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"What?!"
"Danny's been hurt, Steve." Suppressed sobs on the other end.
"I- I'm sorry, Steve."
"Danny's- how is he?" Scared, Steve grips the phone tighter, nervously.
Worry and concern for Danny floods through him.
Danny got hurt and he hadn't been able to prevent that lunatic from getting to Danny and Amber. If only he-
"I'm sorry, Steve."
Amber repeats that over and over, he could hear the pain in her voice.
Steve's mouth drops open in shock, as he listens to the nearly hysterical voice on the other end of the line. "Say again, Amber." Steve hastily interrupts the shivering, fearful voice to get information on their whereabouts, which hospital Amber brought Danny to be treated.
"You're at Tripler, right?"
Upon confirmation, Steve already on his way to his Silverado, the phone still clutched tightly in his hand.
Danny was hurt.
Stabbed.
He has no idea how bad it is.
He recalls Amber's crushed voice, interrupted by sobs as she told him about Danny and that his best friend and brother had been stabbed. Intense fear had risen up in him instantly upon hearing the frightening news.
He lets the phone drop uselessly drop into the passenger seat and drives with only one destination on his mind.
To find out about Danny's condition.
Please be okay, Danny, Steve thinks slightly panicking but doing a pretty good job of hiding his true, honest feelings as he drives, heading towards the hospital the fastest way possible, cursing every red light he encounters on the way, and contemplating turning on the sirens yet eventually deciding against it.
H50 H50 H50 H50
"I'm sorry, I-"
Amber says to Steve, crying as she sees McGarrett rush toward her. "I should have told him." She continues, sobs still escaping her throat.
You should have indeed said something.
Steve doesn't say that though.
It isn't the time for placing blame.
Instead the man envelops her in a comforting hug to calm her.
It's what Danny would have wanted him to do, to be there. Even though be close to falling apart himself when Steve reminds himself that Danny's injury had been severe and that he's in surgery at this point.
And surgery equals risk, especially nonelective surgery.
Like Danny's.
But he pushes that thought away with all of his might. Danny is as stubborn as they come and he'll pull through. "How's Danny, do you know anything?" Steve demands, worry filling his voice and every core of him. "Last I've heard he's still in surgery. That stab wound looked pretty awful." She let out another breathy sob.
After what seemed like an eternity to Steve a doctor in blue scrubs walked toward them, a tired smile revealing that he harbored good news for them, making Steve's heart jump.
"Doc, how's Danny doing?"
Desperate for an update after the nerve-wracking wait, Steve glances at the doctor.
"He's gonna be alright in a few days' time." Danny's surgeon tells Steve and Amber, then goes on about the extent of the damage and what they should expect in terms of recovery. "Has he woken up already?" Steve asks, worried.
"Yeah, briefly in recovery." The doctor responds to Steve's anxious questions about his partner. "As I said we should be moving him to a room soon." The doctor tells Steve again.
Steve exhales shakily.
"Detective Williams should make a full recovery."
Steve let out a relieved sigh upon hearing Danny's gonna be alright.
"Thanks, doc."
Steve gives him a grateful hug, then hugs Amber too as she seems like she is about to begin crying again.
"Can we see him?" Steve wants to know.
Amber gazes at the doctor with glassy, tear-filled eyes.
"Let me see him."
Steve McGarret says in a quiet, calm voice, despite having received good news not really able to calm his persisting fears. "Please." The Commander adds on, nervously wriggling his hands as he waits for a response.
"You can see him as soon as he's settled in a room, Commander."
Dr. Cornett tells them in a tone, Steve isn't sure what to make of that tone. "Only one at a time. The detective needs rest."
Of course.
Steve nods in response, naturally he'll adhere to the physician's instructions, but he really does need to see Danny. See with his own eyes that Danny is alive and will be alright with time and rest.
"Keep it short. A nurse will take you to visit Detective Williams as soon as he settled in intermediate care." Dr. Cornett gazes at them before leaving them standing in the hallway. Steve crosses his arms in front of his chest, reminding himself that Danny is alive and that he'll see him soon to assure himself that the Jersey detective is alive, in the flesh.
"We will."
Instantly Steve promised.
H50 H50 H50 H50
Tripler Army Medical Center, Intermediate Care Unit, 1640 Hours
"I will take you to Detective Williams, Commander." When Steve gets up from the chair in the waiting room he glances over to Amber who smiles sadly. "You go first, Commander." The woman blinks back a tear as the guilt comes back with a vengeance. "I don't even know if he wants to see me." She replies back, tired and most definitely stressed out by this day's happenings. Still feeling guilty about what happened and her part in it.
Frank had attacked Danny because of her, damn it. Steve gives her hand a squeeze before leaving with the nurse to go visit Danny. Danny who was in a hospital bed because Frank came to get her back.
She shakes her head, despair visible.
Another sob escapes her throat.
"You sure?"
"Yeah." Amber avoids looking at him and Steve gets the feeling she's intentionally avoiding to look at him.
"You might feel better after you see him, Amber." Steve addresses her softly.
No response.
Steve follows the nurse to Danny's cubicle. Before letting Steve sit with her patient she checks on him to make sure Danny's vital signs are stable and as they should be. Concerned, Steve observes that. "Here you go, Comnander McGarrett. So far, all looks good." A nurse kindly smiles at Steve knowing he needs some reassuring that Danny's indeed doing as well as he can under these special circumstances.
"You can go in."
Steve nods distractedly, and followed Danny's doctor.
His gaze fell on Danny.
Danny's pallor was pale, paler than usual.
Blood loss, Steve's brain subconsciously supplied. Probably. "Danny." He mutters under his breath. Unsure, and anxiously Steve glances into the cubicle in which Danny lay. Immediately his gaze goes to the cardiac monitor behind the detective's hospital bed, the electrodes from the cardiac monitor and wires snaking its way beneath the hospital issued gown.
The stab wound and the dressing covering it was covered by the hospital gown. At least, he remembers the doctor's words, nothing vital had been cut when the knife entered Danny's body. But the fact that it had been pulled out led to the large loss of blood volume since the knife wasn't compressing the wound anymore, leaving the blood to flow out.
Therefore causing Danny to lose certain amount of blood in the process.
But, Danny was here, alive.
Steve drops down on the uncomfortable chair near Danny's bed, hunching over before taking Danny's hand to let him know he is here. "Hey, Danno." Steve looks for signs of Danny waking up. "You gotta wake up." You can't leave me here, falling apart, Steve internally adds. McGarrett's heart accelerates when he sees Danny twitch slightly.
Hope rushes through Steve's body.
Steve swallows thickly to get the lump in his throat to go away.
"Steve? Tha' you?"
A weaker than usual voice sounds in his ears and it is the most wonderful thing Steve has heard, a just woken up from a deep healing sleep post-emergency surgery due to a stab wound caused by his girlfriend's violent ex. Danny croaking out those words, Steve grins contented as he sees that Danny's clise to rising back to the living. "I'm here, buddy." Steve is by Danny's side in a heartbeat, taking Danny's hand into his own.
"I'm here, Danno. Just rest."
Steve utters those things in a soft, calm tone pressing Danny's hand at the same time, careful of the IV line, and repeating the words. Danny's eyes flutter, then they fall on Steve's hunched over figure sitting near his bed. "I'll be here."
No doubt about that, babe. Danny thinks, but too exhausted to voice hus thoughts at the moment. Never doubted it for a second. Man, I feel like I was run over by a truck, one hell of a truck.
The drug induced haze that had been lingering pulls Danny back to sleep.
H50 H50 H50 H50
Tripler Army Medical Center, Intermediate Care Unit, 1930 Hours
When the Jersey detective rises to consciousness again, Danny is instantly aware of his Neanderthal partner's presence. Taking a few seconds to organize his thoughts on the where, and hows, Danny finds Steve staring into space, as it is apparent he is lost in his own thoughts. For a second, Danny finds himself wondering what happened to him and why he was in the hospital in the first place? What has it done this time? Bullet wound?
Is that why Steve looked so, he searched for a fitting word, wrecked?
That sight tugs at his heart because the worry emanating from the Commander was there, front and center.
"Steven, babe?"
Danny tries getting his brother's attention, ignoring the scratchy tone his voice had.
Upon hearing Danny's voice Steve flinches as he hadn't expected Danny to return to consciousness so early. A tentative smile is on Steve's face, but Danny can clearly see the deep worry etched into his friend's face.
"How are you feeling?", Steve questions with a frown while filling water in a cup, and promptly putting the water pitcher back on the nightstand. "Wha' happened?" Danny ignores the gentle throbbing in side, where the knife had entered his abdomen. "You had surgery." Steve explains to Danny who gazes at him, seemingly confused. He'd been sitting here for over an hour, Danny had been awake at one point but only briefly. Amber had finally worked up the courage to come see Danny, and had been perched on a chair the past hour.
"So that's the truck that hit me?"
Danny squirmes uncomfortably, as he tries getting into a more relaxing position.
Steve looks away, avoiding Danny's eyes.
"Babe?"
Danny sighs.
"You alright?" Steve questions, and wasn't able to hide the shiver in his voice.
When Danny takes a closer glance he could see the hidden devastation in his best friend's face, feelings that had probably been there since Steve had received that call that Danny had been injured. "Hey, hey. Look at me." Danny says, in a strong voice that forced Steve to look at him. "I may be hurt now but I will recover." He pauses.
"So what's with the kicked puppy face, Steven?"
Danny lays back into the pillows, ignoring the beeping coming from behind.
"I have no face." Steve responds.
"You, my friend, most definitely have a face." Danny pokes his finger into Steve's chest. "And this right here, is definitely kicked puppy face. So I am asking again, what's up with that face."
Steve exhales noticeably before complying. "Fine. You were in danger and I couldn't warn you guys because you were unreachable. You could have been killed and where would that have left me, Danno?"
Steve's voice breaks at that.
Steve had realized he just couldn't imagine life without Danny and this incident had only confirmed that.
He'd be lost without Danny by his side.
Danny instantaneously saw the pain in hos partner's face, emotions clashing. His death would have had a profound impact not only on his kids but also on Steve and that realization hit him hard.
Do you know how that makes me feel?
"There you have it, Danny. Satisfied?"
Danny lets out a laugh.
"No, Steven."
Pause.
"How'd you find out about us being in danger anyways?"
Danny tries sitting up but grunts in response to the pain it caused. "Hey, hey, hey. What are you doing?" Steve says, alarmed. "Lay back down, you're gonna aggravate your incision."
"Fine."
Danny gazes at his partner.
"Kamekona came to us, said a man came looking for a woman. He showed around a photo of him and a woman, one that looked like Amber. We took a closer look and found out about Amber. It turns out it's her ex-husband that came after you." Steve interrupts himself. Danny stares at him, shocked.
"That I know. But-"
Danny gapes at Steve. "How'd he find out our exact location, I mean we were off the grid." Danny ponders loudly.
Steve clenches his teeth.
Danny throws him a glance, he could see and hear Steve worry. "Yeah, I know. Next time I'll tell you what where I'll be, Steven. Or leave my phone on. Trust me I learned my lesson. And stop worrying about me, I can hear you worry from here." Danny puts a hand on Steve's, the rant had had a calming, soothing effect on Steve as it brought with it a sense of familiarity and humor. It's their language, it's how they communicate. "I will be alright, babe."
"Just..." Steve glances away, uncomfortably.
"Don't die."
Danny gives him a heartfelt grin lighting up Steve's world. "I'll try not to get myself killed. But you have to admit, Steven, you're more likely to find yourself in a situation where your life and most of the time with that also mine, is on the line. You attract trouble."
This time, it was you, or more Amber, attracting trouble.
Not me this time, Steve thought but didn't voice it.
A laugh escapes Steve's throat. "So not fair, Danno. I don't always attract trouble."
"I disagre, babe." Danny remarks with a smile.
"Says the one in the hospital bed."
Out of a sudden, their light-hearted banter turns serious when Danny remembers Amber, and that she wasn't in the room. Instantly he feels guilty because he forgot to adk about her. What kind of boyfriend did that make him?
Alarmed, Steve watches Danny's face change from calm to concern.
"Where is she, Steve?"
Danny grasps his hand, tight, panicking when realizing his girlfriend wasn't in the room. "Where is Amber? She alright? Did that son of a bitch hurt her?" Anger, fear and concern dominate Danny's clashing emotions.
"She's okay, Danny, shaken up but alright."
Danny frowns.
"Then why isn't she here?" "He questions in a wobbling voice, thinking that she'd left. Steve's response, however, sheds light on why Amber wasn't in Danny's hospital room. "She's here, Danny. We've been waiting for you to wake up. She's getting coffee at the moment. She just wasn't sure if you wanted to see her after all that's happened today. She never said anything like that but I'm guessing that is the reason." Steve finishes, his head turning to Danny. The reason she left the room after Danny showed signs of waking. "You look tired, you should probably get sone rest, partner."
"I know I look like shit." Danny counters, propping himself up, "I will, after I talk to Amber." He insists, his heart rate increases slightly causing the beeps to come in shorter intervals.
Melissa, not Amber.
"Danny..." Steve leans forward, a hitched breath escapes his throat as he tiredly and absent-mindedly scratched his nose.
"You should rest."
Danny puts a hand on Steve's. "Right back at you, babe. You look like something the cat's been dragged in."
Steve let out a laugh.
"Thanks. But you sure you're up to-"
"Yes." Danny interrupts.
"See that monitor behind me?"
Steve stays quiet. "I've gotten fairly good at understanding the basic parameters shown on there due to the fact that I have a partner, a certain someone," Danny blinks at Steve, "-who's got a penchant for getting hurt or shot and often ends up hooked up to those. Now I know I got hurt, but right it is all fine. No alarms, nothing to indicate there's any problems, Steven. Which means-" Danny pokes a finger at his best friend and brother knowing he's genuinely scared for Danny and doesn't want anything to happen to him.
Danny gazes at the man next to his bed, blown away by the opennesss of Steve displaying emotions, a rarity in Danny's books. "I can speak to Amber without endangering my life. I need to talk to her because right now she's out there, probably thinking I don't want anything to do with her anymore. I still love her, Steve. I know this is something significant and that it nearly killed me but she deserves a chance."
Steve gives him a tentative smile.
"Man, you're stubborn, buddy."
Danny flashes an exhausted, lopsided grin.
"Says the pot to the kettle."
Steve got up, stretched his body a bit before leaning down to hug Danny, minding all the monitor leads connected to Danny. The SEAL inhales forceful as he wraps his arms around Danny. "I'm glad you'll be alright, Danno. This could have ended so much different." A faraway look in Steve's eyes tells Danny his best friends pondered all the worse possibilities right now.
"Steven!" Danny calls his name.
"Huh?"
"Stop that."
"What?"
"Going through what could have been. I will be fine, Steve. I'm not dead, I'm not even in ICU, just a surgical intermediate care unit. So sto that. It'll just make you miserable, trust me, babe."
Steve huffs out a breath.
"I love you too, buddy. Get some rest after talking to Amber. You sure you-"
Danny interrupts, "Yeah, I am."
Steve nods, templates staying. But Danny reads his mind, as usual and convinces him to go home, get a shower and some rest after a stressy day filled with all sorts of stuff. Partners getting hurt, crazy guy wants to burn down a hotel after burning down single-story homes. "I'll be by to check on you later." Steve assures him.
A short time after, "I'll send in Amber."
Steve gazes at Danny.
Danny nods grateful to have someone like Steve in his life, someone who cares so much about him.
"Love you too, babe." Danny returns with an honest grin plastered on his face and doesn't miss the hint of a smile passing over Steve's face as soon as he said that. He watches Steve leave, hopefully going home to get some rest. It would do him some good too, arguably. "Remember, I'll be out in no time." Danny calls after him, knowing that it would be a few days before the doctor would discharge him.
"Sure, buddy. Stay put for the time being." Steve smiles at him.
Danny huffs, and crosses his arms over his chest. "I distinctly remember you being the one that always signs out AMA, Steven. I'm not that stupid." Danny gives back patiently, Steve pretends to not have heard that at first but eventually concedes, acknowledges that Danny has a point on that matter. He does avoid having to stay in the hospital if possible.
Steve lets out a laugh.
"Fair enough, Danny." Steve pauses, "I'll get Amber now, yeah?"
Danny leans back into the pillows, "Sure."
Minutes later, Amber pokes her head in.
In slow movements, she strolls over to his bed, taking in everything.
"D- D- Danny, I'm so sorry for what happened. I'm sorry got hurt. I never meant for anything like this to happen." A suppressed sob comes from his shaken up girlfriend who regrets not telling Danny about her abusive ex.
His girlfriend seemed definitely nervous and scared, Danny could tell that immediately, was rambling.
There were traces of tears on her cheeks.