She froze on the spot, shellshock. "What?"
"911 got an anonymous call about a dazed man wobbling alongside the road up on Diamond Head. It was Danny. They scoured the area and found Steve minutes later."
Tears flooded her eyes at the news. She put a hand to her mouth, trying to hold it together as the stress and worries of the last ten days suddenly washed away from her mind. "My God, Chin, how are they?" she quavered, turning to her sister who wore a baffled look on her face.
"Alive but that's about all we know. Kono, Catherine and I are on our way to Queen's. Do you want me to notify Mary Ann?"
"No I'll do it. Karen and I will meet you there." She pressed end call and stole a few seconds to recover her bearing.
"Frances? What is it?"
"They found them. They found Steve and Danny."
Karen slapped both hands over her mouth, leaving a tiny space to utter a shaky, "My God!"
"Come on! Let's go to the hospital."
On her way, she called Mary at the airport, catching her before she boarded a flight to Los Angeles. Although overjoyed at the news, the young McGarrett sibling however cursed her luck at having to fulfill her assignment on this flight, but promised to drop by the hospital the minute she returned to the island.
Frances elaborated no further but pledged to keep Mary abreast of any development in her brother's condition.
As they breezed through the emergency entrance, the two sisters made a beeline for the waiting room to meet with Chin, Kono and Catherine.
"Chin, any news?" Frances asked fearfully.
"Not yet. Malia has gone to check. She should be back shortly."
"You mentioned they found them up on Diamond Head?" she asked, perplexed. Chin nodded affirmatively "That's a long ways from the original area where they disappeared, isn't it?"
"Quite a bit. That contradicts your theory that they fell down that trap in the ground."
"I'm not readily dismissing that possibility, not after what Charlie discovered. Offhand I'd say they found their way out through an underground tunnel. That could explain how they managed to get from Maunawili Valley to Diamond Head. I'm hopeful that Danny and Steve can shed some light on that mystery."
"Who placed the 911 call?" Karen asked.
Chin shook his head and shrugged. "We don't know. He didn't want to be identified. Duke says he didn't bother to stop and help because he was afraid it might be a trap. You know someone appears to be in trouble when in fact it's just a diversion, and the other guy comes up from behind and clubbers you over the head to steal your money."
"I can understand his qualms. It's a good thing he did call 911 and not simply leave them there," Catherine said.
"He said he saw Danny wobbling alongside the road. When Duke and his men got to the area in question, they found him unconscious by the side of the road. A few feet away they found Steve."
"Make a note to obtain the recording of the call. We'll do a print then run it through voice recognition. Maybe we'll get something," Frances said.
Out of the corner of his eye Chin caught sight of his wife walking toward them. "Malia!" he exclaimed, bringing everyone to crowd around her halfway down the hall.
"Malia, how are they?" Frances queried anxiously.
"The doctor is coming out soon. He'll answer your questions but for now all I can say is that Danny is being transferred into a regular room. Aside from minor cuts and bruises, he appears to be okay. As for Steve, his condition's more serious but I was told not life-threatening."
"Oh thank God," Catherine breathed out in relief with a hand over her mouth.
"Were they able to tell what happened?" Kono asked.
"They are both still unconscious," Malia informed as she ushered them all to the waiting room. "It might be a while before they regain consciousness, although Danny might come out of it sooner."
"Let's hope so," Karen quavered. She was beside herself with worry.
Malia went to her and clasped both her hands. "Danny's alive. His heart and pulse rates are good and he's breathing on his own." Karen nodded, her lip curling into a tepid halfhearted smile at Malia's uplifting words. "He's going to be all right."
"Could they tell you what was wrong with Steve?" Chin asked.
As if on cue, Doctor Carson pushed his way passed the emergency entrance door and made his way to the group.
"I'll let Doctor Carson explain his condition," Malia said.
"Commander Nyland."
"You remember me?" Frances asked astounded, as she reached out to shake the surgeon's hand.
"I recall each and every one of you from last time Commander McGarrett and Detective Williams were here, save perhaps for this lady over there," he motioned to Catherine.
"This is Lieutenant Catherine Rollins," Frances introduced. "She's a friend of Commander McGarrett's."
"Nice to meet you, doctor."
"Likewise I'm sure, Lieutenant. Although I wished it was under more pleasant circumstances."
"Why? What's wrong?" Kono jumped in before anyone could ask the dreaded question.
Doctor Carson beckoned the group to take a seat. "Please, let's sit down."
They all obliged by each taking a seat, while Carson perched himself on the arm of a chair, facing them. "Not all test results are in but I can safely say right now that Detective Williams's condition is highly satisfactory. His vitals are strong and aside from cuts, bruises and a mild concussion that have nearly completely healed, he is doing fine."
"Is he conscious?" Karen asked.
"He woke up a few minutes ago as we were prepping him into a regular room. We asked him a few questions and understandably, he was a bit disoriented."
"But he's going to be all right?" Kono insisted.
"He should."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Chin asked apprehensively.
"I'm slightly concerned about the post-traumatic amnesia as a result of the concussion he sustained. At the moment he has no recollection of what happened to him or his partner. He does recall his name, address, workplace, his daughter and you," he jutted his head in direction of Karen, "young lady. Most of his memory is intact, save for the traumatic episode timeframe, which is typical of this type of injury. We will conduct a series of tests to determine the extent of the brain damage, if any."
"What about Commander McGarrett?" Frances asked expectantly, her heart leaping down her throat and narrowing her airways at the doctor's hesitation. "Doctor?"
"It's his heart. We're having trouble stabilizing the arrhythmia."
"How come? What happened to him?"
"Doctor Kelly here tells me that both men had been missing for ten days?"
"That's right," Frances replied, a deep frown furrowing her brows at Carson's uneasiness.
"Well it's clear they received medical attention during that time. They came to us well hydrated and nourished and as I said, the cuts and bruises, including the concussion, have been addressed in both men's cases. And there are the fresh sutured scars. It was perfect alignment, not a botched job, which couldn't have been done by anyone aside from a medically trained professional with proper sterilized instruments. There's no sign of infection." His shocking claim stunned his audience.
"Commander McGarrett's chest scan shows that he suffered an aortic transection near the ventricle, which is a tear in the main artery of the heart, evidently from a blunt trauma to the chest. It is often fatal due to the profuse bleeding that results from the rupture.
"There were two noticeably small sutured incisions on his chest, one probably to relieve pressure from a hemopneumothorax, which is a collapsed lung with blood collecting in the pleural cavity, and one was applied directly over his heart. Somehow, and that's what's mindboggling, they managed to insert a cauterizing device to mend the tear without applying a Dacron interposition graft or even resulting to a median sternotomy, which is the standard procedure in order to perform a cardiac cauterization."
"So wherever they've been, they weren't alone," Chin surmised from the doctor's observation.
"Without a doubt. Further tests will hopefully provide us with more insights. Like Detective Williams, Commander McGarrett is covered with cuts and bruises over seventy per cent of his body and suffered a mild concussion. There's evidence of muscle tear, probably resulting from a dislocated shoulder."
"Will he wake up with amnesia as well?" Catherine asked.
"We can only speculate at this point. We need to wait for him to regain consciousness. At the moment we have settled him in ICU to closely monitor his condition. We have inserted a tracheal tube to assist him with his breathing and by the same token, ease the burden on his heart. Overall I say both men are extremely fortunate."
The inexplicable sent an eerie current of dread surging through their bodies as they all flashed worried looks at each other. What was this stranger's motive for keeping the boys alive and providing medical care, only to return them to the fold without alerting the authorities? Frances expected that the 911 call would provide the missing clue to elucidate the mystery.
"Can we see them?" Frances asked.
"You can for Detective Williams. Only two visitors at the time. Please try not to tire him with questions. I'm perfectly aware that you want to know what happened. However you might do more harm than good at this stage of his condition."
"Will do, doctor."
They needn'ted ponder long as to which two first would get to visit Danny. Frances held her grieving sister by the waist, nudging her forward to follow Doctor Carson to Danny's room.
"Please, no more than five minutes. He needs his rest," he advised as he ushered both ladies into the room. He waited for the sisters to nod their understanding before taking his leave.
A nasal cannula and an IV drip was surprisingly all that was visibly attached to Danny, suggesting that he wasn't in such bad a shape than they originally expected.
Karen approached the bed and gripped the bed rail. "He doesn't look so bad," she observed contentedly as she did a quick once-over of Danny's body.
"Thank God for that." Frances echoed the sentiment with a sisterly squeeze on Karen's shoulder.
A tiny gurgling sound escaped Danny's throat, prompting the sisters to lean closer.
"Danny?" Karen coaxed. "Danny, can you hear me? It's Karen. Open your eyes, honey."
Eyelids fluttered but did not pry apart for a good minute, giving the impression that the patient was merely taunting them. Finally, lips moved and mouth salivated, followed by repeated slimy and acrid swallows. Features pinched at the taste until the blue eyes finally cracked open.
"Hey, welcome back!" Karen greeted with a beaming smile. She caressed his cheek and gave him a light kiss on the lips. "Want some water?"
Danny stared at her inquisitively as though he hadn't completely grasped the meaning of the question. "Danny?" she frowned at his confused expression. "Do you know who I am?"
He nodded feebly, closing his eyes to breathe in before whispering hoarsely, "Karen."
"That's right." She took the glass of water Frances had just poured for her and she assisted Danny in taking a few sips by carefully lifting his head forward, watchful not to jostle the nasal cannula and IV line.
"Where am I?"
"You're in a hospital." She handed the glass back to Frances and eased Danny's lolling head down on the pillow before clasping his hand. "Do you remember what happened?" she blurted out and instantly cringed as the doctor's warning came rushing to mind.
Danny sank into his pillow and stared at the ceiling, trying to jog his memory of how he landed in a hospital but came up blank. He shook his head in defeat. "I can't remember."
Frances placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him when his breathing increased. "It's okay, Danny. It'll eventually come to you. Don't force it. Perhaps Steve will be able to tell us."
"Steve?" the name jolted him. "He's here too?"
"Yes. You two went missing. They found you up on Diamond Head by the side of the road. You were apparently in a complete daze before you collapsed. Steve was found in a ditch not far from where you were."
"I can't…I can't remember how…" Danny tensed up, causing his heart rate to spike.
"Danny, honey, shuuuuuu," Karen appeased with a soothing hand on his chest. "It's okay. You just rest now and it'll come to you."
The bout of panic sapped his energy, prompting his eyes to glaze over before he drifted off.
"My god, what have they done to them?" Karen cried.
"We'll find out but for now we need them to heal and get their strength back."
The gang followed Doctor Carson's advice and went down to the cafeteria for some light snack while waiting for the test results to be known.
In early afternoon, they returned to the postoperative floor and made their way to the waiting room. As they sat on tenterhooks, their eyes kept straying to the nearby nurses' station hoping Doctor Carson would show up.
Ten minutes into the waiting, restlessness overtook Frances and she stood from the couch. "I'll be right back," she said with a wave of the hand as she strode over the desk to inquire about Doctor Carson's whereabouts. No sooner had she asked the question that the neurosurgeon appeared at the end of the corridor.
She rejoined the group and all stood, anxious as to what the results would reveal.
"I hope you have some good news for us?" Frances broke the ice.
"Their blood tests revealed the presence of curare."
"Curare!" Catherine exclaimed in shock. "Isn't that a poison?"
"Not necessarily. It has many properties. In the early days when administered at low dosage it was used as a muscle relaxant and anesthetic agent. It was also effective for the treatment of strychnine poisoning. Curare poisoning mimics the total locked-in syndrome, which is the paralysis of every voluntarily controlled muscle in the body, including the eyes. Only an in-depth examination of the patient can reveal that he's alive. In extremely high amount however, it causes death by asphyxiation by paralyzing the respiratory muscles.
"If dosage isn't lethal, spontaneous breathing usually resumes once the action of curare is done, which varies between thirty minutes to eight hours depending on the variant of the toxin and amount injected. Artificial respiration such as mouth-to mouth resuscitation can maintain the oxygen level until the victim regains full use of his senses. The muscle paralysis can also be reversed by administration of a cholinesterase inhibitor such as physostigmine but we found no trace of it in their blood."
"That doesn't make sense. Why saved them to begin with if their intention were to get rid of them?" Chin asked.
"My guess is they needed them alive to pry information out of them. Once they obtained what they wanted, they tried to poison them and dumped their bodies in a ditch. Only the dosage wasn't strong enough to kill them, just paralyze them," Frances deduced from the facts brought forth.
"But why give them curare? Surely they could have resorted to more direct methods to properly finish the job?" Catherine theorized, giving her cohorts food for thoughts.
"And perhaps they never really wanted to kill them," Frances surmised, her insight drawing puzzled looks. "Doctor, were you able to determine what amount of curare was injected?"
"Impossible. Curare is rapidly purged by the system. We could only find traces of it in the blood workup. All things considered I would estimate a dose strong enough to paralyze them. Fortunately the poison doesn't affect the cardiac muscle, otherwise they wouldn't have survived. We gave them each physostigmine, it's an antidote, to insure the curare is completely eliminated."
"So Frances is right. Their intention was never to kill them," Kono said.
"Just the fact that they are alive after being giving curare implies that someone had to administer artificial respiration until the effect of the poison wore off and they could start breathing on their own. As I mentioned the cardiac muscle is not affected and therefore continues to beat but at an extremely low rate, hence the reason why the victim appears seemingly dead."
"Why not just render them unconscious then?" Kono asked, baffled as to why they would resort to curare for paralysis. "Unless…Doctor does curare render someone amnesiac?"
"In some cases, it can but the patient usually remembers after the effect wears off. It is primarily an anesthetic."
"Seems we have more questions than answers here," Catherine observed.
"I hate to think what they were subjected to while they were prisoners. Danny told me stories about Steve being tortured and…" Karen trailed off, her voice choking with emotions.
Frances moved over to her sister and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Doctor, can you determine if any of the injuries are the results of a beating?"
"Not with absolute certainty. I would rather lean toward a crash or a bad fall."
They all turned to Frances. "A fall?" Chin mused.
While her friends took time to process the information, Frances caught Carson's forlorn expression in a sidelong glance. "There's something else, isn't there?" Frances queried curiously.
"Yes there is. While you were down at the cafeteria we had a code blue. Commander McGarrett went into cardiac arrest but," he held up a placating hand when a round of gasps erupted, "rest assured we quickly got him back. We did a chest scan and the aortic valve is still intact."
With a collective sigh of relief they sunk back into their seats.
"The arrhythmia however is still a concern," he added solemnly.
"Can we see him?" Frances asked expectantly.
"Ah yes, but I can only allow one of you at the time."
"Frances, you go," Kono suggested without consulting with the others, aware this was the logical choice.
Frances studied the faces, making eye contact with each to obtain consent. She nodded back appreciatively at the smiles of approval and followed Doctor Carson down to ICU.
"Is he still unconscious?" She asked before stepping inside the dim-lit room.
"For the moment yes. We have him on pain medication. We are keeping the tube in for safe measure. If his condition improves in the next few hours I'll consider removing it. We both know him well by now. He's young with a strong and healthy constitution. Granted he has been through a lot in the past year but he's proven that he can beat the odds. He should pull through."
"I'm grateful that you've taken on his case again."
"It was the general consensus among my peers, seeing how I'm familiar with his medical background and all. Although I do hope he doesn't make a habit of it?" he jested.
"Don't underestimate his skills. He's known in our circle as a danger magnet. Is it okay if I talk to him? Try to will him out?"
"You can. Although if he does wake up, don't make him talk. Stick to blinks or nods only. If he shows discomfort, press the call button. I'll be at the nurses' station working on patients' charts."
"Thank you, Doctor."
Once left alone in the room, she lowered the bedrail, clasped Steve's limp hand and leaned in to brush a light kiss on his cheek. She gazed tenderly at him, holding back the tears as she ran a gentle hand on his forehead. "Steve, can you hear me? It's Frances. I'm right here, sweetie. You're safe now. Doctor Carson is taking good care of you."
She ran a hand up and down his arm while holding on tight to his hand hoping to elicit a response but none came. Steve remained still.
She wiped an errant tear pearling down the corner of her eyes with her thumb before settling in the chair next to the bed, all the while holding Steve's hand. She continued to gaze at him while rubbing her thumb against his knuckles. Suddenly she felt it; a small tug.
She gaped in surprise and looked down at the hand cradled in hers. Again a tug, this time prompting her to stand excitedly and lean in close to his face. "Steve, come on, wake up! It's Frances," she coerced with a tight squeeze on his hand. He squeezed back with all the might he could muster, clinging to that hand as though it were a lifeline.
She smiled, unable to contain the tears of joy as she witnessed the flickering of eyelids. "Come on, Steve, you can do it," she emboldened, running a loving hand through his hair then cupped his cheek. At last, two blue-hazel glassy eyes peered through a crack, then blinked to dispel the haze before they settled on her face. "Hey you," she exulted with a beaming smile that lit up the room. "You know you had us scared to death?" She frowned at Steve's pained expression. "Don't try to talk. Just blink once for yes and twice for no. You understand?"
A bemused expression stared back at her.
"Do you know who I am?" It took a few seconds for his muddy brain to register, during which time Frances bit her lip in fear of possible brain damage. Seconds later he gave a feeble blink. "That's good," she closed her eyes and sighed in relief.
His bleary eyes lazily gleaned over the room; his squint asking the question. "You're at the hospital," she answered. "They found you unconscious in a ditch by the side of the road up on Diamond Head. Do you remember what happened to you?" she risked the question.
Try as he did, Steve could not conjure up the memory of that day. His brows knitted deeply; his chest heaved with rapid, shallow breaths as frustration and fear grew. He blinked twice with a hunted look in his eyes.
Frances placed a hand on his arm and rubbed it gently "That's all right. It's not important right now. Relax. It'll come to you. You're going to be okay."
Few were the people who could make the strong-willed, leader-among-leader Frances Nyland wear her heart on her sleeves, and one was Steve McGarrett. The fear of losing him this second time around had her blood run cold.
"Steve, sweetie, please calm down. Breathe easy now," she coached soothingly, her hand going to his chest to rub it in a circular motion, careful to avoid the gauzes and electrodes covering his bare skin. "Shuuuuu, don't try to talk now. Get some sleep. I'll come back later," She ran a caring hand on his cheek and watched him close his eyes, after which she placed an affectionate kiss on his forehead and wiped her eyes dry.
She remained there watching him, with her lips quivering in both anger and fright. When she sensed a change in his breathing pattern, she quietly slipped out of the room to regroup with the others.
"How is he?" Catherine asked with frazzled nerves.
"He woke up briefly. He remembers me, that's a good sign. But like Danny he has no recollection of what happened." She squeezed Catherine's arm and with a genuine heartening smile, said, "Go ahead. It's your turn."
The young lieutenant wavered whether she should accept the offer, seeing how all eyes turned on her with a cautioning stare. She timidly smiled appreciatively at Frances and headed toward Steve's room.
"Chin, get on that 911 call. I want the tape as soon as possible."
"Already did while you were with Steve. They are getting it ready for us."
"I'm curious as to the identity of that anonymous caller, that is if we are successful at finding a match with the UTAU voice bank."
"You think it might belong to whoever is behind the kidnapping?" Kono asked.
"I don't believe it was a kidnapping. From the scene you described when they went off after the suspect, it just doesn't add up. I'm sticking to my theory that they inadvertently fell through that trap door, down the hole and landed into a hornet's nest. The underground holds many dark secrets. There are probably dozens of tunnels under there and they might have run into a fine kettle of fish, with some blood-thirsty piranhas out to rip any shred of classified knowledge out of McGarrett's brain."
"Admitting what you're saying is true," Kono ventured charily, "Then it's possible they could have been brainwashed. Even perhaps walking bombs, conditioned to respond to a stimulus such as a code word."
"That eerie thought did cross my mind seeing how they were shipped back to us."
"Then word to the wise, let's just keep off their grass and stay on this side of the fence to avoid opening Pandora's Box. Whoever these people are clearly we shouldn't mess with them," Chin warned, getting nods from Karen and Kono. "Frances?" Chin insisted when she failed to acknowledge.
"This is my turf, Chin. I know how to deal with them. I promise to tread lightly though. Once they are back on their feet, we'll subject Steve and Danny to hypnosis. Perhaps they'll be able to recall tidbits and by the same token, we'll defuse their brains in the event they have indeed been rigged as kamikazes."
