A couple of hours passed before the Doctor entered the room. After brief introductions, he asked them to all sit on the couch and he sat facing them.
"Your friend is holding his own but his condition is extremely critical. His kidney had a Grade 4 laceration which means the renal artery was lacerated. That was the cause of the internal bleeding. We were able to repair the artery but he did require two blood transfusions. He also has a large tear in the lower, small intestine. This wound is causing us the most concern because it caused leakage of waste and gastric acids into the abdominal cavity. We have closed the wound and Doctor Peters' is finishing up cleaning the cavity now. There is always a risk of peritonitis with this type injury though"
Kono quickly spoke, "What's that Doctor?"
"Peritonitis is an inflammation of the thin wall of tissue that surrounds your internal organs. Peritonitis itself if very painful and if a bacterial infection also occurs we can have severe problems. So we will be watching him very closely for infection. The lashes he endured will heal but are very painful. The lash to his back was already infected and it took a great deal to clean that and over forty stitches to close. His left shoulder had been dislocated and although I'm sure it caused him horrible pain, we set that and it should heal fine"
Danny tried to steady his shaky voice as he spoke, "Doc, what about the heart attack?"
"Once he's out of surgery and stabilized we'll run a Cat scan to check his brain function and an EKG on the heart. Of course we're very concerned. His brain was without oxygen for seven minutes. Anything longer than four minutes can possibly lead to damage. Until we can run the tests though we really can not make any predictions"
Danny added, "You say 'could' cause damage. But there may not be?"
"We can hope there will be no damage, but you need to be prepared. Your friend has a very difficult road of recovery ahead of him. There will be a lot of pain. I can honestly say when we first opened him up we didn't think he could possibly survive"
"Doc, you don't know Steve McGarrett. He'll beat this...you'll see"
"I hope so. I promise we'll do everything we can for him. I will send a nurse in once we get him settled in the ICU"
"Will we be able to see him tonight?"
"Does he have any next of kin?"
"A sister on the mainland. She should be here tomorrow. I'm his POA"
"You can see him then, but just briefly. He will most likely be in the ICU for a couple of days. Do you have any more questions?"
"No Doc, Thank you so much for everything"
They all stood and shook hands with the Doctor and then they stood facing each other.
"Would you two mind checking on Jonathan's condition and then go interrogate Julia. I need to stay here"
Chin spoke, "Of course brother, please keep us updated"
"You know I will" The three exchanged hugs and as Chin and Kono left the hospital, Danny made his way back to the window overlooking the ocean.
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About half an hour later Danny was pulled back to reality as his phone rang.
"Hey Chin"
"Anything new Danny?"
"No, not yet. How's it going?"
"Jonathan is out of surgery and is in room 308. He's handcuffed to the bed and unconscious. HDP is standing guard and they'll contact me once he's able to talk. We're on our way to see Julia now"
"Okay man. Is Kono alright?"
"As good as can be bro. I don't think any of us will be okay until the boss is doing better"
"Yeah, you're right about that. Thanks babe"
A short time later a nurse entered the waiting room. "Mr. Williams?"
"Yes ma'am, that's me"
"I can take you to Mr. McGarrett now but you can only stay a few minutes"
"Okay, Thank You"
"You'll need to wear scrubs, gloves and a mask. We need to do all we can to avoid infection"
Danny did as instructed and soon he was at Steve's side.
The sight terrified him. This perfect human specimen looked so gaunt and weak. He was deathly pale and he was hooked up to multiple machines with tubing everywhere. Danny instantly noticed the respirator which scared him because that meant Steve was not breathing on his own. He took Steve's hand in his and gently squeezed as he leaned in close.
"Hey buddy, it's Danno. I've called Catherine and MaryAnn and they'll be here soon. You're doing great and you need to keep fighting babe. We're all with you. I need you to rest now and these pretty nurses are going to take care of you. Love you man" Tears slid down Danny's cheeks as he gave Steve's hand a tighter squeeze and then turned and left the ICU.
He stood lingering outside the ICU watching Steve through the window. He watched as the nurse recorded his vitals onto the chart at the end of the bed and checked his IV's.
The nurse came out of the room and looked to Danny, "He's doing very well Mr. Williams. His vitals are strong"
"The respirator…is he not able to breathe on his own?"
"It's only aiding him. He's breathing on his own. We'll keep him hooked up to the respirator until he's ready to leave the ICU"
"Is he in any pain?"
"No, if he were in pain his vitals would reflect that. I promise you we'll take very good care of him. A nurse will be posted with him around the clock. You'll want to be with him when he's in his own room recovering. I suggest you go home and get some rest now, he's in good hands. We have your contact info and we'll call you if anything changes. I'll give you the number to the nursing station here and you can call us at anytime to check on him. Do you have any other questions?"
"I'd like to stay a little longer if that's okay?"
"That's fine sir, take your time"
"Thank you….er, Jenny. Thank you for all you're doing for Steve"
"You're welcome Mr. Williams"
"Call me Danny, please"
"You're welcome Danny" She smiled at the young detective and left him returning to Steve's side.
A short time later, sitting in his car, Danny dialed up Rachel. "Rachel….." His voice cracked with emotion.
"Danny, what's wrong?"
"Oh God Rachel…..it's Steve" The words caught in his throat as the picture of his dear friend flashed in his mind.
"Danny…tell me what happened?"
It took quite a while for Danny to relate all the information to his ex-wife as his emotions overwhelmed him. Once done Rachel spoke, "Danny, where are you now?"
"I'm in the parking lot of the hospital"
"Let me drop Grace off at Laura's house and let's meet for dinner, Stan's in Bejing on business"
"Thank you, I'd like that. I need to see how Chin and Kono are doing with the interrogation and give them an update on Steve first"
"Just stop over her when you're done, I'll be waiting"
"If it's going to be past eight I'll call you"
"Don't worry Danny, do what you need to do, I'll be here…bye now"
Danny then dialed Chin, "Talk to me Chin"
"We just finished up with Julia. Danny, they started planning revenge against Steve before Jenna was even buried. According to Julia, Jonathan is emotionally disturbed and losing his twin just sent him over the edge. She is truly remorseful and when it came right down to it she couldn't watch Steve die. She just wasn't strong enough to speak up against him, she was afraid of him. How's Steve, were you able to see him yet?"
"Yeah, I just left him. I'm going to be honest with you Chin he doesn't look good. He's very pale and they've got him on a respirator. The nurse says the respirator is just assisting his breathing but until they do the CAT scan and EKG in the morning I'm not going to be able to relax"
"I hear you brother. I talked to the HPD a while ago and we're not going to be able to talk to Jonathan until morning. Have you heard from MaryAnn?"
"Yes, she sent a text she'll arrive at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon. I told her I'd pick her up at the airport. Why don't you two call it a night and get some rest. The hospital is going to call me if there's any change in his condition. I'm going to go meet Rachel for dinner and then I'll head back up and check on him again"
"Okay Danny, call me if anything changes"
"I will brother, Thank You and good night"
"Get some rest man"