On account of the severe sustained low pressure during surgery, the doctors had to resign closing up the patient before all the pellets were removed. Steve was then taken to ICU in critical condition with round-the-clock care. His low blood pressure and rapid heart rate were of great concern, and the onset of a fever was a sign that infection was setting in despite the broad-spectrum antibiotics administered.
Although the blood work didn't reveal any immediate poisonous substance, Steve's surgeon harbored a fear of lead poisoning resulting from the aluminum and lead-azide pellets still embedded in his abdominal muscles. Three hadn't exploded on contact as others did. Two were lodged inches from vital organs, and removing them without taking extreme precautionary measures could be potentially harmful to both patient and assisting surgeons.
Tony kept a vigil on Steve, while the parents sat with their son, hoping that he would continue to show signs of emerging from his coma.
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The next morning, Chin and Kono came by to visit with Steve, whose condition remained critical. The doctors feared that his overall self-abuse of his body in the recent weeks resulting in a weight loss and lack of sleep were contributing to his waning condition.
"Hi Tony," Chin greeted as he and Kono approached the bed. "How is he this morning?"
Tony released a sigh fraught with anguish and grief. "The same. The fever hasn't gone up much, which can be considered a good sign in his condition, but his doctor is still cautious though."
"We just came from visiting with Danny," Chin informed as he handed Tony a cup of hot steaming coffee.
"How is the kid? Any improvement?" he asked as he graciously accepted Chin's coffee.
"His eyes are open," Kono said with some optimism.
"You don't say?" Tony beamed.
"However they are unmoving. He's staring out into nothingness. They tried to make him respond to commands, like squeeze a hand or nod." She shook her head dejectedly.
"Give him time. According to the neurologist there is some brainwave activity, which he didn't have a few days ago."
Kono gave a half-hearted smile.
Tony turned to Steve with sorrowful eyes. "Now we just need to keep this stubborn one alive. Once he sees that his partner is recovering he'll shed the guilt and get back in the saddle."
"We all long to see this. What we witnessed of Steve in the last few weeks was pure abuse. He had become a shadow of his former self. He was self-destructing before our eyes and there wasn't anything we could do."
"Those two are truly joined at the hip. They are soul brothers, which is why I believe that Danny miraculously emerging from his coma is somehow linked to Steve's shooting."
"You really believe in that paranormal stuff?" Chin asked a bit ill-at-ease by the possibility of such ethereal bond existing between the two men.
"How else would you explain it? Even Danny's doctor is stumped for a tangible explanation as to how a supposedly brain-dead patient can suddenly switch back to life. Whenever we don't understand something we label it as paranormal. I guess it's okay. Take ancient civilizations for instance. They believed there had to be a deity behind every single phenomenon, like the wind. That's how the Greek God Aeolus came to be."
"I've been doing some research on the subject. Recorded instances of such miracles, as they call it, abound," Kono said. "They defy medical science. Guess we should be grateful that Danny's condition is one of them."
"He still has a long way to go, but by George! so far he's proving all those doctors wrong."
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Three days later, while Danny was showing significant improvement and could now breathe on his own, Steve was temporarily taken off the critical list, though he remained in ICU as his condition oscillated from satisfactory one minute to worrisome the next.
Tony observed the doctor intently as he examined Steve. He couldn't help but pick up on the tiny sighs and noticed the deep frown on his brow. "What's the matter, Doctor Hillman?"
"He's not fighting. The bad shape he was in when he was admitted could in part explain his decline, but something else is dragging him down."
"Could it be psychological?" Tony ventured his own theory.
"What are you thinking?" the doctor invited.
"This man has been self-destructing ever since his partner ended up in a coma. He's losing the will to live."
"You could be right. We need to remove to remaining pellets before they implode and do more damage. At the moment his blood lead level is negligible but that could rapidly change given the nature of the shells." He glanced up at the heart monitor to read the body temperature. "His temperature's a bit high so is his white cell blood count. He's fighting the foreign entities in his body. We won't be able to wait indefinitely."
"I have a suggestion," Tony brought forward. "Put him in the same room as his partner."
The doctor pondered for a moment. "Well it can't hurt. All right, I'll make the arrangements."
"Thank you."
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It wasn't long before they wheeled Steve's bed into Danny's room and set it next to his partner's. Once the apparatuses were hooked back up, Tony proceeded to gingerly slant Danny's head to the left, giving him a direct view of his favorite crazy Neanderthal animal.
"Danny, Steve needs you now," he coaxed. "He's in bad shape and you need to make him understand that he cannot give up. Neither can you."
The chief neurologist, Steve's and Danny's doctors, Danny's parents, Kono, Chin, Malia, Rachel, Grace and even Kamekona were present in the room. All anxiously waited with bathed breath for signs that Danny was acknowledging Tony's request. "Come on now, kiddo. You can see him lying there, pathetic. You got to whip him up to shape. He needs you, Danny."
"Come on, Jersey. Do it!" the big man pleaded in a whisper.
"Please Daniel," his mother begged.
"Danno, you can do it," Gracie egged on while holding her dad's hand.
A blink followed by a muffled groan was all that Danny offered, but it was plenty for the aggregate of friends and family to erupt in a silent cheer.
"He squeezed my hand!" little Gracie claimed excitedly. "He moved, mom! Danno moved!" Her euphoria could not be contained and it infected the rest of the audience members.
Doctor Karnes turned to her colleague, bewildered by what she just witnessed. "I honestly don't have a viable medical explanation for this."
"We treat patients and hope for the best outcome, Doctor," the chief neurologist explained. "The rest is up to a higher Power. Detective Williams isn't quite there yet, though. Better not cry victory before he is fully responsive, motor and sensory-wise."
"Yes, Doctor."
The seasoned neurologist smiled, "But he is definitely on a right path."
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It was only forty-eight hours later that Danny began to utter whisperingly the name of his partner, whose condition had worsened in the last few hours. His doctor had no other choice but to send him back to surgery to remove the remaining pellets still embedded in his abdomen.
Danny was vaguely aware of what was happening around him, as they transferred his partner onto a gurney to wheel him out of the room. His parents stayed with him to explain the situation, but all that Danny could do is shed a tear and tug at his mother's hand.
The delicate surgery went on for hours as the pellets were extremely hard to remove. The tiny explosive devices were delicately extracted using cotton-tipped tweezers.
Surgeons and medical staff alike all heaved a sigh of relief, as the last one was pulled out and gingerly placed in a padded container.
"Doctor, blood pressure's dropping," the anesthesiologist informed. A beeping alarm quickly followed his warning.
"Did we miss one?" Doctor Hillman asked his colleagues as he rummaged around in the open incision.
"He's bleeding out," another doctor observed. "Could be that we inadvertently severed an artery?"
Doctor Hillman looked up at the surgical monitor. "No, I know what it is. I can fix it. Clamp!" he held his hand out for the nurse to hand him the instrument. As he succeeded in mending the tear, another alarm blared, shortly followed by a flatline.
"He's in V-fib," the anesthesiologist shouted.
"Charge the paddles to two hundred," Hillman ordered while he started chest compressions.
The nurse handed him the paddles. He rubbed them together and applied them onto the patient's chest. Once the 'clear' was given, he shocked Steve and checked the heart monitor.
"No response."
"Charge to three hundred."
He repeated the shocking four times with different settings, all with identical results. Steve's body arched and fell limply back on the table with his head lolling from side to side.
"You want to call it?" one doctor asked grimly.
"Not yet. Charge to four-fifty." He was not going to lose this patient.
In another part of the hospital, Danny's mother was keeping a vigil on her son when she heard him moan. She stood from her chair and hovered over the bed. "Daniel. It's mom. Open your eyes, sweetheart."
"Steeeeeeve," he drawled in a semi-conscious state. "Donnnnnnnnnnnnn't go."