Chapter 7

The Next Morning in the ICU…

10:00 AM

Martin is awoken by Janice, who's come to check on his vitals. He tries to give her a small smile. Quickly he glances at Danny's bed to see how he's doing. But Danny isn't there and he begins to panic. He pushes Janice aside whilst she is checking his blood pressure and heads for Danny's bed.

"What happened to him? Where's Danny?" Martin said in a fearful voice as his voice began to break with emotion. His eyes widen in fear and he yells out of fear. "You said that he was gonna be okay! Where is he!"

"Martin, calm down! You need to get back into bed so I can finish checking your vitals," Janice said in a stern but compassionate voice.

"No! You lied to me! You told me that he was gonna be okay and now he's dead!" Martin said angrily. He sits on Danny's empty bed and puts his hands over his weary face as he cries.

Janice suddenly realizes that Martin is angry and crying because he thinks that Danny is dead. She gently takes his face out of his hands; forcing him to look at her.

She gives Martin a small smile. "Hey, look at me, Martin," she said compassionately. She continued to hold Martin's face in her hands as he tried to turn his face away. "Danny is okay, Martin. He isn't dead. Remember, I told you last night that the doctor probably wanted to run more tests just to make sure that Danny didn't misplace the tube when he tried to take it out." As Martin continued to cry, she tried to reassure him. "Shhh, he's okay, Martin. He was taken down for a CT Scan a little while ago to make sure that everything's okay. He should be back any minute."

Martin shakes his head as tears run freely down his face. "You're lying. I don't believe you. He's dead and you just don't wanna tell me. I'm not a child so stop lying to me," he cried.

Janice sighed, but still held Martin's face in her hands, as he struggled against her. "Listen to me. I'm not lying to you. I would never keep anything like that from you. All right?" she said sternly.

Martin looked at her with a lost yet hopeful look in his eyes. "He's…He's really okay?" he said in a small voice as he shook his head. "He's…really not dead?"

Janice smiled at Martin. "Yes, he's okay. Like I said, he should be back here any minute now from the scan." Martin hugged her as he sighed and cried with relief. She smiled at Martin. "You really care about him don't you?"

Martin smiled at her as tears run freely down his face. "Yeah, he's my partner. He's always watched by back just like I watch his," he sighed. "He's more than a partner, though. He's my best friend. I'm sorry that I yelled at you. When…when I saw that empty bed…I…I thought that Danny…" Martin said as he trailed off.

Janice wiped away at the tears that fell down his weary face. "It's okay, I understand. But you need to calm down because if Dr. Cassidy sees you like this he's gonna have you transferred out of here. I know that you want to stay with Danny, right?" she asked. She watched as Martin nod his head. "So can you stay calm from now on?"

Suddenly the door opens and Danny is wheeled into the room on a gurney. The orderly that brings him carefully put him back on his bed.

"Hey, Danny. Heard you went for a ride. Did you meet any hot nurses along the way?" Martin said as he failed to sound confident. He smiled at Danny; hoping that Danny hadn't noticed the tears that stain his pale face.

Danny saw right through Martin's act. He knew Martin too well and knew when something was wrong. He knew that if everything was okay Martin's face wouldn't be stained with tears.

Danny looked at Martin fearfully; his eyes showing every bit of the emotion that he felt. "Martin? What's wrong with you? Why are you crying? Please, answer me!" Danny said silently. He moved his hand weakly as he tried to reach for Martin.

Martin snagged Danny's hand. "Hey, what's wrong? You need anything?" Martin said in a shaky voice.

Danny weakly touched his face then pointed a wavering hand to Martin's; as he tried to ask him why he was crying.

Martin realized what Danny was trying to ask him. "It's nothing; everything's okay," he said, trying to sound confident.

Danny let go of Martin's hand and made two weak fists. "Damn it, Martin, stop lying to me!" he silently said. He weakly punched the bed and gave Martin an irate look. "Why the hell are you crying?"

"Okay, I'll tell you," Martin sighed. As he started to tell Danny why he had been crying – not wanting Danny to hurt himself or panic. "Janice came to check up on me and when I didn't see you in your bed…I…I thought that you had…" Martin put his head down and looked to the floor, as the tears he can't hold anymore escape and run freely down his face.

As fast as it came, the anger that Danny felt quickly vanished. "Oh, Martin, you thought I died didn't you?" he said silently with emotional eyes. He grabbed Martin's hand and weakly tugged it until Martin looked at him. "I'm not going anywhere, Martin. We're partners and best friends. We stick together no matter what."

"Together 'til the end?" Martin said with a smile. He watched Danny wink and nod. He carefully tightened his grip on Danny's hand.

Both men head's shot up, when they heard a knock at the door.

"Good morning, how are our patients today?" Doctor Cassidy said with a warm smile.

"They're doing well, Doctor," Janice said.

Dr. Cassidy walked up to Danny's bed. "Good morning, Agent Taylor. You're a very lucky young man. I just got back all of your tests and they have all come back normal," he said.

"What does that mean, doctor?" Martin said nervously.

"That means that he hasn't suffered any permanent injury. His blood tests also show that he can now breathe on his own," Doctor Cassidy informed with a smile. He turned to look at Danny. Danny looked at him expectantly. "Yes, Agent Taylor, that means that I'm going to take out the breathing tube. Nurse, prepare for the procedure."

He turned to Martin and added. "I'm sorry, Martin but you'll have to be removed from the room momentarily while I extubate him."

"No way! I'm not gonna leave him to go through that alone," Martin said in a determined voice.

Danny began to panic as Dr. Cassidy told Martin that he had to leave the room. He grabbed Doctor Cassidy's hand and begun to shake his head. He frantically struggled to reach Martin; silently pleading for him to stay.

Dr. Cassidy is annoyed and baffled by the bond that his patients share. He didn't want Danny to break down and panic again so he relented and allowed Martin to stay by Danny's side. But he warned Martin that he'd be removed if he interfered anytime during the procedure.

As Doctor Cassidy explained the extubation procedure Danny's eyes widened in fear and he squeezed Martin's hand.

Martin squeezed it back and reassured Danny that he was gonna be okay.

"Okay, here we go, Agent Taylor." Doctor Cassidy said gently. He slowly removed the tape that held the tube. "That's the easy part," he paused briefly. "Okay, when I tell you, I want you to inhale as much air as you can and hold it. Then when I tell you, you exhale. Do you understand?"

Afraid, Danny nodded slowly as Martin reassuringly squeezed his hand.

"Okay. Inhale…and hold it. Okay, now when I tell you to exhale you let it out—Exhale," Doctor Cassidy said gently. Danny exhaled and Dr. Cassidy removed the horrid breathing tube; causing Danny to cough violently as he tried to catch his breath. "Just try to relax, son, it's almost over."

"Almost! I thought that was it. I thought that once you took out the tube it was over," Martin exclaimed, as he glared at Doctor Cassidy.

"No," Dr. Cassidy said, shaking his head. "That was to remove the tube. Now, we have to clear out all the mucus that's trapped in his throat so he can breathe better. The nurse is going to suction him now; but if you want to stay I've got to warn you that it's not going to be easy watch. Are you certain that you want to stay here for that?"

"I'm sure, Doctor. I didn't leave him before and I'm not going to now. I know he'd do the same for me," Martin sighed deeply.

"Very well son," Doctor Cassidy said as he gently squeezed Martin's shoulder. He turned to Danny. "Agent Taylor, the nurse is going to suction you now, okay?"

"Okay, Danny, I'm gonna start. Now, you may feel like gagging and coughing and that's okay but I need you to stay calm, okay," Janice said soothingly. Danny's eyes widened in fear as he nodded and Janice slowly helped him sit upright as she put him on a nasal cannula.

As gently as possible, Janice introduced a suctioning tube into Danny's mouth and into his trachea and began to suction out all of the mucus. As she did this, Danny began to gag, cough and shake violently; causing him to panic as he felt that he couldn't breathe. Tears fall freely down Danny's face. Unable to take anymore pain, he starts to struggle and tries to take away the horrible device from Janice.

Doctor Cassidy and Martin quickly rush to Danny's side to prevent him from hurting himself or Janice. Doctor Cassidy is prepared to sedate Danny but Martin pleads with him not to. Doctor Cassidy, instead, decides to put soft restraints on Danny to restrain him to the bed. Martin held Danny's hand in a tight brotherhood grip with one hand as he continually and gently raked his other hand through Danny's hair as tried to calm him down; Danny, however, just continued to cry helplessly.

After what seemed liked forever, Janice finally finished suctioning Danny; leaving him feeling completely breathless and emotionally drained.

"Shhh, it's over sweetheart. I know it's horrible but it's over now. You won't have to go through that again," Janice said soothingly, as she tried to comfort a still distraught Danny by brushing a hand over his sweaty face. She put an oxygen mask over Danny's nose and mouth then injected a medication into his IV.

"Are you okay? I know that was a hard thing to watch," Janice said to Martin, but Martin is too distraught to answer so he just nods. "Listen, this medication is gonna help him sleep. Also, his throat is gonna be soar for a day or two. He cannot have any water right now—he can only have one or two spoonfuls of ice chips; so give him that if he gets thirsty. Most importantly, don't let him speak." She watches Martin about to break down as his eyes water and lips quiver uncontrollably. She holds his face in her hands. "Hey it's okay, Martin, look at me. Yeah, that was scary as hell, but he's going to be okay; he's going to make it."

"Mar….tin?" Danny said in a raspy, breathless voice, as he tried to force himself to talk.

"Hey, shhh. Don't try to talk. Just get some sleep, Danny. It's over, brother. It's over," Martin said as his voice began to crack.

The drugs that Janice administered began to take effect as Danny fell asleep; unable to keep his heavy eyes open any longer. Martin smiled with content as he saw Danny finally fall asleep. But he didn't leave Danny's side to go to his bed. Instead, he took a strong hold of Danny's hand in a brotherhood grip and laid his head on Danny's bed – falling asleep.

Four Hours Later In the ICU…

"Doctor Cassidy says that you have fifteen minutes with them," Janice said as she pushed Viv's wheelchair in between Danny and Martin's beds.

"Thank you so much," Viv said with a smile.

"If you need anything just ring the call button," Janice said as she left the room.

Martin is still asleep at Danny's side when he hears, what he thinks, sounded like two women talking in the room. He begins to stir and slowly opens his eyes. He looks around the room and is shocked when he sees Viv sitting in a wheelchair across from him.

"Viv! Oh, thank God, you're okay," Martin exclaimed as he gently hugged her.

"How are you feeling? Are you okay? I just found out what happened to you and Danny," Viv said as her voice broke, but she still tried to sound confident.

"I'm…" Martin started as his voice began to crack.

Viv cut him off abruptly. "Don't give me that 'I'm fine' bull, Martin! You almost died. Just let it out, Martin. You can't keep it locked up, Martin. You know that it'll eat you alive if you do," she said in a stern but compassionate voice.

Martin couldn't lie to Viv; she knew him too well. He held his head in his hands as he felt a volcano of emotions erupting. He fell to his knees as he started to cry uncontrollably, as he released all of the pain, fear and anger from the past forty-eight hours.

"That's right, sweetie. Let it out. Let it all out," Viv said, as she gently gathered Martin into a protective motherly embrace. She tried to hide the tears that began to fall down her face, but failed. She gently kissed Martin's head; causing him to cry harder.

"We almost died, Viv! It was horrible. The things Dornvald did to me and Danny. Danny almost died in my arms, Viv!" Martin cried.

Viv held Martin tightly as he continued to cry. It takes a few minutes before Martin is able to take control of his emotions again.

"I'm sorry, Viv, here I am being selfish again. I'm talking about me and I haven't even asked you how you're feeling. You just had surgery for God's sake," Martin sniffed.

"Now, stop that. You don't have a selfish bone in your body. As far as me, I'm feeling okay. I'm a little tired but the doctor says that he repaired the damage and that I'll make a full recovery. So stop making a big deal about my health. I'm more concerned about you and Danny right now," Viv said in a stern but motherly way.

"I'm okay," Martin said in a shaky voice. He looked down as Viv gave him a stern look. "Alright, I'm far from it, but I don't care about me right now. Danny's the one that needs all the support; not me." He got up from the floor and sat on his bed.

"Viv, he blames himself for everything that happened to us—the ambush, the torture, everything," Martin said as his voice started to break again. He looked away again. "When we were trapped in that warehouse he told me…that he deserved everything bad that happened to him."

"He was probably delirious, sweetie. He didn't deserve it and neither did you. But don't you think about that right now," Viv said as she sighed and slowly shook her head. She continued in a slightly bitter tone. "Dornvald's going to pay for what he did to the both of you. You hear me?"

Viv and Martin stay silent for a moment but that silent is cut short by Danny. Danny trapped in another terrifying nightmare – he begins to stir and silently cry. He is drenched in sweat. Suddenly, Danny sits up in bed as he screams and gasps for air.

"Nooo! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Martin!" Danny screamed as he pulled off the oxygen mask, still completely unaware of his surroundings. "I didn't want you to die!"

Martin rushed over to Danny's side as Viv gasped in horror. "Danny!" Martin exclaimed as he grabbed Danny's shoulders and tried to get him to lie down. "Danny, please calm down! You're okay!" he said with panic evident in his voice.

Martin knew that if he didn't get Danny to calm down Danny was going to hurt himself. So reluctantly he restrained Danny with the restraints on the bed. He quickly proceeded to put the oxygen mask back on Danny's face.

Tears run freely down Martin's face. "Damn it, Danny, look at me!" he said. He grabbed Danny's face and forced him to look at him; lost brown eyes lock on to blue ones. Danny recognized Martin and slowly began to calm down. "That's right, bro. Just breathe. Danny, I'm okay. I'm not dead. I'm right here with you and so is Viv."

"I'm sorry, Martin." Danny cried.

"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. You haven't done anything wrong, Danny," Martin said in an emotional voice. He tried to help Danny relax a little more, so he mentioned Viv again. "Hey, look, Viv's here too."

"Viv? You're…you're okay!" Danny said in a hoarse voice as he continued to cry.

Viv tried to get up from the wheelchair but Martin didn't let her. Instead, he moved the wheelchair next to Danny's bed where Viv could reach him.

Viv has tears streaming down her face, as she is shocked by Danny's reaction. She gets up from the wheelchair despite Martin's protests. "Oh, Danny!" she said soothingly as she slowly and carefully kissed him and held his face in her hands; causing Danny to cry out even more. "My sweet Danny-boy. You're safe now. Nobody's ever gonna hurt you again. Shhh, its okay sweetie." He continued to cry for several minutes and Viv refused to relinquish her hold on Danny; holding him like a mother protecting her child.

"What are you…doing here? You just had surgery; you're supposed to be resting," Danny sniffed.

"I told Doctors Britton and Cassidy that I wasn't going to rest until I saw you two. I also told them that I would sneak out and see you boys anyway with or without their authorization. They finally gave up trying to make me rest and said that I could see you two but only for fifteen minutes," Viv said with a shy smile.

Danny looked away from Viv and Martin. "You should go back to your room and rest, Viv. Besides, Martin's the one you need to worry about not me," he said in a lost voice. He paused as tears escaped his eyes once again. "I deserve what happened to me; not Martin."

"You didn't deserve a damn thing, Danny. You didn't deserve to get tortured to the point of death. You've never hurt anyone in your life. All you've ever known is hurt and pain and that is something that no one should ever have to go through. You're gonna get through this, sweetie," Viv said, as she wiped the tears from Danny face. Tears fall down her face but she tries to remain strong. "And all of us are gonna be there with you to give you the help, love and support that you need and deserve." She took his face in her hands and gently made him face her; then she gently kissed his forehead.

The door to the room opened and Janice entered. She looked at Viv standing and saw that Danny was once again restrained to the bed. "What is going on here? You're supposed to be in that chair," she said to Viv, she turned to Martin and added. "And what is Danny doing restrained to the bed again?"

"I restrained him again," Martin sighed as he raked a hand through his disheveled hair. Janice gave him a questioning look, so he added. "He woke up screaming and gasping for air. In the confusion he took off the oxygen mask. He wouldn't calm down and I was scared that he was…gonna hurt himself so, I put the restraints back on."

"What made him get so upset? Was it something you said?" Janice said gently.

"I told you that he woke up like that. He's been having nightmares since he came out of it. It's not the first time that's happened," Martin said with a frustrated sigh.

"Well, visiting is over. I'm sorry but times up. You need to go get some rest yourself," Janice said slightly sternly to Viv. She turned to Danny. "Danny? Sweetheart, look at me," she said gently. When he refused to look at her, she turned his face to hers. "I'm gonna go take your friend Vivian back to her room but when I come back, I'm gonna give you something that's going to help you sleep, okay?"

"No! Please, I don't wanna go to sleep! Please, I'll stay calm but don't give me any drugs," Danny exclaimed as he shook his head.

"Shhh, I'll be back," Janice said soothingly. She gently ran a hand through his hair. "Just try to relax, okay?" Danny just nodded as tears soaked his face. She turned to Martin. "Nice work, handling things the way that you did. I know that it wasn't easy for you to restrain him but you did the right thing." She looked at Danny then back at Martin. "You better leave the restraints on for his own safety; even if he asks you to take them off, don't. I'll be right back," she whispered.

"I'll be back to see both of you soon," Viv said to Danny and Martin. Martin hugs her and Janice takes her out of the ICU and back to her room.

"Martin? I…need…some water," Danny said softly.

"I'm sorry, buddy, but you can't have water yet. You can have ice though. Do you want some of that?" Martin said sadly. Danny nodded and Martin grabbed a spoon and gave him two spoonfuls of ice chips. After Danny's finished eating them Martin turns to him and sits on the bed; next to Danny. "Are you ready to tell me what's going on?"

"What are you talking about?" Danny said, pretending to be confused. Martin gave him a warning glance. "It's…it's nothing."

"It's not nothing, Danny. You were saying that I was dead; that you didn't want me to die," Martin said gently. He held Danny's hand. "Please, Danny, just talk to me."

Tears fell down Danny's face; he couldn't hide it anymore. "Fine, I'll tell you," he said as he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. "In the nightmare, I…I see Dornvald…cutting your throat with a knife. His goons throw me to the ground next to you. I start screaming and crying for you not die…"

"Keep going, Danny. You have to let it out. Don't let this destroy you, bro. Please," Martin said gently.

Danny nodded slowly before he continued. "You suddenly open…" he paused and swallowed hard, "…open your eyes and you tell me that…" More tears escape, but he forces himself to continue. "…that you're dead because of me…" he started to cry uncontrollably, "…that I killed you because I let you die." Danny continued to cry. "It is my fault. It is my fault that we got ambushed. None of this would've happened if it weren't for me."

Martin blinks back the tears that are streaming down his face; he is completely shocked by Danny's words. He unrestraints Danny and carefully holds him in a protective embrace. "Oh my God, Danny! Why didn't you tell me any of this before? None of this is your fault, Danny. I don't blame you for what happened to us! Is that what you thought?" he said in between tears.

"I thought you blamed me for all of this. Fitzy, if I hadn't of…" Danny started but Martin cut him off abruptly.

"Look at me! I'm gonna keep telling you this until it gets through your thick head. Dornvald is the only one to blame for everything; not you and not me. So stop blaming yourself! Do you understand me?" Martin said sternly, as he took Danny's face in his hands. He cut Danny off again as he started to apologize. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Danny carefully embraced Martin also and cried away all of the anger, pain, fear and guilt he's felt ever since their ordeal began.

And that is how Janice found the two young men; embracing each other like brothers and with tears streaming down their faces. She was gonna interrupt them to give Danny an injection of medication that would help him sleep but decided against it. The best medicine that Danny needed right now was the love and support of his partner and best friend. She quietly left the room - never letting her presence be known.

After a little while both Danny and Martin finally stopped crying and broke the embrace.

"Friends until the end?" Martin sniffed. He offered his hand to Danny.

"Friends until the end." Danny repeated. He took the hand that was offered, in a brotherhood grip.

"I guess we better go to sleep now. But I better put these back on," Martin said as he slowly got up from the bed. He got one of the restraints and was about to restrain Danny again.

"No, please don't put them back on! I won't lose it again, I promise! Please?" Danny said as he pulled his hand away and shook his head.

"I'm sorry but Janice told me to leave them on even if you asked to take them off," Martin sighed sadly. "We just don't want you to hurt yourself, Danny."

Danny stopped resisting as Martin put on one of the restraints. However, when Martin was about to put the second restraint on, Danny gave him a look that caused Martin's heart to shred. Danny looked at Martin with those sad puppy dog eyes and started to tear up again, causing Martin to give in.

"Alright! I'll leave them off," Martin sighed. He freed Danny from the restraint. "But only for now because if you lose control and scare the hell out of me again, I'll call for Janice or whoever's on call to restrain you again and let them give you that tranquilizer."

"I promise. I won't freak out anymore," Danny said with a small smile as he shook his head.

"Now got to bed," Martin said in a mock stern voice. Danny groaned in pain as he tried to lie down. "Easy, just do it slowly." Once Danny was lying down, Martin pulled the covers up to his chest. He slowly ruffled Danny's hair and kissed him on the head – the way he had seen Danny do to his brother after he had gone missing. "Good night, Danny. And remember; if you need anything at all just let me know."

"Thanks for everything, Fitzy. Good night," Danny yawned, as he found a small smile. He closed his eyes and allowed his body to give in to the battle.

Satisfied that Danny really was asleep, Martin went back to his bed and did the same. Both men slept through the night and neither man was plagued by nightmares of the others' death.

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Well, this is it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Please R and R if I should continue with the story. I do thank all of you who have reviewed this fic. The reviews really help; especially considering that this fic was only going to be three chapters long. Anyway, as always, a huge thanks to fans1024 for all of her help.