I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter Eleven

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Danny woke again just a few hours later with the same sense of rising anxiety and near panic. His waking corresponded to his medication schedule and though he remained uneasy, he felt his body relax to the numbing effects as the nurse dispensed two syringes gently into his IV line.

"Pain medication and something to help you rest." He understood but didn't entirely appreciate the nurse's helpful explanation. He didn't want to sleep or rest. Plus the combined medication made his head feel thick and muzzy so he couldn't even properly think. Feeling a hand on his arm, it took him an incredibly long moment to realize that Kono was standing next to him. She smiled gently before taking his hand.

"So are you going to fall asleep or can we talk awhile?"

"Meds." He breathed out the apologetic explanation slowly as he forced his eyes to remain open. "I'd rather .. talk."

Understanding what he meant about the sedatives, Kono nodded as sat on the edge of the bed. It was easy to see that he was having a great deal of difficulty merely looking at her face. Glassy-eyed and pale, she didn't like the hazy drugged appearance in his formerly vibrant eyes.

"I know." Her whisper was meant to be soothing, but instead her tone nearly copied his level of distress. "I know, Danny. But it's only to help you get better." She and Steve had taken turns to run to their respective homes to change and freshen up. It was now late morning and Steve would swing by Chin's room on his way back unless called to do otherwise.

Kono pushed her hair back and then took a deep, settling breath before smiling again. She repeated herself and then decided to tell him about Chin's injuries. "It's because you need to stay calm, Danny, and everyone is worried. Steve went to check on Chin and then he'll be back."

As she anticipated, his face immediately showed his confusion which gave her the next planned opportunity. "That's right. You don't know about Chin yet ... do you?"

She and Steve had briefly discussed telling Danny about what had happened to Chin since the news was generally good. She was to tell Danny if he seemed up to it. In a big way, it was also another type of deflection ... though of course it would be something he would want to know about, too. Especially once he saw Chin's arm in a sling. And then they also had agreed to how the question of Rick Peterson would be neatly avoided; at least in the short term.

So Kono continued to smile as Danny shook his head in concern and whispered a soft 'no'. "Well, let me start by saying first that he's okay." And then making sure that her tone remained light, Kono explained how Chin had heard the commotion near the diner and so, had been first to show up to provide Steve backup.

"Obviously you had been hit by then .. but the sniper was still active and on site." Danny stared at her as she carefully described how other shots had rung out and Chin had been hit in the midst of the chaos.

"How .. bad?" He asked worriedly, but Kono was at ease and Danny stayed quiet as he waited for her explanation.

"The guy was a bad shot. He clipped the Camaro and then Chin was hit cleanly through his shoulder. He's here but will be discharged by the day after tomorrow." Kono was truly happily grinning now from ear to ear.

"You can expect to see him .. he plans on talking Steve into stealing a wheelchair for some fancy footwork in less than an hour."

"Good. That's good. But my car was hit? The sniper shot .. my car?" Danny faked a groan under the oxygen mask and then weakly rolled his eyes. Though his voice was wispy, the tiny rant was welcome. "He clipped .. my car .. with a bullet? What a .. loser."

At that, Kono burst out with a short chuckle as she rubbed Danny's hands in her own. She smiled as he tiredly grinned back under the ever-present oxygen mask and then began to blink rapidly. With his last SICU check, Ellen had expressed some happy progress with his oxygen levels and steadying blood pressure. And though he was once again about to fall asleep, the subtle joke was very much Danny and Kono was relieved.

"Too much talking. Go to sleep. But between me and you .. loser is an understatement." Kono remarked discreetly without going any further. His eyes were sliding closed and he was fighting the effects of the medication much too hard.

"Now, go to sleep. I'll wake you up .. maybe .. when Chin escapes this crazed nurse that has him under her thumb." It was another feeble quirk of his lips before Danny huffed a noise. He fell asleep; completely forgetting to ask who it was they had brought into custody.

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"How is he?" Chin asked from where he sat in the wheelchair. More than two hours had passed since Kono's earlier estimate because Chin's self-imposed guardian, Nurse Anna Paige, was a menace not only to her patients, but to the nursing profession as a whole. Both he and Steve had to wait until the uber-nurse actually got off shift and left TAMC property before putting their plan into motion.

Chin didn't know but Steve smiled when he saw the oxygen mask had been replaced with a nasal cannula. "He's a bit better." Kono affirmed softly.

"His condition is very serious but his oxygen levels have improved. They may bounce back to using the oxygen mask depending on how he does."

"Baby steps, then." Chin worriedly said as he studied Danny's face. "Any pain?"

Kono nodded as she pointed to his chest. "Yeah, he's been complaining about tightness and occasional sharp pains through to his back. About two hours ago, they gave him more pain medication; when he wakes up again, it won't be for long."

Raising her finger, she quickly shook her head when Chin asked about any feeling in his lower extremities.

"Too soon." She mouthed as she watched Danny's hands clench and then release the bedding. As his brow furrowed, Kono got up to intercept the pending storm since Danny had yet to open his eyes without some type of frenetic stress.

"He's waking up." With Steve's help, Chin struggled to stand from the wheelchair in order to sit on the edge of the bed, so he was the first person Danny actually saw when his eyes opened.

"So, I hear you're getting better?" Chin remarked brightly. "But I still get out of here before you."

Danny relaxed immediately as he woke up fully and saw that Chin was indeed only in a sling. "It's .. fine." Danny breathed out softly. Closing his eyes as the brief encounter was already wearing, he missed Steve's suddenly moody expression. When he opened them again, his hand traced his face and he realized the oxygen mask had been removed. While it certainly helped, it had also dried out his already parched mouth and made talking more of a chore than it already was.

"Ice?" He whispered to each face as his hand strayed up for the cup. The waking moments were closer together but disappointingly brief. And Danny could already feel exhaustion creeping up on him. Weakly, his hand fell back down before someone could even offer him help. "Thirsty".

"I got it." Kono said as she very slowly raised the head of the bed. Not daring to go too high, she raised it just enough where he wouldn't have difficulty with the melting liquid. And that was as far as the team got with their much too short visit. Almost apologetically, Danny gave up on his game attempt at fighting his weakened body.

"Tired. No .. more .. sedatives." The whisper was feeble and included a hint of annoyance as his eyes closed of their own accord. But he'd had no time to dwell on his physical state either so it was a complicated blessing. Carefully sliding back into the wheelchair, Chin's face was lined with a concerned level of stress.

He sighed as he sagged back down and also closed his own eyes. Unconsciously, he rubbed the forearm and then the fingers on his injured side as a dull ache throbbed into his shoulder. He could only imagine how Danny felt if he had a much lesser injury in comparison and was so very weary.

"You okay?" Steve asked as he unlocked the chair and backed him away from the bed. "You look pale and probably have had enough too. Maybe 'agonizing Anna' was right. Chin." They both snickered at their new pet name for the over-zealous nurse but Chin wound up nodding in agreement.

"I'm certainly not going to argue. But I'm glad I got to see him today." And then Kono took over and motioned towards the chair she'd been sitting in.

"I'll take him back and then will swing by the cafeteria. You stay."

Steve grinned his thanks as he picked up the same worn and tattered magazine he'd thumbed through about a thousand times already. Legs stretched out in front of him, he spread out in the small chair. But the magazine was resting opened on his chest as he watched Danny take weak, shallow breaths.

The soft murmur about the sedation saddened Steve and he would talk to both doctors about the ongoing necessity. Beneath the pale eyes, the resentment was at least clear to him.

"Just want to get you well, Danno." He sighed to himself as he closed his own eyes that were now burning from over 48 hours of non-stop activity. Eventually, the magazine tumbled to the ground as Steve fell asleep sitting up in the bedside chair.

~ to be continued ~