Kono was brilliant and ballsy. Steve knew it the day Chin introduced her, but he loved being reminded of it. She'd rounded up his and Danny's go bags, and tossed in extra clothes for Jax as well, having raided the locker room. She'd contacted Hickham and talked her way into a seat for him on the best, fastest, first available flight. Granted, it was in one of the most uncomfortable aircraft known to man, but he didn't care. He was desperate to get to Danny and Jax. He'd torn himself away from the live feed in order to make the flight, and in the chaos and confusion at the precinct, updates weren't coming in fast.
The final images from the video feed were burned into his memory. Danny, bloody and barely conscious; Jax, furiously trying to stop the bleeding with her shoulder visibly and obviously displaced under her Kevlar. Jax, yelling for her team to get them to a floor, yelling at Danny to stay with her. She'd been forced to leave Danny's side in order to turn the elevator key and get the compartment moving; there had been no way for the others to get through the opening to join her. Steve's last glimpse was of Danny, bleeding on the floor, and Jax, grim and determined, spattered with Danny and O'Neil's blood.
As the plane made its bumpy landing eight hours later, a text came through from Grover.
Bellevue Hospital. Danny stable. Nolan contacted his family.
Steve deboarded the plane, bags in hand. A young lieutenant approached him. "Sir, I understand you have team members at Bellevue? I'm here to drive you."
()()()()()()()()
"Thank you, lieutenant," Steve said, as he jumped out of the Jeep at the hospital entrance.
"My pleasure, sir, and good luck," the young man said, as he drove off into the night. One advantage to arriving during the night shift was the lack of traffic.
Steve shouldered the bags and made his way to the emergency room entrance. The weary receptionist directed him to third floor surgery. He felt a hum of tension as he made his way to the elevator bay. Surgery? Just how bad were Danny's injuries?
The elevator brought back the image of O'Neil taunting Danny: " . . . she cried for you and bled for me . . . " and he scrubbed his hand across his face. Where was Jax? He assumed she would be with Danny. He'd texted her once from the Jeep, but had no response. Of course, it had been an interminably long day. Her battery was probably long since dead. Still, he couldn't dismiss the growing sense of dread. She'd obviously had a dislocated shoulder. What if she'd suffered other injuries?
The ding of the elevator interrupted his thoughts, and he anxiously exited the doors in search of answers. He stopped at the nurse's station.
"I'm looking for Officer Daniel Williams, and Officer Jacqueline Nolan. I believe they would have been brought in together?" he asked politely, showing his badge for good measure. He'd found that usually expedited the process. "Commander McGarrett, I'm Danny's partner."
"Yes," the nurse said, "We've been expecting you. Mr. Williams has had to go in for surgery to repair a punctured lung."
"Broken rib?" Steve guessed.
"Yes, unfortunately. They had hoped a chest tube placed in the ER would be sufficient; however, the tear proved too severe and they had to surgically repair it. The prognosis is excellent. Mr. Williams is in recovery and will be moved to Room 307 soon. Are those bags for him? You can take them to the room now." The nurse came out from behind her station and started moving toward the room.
"And Officer Nolan?"
The nurse hesitated. "She is currently in the waiting room. She's refused to leave Mr. William's side until you or someone from his family arrived. We've been in contact with his family, and his father and sister are on the way, but they have yet to arrive."
"What about her dislocated shoulder?" Steve asked, as they paused to put the bags in Danny's room.
"Ah, yes. She did allow us to convince her to go to the emergency room while Mr. Williams was in surgery. It's been relocated, but she refuses to take anything stronger than –"
"Than Motrin," Steve supplied. "She has PTSD and has been through a critical operation today. I'm not surprised that she refused narcotics."
"I understand," the nurse said sympathetically. "But in addition to the dislocated shoulder, she also badly sprained or possibly fractured her wrist; completed a fracture of a previously cracked rib; and aggravated the hairline fracture of her collarbone. She has to be in extreme pain."
"And she's been in the waiting room for how long?" Steve asked, quickening his pace.
"She came back up from the ER . . . oh no, it's been over an hour. I'm sorry; we intended to check on her but we had a code . . . "
Steve lengthened his stride, moving quickly to the waiting room at the end of the hallway. The nurse matched her pace to Steve's and practically ran to keep up. When they reached the door of the waiting room, he held up his hand, gesturing for the nurse to stay back. "Let me go in first, okay? Just in case . . ."
The nurse nodded in understanding. "I'll be right here. Just tell me what we need."
Steve entered the room quietly. It was dark, and he gave his eyes a minute to adjust. He heard her before he saw her.
"Steve?"
He breathed a huge sigh of relief. She knew exactly who he was, seemed oriented to time and place. His eyes scanned the room, still adjusting, and he saw her curled awkwardly onto the vinyl loveseat in the corner of the room. She'd instinctively sought out the position that gave her the best possible advantage against someone coming in the room. So, still hypervigilant, then, but that was okay. He was across the room in two strides, kneeling in front of her.
Her eyes locked onto his. "Danny?" she asked, her voice breaking.
"He's in recovery. His broken rib punctured the lung, and what they did in the ER wasn't quite enough to fix it. The nurse says he's going to be absolutely fine. I didn't ask about his arm or leg," he said, carefully taking her shaking left hand in his.
"Lots of stitches," she said. "I got them to send someone from plastics in to do the sutures."
Steve smiled. He could just picture it; Jax still in full tac gear, demanding a plastic surgeon. He wouldn't have been surprised if she had threatened them with bodily harm. "You did good, Jax," he said.
She dropped her head. "It was the least I could do; I didn't stop O'Neil before he got off a shot."
"Jax, look at me," Steve said, tucking his fingers under her chin and raising her eyes to his. "You were amazing today. You saved Danny's life. O'Neil would have killed him . . . killed both of you." He stopped, as he came to a full realization of how close he'd come to losing them both. Gently, mindful of her injuries, he wrapped his arms around Jax, needing to reassure himself that she was still solid and whole. She rested her head against his shoulder and he held her for a moment, before realizing that it wasn't just her hands that were shaky. Her entire body was trembling violently.
"Jax, you're shaking," he said, concerned.
"'M'cold," she chattered.
Steve looked back toward the door, where, sure enough, bless her, the nurse was watching and waiting.
"Shock?" she asked. "I'm going to get warm blankets." She was off at top speed, and returned in seconds with three blankets from the warmer. Entering the room quietly, she added, "I'm going to turn the lights on just a bit, okay?" She slid a dimmer switch up and soft light filtered into the room. Moving swiftly to Steve's side, she wrapped one of the blankets around Jax's back, and then helped stabilize her shoulder as they eased her back away from Steve.
"Aw, shit, Jax," Steve whispered, as he got a first good look at her.
Her curls were matted in blood. Steve moved frantic fingers through her hair, searching for a head wound.
"'S'not mine," Jax mumbled. "O'Neil's. Head shot, close range."
Steve ghosted a hand over her right shoulder and collarbone. The ER had wrapped her wrist, put her arm in a sling, and overwrapped her shoulder and rib cage with elastic bandages. Someone had done a cursory job of cleaning her up, but there were still smudges of blood on her arms, hands, and face. Probably Danny's and O'Neil's . . . still, Steve couldn't help but check.
"None of it's mine," Jax sighed wearily, as the nurse handed Steve another blanket to wrap around her.
The nurse shook her head in dismay. "I'm so sorry; we didn't realize . . . "
Steve looked up at her. "I'm sure she insisted she was fine," he said gently, "and she may have even thought she was, until the adrenaline wore off. Until someone else came for Danny, she would operate on the assumption that she had to have it together in order to take care of him."
The nurse nodded. "Look," she said, "this is bending the rules a bit, but it's the least I can do: Mr. Williams won't be back in his room for a while, and he's not going to be using his shower any time soon. Do you have a change of clothes for her in one of those bags?"
"Of sorts – one of my team members raided our lockers and packed up for her the best she could."
The nurse smiled. "Okay, keep her warm and comfortable for a few minutes. If you don't mind, I'll go see what I can pull together for her, and then we can let her use Mr. William's shower. I may be oversimplifying here, but I'm betting that a nice hot shower, getting that blood off of her, and getting into some clean clothes will make a world of difference. And maybe we can talk about some better pain relief."
"That would be incredibly helpful," Steve said sincerely. The sight of Jax spattered in blood was something he could do without. Keeping Jax wrapped in the warm blankets, he eased her into his arms and sat back down on the loveseat, cradling her against him.
"This is ridiculous," she mumbled against his shoulder, still shaking.
"What?" he asked, amused.
"You, having to take care of me, like some helpless little kid," she grumbled. "Again."
"Helpless? Hardly. I watched you dive headfirst into an elevator and take that bastard out, remember? And then you took care of Danny, got him to safety. I bet you rode in the ambulance with him all the way here, didn't you?"
Jax nodded. "I was so scared, Steve," she said, her voice breaking. "In the ambulance, he wouldn't wake up. And then they put a chest tube in, in the emergency room, and he was looking better while they sewed him up. Then we were in a regular room, and he was just resting, and then he stopped breathing. Scared the living shit out of me."
"I know," Steve said, stroking her cheek gently, "he's okay now, Jax. And I've seen him come back from much worse."
Jax looked up at him, skeptical. "Then you gotta take better care of him, you Neanderthal."
()()()()()()()()
The nurse was right; getting clean and warm made a huge difference. Jax emerged from the shower wearing one of Danny's old hockey t-shirts and a pair of scrub pants. Her hair was dripping slightly, and Steve gently squeezed out the water and rubbed her curls with a towel.
"Better?" the nurse said, poking her head in the door.
"Much," Jax smiled. "Thanks for the scrubs."
"You're welcome. All of the options in the bags were much, much too long," she smiled. "You need to get that sling and wrap back on as soon as possible, though. Mr. Williams is on his way back from recovery. I'll get him settled and then take care of that, okay? And we're going to talk about some real pain relief for you. Technically, you're still a patient through the ER department, so we can give you anything you need."
Jax nodded. "Please, can I see Danny first, before you knock me out?"
"Yes," the nurse said, laughing and shaking her head. "But only since that should be within the next twenty minutes or so."
When they wheeled Danny's bed into the room, Jax felt her knees go weak with relief.
"He looks so much better," she whispered to Steve, waiting for the personnel to get him settled before she took his hand.
"Better?" Steve said skeptically. He was glad, then, that he hadn't been here for the worse.
Danny cracked his good eye open and attempted a smile at Jax. "Hey, kid," he mumbled.
"Who are you calling kid? I saved your ass today. Hey, Steve's here," Jax said, stepping back to make room for him.
"Hey, partner," Steve said. "You scared us."
"Ah, a taste of your own medicine," Danny said weakly. Looking at Jax, he frowned. "Where's your sling? And how did you steal my t-shirt?"
"The nurse is coming back in to get her sorted," Steve chucked. "And Kono raided our lockers to send clothes for Jax. Your shirts are the shortest, Danno."
()()()()()()()()
When Danny's father and sister arrived an hour later, the concerns they'd had about Danny being alone in the hospital were completely alleviated.
A weary Steve was asleep in the recliner immediately next to Danny's bed. He was holding Jax, sound asleep, bandaged and drugged to the hilt, her good hand clutched tight in Danny's as he floated on his own narcotic cloud.
When his family came in, Danny stirred slightly and opened his eyes. "Hey, guys," he said quietly. "Thanks for coming. I'll introduce you to my team . . . when they wake up."
The nurse smiled and quietly brought in two more chairs.
()()()()()()()()
**Friday**
Friday morning rounds brought good news and bad news.
"Well, Mr. Williams, you should be able to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow," the doctor said. "However, you're going to need to wait at least a week before flying. Your lung needs more time to heal before it can take the change in air pressure."
"We can drive Danny home, and he can fly back to Hawaii from Newark next week," his sister said, ruffling his hair affectionately. "He has a couple of nieces that would love nothing more than to play nurse to Uncle Danny for a week. And, he can give orders from the sofa – we're going to pack up Jacqueline's things for shipment and take care of subletting her apartment. "
"Excellent, excellent," the doctor said. "Now," he added, looking sternly over his glasses at Jax, "you, young lady. What are we going to do with you?"
Steve smacked the smart ass part of his brain that was, once again, supplying responses that were neither relevant nor appropriate.
The doctor spared Steve a suspicious glance and continued. "You are medically safe to travel, although I can assure you it's not going to be comfortable. However, I suspect you would rest more comfortably and heal much better somewhere other than this hospital room or the waiting room, where I know you've spent the last twelve hours. Where is home for you, my dear, and do you have someone who can get you there safely and make sure you take time to heal?"
"Home is Hawaii, and yes," Steve stated emphatically.
"Schmuck," Danny grumbled, but he squeezed Jax's hand affectionately all the same.
()()()()()()()()
Jax had dozed off in the recliner again. Danny's father and sister had insisted that Steve take a turn stretching his legs and getting some half-decent food.
"So, Danny, this was your rookie, back in 2001?" his father asked, gently pulling a blanket around Jax's sleeping form.
"Yeah," Danny said, wincing as he turned to look at Jax. "She's a firecracker. Saved my life yesterday, that's for sure."
"You trained her well, Danny," his sister said proudly. "And it seems your new partner, Steve, is quite smitten with her."
"See? You've seen the face. The smitten face," Danny said. "He doesn't believe he has a face."
"Oh, he definitely has a face," his sister nodded in agreement.
"Danny," Steve protested as he returned with coffee for Jax, "stop with the faces."
He stopped and looked fondly at Jax. "She's out again?" he said, amused. And relieved, honestly, that the combination of painkillers suggested by the nurse had allowed her to sleep without nightmares. That nurse, he decided, should get some sort of commendation.
Jax stirred, sniffing the air for coffee, and sighing happily when Steve placed the steaming cup in her good hand.
"I see the face," Danny's father contributed helpfully.
()()()()()()()()
Captain Grover and Sergeant Mitchell had put requests up the chain in their respective states, resulting in first class plane tickets all around.
Steve gripped Danny's hand firmly. "Heal up, partner. You're the only Five-O member that understands protocol. We're probably gonna get in all kinds of trouble without you."
"No kidding," Danny groused. "Can you be trusted to not put Jax in the middle of any gunfights? Please try to keep yourselves in one piece until I get back."
"I will take excellent care of her," Steve said, smirking.
"Steven," Danny said, narrowing his eyes.
"Thank you so much, for taking care of my apartment," Jax was saying to Danny's sister, as she hugged her gently goodbye.
"Sweetheart, it's the least we could do. Thank you for risking so much to save my brother's life. I'm just so sorry that we didn't realize how things were for you once he moved – we could have helped in some way. But listen, anytime we can convince him to come home for a visit, you come along, too, okay? You'll always have family in Jersey."
Jax kissed Danny on the cheek. "Bye, Danno," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm so sorry that you came with me and got hurt . . . "
"Stop it right there, Jax," Danny said firmly. "This was always about me. O'Neil would have found a way; he was such a coward that he used you. You go home with Steve, heal up, and then we'll get you sorted and put all this behind us."
"Um, yeah, Danny, about that," Jax said. "I sort of have a job in Hawaii already."
"No. No. Absolutely not. I see that crazy look in your eye. No, Steven, I vehemently protest the idea of her joining Five-O. The both of you are trouble magnets," Danny ranted.
"Oh, I agree," Steve said amicably. "She shouldn't be with Five-O."
"She is not – wait, what?" Danny asked, confused.
"I'm going to be with Grover," Jax answered. "HPD SWAT."
"Yeah," Steve added, with mock seriousness, "it would have been a complete conflict of interest for me to hire her for Five-O."
"Conflict of –" Danny broke off. "Oh, heaven help us all."