Danny sat on the examination bed, his left wrist wrapped in a bandage and his right knee propped up and covered with an ice pack. With his right hand, he held a second ice pack over his eye. To look at him, you'd think he had been in a fight.
He'd been playing football with Kono.
Danny heard a tap on the open door and saw Steve standing there, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
In spite of himself, Danny had to laugh a little. "Go ahead. Get it out of your system."
Steve chuckled at the sight of his second-in-command. "Are you sure all of this happened while playing football?"
"Yeah, and let me tell you, Kono takes 'tackle' to an entirely new level. My wrist is sprained, I've got a black eye, and my knee - well, that's an aggravated high school injury."
"Let me see your eye."
Danny removed the ice pack to reveal the shiner that was paired with scratches down his cheek. "I landed in some gravel," he explained.
"And skidded, apparently," Steve quipped. "How's your vision?"
"A little blurry, but it's not too bad. You're a nice shade of purple right now, though." Danny placed the ice on his eye again.
Steve almost laughed as he caught himself checking the color of his skin, but stifled it when he saw the look on Danny's face. It was tired, distant…worried.
"Danno, that's not like you. You're usually more alert than to let Kono take you down like that. What happened?"
The question was met with silence. Then, "Kono and I met at the park after work for a quick game. We hadn't played in a while, and he wanted to. I was planning on exercising tonight anyway, so I agreed. But my mind wasn't really on the game, and he rushed me when I wasn't paying attention."
Steve asked, "What were you thinking about?"
"The rape/murder case we closed last week. We'd been looking for that creep for, what, six or eight months?"
"Closer to a year," Steve responded.
"That girl he killed…she finally got the justice she deserved. Her family…they got closure. And what do we get? No more thanks than the man on the moon. Not so much as 'Kiss my foot' or 'Have an apple.' Don't get me wrong, Steve. I like my job, I really do. But it's cases like this one that remind me it's a thankless life we lead. I don't mind the bad PR; I know it comes with the territory. You'd think I'd be used to the ungratefulness as well."
Steve's heart went out to his friend. He understood how Danny felt. Cops everywhere were placed on pedestals - not just in Hawaii - and people didn't understand that the officers were human like anyone else. There was a reason Steve was always quick to offer words of encouragement and affirmation to his men when they'd done a good job; he knew they needed to know they were appreciated just as much as the next person.
Steve opened his mouth to say so, but then he realized were no longer the only ones in the room. Kono stood in the doorway, and he also wore a sad expression on his face.
"I didn't expect you to come down in person, Boss. I just called to let you know what happened."
"No worries, Kono." Steve lightly placed his hand on Danny's shoulder. "You both know I take the well-being of my men seriously."
Looking to Danny, Kono asked, "How you feeling, bruddah?"
"Sore, but the doctor says I'll be as good as new in a few days. I just need to take it easy. Say, where have you been anyway? Last thing I knew, you were going to phone Steve, and he's been here for at least ten minutes."
"And who's your tag-along shadow?" Steve asked as he spied a small boy standing behind Kono.
"I've been sitting down the hall and around the corner with him. I saw him on my way back from the phone. See, his family lives on my street, so I know him. His father is in the military, and he's on the mainland for some routine maneuvers, and his mother's been expecting. She went into labor today."
Danny perked up at the news. "Hey, that's great. Has she had the baby yet? Was it a boy or a girl?"
Kono shook his head. "The baby didn't make it. The cord wrapped around its neck, and…" Kono's voice trailed off.
Silence hung in the air for a few moments before Steve asked, "How's the mother?"
The big man cleared his throat and blinked his eyes several times in an attempt to hide his emotions. "She lost a lot of blood. She…she didn't make it, either."
Silence once again overtook the room. Eventually Kono spoke again. "I should probably go call Sgt. Yamauchi, let him know what happened to his wife."
"What about the boy?" Danny asked. "He's not old enough to stay by himself. Is there a family on your street he could stay with until his dad comes home?"
"Well, there's a couple next door to him with a little boy about his age, but they're out of town. Other than them, there's nobody."
"Danno's right. He needs to stay with someone. And I know just the person." Steve looked at Danny, who, when he realized he was subtly being volunteered, shot a double take in his boss's direction.
"Who, me? Steve, I don't mind babysitting, but I'm not sure I'm the best candidate for it right now." He lifted his bandaged hand and pointed to his hurt knee.
Steve turned so that he was facing only Danny and spoke in a quiet voice. "Danno, you were just talking about the ungratefulness we see at the end of our cases. Nine times out of ten, we deal with adults that have forgotten the magic words. But I've yet to meet the child who hasn't been able to give my self-esteem a boost. And I think you could use one yourself right about now."
Danny raised his eyebrows as he sighed. He glanced at the boy, still hiding behind Kono. Looking back at Steve, Danny inquired, "What about work? Chin won't be back until the end of the week, and we don't know how soon the boy's father will be able to come home. There's too much going on right now for you and Kono to handle by yourselves."
Steve also looked in the direction of the little boy. "I guess you'll have to bring him with you. He can stay in the main office with Jenny while you're busy."
Danny slowly nodded. "Okay, Steve. He can stay with me."
Kono gently pulled the boy in front of him, and knelt down so he could see eye to eye with the child. Motioning to Danny, he said, "This is Mr. Williams. He's a friend of mine from work; he's a cop, just like me. You're going to stay with him until your daddy comes home. You'll like Mr. Williams."
The boy looked back and forth between Danny and Kono, coming across as a little unsure of the situation. Tears he'd cried over the loss of his mother and the baby had dried on his face, and his dark brown eyes were bloodshot.
Danny's heart went out to the boy. Surely his injuries didn't help to ease any fears the boy might have about staying with a stranger, cop or no cop.
He spoke gently to the boy. "Don't let the way I look worry you. Kono was just teaching me a couple things about football. I promise I don't usually look like this."
The boy stood silently, motionlessly watching Danny, who cleared his throat before speaking again. "What's your name?"
When the boy still didn't respond, Kono piped up, "It's nothing personal, Danny. Most kids are natural chatterboxes, but not him. He's probably the quietest kid I've ever met; he's a strange chicken, that one. His name is Daniel."
Danny once again looked at the boy. "Your name is Daniel? So is mine. My friends call me Danno; you can too, if you want."
Still no response. The boy continued to watch Danny as if he wasn't sure what to think of him.
Steve spoke to Kono. "Take Daniel home. Pack some clothes, some of his toys and books. Get him a bite to eat. We'll meet you at Danno's as soon as he's released."
Steve and Danny watched as Kono left with Daniel. Once they were alone, Steve immediately asked, "Did I hear Kono call him a 'strange chicken'? Do you know what that is?"
"It's not an expression I've heard before, but it sounds like an insult." Danny paused. "Do you remember a few months ago, Kono wanted to expand his American slang?"
Steve nodded. "Sure, you were teaching him."
"I think he meant to call Daniel an 'odd duck.'"
xXxXx
A/N: For those of you familiar with the episode "Small Witness, Large Crime" (either S6 or S7), I'm doing something completely different with the idea of a little boy who refuses to talk. Also, Danny's "Have an apple" comment comes from Bing Crosby's movie White Christmas.
