78Steve woke and tried to focus, his vision was blurry. He moved and instantly cried out in pain. His entire body hurt and his head, ohhh damn his head! He'd had the flu before, albeit it was several years ago and he never remembered it hurting like this. He forced himself to a sitting position and moaned as the pain in his abdomen shot up his body. This, along with pain in his lower back caused him to gasp as the air seemed to be sucked from his lungs. He reached for the water and as his vision cleared he noticed the bruising on his hands and arms. Deep red, purple bruising, he pulled the sleeping bag from his body and what he saw horrified him. His chest, abdomen and legs were also bruising. He coughed and pulling his hand away from his mouth, he saw it...blood...
He struggled to clear his foggy brain, 'Shit McGarrett...this ain't the flu. You gotta get out of here... no one knows where you are... move...you gotta move...gotta move or you'll die...move McGarrett'
His survival instincts kicked in and fighting through the pain he grabbed his nearby clothes and slowly dressed himself. Every movement brought intense pain. He looked at his watch. It was nine thirty and he figured he was about half a mile from him truck. He tried his cell phone but as expected there was no service. Taking a deep breath he pushed his body up, wrapping his arms around the pole supporting the middle of the tent. His head was spinning as he fought the urge to pass out. After a couple of minutes, the dizziness subsided and he then noticed his finger. The index finger of his left hand where the monkey had bitten him was horribly discolored and swollen.
'It's gotta be some kind of infection...but what about the bleeding and bruising? What the fuck was wrong with that monkey?' He placed his head against the pole and chuckled, 'A God damn tiny spider monkey!'
He tore a piece of his tee shirt off and holding it in his teeth he took his switchblade from his cargo pants. He poured water onto his hand to sanitize it the best he could and then without hesitating he sliced his finger deeply, lancing it. 'OH SHIT' He groaned at the pain and with his other hand he squeezed the wound. Blood and a large amount of green pus flowed freely from the finger as he continued to squeeze, draining it. Then using his free hand and his teeth, his tightly tied the tee shirt around the bleeding finger. He then made his way out of the tent and after putting a couple of water bottles into his pants pockets he started walking slowly back towards his truck.
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Back in Danny's office the detective continued with his questioning of Doctor Gallegos. "What is the survival rate with this virus Doc?"
"Unfortunately the Zaire strain of the Ebola hemorrhagic fever is the most deadly to humans. The survival rate is only 10%"
"Damn it...tell me everything Doc, what are the other symptoms?"
"Along with the initial flu like symptoms the patient will develop diarrhea and be extremely fatigued. Typically within five to seven days bleeding will begin, but I have heard of this occurring sooner. The virus attacks the lining of the arteries causing vascular collapse and internal bleeding. He will bruise and he will begin to bleed from his eyes, ears, nose, mouth and rectum. His skin will be extremely sensitive and his eyes and testes will swell"
Danny sighed deeply, running his hands across his face, "Sounds lovely...go on, please"
"Hemorrhagic fever attacks the liver, kidneys, lymphatic system and testes. Death usually occurs within seven to sixteen days and is almost always brought on by shock and low blood pressure which leads to respiratory distress"
"So he got this crap through the bite then?"
"Yes, it's trasmitted through bodily fluids"
"What can you do for him?"
"Danny, there is no cure for this"
Danny's voice raised in frustration and fear, "What the hell are you talking about? You're saying you can't do anything?"
"There is no explanation known as to why 10% survive. All we can do his pump him full of electrolytes so he doesn't dehydrate and administer blood transfusions. We can also inject him with Interferon"
"What's that?"
Interferon injections are a man-made version of a protein. These proteins stimulate immune cells to destroy body cells that have become infected with the virus. Basically they attach to uninfected cells and block the spread of the virus"
"And that's done with injections?"
"Yes, daily injections at first and then we would taper off as he recovers"
"Okay good...that's good because I'm telling you Doc, Steve is an ex-Navy SEAL and no one is going to fight harder for his life"
The Doctor smiled, "I'm glad to hear that. Now we need to talk about you. Were you or Gracie in contact with Steve after he became symptomatic?"
"Thankfully Gracie hasn't seen him since Sunday, the day after he was bit. Her Mom and I are divorced, so the last I saw her was Sunday night as well. So she should be fine right?"
"She should be, but I think you'll agree that we shouldn't take any chances"
"Oh course I agree. What do we need to do?"
"We need to quarantine her"
"For how long? Twenty one days?"
"Yes. The gentlemen here will agree. If this virus gets out into the general population there will be an epidemic and none of us can risk that"
"No of course we can't. Doctor she's seven years old, I don't want to scare her. Can she remain quarantined at home if her Mother monitors her closely?"
"Knowing that she's had no direct interaction with Zeus and that she hasn't seen Steve since he became ill I would say yes, we can do that"
"Good, Thank you Doctor"
"Now what about you?"
"Monday and Tuesday, he seemed fine. He didn't complain at all until Wednesday morning and then he said his neck was stiff and he had a headache. I felt his forehead for a fever but that's it. I saw him ten, fifteen minutes tops. You said it's transmitted through bodily fluids right?"
"Yes, was he sweating?"
"No...I don't think so"
"We really should quarantine you as well just to be safe"
"That's fine Doc but I'm not showing any symptoms and as long as I'm not I need to work on trying to find him. I'm NOT going to sit in a locked room while he's out there dying, do you hear me?"
"I understand, but you know the symptoms and you know the risks involved. If you feel achy at all or your throat hurts, I need you tell me immediately"
John Lewis from the CDC chimed in, "I don't like this. We all, including you Mr. Williams, have an obligation to keep the general population safe. We can't have you running around infecting people just so you can save your partner"
The words cut through Danny like a knife, 'just so you can save your partner'. If he had his way he would tear the God damn man's head off, "You bureaucratic son-of-a-bitch! How dare you question me! I have spent the last fifteen years of my live as a cop and detective. I put my life of the line every day fulfilling my obligation to keep the people safe!"
"Mr. Williams..."
Danny cut him off, "You had better get the fuck out of here right now before I come over this desk" His voice shook with anger and absolute pure rage.
The Doctor put his hand out to stop Mr. Lewis as he made a step towards Danny, "You two better leave John. I'll watch him. Mr. Williams will work with me. We need to find his partner and find him fast. Mr. McGarrett is the only person we know of in danger at this time. Please go...I'll call you"
Lewis and Miyashiro turned and left the office without another word being spoken. Danny then called Governor Jameson.
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Steve continued moving. His body was exhausted but he could not let it betray him. Steve McGarrett was not going to die from the bite of a fucking spider monkey! He poured water over his head. He was burning up, his eyes stung and felt swollen. He felt blood drip from his nose and he ran his forearm across it. His mind drifted to Gracie and Dannny, oh shit he hoped they weren't sick. He would never be able to forgive himself if they became ill with whatever God forsaken crap that monkey gave him. He wanted to stop...he wanted to sleep...just for a little while and then he would feel better...
Every fifty to sixty feet he would stumble and fall to his knees. And like a good soldier he would get back up and carry on. In his fevered mind he heard him and he answered, "Yes Sir...keep moving Sir...yes Sir Commander White, I will not stop...keep moving…yes Sir"
Steve McGarrett would not quit, Steve McGarrett would not die...