Chapter 8

On his way up Danny tried not to think of everything he had learned from Dr. Ramirez, but he couldn't let go. His thoughts were racing and he couldn't stop it.

A nurse let him into the ward and brought him to Steve's room. Danny closed his eyes, took a deep breath and went in.

Steve looked – normal. Pale, yes, and his nose still had some bruising, but otherwise just like he was sleeping. Sure, there were some wires sneaking out under his blanket and the obligatory urine back – which had blood in it – but he had expected something else. But now he remembered they hadn't done anything to his face – except breaking his nose of course – just to is torso.

'Yeah, "just",' that was a good one Danny Williams.

"You must be Detective Williams," a female voice said and brought him out of his thoughts. He hadn't even noticed her in the room.

"Yes, sorry. I am…I was…I…"

"It's okay. I am Hannah. I am the commander's nurse for the rest of the afternoon. We have settled him in. He is still going in and out of consciousness at the moment. You can sit and talk to him if you want. Maybe that has a calming effect on him. If you need anything press the call button. I'll be back in twenty minutes to check on him and Dr. Lexington will be here in about half an hour."

The doctor entered together with the nurse twenty minutes later. While she checked Steve's vitals, dressings and lines he introduced himself to Danny. When he was done, he asked Hannah "How is he doing?"

"As best as he can," the nurse answered. "Nothing new."

"Okay. Please stay with him. I need to talk to detective Williams for quite some time outside. Call me if there are any significant changes."

Thirty seconds later Danny found himself in another private room with the doctor.

"Have a seat, detective. I know you've already talked with Dr. Ramirez. I can't tell you much more. I just want to discuss the commander's treatment with you and I need you to fill in some blanks for me. We can also discuss any questions you already have or will have after the talk.

Would you like some coffee?"

"No…or yes. Coffee might be good."

The doctor ordered the coffee before he continued.

"Do you have any questions before we start?"

"Yes. When I entered Steve's room, he looked like he was sleeping and the nurse said he is going in and out of consciousness, but I noticed tremors going through his whole body when I touched him. Is he in pain? And does he know where he is?"

"Yes, he is in pain. Unfortunately – due to the drugs he had received – we can't give him much pain medication – to avoid interplay. And no, at this point we believe he doesn't know where he is. He was "awake" a few times in the ER and once here, but that just meant he had his yes open. He wasn't able to answer a question or follow a command and I highly doubt he noticed what was and is going on around him. But don't worry. This is just normal with everything he is been through. At the moment we assume that there is a lot of confusion and pain. And it will stay that way for at least a few days. Anything else you need to know?"

"No. No. I don't think so."

"I know this is a lot to take in. I know Dr. Ramirez already told you a lot of tough stuff and now it is me, but I would like to do this today. The more we know, the better for your friend. The more we know, the less uncertainty for you. I hope that suits you fine."

"Yes, of course."

"Okay. I'd like to start with what we are doing here. While the commander is our guest – and this will be quite some time – you will notice that this isn't a normal unit or better a unit like you are used to know. This is a pilot project to get our patients the special care they need. It's not that the patient in a normal ICU didn't get the care they need or that they didn't have special needs, but treating someone for drug abuse is quite different.

We admitted the commander to the "family-area" which means someone can stay with him at all times. We would like it to be the same person, but we are aware that that person will need a break once in a while. That is why we decided to give four people over night excess – not at the same time of course. If one of them can't take the situation at all, the person(s) can be exchanged. During the day everyone is allowed to visit – depending on the patient's state, the number of visitors – not more than three at the same time – the behavior of them and the patient's reaction to them.

The main person – which I assume will be you in this case – is getting a bed for her/himself. We will provide three meals a day. You are bound to eat at least two of them. Payment is covered by the foundation. You are also bound to take a break every four hours. That means leaving the room and go outside or calling someone you can talk to about everything or is distracting your mind for that time. For the time you are outside one of the nurses will be in -that goes for the acute phase. If he feels better in a few days, we'll have to adjust the plan.

The nurses are the important part here. Okay- that is like everywhere else. They are your contact for everything. Questions, help, providing comfort - for you and the patient – giving advise reminding you of your obligations and they are also the connection between you and me.

We try to have the same nurses for the patient as long as possible – if they connect. If there is a problem, we'll exchange them. You've already met Hannah. She is our youngest team member. The commander's night nurse will be the most experienced though. Her name is Helen and she is 58 years old. She is working with drug addicts for over 35 years now and took every advanced training course there has ever been. I think you will all get along great.

Now, for commander McGarrett's treatment: As far as his injuries are going, we will increase his pain medication as soon as possible, That means as soon as we have determined which kind of impurities we are dealing with and when his body…"

"What do you mean with impurities?"

"Unfortunately, the drugs the commander had received weren't "pure" drugs. They were mixed up which is a very common practice on the streets and our lab is still trying to determine them all."

'One good news after the other,' Danny thought sarcastically.

"Usually, drugs like heroin are adulterated with paracetamol, other alkaloids, methaqualone or diazepam. That is why we can't give him as much pain medication as we would like. We won't help him in any way if we overdose.

But as I said, as soon as we have all the facts, we will be able to help him better.

The tremors you mentioned: We are not sure yet if they are a result of the drugs, the tasering or both. Either way we will consult a neurologist for this tomorrow – see if he can find out more. Dr. Fox is very competent. He might want to talk to you as well.

Do you have questions before we address the drugs?"

"No."

"Do you want to have a break?" Let everything sink in? See if there are coming any questions up. Or to clear your mind? Freshen up?"

"No. I want to go back to Steve as soon as possible."

"Okay. But this will take a while longer."

"That's what I thought. Just let us continue."

"Okay. As far as I know commander McGarrett was held hostage. Where he had been drugged and tortured. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"Twenty-five day."...'Oh god. 25 days. I am sorry Steve. So sorry we didn't find you earlier.'

The doctor looked a bit shocked, but continued to talk a few seconds later.

"Do you have any idea if his captors started the drug abuse right away?"

"No."

"Did…"

"No, I don't. But if I guess I'df say yes."

"Did…"

"We have one of them in custody. Maybe he can tell us."

"That would be really great. Did…"

"I'll make a call."

Danny went outside to make a call. He could have made the call in the doctor's presence, but he suddenly needed to get out of the room. He called Chin, told him what he needed, gave him a quick update and hung up again. Chin and Kono were on their way back and Chin promised they would come by the hospital as soon as possible.

Danny returned to the room and told the doctor someone would call him as soon as they found something out.

"Great. Thank you. Did the commander has ever used drugs himself?"

"No! What are you suggesting!?"

"Nothing. Calm down. This is just a routine check-up."

"Sorry. It's just…sorry."

"No need to apologize. I totally understand you.

His file is saying he is a Navy SEAL- reserve – but still a SEAL. I know his training included handling abuse, torture and drugs and I know a lot of what he did is classified, but has he ever mentioned having been tortured or drugged outside of his training?"

"I know he has been tortured before, because we already had been partners when that had happened, but that had nothing to do with being a SEAL. But maybe this was worse, because someone he trusted and who he wanted to help betrayed him. Don't know anything about drugs though. But I know someone who can help with this."

He made another call. This time to Joe and this time he stayed in the room.

When he hung up, he said "He had been drugged with LSD and Cocaine before. Both not more than two "shots", low doses and about ten years ago."

"Thank you. This information is reliable?"

"Yes. Very."

"Okay. I can work with this. That is helping a lot. We have two main problems here.

Firstly, the commander is not in any shape to do a withdrawal. That means we have to put him on "Sabaxtrone" as soon as the first symptoms occur.

Secondly…"

"What about Methadone? I am not an expert, but isn't that the first choice?"

"Yes, it usually is, but it is highly addictive as well. I mean we are here to monitor him and prevent this, but firstly "Sabaxtrone" is non-addictive and secondly commander McGarrett wasn't after the high you get from heroin. Methadone makes it possible for a person to experience that high, "Sabaxtrone" doesn't."

"Okay. Sounds plausible. What is the second problem?"

"Crystal Meth. There is currently no government-approved drug that can help a person recover from that kind of addiction."

"What does that mean?"

"That he has to do that withdrawal although his body is most likely lacking the strength for that. If our estimation is correct and he got injected yesterday morning withdrawal symptoms will occur in a day or two. We will try to ease them with conventional drugs, but we can only hope that they are going to work. There is absolutely no guarantee.

There also might occur some psychological effects like agitation and anxiety, depression, fatigue and insomnia. In this case I think you will be the cure. Show him he isn't alone. Be by his side, talk to him, touch him if he is okay with that – just reassure him."

"I will. If that is what he needs. No problem…What about LSD?"

"We have no problem with that. If it is out, it is out. There are no recorded cases of LSD withdrawal.

Our last point is the tasering. The marks are all along his spine. We can't say how many shots he had exactly received only that there are mark upon mark. That means every shot he got went to the same spots.

The people who did this did their homework. The nerves are running along the spine. Getting electric shocks in that area is not only extremely painful, but also dangerous. Getting shocked repeatedly can only lead to nerve damage. We think that this one reason for the constant tremors he is experiencing at the moment. The nerves are highly irritated and give impulses even when they are not supposed to. We can't say anything for sure just yet though. We hope that Dr. Fox can tell us more if he had done some tests."