AN: This is my first Hawaii Five-0 fic so I'm sorry if I have slaughtered it but I love the fandom. I came up with idea in the middle of my history GCSE exam (might be why I got a D). I don't own Hawaii Five-0 or its characters. I am not in the medical profession nor do I live in Hawaii so there are bound to be errors and mistakes so I apologise for that in advance. There is established McDanno, and Steve is away on a SEAL mission. Oh and did I mention major whump.
The ... represent a change between the phone conversation and what's happening in the background.
Danny's POV.
The days seem slower without a certain Superseal chasing suspects or blowing things up. It's almost as though all the bad guys have given up now that McGarrett won't be chasing them. Instead he is chasing terrorists and war criminals on the other side of the bloody planet. Of course the Navy would decide they need him only a week after Grace started calling him 'Daddy Steve' instead of 'Uncle Steve'. Only two months since me and Gracie moved in with him. What did I do to make the Navy hate me? What did I do to make God hate me?
I just want, need Steve back.
The sound of my cell ringing brought me out of my internal rant. Unknown Number.
"Detective Williams. Who is this?" I quickly left my office and went over to the smart table. Kono and Chin came over.
"Danno!" Steve's voice was full of relief and something that sounded almost like fear. But that is ridiculous, my Superseal doesn't get scared. I quickly dismissed the thought. Instead I let the sound of Steve's voice sooth me and I felt as though a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.
"Steve, are you coming home?" After three months of no contact he has to be telling me that he is coming home.
"Danno I-" I quickly cut him off. My Superseal is coming home!
"When is your flight? When will you get home? I'll pick you up from the airport. Grace has missed you like crazy. We all have." While I was speaking both Kono and Chin had started doing their own versions of the happy dance. I quickly put my phone on speaker.
"No Danny, you don't understand-" Steve was cut off by a voice on his side of the line.
...
"Lieutenant Commander, there is another bomb. I can't disarm the land mine before the other bomb goes off." The mystery voice said. He sounded young and scared.
"Okay. Everyone get out of here. Take my pack." Steve's voice was quieter than before. Kono and Chin both shifted closer towards me.
"McGarrett, I'm not leaving without you." A second voice said, the voice of reason.
"You won't be leaving me. You will come back and take me home. To Hawaii. To Danny and Grace. Won't you Lieutenant?" Steve's voice was filled with sadness and strangely authority as well. Kono gripped my hand.
"Yes sir!" The Lieutenant replied before shouting, "Everyone, get to a safe distance." The sound of footsteps on mud almost drowned out what Steve said next.
"How long have I got?" Steve's voice was barely a whisper but the Lieutenant heard him.
"Josh says about thirty seconds." Another set of footsteps on mud could be heard and then the silence became deafening.
"Danny, are Chin and Kono with you?" Steve's voice sounded almost like normal again, but not quite.
"We are right hear Boss. What's going on?" Kono asked before I could.
"Danny I love you. Remember that. And tell Gracie that I love her too. Chin, Kono you have to promise me you will look after them." I froze, this sounded suspiciously like goodbye, like he was giving up. Steve took a deep breath that sounded suspiciously like a sob.
"Of course Boss. We promise." Chin had grabbed my hand and I realised I was crying too. "Boss, are you crying?" Obviously I wasn't the only one to hear it.
"Kono, Chin. I love you guys too. You all have to take care of each other. Danny I love you and Gracie. I love you, my ohana. I-" Steve was cut off by the sound of an explosion. All three of us jumped, it was so loud. I half expected Steve to burst out laughing and say that it was all a joke.
Instead the voices from earlier returned along with a few more, presumably the rest of Steve's SEAL team.
"Commander?" The first voice from earlier shouted, Josh.
"Steve?" A new voice shouted.
"McGarrett, where the hell are you? I promised that I would take you home to Gracie and Danno." The Lieutenant shouted.
"Steve?"
"Lieutenant, I've found him." The last voice was louder than the others, closer to the phone. Footsteps echoed. Kono squeezed my hand and I squeezed back.
"Is he alive?" The Lieutenant asked.
"Yes." I let out a sigh of relief.
"McGarrett, wake the hell up. You don't wanna get caught sleeping on the job. Somebody stop the bleeding." Hearing that Steve was unconscious and bleeding jolted me into action.
"What the hell is going on? What happened to Steve? Someone tell me what happened." I was about to start ranting when a laugh from the phone interrupted.
"Danny I presume." The Lieutenant said.
"That's Detective Williams to you. Who the hell are you?" Why is he laughing when Steve is hurt?
"Lieutenant Sebastian Castle. McGarrett talks about you a lot. I knew he would call you."
"Great but that doesn't tell me what's wrong with Steve." Why is he being evasive? Is Steve in really bad condition?
"Sorry. He got blown up. But he is alive. We've already radioed evac and they're less than a minute out. They will take us back to base and treat him if they can, and if they can't then they will make him stable and transfer him to the hospital at Pearl. I've got to go, the evac is here. I'll call when I know more." And with that tiny piece of information he ended the call.
"Steve thought he was going to die and he called me?" Steve almost died and I wasn't there to stop it, save him, be there for him or tell him to behave for the doctors.
"What did you expect brah? He loves you." Kono started to rub circles on the back of my hand as she guided me into a chair.
"He has never said that he loves me before. I know he does but he has never said it before." Kono stopped rubbing circles on the back of my hand and Chin sat down in opposite with three cups of coffee.
"He never said that he loves you before?" Kono seemed shocked.
"No that was the first time he said that he loves me."
"He thought he was going to die and he calls you to tell you that he loves you. What kind of romantic, idiotic fool does that? Why the hell didn't he say it before?" Kono looked like she was about to rant but instead took a deep steadying breath and a gulp of coffee. She started rubbing circles on the back of my hand again.
"He's afraid of commitment. He was afraid that if he admitted that he loves me then his enemies would come after me; especially with him being on SEAL missions." I explained. Chin remained silent as he handed me my coffee.
"That's insane." Kono muttered.
"Hesse killed Steve's dad even though they hadn't spoken in years. Then there's always Wo Fat to worry about. I can understand where Steve is coming from with this." Chin mumbled into his coffee cup. "And it is exactly like normal Steve behaviour; put others safety especially those he cares about before his needs, safety and especially his feelings."
"God, he's really hurt and he's alone. What if he's dying on some random army base in the middle of no-where? When are we going to find out what's wrong and if he is going to be okay? What if he comes home in a box with a flag on it? He will come home though right?" I need to be with Steve.
"Danny, Steve will be okay. He's too stubborn to die. He will come home alive. Now I think we could all use a drink. For the love of god, don't forget your cell." Kono pulled me up and handed me my phone. Chin dumped the empty coffee cups into the bin.
"Why is my cell so important to you Kono?" I won't admit it but a drink sounds like a really good idea.
"Really Danny, you haven't figured it out? Castle said that he would phone us when he had info on Steve. Steve phoned you, so Castle will phone you."
(Hours and quite a bit of alcohol for Danny and Kono later)
"Danny I think your cell is going off." Kono said after downing another shot.
"I think I would know if my cell was ringing." I patted my pockets looking for my phone. "I've lost my cell!"
"Chill brah, I've got it." Chin handed me my cell.
"Thanks Chin. Oh look Kono it is ringing. Hello?" I answered my cell.
"Danny? It's Lieutenant Castle. I have news on Steve." A strange voice said.
"Lieutenant who?" Chin quickly took the phone off of me. "Hey! Give me my phone back." Chin just ignored me and walked out of the bar. Kono and I both threw some money onto the bar and ran after Chin. I only caught the end of the conversation.
"Why isn't he at Tripler?" Chin asked. "So it's really bad then. Thank you. I'll tell Danny. We will all be there in a few minutes." Chin hung up and glanced at us. "Kono, Danny. Get in the car. I'm driving. We are going to Queens. Steve's being brought in." And just like that I sobered up and we all jumped in the car. Chin floored it as soon as we were out of the parking lot.
"But if Steve was brought home that means he's really bad. Doesn't it? What did the Lieutenant tell you Chin? Is Steve going to be okay? Why is he going to Queens instead of Tripler?" Oh god Steve!
"He's got quite a few broken bones, a lot of shrapnel; one of his ribs punctured his lung and nicked an artery. His bones have been set and they've repaired the artery and his lung. But at the moment there main concern is his head injury, the fact that he hasn't woken up in the past-" Chin quickly checked his watch. "Eight hours and his legs, I don't know how bad they are but he was standing on a bomb when it exploded so... They've only just got him to Queens so we won't be allowed in until they've got all the equipment hooked up. The Lieutenant said that Steve looks worse than he is. And he is at Queens because they have the best trauma centre on the island." Chin parked and switched off the engine.
"Wait, eight hours. I need to go and get Gracie. She doesn't even know about Steve. But if it's bad then maybe she shouldn't see him." Crap, I forgot Gracie.
"Relax brah, I called Rachel and told her what happened and that you weren't in the best condition right now so Grace is at hers. Now let's go and see if we can see Steve yet." Chin got out the car and opened Kono's door, and she promptly threw up on the ground. "At least you didn't throw up in Danny's Camaro." I quickly got out of Chin's door after I pushed the seat forward.
"Sorry Danny." Kono mumbled.
"It's okay Kono; you paid for most of the drinks. Plus you didn't get it on my car. Here have the keys; when you feel up to it lock the car and come inside. There's a bottle of water in the driver's door." I put the keys on the dash and started to walk towards the hospital doors.
"Thanks Danny." Kono shouted as she rummaged for the bottle of water. Chin walked beside me in silence.
"I'm Detective Williams and this is Lieutenant Kelly; we are with Five-0. Can we see Lieutenant Commander McGarrett or speak to his doctors?" I tapped my fingers on the desk nervously.
"Lieutenant Commander McGarrett is in room two oh six. His doctors are with him at the moment so you can't go in but you can wait outside his room." The nurse smiled.
"Thank you. Officer Kalakaua will be here in a few minutes could you tell her where to go?" We can go and see Steve!
"No problem Detective." The nurse smiled. When we got to Steve's room a doctor was walking out of the room.
"Are you McGarrett's doctor?" I asked the man.
"Yes, and you are?" The doctor replied. Who am I? I am Steve's partner and I want to know what the hell is wrong with him. Chin put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a slight reassuring squeeze before stepping in front of me.
"I'm Lieutenant Kelly and this is Detective Williams. We are with Five-0 and we work with McGarrett when he isn't on missions. Detective Williams is McGarrett's emergency contact. What can you tell us about McGarrett's condition?" Chin asked calmly. The doctor sighed.
"Steve is in pretty bad condition. The lower half of his left leg was too damaged to save, the rest of his left leg and his right are both riddled with shrapnel. We will take him into surgery to remove it all once he is stable. He broke six ribs; one of which punctured his lung and nicked an artery; we have repaired the damage but he is on a ventilator at the moment. He has broken all three bones in his right arm; we won't be able to put it into a cast until the stitches are removed. He has also broken his left wrist; which is in a cast. He has several skull fractures and a severe concussion; we won't know the extent of the brain damage until he wakes up. He has lost a lot of blood and we are still giving him transfusions. He is also fighting infection from the open fractures. You can go in but do not disturb any of the equipment and don't touch him. You can hold his left hand but that's about it." The doctor shook Chin's hand and just gave me a sympathetic smile. Steve is hurt really badly. Wait Chin said that the Lieutenant said that Steve isn't as bad as he looks. He must look dead.
"When you say 'too damaged to save' what do you mean?" Chin asked just as the doctor turned to walk away.
"Yes, I mean what you think I mean. We had to amputate it." The doctor just turned and walked away. Amputate is a horrible word. They amputated Steve's leg. That means he won't be able to come back to Five-0 or chase suspects or do the mental things he does. Steve won't be able to be Steve.
Chin put his arm round my shoulder and guided me into Steve's room and onto the chair by the left side of the bed. I put my hand on top of Steve's cast covered hand.
I have never seen Steve look so fragile and I never want to again.
I could feel the tears streaming down my face, I looked over to Chin only to see that he wasn't having much success fighting the onslaught of tears either.
"S-Steve. Oh God I am so sorry. I wanted you to come home but not like this. Babe, you have to fight. For me; for Gracie, for Chin and Kono. Don't give up. We will support you even when you don't want us to because we are your ohana and we aren't going to give up on you. Please wake up babe. I want to bring Gracie to see you but I think it will break her to see you like this; it's breaking my heart. Even Chin is crying; I think you broke his Zen mood. As soon as you're off of the ventilator she will be in here quicker than you can say Grace-face. She's with Rachel at the moment. I want to be with her and comforting her but I've had way too much to drink today and I am in quite a volatile mood. Mind you; I wasn't the one chucking up in the parking lot. Never do shots with that woman; I swear that she had twice as many shots as me. I probably should go and check on her but I don't want to leave you so soon after I've got you back. Even if you weren't injured I wouldn't be letting you out of bed for at least a week. God, I don't know what I would have done if I lost you. Jesus I would have been homeless. I'm joking, I care more about you being okay than having a roof over my head. You said that you love me Steve. You finally said it ON THE PHONE. What idiot says 'I love you' for the first time on the phone when they are about to be blown up? Oh yeah; that would be my idiot Superseal. Does this mean that you are ready to propose to me now? I found the rings by the way; in the surfboard cleaning supplies. Let's just say that I was shocked to say the least. I'm guessing you didn't think I would go in the surfboard cleaning supplies but Kono has been giving me and Gracie surfing lessons. Grace really wanted to learn but I wanted to wait until you got home so you could teach us but Grace wanted to surprise you and Kono offered. I figured you wouldn't mind too much because you can still teach her all about grenades, surviving in the pineapple infested jungle and pass on your crazy ninja moves to our daughter. Surfing helped, it distracted us from your absence but made it feel like you were right there with us and telling me I wasn't doing it right." I took a deep breath to hide the sob that was about to escape. It was like talking to a brick wall; yes Steve wasn't the most talkative man but this was unnerving. Steve was never still and now the only thing that moved was his chest and that is because of the ventilator. Steve is being so unlike Steve that I'm not sure who I am anymore. I looked up at Chin hoping he would offer support but found that Kono had come in and was leaning heavily on him and that they were both crying but smiling like lunatics. Kono snorted at my confused look.
"Danny is back!" Kono exclaimed and started doing her happy dance. Man that woman is so confusing.
"I don't understand; I didn't go anywhere. Steve was the one on SEAL missions. Have you two gone insane or are you in shock?" And Kono is drunk; I didn't think Chin had that much to drink.
"You're ranting at Steve, waving your arms everywhere and making jokes. We've missed you as much as we've missed Steve." Chin explained and patted my shoulder before collapsing onto the couch on the other side of Steve's bed.
"So how come you didn't tell us that you found rings in Steve's surfboard cleaning supplies?" Kono asked as she jumped onto the couch and sat on the arm.
"I only found them last night when I was putting the surfboards away and today has been a bit hectic." I squeezed Steve's hand in the hopes of a response only to have my hopes smashed when I got nothing.
"Oh crap brah. So what do they look like? Do they have diamonds? Silver, platinum or gold? Are they-?" Kono didn't take a breath in between her questions. I quickly cut her off by throwing the ring box at her. "You have them with you?" Kono looked a bit shocked.
"Since I found them I haven't been able to put them down. I wanted to put the ring on but at the time Steve hadn't even said that he loved me yet and now that he has I don't know what to do. I still want to put it on but then Steve wouldn't be able to propose and he's really hurt. I don't even know if the ring was meant for me. What if it was for Catherine? Oh God." I buried my face in my hands and sighed. God I want the ring to be mine. I want to wear it and I want Steve to wake up wearing his and for him to know what that means. I want to marry Steve and spend the rest of my life with him, no matter how injured he is. I didn't realise that it was too much to ask for.
"Danny, it is clearly a man's ring; it's obviously meant for you. Try it on if you don't believe me. I think you should wear it Danny. Like you said Steve is hurt and this will make him very happy." Kono smiled and took the ring out. "Oh my God! I didn't think Steve could possibly be so romantic. Have you read the inscription? Do you know what it means?" Kono was practically bouncing with excitement.
"Well Grace is getting good at Hawaiian and she thought it said 'saviour of my heart and soul'. Is that right?" Suddenly I felt very unsure of myself. What if I didn't understand it? What if the words held more meaning; a deeper meaning?
"Close but not quite. It means 'my saviour, you have my heart and soul'. I honestly didn't think Steve was that romantic." Kono carefully put the ring back in the box and handed it back to me then burst into tears. She leapt off of the couch and gripped onto the bed rail. "Oh God Steve you need to wake up; even if it is just to propose to Danny. Nothing is the same without you; Danny is quiet, Chin gets agitated, I don't go surfing in the morning, Grace puts on a fake smile all the time and Kamekona doesn't invited us to try his new creations anymore. We need you back Steve, your ohana need you back." Kono gave a little hiccup and wiped away her tears. "Can I plan your wedding? I promise I won't go over the top but it has to be on the beach and there has to be flowers. Should Doris be invited? No, she doesn't approve of you two; which is ridiculous by the way because you two are amazing together. Can I be your flower girl? No, Grace will be your flower girl. Could I be your maid of honour? Wait, that doesn't work because there isn't a bride. Ugh what can I be? Is Chin going to be your best man? Does there have to be two best men because there's no bride's maids? Wait that means the maid of honour and the best man can't hook up, not that I want to hook up with you anyway cuz. Should Joe be invited? I know he's like a father to you Steve even though he betrayed you. Should Rachel and Stan be invited? I need to call Mary and ask for her help; this has to be amazing. Oh crap did anyone tell Mary that you're in hospital? I'll call her, back in a minute." Kono grabbed her cell off of the couch and ran out of the room. I just stared at the spot where she had stood moments before.
"Chin do you have any idea what just happened because I don't?" Wedding; Kono started planning mine and Steve's wedding. Steve hasn't even proposed yet. How are we meant to have a wedding when he is in hospital?
"I think cuz just turned into a girl." Chin looked as dazed as I felt. "I can't believe we forgot to tell Mary." Chin's dazed looked quickly morphed into a guilty expression.
"It's not your fault Chin, you were looking after our drunken asses, you were worried about Steve and you made sure Gracie was okay. So thank you Chin for everything you do for us."
KONO'S POV
"Hello?" Mary mumbled.
"Mary, its Kono. I-" Mary's squeal cut me off.
"Kono! We haven't talked in ages. What's up? Got juicy gossip on my bro and Danny?" Don't beat around the bush Kono.
"Mary, your brother is in hospital and it's really bad." Jesus how do I explain this?
"What happened to him? Is he going to be okay? How's Danny holding up?" Mary rushed, not taking a breath.
"Steve was on a SEAL mission and he got blown up. He hasn't woken up since the incident. He's not stable enough for surgery to remove the shrapnel. It was so bad that they brought him home. We're all at Queens now. Danny isn't holding up to well; none of us are. You should probably get on a plane. If Steve, when Steve wakes up he is going to need all of our support. He won't be able to be a SEAL anymore or be head of Five-0 for a while." Oh God, I said if Steve wakes up.
"I'm already booking a flight and packing my bags. I'll be there in a few hours; can you pick me up from the airport?" Mary sounded so scared.
"Of course Mary. I have good news too; Steve and Danny are getting married." I heard Mary squeal. "It gets better; Danny handed planning over to us!" Well it's a slight exaggeration but she needs good news.
"Yay! I've got to go and finish packing. I'll see you soon Kono." Mary rushed before hanging up.
I walked into the room to see Danny asleep with his head resting on Steve's cast covered left hand and Chin staring at the monitors surrounding Steve like they held the answers to all of life's mysteries. I laid down on the couch with my head on Chin's lap and my legs hanging over the arm. I contemplated going to sleep but then I realised that I will need to pick up Mary from the airport in a few hours.
"Oh crap!" My exclamation made Chin jump.
"What's wrong? You scared the crap out of me." Chin complained.
"I said that I would pick Mary up from the airport when she arrived." God, I just wanna go to sleep.
"So, what's wrong with that?" For a detective Chin can be pretty dense sometimes.
"So I've been drinking all day and I don't want to be arrested again. Been there done that hated it." Chin flinched at the mention of my arrest for being a dirty cop and steeling the drug money.
"I'll go pick her up; besides the only car here is Danny's Camaro. Can I have the keys? When is Mary getting here?" I fished Danny's keys and my cell out of my jeans pocket and handed them both to Chin.
"Mary didn't tell me when she would be arriving but she said that she would call so take my phone. I told her it was bad but I didn't tell her how bad I didn't want her to worry too much before she gets here. I also told her about Steve and Danny getting married; I thought that it would cheer her up." I looked over to Danny and Steve, they both looked peaceful.