Always the Hero –Part 1
"Dammit!" Steve hit the return key on his keyboard repeatedly and frantically, hoping to undo whatever is was he had done to cause his computer screen to suddenly freeze up on him just as he was about to complete a report he had been working for the last hour. He hated computers and he hated doing reports even more. If Danny had been there, he would have found a way to get him to do it. He always did. Not that Danny liked doing reports any more than Steve did. But Danny would gladly sit in the quiet confines of his office and work on paperwork if it meant he didn't have to listen to Steve whine about doing it all afternoon.
But Danny wasn't here this afternoon. He had left early to go to a Doctor's appointment with Rachel and Charlie. So Steve was stuck doing his own paperwork for a change.
"Dammit! Dammit!" Steve tried circling the mouse quickly on the mousepad and when that did work, he picked it up and slammed down. Not surprisingly, that didn't work either. It was time to call in the big guns.
"Kono! Yo! Kono! I need you! KONO!
"What? What is it?" Kono exclaimed as she entered the office, more than a little annoyed to be summoned in such a manner.
"My computer broke!" Steve exclaimed, pushing his chair back from the desk. "Fix it. Please."
Kono rolled her eyes and made her way around the desk.
"What do you mean it broke?" She loved her boys on the 5-0 team to death, but they were annoyingly clueless when it came to their computers.
"I mean it's broke! Look." he grabbed the mouse and started circling it on the desktop again. "Nothing! It won't do anything!"
"OK. Calm down." She replied making her way between Steve and desk. "Did you try control, alt, delete?"
"Yes! I'm not stupid!"
"I would never imply such a thing Boss." Kono replied with a smirk.
"Can you fix or not?" Steve asked, ignoring the sarcasm.
"Well no. There is nothing I can do. It's frozen." Kono stated. "We're just going to have to reboot." She informed him, reaching for the power button.
"Whoa! Whoa! What about my report? I've been working for an hour on it."
"Well, you hit save. Right?"
"Uh…"
"Boss! What did I tell you the last time? Always hit save every few minutes when you are working on important reports!"
"I know! I know!" Steve groused. "I did. At least, I think I did."
"Well we're about to find out."
Before Steve could object further, Kono hit the power button on the laptop and the screen went black.
"Oh! You better get that back." Steve informed her as his cell phone started to ring.
"If it's not here, it's not my fault." Kono countered as she hit the power button again to boot the machine.
"Just get it back!" Steve insisted, before hitting the call button on his cell and bringing the phone to his ear. "Yeah, this is McGarrett."
"Steve. Hi. It's Stan Edwards"
"Stan?" Steve replied, more than shocked to be receiving a phone call from Rachel's husband. "What's going on?"
"Listen, I'm sorry to call you at work…"
"No, no. It's fine." Steve replied. "Is everything OK?" He could sense an urgency in Stan's voice that was more than a little unsettling.
"No. Not really." Stan replied. "Have you seen Danny? Is he with you by any chance?"
"No he's not with me. He had a doctor's appointment with Rachel. He left hours ago. Isn't he with her?
"No. He's not." Stan informed him. "Shit!"
"OK. Now I'm getting worried Stan. What's going on?"
Kono looked up at from Steve's laptop and turned her attention to her boss, who was now pacing nervously in front of her.
"Danny and Rachel got some bad news from the Doctor today."
"What kind of bad news?" Steve asked.
"Danny can't be Charlie's donor."
"What?" Steve nearly shouted. "I don't understand. I thought he was a match?"
"He was. He is. But…"
"But what?"
"Danny was exposed to radiation the other day. He can't donate now. Not for a while anyway."
Steve shook his head.
"No. No. Danny's fine." Steve insisted.
"What's happening? Kono whispered. Steve shook his head and raised a hand to quiet her.
"Well, apparently he's not because he was sick this morning." Stan informed him.
"What?" Steve gasped. "He didn't say anything?"
"He probably didn't want to worry you. But it obviously worried him because he mentioned it to the Doctor. They were doing a blood test to confirm but they were pretty confident the radiation exposure was the cause."
"Oh my God."
"The Doctor said he should be fine. Exposure was minimal and they can treat it with medication. He just can't be a donor for Charlie."
Steve sighed and sat down on the edge of his desk.
"Danny must be devastated."
"Yeah." Stan replied solemnly. "Yeah he is. The Doctor wanted to admit him overnight for observation and to start treatment, but Danny took off."
"Why would he do that?" Steve asked getting up from the desk to start pacing again.
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"Stan! Why did Danny leave?" Steve demanded to know.
"Rachel…She uh…"
"What about Rachel?
"She went off on him Steve. She was upset and she took it out on Danny. She said some pretty nasty things."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"She wasn't thinking clearly. She was so distraught about Charlie. But she regrets it now and she's worried sick about Danny. She's tried calling him. We both have. But he doesn't answer his cell. I swung by his house. He's not there."
"What about Grace?" Steve asked. "Has she heard from him?"
"No. We asked her and she hasn't heard from him. We didn't want to tell her any more. She doesn't even know about Charlie yet or that Danny is his father."
"Dammit!"
"Do you have any idea where he might have gone?"
"Yeah. I know a few places I can check."
"Listen. You're working. I can go." Stan offered.
"No!" Steve snapped at him. He didn't mean to. But Danny didn't need to be anywhere near Stan or Rachel at the moment. Regardless of their intentions. "Look, I know you mean well. But I think it would be better if I go after him."
"Yeah. I suppose your right." Stan replied. "I'm probably the last person he wants to see right now. Call us when you find him?"
"Of course." Steve tapped his phone off and barely had time to take a breath before Kono was in front of him.
"What's going on? Danny can't be Charlie's donor?" Kono had only been able to hear one side of the conversation, but that part was clear.
"No he can't." Steve replied, circling his desk to retrieve his car keys from the drawer. "He has radiation poisoning."
"What?" Clearly the news surprised Kono as much as it had him.
"Yeah, apparently Danny has been feeling sick and neglected to tell any of us." Steve said shoving paper and office supplies around in the drawer.
"Are you feeling OK? I mean, you were exposed to." Kono unnecessarily reminded him.
"I feel fine." Steve insisted slamming the drawer shut. "Where the hell are my keys!"
"Behind you on the credenza." Kono informed him. "Are you sure?"
Steve grabbed the keys the turned back to Kono.
"Yes. I swear. I feel fine. And Danno will be fine too. He's just really upset and I have to find him." Steve sighed and shook his head. "It's like Danny just can't catch break. This past year has been a frickin' nightmare for him and it is just getting worse and worse."
"Yeah I know." Kono replied sadly.
"Honestly Kono…I don't know how much more the poor guy can take." Steve said and headed out the door to find his friend.
TBC…
Author's note: I have no medical background nor do I know anything about radiation exposure so this premise may be totally incorrect and unbelievable to those of you that do. But I'm going go with it anyway. Hope you enjoy and as always…I'd appreciate any feedback.
