Chapter 35

Chin had just arrived at the hospital with the kids. The journey was almost silent, Chin had tried to engage each of the children in a conversation but none of them really wanted to talk.

Jay spent most of the time looking out the window, he didn't want to say anything because he knew if he did he would break down. He had done this journey twice before, one for his Nan and one for his dad. Both times people sat in the car telling them that everything was okay, the doctors said they expected the best and both times they had been wrong. He was not superstitious but the only thing he did believe in was things happened in threes. And this would be the final death in the role of three. He knew that he was strong for Chelsea and that he needed to be, because she would completely break down if Catherine didn't make it, and he would need to look after her. Her seeing him break down while his mom was still hanging on would cause her to break down and shut herself off.

Chelsea sat in the back not looking at anyone, she was staring at a picture of a young her and Jay many years ago with Catherine and their dad when things had gone well between their parents. She wanted to go back to being that young, and somehow wanted to change the way that her life worked out. Her mom would still be in the Navy but based at Pearl, their dad had never died. Chelsea blamed her dad for so much in her life. If he had never started drinking or doing drugs he would still be around, their mom would not be with Steve and then she wouldn't have gone missing. She didn't know the full story, but of things she had heard around the house she blamed Steve for some of it.

"Chin, Chelsea, Jay and Evie." Joe said to the Army personal on the gate as they all walked through. They were all given visitor passes and were introduced to 2 Privates who were going to be looking after them.

"Before we go anywhere, there is just a couple of things you need to know. You need to stick with these men, and go in no unauthorised areas. You will be shown to the relative room, until your mom is ready for visitors." Joe explained.

The Privates lead the way to the room where Steve was waiting. Steve was sat on a table waiting for them to come in. When Evie walked through the door, she ran into Steve's arms, she had missed her dad. She knew that Catherine was still badly hurt, but she had missed her dad and him being safe had made her feel so much better.

"Steve can I have word?" Joe said, nodding his head towards the door.

"I will be back in a minute." Steve said prying Evie's hands off of his waist.

When they were outside Steve was surprised to see Sam standing there.

"The rest of the team wanted to say goodbye, but they had to go back to their units. I need to go back tonight, but I thought I would come and make sure you're alright and say hello to Evie, and meet Jay and Chelsea." Sam explained.

"Thank you, for everything you've done. I wouldn't have been able to get her back without you." Steve said. He was truly grateful for everything Sam had done, this mission would not have been possible without Sam, and if it wasn't Sam leading the team he knew he would not have been allowed to be part of it.

"You would do the same for me. Now are all of the kids in there?" Sam asked.

"Evie, you remember Sam?" Steve said as they walked back in. "And Sam this is Jay and this is Chelsea." Steve said pointing to both Jay and Chelsea.

Evie gave Sam a hug, like she had when she was a little girl and he had come home with her dad for a couple of days. Sam then stepped over and shook Jay's hand and gave Chelsea a quick hug.

"I have known your mom for a very long time and I know that she is strong and that she will pull through this." Sam said, he wasn't really sure what he was meant to say to them, he didn't know how they were coping but knew he had to say something.

Jay was about to say something when a doctor walked in. Steve was trying to study his face to see if the news was good or bad. He was having a hard time trying to read it. When it was a normal hospital he could read a doctors face, but this doctor was a Captain in the Army and he had years of experience at not showing any emotion.

"Family of Lieutenant Rollins. I am Captain Lewis, I will be looking after Catherine while she is admitted to the hospital."

"How is she?" Steve asked.

"She is doing better than expected. She had lost a lot of blood, we needed to conduct a blood transfusion, she has suffered a broken forearm, and has some extensive damage to her stomach. Because of that she is being taken to surgery as we speak to deal with some internal bleeding." The doctor explained. He looked round the room a noted the kids in the room and decided the rest of the information he needed to tell Steve, he would have to do outside. "Can I have a word with you outside please." He said, directing it towards Steve.

Steve moved across the room, followed by Sam, and went outside.

"She has suffered a lot of damaged, her chances are very slim, we're looking at 80:20 against her. Even if she makes a recovery, she suffered a cardiac arrest when she first got here, which stopped a supply of oxygen to her brain for about 2 minutes, this can lead to brain damage. We are not sure if she will have suffered any, but the chances that some damage has been done are quite high." Captain Lewis said. "The surgery will give us more indication to the chances of survival, this surgery will tell us if we are hopeful for a full recovery if we can stop the bleeding. The next 24 hours are critical. If you have any questions about this, I will have to answer them after I have come out of surgery, I am sorry for being short but I need to get Catherine into surgery."

"Thanks doctor." Sam said, as the main turned and walked away.

"What do I say to them? Your mom is doing better than expected but it still isn't good enough, that the chances of her recovery is not in her favour." Steve asked, after this news he didn't know what to say to Jay and Chelsea. They would only have each other left if Catherine didn't make it.

"You don't say anything, wait here I will be back in a minute." Sam said as he walked back into the relatives room.

"We have just spoke to the doctor who has said that your mom is fighting, and that we will find out more when she comes back from surgery which will be in a couple of hours. Me and Steve will be back in about half an hour we just need to go and do a debrief from the mission." Sam informed them. Joe looked at Sam, not quiet understanding what was going, they had already done the debrief.

"Okay, I just need to go back to the gate, Danny, Kono and Malia are coming." Joe said.

Once Sam and Joe had left the room, Chin was sat in silence, no one of was talking, he could see the fear on both Jay and Chelsea's face. He didn't know what to say to them, he knew the generic statements he used to say when he was HPD, but they didn't seem to be enough for Ohana. They would not work. He was never a man of many words, but he normally had words of wisdom, at times like this but he couldn't think of any. He was scared for the kids and Steve. He was not sure Steve would cope if he lost Catherine. The best two things in his life were Evie and Catherine, and losing her, he didn't think Steve would be able to cope.

Meanwhile...

Steve and Sam had walked outside to the healing garden. Sam had decided to stop there because Steve needed some time, he always held it together when he needed to, but he needed to let out some emotion, before he went back to showing no emotion when he went back into the family room.

"I can't lose her. For the first time in a long time I have a family, I have the women I want to marry." Steve said. Sam looked over at Steve, did he really just say 'marry'? Steve had always been the one, who never committed to a relationship, was always adamant he would never marry, but he knew that Catherine was the one. "For the first time in my life, I don't mind going home, I don't mind going home because I have a family to go home to. I have Evie, and Catherine, and then there is Jay and Chelsea, they are not my kids and I have only know them for a little while, but they are family now. If Catherine doesn't make it, what I am going to go do? The kids have no one else..."

"You get up and you move on, yes it will be hard, Jay and Chelsea will lose everyone, you look after them, you talk to the governor about adopting the kids and you support them in any way you can. I know this hard for you but you need to let out any emotion now, and go back in there and be strong. Now let's get up and go to the gym." Sam said. He knew that Steve was upset, but he also knew that Steve had been trained to cope, and the kids hadn't. He had suggested the gym because Sam needed to know that Steve had let all of the emotion out, before he could go back to LA. He hated having to go back. Steve, Sam and Freddie had all served together and they had a strong sense of brotherhood, and this was the time when both him and Freddie should help get Steve through, but it was their jobs that kept them from doing this. Although he knew Danny and Steve shared the same connection, and because of this had spent about an hour talking to him, about Steve and things that they could do to help him relax, to help stay focused on what really mattered, the kids.

Meanwhile...

Danny, Kono and Malia had arrived at the hospital, they had been shown straight to the family room, where Chin informed them of the condition. Danny noticed Steve's absence, and wondered where he would have go. He started to worry about Steve going off, but was reassured when Chin informed him that he had gone off with Sam.

They sat there in silence for long time. Evie had fell asleep with her head resting against Kono's shoulder. Jay and Chelsea were both close to falling asleep with neither of them having slept properly in the last couple of days.

After about half an hour, Steve came back with Sam, who said his goodbyes and headed to get his things before going home...

Steve thanked Danny, Chin, Malia and Kono for coming, before telling them they could go home, due to the fact that they could he here for hours still, and them all waiting around would not be worth it. They all were reluctant to go, but decided they would listen, to give them all some space, because there was nothing they could do.

"If there is any news, or you need anything, food, someone to take the kids, change of clothes..." Danny started.

"Thanks Danno but I think we are good." Steve said. All they needed was to find out how Cath was, apart from that, they didn't anything then.

It had been about 3 hours, since they were told that Catherine was going into surgery. It was getting late, and they had been brought food, but they all only picked at the dinner. Evie and Jay had both fell asleep about half an hour ago. Evie was curled up next to her dad, sleeping with her head on his shoulder. Jay had fell asleep sitting up in the chair. Chelsea had tried to sleep but it wouldn't come. She couldn't relax, she needed to apologise to her mom, she needed to tell her mom that she was not mad at her, that it was her job and that as long as she came back it didn't matter if she had to go away again.

Captain Lewis walked into the room causing both Evie and Jay to jolt awake. As soon as Evie had moved her head Steve had stood up in front of the Captain, closely followed by the kids.

"How is she doing?" Steve asked.

"Overall, the surgery went well. Her chances have improved. However, after the surgery we have had to remove her spleen, that should cause no long term effects for her. We think we have stopped the internal bleeding but we will have to wait to see if it is has been successful She is under sedation from us for the night, then it will be up to her and her body when she wakes up. We are hopeful that she is going to wake up but we will be able to tell more tomorrow morning when we can see if her results have improved. I normally don't do this, but she can have no visitors until about 10AM tomorrow morning, so I suggest you can go home, sleep and then come back tomorrow." Captain Lewis informed them.

"Okay thank you Captain. I will be back in a second I am just going to see if Joe is still here." Steve said leaving the room. He knew that Joe had left about an hour ago but wanted to talk to the doctor with the kids around. "What are her chances now?"

"About 50/50 at the moment, we have done everything we can for her, we will keep her on pain medication but it's up to her body if she wakes up. Normally, I would let family see her tonight, but she is not in the best state. She is looking pretty bad as I am sure you will have seen when you rescued her. But we need to get her cleaned up and dress her other cuts and wounds which we will do tonight. If there is any change I will call you straight away."

"Thank you." Steve said before walking back into the room.

"Are you already to go home?" Steve asked.

The next day...

Steve woke up early like normal. He hadn't slept properly and knew staying in bed wouldn't help. He walked into Jay's bedroom first to see if he was still asleep. If he was awake he was going to ask him if he wanted to go for a run, but if he was asleep he would leave them there. He opened the door slowly to find all three of the kids asleep lying in different directions across the bed. He stopped in the door for a moment, just looking at how close the kids had grown. They all looked so relaxed while they were asleep, peaceful even. He stood their looking at them and knowing if the worst did happen to Cath they would still be a family.

"It's sweet." Mary said as she walked up behind her brother.

"What are you doing up?" Steve asked, shutting the door and turning to face his sister.

"I don't know just woke up, was going to attempt to make breakfast for you all." Mary explained. "I wanted to talk to you as well. I need to go back home tonight. My manager called and told me if I wasn't back at work tomorrow, I would have no job to go back too. He said he had given me enough time off in the last couple of months. I need this job Steve." Mary explained. She wanted to stay, she wanted to help her brother and his family, but she really needed this job.

"I understand you have to go. You have been great. What time are you flying back?" Steve asked. He knew that Mary had a job and life and in the last couple of months she had been great, she had done a lot for them and she did need to go back and carry on with her life.

"My flight leaves at 5." Mary told him. She had tried to get the latest flight in the night so she could spend the day with Steve and not just packing.

"Okay, I am going to go and make breakfast." Steve told her.

"I will go and pack then."

It was about an hour later when all the kids came downstairs together. They had got dressed, and were literally ready to go back to the hospital.

"Breakfast before we go anywhere." Steve said putting the plate of pancakes on the kitchen table.

"What did the doctor say to you when he first came in and asked to talk to you outside?" Chelsea said looking at Steve.

"He said that your mom's condition was bad and that if the surgery didn't go well her chances were really slim. But then I spoke to him again just before we left and he said that everything was going well. The surgery went well and that they are hopeful." Steve informed Chelsea. Her chances had improved and that was the main thing they needed to know and her chances had increased.

"But she is going to get better?" Chelsea asked. She needed to know, she needed to know she had the chance to say sorry to her mom, to for once live like a proper family.

"They are hopeful." Steve said. It wasn't a lie they were hopeful that she would get better, but that was it, there was no proof that she would get better, and hope was all he was holding on to...

An hour later...

After going through security checks Steve, Mary and the kids had made it to the hospital. They had made their way back to the family room, with Steve making a quick stop to tell the hospital they were there. They settled back into the room falling into silence, waiting for the doctor to come in and inform them of Catherine's situation.

It wasn't long before Captain Lewis came in.

"Good morning guys. We have monitored Catherine's situation over night, she is showing signs of improvement, but again we won't know fully until she wakes up. You can all go and see her but I am going to have to say one at a time and only for 10 minutes each. Ensign Smith will show you to her room when you are ready." Captain Lewis said as he left the room.

After a short discussion Jay went to see his mom first.

Jay pushed the door open gently before stepping in. He stood by the door for a couple of minutes, looking at how bad his mom looked. He could tell a nurse had cleaned her up, but she still looked bad. All he could see was her arms, face and neck and they were covered in cuts and bruises. He took a step over towards his mom, taking the seat next to the bed. He picked up his mom's hand, he needed to feel her presence.

"Mom... You have to get better, you have to wake up. Me and Chelsea only have you left. You and Steve have just got together, he would be lost without you. Who is going to stop me and Chelsea arguing?" Jay started. He put her hand down to check the time on his watch. As he looked back up a light started flashing along with a beeping.

He stood up to go and get help but before he could a group of doctors and nurses came rushing into the room. He just stood back for a while, trying to blink it away and hope it was just his imagination but it wouldn't go away. A nurse spotted him at the back and came over to him, putting her hand around his shoulder led him out of the room, towards the family room.

The nurse opened the door and allowed Jay in before her.

"What's going on?" Steve asked as he stood up.

"There have been some complications. I am not sure as to what has gone wrong just yet but I will get Captain Lewis to come in as soon as he has stabilised Catherine. I am sorry I can't tell you more." The nurse said as she left the room.

Steve was not sure how much time had gone past since the nurse left, but eventually the Captain walked in.

"I have some bad news..."

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