Ho'okahi, Chapter 10

Danny was once again dozing in the chair when his cell phone pinged. He glanced at the text screen and then looked at the man sound asleep on the couch. He stood and stretched, then moved to the front door, opening it just as Chin stepped onto the small porch.

Chin entered and immediately glanced at his friend on the couch. "Coffee and Coco puffs," he whispered, holding up a bakery box.

"Bless you, my child," Danny whispered back.

"How goes it?"

They walked through the living room and on into the kitchen before Danny spoke. "He slept most of the night. And honestly, he probably slept better than he would have in the hospital. Woke up around six and I got him to take some Tylenol." Danny took a sip of the hot coffee and sighed, reaching into the now opened Coco puff box for a pastry.

"That's a miracle in itself," Chin replied. "And he's been asleep since then? It's almost ten o'clock!"

"We talked for maybe an hour. He asked about Five-0 and I tried to fill him in. He-ah-he also had questions about his dad. Chin, he's going to have to deal with all that happened. I think it has just been festering in the back of his mind for the past several months. He's never really faced the fact that Victor killed his dad."

"I agree. But we need to get him back, whole again. So whatever it takes, we'll be here."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, and who knows what it's gonna take."

"Doc Palakiko is coming over soon to check him out. She's going to call me when she's on her way. And a word of warning, she's still pretty angry at him."

"Chin, I don't know how he even did it. Got out of the hospital, I mean. I swear, when I got here, he was shaking, white as a ghost and pretty much dead on his feet. But even with that, he managed to slam me up against the front door when I got here."

"In fight or flight mode?"

"Yeah, only when he finally realized I wasn't the enemy, he just deflated. It was all I could do to keep him upright."

The phone in Chin's hand vibrated and he answered. "Hey, Doc. Good. I'll meet you outside."

He disconnected the call, saying, "She's down the street. And I'd like to go on record and say that this exam will not go well."

"No arguments here," Danny agreed.

~~~H50~~~

Danny held open the door while Chin helped Dr. Palakiko inside. Between them, they carried two big, black canvas bags, her computer case and a pair of crutches. She immediately dropped her supplies and walked to the couch to stare at her wayward patient.

"Looks like the eye patch was pretty much useless," she mumbled to the room in general. She looked up and glanced at Danny. "Anything else new since we talked? How was he last night?"

"Believe it or not, he slept most of the night," Danny began. "He woke up around six with a Charlie horse in his leg. Once we took care of that, I gave him some Tylenol and he went back to sleep, maybe around seven or seven thirty. Been sleeping since then."

"How was his mental state when he was awake?" the doctor asked.

"He can hear you, ya know," Steve mumbled from the couch.

"All right, then," she turned toward him and grinned, sitting down on the coffee table and waiting for him to open his eyes. "Maybe 'he' will answer me. What's going on with you?"

He was thrown off by her question. "Uh, I'm good."

"Great," she replied, opening one of her bags and removing a thermometer. "That really eases my mind," she said while rolling the instrument across his forehead to check his temp. "Just like last night when I learned that one of my patients was missing in action." She placed the thermometer back into the bag and looked around, seeing the steps leading upstairs. "So, is there a bedroom on this floor?"

"No, but I'm good here on—"

"OK, let me make this clear," she interrupted him, her index finger pointing in his direction. "You listen to what I say and follow it to the letter, or we go back to the hospital. No passing 'go'; no collecting $200. And once there, I will personally tie you to the bed. Do you understand?"

He glanced at Danny and Chin who were standing behind her and muttered, "You weren't kidding, were you?"

His partner made a face and shook his head, not willing to get himself on her bad side as well.

"I have no clue what that is about," Dr. P. said, then repeated, "I want your word that I will have your cooperation."

"Yeah."

"And no funny business. Got it?"

He nodded but didn't speak, watching as she pulled a stethoscope from her bag, inserted it into her ears and listened to his chest.

"Did you hear him cough any last night?" she asked Danny.

"A couple of times. But he never woke up."

"That's good," she commented, then stood up. "OK, let's get you sitting up. I need to get you out of these clothes and into bed." She waved her hand in Danny and Chin's direction. "Get your minds out of the gutter, boys – you know that's not what I meant," she said after hearing Danny's snicker. "I need to see first-hand what damage you've done to yourself."

Chin grinned with her. "What can we do to help?"

She looked at her options. "Well, you can hold his leg steady and Danny, if you could, grab the pillows out when I pull him up. We'll sit here for a while before we try walking."

"I can get up by myself," Steve told her, aggravated with her take charge attitude.

"Maybe," she agreed, "but it will take you longer to do so. I want you to breathe through the dizziness and let me do the work." She placed one arm beneath his neck and grabbed his hand with her other hand. "Here we go, on three. One, two, three…"

Steve sucked in his breath when she tugged him upward, but then forgot to let it out. His eyes were closed but he saw stars in the blackness and finally heard her voice coaxing him back. "Breathe, Commander. Come on." He felt a cold rag on his neck and realized he was sitting upright on the couch.

"Dizzy," he managed to whisper.

"Apparently," she replied, her voice in his ear. "We lost you there for a couple of minutes."

He opened one eye to see the doctor sitting next to him, propping him up. His injured leg was settled on a pillow on top of the coffee table. He didn't remember putting it there.

"Have you had anything to eat since you left the hospital?"

"Don't think so," he mumbled.

"Not unless the cab driver went through the drive through last night," Danny added.

"OK, you need—"

Steve held up his hand for her to stop. "If you start talking about food, I guarantee the results won't be pretty," he warned her.

She nodded. "Then I'm done. Thanks for the warning. Chin, could you hand me the crutches, please?" She made sure Steve could sit up on his own and stood, taking the crutches, and leaned them against the couch. "I assume from reading your file that you know how to use these. They will be part of your ensemble for the foreseeable future. But first, let me go check out the situation upstairs."

"I'll take you," Danny offered.

Chin sat next to Steve when the others went upstairs. "You doing OK, Brah?"

Steve sighed, his eyes still closed. "Been better," he admitted. "How can all this… be right, when it feels so wrong?" He opened his eyes and looked at the one person he did remember. "I'm… I feel lost."

"You have had a pretty hectic and stressful year, that's for sure."

"So my brain decided to go on strike?"

Danny and the doctor walked down the steps in time to hear his comment and she replied, "Not on strike, Commander. But it has been repeatedly injured and it is telling you that it needs time to heal. Without a lot of outside stimuli."

"So now I'm a prisoner in this house?"

"Not at all." She pointed to Danny and Chin. "You need your friends here, but you don't need a lot of activity. Keep it low key," she told all of them. "Now, do you think you can stand?"

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Guess we'll find out."

"Gentlemen, could you do the honors?" she asked, nodding to Danny and Chin to help him up. Once on his feet, he stood there, eyes closed, breathing through his mouth while she put the crutches under his arms. "You got them?" she asked.

Steve opened his eyes and glanced up, giving her a slight nod of his head. Chin pushed back the coffee table to give him room to turn around.

"OK, we'll take it slow," Palakiko told him. "We can stop and rest whenever you want. Guys, can you spot us? And bring my bags, please."

With a shuffling gait, he made it to the stairs and grabbed the rail, passing the crutches to her. "I've done this before," he assured her, stepping up then bringing his injured leg up.

"Here, at least use one crutch," she told him. "Keep as much weight off that leg as possible." She was behind him and was staring at the baggy pants hanging off his hips. "I hope no one will mind me cutting these butt-ugly pants off you," she muttered.

"Well, I certainly won't," Danny replied, "but the man they belong to may not appreciate it."

"I'll make sure Mr. Hwang gets something better to wear," she replied as Steve reached the small landing and turned to head up the rest of the steps. "Compliments of Commander McGarrett."

"I couldn't leave wearing that short, tacky gown," Steve replied.

"Ahh! See… that's where we differ in opinions," she said, lightly laying her hand against his back for support. "Because in my book, my patients don't just up and leave in the middle of the night without my permission!"

All of his effort was on placing his feet on the steps, so she received no retort, snarky or otherwise. By the time they were upstairs, sweat was dripping in his eyes from the exertion. He stopped at the top of the stairs, head bowed and breathing heavily as he accepted the second crutch from her.

"Not much farther," she encouraged, as he took a hobbling step down the short hall.

Danny moved ahead and pushed the door to Steve's bedroom open wide.

He glanced up and saw where they were headed. "Not that one," Steve told them, stopping in the hall. "That's my dad—" He stopped and looked into the room.

"Steve, it's your room now," Danny assured him.

He looked in and saw the slatted, wooden bed before glancing at the rest of the room. "Dad wouldn't get rid of the brass bed they-my parents used to have. Where'd it go?"

"We took it to the attic when you bought this one a few months back," Chin told him, smiling at the memory. "I think the word you used for the brass bed was 'sissy'. It was one of the few things you decided you just couldn't live with."

"Come on," the doctor urged. "This room has the attached bath and you'll need that. Speaking of, have you gone to the bathroom since you conned me into pulling out the catheter last night?"

Steve shook his head.

"Oh, goody. We're going to have more fun than I thought," she said, guiding him with her hand on his arm. "Gentlemen, I think we can take it from here. See you in a bit."

~~~H50~~~