They didn't realise their client's husband had been trying to kill her until they were poking around the house, with her permission, and stumbled upon the toxins he was using. It was in a My First Chemistry Kit, which, given the couple's childless state, had captured Higgins' attention. After seeing what was inside the box, Higgins had yelled to Magnum and the pair had waited on the sidewalk for HPD.

The resulting fuss had seen the house tented while people in full hazmat suits had gone in and out. The two P.I.s had been given a thorough checkup, had various bodily fluids collected, and were given strict instructions to call one of the three numbers they were given if they noticed any of the signs or symptoms they were warned to look out for.

After a full two weeks had passed, even the local media had started to move on, and people had already started to forget. One of the miracles of the human mind is its ability to compartmentalise and ignore things that don't directly affect it, especially when it stops being reminded of them every time the news comes on.

To be fair, the very official looking doctor had said, in a very definite tone of voice, that, if there were no symptoms within seventy two hours, then there was no problem. He had also said, while looking approvingly at the notes Higgins was making, that the symptoms would be sudden and severe, and would start with tremors and blurred vision.

So, when Higgins noticed she had a bit of a headache, she just made a mental note to drink more water. And when the ache spread down to her throat she just added some lemon to the water bottle. It wasn't until she felt pressure building in her chest that she realised there was something more than a spot of dehydration going on. And even then, she just thought she had a cold coming on.

By the time her vision blurred and her hands started shaking, she was barely conscious. She passed out with her cell gripped tightly in her hand.

...

Magnum had been out for over a day, trying to figure out what on earth was going on with his latest client's daughter. He hadn't really noticed that he hadn't heard from Higgins, assuming she was working on the financial information they needed to hopefully wrap up one of their open jobs.

When his cell rang and he saw Rick's name on the screen, he wondered if he was about to be invited to an impromptu poker night. Instead, he found himself racing back to the Ferrari, fear gripping him.

"It's Jules," Rick had said, and the faint beeping in the background had answered any questions Magnum might have had. "You need to hurry."

He couldn't bring himself to wait patiently for the elevator, instead charging through the door to the stairs. His feet slipped on the absurdly shiny floor, but he caught himself and flew up the stairs, stretching his legs to take them three at a time.

The room was dark, the curtains drawn tightly against the sunlight, but he could see well enough to freeze at the sight that met him. Rick and T.C. were slumped on either side of the bed, barely reacting to his entrance, and Higgins… Magnum's mind staggered away from what it was seeing, and he nearly stumbled as he moved across the room.

She shifted slightly as he put a hand on her cheek, turning her head and trying to force a smile. It looked more like a grimace. Her eyes were bloodshot, and the shadows beneath them were so dark they seemed to highlight how pale her face was.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, her eyes fluttering as she fought for the energy to stay awake. Talking seemed to hurt but she kept trying. "I thought… just a headache…" Her tongue ran over her cracked lips, and Magnum reached blindly for the cup T.C. held out to him with a whispered, "Here, take this," not willing to look away from her even for a moment.

He carefully tipped the cup to her lips, but she barely took a sip before being wracked with a coughing fit that left her gasping for breath. Her hand shifted on the blanket as her eyes slipped closed, and he covered it with his own, gently intertwining their fingers.

"Keep fighting, girl," he whispered, hearing the plea in his voice. "Please don't leave us." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rick wiping his face with a furious swipe, knocking tears off his cheek, and that scared him more than anything else.

Higgins' breath left her in a rush, and she lay so still that, for just a moment, the entire world seemed to freeze. Magnum felt tears building in his eyes, and his heart thumped against his ribs in a painful leap. And then he saw the slight flicker of movement behind her eyelids, felt the flutter of her pulse beneath his fingers, and a tear escaped at the relief that crashed down over him.

"We need to keep her hydrated," her doctor said, not bothered by the way he seemed to be ignored, the fact that all three men's eyes were still fixed on the unconscious woman in front of them. "She can still pull through."

Magnum nodded, and looked up long enough to meet the doctor's eyes. "We'll help, if we can. Whatever we can do."

He put every ounce of determination he had into his voice and didn't need to see his brothers to know they were nodding. They knew Higgins would never quit on them, and they had no intention of letting her down when she needed them.

Katsumoto came in as Magnum finished talking.

"How is she?" The lack of reaction from her seemed to answer his question, and he took a deep breath before turning to the doctor who was scribbling on his tablet. "Dr. Howard?"

"I'm ordering an IV. It seems that she hasn't had much to drink these last few days. And we need to find a way of controlling this fever. She can't swallow tablets but…" He trailed off, tapping furiously, then looked back up at Katsumoto.

"I understand this may be the result of a toxin of some kind? I'm waiting for more information but…"

Katsumoto interrupted him. "I can make a few calls," he offered. "I was the lead on the case."

"I'll come too," Rick offered, jumping to his feet. "There's a few people I can call for info." He seemed to be trying to avoid looking at the bed and, as the others watched, swallowed hard as if fighting down a near-overwhelming emotion. Magnum couldn't help but wonder if his brother was seeing Ice-Pick in his mind and gave Rick a knowing look full of sympathy.

Rick looked away, leaning over to put his mouth close to Higgins' ear. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he whispered, knowing Magnum and T.C. would both hear the catch in his voice and not caring. "Don't go anywhere." He wanted to stay by her side but he just couldn't. The fear that she would… that he would come back to find she had… But he couldn't do anything sitting in a dark room and waiting other than drive himself crazy, wondering if the doctors were making the right choices and hoping the medications would work.

In the end though, that was what it came down to; waiting and hoping. All night the hospital staff did what they could, following the advice given to the letter. The vials of acetaminophen were loaded into syringes and administered every four hours like clockwork. A nurse checked Higgins' temperature an hour after each injection. They kept changing out the IV bags. Kept mixing the chemicals, at least one of which had come from Rick's contacts.

Her boys kept talking to her, holding her hands, watching the clock and trying to kid themselves into believing that they were helping. But, as the night wore on and the sun started to rise, they couldn't ignore the fact that her temperature was still rising.

Dr. Howard confirmed the bad news at six o'clock in the morning after checking all the records from the night.

"If it keeps on like this, there's no way she won't suffer at least one seizure." His face was grave, telling everyone how serious that would be

"Is there anything we can give her to ward off a seizure? Stop it before it starts? She might not…" Magnum stopped talking, clearing his throat, but the look on his face said it all. 'She might not survive a seizure. She might not survive anyway.'

They were all thinking it, but none of them wanted to be the first to admit it. They all had the oddly superstitious feeling that, as long as the words remained unspoken, they wouldn't come true.

"We're hoping diazepam might help. I've ordered a dose. In fact," and he checked his watch, "it should have been here by now. I'll go chase that up."

Magnum didn't even react to Dr. Howard's leaving. He had been holding one of Higgins' hands in both of his for hours, moving only when it was time for her next injection. He looked like a man who was drowning, face desperate and body tense. Every so often he would whisper something to her. T.C. had moved in close just the once, heard his friend pleading "just please hold on" with so much pain in his voice, and never tried to catch what was being said again.

The new drugs were added to the cocktail already being administered, more needles, more IV bags. Another machine was brought in and stood at the head of the bed, beeping to itself every few minutes. And, through it all, Higgins' eyes stayed shut.

As the moon sunk and morning started to dawn, the sun rose to a somber scene; the bedroom had been silent since the latest IV had been started. Rick and T.C. were on one side of the bed and Magnum was on the other, where he had been all night.

He was still holding one of her hands but, suddenly, took in a deep breath. His friends looked at him in confusion as he set his jaw, looking like he was getting ready for a fight. He moved closer to Higgins, leaning over so his mouth was close to her ear.

"I'm sorry I was so selfish," he muttered, clearly not caring if his friends heard or not. "I shouldn't have asked you to hang on, not when it's so hard for you." If he noticed the tear that trickled down his cheek, he didn't react. "It's okay now, Juliet. It's okay to let go." He shifted slightly, stretching his neck, and pressed his lips against her forehead. He lifted his head again and stared down. He could just about see the stricken looks on his friend's faces, but he didn't care about that.

"I think she's sweating." It took a second for the words to get any sort of reaction, then Rick's eyes widened and he pushed past T.C. to put a hand on Higgins' forehead.

"What does that mean?" T.C. looked from Higgins' still figure to his friends, one of whom was stabbing the call button while the other was racing across to the door to yell for help.

"It means her body is fighting the toxin," Magnum told him, not daring to look away from Higgins. "It means she's fighting as hard as she can and she's gonna need help."

Dr. Howard came running in, responding to Rick's frantic shouts and quickly agreed with Magnum's assessment. He started issuing orders, hydration and nutrition and a few chemicals Magnum didn't recognise, but that was okay. He didn't need to know what was going to help, or when Higgins was going to wake up. Just knowing that he hadn't lost her was good enough.