."

"Yes, let's take a look at that wound."

Steve turned his back to the camera and Kono removed the bandage.

"It looks okay, not too deep. Keep it clean and put more ointment on it. They are saying they will be able to get you out by tomorrow. The larger drill has to go very slowly as it pulls the debris out a little as at a time. Steve do you still feel dizzy?"

"It's better. I think my fever is down a bit too."

"Okay, if you have any more symptoms, I need to know about them. Danny is saying you need to move as far away from here as possible. They are going to go with the drill that removes debris and if it dislodges anything, they want you as far away as possible. We'll have to remove the camera and oxygen so they can do that. Talk to you soon."

Kono dragged the pack to the far corner and then helped Steve move back as well. She sat in the corner and he lay on his side with his head in her lap. She felt of his head and could tell a marked difference in how hot he was. Her hand rested on his bare ribs and she shivered a little at the contact. Steve shivered too, but she was thinking it was more about the fact that he was laying there in his underwear.

"Cold now?"

"Yeah, a little."

She took his shirt and covered him lightly with it. She began to lightly stroke his hair.

"Mmm. That feels so good."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I promise to keep doing it if you go to sleep."

"I am tired. I feel like all I've done is sleep though. I want to get out of here and figure out who did this. They had to know we were coming Kono. You know what that means. It must be Wo Fat. Somehow he survived and got away. He's out there Kono. I want out of here and I want another chance at him. We're never going to be safe until we do, you know that."

"Shh. I know, just rest. We'll get him. No matter what, we will get him."