I'm sorry, that this was not posted on Friday, but I was unable to log-in. Guess I was not the only one. So without another delay, here's the new chapter.
Chapter 09 - Conversations
Malia puts Steve's chart back when Dr. Heller enters the hospital room. "What's going on? What are you all doing in here? I have to ask you to leave." The doctor places himself between the visitors in the room and his patient in the bed.
"Dr. Heller?"
"Yes, and you are?"
"I'm Detective Williams. Steve's partner."
"I see."
"No I don't think you do."
"Detective, believe me, I do. But none the less I have to ask you to leave now. We can talk in my office, in private. If you would follow me please," Dr. Heller points to the door in the hope that he can usher the people out of his patient's room.
"No, I'm not leaving my partner. We can talk here."
"Detective, I'm only going to say this once before I call security. Your partner is just out of the ICU after suffering severe injuries. We don't know yet how he sustained them or what caused the older bruising, so you will leave now."
"Now you listen to me Dr. Heller. Lt. Cmdr. McGarrett is not only my partner and friend but also our boss. He's the head of the Governor's Task Force and was kidnapped Friday night. That is how he sustained his injuries and how the drug got into his system. Until we're absolutely sure that the suspect was working without any partners, Steve will not be left alone. If you like I'll get Governor Denning call you."
The doctor looks at the Detective, and it's clear that he won't win this argument against the fierce shorter man. "Fine. BUT only one of you can stay. I don't want to be difficult, but Cmdr. McGarrett is seriously injured. I can't allow all of you to stay. And do not try to wake him, if I feel your presence is hindering his recovery; I will remove you from his room. And no Governor will keep me from doing that. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Dr. Heller. Thank you. Can you please tell us how he is?" Danny tries to look at the situation from the doctor's perspective and has a new respect for him. He's only trying to protect Steve, and with that, Danny can only wholeheartedly agree. They both have Steve's best interests at heart.
"In a minute, just let me do a quick check." Doug Heller takes a closer look at Steve's leg and doesn't seem to be happy about it. They can see that the white of the bandages is dotted with red. It looks like the wounds are still oozing blood. The doctor checks the pulse in every finger of Steve's right hand, takes his temperature and uses his pen-light to take a look at Steve's pupils.
"Is everything okay," Danny asks anxiously. He doesn't like the look on Doug Heller's face.
"Unfortunately not. His temperature is rising; it's 103.5. That's higher than it was when he was brought in. That is not a good sign; the antibiotics are not working. The wounds on his ankle are very deep and there was a lot of dirt in them. They flushed them out in the OR but they are badly infected. We need to switch his antibiotics, and I want the surgeon to take another look at his ankle. After that he might be placed in the ICU until his fever is down, we'll see how it goes in the OR." Dr. Heller makes some notes on Steve's chart and excuses himself to make arrangements for Steve to get back into the OR.
"Malia, you said he'd be fine. I don't understand." Danny looks at Chin's wife for an explanation.
"I also said that an infection is always a cause for worry. It's not good that his temperature is rising, but Dr. Heller is reacting fast, and I'm sure they'll avoid any further complications. Danny it's going to be okay. This can happen. But they caught it early, and Steve will be fine."
"Is he asleep or unconscious?" Kono speaks up for the first time since they entered the hospital.
"He's asleep. The heavy painkillers are knocking him out. The procedure to flush out the wound is very painful, and it hurts badly even after they're finished. I'm sure they're going to keep him on the painkillers for a while."
"When can we talk to him?"
"I don't know Danny."
It takes a few more minutes before their friend is again taken away from them, hopefully just for a short while.
H50 – H50 – H50
There is a steady beeping that's pretty annoying. The sound seems to resonate inside his aching head and intensifies the throbbing on the left side. Steve feels like he was hit by a really big bus or got very, very drunk the night before. What the hell did I drink? He can't remember what happened after their dinner last night, but he's pretty sure that he got into his truck. He wouldn't have driven if he'd had more than a beer. So no hangover, so that leaves the big bus.
Before he opens his eyes, Steve's taking stock of how he's feeling. The pain in his head is pretty intense and he's slightly nauseous, but the rest of his body is rather numb. There is a terrible dryness in his mouth, and it hurts to swallow, he's parched and wishes for some water. Steve slowly opens his eyes but slams them shut again right away. The light is burning into his brain and causes him to swallow convulsively. That causes even more pain in his throat and makes him cough.
It's like a chain reaction; the coughing sends daggers of pain through his skull. But suddenly there are some ice-chips in his mouth. He never tasted anything so wonderful. The coughing stops and he slowly swallows the moisture and relaxes back into the pillow.
"Try to open your eyes again; the light is dimmed," Danny tries to make Steve look at him.
"Urgh, more. . ."
"Okay here you go, don't swallow them, let them melt first. You like some more?"
"Hmmm."
After giving him another spoonful Danny puts the cup with the ice-chips back on the tray. "That's enough for now, or you'll get sick," he looks with worry at his friend whose eyes are still tightly closed. "Come on Steven, open your eyes."
Steve's not sure if he wants to try again, the light felt like an ice pick straight to the brain. Not an experience he has the desire to repeat. He slowly opens one eye and is happy to register that the light is indeed not as bright as before. The second eye follows, and he blinks to get Danny into focus. He's not completely successful with that task, but the blurry version of Danny will do.
"Hi."
"Hi yourself. How do you feel?"
"Fuzzy. What happened?"
"What do you remember?"
"Ehm. . .not sure. . .we were at Joe's?" Steve remembers only bits and pieces of an evening with his friends but is not sure when that was.
"Anything after that?"
"I was. . .I don't. . .argh my head hurts. . .what day is it?"
"It's Sunday, past noon."
"What? I need. . .a computer. . .Cath is. . . she'll worry."
"When were you going to talk to her?"
"Thirteen hundred."
"One p.m.?"
"Hmmm, please Danny."
"Don't worry, I'll call Chin, and he will get your laptop."
Steve listens to his friend calling Chin and explaining the situation. He closes his eyes again and tries to remember how he ended up in the hospital. It's been a while since he was lying in a hospital bed. When he hears Danny ending his call, he opens his eyes again. "Thank you."
"Chin will be here in about half an hour. Steve you remember anything else?"
"I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?"
"That they called you."
"What?"
"You didn't want me to call you. . . I'm sorry. . .I told them not to call you. . .I did. . . I'm sorry." Steve looks rather distressed and the heart monitor beeps a lot faster suddenly.
"Steve, what are you talking about? I never told you not to call me. What I did in the office, we'll talk about that a bit later. But Steve, when did I tell you not to call me?"
"In the rain. You were yelling… and it hurt so much… but you didn't stop… and," Steve looks at Danny in confusion, "that didn't happen, did it?"
"No Steve, I was not with you in the rain."
"Really?"
"No."
"Was it okay to call you?"
Danny had never seen his friend looking so uncertain. That damn drug is still wreaking havoc with his mind. "Yes Steve, you can always call me. Always, no matter what."
"Okay," Steve breathes out like a huge weight was just lifted off his shoulders. "Why was I in the rain?"
"You don't remember?"
"No. Ouch, what's with my ankle?"
"Try not to move. You hurt your ankle pretty badly, and the wounds are infected. The antibiotics are starting to work now, and you should feel better soon."
"And my arm? Why is it splinted?"
"You dislocated your elbow. But that was very simple and in a few days it will be as good as new. You have a severe concussion and some nasty drugs in your system."
"Drugs?"
"Yeah you were drugged."
"Hmmm."
"Go back to sleep Steve, I'll wake you when Cath is online. Just rest, we'll talk later."
Steve tries to stay awake; and ask his friend how he ended up injured and drugged, but it's a lost battle. Soon, he rests peacefully again, and Danny goes back to his newspaper.
H50 – H50 – H50
Danny smiles down at his friend who has been awake for a few minutes once again. He's always amazed at how much Steve changes when he's talking to his Lieutenant. Danny winks at his friend while moving to the door to leave him to his video-call, signaling him that he will be back a bit later.
Danny is reluctant to go too far from Steve's room; they still can't rule out that George might not have been working as alone as it seems. He looks around for a chair, to sit in view of room 3912.
"Detective Williams, can I offer you some coffee?" Terry O'Reilly calls from the nurse station a few feet away.
Coffee would be really good right about now. "Thank you. I'd love some." Danny is already in front of her station.
"You're welcome. You need sugar or milk?"
"Two sugars please," Danny tastes the hot, sweet black liquid and feels like he went to heaven.
"Wow, what is this?"
Terry openly laughs at him, "it's a special brand I get from my mother."
"She 'makes' it?"
"Kind of, she works for one of the plantations. She's a bio-engineer and 'designs' new flavors," Terry tells him, using air-quotes and a few eye-rolls.
"Well if this is the result, let her engineer all she wants," Danny sips his coffee and smiles at the young woman. "I wanted to thank you for calling me about Steve."
"I'm sorry we didn't catch on sooner. He was not in the system yesterday. I mean we did check of course. And then he was in the ICU, and they had more important things to do than to find out who he was. That must sound pretty cruel, when relatives are anxiously waiting for a missing loved one, and that person is safe in a hospital but no one realizes it. It's just, you know the safety of the patient comes first, and then we check for relatives or police reports, or call the police if we think there might be a crime involved." Terry feels the need to defend herself, even though she didn't do anything wrong.
"No it's okay. I understand that," Danny smiles at the nurse but is still slightly angry. Not at her personally, but at the system. His friend was in this hospital unbeknown to them for sixteen hours, while they were going crazy. Thinking the worst. "Is something wrong?" Danny looks at Nurse O'Reilly in alarm when a sound goes off at her station.
"Your friend's heartbeat is through the roof!" Terry is already on her way to Steve's room, Danny hot on her heels.
"He's talking to his girlfriend, maybe. . ." Danny doesn't even know if Cath qualifies as a girlfriend, but he knows how happy and relaxed Steve is when she's in town. So maybe she does fit the criteria.
Happy and relaxed is not what Steve is when they open the door to his room. Panicked and desperate is more accurate. He's half sitting up in bed and is coughing, and his breathing sounds like he isn't getting any air in. His eyes are huge and full of panic, pleadingly looking at Danny, who's at his side in a flash.
"Steve! What's wrong?" That was one of the dumbest questions Danny has asked in a long time, and if Steve had any air to spare he would give him a piece of his mind.
"Can't. . . breathe," another coughing fit is wrecking Steve's body.
All kinds of alarms are ringing now, and the monitors behind his bed are blinking wildly. Terry raises Steve's headrest and puts an oxygen-mask over his mouth and nose. That seems to help a little.
"Steve, try to breathe slowly. You're hyperventilating." Terry tries to calm her patient, but without much success, Steve's breathing is way too fast, and he seems to be getting very little air in. One look at his monitors show her that it won't be long before he'll pass out. His pulse is at an alarmingly high rate and when she sees the pink spots on the inside of his mask, it's clear that they don't have much time left. She had pressed the alarm button when she entered the room and is glad to see another nurse and Dr. Heller entering with the crash-cart.
H50 – H50 – H50
Uh oh, a cliffhanger! Any guesses what's wrong with Steve? Let me know what you think, I'm really interested in your opinion.
