The men moved back to Steve's side and as Doctor Gerhart started the IV Danny leaned in close and spoke words of encouragement, "You're doing great Steve, you're so damn strong and you need to keep fighting. Ian's taking great care of you" His voice choked with emotion as he added, "I love you partner"
After several minutes Ian excused himself letting Danny know that he would check in frequently, "I'm going to leave a Nurse in here at all times to monitor his vitals Danny. Keep talking to him, you're doing a great job…..he's lucky to have you"
Danny continued his vigil re-counting cases with his unconscious partner. He didn't know if Steve was hearing him or not, but talking about past cases was at least helping him. An hour later things seemed to be going well and his blood pressure was beginning to rise slowly. Catherine entered the room a couple of hours later and Danny took her off to the side of the room to fill her in on the details of Steve's condition. He insisted on staying and as Catherine took over the story-telling Danny sat at his partner's side with his eyes closed, listening.
He felt as if he was eavesdropping as she talked about meeting Steve for the first time at a barbeque.
"I'll never forget the first time I laid my eyes on you Steve. Billy had told me so many things about 'Smooth Dog' McGarrett and when we arrived at your place you were in the backyard manning the grill. The Metallica music was blaring through the speakers and half the team was there already, laughing, visiting and slamming beers. You turned around as we approached and you smiled, that unbelievable smile of yours that warms everyone's heart. You handed the spatula off to Freddy and came over, and after embracing Billy you turned me and hugged me as well. I'll never forget the first words you said to me….'You must be Rollins, well I can see now why my Billy boy is so smitten. I'm Steve. It's nice to meet you and welcome to my home' That day changed my life forever Steve…."
Her voice choked with raw emotion and Danny opened his eyes and sat forward in his chair as she continued, "You had such charisma and I watched you that day in utter amazement. I knew how much Billy loved and respected you, but that day I saw the six other men of your unit all show that same love and respect. And more importantly, I saw the love you had for each and every one of them. You're so special Steve and it was so obvious to me, even on that first day. So many people need you sweetheart. You have to keep fighting….…please honey, fight for Danny and Gracie. Fight for Kono and Chin. Fight for MaryAnn, Joe and your Mom. And fight for every one of your military brothers. You've trained them to survive the worst of conditions and you've trained them to block out the pain…..." Tears were flowing down her cheeks as she added, "We all need you Steve...oh God I need you"
Danny stood and moving over to Catherine he took her hand and pulling her up, he embraced her.
They stood at the bedside and held onto each other, both drawing strength and comfort from the other.
As the Nurse checked Steve's vitals the two watched on nervously, Danny then asked "Is everything okay"
"His vitals are good. His blood pressure is still rising slowly. He's a strong young man"
Everything seemed to be going well until about twelve hours later….
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Danny woke to Catherine frantically asking the Nurse, "What's wrong with him, oh God what's wrong?"
Danny jumped up from his chair and as his eyes fell on Steve his fears rose. While still unconscious, he was grasping at his oxygen mask.
Moving quickly Danny grabbed Steve's arm, pulling it down "STEVE STOP BABE, STOP" Danny had no trouble controlling his weakened partner and leaning close to his ear he said softly, "Relax Steve, it's Danno buddy…..relax, I've got you" As he stroked Steve's forehead with one hand he continued to hold his wrist firmly with his other. Danny instantly noticed Steve's distress. He could hear gurgling in Steve's lungs and tears were falling from the SEAL's closed eyes mixing with his sweat.
Following the Nurses' instructions Danny gently turned him onto his side so he wouldn't choke. As the Nurse went to fetch Dr. Gerhart, an emotional Danny continued to soothe Steve, "I've got you partner. You're doing great brother….you hang on for me"
As he continued to talk to Steve he heard Catherine sobbing behind him. Ian arrived moments later and after a brief examination he gave them the news, "He's bleeding internally again. I need to go back in right away"
Danny squeezed Steve's hand tightly, "Ian's going to fix you up buddy and I'll be here waiting for you" Danny then kissed his partner's forehead and tears stained his cheeks as he backed away from the bed.
Catherine then stepped to Steve's side and leaning in she kissed his cheek as she choked out the words, "I love you Steve"
She lingered for a few seconds before Ian said, "We need to prep him now"
Danny placed a hand on Cath's arm, "Come on Cath…they need to take him now"
She turned and together the two moved out of the way. Within minutes Steve was transferred onto a gurney and the medical personnel were wheeling him from the room and back into surgery.
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Danny went to inform the others of Steve's condition and Chin returned to the room with him to wait.
They were all very quiet as they knew the seriousness of this turn of events. With risen poisoning this was the time-frame when death typically occurred. Danny sat quietly with his head tipped back and his eyes closed. He was terrified that this was it. He had never known anyone as strong both physically and mentally as Steve was, but when he had held him earlier he had been alarmed at how weak his partner had become. And now this…. he was bleeding internally again but was he strong enough to survive the surgery? His temperature had begun to stabilize, but it was still at 102. Danny's mind was racing….and he prayed silently to God to please spare Steve.
He smiled as Catherine's words played over in his mind, 'You had such charisma and I watched you that day in utter amazement'. His mind took him back to the day he had met this hard-ass Navy SEAL. He had hated him that day, in fact Steve's recklessness had even gotten him shot! But by the time that first case was over and Steve had shot Victor Hess, he had to admit that he too viewed Steve with a measure of amazement.
A couple of weeks later he had watched Steve meet Gracie, and his little girl who was typically so shy and reserved around strangers had instantly shown an affection for this larger than life man. And Gracie brought out a side of Steve that very few people ever saw, a sweetness and gentleness that endeared Steve to him forever. He loved that man like a brother and his baby girl loved him immensely. How could he ever tell her that he was gone? 'Oh God, please save Steve…'
Eventually Chin broke the silence and struck up a conversation, "I ran a check on the owner of the home where Steve was held. His name is Fumio Sakura and he's a multi-millionaire owner of a national restaurant chain"
Danny inquired, "So what's his connection with Wo-Fat?"
"He was a childhood friend of Wo-Fat's Father"
"So they're like family"
"Yes….Sakura is on a business trip in Japan"
"So he probably knew nothing about this…."
"Probably not Danny"
Danny ran his hand across his face and Chin asked, "How's Catherine holding up?"
They both looked to the other side of the room. Catherine was sitting alone and quiet, staring straight ahead.
Danny said softly, "She's not good….."
"I'm sure she's feeling a lot of guilt"
Danny nodded, "Yeah"
"He's going to make it brother, you've got to believe that"
"I know Chin" He then paused before adding, "I think I need a breath of fresh air"
"Go ahead"
Moments later as he looked out over the beautiful blue water he pulled Wo-Fat's letter to Doris from his pocket. Something in it had not set right with him and he re-read the words, 'You know what you have done Doris. By killing my Father and with your actions in the years that followed, your fate has been pre-ordained. Every time you think of Steve I want you to know that your actions and your cowardice resulted in his demise'
What actions other than killing his Father was he referring to? And her cowardice? What did he mean by that? He couldn't help but wonder if Doris and Joe had told Steve everything? He had a horrible feeling in his gut that something was still being kept from Steve….and he needed to find out what that was.
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Three hours later Doctor Gerhart entered to room and they all looked at him nervously.
To immediately ease their fears he said, "He's alive"
Their audible sighs of relief filled the room and Ian joined them at the small table.
"I know I don't have to tell you that he's not out of the woods yet, but he is alive. I did need to remove his spleen and his appendix was also very inflamed so I removed that as well. His liver was also bleeding but I was able to repair that again. He had additional vascular damage around the liver and stomach, as well as damage in the thoracic cavity around his left lung. He also experienced bleeding of vessels in his trachea and because of that we have removed the breathing tube, but we'll keep him on oxygen. The fluid on his left lung is confined to the pleura, or lung lining and I have inserted a chest tube to drain the fluid. We have to drain the fluid slowly though or his blood pressure could drop suddenly"
Danny then asked, "How is his blood pressure now?"
"It's steadily increasing and I'm stopping the norandrenaline ans we'll monitor him carefully. It's a thin line we have to walk here. We can't allow his blood pressure to drop dramatically but the risk of him developing any additional vascular bleeding is too great if we keep him on the drug at this point"
Catherine's voice trembled as she asked "Ian…..is he going to make it?"
"I don't know Cath. I think if we can keep him stable and if he survives the next twenty-four hours he has a good chance…...this time is very critical"
Danny asked, "When can we see him Ian?"
"Not for a couple of hours" He looked at his watch, "If you're back here at six o'clock, he'll be brought in a short time after that"
"Are you going to keep him under?"
"Yes, at least for the next forty-eight hours and then I'll re-evaluate his condition"
Danny extended his hand, "Thank you Ian"
"You're welcome"
After the Doctor left, the three friends headed to the mess hall to grab a bite to eat and to prepare themselves for the long vigil awaiting them.
**** Enough Steve physical whump for you yet? I can promise you all that I will NEVER kill off our SuperSEAL or any of our Core 4, but they can suffer…..Coming soon, the emotional Steve whumpage begins – I hope you're enjoying and I'd love to hear your thoughts! ****