Here the new chapter, I hope you like it and munch fun while reading.

Chapter 9

As Steve returns to the ICU, Chin and Kono are stood in the hallway by the room.
"What's happening?" Steve asks worriedly, even though he knows what caused the commotion.
"They want to intubate Danny and hook him up to a respirator. His breathing slowed down. What can we do now?" Tears of desperation gather in Kono's eyes.

Chin takes a step towards her and pulls her into a comforting embrace.
"Danny is a fighter; he will make it!" he mutters in her ear.

After the panic dies down, Dr Yakani comes out of the room, leaving a nurse with Danny.
"You can go back to Danny again. Just quickly, though, before you go in, I have the results of his blood tests. They aren't showing a decrease in the substance."
"Does that mean that it can't be metabolised by the body?" Kono asks, frowning.
"Based on what Mrs Summer told me, the human organism can't metabolise it. This is a reason why it is so unpredictable and further experiments were not done," the doctor replies.
"What does that mean for Danny and the others?" Steve is horrified at what the doctor has just told them.
"I don't know. We can only hope that Dr Carter has a solution."

Dejectedly, with this prognosis, the three of them return to their friend. A quieter Danny is already alarming for them, but now with the tube in his mouth, everything just seems wrong.
"Hey Danny, we're here again. You're doing great; just hold on a little longer. You are a fighter, I know." Steve grabs hold of the stool in the corner and sits next to Danny.

Carefully, he takes his hand, in the hope that the contact will make Danny feel better.
"Boss, I'm going to go back to HQ and go through the files that Mrs Summer sent," Kono explains, just for something to do.
"I'll head over to the airport, and bring Dr Carter here as soon as possible." Chin squeezes Danny's leg before following Kono out.

At HQ, Kono leans against the Smart-Table and looks at the files.

"There must be something here. Why would anyone make something like this? And how did it get to Hawaii?" Kono thinks aloud.
While reviewing the documents, she notices that one member of the team resigned after the project was called off. She quickly opens the files on Dr Ted Cold to have a closer look at him.

At the airport, Chin waits impatiently as the plane lands. Everyone from the plane disembarks, and eventually, he sees the woman come from baggage collection. He goes over to her to speak to her.
"Dr Carter?" he asks, uncertain of whether she is the right person.

As she nods, he carries on. "I'm Lt. Chin Ho Kelly. I'm supposed to bring you to the hospital."
"Hello! How is the patient?" the middle-aged woman asks, straight to the point.
Chin informs her of the situation, as they walk towards his car.

"We have three males who have just lost the ability to speak, and two females, one of which were recently admitted to hospital and can no longer open her eyes."
"Wasn't there another one? One of your colleagues, right? Is he still alive?"
"No, Danny was placed on a ventilator about two hours ago."
"I want to see him, after I take a look at the lab results," she replies.
"Is there nothing that can help work against the paralysis?" Chin asks hopefully.
"Unfortunately, I don't have a miracle cure yet, Lt. I'm afraid that whoever took the substance is familiar in this area."
"Can you imagine who could make something like this?"
"There are many people who would be able to produce something like this. Do you think that it was someone from my team? I'd put my hand in the fire for any of them!"
"Do you think maybe it was an outsider?" Chin suggests.
"About four months ago, our computer system was attacked. It's possible that the data was copied then. So anyone who knew about synthetically-produced substances could have created this," Dr Carter explains.
The rest of the journey is spent in silence, as they both follow their own thoughts about the case.

With his head down on his chest, McGarrett sits next to his friend and partner, as he had been for the past hour. So far, he can't see any sign that Danny is awake, although it is hard to see just by his heartbeat. With mixed feelings, he listens to the even hiss of the respirator forcing air into Danny's lungs.
His thoughts fly wildly through his head: How can we help those affected? After the last announcement, five more patients were admitted. And that asks another question: What is he supposed to tell Grace?
The last time he'd called her, he had told her that they'd had an exhausting day, and that he had fallen asleep on his sofa. So what should he tell her next time?
He has a thought, but is disturbed by the ringing of his phone. With a glance at the screen, he sees that it is Kono.
"Hey Kono. Do you have anything yet?"
"I've been through all the files. All of the team are still working in the same department. There are no previous convictions or anything else that would indicate such behaviour," Kono fills him in.

"Two of them have tickets for illegal parking and speeding, but obviously, that's no reason for this sort of thing. One person I looked at in particular was a Dr Ted Cold; he left the NRL a year and a half ago. According to the last entry, he'd worked in a lab in Virginia, but was dismissed after six months. Since then there's absolutely no record of him whatsoever of where he lived or worked."
"Why was he sacked?" Steve asks.
"Employee theft. He had stolen parts of lab equipment and also…"
"What he needed to make the synthetic substance," Steve interrupts her.
"Right."
"Was he not held responsible, then?"
"He wasn't caught. He's still on the wanted list in Virginia. I'm going to see if I can find out when he could have come to the island. So far, facial recognition hasn't turned up any results."
"Good work. As soon as you have something, call me!"
"Will do, boss!"