Chapter 1

Catherine was flicking through the pics on her cell phone when she found one that makes her smile and warms her heart, although the story that had led to that picture hadn't been a reason to smile at all:

Catherine woke up around 1 am. She thought from a sound, but when she listened again there was nothing to hear.
She listened again – that's when she noticed that she didn't hear anything – not even breathing. She opened her eyes and stretched her arm out. She couldn't see anything and the other side of the bed felt cold. That was when she heard the sound again. It was the unmistakable sound of vomiting.
She got up and went into the bathroom. Steve was kneeling in front of the toilet, breathing heavily. His eyes were closed – squeezed shut to be exact – his face pale, cheeks red and he was moaning loudly when he had to retch again. His left hand was on the toilet lid, keeping his body from falling while he held his right arm protectively around his midriff when his stomach revolted again.
Nothing came out, but his stomach wasn't done yet. He had to dry-heave four more times and then, with the last one bile came up.
He sank back against the wall panting and groaning. Catherine finally dared to speak to him.
"Hey," she touched his forehead which felt a bit clammy, then she walked to the sink, wetted a washcloth and filled a toothbrush mug with water. After she had wiped his face with the cloth, she put the mug in his hand.
"Here, rinse your mouth." He did, but shortly after he had to retch again. Catherine crouched before him and put a hand in his neck, massaging it gently. It felt cold now just like the rest of his body. Standing up again she asked "How long have you been sitting here already?"
"Don't know," he said hoarsely.
Catherine fetched a woolen blanket from the bedroom and put it around the SEAL.
"I'm getting a bucket from downstairs, then I'll bring you back to bed."

It wasn't an easy task. Steve felt dizzy and the new position aggravated his headache. Halfway through the bedroom the nausea returned, but despite his shaky legs he made it without incident.
As soon as he was lying down, he turned on his side and curled in on himself. Catherine covered him with his blanket, crouched beside his bed and asked "Is there anything that hurts?"
"Head," he mumbled.
"Nothing else?"
"No."
"Okay. Try to relax and rest. I'll get the thermometer and when you feel warm again, I'll check you out."

The thermometer showed 101°F/38,5°C.
"That's not too bad," Catherine said looking at the reading.
"Let's have a look at the rest."
She lifted Steve's blanket, asked him to turn on his back and when he did, she pulled his shirt up and carefully probed the SEAL's abdominal area for any sign of rigidness or pain, but thankfully, she didn't find anything. As soon as she had pulled Steve's shirt back down, he turned on his side and curled in on himself again.
"You still nauseous?" Catherine asked sympathetically.
"Hmm," Steve groaned.
Catherine covered the SEAL back up and sat down on the edge of the bed. Gently rubbing his arm and shoulder she said "I'd like you to drink something, but I think you are not up for that yet, right?"
"Hmm," came the same response as before.
"Is there anything I can do for you?"
"No. Just wanna sleep."
"Okay." She leaned over, kissed his forehead, got up and said "tell me if you change your mind. I am going to put some water on your night stand – just in case you want some after all."
"'kay."

Catherine did as she had said and then she went to bed herself. She put a hand on Steve's back and made tiny circles. He fell asleep soon after, but he woke up again an hour later when he needed to retch again. There was still nothing in his stomach, so he just dry-heaved a few times before he sank back on his bed, trying to catch his breath. Catherine felt with him and hoped that he would feel better soon.

Unfortunately, he doesn't. He woke up every hour, because his stomach still hadn't settled. He felt warm to the touch, but another check with the thermometer showed that nothing had changed.
"How about I call Dr. Taylor in the morning? See if he can check you out."
"'Okay."
Catherine cringed and thought ' No arguing about seeing a doctor is never a good sign.'

Around 6 am Catherine got up and called Danny.
"Hey Catherine. Very early. What's up? Our Super SEAL is still out swimming and we've already caught a case?"
"No, I have to call him in sick."
Danny let out one of his famous and contagious laughs before he asked "That is so stupid. That just could have been Steve's idea. You would have known I wouldn't fall for that."
"Yet it is true."
It had been said so seriously that Danny thought for a moment before he said "Okay, I wouldn't put it past Steve to pull something like this off, but I hope you have enough sense to not take part in this, because I think it is not funny."
"No, it is not."
"Okay, Catherine, what happened?" Danny asked concerned.
She explained everything to him.
"And I've already left a message at the doctor's office, hoping that he can at least give some advice."
"Very good. Keep me in the loop. And if you need anything just call."
"Will do. Thanks Danny."

Catherine returned to bed, but couldn't go back to sleep.

At 7.00 o'clock Steve started to stir. His head was still hurting, he felt groggy and beat. He opened his eyes and when he saw the time he groaned and sat himself up slowly.
"Needing the bathroom?" Catherine asked, wanting to offer her help to get there.
"No…work."
"What?! You are not going anywhere mister!" she said in a very determined voice.
"No...Not going...Can't...need call...Danny," he said hoarsely.
"It's okay. I already did that."
"Thanks." He tried to stand up. But sat back down when dizziness hit him. He groaned again and closed his eyes. When he re-opened them, Catherine was standing in front of him.
"Come on. I'll help you."
They had made one step into the bathroom when Steve said "'m sick."
He stopped walking, put a lot of more weight on Catherine's shoulder than before and started retching. Since he hadn't ingested anything, nothing came out but bile. It dripped on the bathroom floor. He squeezed his eyes shut. This time not because of the dizziness, but because his headache spiked. Then his legs started to feel like jelly and Catherine more or less dragged him the last few steps and made him sit on the toilet lid.
They both needed a minute to recover, then Steve was able to stand up again and after Catherine had made sure that the SEAL would be able to handle himself, she left the room – not before making Steve promise to call her when he was done though.

When she came back in, he said a little embarrassed "Sorry for the mess. Didn't mean to puke on the floor."
"No problem sailor. Nothing to apologize for. You are sick. I'll clean that up in a minute. Let's get you back in bed first."

When they reached the bed, Steve was totally exhausted. He lay down, turned on his side, curled up and fell asleep. Catherine covered him with the blanket and checked his temperature. She cleaned up the little puddle of bile and was about to go downstairs to make some coffee when Dr. Taylor called. He had gotten her message and wanted to come by on his way to work in about forty minutes.
"That would be really great. Thank you."
"No problem. Has his stomach settled yet?"
"Not really." She told him about the recent event.
"Temperature?"
"It's at 102°F/39°C now, but I checked right after the walk back from the bathroom. Maybe it was just the strain."
"We'll see about that. See you soon."

When Dr. Taylor arrived, Steve was fast asleep and Catherine felt really sorry that she had to wake him up.
It took several tries until he finally reacted and he wasn't exactly happy about the interruption either.
"Wanna sleep."
"I know and I am sorry I had to wake you, but Dr. Taylor is here."
"Why?"
"He wants to check you over."
"'m tired."
"I know you are. Just give him a few minutes. Then you can go back to sleep."

Steve almost fell asleep a few times during the examination, but Dr. Taylor prevented him from really doing it. When he was done with everything though he specifically told the SEAL to rest and sleep.

"Looks like he's got a real nasty flu infection," the doctor told Catherine.
I drew some blood and took a urine sample to confirm it though. I've only given him something against the nausea and the headache so far. As soon as I know what we are dealing with, I'll let send some meds over from the pharmacy. I also have a urine bottle in my car which I will give you before I leave. It might be very difficult to get the commander to the bathroom and back the next two to three days – or elsewhere for that matter.
What I want you to do is keeping an eye on his temperature. It is still at 102°F /39°C, but I am sure it is going to rise and I need you to consult me again if it is reaching 104°F/40°C.
The second thing I need you to do is to go to a grocery store and buy "Iso-King-Orange" as an instant powder. And then I want you to make the commander drink some of it every time he wakes up. Never believed it until I tried it myself and ever since then I am recommending it every time someone has some kind of a stomach flu. This stuff doesn't come out again even if water or tea does. It is really incredible."

"Hey, how is my boy?" Danny asked when Catherine called him to give an update.
"He is sleeping , but that is the only good news so far."
She told him what the doctor had said.
"Never thought I'd live to see that a little bug would bring Steve McGarrett to his knees – never even thought he would get one."
"He barely does, but when he does, it is always bad."
Before hanging up again, she asked if Danny could buy the beverage and bring it over, because she didn't want to leave Steve alone in case, he needed the bathroom and would try to get there on his own, because he didn't know about the urine bottle yet.
"Of course I can do that. Is there anything else you need? From the store or otherwise?"
"No thanks, Danny."

It was a flu infection – a bad one, including nausea, bone and muscle pain, a high fever and shivering. Steve was sleeping a lot, but he still felt miserable, groggy and exhausted every time he woke up. Catherine couldn't imagine how this would feel without the meds. The only good thing was that the doctor had been right about the drink – it stayed in, so Steve at least got some fluids. Nonetheless his fever stayed between 103°F/ 39,5°C and 104°F/40°C the first three days. He got woken up by extreme chills and bone pain especially during the night. That let to restless nights and exhaustion for Catherine as well. When Danny came in in the late afternoon of the fourth day, he immediately picked up on that.
"Why don't you take a break and get some sleep? I'll take care of him for a while."
"That is nice Danny, but you worked all day and need some rest as well."
"Yeah, but I have tomorrow off and the appointment at the dentist is not until 9.00 am. How about you lay down and I wake you up around 2 am? Then you had about 8 hours sleep and I can get some rest afterwards as well."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Just go. I've got him."
"I know you do. You are a great friend."
She kissed his cheek and went to the guest room."

She woke up again at 5:30 am.
'Ah, Danny. I should have known you wouldn't wake me,' she thought. Danny wasn't in the living room though, so she went upstairs.
And there it was: Danny had piled up pillows and blankets against the bed rest and was leaning against it. He was also covered in a blanket and had another pillow half on his stomach half on his chest. On that pillow was Steve's head. The rest of this body was wrapped up in a blanket as well and Danny had one of his arms protectively around his friend. Both men were fast asleep, breathing deeply and evenly. It looked just so untroubled and peaceful that Catherine got her phone and took a picture.

She was still lost in her thoughts and smiling with the memories when she heard Steve's voice "Good news?"
"No. Just going through some pictures." Catherine answered.
"Looks like a good one."
"Yes, it is. One of my favorites," Catherine smiled.
"Can I see it?"
"Not sure."
"Why not? I thought it is a good one."
"It is – for me." Catherine smiled again.
"Then show me." Steve demanded playfully. "You are making me curious."
"On your own responsibility. Don't get mad at me."
"Okay." Steve nodded.
Catherine showed him.
"What...what is that?" Steve asked surprised not remembering any of that.
"You and Danny."
"I can see that, but…when?"
"Remember the last time you had the flu?"
"I'll never forget that for sure."
It had already been a few days, but you were still pretty out of it. Danny had told me to get some rest and that he would take care of you. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to wake you enough for your evening meds. As a result, you had been in a lot of pain, very restless and were also shivering during the night and it had taken too long for the meds to kick in. Danny had thought it would help you if you would feel some contact and warmth. And he had been right. He said you had calmed significantly after his "embrace" – although you still had been in obvious pain."
"And you took that picture because?"
"Because it was cute…" Catherine said smiling mischievously. When Steve shot her a look she added "and it just showed how deep your friendship is, how good you two know each other, what the other needs and how much trust there is."
"I was barely conscious," Steve tried to "defend" himself.
"Yes, but you were still longing for the brotherly love Danny provided. He is a great friend."
"He is the best."