CHAPTER ONE
Title: "Salvation: Forever and Always: Elusive Dreams – PART III"
Author: Michelle Heath
Rating: MA for adult situations and language
Summary: Story #9 in the Salvation series. The bonds of family bring the Five-0 ohana even closer.
Disclaimer: I so do not own Hawaii Five-0; unfortunately! All original characters are the property of the author!
Date Written: October 27, 2012
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is the first chapter of the final installment of the "Elusive Dreams" storyline. Thank you all so very much for the wonderful reviews, words of encouragement, and suggestions you have given me thus far. It makes my day to log on and find reviews and/or private messages in my in box, so please keep them coming! I hope you enjoy! Michelle
(BAM! The sound of a door slamming reverberates throughout the house followed quickly by the sound of shattering glass as a large, glass tumbler hits the wall at a high velocity. Then, the anguished sound of choked sobs fills the air and the man, bent and nearly broken, slides slowly to the floor and allows all the pain, anger, guilt, and fear inside of him to surface as his head drops in his hands and he weeps for all he's lost and all he might never regain. It has been nearly two months since the accident that killed his son and sent his wife into a state not unlike that of the living dead, and Danny Williams is quite sure that he's slowly going insane. Cmdr. Shelton, Caroline's psychiatrist, has been trying to bring Caroline out of the mental no man's land she's been in since the accident happened, but has, so far, had no success. A few days after their son's funeral, Caroline was moved from S.I.C.U. and to the Psychiatric Unit at the base hospital at Pearl and the therapy sessions began. At first, only Libby and Mike were directly involved in the sessions with Caroline and the doctor and they talked her through her childhood from her birth all the way up to when she had just turned twelve and met Sam. At that point, Sam joined the sessions and they discussed Caroline's life right on up to the point where Caroline met Steve and Danny and then they joined the sessions. They have only talked about the positive aspects of Caroline's life and none of the negative, and that, in itself, has been extremely difficult. They have also not brought up Grace or Emily, and certainly not the baby. For all their painstaking efforts, Caroline's condition has not changed one iota and it's more than taking its toll of everyone. Danny has been holding all his emotions in check for so long that he feels as if he's about to explode. He has just come home from yet another unproductive therapy session, and that is why he slammed the door, threw the tumbler, and is now sitting on the kitchen floor of the house where he and Caroline live crying like a baby. . .
Mike Thrasher stands at a window in the kitchen of his and Libby's beach house and watches his wife as she stands at the railing on their back deck and gazes out at the ocean. Libby looks so forlorn standing out there all alone and Mike has to stop himself from going out there and pulling her into his arms as he wants to, but Libby asked him to give her some time and he's going to do just that. In all the weeks since the accident, Libby has never once faltered in her belief that they would get their daughter back. . Until now. The topic of today's therapy session was the one they were all hoping would be the trigger to bring Caroline back from whatever Hell she's been in; today, they talked about Caroline's and Danny's wedding and honeymoon and even showed Caroline every, single picture that was taken at the wedding, reception, and in Italy. Caroline did not so much as blink and the failure was almost like a physical blow to them all. It seems that, by unspoken agreement, they had all felt that surely talking about the happiest time in Caroline's life would trigger a response. Now that it hasn't, they are all feeling the heavy weight of defeat. Dropping his forehead on the window pane, Mike closes his eyes and begins to pray, once again, for God to give his daughter back to those who love her. . .
Steve McGarrett stands in the doorway of the bedroom he shares with Sam and a heavy weight bears down on him as he watches his wife moving listlessly around the room straightening up where no straightening up is needed. They've just gotten home from the latest therapy session, the one they were all hoping was going to start the process of Caroline's recovery but failed miserably, and it's almost as if none of them have any more hope. Sam has hardly said a word since they left the hospital, and Steve knows that she's going through about ten different kinds of Hell at the moment. Watching her like this is breaking his heart, and Steve wants so desperately to do something but there's nothing he can do and it's killing him. Every, single day, he sees more of his wife disappearing and it's scaring the Hell out of him. Now, seeing the sadness in Sam's eyes, Steve's anger and frustration grow and he has to use all his SEAL training and skills to stop himself from putting his fist through the wall. The sound of their daughter's crying reaches his ears and his heart nearly stops when he realizes that Sam is making absolutely no effort to walk into the nursery and pick up their precious baby. In seconds, Steve has their child in his arms and she calms down, but Steve's anger is rapidly turning to fear that he may lose his own wife before all this is over.)