Chapter Ten
Hi there, I hope that no one found the last chapter too upsetting or disturbing and are sticking with this story! Please keep reviewing!
Chapter Ten
Five days later and Danny was still on the respirator, although the doctors were hopeful that today would be the day that he could be taken off it. They had decreased the use of it since the detective had regained consciousness, aiming to wean him off of it gradually over the course of the last few days. Danny had managed to stay awake a little longer each day, but was still as weak as a kitten and in an extortionate level of pain. Steve had struggled with the fact that his friend couldn't talk to him, however he also recognised that it was more for his comfort than that of his partner. Steve's eyes shot up when he saw Dr Lewis enter the room, and he closed the book that he had been reading out to the Jersey detective.
"Are we ready guys?" the doctor asked gently, Danny blinked once to indicate that he was ready for the tube to come out. The doctor smiled in what he had practiced to be a comforting manner. "I bet you are" he commented. The bright blue eyes fixed on his face, Steve stepped forward and squeezed his friend's wrist to let him know that he was still there- relieved when his partner didn't flinch away as he had previously. "Ok then Danny, now when I say I need to blow out ok?" the doctor asked and Danny blinked once again to confirm his understanding. "Ok then blow" he commented and with a practiced flourish extubated the detective. Danny coughed and gagged as the tube finally exited his throat, the nearby nurse leaping into action and assisting the injured man in rolling on to his side. Finally when Danny was able to draw a pained and rasping breath an oxygen mask was placed over his face and he was rested back against the pillows, his eyes drifting shut and his weary soul pushing him back into sleep. The doctor smiled and Steve sighed in relief that his friend was finally breathing by himself. He settled back into his recently vacated sleep and maintained his lonely vigil over his friend.
50-50-50-50-50-50-50
Danny slept for a couple of hours, before the increasing pain pulsating through his cranium and chest woke him, wearily he blinked and allowed the fog to clear for a second.
"Hey there bruh" a soft voice greeted him, and Danny weakly raised his hand in acknowledgement. "You thirsty?" Kono asked him getting to her feet in an instant, and Danny nodded, his throat too dry to form words. Wordlessly Kono reached for the cup of chipped ice that had been left for her friend, and carefully edged the oxygen mask from around his face and spooned a small quantity of the ice into his mouth. Danny closed his mouth and allowed them to melt, the coolness soothing against his battered throat. "Want some more?" his friend asked when she saw the relief on his face. He nodded again and she repeated the action.
"Thank you" he croaked to her, his eyes still closed. Just hearing his weak raspy voice nearly set the Hawaiian officer to tears, at one point she had feared that she would never hear his voice again.
"Pleasure bruh" She replied, meaning it. She noticed the wince that every breath seemed to induce and reached for the call button to summon a nurse.
"What ya doing?" Danny whispered, his eyes open and locked onto hers.
"Just getting the nurse, your pain meds must be due" she replied. Danny shook his head.
"Dont want em, stay awake" he told her, his eyes closing at the exertion. Kono shook her head at the stubborn man.
"What you need is sleep to heal" she replied assertively. Danny shook his head. Kono giggled softly, pleased to see a glimpse of her friend, she then reached back over and replaced the oxygen mask to assist the injured man's breathing. Danny shook his head, trying to avoid the mask so he could speak.
"Please, stay awake" he urged her, his eyes conveying such pain and his tone pleading despite how quiet it was. Kono sighed, fearing that her friend was afraid to be out of control.
"Danny, I promise I will stay right here while you sleep. Steve will be back soon as well. No one will hurt you I swear" she told him, her words carrying such conviction and intensity that Danny couldn't help but take some comfort from her. With no further protest he allowed the rookie to place the mask over his face, just as the nursing staff walked into the room. The nurse smiled at him comfortingly whilst taking and noting down his vitals.
"It's ok detective you are doing just fine" she told him softly. She then prepared a syringe and injected it wordlessly into the detectives cannula. "That should help you get some rest" she told him gently, readjusting a couple of leads before leaving the room once more. Kono perched on the edge of the bed within the eye line of Danny and silently took hold of her friend's hand hoping to offer him as much comfort as she could to ease his pain. After a few moments Danny's eyes drifted shut and he slipped off into a pain free sleep once more.
50-50-50-50-50-50-50
Kono didn't let go of Danny's hand throughout the night, when Steve arrived first thing the next morning, he grinned to himself to find the young officer sat in a chair pulled up close to the bed with her hand enveloping the larger one of the Jersey detective and her head rested in his arm, sound asleep. Steve further smiled when he saw that the injured man was in fact awake and looking at him.
"Hey Danno, how you doing?" he asked softly so as to not wake the sleeping officer. Danny rolled his eyes at the question. "Stupid question huh?" the seal asked pleased to see the little spark of Danny's usual personality peeking through. Danny nodded, not sparing the energy to speak, knowing that the mask would muffle the sound anyway. "I wish we had found you sooner bruh" Steve commented, the words leaving his mouth before he could stop them. Danny closed his eyes against the emotional pain that the comment had inadvertently caused. "Sorry man" Steve whispered, cursing himself for hurting his friend.
"Ah Detective Williams" Dr Lewis greeted, accidentally waking the sleeping rookie, she startled awake, rubbing at her eyes in embarrassment.
"Whoops, why didn't you wake me?" she asked Danny registering the blue eyes looking at her.
"Look cute when you sleep" he whispered through the mask, the glint in his eye unmistakeable. Kono swatted him gently in punishment for his comment, but blushed all the same. She stepped out of the way to allow the doctor access to his patient.
"Hi there Danny, how are we feeling this morning?" he asked his tone jolly. Danny shrugged in response. "Ok let's take a look at your vitals" he replied and flipped through the chart that he held. "Well you SATs are looking good, so I think we will change that cumbersome mask to a nasal cannula. How's the pain?" he asked, removing the mask from Dannys pale face.
"It's ok" he wheezed. The doctor looked up and met the gaze of the detective.
"Ok then on a scale of one to ten where one is feeling perfectly normal and ten is excruciating mind numbing pain where does it sit?" he asked, knowing full well that the injured man had to be in some degree of pain.
"Seven" Danny replied, semi honestly.
"Hmm ok, I will arrange some more pain meds, we need to keep the antibiotics as well we cant risk any infection at the moment" he continued.
"Don't want meds, make me sleepy" Danny whispered, cursing his voice for being so weak even to his own ears.
"You need sleep Danny, that is how the body will heal" Dr Lewis reasoned with the stubborn man.
"Sleep how they got me last time" he replied, closing his eyes to not show the bone chilling fear and weariness held within their depths. Steve rubbed hands over his face, scared that his partner would remain stubborn to the nth degree.
"Danny, last time I wasn't with you, and I am not going anywhere" Steve told the man, his hand resting on his friend's to portray the seriousness of his words.
"You can't stop him, nobody can" Danny replied, his words filled with desperation and resignation that sent a chill through his friends.
"If it means protecting you, you bet your ass I can stop him" Steve replied, his words filled with such venom and conviction that even the doctor looked up in shock. "I swear Danny, that man will not come anywhere near you as long as there is breath left in my body" he told his friend, and Kono nodded wholeheartedly in agreement. Dr Lewis allowed the seal to rally his patient before he silently injected the pain medication into the IV. Danny sighed in resignation at the realisation that he would once more be asleep and trapped in his own mind within minutes.
"I hate you" he whispered to Steve with no malice whatsoever, before his eyes drifted shut.
End Chapter Ten