Chapter 7
"Che, what do you have?" Chin Ho Kelly asked as he entered the crime lab.
"Hey Chin, how's Steve?" the scientist broke in with a question.
"Doc says with time and a lot of rest he'll be okay."
Che smiled inwardly as he recalled the legendary battles between Bergman and McGarrett. "Good luck with that, especially after he hears about this." Che held up a tagged black 9 mm hand gun and a smashed slug in a clear plastic evidence bag.
"Is this the gun IA found in Danno's locker?" Chin reached out and took the weapon.
"Yeah and it gets even worse. Big Chicken's finger prints are all over it. And this slug, the one they dug out of Steve, was fired from that gun."
The seasoned detective shook his head and looked down at the floor. It had just gotten worse.
o-o-o-o-o
The first thing to hit Danny Williams when he opened his eyes was the pounding in his head followed by an intense wave of nausea. He struggled to keep the inevitable at bay as he took in his surroundings. The small, cramped, extremely hot, low-lit quarters seemed to be listing gently from side to side, suggesting to Danny that he might be on some type of boat.
First on hands and knees and then from knees to standing, Danny stumbled backwards towards the wall when the floor swayed to the right. He grunted in pain when something round and hard dug into the small of his back. Danny put his hand behind him and felt along the wall until his reached his tormenter: a doorknob. He held it tightly as he turned around. Even though he knew it would be a wasted effort, he twisted as hard as he could and pulled with all his strength trying to open the door.
A renewed and empowered wave of nausea assaulted him. Sweat broke out all over his body and the sound of retching filled the small room. Long after the episode had passed, Danny continued to rest his head against the wall as he tried to make sense of everything. Finally, his legs grew weak and he slowly slid down to the floor. Danny pulled his knees up and crossed his arms on top of them. He started to think about Steve and was overcome by dread. Oh God, Steve! What will he think when he finds out?
o-o-o-o-o
"Doc?" McGarrett's weak voice called out, waking Bergman who had fallen asleep in the chair next to Steve's hospital bed. The rumpled coroner/physician stirred, rubbing his hand over his wrinkled face before he stood and walked to McGarrett's bedside.
A large white bandage covered Steve's upper chest and left shoulder. His left arm was secured in a white sling and bound tightly to his chest by another bandage to prevent movement. A nasal cannula supplied a steady stream of oxygen to the big cop. Life-giving blood slowly made its way into the big detective's body from the unit hanging on the IV pole beside the bed. Several more hanging bags provided medication that traveled down individual tubes and into a separate IV port, flooding Steve's system with healing fluids. Monitors beeped from the wall above the bed, their red and green lights casting an eerie glow in the low light as they continuously displayed the man's heart rate and respirations.
Steve winced as he took in a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a moment as he fought the burning pain in his chest and shoulder. "Felt better," McGarrett replied as he opened his eyes and searched the room for his partner. "Danno?"
Bergman swallowed hard as he looked down into Steve's intense yet tired dark blue eyes. Now was not the time to tell McGarrett that his best friend and partner might have had a hand in putting him here.
"Out looking for Big Chicken," Bergman lied.