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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
Completed:
2012-01-12
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8,478
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5/5
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Doctor Bergman's Prescription

Summary:

Dr. Bergman prescribes some quality off duty time for Steve and Danny.

Chapter 1: Part One

Notes:

This is one of a collection of 'Quality Time' vignettes, an exploration of various aspects and moments in Steve and Danny's life together.

Chapter Text

A 'Quality Time' Vignette

Part One

In the office of the medical examiner at Queens Hospital, Steve McGarrett sat on a chair, motionless save for the gentle rise and fall of his shoulders with each deep, controlled breath. Eyes open, jaw clenched, he watched as Dr. Max Bergman, medical examiner and Five-O's personal physician, tugged a length of surgical silk through the gash in his calf, neatly knotting the final stitch and snipping the excess thread.

Flexing his leg experimentally, Steve nodded his approval at the doctor. "Feels fine, Doc," he observed. "Good job, as usual. Thank you." He began to rise, only to be pushed back down with surprising speed and strength by a scowling Bergman.

"And where do you think you're going?" growled the coroner. "Sit right back down, Steve! I'm not finished with you yet, not by a long shot!" As if to prove his point, Bergman continued to work around the wound on Steve's leg, thoroughly cleaning and drying the area surrounding the stitches, applying an antibiotic cream, and finally completing his work by taping it with a small, white bandage. "There. Now I'm finished. Does it still feel fine?" he challenged.

Steve glared at the doctor, but found his own irritation equally matched in Bergman's return stare. He was loath to admit it, but as the local anaesthetic that had been injected prior to the stitching wore off, his leg was becoming increasingly painful. The tense silence stretched for a time, until Steve finally broke eye contact and allowed Bergman his moment of victory. "All right, Doc, you've made your point," he conceded. "Thank you, again. Now may I please be allowed to leave and get back to work? I've got half a dozen things to follow up after the raid this morning! Not to mention the other case files waiting on my desk for me."

Max Bergman was already shaking his head. "No, Steve, I don't think so. Not today. Perhaps not even tomorrow." He scribbled a quick note on the medical chart on his desk. "Tell me, Steve, how do you really feel? Not just your leg, but all around..."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked cautiously, aware that he was being set up but unable to figure out how. "My leg feels a bit tender, but I'll take it easy for a couple of days. I'll be fine, Doc. I've had worse scrapes from working on my boat!"

"That may be," the doctor acknowledged. "But right now you've got five stitches in your leg from yet another high-stakes raid. And," he tapped the chart in front of him. "When your vitals were taken in the ER before they brought you here to see me, your blood pressure and pulse rate were a bit high, even taking into account your circumstances. When was the last time you took some time away from work, Steve?"

"I can tell you when, Doc." Both men looked up at the sound of a familiar voice in the doorway. "It was too long ago, probably almost a month," Danny Williams continued, walking slowly into the room and fixing his concerned gaze on Steve. "He's been going almost non-stop for that whole time, between court appearances and that final big raid on the Pezzutto gang headquarters. And what's this about high blood pressure? Is it serious?" he asked.

"Well," the doctor began, ignoring the thunderous glare that was once again being sent his way. "It's not too bad, at least not yet. But he needs to take a break, that's for sure."

Danny nodded in agreement. "Okay, Doc, I understand."

"I'm telling you, I'm FINE!" Steve fairly shouted in agitation, pushing himself to his feet and stalking across the office to face the two other men.

"More irritable, too, I see," commented Bergman drily, drawing another nod and a faint grimace from Dan.

"At work, and at home as well." The younger man defiantly held his ground against his boss and partner.

"Now listen here, gentlemen..." Visibly annoyed and trying to rein in his rising temper, Steve's demeanour abruptly changed as he got a good look at his second-in-command. "Forget about me for a moment! Danno, what happened? Are you all right?!" He reached out and gently cupped the left side of Danny's face.

Dan jerked his head away, flinching away at even the gentlest of touches from Steve. "It's nothing," he muttered self-consciously. "I just didn't duck fast enough when one of Pezzutto's thugs took a swing at me, that's all. I'll be fine, Doc," he added, unaware that he was echoing Steve's earlier claim, word for word.

"Come over here and sit down, Danny." Bergman drew the young man over to the chair where Steve had earlier been seated. "Let me have a look at that." He tilted Dan's head slightly, studying the left side of his face where the cheekbone was already showing signs of bruising. "How bad is the headache?" he asked as he gently prodded the area.

Danny winced. "Not too bad. It's just a bruise, Doc, nothing broken. The doctor said..." Dan snapped his mouth shut, but the damage had already been done. Closing his eyes and sighing slightly, he waited for the inevitable explosion.

"Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"

"You've already been checked out? By whom?"

Danny cracked an eye open to study the other men, allowing a small grin to escape in spite of the renewed throbbing in his cheekbone. It was hard to tell who sounded more affronted, Steve or Bergman, but it was to the coroner that he addressed his reply. "I came into the Emergency Department to look for Steve. When Dr. Stevens came to give me an answer, he took one look at me and hauled me into an examination room. But really, Doc, it's just a bruise. No serious damage." He shrugged. "And it's my own fault for not getting out of the way fast enough."

"Hmmm." Bergman took a long look at Danny, then reached for the phone on his desk. Dialling a four-digit extension, he kept his level gaze on the young man as he waited for the call to be answered.

Dan slunk a bit lower in the chair, growing uncomfortable under Doc Bergman's scrutiny, and avoiding eye contact with Steve altogether. The Five-O chief was hovering, dividing his attention equally between Danny and the murmured conversation Bergman was having with the ER doctor.

The sound of the telephone handset being replaced drew both detectives' attention back to the coroner. They watched warily as Bergman settled in to his desk chair, grabbed a pen and a small pad of paper, and began to write. For several moments this continued, the tension nearly thick enough to slice with a knife, until finally the doctor set down his pen and regarded them unsmilingly. "Well, Danny, it seems that you're right about your injury; Dr. Stevens agrees that there's no serious damage. However," he paused meaningfully, watching the fledgling victory grin fade from the young man's face as he continued to speak. "He was concerned about your overall condition. It seems that your vitals were a bit on the low side, and in his judgement you appear to be generally run down. So I'll ask you the same question I asked Steve: when was the last time you were away from the office, or had proper meals for a few days in a row?"

For a moment Danny looked like he wanted to protest, but eventually he shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "I can't deny it's been a particularly busy few weeks, Doc," he admitted quietly. "Everyone's been working extra hard, even Jenny and the other secretaries!"

"But none working quite as hard as you two, I would suppose." Bergman shook his head. "Well, this time it's caught up to both of you at the same time, gentlemen, and I'm going to do something about it." He picked up the pad of paper from the desk, read over the notes a final time, then tore off the top sheet with a flourish and held it up. "This, Steve, is my prescription for you and Danny. I would like it carried out to the letter, or I will exercise my authority and report to the Governor that his top law enforcement officers are no longer fit to carry out their duties." He handed the paper to Steve. "Do I make myself clear, gentlemen?"

Steve reached out hesitantly and took the page from the coroner. As he scanned the lines of writing, his eyebrows rose first in disbelief, then open dismay. He passed the paper to his second-in-command. "Now Doc, I know you mean well but this ... this is not going to happen," he stated firmly.

"I don't know, Steve, this doesn't look so bad." Danny was still reading as he spoke. "A break from the office, a couple of home-cooked meals eaten by candlelight in our kitchen, and ... hey!" A broad grin spread over his face as he contemplated Bergman's final instruction. "I don't believe it. Really, Doc?"

Bergman nodded serenely. "Really, Danny. I trust I won't be getting any argument from you?"

"No way, Doc!" Danny was still grinning, in spite of the deepening scowl settling on his lover's face.

"Then it's settled," Bergman said. "As of right now, you are both officially off duty, and will remain so until my prescription has been completed." He swept his hand in the direction of the door. "Now, get out of my office! I have real work to do!" As a still-stunned Danny and Steve filed past him, the coroner began chuckling quietly. "Have fun, you two," he murmured, watching them walk down the corridor. "I look forward to hearing all about it!"

To be continued...