I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Notes: Thank you to CinderH for the beta AGAIN on this super long chapter that has greatly (sort of greatly) deviated yet again from the first happy draft. But the breakfast muse won this morning. Thank you for the great reviews and followers! I've been bad this week about getting back individually to people. I will try and make up for it this weekend.
Chapter Seven
Kono was laughing even though she was clearly taking her life in her hands. Steve had said "I'm fine" with a particular snippy tone and just one time too many to the doctor. The man had just completed re-evaluating Steve's stitched hand and basic vitals as promised. However, Steve had assumed the late afternoon exam to be a mere formality. Something to get over with after the Reynolds had left. Just a nuisance to deal with while Danny slept. But it was clear to anyone that looked at him, that Steve didn't feel well with a face more flushed than it should and eyes that were becoming more glassy with fever by the hour. Add to that, the steady refusals to have a bite to eat in the hospital cafeteria and the fact that he had only managed coffee over the last many hours settling for nothing more than dry crackers.
And Kono was laughing because the kind doctor was in the process of admitting her boss for at least one overnight stay and Steve was completely outraged by the idea. A nurse was fastening a patient's bracelet around a very resistant wrist as the SEAL argued with the doctor. Kono made a face because his good hand felt too dry as if he were dehydrated and it held an unhealthy type of heat.
"I told you that I would be okay. This is not necessary." Steve angrily tried to refuse the care and shake off the nurse, but Kono was happy to hold his hand still while she finished clipping the bracelet into place.
And she was still grinning, but only shrugged at his pointed glare. "Listen, boss. Even I can tell you don't feel well and it's only getting worse."
"Welcome to our hospital. I know you'll enjoy your stay." The doctor drawled as he pushed back from the exam table where he'd again re-dressed Steve's hand. "You're temperature is now up to 102 degrees and it's now quite obvious that you need a stronger course of antibiotics. And Officer Kalakaua is correct .. though we've irrigated your wound quite well, the rust or dirt .. or whatever was latent in that old warehouse has taken up stubborn residence. We need to get this gone before it does worsen."
Steve grumbled unhappily until the doctor made one final and most critical point. "This wound is very close to the tendons in your right hand. If we don't care for this now .. and I do mean now .. the infection could spread and you could lose the use of your right hand permanently. I'm sure you don't want that to happen."
The warning pulled Steve's objections up short and he considered the doctor's serious expression. The man was far from joking and the strident message made its mark clear. "Fine. Okay." Steve quietly nodded as he stood from the exam table. He carefully slid his wrist back into a sling. Sharp pains flickered through his swollen fingers and the worst pain was at the base of his thumb; the fleshy part that then radiated into his wrist.
"Let's kick this out." He mumbled more to himself than to anyone else.
"Good." Kono said quietly as he accepted the ruling. Where she'd been smiling before, the doctor's words had scared and sobered her as well. With Steve's temperature rising and the wound looking more reddened than before, this was not something to ignore and she pushed him into the wheelchair. "We'll go back to Danny's room until another one is ready for you."
The doctor nodded in agreement. "Give me about an hour or so. I want you on a strong I.V. of antibiotics and fluids for the next twenty-four hours. I assume you're nauseous too?"
When Steve made a face that said yes, Kono punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Come on really? Really .. Steve?"
The doctor snorted and shook his head about the obstinate man. "I'll add an anti-emetic to your charts. You need to be able to keep something down to keep your strength going."
Now that he'd been essentially ratted out, Steve sagged in the wheelchair with his eyes tiredly closed as Kono rolled him back towards Danny's room. But Kono's sharp intake of breath stopped them short. Steve nearly bolted out of the wheelchair in a fury with Kono on his heels when they realized that Chin had a man up against the wall in the hallway. A few nurses and hospital security were also present. But the two security guards were flanking the Five-0 officer as he rattled the unknown man's head into the hard white plaster.
"What's going on?" Steve demanded and then his eyes narrowed as he recognized the man. "You can't be here and you should know that." He hissed the words as he roughly wrenched the man's digital camera out of his hand. It seemed that they had returned just in time to aid in Chin in removing the unwanted reporter from hospital grounds.
"He was just leaving." Chin stated dryly as he briskly plucked the hidden recorder from the man's inside shirt pocket. "What else are you hiding?"
The reporter was a well-known aggressive man with a reputation for determined, belligerant tactics. He shrugged now at Chin's question. "I want an exclusive." Walter Sandt boldly demanded as he ignored the new hand that threatened his neatly tailored shirt collar. His head was bumped uncomfortably up against the wall again as he cooly met Steve McGarrett's glassy-eyed but very angry glare.
"Can you tell me in your words, what exactly happened? And what your injuries are?" Sandt asked blithely as his eyes moved down to the bandaged hand held loosely in a sling. The solid set to Steve's jaw only amused him as he was released briefly to be bodily moved towards the two security guards.
"No comment." Steve ground out between clenched teeth. "These two fine gentlemen will see you out. Don't come back or you will be arrested." Sandt chuffed a sound similar to a chuckle that intentionally triggered Steve's temper and Kono inserted herself between the two. Again something that Sandt wanted for he was taking mental notes and the ongoing confrontation only allowed him to stay longer in the hospital.
He glanced around quickly and noted that Chin Ho Kelly had mysteriously disappeared. Peering around Steve's shoulder, he could see that he'd returned to the Detective's bedside. Sandt had a few photos of the recovering man, taken very quickly when Kelly left the room for a phone call. He'd been caught by a nurse but the media card was in his shoe and no longer in the camera that McGarrett had taken. Sandt grinned unconsciously as his toes curled around the small rectangle and he tallied up his earnings in his head.
"Detective Williams is a hero." Sandt squared his shoulders and tried to shake off the security guards as he dug his heels into the linoleum floor. "What can you tell me about the baby and his mother? What is their relationship to the arsonist?"
Kono anchored herself next to Steve and hid her surprise. They had done their best to keep certain particulars quiet to protect Belle and baby Daniel but it was obvious Sandt had his paid sources. Frankly, it was expected as long as names remained locked tightly away - reporters would do whatever reporters did. But Five-0 was under the Governor's edict and treated differently and with a certain professional respect by default. So she and Steve didn't need to look at each other as they refused to reply. Danny was a hero but Sandt had an unethical reputation and he would get nothing as they physically hustled him down towards the elevators.
H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*
Something happened before the sky-rocketing pain in his head woke him but he gagged when he opened his eyes and he groaned in misery. The room was suddently so bright, it was sickening and he could barely see Chin's face through the sparkling blackish haze.
"Danny?" At the best of times, Chin's voice was low and calm and he lowered it even more, instinctively knowing something was wrong. His voice was also distracted as it was first closer and then muffled as if Chin had turned briefly away from the bed.
But Danny could barely answer as he slammed his eyes shut and swallowed spasmodically while his stomach clenched in time to the pain in his head. "Head. Sick." He breathed out the two simple words as he gagged again after trying to reopen his eyes. There was rapid movement around him as Chin rang for the doctor, slightly raised the head of the bed, followed by the lights being immediately dimmed in the room. A wet, cool cloth suddenly was draped over his eyes and he shuddered as a sickly chill swept through him.
There was also noise outside his room in the hallway. That also had woken him. Strident voices that were demanding, clipped and much too loud. He heard Steve and so many other voices, he couldn't count them and then quickly abandoned trying as pain pierced his head. "Chin." Danny whispered. "Who?"
He stammered and then gulped back the rising bile from the migraine that was suddenly wreaking havoc on his already battered body. "What's .. hallway? Fight?"
"Kono and Steve got it." Chin whispered almost in anger and Danny dismally tried to push the cloth off to open his eyes, but Chin grabbed his hand. "Leave it. The doctor's on his way." Again he could sense the stress rolling off his friend but didn't have to wait long for Chin to continue explaining.
"Someone called the media. Didn't take much with the union, arsonist and now what they're calling a human interest story about Belle." Chin was grinding the words out in a harsh whisper as he held Danny's hand away from the cool cloth. But he rewet the cloth to wipe his face one-handed, only to replace the cloth over Danny's eyes with an easy flick of his wrist.
Chin had left Danny to call Governor Denning with an update on his two Five-0 officers. He also discussed the rumor that had surfaced about a certain heroic detective that had rescued an infant. Those rumors had grown exponentially and keeping names and particular details very private was becoming more critical. But Chin had been pleased to learn that Denning had his ear to the ground and was well aware of the growing gossip mill. In fact, Denning had already been planning a press release for later that evening.
"Williams is a hero but this will be handled professionally and with his best interests in mind. The media will get only what we want them to get."
However, their call was abruptly cut short when Chin wandered back down the hallway towards Danny's hospital room and he recognized Walter Sandt. He blurted that out in surprise and Denning's ire matched Chin's own and before they ended their call, Denning was adamant. "Sandt is at least done in this press corps .. you have my word. My secretary released official notice that I'd be giving a statement at six p.m. at my office. Go .. get him out of there."
Denning understood the ramifications and Chin heard him changing his plans on the fly. "I'll move the release up with my staff and put this to bed. We will maintain control for everyone's safety and privacy."
"The problem is .. he got in the hospital. So, the Governor is on his way to take this outside and level the playing field. Of course this is a story .. always has been. But Walter Sandt snuck in here and tried to get into your room with a camera and recorder. Steve was getting his hand looked at with Kono and I had stepped out for just a second to call Denning .. but a nurse stopped Sandt in time."
And now Chin was angry because he'd left the room for that call and Sandt had only been stopped in his tracks by a perceptive nurse. Sandt was still arguing with Steve, Kono and hospital staff as he tried to get an exclusive regardless of the pending and controlled press release announced by Denning. And Danny could hear the excitement in the reporter's voice that included pushy, obnoxious questions as he was physically being removed from the hospital by not only his team, but also by security.
Then Danny vaguely remembered it - a flash. No. There were a few flashes of bright light and his breathing changed as he struggled to sit up. That was the something he couldn't quite put his finger on when he first woke up.
"Not .. in time. Pictures. He took .. camera. Chin." Besides the fact that Danny personally didn't appreciate his picture being taken, Five-0 couldn't readily afford to have their faces published in any tabloid and Chin knew what Danny meant immediately. Another facet of Denning's press release included that particular control but now Sandt likely had taken candid pictures of Danny as he recovered in the hospital. Steve had the camera but Sandt was sneaky and Chin was moving.
"Hang on. I got it Danny." And then he was alone as Chin's voice added to the fray that was receding down the hallway. But the solitary feeling didn't last long and without being able to look, Danny knew that Steve was in the room. Even angry, Chin's presence was smaller and tightly controlled. But Steve simply took up space and displaced the air around the bed as he darkly loomed over Danny.
"Damn reporters." Steve whispered as he sat on the bed near where Chin had been. "We got the digital media card and it will be destroyed. Sandt won't be covering any stories anywhere on this Island once the Governor gets done with him."
Danny was breathing shallowly as he tried to listen. Sandt was a local television reporter that was too aggressive not only his own good, but usually for the good of his interview victim. In this case, Steve and Danny were his victims after he'd been tipped off by one of the construction workers. He knew more about what had gone down at the warehouse before Denning had even received his first official update.
Danny was startled as a strong hand clasped his wrist to check his pulse. "Just rest Detective. Keep your eyes closed and try to breathe through it." The whisper belonged to that of Doctor Byrnes, the attending physician that had been caring for Danny since he'd arrived at the hospital. And Danny was thankful for the man's courtesy since he didn't think he could bear anything louder than the man's low, gentle hum.
"The concussion is bad enough ... a migraine like what you seem to be experiencing can happen. Though this incident certainly seems to have been the true catalyst .. but we'll get you fixed up."
Seconds later, he felt the strong warmth of something spreading into his arm and it moved methodically through his body. Eventually, the pain dropped to levels he could tolerate but he coughed uncomfortably as his stomach seized again. The cough rattled his broken rib and he weakly wrapped his good arm over his chest. The thought of being physically sick was almost frightening and he swallowed hard as he panted through the painful feelings.
"Give it a few more minutes. Breathe slowly." Byrnes coached as he administered an anti-nausea medication. Without having to ask, the cloth over his eyes was removed, refreshed and he shivered uncontrollably as his face and neck were wiped down. Another rinse, and then put back over his eyes and forehead.
"Don't want that to happen again." His voice sounded hollow and thin as he shakily insisted on pulling the cloth off his eyes. His entire team was hovering next to him as Byrnes stepped back. The room was darkened but he still squinted through swirling black lights and he groaned again as his experiment failed. He was only on the fringes of feeling better.
Steve sighed tolerantly as he leaned forward to take the cloth back and once again laid it across his eyes. "Trust us, this will not happen again."
Hospital security and HPD was now on guard. Duke had been notified as well to increase protection around Belle and the Reynold's identity before they left the Island for the mainland. Things that had been in place simply were buttoned up even tighter as the issue with Sandt intensified.
Danny's hand pressed the cloth deeper into his eyes but it wasn't working and not knowing what he wanted, he miserably tried to take it off again. "Just leave it there." Steve admonished quietly and Byrnes nodded as he put a soothing hand on his patient's arm.
"You had a long day. What I gave you was fairly strong just now .. so sleep." Danny gave out with a soft sound of agreement. He was now beginning to feel better but his vision was still affected by the migraine. And Byrnes was right as Steve's voice became a faint buzz in his ears that slowly eased him into a restless sleep.
H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*
The team sat quietly together after Sandt had been finally removed from the hospital. But that was after Chin had shoved the man right down to the floor outside the elevators. A rather complete body search had found the hidden media card tucked in the man's right shoe and one look at the reporter's face proved what it was. Steve had grinned down at the reporter and given him a sloppy, rude salute while Chin read him his rights. Charges were completely contrived and nothing would stick, but Sandt would be cooling off in an HPD cell for a good many hours.
Steve was now pacing unhappily near Danny's bed where he lay in a restless sleep. Chin was propped up in a corner where he was quietly studying Steve's rosy, sweaty face. Even with the sling in place, his left hand was cradling the bandaged hand to his chest.
"You're sick." Chin stated as he also finally noticed the hospital's wrist bracelet. Like Kono, he couldn't hide a sly smirk at Steve's expense. "And I see ... you've been admitted."
"Evidently." The sarcasm stressed a bitter annoyance. Steve was on edge and biting back the nausea that was now churning his own stomach. The altercation with Sandt hadn't done him any favors and he was fast approaching his own wall. Kono got to her feet and gently insisted that he sit in the wheelchair which he did with an aggrieved thump.
"He's only waiting for a room. His hand is infected and his temperature is up." And Steve stayed there sitting in the wheelchair and morosely watching Danny sleep until his own doctor tracked him down.
His room was on the same floor making security an easier task which everyone appreciated. Biting back his own feelings of resentment and true nausea, Steve was soon hooked up to a broad spectrum antibiotic and fluids. And then he surprised himself when his eyes began to droop entirely on their own. He was nearly asleep and didn't bother to open them when Kono's soft lilting laugh reached his ears.
"See what happens when you get off your feet for a few minutes? You're exhausted ... you've been on the go for hours. Chin and I will take care of things here for our two resident heroes." She smiled to herself when she heard his sigh of relief and then a soft puff that sounded like pure disgust at her final word. She would tell him later that the construction foreman had also called to once again check on Danny's condition.
He wanted to visit and again thank Danny himself and on behalf of his crew, but she firmly put him off. Thanking him too for caring, but knowing that both men needed at least a few more days before either would be up to receiving any more visitors. She shocked him before ending the call with a warning about he or his crew talking to the press. He had been honestly surprised and then justly annoyed. He promised to hold a meeting that day with his men to put a stop to any future tales. But by the time he would be permitted to visit, Denning would have already provided his statement to the press and the incident would naturally fade with that time. The foreman would be welcome to stop by only once things had calmed down and both Steve and Danny were feeling better.
Folding her legs into the side chair, Kono got comfortable in Steve's room. An HPD officer strolled by in the hallway as she pulled out her magazine. Chin would remain with Danny. And at that very moment, Denning was in the process of providing his private press release to invited members of the corps at his office; Walter Sandt would be noticeably missing and used as an example in Denning's speech. The thought made Kono chuckle happily.
~ to be continued ~
