Thank you very much for all the great reviews for this fic! Bryce x
H-5-0
Queens Medical Centre was still busy despite the lateness of the hour. Steve parked the Camaro near the ER, grabbed the bag of clothes and toiletries he'd just collected from Danny's apartment, and walked in, ignoring the waiting room half full of patients waiting to be seen. He approached the desk, stopping just short when three hyperactive children raced by him.
"Ma'am, would you please stop your children running about," the duty nurse called out exasperated. "This is a hospital, not a playground!"
The children raced by again, completely oblivious to their mother's pleas. Steve shook his head and reached the desk.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"Um, my partner was brought in earlier, Detective Danny Williams," Steve explained. He showed her his own Five-O credentials and she immediately sat up straighter.
"Oh, right, of course, Commander McGarrett. This way," she said and quickly got up, escorting Steve through to the treatment rooms. She introduced him to Danny's doctor, smiled and then left.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Alanna Kopi, Commander McGarrett," she smiled, grabbing Danny's chart.
"How is he?" Steve asked. He glanced about. "Where is he?"
"Detective Williams, as you know, was brought in with a GSW to the left shoulder, and also suffering a resultant infection. We put him in a twilight sedation and successfully cleaned out and stitched the wounds, and he's currently sleeping that off. We have him resting comfortably in a private room if you'd like to come back tomorrow morning," she said starting to explain the patient visiting hour's schedule, but stopped when she saw the look on Steve's face.
"Thank you but I'd like to see him now," he said. It wasn't a question. Doctor Kopi pursed her lips. Five-O, and Commander McGarrett especially, were unfortunately notoriously known for ignoring hospital policy, so she knew this was one argument she was going to lose.
Instead the doctor nodded and carried on, "There were contributing factors to the severity of Detective Williams' initial condition... blood loss, dehydration, shock, heat exhaustion, but considering all those, Danny has responded to the treatment extremely well, and if he continues to improve I'll be happy to discharge him in forty eight hours," Doctor Kopi smiled. She took Steve to the elevators and pressed the button.
"Does he know that?" Steve smirked, knowing two days stuck in a hospital would be hell for Danny.
"Ah, unfortunately he does," the doctor winced. "He was very vocal about it."
"I bet."
The elevator arrived and Steve and Doctor Kopi stepped inside. She thumbed the second floor and the doors closed.
"You know he'll probably sign himself out AMA," Steve said knowing that with Scates still at large, there was no way Danny was going to stay in a hospital bed if he could help it. Even Steve wouldn't be able to stop him. He watched as the doctor sighed and nodded.
"Yes, I am well aware of Five-O's reputation when it comes to medical advice." She looked at Steve. "I would prefer Detective Williams to stay for the full forty eight hours, but if he's insistent on leaving before then, I must press that rest is vital to his recovery."
"He'll be with me," Steve reassured her. If he couldn't stop Danny, then he'd damn well make sure the man didn't do anything stupid. "I'll make sure he takes it easy."
She saw the truth of Steve's words in his open expression, and knew her patient was in good hands. The elevator pinged and the doors opened; Danny's room was the first one on their right.
Steve pushed the door open and let Doctor Kopi enter first. The lights were low, and Danny was sleeping propped up with pillows, snoring very softly, and despite the residual flush of a slight fever, he looked peaceful. His shoulder had a new bandage on it, the neat wrapping covering his upper chest, and his left arm had been immobilised with a sling. The nasal cannula had gone, but the IV was still in situ, and the pale greyness of his skin had disappeared to leave the blush of sunburn instead.
Doctor Kopi gently took a hold of Danny's wrist and silently took his pulse. The touch roused him and he sucked in a sharp breath, closed his mouth and swallowed.
"Sorry, Danny," she smiled when blue eyes finally focussed on her.
"Time izzit?" He winced at the hoarse sound of his voice and tentatively tried to clear his throat.
"Very late," she whispered. "How do you feel? Are you in any pain at all?"
He closed his eyes again when he felt plastic pushed gently into his ear. "No... no pain..."
"Good. You're doing really well, Danny," the doctor reassured him softly, pleased with his stats. She placed the call button in his lax hand. "Press this if you need anything, okay?"
"Hmmm mm..."
Steve watched quietly as Danny seemed to fall asleep again. He'd hoped to be able to talk to him, but he knew Danny needed this healing sleep, and eased himself down onto the uncomfortable chair next to his bed, stowing the bag of Danny's stuff safely under it.
"Commander?"
Taking his eyes off Danny, Steve glanced up to see Doctor Kopi looking quizzically at him. He motioned to his partner, "He's doing well then?"
"Ah, yes, his vitals are good, temperature only slightly elevated now, and I think one more bag of fluids and he can be free of the IV as soon as the antibiotic course is finished," she said, eyeing Steve critically. The SEAL looked exhausted, with shadows under his eyes and dark stubble that just highlighted the paleness of his pallor. "You plan on sitting in that chair all night?"
Steve immediately threw up his stubborn, try-and-stop-me-and-die walls, and adopted his best no-nonsense commander tone, "Detective Williams is-"
"Aht," Doctor Kopi halted him with an abrupt sweep of her hand. "All I was going to suggest was that you take advantage of that empty bed there." Steve had the sense to look a little sheepish and nodded when she smiled at him. "You look like you could do with a decent nap yourself."
"Yeah, thanks, doc," he said and stood up, suddenly feeling double his age.
"I'll be back in two hours to check on Detective Williams. I expect to find you asleep," she stated with a stern look, and then left quietly.
"I'd do as she says, babe."
Steve snapped around at the sleep rough voice and couldn't help the huge grin that literally filled his face.
"You know, if the wind changes, your face will stay like that," Danny smirked gingerly turning so he could see his friend properly.
"Danny! S'good to see you, man," Steve nodded, sitting carefully beside him on the bed. Danny lifted a hand to reach for some water, and Steve immediately passed it to him.
"How are you feeling, buddy?"
"Probably better than you look," Danny frowned. He saw the same picture of exhaustion that the doctor had seen and didn't like it. Putting the glass down, he asked, "Have you been checked out yet?"
"I'm fine," the SEAL quickly answered, adding when Danny's eyes narrowed, "Really. No headaches, no nausea... Chin has been watching me like a hawk, it's been – disconcerting."
And it had. Every time Steve looked up, it was to see either Cat's or Chin's sharp eyes watching him. He'd began to feel paranoid was relieved when Cat finally left to check back in with her CO. But the vigilance hadn't let up until he'd convinced Chin that he was absolutely fine.
"Then why do you look like you've been on a forty-eight hour bender?" Danny asked, his hand pointedly indicating to Steve's posture, strained and tense. "I was shot, and I look better than you do right now!"
Well, Steve had certainly had better days, but in his career as a Navy SEAL he'd definitely had worse, and he could definitely deal with a little exhaustion and sunburn, no problem. Instead of answering, he let his eyes venture up to Danny's blonde hair, still wavy and certainly not the usual slicked back perfection Danny enjoyed, hoping to deflect his friend's scrutiny.
"Are you serious? Really?" Danny protested, pushing his fingers through his dishevelled blonde stands when he realised what Steve was looking at. "I know you can't be thinking what I think you're thinking because, thinking about it, that's just ridiculous, Steven."
Raising one eyebrow, Steve regarded him curiously, "Is this you just throwing words at me again, hoping they'll make some sort of sense – eventually, Danno?"
"Shut up," Danny growled, "And don't call me Danno. Answer my question."
"Which one?" Steve asked with an air of innocence, "Am I serious, or what am I thinking?"
"You know, I really hate you sometimes, you goof," Danny groused, anything further interrupted by a yawn.
"I know you do, and I love you, too. You should rest, Danny," Steve said quietly, patting his partner on the knee and standing up.
"Exactly, you should too, Super SEAL. Bed. There. Sleep," Danny pointed to the empty bed and waited until Steve silently lay down. Facing each other, Danny looked at his friend, saw the weary lines of fatigue around his dark eyes, and well aware that the man had distracted him before, still needed to know, "You sure you're okay?"
"I am now I've seen that you're doing a lot better, Danno," Steve smiled. "Go to sleep."
Muffling another yawn behind his hand, Danny closed his eyes and mumbled something about stubborn Super SEALs and tuny-fish. Steve soon followed him into sleep.
H-5-0
Kono looked forlornly at her surf board and sighed. It was just after five AM, and instead of heading to the beach, she was waiting for Chin to arrive on his bike for an exciting morning stakeout. The break of day was her favourite time to go surfing, with the empty beaches devoid of tourists, nice pipelines, long, workable rides she could enjoy without worrying about other surfers dropping in on her waves, and she loved to watch the sunrise from her board. It set her up for the day.
The throaty sound of Chin's Harley-Davidson shook her out of her musing and she grabbed her car keys and went out to meet him.
"Morning, cuz."
"You're looking chipper this morning, Kono," Chin muttered, envious of her youth and energy. Kono just smiled and handed him the keys.
"Easier at the drive through," she winked knowing that would be the first stop for the detective. Coffee. Extra large, extra strong.
By the time they arrived at Gil Scates apartment in downtown Waikiki and relieved the HPD stakeout crew with coffee and malasadas for them, it was bright and sunny, and they watched as people mulled around, starting their day. Kono took advantage of the early morning activities to check to see if Scates was actually at home, sighing when the place still looked exactly the same as it did when they'd been there the day before, but with no sign of their suspect. She only hoped he'd show up soon, and not make her and Chin waste an entire day camped out on his door step.
Nearly six long hours later, she put her cell down and sighed. Even she could only take so much Angry Birds. Talking to Steve earlier had broken up the monotony of the stakeout, but on the whole, Kono really hated this part of the job. She nudged Chin and mumbled something about coffee before climbing out of the car.
Barely ten minutes had gone by when Chin spotted Gil Scates approaching his apartment with a grocery bag. Grabbing his gun, he got out and followed the man, breaking into a run when Gil saw him, dropped his groceries, and made a break for it. Chin chased him to the roof of his apartment complex where they fought, leaving Chin dangling over the side of the building, hanging on for dear life.
Kono returned to an empty car, but as soon as she found the discarded groceries, she knew. Quickly looking around, she saw Chin's Five-O badge on the ground and instinctively looked up, sucking in a breath and yelling out to her cousin to hold on, she was coming!
En route, she crossed paths with Scates and easily subdued him with a couple of well place kicks, finally cuffing him to the rail, before she headed back to the roof to pull Chin to safety.
"Thanks, cuz," Chin panted as he sat on the roof. Kono nodded and handed him back his badge.
"Well, while you were... hanging around," she grinned at her own pun, "I got Scates cuffed to the railing at the bottom."
"You're funny, Kono," Chin grinned back. He got up, "Right, let's get this scumbag back to HQ."
H-5-0