Chin couldn't help but worry as he looked at Steve lying on the bed. It had been several days since he had seen him and all the tubing and machines attached to him were very troublesome.

The IV's in his left hand connected him to the lifesaving fluids being pumped into his veins. Bags hung on the pole next to the bed holding the saline, blood and antibiotics and bags hung from the side of the bed collecting his urine and waste. An oxygen mask covered his face and a thin blanket covered him from the waist down exposing his bruised and battered chest, abdomen and shoulder. Clear tape covered the incisions from his surgery and wires were attached to his chest monitoring his heart rate.

Moving to bed Chin placed a hand tenderly onto Steve's left forearm as Danny took hold of his partner's right hand and leaning in he spoke softly into his ear, "I'm here Steve, Chin's here too. You're home now buddy and we need you to keep fighting for us. We need you to beat this…..don't you let that son-of-a-bitch win Steven" Danny's voice choked with emotion as he added, "We need you and we love you….."

Chin then said, "I talked to Kono a couple of hours ago and she and Adam are both fine. They're worried about you though and they both send their love. You're so strong Steve and you're going to be fine"

Danny refused to leave the ICU until Steve was out of danger. Chin would leave the room periodically to touch base with Kono and Governor Denning. The first few hours passed quietly and Steve's fever hovered between 104.4 and 104.8. A young Nurse named Shelby was tending to him while Danny slept in a chair at his side and Chin slept on a small cot a few feet from the bed. It was about two in the morning when it happened…..the men bolted out of their chairs as Steve's heart monitor began to blare. He was seizing and a horrible gurgling sound was coming from his throat.

Danny reached across his body pinning his arms to the bed as Chin held his legs.
In seconds two Doctors and two additional Nurses were in the room pushing Danny and Chin off to the side.
Danny and Chin stood with their backs to the wall in the small room as one of the Doctors barked out orders.
"Turn him onto his side, he's choking"
Danny crammed his hands into his pockets and his shoulders hunched forward as he watched on nervously.
The two Doctors worked swiftly in tandem, one of them holding him still while the other inserted a long tube down his throat. They then began to suction his lungs. The sounds coming from Steve were torturous to listen to and Chin moved closer to Danny, placing a hand on his shoulder…..both of them drawing strength from the other.

The entire event lasted less than twenty minutes but to Danny and Chin it seemed to last forever. The seizure had lasted about three minutes and once his lungs were clear they eased him back onto his back and as the Nurses worked on cleaning him up the Doctors moved towards them.

Danny asked, "Is he okay?"
"His fever has spiked a bit more, it's up to 105.2 and that brought on the seizure. He's developed fluid on his lungs and that's alarming. We need to take him for x-rays to make sure that he's not suffered any additional vascular damage around his lungs. You can wait here if you'd like"

Danny felt numb as he replied, "Yes, we'll wait here...thank you Doctor"
The second physician touched his arm, "We'll do everything we can for him. Someone will be in to get him soon"
As they left the room, Chin remained back as Danny moved to Steve's side.
Shelby stepped back as Danny leaned over, placing a hand on Steve's drenched forehead. He was so hot, so unbelievably hot and his breathing was fast and labored. Danny drew in a deep breathe and with a huge lump in his throat he said, "I don't know what to say Steve, but you're scaring the hell out of me, you know that? I can't fight this battle for you and I feel so damn helpless. Please don't stop fighting because I...damn... Steve, I know I give you a lot of shit but the truth is that I don't know what I'd do without you..." The tears were falling unashamedly now, "I can't even imagine having to tell Gracie that you're gone...God babe, do you even have a clue how much that little girl loves you... or how much I love you? Please Steve... fight...I love you partner" As Chin moved to his side, Danny kissed Steve's forehead and as he turned from the bed Chin pulled him into embrace whispering, "It's okay Danny"

Two orderlies then entered the room and Chin leaned over and kissing Steve's head he whispered softly into his ear, "We're here for you Steve...we love you brother"

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After Steve was taken from the room Chin went to get them some coffee.
He returned to find Danny sitting next to the empty bed. His head was bowed, his elbows were on his knees and his hands were cupped behind his head. Chin stood in the doorway and watched the Jersey detective silently for several minutes thinking, 'What will happen to us is Steve doesn't make it?'

Danny sensed his presence and without moving he said softly, "He's dying Chin"
Chin moved to his friends side and held out the coffee, "Here Danny, take this"
Danny looked up and took the coffee, "Thanks"
Chin pulled up a chair and as he sat, Danny repeated "He's dying...…."
"No….no he's not and you can't think like that"
Sipping the coffee, Danny said solemnly "You heard the Doc and you see how weak he is. He can't fight this damn infection"
Chin struggled to keep his composure, "Look Danny, it's bad….really bad and we both know that but we can't give up on him"

Danny's voice was barely audible as he said, "God Chin, I don't know what I'll do if dies….."
"We're not going to let him die…..he's fighting and we have to stay positive and keep pushing him. We owe that to him"
Danny sighed deeply "You're right Chin. I'm sorry man"
"There's nothing to be sorry for. You've been with him every minute for days…..you need a break Danny, you're exhausted"
"I'm not going anywhere Chin. He needs me now and I'm not leaving him"
"Okay…..okay, I get it. But you're not alone brother"
They sat quietly as they waited for news.

A short time later Doctor Gonzalez entered the room.
"Hello Danny, Chin…."
Danny replied, "Thanks for coming in Doc. How is he?"
"The x-rays show a subphrenic abscess at the base of his diaphragm. Basically what that means is that the infection has created a pocket of pus and we need to drain that. We're prepping him now to re-insert a chest tube for drainage" Seeing the concern on the men's faces she added, "This could be why is fever is spiking. Draining his chest can help reduce his fever and it will certainly help ease his breathing"

Chin then asked, "What about the seizures?"
"The high fever is bringing on the seizures so the quicker we can lower his temperature, the better. The brain scan shows normal activity so we need to stay positive. The procedure will take about an hour and then we'll be bringing him back here"
The men thanked her and after she left, Chin was able to convince Danny to go outside to get a breath of fresh air.

It was four thirty in the morning as Danny exited the hospital. As he walked towards the benches in the courtyard, tears fell from his eyes and he shivered as the cool air hit his damp cheeks. He sat down heavily onto one of the wooden benches and tipping his head back he looked up at the star-filled night. As tears welled in his eyes causing the stars to become blurry, Danny Williams prayed to God to please spare Steve's life.

Danny was back in the room as they brought Steve back in. The procedure had gone well and the bag holding the greyish-yellow pus from the abscess was now more than half full. The anesthetic he had been given was going to keep him under for several hours and Doctor Gonzalez seemed very optimistic that this procedure was going to help bring down Steve's fever….and thankfully she was right. By late afternoon his fever had dropped to 103.3 bringing great relief to Danny and Chin.

At around six o'clock Steve woke to Danny and Chin smiling down at him.
His oxygen mask had been replaced with a nasal cannula and he spoke softly, "I feel like shit, what happened?"
"Yeah, but you look fantastic!"
Steve grimaced as he chuckled, "You're such a liar Danno…don't make me laugh, it hurts"

Danny grinned broadly, "Sorry about that partner" He then filled Steve in on everything that had happened adding, "But you're going to be fine now. The Doc's taking really good care of you. You just need to sleep now, do you need any pain meds?"

"No meds…..'m good…...so tired"
Danny squeezed his hand and spoke softly, "Sleep Steve…we've got you….just sleep, ssshhhhhhhhh" In moments Steve was back under and Danny looked over to Chin and smiled.

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Over the next twenty hours Steve woke only twice and only for a few minutes, but there was much relief in the room as he was coherent and his temperature was slowly dropping.

They moved him into a private room once his temperature was down to 102.2 and his other vitals had all stabilized. Once he was settled into the bed, Chin was able to convince Danny to head home to shower and change clothes. He was then going to pick up Gracie, as the young girl had been very anxious to see her Uncle Steve.

Danny smiled broadly as Gracie raced out to greet him as he pulled up in his new sleek black Camero.
As soon as he was out of the car she was in his arms.
"HI DANNO! I'VE MISSED YOU!"
He kissed her, "I've missed you too monkey"
"How's Uncle Steve? Is he better yet?"
"He's doing better, but he's still very sick" While holding his daughter's hand, he stood and embraced Rachel as she approached holding Charlie.

"Hi Rach"
"Hi…so he's doing better?"
"Yes, much better thank you. He's still very tired and they're continuing with the IV antibiotics but his temp is finally dropping"
"Oh thank God Danny"
He then turned back to Gracie and smiled, "I know he'll be very happy to see you, are you ready?"
She shook her head enthusiastically, "Uh huh, I sure am"
"Good, let's go then. I'll have her back before dinner Rachel"
"Okay. Send him my love"
"Will do….…..thank you"

Before heading to the hospital, Danny drove to a nearby Oceanside park to talk to his little girl. Gracie had seen her SuperSEAL injured many times over the last four years but the physical beating he had taken could cause her alarm and he wanted to prepare her.

She asked, "Where are we going Danno?"
"I just want to talk to you before we go see Uncle Steve. Come on, let's go for a walk"

Leaving the car, he took her hand and they walked towards the water. Danny lifted her up onto a brick embankment and then he sat next to her. She was instantly concerned and asked, "Uncle Steve's not okay is he?"

Danny quickly tried to reassure her, "No baby he's doing well, he really is. I just want to tell you a bit about his injuries before we go up. You're not a baby anymore and I think you can handle this, what do you think?"

She nodded, "Yes I can Daddy….you're right, I'm not a baby anymore. I'm ten years old and I know that your jobs are very dangerous"
He grinned at her, "Yes, our jobs are dangerous and sometimes people want to hurt us because we try to stop them from doing bad things. There is a very bad man who wanted to hurt Steve and…well he did"

"Did he shoot Uncle Steve?"
"No. He gave him shot that had poison in it and it's made Steve very sick. The Doctors had to take a couple of his organs out, his spleen and his appendix"
"You mean like Lucy's Aunt when they took her kidney out?"
"Yes, just like that. Steve can live just fine without his spleen and appendix…...in fact, did you know that I had my appendix taken out too?"
"Really? When?"
"When I was fifteen years old. It got really swollen and the Doctors took it out….and I'm fine right?"
Gracie smiled, "Uh huh"
"So I want you to know that Steve is going to be fine. He's got a bad infection from the poison and the surgeries and he is very, very tired so he needs to sleep a lot right now"

"I understand Daddy. He doesn't have to talk back to me, I just want to see him. I love him"
Danny kissed her head and pulled her into an embrace, "He loves you very much and you're the best medicine in the world for him right now Monkey. I also want you to know that the bad guy beat up Uncle Steve very badly and he has a lot of bruises on his body, so you have to be really careful them you touch him okay?"

"I'll be careful, can we go now?"
"Sure"
They walked back to the car and in moments they were on the freeway and heading towards King's Hospital

****** I hope you're all still enjoying! I'd LOVE to hear from you and thanks for reading! *******