Holding onto Grace
Chapter 4:-
Just as April had finished talking to Danny, two paramedics came through the doors and wheeled in a gurney with a young boy, about Grace's age, with serious head injuries.
"Okay guys, I'm sorry but you need to get out of the way!" April yelled as she put on a fresh pair of gloves.
"April wait!" Danny yelled. "Are you sure you can handle working today?" he asked.
"What are you, my therapist?" April asked. "I'll be fine, Daniel; as long as I know Grace is okay"
When they got close enough, April quickly leaned forward and latched her hand on the left side of the gurney and helped the paramedics and doctor whisked the boy into a cubicle. After the paramedics had detailed the boy's condition, they exited the cubicle and closed the curtains behind them.
The curtains were closed no more than five minutes when April emerged from the cubicle and the look on her face said it all; it was bad news. As April walked back over to her family and friends in the waiting room, Danny saw she still had her gloves on and that they covered in blood.
"Is he going to be okay?" Steve asked.
"Ah, no actually he's not" April replied.
"There's nothing more we can do for him; he's ah…um, he's…he's brain dead"
"Are you going to be alright?" Danny asked with concern.
"Yeah, I think so" April replied, wiping her sweaty forehead with her left wrist, as she was still wearing her gloves. "Though I'm not so sure about his parents"
Standing just behind Danny, Rachel approached him and April.
"April?" Rachel asked. "Is there any chance that we can see Grace?" she asked desperately.
"Yeah, of course you can" April replied. "But I can only let you and Danny in"
"That's fine" Rachel replied. "I just really want to see Grace"
"Okay, just this way" said April as she gestured at Grace's cubicle.
"I don't know why someone hasn't let you in yet"
As they approached Grace's cubicle, an alarm suddenly broke the everyday noises of the emergency department.
"Damn it!" April yelled as she bolted towards Grace's cubicle; Danny and Rachel followed her.
"April! What's going on?" Rachel yelled.
So focused on getting to Grace, April didn't reply to Rachel's desperate plea to what was happening.
"April! Is Grace okay, what's happening?" Rachel yelled.
Before April could answer, Emma, the doctor April had worked with earlier that morning answered Rachel's question.
"Her BP's dropping!" Emma yelled. "We need to get her to surgery, now!"
"Is she going to be okay?" Rachel asked as her eyes began to well up.
"Your daughter is very sick" Emma replied. "If we get her to surgery now, she should be fine"
Rachel didn't say anything, she just stood there with her arms crossed and nodded.
"April, you coming?" Emma asked, as she and another nurse started to move the gurney.
"Grace is my niece" April replied. "I can't go in the OR"
"Nothing says you can't wait outside" said Emma.
With that being said, April approached the gurney and helped Emma and the nurse to get Grace upstairs.
As they moved towards the elevator, Rachel and Danny followed them until they were told by April that they couldn't go any further. Before Grace was pushed into the elevator, Danny grabbed his sister's arm and pulled her towards him.
"April" said Danny.
"What is it?" April asked.
"Promise me my daughter's going to be okay" Danny asked desperately.
April just stood there, stunned at what her brother was asking of her.
"Danny…I" April replied, before being cut off.
"Promise me Grace is going to be okay" Danny pleaded. "Please"
"Danny, you know I can't do that" April replied.
"Just like with what you do, I can't make promises like that; I'm sorry Danny" said April before she headed for the elevator.
With nothing else left for Danny and Rachel to do, they walked back over to the waiting room to tell everyone what was going on. As soon as they entered the waiting room, they were bombarded with questions about Grace.
"How's Grace?" Stan asked.
"Her ah…blood pressure dropped again" Danny replied. "They're taking her up to surgery now"
"Where's April?" Kono asked.
"She's gone up with Grace" Danny replied. "She's going to sit outside and keep us updated"
The conversation is then interrupted when Chin's phone rings. After he pulls it out of his side pocket, he sees that it is Max calling.
Before he answers, he walks out the front doors of the hospital.
"Max" Chin answers.
"How is Detective Williams' daughter?" Max asked.
"Grace is hanging in there" Chin replied. "What have you got for me Max?" he asked.
"Well I think you may want to come down here Lieutenant Kelly" Max replied.
"What's going on Max?" Chin asked.
"The driver's death was not an accident" Max replied.
Chin didn't say a word; he disconnected the call and ran back inside to inform his team of Max's discovery.
When Chin returned to the waiting room, he saw that Danny, Rachel, Stan and Charles had left and Steve and Kono were sitting in the waiting room chairs, waiting patiently for Chin to return.
In the corner of his eye, Steve saw Chin running towards him and Kono with a look on his face that was a cause for concern.
"Chin, what's going on?" Steve asked.
"That was Max" Chin replied.
"What did he say?" Kono asked, as the three of them headed for the exit.
"He said that the cause of death was no accident" Chin replied.
"Did he tell you what the cause of death was?" Steve asked.
"No, he just said we should come down there" Chin replied.
"And by the way he was talking; he wants us down there straight away"
"Well, let's not keep him waiting" said Kono.
"I'll meet you guys there" Steve stated.
About ten minutes later, the three Five-0 team members arrived at the Medical Examiner's office. Keen to know what Max had to tell them, they didn't waste any time getting to Max's office.
"Max!" Steve yelled as he, Chin and Kono approached Max's office.
"Yes" Max replied, as he looked up from his desk when they entered his office.
"What've you got for us?" asked Kono.
"And why is it so important you couldn't tell me on the phone?" Chin asked.
"Follow me" said Max as he got up and headed into the autopsy room.
"Like I told Lieutenant Kelly on the phone, this man's death was not accidental" he said while putting his gloves on.
"Are you saying he was murdered Max?" asked Kono.
"Yes" Max replied.
"What killed him Max?" Steve asked.
"Well, using a little bribery; I had the test results processed a little faster than usual" Max replied.
"And it appears that the COD was an overdose of methamphetamines, which caused him to suffer a fatal heart attack, which would explain why he lost control of his car"
"If he knew that he had methamphetamines in his system; there's no way he would have gotten behind the wheel of that car" Steve stated. "Those kids were just collateral damage"
