Note: well I had a very productive day yesterday and now have six chapters completed for my next story so thought I'd be nice and not keep you waiting for the update.

A big thankyou for all the reviews, I love them.

Chapter Four

Steve rode in the ambulance watching on horrified as Danny struggled to breathe, and the mask became more and more stained with bright red blood. How had things turned so fast from them being happy they had solved the case to Danny bleeding out in front of them? The nasal packs were now bright red, and blood was beginning to seep down Danny's face. Danny looked terrified and had latched on to Steve's hand for all his worth.

Steve stared at Danny as he began to cough, it sounded like his lungs were full of fluid, and his concern grew. Focused solely on his best friend, Steve only realised they had arrived at the hospital when Danny was pulled from his grip as they unloaded him from the ambulance. Steve ran behind the gurney listening to Ani fill in Dr. Pearce.

"Danny is presenting with sudden onset bleeding from multiply sources. He started with severe Epistaxis then started vomiting blood. He also has Hematurea and is suffering from pulmonary haemorrhage. Oxygen saturations are only 80% on a non re breath, BP is 90/50. I decided against IV access in the field as he was stable and given the unknown cause of bleeding, I thought it best to wait." Ani explained and Dr. Pearce nodded.

"Ok everyone lets transfer him nice and steady. We'll use the sheet." She ordered and several bodies moved in to grab a piece of the sheet Danny was laid on, and they lifted him onto the hospitals gurney. Steve managed to move back to his place by Danny's side, and Danny immediately reached out and grabbed a hold of his hand again, so Steve gave his friend a reassuring squeeze.

After a quick vitals check, Dr. Pearce started dictating orders. "Sofi, you're the best at cannulation. Get me a wide bore cannula in, please, I want to limit the number of access we have. Take some bloods as you do it. I want a full clotting panel and blood count as well as blood for a tox screen. Eli, start a Foley, I want to keep an eye on the hematuria."

Steve turned so he had his back to the nurse, Eli, to allow Danny some attempt at privacy, and watched as the other nurse, Sofi, expertly placed a cannula into Danny's arm and drew off several vials of blood before starting some fluids. Already, blood started oozing around the cannula and she quickly padded it with gauze and secured it with a bandage.

Dr. Pearce placed her stethoscope in her ears and listened as Danny struggled to draw in each breath, and every exhale peppered the oxygen mask with more specks of blood. Seeing that his oxygen levels had dropped to 76% she turned to Sofi, "can you set up the CPAP machine? Let's try and help him with his breathing."

"The what, machine?" Steve asked, for his sake and Danny's. He knew his partner was listening to every word spoken; he just didn't have the breath to speak.

"CPAP. It stands for continuous positive airway pressure. We will put a peep value on that will help keep his alveoli open. It works along the lines of a balloon. The first time you blow it up it's really hard, but after it's already been stretched it's much easier to blow it up again. The peep will work like the stretched balloon." Dr. Pearce explained then spoke directly to Danny. "The mask is rather uncomfortable though Danny. It has to be held tight to your face to get a good seal, but I promise it should help with your breathing until we can work out what is going on."

Danny nodded his understanding. The mask sounded like it would be very claustrophobic which did nothing to calm him, but right now it felt like he was trying to breathe under water. His stomach muscles were aching from trying to drag as much air in as possible, so anything had to be an improvement on his present situation.

"We are going to swap out the nasal packs first Danny. Those are soaked through." Dr. Pearce explained as she carefully removed the pack from his left nostril and immediately blood flooded the back of his throat, causing him to vomit up yet more blood. Seeing the blood, Dr. Pearce immediately ordered two units of packed cells and an IV omeprazole infusion to help with the bleeding in Danny's stomach, she wasn't prepared to wait for the blood results. She then placed another nasal pack and quickly swopped out the right nostril too.

Sofi then appeared with the CPAP machine. Danny had presumed right, the mask was very claustrophobic. Straps were placed behind his head and connected to the mask clamping it in place. But after a minute Danny was relieved to find it was easier to breath.

Satisfied with her patients increasing oxygen levels, Dr Pearce moved down the bed to examine the dark red liquid content of the newly placed catheter bag. Frowning, she examined the bruises to Danny's arm. "What the hell is going on with you Danny?" She wondered aloud.

"We were hoping you could tell us that, doc. He was fine an hour ago, and then this, why is he bleeding. Ani thought something was wrong with his clotting, I was worried about leukaemia." Steve said then immediately regretted it when he realised Danny had heard and was starting to panic.

Dr. Pearce placed a calming hand on Danny's chest, "Danny, its ok. I agree something appears to be off with your clotting but I don't think its leukaemia. The bleeding is too sudden and severe."

"Dr. Pearce, the first blood results are back." Eli said handing her a print out.

"Thanks Eli." She said studying the results. "Eli, can you call blood bank and let them know we will want more packed cells. We will also need some fresh frozen plasma to replace all that he is losing. Then get me 10mg of vitamin K and run it over an hour. We need to correct this clotting. Sofi, can you call ICU. He's gonna need a bed while we get on top of this. Do we have the tox screen back yet?"

"No, Dr. Pearce. That will be a while yet." Sofi replied.

"Doc, what is it?" Steve asked concerned.

Dr. Pearce moved around so she could talk to both Steve, and Danny, raising her voice so Danny could hear over the noise of the hissing air from the CPAP machine. "Danny, your clotting is way out of sync. I've ordered a drug, blood, and plasma to correct it but it will take several hours to transfuse them, and get your clotting to a safe level. So in the meantime I want to move you to ICU where we can closely monitor you. The clotting problems are causing bleeding in your lungs which is what concerns me the most, and you will probably require support for a while as the bleeding will have irritated your lungs. I've also started you on an omeprazole infusion which will help with the bleeding in your stomach and bowel."

Danny managed a small nod to let her know he understood. His whole body ached and felt like a lead weight. His eyes started to drop and he found he had no desire to try and keep them open. Feeling a squeeze to his hand he finally pried them open, seeing a very worried looking Steve. Danny attempted to smile to reassure him but was unsure if it could be seen through the cumbersome mask. Dr. Pearce listened to his chest again then examined his stomach before placing her hand on Danny's chest again to gain his attention.

"Danny, we're moving you to the ICU now and I'm coming with you, Steve too." She quickly added when Danny attempted to search out his partner. "It's ok for you to sleep. I know you must be tired. Just get some rest. We'll take good care of you."

Danny gave another small nod and let his eyes slip closed. He felt the gurney start to move and expected to lose his grip on Steve's hand like before but it remained in place, every so often Steve giving him a reassuring squeeze to let his friend know he was still there.

TBC