The Recovery Period: Chapter One
TW: Minor character death. Violence. Language.
A/n: Yet another attempt to make sense of that last scene of 6x25. I so enjoyed writing Take Two, and although this is technically a sequel, it is not necessary to read the fic before reading this. I may give light spoilers to Take Two, but I'll try not to. Anyway, hope you enjoy this sequel. Please let me know what you think! And don't worry, Steve will show up in chapter two. Hope this helps fill the between-seasons void!
Danny honestly never imagined he would reach a point in his life in which he would wish for the appearance of Stan Edwards. But after nearly two weeks stuck in a hospital bed, Danny would take help from his sworn enemy. If a stranger had entered his room out of the blue and offered to take him anywhere other than the hospital, Danny would not have hesitated. Not that Danny was particularly opposed to hospitals. Hospitals healed. That was always a good thing. It was just the ogre in the bed next to him Danny could no longer stand to be around.
Although he desperately wanted to rub the crick in his neck, Danny did not dare raise his arms. His cracked ribs still bothered him, and would for quite some time. They were nowhere near healed – part of his doctor's hesitation to release Danny early.
Part of Danny wished the man asleep in the bed next to him – his partner, Steve – was awake. He wished Steve was awake and things were better. He wished he could see the look on Steve's face when he told him Stan, of all people, was picking him up from the hospital so Danny could recover for at least two more weeks under the watchful eye of his ex-wife, her second husband, and his children. But Danny was slipping away unnoticed.
This was easy enough to do – Danny had only been seen by nurses nearly his entire time at the hospital. Steve had received nearly all of the visitors. And phone calls. And emails. And press. Cards. Flowers. Balloons. Cookie cakes. Fucking cookie cakes. And half of Danny's liver, lest anyone forget, which everyone had seemed to. So, in the end, Danny had cornered his doctor and begged for an early release just to get away from Steve. He had not wanted to switch rooms and hurt Steve's feelings, but he had to get away. His doctor was hesitant to release Danny on account of his ribs, but Danny insisted. He said he felt completely fine and could hardly feel any pain. This, of course, was a lie.
"You're not even halfway through your recovery period." Danny's doctor had told him. "I don't feel comfortable with this. Besides, your partner obviously is more comfortable around you."
"Okay, but doc..." Danny leaned against the counter of the Nurses' Station heavily. His knees were wobbly. This was his first time walking down the hall. On account of his cracked ribs he breathed in and out gently. "Doc, listen. This is more of an interpersonal thing, you understand? Just because I want to leave doesn't mean I'm not getting treated well here. I just…this place wasn't meant for a guy like me, you know?"
Danny's doctor looked at him as if he was reading Danny's chart off of his forehead. "Someone suffering from a neurosis, you mean."
Danny was silent for a moment. "Okay…um, yes. A neurosis. Fine. The point is, I'd really rather just go home. Steve, you know, he worries sometimes, too. I think my being right next to him this whole time isn't good. He can't really sleep without knowing I'm okay, and I want him to focus on his own recovery."
"I think you may have that switched, detective." His doctor examined Danny once more, before rubbing the back of his neck. "You aren't currently in pain?"
"I feel great, doc. Best I've felt in days." Danny clutched his side cautiously, hoping the doctor wouldn't notice.
"You have someone in mind who can take care of you for at least the next three weeks?"
"Yes." Danny answered immediately. "My nephew lives with me. Uh, he's older than you think. He's incredibly responsible, doc."
Another lie, of course. Eric was an oaf, first of all, who spent his days off completely immersed in an assortment of video games. Recently, Eric had tried to introduce Danny to the finer qualities of "catching 'em all". Unfortunately (or fortunately, as Danny tended to think) Eric was taking a much needed vacation. He had gone back to Jersey to visit the family. Eric had taken the results of the Joel Novak case hard. The case, which had concluded six months ago, was far out of the minds of most of 5-0 – still, the case had changed how Danny and Eric viewed each other for the better. Occasionally, Danny and Eric even began speaking about Mattie again. But Eric was in New Jersey until at least the next day. He was on the tail end of his vacation time. After the plane crash, Danny had insisted Eric stay with the family in Jersey. It was Rachel who had initially called Clara Williams to inform her of her son's hospitalization. Clara was barely off of the phone before she had told the whole family. Danny was sure he wouldn't be able to count how many Hail Marys were said on his behalf. But that was in Jersey. None were said on his behalf in Hawaii.
"Detective." Danny's doctor was saying something. Danny blinked away his trailing thoughts.
"Uh," he cleared his throat. "Like I say, my nephew is really…he's really…" Danny gave up. "He's something."
The doctor stared at Danny. It was nearing midnight and he was tired. "Okay." He sighed. "Clearly, you're strained being here."
"True." Danny said slowly, trying not to look too hopeful.
"Your constant state of agitation is not healthy for your blood pressure or the recovery of your partner." He looked down at his charts. "Under the conditions that you will have a caretaker, and you'll stay off of your feet, and you'll continue to take your medication, and get a lot of rest, and drink lots of fluids-"
"Absolutely. Absolutely, doc. You're one in a million. A real mensch." Danny patted the doctor on the back. The doctor scowled in response, shutting Danny's chart and walking away.
He was free.
Now he just needed someone to take care of him.
The first person Danny thought of was Chin Ho Kelly. If anyone could aptly take care of the recovering Danny, it would be Chin, who often calmed Danny's pestering anxiety, whereas Steve tended to only aggravate it. Chin, also, had been the only member of 5-0 who had actually made somewhat of an effort to visit Danny during his hospitalization. Of course, Chin had visited Steve first, but after Steve became too tired Chin would turn towards Danny and actually ask him how he was doing, which was more than anyone else had done.
"Danny, hey." Chin answered on what felt like the twentieth ring. He was unusually distracted. He managed to ask for an update on Steve. Then he asked about Danny, almost as an afterthought. Danny tried not to take this to heart. Before Danny could even make his request, Chin interrupted Danny to apologize. He did not have much time to talk on the phone. He had received a call from child services. Turns out he would be able to begin the process to adopt his niece. She would be coming home in the next few days, and he had to clean. And he wanted to put up pictures of Malia, to make Sara feel comfortable. Meanwhile, Abby was in San Francisco, so work was backed up with just Lou, Kono, and him on the job. He just had too much on his plate, especially now with a report of shots fired just a few minutes ago on Mokule'ia Beach. Chin was on his way to the crime scene now.
"Anyway. What was it that was on your mind, brah?" Chin let out a sigh.
"Don't worry about it." Danny responded after some hesitation. "Just wanted you to know about Steve."
"Glad he's still getting lots of sleep."
"Yeah. Me too." Danny said. His shoulders drooped. "Uh, what do you have on the shots fired?"
"Oh no, don't even think about it, brah. You need to recover."
"Not e-"
"Gotta go, Danny. Tell Steve we're thinking about him." Chin's voice was suddenly urgent, and he hung up quickly. Danny stared at his phone, at a loss.
That was when Grace had texted her father, wanting to know how he was doing – a novel thought. Danny hardly allowed himself to really comprehend the way he had thus far been treated, but, hell, fucking Stan Edwards had showed more compassion towards Danny than the likes of 5-0, and Steve had yet to realize any of this. Not that Danny intended on bringing it up. He was too proud for that. But he would soon be swallowing his pride when he reluctantly agreed to his daughter's ludicrous suggestion – that he should stay with Rachel, Stan, and she and Charlie.
The nurses prepared to discharge him. Some were reluctant to do so, but had no choice. Danny was surprisingly complacent, and by the time he had finished the paperwork his daughter was hugging him, and he was holding her, and his heart stopped beating so wildly with the incessant anxiety he had felt since Steve had been shot.
Stan stood slightly away from the door to Danny and Steve's room, obviously agitated. Danny pulled away from his daughter and gingerly walked towards Stan. He held out his hand. Stan hesitated, glancing at Grace before shaking Danny's hand.
"We should probably go." Stan said crisply.
Danny nodded. As the three walked away, Danny looked back at the sleeping Steve only once.
Chin left his after quickly ending his conversation with Danny. Mokule'ia Beach was crowded with police officers, even at nearly three in the morning. Chin knew the beach well, and easily navigated through the cool sand. Despite the dark, Chin could spot the jolting flashlights further ahead that shone towards the bundle of trees in the distance. The sound of lapping waves was smothered by the crackling of police radio.
"Lieutenant Kelly." A young rookie came to meet him, shaking his hand quickly. "Glad you're here."
"What happened?"
"It's better just to show you, sir." The rookie was clearly at a loss. "Come with me."
She led him to the woods, where the flashlights were congregated. Indeed, Chin could now see a trail of blood – no, two trails.
"How many involved?" Chin asked, kneeling down to take a look at the blood. It was fresh. He followed the darker trail with his eyes. More policemen and women were gathered in the midst of the forest. Chin began to walk towards them.
"We believe there was only one shooter, sir." The rookie caught up to Chin quickly. "One shooter, two victims. The first body is up here, sir."
Indeed, Chin had reached the circle of police. The flashes from cameras and phones lit up the body sprawled on the roots.
The police had found him face down, but once the medical examiners had arrived he was turned over. He was young. Maybe twenty years old, but not any older. His dark hair was matted with dirt and blood. Chin noted the hole in the boy's chest. The bullet had gone clean through the back. He was also bleeding from his neck. Perhaps a second bullet had grazed h-
"Lieutenant Kelly." A medical examiner Chin did not recognize, but undoubtedly one who was working in lieu of Max, held out his hand. "Dr. Kurokawa."
"What happened here, doctor?"
"Looks to me like the vic was running away from the shooter. At this point he had probably been shot once already. Here, at his neck. The bullet only grazed his neck. Was then shot again, in the chest. At this point he tripped over this root and hit his head. I would say the time of death an hour ago. Two a.m."
"No lead on the shooter?" Chin asked, looking around at the policemen and women. They all shook their heads.
"There's no weapon here, sir. Nothing.
"Who called this in?" Chin asked next.
"The boy who was with him, sir. GSW to the shoulder. Apparently he had run further ahead than our vic. Managed to call 9-1-1 before he fainted."
"Okay." Chin said. He nodded to himself. "What's the boy's name?"
"Don't know, sir. He was unresponsive when we found him. We didn't even know he was alive."
"Okay." Chin said again. "Dr. Kurokawa, are you set to take the body back?"
"I am, lieutenant."
"Fine. I'll go to the hospital and see our second victim."
"I'll give you the address, sir." The rookie to whom Chin had first spoken was at his side again. Chin nodded at her.
"And, sir?" The group of young rookies looked at Chin hopefully before left. "Please let Commander McGarrett know we hope he feels better soon.
"Of course." Chin's eyes softened. "He'll be glad to hear it."