Chapter 13
Putting one foot in front of the other, Steve drags himself on and on. He has no idea what's driving him on, but he doesn't want to give up yet. He has long since drunk the rest of the water from the bottle he had taken with him. The already unbearable heat is intensified by his fever and the shivering. And by the many dust he gets still worse air. In the meantime he has reached a larger street, but no car far and wide. Finally he hears a vehicle coming. A somewhat older Ford Ranger stops next to him and a man around eighty gets out. "Mon ami, tu vas bien?" Steve shakes his head. "Are they going to Dakar by any chance?" "Mais oui. Get in." Steve sits down in the passenger seat and closes his eyes. He feels the old man eyeing him. "Wouldn't you rather I take you to a hospital?" "No, I need to get to my boarding house first. Could you drop me off there, please?" "Suit yourself sonny."
An hour later they are in Dakar. "And you're really sure you don't want me to take you to a hospital?" Steve nods. "Merci beaucoup." He shakes the old man's hand in farewell. He shakes it and then drives away.
The reception desk is not manned at the moment, so Steve gets his key himself. Something like an operations center seems to have been set up in his room.
He throws the key on the next table, gets a few fresh clothes from his duffel bag and first gets into the shower. When the water touches his battered back, he draws in a hissing breath, but not too deeply, because that hurts, too. He continues to breathe shallowly. He leaves off the T-shirt and lies down on his stomach in bed, dressed only in a fresh pair of pants. As soon as his head touches the pillow, he falls asleep.
Marc searched the entire area around the old sheep farm with you and also to the west. They have not found Steve. Danny doesn't understand it, he can't have disappeared into thin air. In the meantime it is dark and the search makes no more sense today. They arrange to meet tomorrow at eight to continue the search. He must be there somewhere. Tired, exhausted and sad, the six drive back to Dakar.
With his mind completely elsewhere, Danny unlocks the door to Steve's room, then stops like a shot. Chin runs into him. "Danny, what ...?"
"Steve!" With three steps Danny is at the bedside and crouches down to look him in the face. Cold sweat stands on his friend's forehead. "Hey, Steve." Danny touches Steve on the arm. He feels hot and just takes shallow breaths in and out. Slowly, he opens his eyes. They shine feverishly. "Danny? What are you doing here? Where's Catherine?"
Catherine pushes her way between the others. Horrified at the sight of her friend's bruised back, she slaps her hands over her mouth. The entire back is covered with abrasions, which have become inflamed and oozing, additionally it is green and blue and around the bullet wound everything is also inflamed, swollen and bright red.
She steps up next to Danny. "I'm here." Quietly, he asks, "Did it work out with Sara?" "Yes, thanks to you we were able to get her to safety and the vote went well." "Good." Slowly, his eyes fall shut again. "Hey, Steve, stay awake. ... Steve?" Quietly, Steve mumbles an 'I'm fine'. Tim already has the cell phone to his ear and calls an ambulance. At the hospital, Steve is about to be wheeled through to surgery.
Again they have to wait, after a few hours a doctor is standing with them again.
"Are they with Commander McGarrett?" Everyone nods.
"The commander is doing well under the circumstances. He has a massive pulmonary contusion, which has caused water to build up in his lungs and make breathing difficult. We were able to remove the fluid, but breathing is still very painful for him. We are already giving him oxygen to support his breathing.
The bullet had lodged in a rib and we removed it. In addition, we had to remove dead tissue from the entry wound and flush it with antibiotics.
Prophylactically, we have given the commander tetanus immunoglobulin to counteract infection with the tetanus bacterium and will continue to provide him with intensive care for now."
"Can we go to him." The doctor shakes his head. "As I said, we're still keeping him on intensive for safety. If there is a tetanus infection, it could be life-threatening for the commander." He looks at the worried faces and relents.
"All right, one person, but only for a moment." Automatically, Danny pushes Catherine forward. "You go, I have a feeling you want to tell him something urgently." Gratefully, Catherine looks at Danny. Yes, she has something to tell Steve, something very important.
Quietly, she enters the room. Because of the back and lung injury, they have Steve lying on his stomach. Again, her eyes moisten as she sees him lying like this. She hears a soft "Catherine." His blue eyes still look at her a little feverishly. She steps closer to the bed and sits down so she is level with him and his face. " Hey sailor."
She takes his hand in hers. "I, ... I'm sorry. I, I didn't mean to. ..." "Hey Cath, it's all good. I'll be fine." "No, I ..."
She takes a deep breath, then it really gushes out of her.
"It was a mistake to leave, Steve, I realize that now. I know you told me then that you weren't going to wait for me anymore and I understand that. I..." again she falters, "I'm out of the Agency and coming back to Oahu. And I ..." "Shh."
He puts a finger on her lips. Lovingly, he looks at her. "Catherine, I love you and that will never change. Still, I'm going to need time." "I know. Steve, I love you too, and I'll do everything I can to make you trust me again."
She leans over to give him a kiss on the forehead, but he lightly grabs her neck and pulls her mouth to his. It's a light kiss, but one with an infinite amount of love in it. "Madame, you must leave now then, please." Catherine releases the kiss and looks deep into Steve's eyes. "I'll be back tomorrow." Nodding slightly, Steve's eyes are already falling shut again.