Maggie was released from the hospital ten days later. She was thin and pale, her summer tan fading during her hospital stay. She was still weak from blood loss, pain, and the trauma of major surgery. Steve was just happy to have her back home. He helped her out of the car and would have carried her into the house if she hadn't insisted she was strong enough to walk the few feet from the car to the front door. He'd wrapped an arm around her too thin waist and pretended he didn't notice how frail she really was. He helped her get settled on the sofa in the living room and went back to the car to fetch her bags.
Maggie sat staring at the blank screen of the TV. She was home. Steve was there and he had been there while she was in the hospital. He had been there when she had awakened from surgery, he was there when the doctors had told her she'd lost the baby and would never have another. He'd held her hand as she had cried in pain, once again speaking to her in that deep, rough voice that reminded her of black velvet and smokey bourbon, telling her that everything was going to be alright. She wished she could believe him.
Steve stashed her bags in the bedroom and sat beside her on the sofa. "How's my girl?" he asked.
"Happy to be home," she said. "I don't think I could take another day in that place."
"Can I get you anything?" he asked. A stray lock of hair had came loose from her braid. It seemed like that one lock of hair had a mind of it's own and refused to stay in place without mass quantities of hair gel. He tucked it behind her ear, gently caressing her neck as he did, softly stoking the bruises left by the IV's.
"No, not really. But I would love to sit in the sun for a while. I think my Vitamin D levels are at an all time low."
He rose and held out a hand to help her up. "I think I can arrange that," he said.
"I need to get into some real clothes first," she said leaning against him as his embrace tightened around her. She had almost forgotten how good it felt when he held her.
"Anything you want, my Little Menehune," he said.
Ten minutes later he was tucking a light blanket around her legs as she sat in the chaise lounge on the lanai. Maggie sighed as the rays of the sun started warming her from the inside out. "How's that?" Steve asked. "Comfortable?"
"Yes," she said, giving him the first real smile he'd seen since the whole nightmare had began. "Steve, honey, I'm fine. I'm not an invalid."
He pulled a chair up next to hers and sat down, taking her hand in his as he did. "I know you're not an invalid. I also know you're too stubborn to ask for help when you need it. Besides, I like spoiling you."
She reached up to stroke his cheek. "What am I suppose to do with you, Commander?" she asked.
"Well, for starters you can marry me on my birthday," he said. It was the first time he'd mentioned the wedding since she had been injured.
She didn't say anything. She bowed her head, refusing to look at him, and got way too quiet.
"Maggie, honey," he said. "What's wrong?"
She looked up, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "You still want to go through with the wedding?" she asked. "Even after..." she choked on the sob that was rising in her throat.
"Maggie, baby, listen to me. I love you and if nothing else this whole incident has convinced me how much I need you. It took me a long time to find you and I don't intend to lose you, not over this, or anything else. A child, our child, would have been wonderful and magical and beautiful, but it wasn't meant to be. But I've still got you, and you've still got me, and I truly hope that is enough."
She managed a half smile. "It's more than enough," she said.
"Good," he said, "and that's the last I want to hear about this. After you get better, after the wedding, if you want, we can look into adopting a child. If that's what you want."
"I love you, Commander," she said.
"I love you, too, Sergeant." he said, smiling. "I was going to wait until after the wedding to tell you this, only I think now's as good a time as any. It will be retired commander the day after my birthday. I put in my request for retirement from the Reserves. Approval has already been granted. One less demand on time I'd rather spend with you."
"And I'll be done with the Army in fifteen months. Wow. We'll both be civilians."
"You will be, at least. I'm still a cop for a few more years. There must be something in the air. Duke has almost convinced Susan to retire at twenty-five instead of thirty."
"I don't think I've ever seen her so happy before. He's good for her. I think he's what she's been looking for all her life and I'm happy she's finally found him. I still can't believe they're getting married."
"I've never seen Duke happier, only with him it's hard to tell."
She suddenly became very serious. It was as if a dark cloud had blotted out the sun. "Steve, when you got there to rescue us, what happened? I know Robbie was shot. Everything else is fuzzy. Duke shot the one called Big Chicken?"
Steve had been dreading this conversation. He knew it would happen sooner or later. He'd been hoping for later. "Duke shot Big Chicken in the back. When Chicken lost the grip on your shoulder, Duke took the one shot he knew he had. The bullet blew out a good chunk of that creep's spine. Big Chicken is going to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair."
"And the other two?" she asked.
"Collins fired a shotgun at Robbie. Robbie is one very lucky young man. The shotgun was loaded with birdshot and his vest caught most of the impact. He'll be back on duty in about two weeks. That is if he survives meeting Ivory's parents."
"Colonel Dale says he's going to lodge a complaint with Chief Dann if HPD officers keep poaching his soldiers. I'm not sure if he was joking when he said it. What happened after Robbie was shot?"
"I shot Collins and Barker," he said. "Collins is dead. Barker is going to prison for the rest of his life. He's turning states evidence to save his sorry hide. If I had my way he'd be looking at the death penalty."
"I thought Hawaii didn't have the death penalty?"
"It doesn't. But Federal does. He was on government property when he kidnapped you and Susan, making it a Federal crime. He started screaming states evidence and excessive force as soon as he was read his rights."
"Excessive force? Because he got shot?"
'No, honey, because Duke backhanded Barker so hard he lost two teeth. Or that's his story. When he found out exactly how much trouble he was in he was happy to forget about charging Duke with anything."
"That doesn't sound like Duke at all. I didn't think anything ruffled him."
"Neither did I," Steve said, truthfully. "He kicked Big Chicken in the head, twice, after he had shot and disarmed him. You don't threaten a Hawaiian's family. Chicken threatened Duke's and Duke made certain Chicken would never threaten his family or anyone else's ever again." He paused for a minute, thinking, before he continued. "The Hawaiian's have a word for family: Ohana. It's meaning goes deeper than just blood family. It's the family that you make. I didn't really understand it until now."
"Is that why you killed Collins, because he threatened your family?"
"No, baby. That was instinct and reflexes. I honestly don't remember pulling the trigger. The only thing I could think of was getting to you, and Collins was in the way. Collins got a clean shot to the head. It was quick and probably painless and a better death than he deserved." Steve stood up. "Enough of this. Keep this up and we're both going to have nightmares." He bent to kiss the top of her head. "I have to call the office and make sure Danno and rest of the crew are keeping busy. All you need to do is lie there and soak up some rays. I'll be back in a bit." He went into the house, keeping the sliding glass door open, never letting her out of his sight.
Ohana, Maggie thought. The family that you make. Family, like Lu, no make that Susan. She says she's grown up now. All I know is she's happy. Duke treats her like a queen and his kids are already calling her mom. Steve has his son and his sister and her family and all of Five-O, I've got my family in Louisiana and all my sisters in uniform with Colonel Dale acting as our surrogate daddy and now I've got Steve and Cooper and Mary Ann and her family, and the crew from Five-O. That's a good word, Ohana. The family that you make. I think I've made a very good one.
She must have dozed off, because when she awoke, the sun was going down and Steve was holding her hand.
"Hey, Big Guy," she said sleepily.
"You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you," Steve said. "Ready to go inside?"
Maggie nodded and allowed him to help her up. "It's good to be home," she said, leaning against him, inhaling the scent of good soap and the sandalwood cologne he always wore. "Ohana," she whispered. "My Ohana."
"Yes, my Little Menehune, my ohana mau loa."