Holding onto Grace

Chapter 7:-

A/N: Sorry again it took me a while to publish this chapter, life has just continued to be busy for me; especially the university part and that is kind of taking priority.

Suggesting that the atmosphere in the interrogation room was tense; would be an understatement. Since arresting the native Hawaiian woman after a dicey car chase, she chose to use her right to remain silent. It was no surprise that Steve, Chin and Kono found this frustrating. Innocent children; including Grace became collateral damage today after someone had murdered an innocent man; a man's identity that they were only just getting information on. Now, they were just keen on getting this silent woman's identity; and since they were having no luck on getting her to talk, Kono took a photo and ran it through facial recognition.

No less than ten minutes later, Kono returned to the interrogation room with the Hawaiian woman's identity.

"I got her name" Kono announced as she walked into the interrogation room. "Miranda Haki; she's a nurse a Queens"

"So Miranda" said Steve. "Now that we know your name, I think its best you start talking"

Miranda was starting to feel somewhat intimidated; but it wasn't enough to stop her from keeping her mouth shut.

"Okay, I'll get things started" said Chin. "Why'd you run from us?" he asked firmly.

"Was it because you killed this man?" Kono asked as she held up a photo to show Miranda.

Miranda looked up at the photo in Kono's hand; she didn't even flinch, she just sat there and looked at the photo with a slight smirk on her face.

"I'll take that smirk on your face as a yes" said Steve. "Who is this guy?" Steve asked, pointing at the photo in Kono's hand.

"His name's Oliver Thornton" Miranda replied. "And yes I killed him"

"She speaks" Chin stated.

"Why'd you kill Oliver?" Kono asked.

"I didn't mean too, okay" Miranda replied. "I just wanted to make some trouble for him"

"How much trouble Miranda?" Steve asked. "Enough trouble so he would have a heart attack? Because it seems to me that you're pretty happy that he's dead"

"Why'd you want to cause trouble for Oliver, Miranda?" Chin asked.

"Look up the name Nickolas Haki" Miranda suggested. "When you find his name, you'll find Oliver's too"

"Who's Nickolas Haki?" Steve asked as Chin left the room to look up Nickolas Haki's name.

"He was my brother" Miranda replied. "He was killed in a car accident"

"And what does Oliver have to do with your brother being killed in a car accident?" Kono asked.

"Oliver was driving the car Nickolas died in" Miranda replied.

"Now, Oliver said that the reason he crashed was because he got blinded by another car's headlights"

"You didn't believe him?" Kono asked.

"No, I believed him" Miranda replied. "It's just that no one got punished over Nickolas' death"

"What about the driver of the other car?" Steve asked.

"They didn't stop" Miranda replied. "And the cops weren't able to find them"

"So you went after Oliver instead?" Kono asked. "Even though you knew it wasn't his fault"

"Someone had to pay!" Miranda shouted.

"So you killed an innocent man to avenge your brother's death?" Steve asked rhetorically.

Miranda then sat silently, while her eyes began to well up; now beginning to regret what she had done to Oliver. In a desperate attempt to get some sort of justice and to stop the pain she was feeling over Nickolas' death; she had killed an innocent man.

"Oh and just so you know, while you making Oliver "pay" for your brother's death, you killed an innocent ten year old boy this morning when the car Oliver was driving hit ten kids at an elementary school this morning" Steve added.

"I really hope it was worth it Miranda" said Kono, as she and Steve made their way over to the door of the interrogation room.

After a very intense and emotional interrogation with Miranda Haki, Kono and Steve entered the main office to meet up with Chin, who went to look up Nickolas Haki's name.

"Did you find Nickolas Haki's name in the databases?" Kono asked.

"Yeah, and Miranda was telling the truth about Oliver" Chin replied.

"Nickolas was killed instantly and Oliver walked away with only minor injuries"

"What did Oliver have to say in his statement to the police?" Steve asked.

"He said he was blinded by another car's headlights; he didn't see the plates"

"Did the cops confirm that Oliver being blinded by headlights was the cause of the accident?" Steve asked.

"Yeah" Chin replied. "And because Oliver didn't see the plates; now charges were laid"

"Damn" said Kono.

"Yeah" said Steve. "Well, I'm going to head over to the hospital to see Grace; you guys in?" he asked.

"Yeah" Chin and Kono said in unison; keen to see how their honorary niece was doing.

Twenty minutes later, Steve, Chin and Kono arrived at the hospital to see Grace. When they reached the floor of the ICU, they were met with Gabby and Stan walking up and down the corridor, trying to settle Charlie.

"Hey guys, how's Grace?" Steve said quietly; trying not to startle Charlie.

"She's going to be okay" Gabby replied. "Danny and Rachel are with her now; April went to check on a patient"

"How are they doing?" Kono asked.

"They seem to be holding it together, just" Gabby replied. "How's the case going?" she asked.

"We got 'em" Chin replied.

"Yeah, it turns out a woman was just trying to avenge her brother's death" Kono added.

"Killing two innocent in the process" Steve stated.

The quiet conversation was suddenly interrupted when April came bursting through the swinging doors; walking at an incredible pace, not even taking notice that she had startled Charles after Stan had finally settled him. As she approached her friends, she showed no signs that she was going slow down and acknowledge that they were there. April then walked straight pass them and headed for the elevator and slammed her hand on the button. Concerned, Steve got up and walked over to see what was going on.

"April, is Grace okay?" Steve asked, as he ran towards her.

April didn't reply. Before Steve could get to her, the elevator doors had opened and April had stepped in. Steve saw that the elevator was going down. So, without hesitation, he headed for the hospital stairwell and quickly made his way down the stairs to catch up with April.

A few moments later, Steve emerged from the front of the hospital to find April. It didn't take him too long to find her, when he noticed her leaning up against a tree, with her hands for support. Steve could see that April was pale and that she was gasping for air. Concerned for her welfare, Steve ran over to her aid.

"April!" Steve yelled. "April, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" April replied.

"Are you sure? Do you want me to get you some help?" he asked.

"I said I'm fine Steve!" April replied, trying to slow her breathing down.

"Okay, you're fine" said Steve. "But what's going on? Is Grace okay?"

"Grace is fine" April replied.

"This is not about Grace is it April?" Steve asked.

"No it's not" April replied. "I just helped two parents turn their little boy's life support off"

"I'm sorry" said Steve.

"Yeah, me too" said April. "But Steve, that's not the whole story"

"What do you mean that's not the whole story? What are talking about?" Steve asked.

"How much has Danny told you about my nursing career?" April asked.

"Just that you're a nurse and you good at what you do, why?" Steve asked.

"That's it?" April asked.

"Yeah" Steve replied. "April, what's going on?" he asked.

"Former Major April Williams, U.S. Army Nurse Corps at your service" April replied, saluting Steve.

Steve just stood there, stunned at what April had just told him. But was more importantly, why hadn't after all this time his partner; his best friend ever tell him anything about his little sister serving in the U.S. Army?