I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: CinderH is the best! thank you for the constant beta and help on all of my stories. My continued thanks as well, for the fantastic reviews and comments. I'm trying to get back to each of you (my job is interfering, go figure).

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Chapter 4

Steve watched in a helpless anguish as the medics tried to stabilize Danny in the ambulance, but even they were grimly quiet as they exhausted all of their best means. He could only register key words that meant Danny's vitals were much too low as he continued to shake uncontrollably. And Steve was also shaken by what had nearly happened .. at the risk he had dared to take when Kiki held the syringe so close to Danny. No not close. The needle had actually touched the skin on his arm as he weakly held her wrist. It could have happened so easily ... so damned fast.

"What did I do?" Steve muttered to himself as thoughts of what could have been began to plague him. He was barely voicing the words and the sounds of the ambulance drowned him out anyway. "God Danny .. such a stupid risk."

"Nicked an artery." The loud words brought Steve out of his musings as his eyes flew to the medic. He was re-adjusting the new tourniquet and unhappy about the obstinate trickle of blood. "It's slowed considerably and we packed it good too. But for this amount of bleeding ... that bullet definitely nicked an artery."

The second medic continued to check the fluids being used to support Danny's flagging body. The stethoscope never left his ears as he listened to Danny's heart and then moved back to the blood pressure cuff. With a barely disguised frown, the oxygen flow was increased under the mask the very next minute. Neither medic was particularly pleased by what they were recording and sending to the trauma center at the hospital. Steve was glued to every word as the first medic continued to carefully examine Danny's wounded leg. The pants had long ago been cut away and he was now wiping the blood off with clean pieces of gauze.

"No obvious exit wound and I can't determine the trajectory. The bullet could be lodged in his femur but there's no way to tell where it is yet. The ER needs to get him cross-typed and ready for exploratory surgery."

Already mentally drained and adrenalin waning, Steve groaned out loud when the medic confirmed what he had suspected in the shed. "I was afraid of that." The medic nodded as he continued to clean the blood away. Steve reluctantly removed his hand from Danny's shoulder as the men continued to work. They may have done as much as they physically could to help Danny, but the team was in constant motion and conversation with the hospital. So Steve nested his elbows on his knees and covered his face as his body swayed to the motion of the ambulance. There would be nothing to do but wait as the experts took over. Toast's description of 'hell in a hand basket' perfectly described the horror of the situation.

His hand flew back to Danny's shoulder in alarm when the ambulance hit a rut in the road and a harsh cough sounded on the heels of a muffled moan. The pain was evident behind the closed eyes as Danny's head tossed and he moaned again.

"Nothing else? You can't do anything else for him?" Steve looked up impatiently as he suddenly blurted out the question in a hoarse whisper.

The second medic was again re-checking the flow of oxygen to the mask. And more blankets were broken out to spread over Danny as the cold tremble increased. Helping to tuck in a blanket around Danny's shoulder's, Steve snared the lax hand. He knew their answer as they shared a quick look but Steve had to ask as his temper flared.

The kind nod towards Steve acknowledged his worry and even offered an apology for the rutted road. They had done everything humanly possible with what they had at their skillful disposal. "Bleedings slowed significantly and we're only two minutes out now. They're ready for him."

Less than two minutes later, they were exiting the ambulance and rapidly trotting to the emergency room and trauma center. As promised, the critical care unit was well prepared for the injured officer and Danny was whisked away directly to surgery. Now hours later, he remained in surgical intensive care and Steve was pacing frantically in the outer hallway. He had fought to be allowed into the highly specialized critical area as Danny came out of surgery and now forced to leave as a series of alarms went off.

Chin had arrived to find him now wide-eyed and out of breath; incredulous for having to say the words as another doctor entered the surgical intensive care unit on a run.

"Chin. His heart stopped."

Chin pulled Steve forcibly away from the chaos they could barely glimpse through the small windowed doors. At Steve's request, Duke had called Chin while Steve peppered Toast with questions. There was so much Steve could coordinate with the overly excited tech-head on the cell phone. Duke contacted Chin once again as the ambulance left the remote property. The sergeant had filled Chin in on as much as he possibly could including details related to the teenagers. But Chin had been on the other side of the island and his best efforts couldn't get him to the hospital faster than that moment. And Kono was on vacation for the week, but Chin had already left her a detailed message and then a third, and now a fourth. So as he caught up with what had happened, he could see the bone-weary exhaustion etched across the SEAL's face.

"What's going on?" Chin gently coaxed as he draped a soothing arm over Steve's slumped shoulders and purposefully steered him towards a private area in the small waiting room. He needed Steve's version and definitely more about what had been happening with Danny after surgery.

"Steve, let's go over here."

The two spoke quietly and Steve haltingly as his eyes continually skidded back to the SICU doors. But Chin nodded as Steve finally filled him in. He was stern though when Steve admitted to the risk he had taken.

"It was stupid. I shouldn't have .. the chance I took." Steve's voice rose as his worry came out in a single rush. "The needle was right there .. I swear it was touching his arm. She could have killed him."

But Chin was unforgiving and uncharacteristically challenging; and his friend's own own anger took Steve completely by surprise. "So. What would you have done. Seriously, what would you have done differently? Announced yourself? Talked them down? Tried reason? There was no time. Danny would have bled out."

Duke had not only explained what had happened on Toast's home, he had also contacted Chin with more information about Brent. The girl was still an enigma. Anti social, not speaking or communicating to anyone; they had no idea who she was and were now actively investigating all missing persons files. But Brent had a laundry list of convictions each becoming more notorious in nature. Though it was his worst thus far, shooting and then kidnapping a police officer wasn't even his first felonious event. Chin knew that there would have been no reasoning with that one.

And since Steve had no immediate answer to defend himself, Chin finished the point he was determined to make. "I can tell you that there was no other option. You'd have two injured or dead kids on your hands. And Danny would be the same as he is now .. or worse. So Steve, you can't beat yourself up for a 'could have been.'

"There was no time. You did the right thing." He softened as he banged Steve on his knee with his fist. "And hey, you don't second guess yourself. I don't suggest you start now and definitely not with this."

"Yeah. Okay." Steve rubbed his face with both hands and managed to grin ruefully at Chin. They had been talking a long time and Chin was tempted to fill him in on Brent, but Steve was becoming more anxious. He'd gotten up to pace again when time continued to tick by and no one appeared through the SICU doors to update them.

He threw his hands up in the air as anger finally won out. "What's going on in there?" Chin was just rising to his own feet to question the delay when Danny's surgeon finally appeared.

"Well. It's about damned time." Steve confronted the man without preamble as he walked through the doors. "How is he?"

"He's in serious condition and I can't declare him as stable just yet." Steve's angry face completely fell at the doctor's gently stated update. Chin couldn't hide his growing concern at the much too cautious words as the doctor motioned them off to the side. He understood their need for more information as he simply allowed their anxiety to roll off him without taking offense.

"Let's sit together so I can fill you in on everything .. and then you'll understand."

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The bullet had lodged high in the upper portion of Danny's femur after damaging an artery. And then bone fragments had aggravated surrounding blood vessels. Surgery to remove the bullet and repair the arterial wall was painstakingly slow and then complicated by the erratic heart beat and a stubbornly low blood pressure. And then the femur itself needed to be stabilized.

"Come on Danny." Steve whispered into this hands. He was back to sitting in the SICU next to Danny's bed. He was unable to fight the feelings of despair after what had just happened and after hearing the doctor's much too cautionary update.

"Detective Williams' heart stopped. Combined stresses from the injury, loss of blood ... surgery ... and the arrhythmia. But we got him back ..more monitoring .. get vitals under control ..with luck ..."

From that point on, the words had become a white-noised buzz and Steve had flatly refused to leave Danny's side. Chin was obstinately lurking just outside the doorway so the two Five-0 men were making their presence known to the staff.

Steve watched in a daze as the SICU nurses hovered nearby constantly checking and re-checking Danny's readings. The critical care unit was designed to provide comprehensive care for critically ill surgical and trauma patients. Danny was undoubtedly in excellent hands but the atmosphere was also dire and foreboding. Seconds ticked by like minutes; minutes like hours and then hours were unbearable. At the two hour mark, Chin ignored the glares of the SICU staff before they realized what he was doing.

"Take a break." Chin whispered in a commanding voice as he latched onto Steve's elbow and lifted up. "Now. Right now." He was surprised when Steve didn't resist. In fact, he'd been ready for an argument. But Steve allowed Chin to pilot him to the cafeteria for coffee and a tasteless snack. It was there that Chin finally filled him in on Brent's checkered past and Steve seemed almost relieved for the distraction.

"Brent Michaels. Nineteen. Most recently, he's wanted in Arizona for a variety of charges including armed robbery .. convenience store. Aggravated assualt" Steve's bloodshot eyes flew to Chin's face in surprise while the man nodded about the truth of it.

"That's a felony ... he's a felon?"

"Escaped felon to be precise. Steve, this kid has never been on the straight and narrow. We're not sure yet how or when he even got to the islands. But he's infatuated with criminal life and escalating over time based on his rap sheet."

He couldn't hide the amazement in his voice as he made sure he heard right. "Escaped felon? At nineteen?"

Chin snorted and then held up his hand so that he could continue. "Oh yeah - there's more. When you have time, his file is quite the read. His first recorded issue was a suspected arson at his elementary school - oddly, another shed but where the sports equipment was stored. I think it put him at eleven years old. But he was only reprimanded and assigned some community service hours."

He was disturbed as he tapped the table nervously. "There's no doubt in anyone's mind that he'll be tried as an adult not only for shooting and kidnapping an officer, but the drug possession charges. The stash he was hoarding and the cash HPD found in the floor boards of the shed is nothing short of impressive for someone his age. We're anxious for any names he'll turn over since it obviously implies some major connections. And I might add that Arizona wants him back when we're through with him."

But Chin could only shrug at Steve's next question. "And what about the girl?"

"No one knows and she won't talk to a soul. Like I said, Brent came up immediately in the system. But this kid, Kiki? HPD is checking missing persons and throwing out a national net to search for a match. Right now .. the girl's a total mystery." He leaned back in his chair with an amazed grunt as he could only stare at Chin.

"So much for being just kids." Steve muttered sarcastically under his breath.

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Steve carried his third cup of coffee back to the SICU to once again take up his place in the chair. Four hours had passed since he'd first met the doctor with Chin. He was off to the side and out of the way as promised. The doctor was there again and bending over Danny's chart so Steve stayed quiet and studied the floor. But he looked up quickly when the doctor heaved a somewhat satisfied sigh of relief.

"What?" He demanded with some renewed interest.

"The last few readings are better .. more steadily consistent. I do believe that we have the arrhythmia under control." The doctor was removing his stethoscope and almost smiling as he nodded. "Blood pressure has also improved now to more acceptable levels. He may wake ..."

The doctor paused as Danny's hand twitched and there was brief frown under the oxygen mask. A small head movement and the doctor looked meaningfully at Steve. "Yes. Actually, he seems to be waking up as he stabilizes now. I'm sure he'd appreciate a friendly face."

The unexpected words made Steve stumble to his feet in surprise and he choked out a soft sound as he picked up the hand that was now moving idly amongst the sheets.

"Danny. Hey. You going to wake up for us?"

The soft prompt elicited a slight moan but a few seconds later, the pale blue eyes finally opened to study Steve's own drawn face. Danny was confused as he frowned and closed his fingers around Steve's hand. But Steve smiled warmly as he returned the pressure.

"You're okay. Chin's here too. You gave us quite a scare." But Danny's mouth moved soundlessly under the oxygen mask and the doctor shook his head as he put a calming hand on his patient's shoulder. The frown only deepened as Danny looked at the unfamiliar man.

"Where?" The one word was softly muffled and Danny grimaced at the effort it took. He felt like an elephant was sitting on his chest as he sucked in the welcome oxygen.

"Tired." His fingers clenched unconsciously as he closed his eyes and Steve took a tighter hold as he glanced worriedly to the doctor.

"I'm Doctor Reynolds. You're going to be fine. I don't want you talking just yet. You need to get your strength back." It took a moment for Danny to nod once and then his eyes were wearily forced open again. Danny was back on Steve's face, studying the dark shadows and scruffy lines.

He couldn't quite get his mouth around the words, but he finally huffed out two. "Toast. Kids."

"Shh. Just rest. It's good ..everyone's good. Safe and sound." Steve caught the doctor's signal to keep things brief as Danny began to struggle much too soon to stay awake. Steve was smiling in relief as the doctor rapidly checked readings and visibly relaxed. Danny would remain in the SICU but he was definitely improving. Chin appeared over his shoulder and Danny's face eased considerably at the sight of a second happily beaming face.

The soft 'hey' for Chin's benefit made the doctor roll his eyes as another warning finger went up and his patient's eyes slowly found his face once more. His eyebrows were raised and the man shrugged as he held his hands out wide.

"What did I just say? Resting please or I will shoo them out."

The lips twitched under the mask at the soft reprimand and Chin and Steve watched as Danny fell into a peaceful sleep. The doctor smiled and nodded his approval; it also affirmed his rising confidence. "He'll sleep awhile now. But vitals are much better."

Steve puffed his cheeks and blew out the breath he'd been holding so fearfully. Danny's face had gotten back some of its more normal coloring. And he continued to hold the hand which was finally more naturally warm; noting that the alarming bluish tinge had also left the tips of Danny's finger nails. He allowed himself a fleeting grin when he felt Chin's grasp his shoulder in support. "Yeah, Danny. You're going to be fine."

But Chin gave Steve's shoulder a small shake and a special look to convey more than that. "No, we're all going to be okay."

~ to be continued ~