Ho'ailona
by Cokie
Chapter 4
Sunday morning, 10:15 a.m.
Once again, Five-0 was in the governor's conference room, nursing their coffee, this time waiting her arrival.
Paulson arrived first and headed toward the coffee pot in the corner. "Morning, gang. Any progress?"
Danny fairly growled. "So as not to repeat ourselves, how about we wait for the governor?" Six hours of sleep in the last thirty-six wasn't enough to make him even remotely civil.
"Understood. Any change in McGarrett?"
Kono shook her head. "About the same. He's still sedated, but they've upgraded his condition from critical to serious."
"Seriously?" Willliams asked, rubbing his tired eyes. "As in he's seriously still shot?"
Kono was saved from replying by the governor's arrival.
"Sorry I'm late, but I just got off the phone with Dr. Bassett. Good news. They will try taking Steve off the ventilator sometime this afternoon. Hopefully by tonight, once the sedation wears off, he'll be awake. The doctor feels he is on the road to recovery." She smiled as she sat at the head of the table. "Now, what do we have?"
"Well, you were right," Chin began. "Seems all your employees checked out. We didn't find any red flags in the files." He pointed to a smaller table in the room. "Which we returned, by the way."
"Thanks," Paulson told him. "I'm sorry you don't have a lead, but I can't say I'm sorry you didn't find it in those boxes."
Governor Jameson sighed. "So, what now?"
"Now, we rethink the situation," Williams replied. "I know the three of us are clean," he waved his finger toward Chin and Kono, "but we've got a building full of others. "We swept our office for bugs, but found nothing, but someone knew what was going on, and when. Whoever it was managed to get to that site before we did. "
Kono held up her cellphone. "We checked all our phones for bugs, too, but someone with enough savvy can tap into cell devices and we wouldn't even know it. "
"How about McGarrett's phone?" Paulson asked.
Chin nodded. "That's the first one we checked. Nothing."
Danny pinched the bridge of his nose. "Governor, what we're saying is that we've got squat."
"I have a thought," Paulson said, gaining their attention. "Have you considered this could be random? Wrong place, wrong time? A shooter who was ready for target practice and just happened on Governor Jameson and McGarrett?"
"At precisely the time the governor was sharing a tell-tale photo with a bulls-eye on Steve's face? I'm going with 'not likely'," Danny argued. "We have to find a connection. And that indicates a leak."
Jameson stood and leaned both hands on the table. "Well, I have a suggestion. No, actually I have an order." She crossed her arms and stared at the people before her. " Since you are my task force, I'm ordering you all to go home and get some sleep then eat a decent meal before you meet again." She held up her hand for silence when Williams started to protest. "Detective, no arguments. The next time I see you, I want you alert. I am not giving up – we will find this person. I know you three are the best. Steve wouldn't have chosen you if you weren't. But you're tired and not thinking clearly. And that's when mistakes happen." She turned to stare each of them in the eye. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Chin Ho told her, rising.
Kono grinned. "I hope your orders include a long, hot shower, Ma'am."
"Absolutely," she smiled back, then turned to Williams. "Danny?"
He stared at her and then nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. I understand. And…thanks."
"Go. I'll see you tomorrow morning. And not sooner. And, we will find this person."
Sunday evening, 8:45 p.m.
Danny Williams was quiet and unmoving, which most people would find totally out of character. Today, after some much-needed sleep, his fears from the night before had been laid to rest. He was here, watching over his partner, right where he needed to be.
Danny could be patient when the situation warranted. A few years of New Jersey stakeouts had engrained that quality into his psyche. This was one of those waiting times. He sat in the uncomfortable chair, elbows on his knees, and chin in his hands. Watching. And willing to wait it out. Steve had been taken off the respirator around five and they had moved him from ICU into this suite shortly thereafter. Glancing around the room, Williams was still in awe that it was actually a hospital room. Aside from the fact that it held a hospital bed and related medical stuff, the rest of it looked like the Ritz. Teak furniture lined the wall and inside an armoire on the wall opposite the bed was a 32-inch flat screen. Quiet, canned music was coming from somewhere and the two windows in the corners were covered in real drapes, not those noisy blinds most hospitals have.
"Steven, my boy," he muttered, "knowing the governor sure gives you perks. Although getting yourself shot shouldn't be one of them. But we sure could watch some serious football on this baby," he mumbled, looking longingly at the TV.
Dark blue eyes opened slowly to half mast, then swiftly closed. McGarrett took a steadying breath before the lashes opened once again, blinking against the light and focusing on his visitor.
Williams' breathed a sigh of relief and jumped from the chair, moving to stand by the bed. His vigil was over.
"Wakey, wakey."
"You're starin' at me." The voice was gravelly and weak from abuse and unuse.
Danny leaned over the bed rail and didn't even attempt to hide the goofy grin on his face. "Good to know that all that SEAL training hasn't been lost, because I am staring. Just trying to decide if you look more like Sleepy, Dopey or Grumpy."
"Don't do that." The order was half-hearted, but McGarrett couldn't let a Williams' barb fly by without a reply.
"Ah, there it is. And Grumpy wins." Danny sobered before adding, "I knew if I waited long enough, you'd eventually open those baby blues."
McGarrett closed his eyes once again in an attempt to clear his foggy brain. The hospital smell was already making him nauseous, so he knew where he was…but didn't remember how he got there. Swallowing against the bile in his throat, and cursing his faulty brain, he had to ask, "What happened?"
"The quick answer is, 'you got shot'."
"You shot me?"
"Me?" Williams held up both hands, his thumbs pointing to his chest. "No, course not. Why'd you think that?"
"You threaten it all the time," he mumbled. Keeping his eyes open was becoming a chore.
"Yeah, well, so far I've managed to control myself. No, I didn't shoot you."
Steve blinked, determined to remain awake. He turned his head, checking the room. "Where's-?"
"Relax. Everyone's fine. But you're—"
"What day is it?"
"Ah, this would be Sunday night."
"Sunday…?"
"Don't hurt yourself screwing your face up like that," Williams warned with a smile. "Just take it easy. What's the last thing you remember?"
"Um…sushi? Maybe? He let out a frustrated sigh. "Hell, I don't know-"
"That was Friday. But we never made it to the sushi bar."
McGarrett looked puzzled. "Don't remember."
"Well, that's probably a good thing, 'cause you wouldn't have liked it," Danny assured him quietly. "After you got shot, you had surgery on your lung, and, until this afternoon," he pointed to his own mouth, "had the whole garden hose stuffed down your throat thing going on. They said you were awake a couple of times yesterday, so just be glad you don't remember."
McGarrett tried to take stock of his battered body and decided there weren't many places that didn't hurt. He raised his hand to find a clamp on his finger and an IV taped to his arm. Struggling to lift the other hand, he discovered that arm also weighted down with IVs. With a grunt, he pulled off the clamp, a corresponding keening wail coming from a machine beside the bed.
Danny held both hands up in the 'halt' position. "Hey, I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but I'm fairly certain they wanted that thingy on your finger."
Next, hooking his finger around the tubing of the nasal cannula, Steve pulled it away from his nose, another beep chiming in on the equipment.
"Geez, Steve, that one, too? Don't go thinking you're ripping out those IVS, 'cause I swear I'll stop you."
"Get in line behind me, Detective." A petite, middle-aged nurse wearing cartoon-print scrubs quickly pushed open the door and bee-lined toward the bed.
"Can you tell me why all the bells and whistles at my nursing station started going off?" she asked, reaching for the oxygen tubing.
"Bad equipment?" McGarrett guessed.
"Hasn't been conscious all weekend, just wakes up and already he has an akamai mouth," she muttered, not so gently reapplying the tubing before silencing the beep on the machine.
Steve's eyes widened and he cut a glance at Danny, who was unsuccessfully attempting to stifle an evil grin.
"You may have just met your match," Williams whispered, the grin growing wider. "She's small, but I'm guessing she might put a 'whump on you' like my Granny used to say."
Leaning over the bed, she added with a nod, "Commander, it's good to see you awake. My name's Kali and I am your nurse this afternoon. Now, that cannula stays up your nose, got it?" she ordered, pointing her finger in his face. She then picked up the discarded clamp with one hand and McGarrett's hand with the other.
" 'M fine. Don't need this stuff." He attempted a half-hearted smile as he tried to convince her, but glancing at what he considered the evil look on her face, even he knew it was hopeless.
"Mm hmm. I can see that you're fine. And I've heard all about you, so you can cut the bull." She glared at him, adding, and "One word of warning. I know you're used to being the person in charge. But not here – I'm the boss, not you." She reattached the clamp to his finger and saw him flinch.
"Ouch." He gave her his best puppy-dog look, the one that had worked on females for pretty much his entire life, blinking at her through tired, heavy eyes.
"That hurts?" She shook her head in a gesture of disappointment. "And I thought you Navy boys were tougher than that. You've got a hole the size of Maui in your lung and my tiny little pulse ox hurts your finger. You poor thing."
Williams snickered. "Now I know you've met your match. You might as well throw in the towel now."
"Can't believe you were talking about me when I couldn't defend myself," he whined.
"Hey, she didn't hear anything from me."
"I got my information straight from the governor, Commander. She sat us all down for a 'Come-to-Jesus' meeting while you were still in recovery. Wanted to make sure we were going to take good care of you."
Danny saw in Steve's eyes the moment his memory returned and he quickly moved to the opposite side of the bed in anticipation. "Hey! – don't—"
McGarrett raised his head off the bed, panic in his eyes. "Jameson?—"
Fiery pain sliced through him from his back to his chest, then to all extremities, slamming him so hard that he couldn't remember to breathe.
"Whoa, whoa, hang on," the nurse ordered, placing one hand against his chest and the other behind his head to guide him back onto the pillow. "Slow down. You're not going anywhere. Breathe for me. Come on." Her gruff demeanor changed as she spoke in a calming voice, rubbing her hand on his chest. "It's okay, just breathe." She reached for the button on one of the IVs and pressed it. "You've got a morphine pump attached to the IV and I just dosed you. It will take it a minute or two to kick in, so try to relax until then." She turned to Danny. "And I think he's done for the night."
"No," McGarrett whispered, opening his eyes to frantically search for his partner. "Talk."
"Hey, it's all right. It can wait until tomorrow."
"No." He shook his head, gasping in air while trying to think clearly, "No, it can't. The governor? Is she okay?"
"Yes, she's fine. I swear."
Kali added, "She's very concerned about you, though. And I have to answer to her, so don't do anything stupid."
McGarrett squeezed his eyes shut once again, forcing himself to remember, recreating in his mind the last meeting he had with Governor Jameson.
"That envelope? Danny, what was in the envelope?"
"Remember the photo taken of our team on the steps of the court house last month?"
"Yeah. Stupid photographer."
"Well, Jameson got it in the mail…with red crosshairs drawn on all of our faces."
He thought for a moment trying to process what he remembered. "So…if crosshairs were on us… she's not the target."
"Apparently not. We're still piecing everything together." He leaned over the bed, glancing at the nurse for permission. "Now, just one more question, and I'll leave. Did you see the shooter?"
The commander thought once again. "No, nothing."
"Then how did you know—"
McGarrett turned his head to stare at him. "-I saw the bead on her forehead and reacted." In his mind, the reason was a no-brainer.
Danny was silent a moment before slowly nodding his head and replying, "Of course you did. No surprise there. I swear, next time we leave the office, I'm making sure you wear a vest."
Steve gave him a ghost of a grin. "Might make the governor a bit paranoid."
"She'll adapt. Don't worry, we'll figure all this out. Get some rest and I'll be back tomorrow. Chin and Kono, too." He slapped at McGarrett's foot beneath the blanket as he walked around the bed. "You behave yourself."
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not a one," Kali told him as Williams walked toward the door.
"Hey, Danno?
Williams heard the pain and fatigue in his partner's voice and turned around. "Yeah?"
"Be careful."
"Always." He turned to leave once again.
"Hey."
Danny gave him a mock groan. "Come on, McGarrett. Would you shut it and let me get out of here? One of us needs to do some work. And since you're the one lying down on the job…"
"Danny? The driver?"
The detective sighed and turned back around, slowly shaking his head. "Sorry, Steve."