'Emo 'ole Make loa
Chapter 4
The last chapter was rated "M". Just so you know, the rest will be back down to a normal rating. At least, I *think* I can control Chastity's behavior!
For all the "guest reviews", I would like to thank you for taking time to review. I am working on this as much as I can, but the last couple of weeks my writing time has been almost non-existent. Hopefully I'll do better this week so that I'll have a cushion to rely on!
And again, I want to thank sockie1000 and sym64 for their time and patience while reviewing my writing. Also Rogue Tomato and sherry57 for their helpful ideas and insights. I guess you are my "home-away-from-home-Ohana. Mahalo!
~~~H50~~~
Steve felt, more than heard the boat reach the dock. Muffled voices drifted to him when Chastity ordered the men to back the EMS vehicle as close to the dock as possible. He was roughly lifted and put down on a gurney, then felt the straps pulled tight over the bag he was in. The trip to the vehicle was rough and they didn't care that he was uncomfortable as they tugged and jerked the gurney off the dock and through the sand. He felt the gurney slide into the back of the van, lock into place and then heard the doors slam shut.
OK, McGarrett focus.
He didn't know how the effects of the latest drug would attack because at present, his heart was racing in double time and his breath was coming in short, quick gasps. Steve had never been claustrophobic in his life; in his line of work, that would have been a quick career-ender. But now, in total darkness, inside a bag, with no way out, he was panicked.
Yeah, you're scared shitless, but think, man. You were trained for situations like this.
Well… not exactly.
Come on, think. Calm down and regulate your breathing. You are trained to do that. By not panicking now, you can conserve your resources for later. He could almost hear Joe White's voice drilling that bit of information into his head.
Maybe Max will be at work early today. He's gotta figure out you're alive.
How the hell's he going to do that, if what CrazyLady said was true?
Max will know.
He will. He'll just… know.
Steve felt the first changes in his heart rate when the fast beating became a flip-flop and his breath caught in his throat. Not exactly painful, but quite uncomfortable when the thudding beat of his heart slowed. He tried to take a deep breath and found that his ability to take in air was also diminished.
Don't worry. Max will figure something out.
What will he think? When he finds out? Will he call the team?
That thought slammed into Steve and caused the panic to rise once again.
My friends. What will they do? How the hell will they catch her? I can't even tell them who she is. I can't…
I can't even breathe…OK, that's uncomfortable.
Slow down, McGarrett. You can do this.
It's your last chance.
Literally.
The ambulance slowed, then swung around and he felt it backing up before stopping. Steve heard the doors open and felt someone jump inside.
"Hey, McGarrett," Chastity's voice was next to his head. "Let's say our goodbyes here, OK? But I have to come clean about something and let you know that I lied earlier. Yeah, sorry about that, but I've been thinking about your partner and how he deserves to suffer. That talk we had about his girlfriend and his kid, Grace? Just when he thinks he can't feel any worse, I'm gonna make sure they both die." She patted his chest. "Now, have a nice life."
NO! CrazyLady, you leave Grace alone. I mean it! You're dead.
Her voice got fainter and then Steve heard her say, "Boys, get him out of there and let's go home."
He felt the gurney slide from the back of the ambulance and felt the wheels drop before being wheeled up a ramp.
OK, McGarrett. It's all up to you.
You've got to get yourself out of this.
Grace is depending on you. And Danny would kill you if anything happened to Gracie.
~~~H50~~~
Technician Dale Stringer worked the night shift at the Department of Medical Examiner. He heard the buzzer from the overhead door into the building and ignored it. Skyping with his girlfriend took priority over a dead body. As he told Janine, "they could cool their heels." She only laughed after he explained the "joke" to her. Dale never said she was bright. But he wasn't really interested in her brains.
The buzzer rang one more time. Persistently.
"OK, Janine, guess I'd better go. If you can get here before your shift starts, come on in. No one will be here until 7:30 or so."
"Bye, Baby. I'll see what I can do."
Janine had already planned this morning's visit to Dale before her morning shift at the diner across from the hospital. That was where they had first met, when he began his residency. She always scored when the new residents showed up for their rotations. Sometimes it was hard keeping all the names straight. Although, she held out hope that one of the real doctors would take notice of her. She preferred someone who had already finished school and was making actual money… money that she felt should support her in the manner she felt she was entitled. But, until that time, Dale was fun. To surprise him, in deference to the rainy weather, she planned to meet him this morning wearing her raincoat. And very little else.
~~~H50~~~
The buzzer sounded again just as Dale rolled up the door to find two men standing between a gurney.
"About damn time," the smaller one muttered as he thrust a clipboard into Dale's hands. "Just sign there."
"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses." He glanced over the form, pen in hand. "What's this about Dr. Bergman?"
"Don't know man, we just picked up the body on the beach. One of the cops said to make sure Max Bergman got it. That's all we know."
Dale sloppily signed his name. "Whatever. Bring 'im in."
The gurney was pushed into the holding room and the body was picked up and dropped onto another rolling table before the two techs pushed their gurney out the door. They left without another word and Dale slammed the door down behind them.
The technician pushed the gurney into a green-tiled room and kicked the brake into place. He unzipped the body bag and pushed it away from John Doe's shoulders and legs.
"OK, let's get a look at you. Hey! Cool tats. Although the bull's eye on your forehead is a bit overkill, don't ya think?"
You're not Max. Where's Max?
Dale reached for the camera and began snapping photos of the body, focusing in on the bull's eye and contusions on the vic's face before moving to photo the other bruises marring the body. He knew how persnickety Dr. Bergman could be, so Dale photographed everything. He also knew not to turn the body over as Max wanted to see everything first hand.
Dale had learned that lesson the hard way. He couldn't stand what he called Bergman's "whining", so it was just easier to do what the nerd wanted. He set aside the camera and began filling in the receiving checklist before grabbing a toe tag and writing the victim's name and case number on.
"Here you go, John Doe." He wrapped the string around his victim's toe and pulled it until taut.
Oh, that's so not good.
Stringer tugged on the tag again to ensure that it wouldn't come off and heard someone coming down the hall. "Shit. Someone's here early and I've got to clean up the place."
Hey! Go easy, that hurts.
Steve knew that Chastity had told him that touch would be painful, but until the guy yanked on his toe, he didn't realize exactly what she meant. It felt like his toe was coming detached.
Breathing was also becoming increasingly difficult and Steve tried to regulate it even more. Not only were his limbs paralyzed but the muscles were aching tremendously.
Come on, Max. Get to work. Get me outta this.
Dale scrambled to throw away his take-out containers and log off his laptop before anyone saw the photos on it. Just as he finished, he heard a voice behind him.
"Hey, Baby."
He turned and discovered Janine wearing a raincoat, droplets of water soaking into its surface. As he watched, she slowly unfastened the belt, letting it fall away from her body.
Dale swallowed, and then smiled his appreciation. "Well, hel-lo!"
"Thought maybe we could have a party before I go to work," she told him, dropping her bag onto the floor. "It's kind of kinky having sex in the morgue."
Dale glanced at the clock on the wall. "Yeah, let me get rid of this and I'll be right with you."
Get rid of? I don't think so.
Janine glanced at the body. "Leave 'im. It's kind of a turn on, knowing someone else is right here. Even though he can't see us. Hey… that guy looks kind of familiar. Who is he?"
"Dunno. Came in as a John Doe who washed up on the beach. Now… forget about him… come here…"
"Meet you in the refrigerator section," Janine said as she opened the door of one of the sliding cooler boxes.
Oh, this is just gross. I swear, I'm reporting you…
Max, where the hell are you?
~~~H50~~~
Steve wondered if he was blushing. That was just too much to handle. He couldn't turn off his brain, and what Crazylady had said was true, all his senses were heightened. And thank God his eyes were closed. Hearing it was bad enough. Even though the weird couple had been on a slab in the cooler, the door was open and Steve had heard everything.
Thankfully the girl… whose name was Luscious Lips, Baby Doll, Sweetums or Janine… take your pick… had to get to work, so it was a quickie.
Thank God for small favors. Come on, Max.
~~~H50~~~
With one last, long kiss, Dale pushed Janine out into the rain and hurried back to the morgue. He still had to clean everything up and get out of there before Mad Max showed up at eight. He gathered his laptop and shoved it into his backpack then checked the area. He placed the clipboard in the slot on the wall for Bergman to retrieve.
"OK, man, in the cooler you go. I'll let you use my personal favorite."
Cooler? Oh, hell, no. Not after what just happened in there.
Dale threw a sheet over the body and then straightened it. Another stupid rule of Bergman's. Respect the person. Don't just throw something over them. "Big deal, this guy won't care what the sheet looks like," he muttered.
Steve's gurney was pushed across the floor and he heard a door open and felt the cooler air. The gurney was lowered and then he was transferred onto a cold piece of metal which was shoved inside. He heard the door slam shut and immediately felt the air turn cooler.
McGarrett, what kind of crap have you landed in this time?
~~~H50~~~
Dale slammed the door and remembered that the temp in that box wasn't the normal 39 degrees. The MEs had repaired it again last week after he had adjusted it so that he and Janine wouldn't freeze onto the metal of the tray. Bergman would undoubtedly notice—the man noticed everything—but Dale knew it wouldn't come back on him. The coolers were off regularly and the MEs simply scratched their heads and called maintenance to recalibrate them. Little did they know that Janine wasn't the only one who thought doing it in a morgue was kinky. And Dale wasn't about to let anyone in on his secret. Or the number of "friends" he had invited to join him over the past year. Besides, Bergman would be here long before John Doe got ripe, and seriously, they didn't pay him to take care of the equipment, so not his problem. Dale only worked on the equipment when it was beneficial to him. Who cared about the others.
"OK, I'm outta here."
~~~H50~~~
The temperature was getting cooler. Not frigid just yet, but in the uncomfortable range. He had been in worse. Hours of training in the Atlantic off the coast of Virginia came to mind. And then there was that time in the Black Sea. Hyperthermia really isn't fun. Especially with a concussion and a broken arm.
You can do this. Max will be here soon.
He hoped.
Because really, without Max he was toast.
No, toast was warm.
And right now, Steve was anything but warm. Even the sheet that covered all but his feet did little to hold in body heat. But, most people who landed in there didn't really need the warmth.
Wait? What was that?
Music? Piano. That's gotta be Max.
OK, Bergman, cut the concert short and get to work.
A few minutes later, he heard the door of the cooler open and heard Max's "hmmm".
Finally. Come on, Max, get me out of here.
Max left the room. And Steve heard his steps down the hall…
Well, crap.
Soon, Max returned, muttering to himself. The tray was slid out of the cooler and even the air conditioned room felt warm after being inside the fridge. He was moved once again and put back onto another frigid, metal table.
Is anything in here warm? Come on Max, get rid of the sheet and figure out what's going on. Tick tock, breathing isn't the easiest thing to do right now.
What the-? Leave my feet alone and take off this sheet!
Max began to dictate and Steve waited quite impatiently, hoping that sometime soon Max would forget his feet and legs and move upward. Maybe like, to his face.
Hang on. Aw Max, this is embarrassing. You couldn't at least leave me the boardies?
One thing Steve could say about Dr. Bergman. He was damned thorough. And all the poking and prodding was quite painful. He knew Max's normal patients probably didn't mind, but they were a whole lot deader than he was.
Although he was well on his way…
Steve knew the moment Max realized who he was. He had already examined his stomach, but then went back to it, touching the scar the ME had bandaged a year or so ago.
And then, finally, Max pulled off the sheet.
Something hit the floor.
And Max was silent, before quickly moving out of the room.
Max? Come on, man, come back.
Please.
~~~H50~~~
Steve tried to calm down and be patient. He knew Max hadn't gone far. But it was several minutes before he heard voices again.
Danny.
Aw, hell.
His team.
Kono was choking back sobs.
Danny and Chin were vowing to get even. With someone they didn't even know.
Guys, not dead here. You're detectives. Detect. Not dead.
Instead of looking at him they were intent on learning all the details.
OK, they were thorough. He had to give them points for that.
But really? And Max… Kono is here! You better keep that sheet right where it is.
Wait? What? Liver temp? Oh, I so don't think so, Max.
Steve felt another painful jerk of his heart and knew that the beats were slowing even more. As for breathing, that was pretty much non-existent. And he knew there was little time left at all.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. And the touch hurt. Like painful hurt.
But he had to admit, it felt good. And he knew it was Danny even before the man spoke.
The hand moved down to his arm.
Yes! Come on Danny.
He heard when Danny asked Max how his body could be warm.
Finally!
~~~H50~~~
