Note: Thanks for all the reviews. Storyfan101 suggested a sequal, which got me thinking of ideas. Would you be interested in Ian - the return.
Chapter Eleven
The reunion between father and daughter was hard to watch. Danny was still sleeping when Grace skipped into his room, Leilani in tow, and the disappointment was evident as her face fell. But she quietly resumed her position by Danny's left side, holding onto his hand, and her legs nervously swinging. When Danny finally stirred it was all too much for Grace and she threw herself into his out stretched arm, and broke down on the spot. Sobbing into his shoulder Danny was distraught and struggled to comfort his little girl, so he removed the oxygen mask, much to the annoyance of Dawn, and whispered in Grace's ear while rubbing circles on her back. No one could hear what he was whispering, but whatever was said between the two, it seemed to settle Grace, and finally she lifted her head, to show red rimmed eyes and tear streaked cheeks, but she smiled at her father. Grace then carefully replaced Danny's face mask and returned to her seat, but they both clung to each other's hand.
The episode clearly left Danny struggling with worry for his daughter, and it was obvious he was in pain from the small, short breaths he had begun to take once more. Steve left the room to find Dawn, and she returned and administered another bolus of pain relief which left Danny fighting a fuzzy feeling and nausea. So Dawn then administer more drugs to help with the sickness. Finally Danny dozed off, only to have confused dreams about Ian, and the girls crying for help.
When Danny finally emerged from his drug induced slumber he found the team still surrounding his bed, talking quietly. He now felt less nauseous, and his mind felt much clearer. But the images from his dream still plagued him, and what was worse, the pain in his chest and back had started to grow. Each breath sent a sharp pain through his chest, reminding him of the chest tube in situ. Danny attempted to join in with some of the conversation, but his voice was weak and muffled behind the oxygen mask, and talking caused more pain, so on the whole he was happy to just listen, Grace still holding his hand.
Danny closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain, but it just made him aware of all the other little aches present. His neck felt stiff from the central line, the plastic clamps on each lumen irritating his skin. If he moved his left wrist slightly, the arterial line would pull. The cardiac leads pulled against his chest hair, and then there was the constant uncomfortable feeling of needing to empty his bladder. But when he had asked Dawn about it he'd been informed of a tube in a rather delicate place to take care of that need.
Feeling completely miserable, but lucky to be alive, Danny gave his daughter a small smile when he caught her cautiously watching him. However she wasn't the only one watching him. Steve was also watching Danny closely. There was now heavy pain lines around his eyes, and his breaths had once again turned to shallow and fast pants.
"Danny, do you need more pain relief?" Steve asked concerned.
"No. I'm good." He replied but it was obviously a lie.
"Danny. You're obviously in pain. Let me call Dawn in. Your breathing isn't good bud. Your oxygen levels are dropping." Steve pleaded.
"No, Steven. I don't want anymore morphine. It makes me feel sick and loopy. I don't like it." Danny replied.
Steve backed down allowing Danny some control, but it was obvious to everyone, including Grace, that Danny was in a lot of pain and struggling. Grace started to rub up and down her dad's arm, making sure she didn't catch the arterial line, and Danny was obviously finding it comforting as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. But it wasn't making much difference, and Danny suddenly started to shake. Finally he opened his eyes and saw Kono watching him anxiously, but her eyes kept flicking to Grace.
Danny turned his head to see Grace better, he saw tears in her eyes, and he came undone. "Kono...Grace...please," he managed to grunt out between breaths and Kono instantly understood.
"Come on Grace, let's take a walk." She said ushering her out of the room before she even had a chance to protest.
The second she was out of earshot, Danny let out a moan and Steve leapt to his feet and grabbed hold of his hand. Chin fled the room in search of help.
Dawn raced into the room, and headed straight to the morphine pump. "No." Danny called out removing the mask so he could be heard better, "I don't want anymore morphine." He insisted.
"Danny you're in pain, and your oxygen levels are dropping." Dawn replied replacing the oxygen mask back over his face.
"Makes me… feel...like crap." Danny explained.
"Ok, hang on a sec." Dawn replied, and went back to the door where she called to one of her colleges, then returned to Danny's side and quickly drew off a sample of blood to test his blood gasses. "My colleague is paging Dr. Pearce. She will be here soon. Then we can try and sort something out. Right now I need you to try and control your breathing. Slow it down." She instructed before leaving the room to run the blood test.
Steve placed his splinted hand on Danny's chest, and his good hand on his forehead, "look at me Danno. Slow your breathing down. Try and raise my hand. Come on, in and out, in and out."
Danny did his best to comply with Steve's request, but the pain was becoming unbearable, and he found himself holding his breath to relieve some of the pain. "Danny, breathe." Steve yelled shaking his best friend's chest and causing Danny to groan then take a much larger breath.
Dr. Pearce swept into the room with Dawn immediately behind her, "Danny what's all this nonsense about you refusing pain relief."
"Makes...me feel...bad," Danny managed between small, short pants.
"Danny, you need to get your breathing back under control, you're acidadotic, which isn't good." She explained looking at the read out that Dawn had supplied her from the sample she had just taken. Then she increased the oxygen flowing through Danny's mask. "If we don't get your oxygen levels back up, I will have to intubate you again."
"Couldn't you try a different type of pain relief?" Leilani asked, "Epidural, or nerve block?"
"Yes, now he is awake we could certainly try it. Dawn can you call for an urgent anaesthetist consult, and get Danny a muscle relaxant to see if that will help in the meantime. Danny, I'm going to get the anaesthetist to site an epidural, it will numb the area but shouldn't make you feel ill." Dr. Pearce explained.
"K." Danny nodded as the machines he was connected to alarmed, and his lips started to take on a blue tinge.
Dawn quickly returned and swabbed a port on the central line, then injected the muscle relaxant.
"Not long now, Danno, keep breathing steady, in, out, in, out." Steve kept his hand on Danny's chest to anchor his friend, who finally seemed to be listening and getting his breathing under a small amount of control, with the help of the muscle relaxant.
Danny finally opened his eyes to slits, and mumbled, "Don't call...me Danno."
Dr. Trent, the anaesthetist, arrived and Dr. Pearce filled him in on Danny's condition, and need to try a new pain relief.
The grey haired man agreed with the need to try an epidural, and hurried to set up a trolley for the procedure, while Dawn showed Chin and Leilani out to the waiting room to join Kono and an upset Grace.
Steve had been allowed to stay behind to continue to keep his partner calm. Dawn and another of her nursing colleagues came around to Danny's left side, and Steve moved out of their way. "Danny we need to position you for the epidural, so we are going to roll you onto your left side. Let us do the work."
Danny just nodded, his eyes scrunched shut. Dawn and the other nurse, Mel, grabbed hold of the sheet on Danny's right side, and used it to roll him on to his left side, Dawn carefully supporting the chest drain at the same time. The two nurses worked together to get Danny supported, and carefully bent his legs up, so he was curled around a pillow, opening up the space between his vertebra. Danny winced as his foot got catch on the catheter tubing that ran down his leg, and Mel quickly untangled it to relieve the pinching sensation.
Dr. Trent returned and quickly gowned up, but the burning sensation in Danny's lungs was becoming too much again, and he held his breath once more.
"Detective Williams, you stop breathing again and I will sedate, and intubate you." Dr. Pearce yelled as the alarms started to shrill.
"Sorry." Danny whispered after dragging in a much needed breath.
"Danny, I'm Dr. Trent. Let's get this done fast shall we. Sorry, I should have warned you it would be cold." He apologised as Danny flinched as the cold betadine was wiped over his back to sterilise the skin. "You'll feel a sting now as I numb you up." Dr. Trent explained learning from his mistake.
Danny kept his eyes closed and tried to control his breathing, keeping his breaths steady but still shallow, as any attempt to deepen them caused a sharp pain to sear through his chest and his back muscles to spasm. He felt the stinging of the lignocaine used to numb his skin, then the pressure of the needle being slid into his back.
"You might feel a warm sensation now." Dr. Trent explained as he bolused the medication via the epidural. Then he connected the yellow line to a pump to continue to deliver the medication to make Danny much more comfortable.
Danny felt the warmth enter his back and gradually spread out across his chest. A large see through dressing was placed over his back to secure the line in place, which ran up and over his shoulder, and was taped to the front of his gown. Danny was then carefully manoeuvred on to his back, and as the pain started to ease he dared to take a deeper breath, relieved to find the pain now much better, and improving with every breath.
"Is that better?" Steve dared to ask.
"Oh hell, yes," Danny sighed, totally exhausted now, his eyes remaining closed.
"That's much better Danny, your oxygen levels are improving now." Dawn said as she noted down his vitals and made sure all his lines were secure and comfortable. Then she straightened out the sheet covering him.
Steve moved back to Danny's side from the foot of the bed where he had stood guard, and took hold of his friend's hand. "Try and get some rest, Danny. You look exhausted. Rachel will be here to collect Grace soon, and we will take care of her until then. Sleep."
Danny opened his eyes and looked at his best friend. "Thank you." Was his simple reply as his eyes slid shut again and exhaustion won out.
TBC