'The bitter tragedy of human life is that it is all too fragile, our lives are written not in the rock forever, but upon the all too fragile and transitory parchment of human flesh'
Chin arrived moments after Steve was taken into surgery and the three friends moved to the waiting room, and after grabbing cups of coffee they sat quietly and waited.
Danny eventually spoke, "He's so weak right now….."
Chin replied, "Hey brah, this is McGarrett we're talking about…."
Danny interrupted him, stating angrily "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY BULLSHIT CHIN" Pushing away from the table Danny walked over to the window in the room.
Kono started to get up to follow him and Chin stopped her, "Let him be alone for a bit cous"
Her voice shook as she said, "He's right Chin. Steve is so horribly weak"
Chin took hold of her hand, "We have to stay optimistic honey"
"It's not that Chin…it was just…."
As she hesitated, he squeezed her hand tighter, "What Kono? What is it?"
"His pain was horrible and he couldn't talk because of the tube…..but his eyes…..I've never seen his eyes look like this Chin. There was fear in his eyes…..God Chin, he was afraid and I've never seen that in him before"
Tears fell down her cheeks and Chin squeezed her hand saying softly, "Stay here, I'll be right back"
Chin then moved over to Danny's side and looked out the window.
The sun was rising and Danny said, "Another beautiful day in paradise brother….I'm sorry I blew up buddy"
"No apologies needed, you've been through a lot these last few days"
Danny sighed, "He's already lost his gallbladder and part of his liver…the body can only take so much" He leaned forward placing his forehead onto the glass and cupping his hands behind his head. He was quiet for several seconds before saying softly, "When we entered that shed in Colombia, I saw a look in Steve's eyes … there was a fear in his eyes that I had never seen before and I saw it again today, he's scared Chin"
Chin said softly, "I know, but we can't give up on him Danny"
Tears again welled in Danny's eyes, "He went to Colombia to rescue his son and nothing was going to stop him from doing that. Chin…if he dies…...it will have been in rescuing Ty and…. I know he would have no regrets….."
He couldn't say anything else as his throat tightened with emotion. Chin reached out and without hesitation Danny welcomed his strong embrace as Kono sat at the nearby table watching the two men with tears streaming down her cheeks.
5050505050505050505050505050505050
A short time later they were all again at the table, sipping coffee and talking quietly.
Kono asked, "Have you called Catherine yet Danny?"
"No, not yet. She's in the middle of the Ocean, half way around the world. She can't do anything for him. Calling her now would just worry her"
Kono replied softly, "She needs to know"
Danny nodded his head in agreement, "Once he's out of surgery, I'll call her"
Three hours later Doctor Preston entered the waiting room and the three friends stood nervously to greet him.
He spoke first, "Sit….."
Danny's voice shook as he inquired, "How is he Doc?"
"He's in recovery. We saw no additional damage to his liver which is a very good thing but the infection had spread and he developed Necrotizing Pancreatitis"
"What's that?"
"Necrotizing Pancreatitis is an inflammation that causes bleeding and tissue death in or around the pancreas. He developed cyst like pockets and abscesses that we removed along with the dead tissue. Unfortunately fluid-containing toxins and enzymes leaked from the pancreas into his abdomen and this caused damage to blood vessels and led to internal bleeding. We were able to repair the vascular damage and stop the bleeding and we've increased his antibiotics but we'll need to watch him closely. We're going to keep him in a medically induced coma for the next few days and he'll remain in the ICU"
"When can we see him?"
"Not until he's stabilized. Are you going to wait here?"
Danny replied, "Yes, we'll be with Tyler Robinson"
"Okay good. We'll let you know when you can see him"
The three stood and thanked the Doctor as he left the room.
Danny looked at his friends and said firmly, "He's going to be okay"
Chin nodded, "Let's go see Ty"
They entered the room to find Ty sitting upright in bed with Amber at his side.
His smile faded quickly as he saw the looks of concern on all their faces.
"Hey guys…what's wrong?"
Danny took in a deep breath and then told them everything.
When he was done, Tyler said "I need to see him"
Danny replied, "We can't see him yet. The Doctor's going to let us know when he's settled"
Tyler put a hand over his eyes and said softly, "This is all my fault…."
Amber whispered, "No Ty…God no. You can't blame yourself sweetheart. None of this is your fault"
Danny moved to the young man's side, "Ty I need you to listen to me son. Amber is right, NONE of this is your fault and your Father is going to be alright. You need to stay strong for him….." Tears welled in the Jersey detective's eyes as he added, "We all need to stay strong for him"
A short time later Danny walked outside and sitting on a bench under a Monkey-Pod tree he pull out his cellphone and dialed Catherine.
She answered on the second ring, "Danny?"
"Hi Cath"
"Danny…..what's wrong?"
"Cath, Steve's hurt"
Her voice shook as she asked, "How bad?"
"It's bad but he's alive sweetheart"
"Danny, tell me everything"
He told her about everything, Ty's capture, the mission and rescue, the men lost and about the injuries to Steve, Ty and Sam. He told her about Steve's infection and about his set-back this morning.
She said softly, "Oh my God…"
"Cath, he came through surgery fine"
"So he's going to be alright?"
"I'm not going to lie to you, he's not out of the woods yet"
"Danny…..God I can't leave here"
He heard her sob, "Catherine, we know that….and Steve knows that. We're all here for him, including Ty"
"You'll call me"
"You know I will. I'll call you every few hours with updates. I know it's a stupid thing to say, but try not to worry about him okay?"
"Take care of him Danny and please…..please tell him I love him"
"I will, bye"
As he hung up the phone and stood to go inside he glanced at the Monkey-Pod tree. He grinned at the memory of his little monkey coming home from school as a seven year old after studying the tree and how she thought that it was such a hilarious name. Taking a deep breath he turned and walked back into the hospital.
5050505050505050505050505050505050
A couple of hours later Danny was wheeling Tyler into the ICU to see his Father.
The men looked down at the unconscious man and Tyler took hold of his hand, watching him quietly.
Danny moved to the other side of the bed. Multiple IV lines were pumping saline and antibiotics into him through his hand forearm. Danny gently rubbed his partners forearm as he leaned in and whispered, "We're here Steve, you keep fighting. You're going to be alright. Tyler's here babe, do you hear me. Your son is here and he's going to be fine partner. You just keep fighting Steve"
Ty was clearly shaken with seeing his Father in this condition. Danny watched the boy carefully and one thing was very obvious to him, Tyler had definitely inherited the McGarrett guilt gene. He knew this was going to be one issue he was going to have to deal with soon.
Ty leaned over and kissed Steve's forehead, "I'm here Dad….I'm here for you and I love you"
Danny looked at the machines surrounding the bed. Machines and wires were hooked up to him monitoring his heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory function, and temperature. He had a feeding tube inserted and drainage bags hung from the side of the bed holding his urine, waste and the infected fluids from his abdomen. The ventilator tube was still down his throat and its steady whooshing was a constant reminder of his current fragility.
Over the next four days Danny held a constant vigil at his partners' side recounting to him their cases over the years. He talked about Gracie, laughing at her notion of him now being a SEAL since he had been on an 'official mission' He told him he had talked to Catherine and that she had sent her love and he talked about Ty, encouraging Steve to hang on ….because Ty, because ALL of them, needed him.
***** I want to thank you all for the kind wishes and prayers sent my way regarding my surgery. I'm home now and everything went well. I had a large portion of my stomach removed which needless to say will be a huge lifestyle change for me but the outlook is very good! I know I'll be sleeping a lot the next few days but I'll post as quickly as I can. I know where I want to take the story and don't want to short-change it, so it may take a bit longer for me to finish it than it usually would. I hope you're still enjoying and again THANK YOU! *****