Ever since the incident Steve had been wary, always looking out for Danny, making excuses to come over, to check on him. Because God knows, Danny is one stubborn man. He wouldn't ask for help even if he needed it. And the worst part of it all? Steve didn't even know what the motive was behind that guy shooting Danny. That made no sense. Steve tried hard to rack his brain, to think of any case, anywhere that he could remember that guy from. Sure, he was dead, but did it end there? Was it only one person? Or was he working for someone? Steve had so many questions and so few answers. And then they'd found that picture. What had it all meant?
"You didn't have to come with us you know" Danny said to Steve mildly annoyed that Steve was still following him around. "Charlie and I are just going to the park. I don't think anything bad's going to happen there" Steve ignored Danny. "What?? You mean now Uncle Steve can't tag along??" Steve replied, more so speaking to Charlie. Just then Charlie's face lit up and he had a big grin on his face. "Danno!! Is Uncle Steve going to come with us to the park?" Charlie said to Danny getting all excited. "We're going to have so much fun!" Steve smiled at them. Charlie was a really good kid and he was lucky to be around him. "Then it's all set! To the park!" Steve replied already walking out the door with Charlie close behind. Danny sighed but followed behind.
To say Danny was right, that nothing happened at the park would have been like Steve slapping himself in the face. The park had been uneventful but fun. Charlie was really happy to be out and about and running and playing. Plus ,he had Steve who was more than willing to play with Charlie. "I know what you're doing Steve" Danny said to Steve when they were sitting down to rest "What are you talking about?" Steve replied not really sure what Danny meant. "This. Everything. Following me around, checking up on me. I really appreciate it" Danny said being very genuine. "Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you" Steve looked over at Danny and just smiled. "Awww don't know what I'd do without you?? I feel the same way babe. " Steve relaxed a little. "and all this? This is nothing. Glad I could help" Steve paused not sure if he should go on. "We're still not sure what the gunman wanted or if there's other who are after you" Danny was getting a bit restless. "Hey Steve, can we not talk about this?" I don't want to deal with this right now"
Then Charlie ran up to them, "Danno I'm tired, can we go back home?" Charlie said. "Sure buddy, let's go" Danny replied getting up to leave. Steve followed behind. Sure, nothing had happened at the park, but now as they were walking back, Steve felt a strange feeling of uneasiness. He felt like they were being followed. But then, Steve thought to himself, he was just being paranoid, like always.
Just then, Steve, Danny and Charlie reached the end of the pathway and were about to cross the road when a black van came to a screeching stop right in front of them. The back door of the van opened, and a man jumped out, with a gun in his hand. "Detective William, I still see you're alive and well" The man said, "What a shame" Danny and Steve stood frozen in their place, Steve wanted to reach for his gun but he knew any slight movement could set this guy off. And then he realised that he hadn't been carrying his gun because they were going to the park. Of course. Steve saw the guy about to pull the trigger and he immediately jumped into action. He pushed Danny and Charlie out of the way and he did it just in time because after he tackled Danny to the ground, he heard a shot ring out. Where did the bullet go Steve was wondering? He looked to Danny and Charlie to see if they were okay. They sure looked fine, but Danny had such a confused face. Steve was trying to figure out what he was trying to say. He could see Danny's lips moving but he couldn't hear anything, and that's when everything went black.
Of course, Steve had to be the hero and push him and Charlie out of the way, Danny thought to himself. Of course. Because what else could he expect from his partner? But the moment Steve had pushed them out of the way and Danny heard the shot, he began to worry. He turned back to check if Steve was alright, and he was greeted with a shocking sight. Steve had pushed them out of the way alright, but he hadn't been able to avoid that bullet. Danny was sure that bullet was meant for him, but Steve got in the way. And Steve just looked confused when he looked to Danny. Danny was trying to tell him that he'd been shot but he wasn't listening. And just like that Steve went down. He would have had far worse injuries if Danny hadn't caught him in time. "Steve!" Danny was yelling desperately, "Come on buddy, look at me" Danny was freaking out. Not again. Not like this, and just when things were going great and nobody was getting shot at.
"Oh, Detective Williams, I see you have loyal friends, if only you were the same" The guy who had shot him said to Danny. Danny had even forgotten that he was still there. "Listen, man" Danny said starting to feel really annoyed. "Who the hell are you?" The man just looked at Danny and pointed the gun at him again "Careful now, I still have one bullet left in here. I was supposed to shoot myself after shooting you but looks like there's been a change of plans" The man said. 2 bullets only? Shoot himself when he'd kill Danny? So many questions were running through his mind. Was this guy related to that other guy from the quarantine room? But that was ruled as a one-man thing. Plus, the guy had killed himself, what was this man doing here now? Unless there was something Danny and 5-0 didn't know about. Danny was about to ask the man more questions or possibly even fight him down. He only had one more bullet, what more could he do?
Just then, Danny heard the sound of sirens. Damn someone must have seen what happened, how Steve got shot and called the police and the ambulance. When the man heard the sirens he hesitated for a moment and was about to run off, but before that he said to Danny "We're not done yet" and then he jumped back into the van and the van sped off. Danny wanted to make sense of the situation right there and then but he realised he had more pressing issues to deal with, like Steve bleeding out on the ground.
"Uncle Steve, are you alright??" Danny heard Charlie say to Steve. Looks like Steve was still semi-conscious. "Steve?" Danny said "Hey babe, you doing alright? Why'd you push me out of the way??" Danny said slightly annoyed with Steve but at the same time really grateful. "You've used up your number of bullet related injuries for the year" Steve said, coughing out every word. Danny tried to crack a smile, but he couldn't. He looked down at Steve's injuries. The bullet had gone through the left side of Steve. It looked scarily close to the heart, but it could have entered higher and punctured the lung and probably messed up his shoulder. Danny was no medical expert, but he knew that he had to stop the bleeding.
"Ah man, it's nothing. At least we're not quarantined with a bomb waiting to explode right?" Steve said. Danny could tell every word took so much of effort for him to say. "Hey just relax okay, try not to talk, help is on the way" Danny said to him. Steve groaned in pain. His whole left side was burning with fire. Steve was in so much of pain. He nearly passed out from it but every instinct in him was telling him not to. So here he was cracking jokes at Danny.
Just then the paramedics arrived, and Danny started telling them all he knew. The paramedics started treating him right away. All Danny could do was stand back and watch. Stand back and watch as his friend got medical treatment for a bullet that was meant for him. Danny just stood back with Charlie. Poor kid having to see someone get shot. "Danno I'm scared" Charlie said, holding onto Danny really tightly. "Hey buddy there's nothing to be scared of okay?" Danny said bending down to the same level as Charlie. "I'm right here. No one's going to hurt you." "Yeah, I know that, but I'm scared for Uncle Steve." Charlie said looking at Danny. "Yeah kid, me too, me too" Danny said, understanding how Charlie felt. "Is he going to be okay?" Charlie asked. "Well" Danny began to say to Charlie, "Uncle Steve is one tough cookie. I'm sure he'll be alright. "Just then Danny saw the paramedics loading Steve onto the stretcher and taking him to the ambulance. "Hey, we're going to follow Uncle Steve to the hospital is that okay?" Danny asked Charlie. "Of Course, "Charlie said "I want to be there went Uncle Steve is better!" That's the spirit Danny thought to himself.
Steve didn't remember much after he blacked out. He had said something to Danny, something about being shot? He couldn't remember. Now the paramedics were around him trying to do god knows what. All Steve could feel was pain. So intense he thought he was going to black out again. Just then the paramedics lifted him onto the stretcher and Steve couldn't keep the scream that he'd been holding back in him anymore. Any movement made him feel even worse. And then the next thing Steve remembers is being inside the ambulance. "His BP is dropping" Steve heard one of the paramedics say. "We need to stabilize him but there's not much we can do from here" Steve heard the other person say "He'll need an OR right away. By the looks of it the bullet must have hit some major organs." Oh great, Steve thought to himself. It was bad enough that he'd have to have a liver transplant because his liver had been hit pretty bad recently, now something else got hit by some silly bullet? Steve was beginning to think he was a bullet magnet. All other thoughts that were racing through Steve's mind were put on hold as they roared into the hospital and they were already pulling out the stretcher. "Male... Single gunshot wound to the left chest,... vitals dropping…" Steve stopped listening after that, or maybe he lost consciousness because he didn't hear the end of that sentence. Hell he didn't even listen to the middle part of that sentence.
Danny came running into the hospital with Charlie right behind him. Worried out of his life for Steve. But then again, Steve had indeed survived things worse than this. He had to pull through. He just had to. Danny then saw the doctor who was treating Steve come towards Danny. "Detective Williams? I'm afraid Commander McGarrett has sustain serious injury to the left shoulder and lung. He's very fortunate that the bullet didn't hit his heart or the surrounding areas." The Doctor looked at Danny and then to Charlie who was looking rather puzzled at this point. "He's going up to the OR now and we're going to remove the bullet and repair the damage. He should be okay, but we'll update you on his condition. Right now, it's best for you to just wait and be patient. Danny was worried out of his mind, but he turned to Charlie and said, "He buddy, you want to go home or go to the waiting room and wait for the doctors to fix up Uncle Steve?" You can imagine what Charlie choose.
Steve opened his eyes and was met by the harsh lights in the hospital room and immediately started blinking. He started to take in his surrounding when he turned to his left and saw Danny sitting in the chair next to the bed. "Hey!" Danny exclaimed "Sleeping beauty is awake!" Steve tried to laugh but his whole body felt numb. He was trying to remember why, and he was also trying to figure out why he was in a hospital in the first place. And then it all came back to him. The park, the gunman, saving Danny. "Hey," Steve replied, "Are you okay?" Danny chuckled "You're the one in the hospital bed, and you're asking me if I'm okay" Steve ignored him because he wanted to ask him something else that was more important. "Did we find out anything about the shooter? " Steve asked Danny. Before Danny could answer, Tani and Junior walk into the room. "Commander," Junior said, "It's good to see you awake and well, Sir" Tani looked at Steve "Yeah me too. We were all really worried about you" "Steve was just asking us about the case" Danny said to Tani and Junior. "Did y'all follow up on that lead? "Yeah," Tani said we followed it but it lead us to an empty hotel room. We did find this however" Then Tani showed them a photo that looked almost similar to the one they found at that other abandoned house. "Looks like the person who want's you dead isn't working alone and it's not that guy from the quarantine room" Steve said feeling a little tired. He shifted in the bed and he couldn't keep the wince of his face. Danny noticed it and immediately felt bad that Steve had been the one who was shot. That bullet was actually meant for him. " Oh and the guy who shot you? He had two bullets as well, same as last time" Junior said. We found the gun ditched about a block away from where he shot you" Junior continued, "We weren't able to get any prints off of it."
Then Lou walked into the room with Charlie. "Uncle Steveee!" Charlie said and then jumped onto the bed. "We thought you were hurt pretty bad, but I knew you were going to be alright. That man who shot you was very mean" Steve looked at Charlie and just smiled. "Yeah, he was wasn't he? " Danny looked at Steve and realised he was looking a bit tired. "Alright everyone, I think we need to let Steve rest, we'll come back and visit him tomorrow okay?" Danny said to everyone in the room. We're really glad you're okay," Lou said "Hoping to see you on your feet soon." As everyone was leaving, Danny turned back to Steve, "You know, I probably never said it but thanks for saving my life the other day and thanks for taking that bullet for me" Steve smiled tiredly at Danny "And I'd do it all over again" Steve layed his head back down on the pillow. Then he said "We're going to catch this guy who's after you Danno, don't worry about it" Danny sure hoped Steve was right.