Anxious enquiries were issuing from the radio. Surprised that it was still working, Danny felt around for the mic. The sooner someone got to him, the sooner he could find Steve. Looking for the mic was beyond him at that moment, because his head swam every time he moved it. He finally found the mic and responded, but he wasn't sure how coherent he was because the voices calling for him – chiefly Kono's, but joined by Chin's – sounded even more concerned after he answered them.
While he waited for rescue to arrive, Danny fought to free himself from the wreckage. His right arm came free easily and the numbness that had convinced his muddled brain that he was trapped dissolved into fearsome pins and needles.
His legs had plenty of feeling in them and he could feel that the side of the car was pressing against them. On the other side, his legs were pressed against the centre consol. Something – blood he presumed – was trickling slowly down his right leg. He was certain that nothing was broken, but because of the damage to the car and the knock on the head, Danny couldn't lean down to have a look. In fact, so far, he had not managed to raise his head off the dashboard.
"Danny! Danny!" The shouts seemed to come from above and Danny squinted through the cracked, spider-webbed windshield to see flashlights panning the area.
"Here!" He didn't know if his voice carried or not, but the beams of light were now trained on the car.
"Danny! Are you all right? Where's Steve?" Kono was peering in the open driver's door with concern etched on his face. "Call an ambulance," he ordered over his shoulder.
"I'm fine," Danny protested. He knew how ridiculous that statement was when he was slumped on the dash, but he forged on. "Mickey took Steve!"
"Auwe!"
"We've to take Jimmy to the Kapiolani Bandstand at 10am and Mickey will give us Steve back." Danny's words were all but falling over themselves as he tried to get the important news out.
"Easy," Chin soothed as Kono stretched into the wreckage to free Danny's legs. "We'll get Steve back. Is he hurt?" Chin thought that saying the words was a lot easier than putting them into action would be.
"He was unconscious," Danny replied and tried to muffle a strangled cry as Kono released the seatbelt and got his legs free. "We have to find him before then," he gasped, trying to remain conscious.
"Shh." Chin tried to calm the agitated younger man. "We'll find him."
"Danny, bruddah, I'm gonna move you," Kono warned him. "It's gonna hurt."
"Yeah, it doesn't matter." Danny was more than ready to be out of that car. He had to find Steve!
Moving was excruciatingly painful. A cry escaped from Danny's lips, but Kono kept pulling as gently as he could, but knowing that stopping would be a bad idea. Danny's head lolled and the big Hawaiian dared to hope that his friend had fainted, but the strangled noises and the pained panting told him otherwise.
"Watch his leg," Kono panted as the Chinese detective reached for Danny's legs.
"Broken?" Chin asked, hesitating.
"Don't know, but he's bleeding." Kono caught his breath as Chin gingerly took Danny's legs, grimacing as he unintentionally hurt his friend. Together, the two men carried Danny up to the road as their friend tried to keep his cries of pain under control.
"Steve," Danny mumbled as they carefully laid him down. They exchanged a worried glance.
"I can hear the ambulance," a patrolman told them.
That was a relief. Danny was clearly dazed and blood was soaking through his pants leg, but it was difficult to tell how badly he was hurt. Steve was missing and both detectives knew that Danny would not rest until he found their boss or came up with a plan to rescue him while also arresting Micky Johnston. But was Danny fit to do either of those things? Kono beckoned to the patrolman. "I want you to get back down there and check to make sure Mr McGarrett isn't lying injured amongst the trees," he ordered quietly. It wasn't that he doubted what Danny had told him; it was just that he had to make sure he had covered all bases, just in case Danny' head injury was worse than it seemed. If Steve had been thrown from the car… Kono was not sure which thought was worse; Steve kidnapped by Mickey Johnston or lying injured and undiscovered.
The search was still on-going as Danny was loaded into the ambulance. Chin urged Kono to go with him. He could wrap things up there and join his colleagues at the hospital as soon as he could. He sighed as the ambulance pulled away. Steve was missing, Danny was hurt and their deadline was drawing close at an alarming speed.
There was going to be no sleep for the Five-O detectives that night.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX
The ER doctor was rushed off his feet. It seemed there had been a spate of accidents and illnesses and to Kono's distress, Danny was kept waiting for almost 20 minutes before he was seen. Time was of the essence, although the doctor could not be expected to know that. Had Steve been present, Kono did not doubt that his boss would have thrown his weight around and demanded that Danny was seen at once. However, he did request that Dr Bergman be contacted and ignored the look the nurse gave him that suggested he was pupule. She might be right, he mused, although not for the reasons she suspected.
The fluids that the paramedics had given him had already helped Danny. His leg was wrapped with pressure bandages and the bleeding had at least slowed dramatically, if not stopped. For the time being, he was in a light sleep, which Kono thought was probably the best thing for him. To say Danny had not had a good day was something of a whopping understatement. It had been a dreadful day and it was far from being over.
The doctor breezed into the room. "Car accident, right?" he asked generally and the nurse confirmed it. "Is he drunk?"
Bristling, Kono snapped, "Officer Williams is a Five-O detective! He was the passenger in the car when it was deliberately run off the road!"
Looking warily at the enraged Hawaiian, the doctor looked as though he was going to suggest that Kono wait outside, but the detective just scowled even harder and crossed his arms, moving protectively closer to his sleeping friend. He was not leaving Danny alone with this over-worked doctor who seemed to draw conclusions before getting all the facts.
Fortunately, the doctor backed down. "I understand," he nodded. "But I do need to know the circumstances of the injury before I start."
Nodding, Kono stepped back. "I've sent for Doc Bergman," he informed the doctor. "When he gets here, you'll be free to attend to other patients."
It seemed that nobody on duty in Queens that night knew that Bergman treated the Five-O detectives. The doctor looked at Kono sideways. "This man is still alive."
"I'm well aware of that," Kono snarled. "Just look after him until Bergman gets here!" Why did Steve never have this kind of problem with doctors? Kono wondered. He sighed heavily as the doctor bent over the prone man on the gurney.
Fortunately for Kono's nerves, Bergman arrived fairly soon. He thanked the young doctor, listened to what he had learned so far, and then began the examination all over again. Danny, who was awake and protesting that he was fine, grumbled loudly about the repeated tests, but Bergman was not having any nonsense. "Just be quiet until I ask you something," he ordered. "Don't you know that I got out of my bed to come here?"
Chastised for the moment, Danny subsided. He agreed that his head was aching and his vision had slightly blurry, but it was fine now. Yes, his neck was a bit stiff and he hurt all over. The pins and needles in his right arm had gone, but the wrist was slightly swollen. Doc did not think it was broken, but he added an x-ray of it to the one of Danny's head. Kono took charge of Danny's weapon when Bergman ordered the nurse to cut his pants off so the wound on his leg could be examined.
"I only got those pants this morning!" Danny complained and it was music to Kono's ears. "I hope Chin brings my bag of clothes from the car!" Buying clothes in the middle of the night would be a problem and Danny did not want to run around in a pair of scrub pants all day.
The gash on Danny's leg was deep and jagged. It ran from just behind his knee down his calf and curved around to finish just above the ankle. By some miracle, it had missed the popliteal artery, but it was still sluggishly oozing blood as the bandages were peeled off. There was no doubt that stitches were required. A temporary dressing was applied so that Danny's x-rays could be taken and then Bergman numbed his leg and began to clean and stitch the wound.
"Where's Steve?" Bergman asked Kono in an undertone. Danny was dozing, the painkillers he had been given making him drowsy.
"He was kidnapped," Kono answered.
"I've got to find him," Danny mumbled.
"Not right now you don't," contradicted the crusty coroner. "You're going to stay right there till I finish sewing your leg back together, young man!" He flashed a meaningful look at Kono, who leaned over Danny.
"Just rest for the moment, bruddah," he urged. "We'll get da boss back." He placed his hand on Danny's shoulder and the shorter man relaxed under the pressure. He recognised an immovable force when he met one.
"We've got to get him back," Danny agreed.
