Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well and staying safe. Here is the next chapter! Enjoy and thank you for all your support and kind words.
Chapter 10: Ka Lima Lima Anu (Cold, Callous Hand)
"911, what's your emergency?"
"Steve, Hey. Stay with me, okay? Just stay with me." Catherine whispers with a warm breath against his cheek.
She holds him closer to her and presses the wet towel back on his forehead. She can feel the heat radiating off his skin.
She wipes the sweat from his face and the vomit strands dangling from his lips. He lays his head against her moaning through the pain.
"It hurts Cath." He whispers. His voice was so quiet and sounded extremely hoarse. He didn't sound like Steve.
"I know baby. Shh." Catherine coos, her breath hits his neck and she nudges him even closer to her. She runs her thumb gently over his arm back and forth hoping to relax him with her touch.
"911, what's your emergency?" The lady repeats over the phone.
Catherine curses under her breath. The phone was out of her reach. She didn't want to leave his side again, but she knew he needed help that she simply couldn't give him.
Catherine presses her face into the back of his head and murmurs soft words into his hair. She snakes her arm out from around his waist and scrambles to find her phone.
As soon as she turns around to look for the phone, Steve pitches forward and begins to vomit again. The sounds coming from him were gut wrenching and painful.
"Oh Steve!" Catherine cries out, hearing him begin to heave again. She wraps her fingers around the corner of her phone and picks it up, almost dropping it in the process.
"Ma'am 911, what is your emergency?" The lady says, her voice conveying the annoyance in her tone.
Sometimes people didn't use the emergency line for the smartest reasons and it usually took the time and patience needed from other people who actually needed the emergency line.
"H- hello. Oh Steve just hang on!" Catherine bursts out in a panic into the phone, looking over at Steve and goes over to his side again.
She kneels down beside him. She wraps her arm around him, holding him tightly as his body betrays him. She holds the phone in her other hand.
"Yes hello, I need an ambulance...oh god." Catherine starts, but Steve moans loudly and leans his head up towards the ceiling.
A fresh sheen of sweat coats his forehead and neck. She nudges him closer to her and sees the blood specks in the toilet again. Against the white counters and the white porcelain, the blood stood out in stark contrast.
Her eyes widen, her lips quiver, and her mind goes blank. She clutches the phone with her hand. Her hand trembles and she almost drops the phone again. She angrily swipes the tears coming from her eyes.
"Ma'am I need you to remain calm, okay? I can help you, but I need to know what is going on. Just take a breath and tell me what the problem is." The lady says hearing Catherine nearly hyperventilating on the phone.
It was obvious she was under distress. However it wasn't obvious what was causing her distress. That was crucial information.
The lady hears Catherine's breaths shuddering over the phone and can hear her sniffling. She was crying.
The lady tries to get her attention again. She knew this phone call was no longer a waste of time, but it was also important to get the woman on the other line to relax and calm down because it was painfully evident she needed help, but she wouldn't be able to understand her if she was sobbing.
"Ma'am, ma'am just take a long breath. In through your nose. Out through your mouth. We'll do it together, okay?"
"Okay." Catherine whispers, her voice cracks as she takes in a sharp breath to control her sobs.
"Inhale. And exhale." The operator says slowly in the most calming tone she can manage.
She had done this before. Sometimes it wasn't necessary to calm the person down but other times it was. It was hard to figure out when people were good in a crisis until they called that number. She had to listen to their voice, imagine their mindset, and hear the tone in their voice to make the right judgement call. And she knew this call was going to put all her skills to the test.
Catherine closes her eyes trying to calm her mind. She tries to take a breath with the lady on the line at the same time.
Steve groans and throws his head back against her finally having a break from the constant vomiting. Catherine runs her fingers through his hair as she takes a deep breath through her nose and blows the air out of her mouth.
"Alright now just, just try to stay calm and tell me what's going on." The lady says on the line, keeping her voice level and hushed.
Catherine takes another inhale. She keeps running her fingers through Steve's hair. She needed to touch him. To know that he was with her. Still here with her. It was the only thing that was grounding her.
Steve continues to moan quietly. His eyes were squeezed shut and his head was resting against her chest.
He wasn't aware of anything anymore except the pain. The constant stabbing, pulsing pain in his head was competing with the burning hot fire suffocating his stomach.
Catherine leans her head down and kisses the top of his head before furrowing her eyebrows and focusing. Steve needed help. And she was the only one, here, right now, who could help him.
"I need an ambulance. My…" Catherine stops short and looks down at Steve. His eyes were squeezed shut and his lips were parted. His breathing was very shallow and she could see the tension in his jaw.
What could she say he was to her? She loved him, but she couldn't say he was her husband. They had never talked about marriage. Joked about it sure. But actually consider making that commitment to each other, well. On the other hand, Boyfriend sounded so cliche and cheap to her. She loved the man. She could call him "friend" but that sounded even worse than boyfriend. They were passionate lovers. She certainly couldn't say that. How could she put their relationship to each other in one word?
"Ma'am?" The operator asks, bringing Catherine out of her thoughts.
"Yes I'm here."
"Ma'am what is the address you are calling from?" The operator asks, trying to get the most important information out of the unstable woman.
"Uh 110 Manu kuhukukū Road. Off of 23rd street." Catherine states, knowing the address by heart.
Catherine hears the woman typing quickly over the line and takes another breath in. Her fingers dance in Steve's hair.
His hair was soft and coarse. Scruffy. She leaned her head in and could smell the faint scent of pine shampoo in his hair. She felt the tears streaming down her cheeks, dripping off her nose.
"What is your name?"
"...C-catherine." Catherine replies, after taking a shaky breath in.
The lady types again and Catherine closes her eyes trying to gain control of her emotions.
"Is the person breathing and conscious?" The lady asks in a gentle voice.
"Yes he's fine."
"He's breathing." Catherine adds on after a moment.
The operator types again and adds the gender into her computer now knowing the person in distress was a male.
She takes the silence as an opportunity to get more information since the man was conscious. If he hadn't been she would have sent help right away and given Catherine instructions on how to do CPR if she didn't know how.
"Ma'am, Catherine, can you tell me what happened?' The operator asks, adding Catherine's name to be on a more personal tone with her.
"He uh...well everything was fine. He seemed a bit more tired than usual and he didn't want to eat or drink anything last night. He went to bed a little earlier than normal, but I woke up to him throwing up."
Catherine hears the operator typing over the phone again.
"So he didn't eat or drink? Was this just last night or has he not been eating for a couple of days?"
"He hasn't been eating." Catherine states, now fully realizing that Steve had been avoiding food for several days and his skin seemed to be stretched out over his cheekbones. He had lost a few pounds for sure and she didn't notice until now.
She didn't notice.
"Has he been vomiting frequently?"
"I- I don't know." Catherine whispers. She didn't know. God, how could she not know?
"Is there anything unusual in his vomit?" The operator asks. There was a reason why she had called and it wasn't for a simple stomach flu.
"T-there is b-blood...in it. In his vomit." Catherine stutters out, her eyes flashing over with panic at the sight of the blood.
She looks over in the bowl, the specks of blood mixed in with the liquid. The blood haunted her eyes. She swallows feeling a lump in her throat. Steve had only thrown up bile so the blood was painfully seen.
She sets the phone on the counter for a moment and reaches her arm over Steve to flush the toilet. She couldn't look at the clear pain Steve had been in and currently was in.
She wished she could wish Steve's pain away as quickly as she had flushed away the evidence of his agony.
She reaches her arm up and grabs for her phone again.
"Ma'am are you still there?" The operator had heard the toilet flushing while she was talking to the woman, but she got no reply to her question.
"Oh yes sorry I'm here."
"Alright Ma'am I've sent an ambulance to your address. May I have the phone number you're calling from?"
"Yes, just hold on." Catherine takes her phone off her ear and frantically scrolls through her phone to find the contact app.
"It''s 808-361-7800." Catherine reads off after finding her phone number in her contact list.
"Thank you. An ambulance is en route to your address. It should be arriving in 10 to 15 minutes."
"Thank you." Catherine says and hangs up. She sighs with a shaky breath.
"Just hold on baby. Hold on." Catherine whispers against his cheek.
Steve opens his eyes and cries out when the light invades them. Catherine tightens her hold on him, wrapping both arms around him now.
"Just keep your eyes closed Steve."
"C-cath…. Cah...it hur…" Steve slurs out.
Catherine hears his voice change and her eyes widen. The sound of his voice alarmed her.
"Just lay back for me Steve, okay? C'mon. I'll help you." Catherine leans back and wraps her arms around his slender waist. She scoots back and gently pulls him down so that his head rests in her lap.
Steve closes his eyes with a moan.
"No, Steve hey keep your eyes open!" Catherine begs through tears and slaps his face gently. She could tell he was slipping away.
"Cann..tir-r-e…" Steve slurs out, his eyes half glazed over.
"You stay with me. The ambulance is coming. You're going to be fine. Okay just fine. Just keep your eyes open."
Despite the pounding in his head and the burning fire blazing through his entire body, he smirks up at her, but it doesn't hold the normal power it usually does over her. His smirk looks weak and he bites his lip hard causing it to bleed.
"Oh Steve." She coos and runs her fingers through his hair while her other hand thumbs his cheek. She held him as close as she could without causing him more discomfort.
Suddenly her head snaps up when she hears that familiar, yet dreadful sound. An ambulance siren.
She looks down at Steve. The lines around his eyes and mouth tightened. The sound and the lights from the bathroom were causing him discomfort.
"Just hang on." She whispers more to herself, hearing the sirens getting louder.
He would be okay. Her baby would be okay. He had to be.
A sudden thought enters her mind. His team. His friends. Danny. Dear god, what would she tell them? They had to know. But she didn't know what to say, how the words would come out. She had been in a nervous panic with the 911 operator. How would she be when she spread the news about Steve?
No, calling them would have to wait. She couldn't tear herself away from Steve. And she didn't trust her voice or her mind to do the talking.
Catherine can hear the ambulance right outside the window now. But she wouldn't dare leave his side. He was her everything. And he needed her.
She hears a knock on the door and can see the red lights bouncing around the windows.
She couldn't leave his side. No she wouldn't! But what if they didn't come in time? Steve was barely hanging onto consciousness.
Her silent prayers are answered when she hears the door slam open.
"Up here!" Catherine cries out.
She hears loud marching up the steps and turns her head around.
The paramedic stands in the door of the bathroom with another paramedic beside him holding a stretcher.
The paramedics rush to Steve's side and Catherine moves out of the way to let them do their job. She stands in the doorway a hand over her mouth, tears spewing from her eyes as she watches them look over the man she loved.
"Sir, sir can you hear me?" The paramedic with black short hair asks looking down at Steve. He takes out his light and shines it in both of Steve's eyes.
Steve moans in pain and tries to move his head away, but the other paramedic holds his head steady.
"No visible signs of concussion." The paramedic with black hair states and pockets his light away. He leans down to check Steve's pulse on his wrist and his blood pressure with another machine.
"BP and heart rate 130 over 40." He states.
The other paramedic with scruffy brown hair takes this information in with a nod.
Catherine tried to read the two of them, but they made it impossible. She couldn't tell how serious all their data readings were between them. They kept taking Steve's vitals and she tried to focus on what they were saying.
She watches them set the stretcher down on the floor. The other paramedic kneels down towards Steve's feet and the other one stays near his head.
"Alright 1..2..3 Lift!" The paramedic says and at the same time they hoist Steve onto the stretcher. Steve's head sways slightly and he groans loudly.
Catherine's chin quivers as she watches them strap him in so that he doesn't fall off the stretcher. Then the two paramedics pick up either side and carry him out the door. Catherine moves out of their way and watches them carry him down the stairs slowly and then out the front door.
Catherine follows once there down the steps, tears streaming down her cheeks.
How could their night go so wrong? How did she not even know about Steve? How had she not noticed him getting worse each day?
She gasps when a thought hits her. She needed to call in to her superiors. She couldn't go back on assignment. She wouldn't dare leave him. Not now! He needed her. She wouldn't dare leave him. She needed to be here for him.
An even more terrifying thought enters her mind. What if she had left him and this had happened and he was all alone? Dear god, she had to be with him!
She rushes out of the front door and sees the paramedics close the door with Steve inside laying on the stretcher.
Catherine doesn't know what overpowers her in that very moment, but her voice sounds so foreign to her.
"NO! No Please! I have to be with him! Please let me stay with him!" She practically begs the paramedic, grabbing onto his arm before he steps up into the driver's seat.
He looks at her and gives her a sad smile. Her hair is a tangled mess and strands hang loosely in her face. Her shirt was creased and hanging off her shoulder. Tears are falling down her face.
He lays a hand on her shoulder.
"Of course you can be with him." He assures her and walks her over to the back of the ambulance and opens the door.
She steps up with his assistance and walks over to Steve and sits down beside him. The other paramedic was placing an oxygen mask over Steve's face
He nods at her when she sits down next to him.
"Thankyou." Catherine says gratefully, turning her head back around to face the paramedic with black hair. The relief flooded into her voice.
He smiles with a nod and closes the door.
Catherine turns her attention back on Steve. He didn't look like Steve. His face was greyish pale and his eyes were dull and glassy. He didn't seem to even register Catherine being near him.
The paramedic continues to hold the oxygen mask on his face and changes the dials on the machine. Catherine feels the ambulance start to move and leans closer to Steve.
She reaches out her hand and grabs hold of his. She wraps her fingers around his hand. It felt different.
That was one thing she loved about him.
His hands.
He had strong hands. A loving warm touch. He was always kind to her with his hands and he never hurt her. His fingers stretched out like iron pillars. There was strength in his fingers. Love in those fingers. Warmth in those fingers. There was power and courage in those hands. And it drew her to him.
She loved his hands.
But now they felt different. The hand that she held in hers felt distant and weak. His fingers laid limply under hers losing its golden tone. The veins in his hands bulged and zig zagged over his fingers and wrist. The strength and power was gone. The love was gone. His hand felt different.
It was cold.
It was callous.
But it was his. His hand was hers to hold. No matter what it felt like. She was holding it. She would give it life back. She would make it come alive again.
But for now the only thing that laid in her touch was a cold calloused hand.
Alright, that's chapter 10! I know its short. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry I took so long to update. I've been working on another story based on the show "Little House on the Prairie" so it took my attention away from this one. If you like that show or are familiar with it, please check it out! I would love to hear your thoughts.
Anyway, I kind of rushed this one out today but I hope you liked it. Also of note I'm not very good with the medical aspect of things so I apologize if some of what happened seemed wrong or inaccurate. I'm working on it by doing research to make it more accurate for future chapters. But thanks for taking the time to read and please review! Next Chapter coming soon.