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

Notes: busy, busy saber-toothed bunny!

Chapter Eleven

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

Over the top of Danny's head, Steve watched as the doctor finally approached, a syringe in hand. He didn't need to ask what it was and he certainly wouldn't argue the point. While the doctor possessed his own skills and methods to confirm his patient's fragile condition, Steve could quite literally feel it. He could also hear each erratically panted breath trapped behind the oxygen mask as Danny fought lie to believe reason. Steve completely understood as he silently berated himself with a guilty shake of his head. And though he appeared to barely acknowledge the doctor's presence, he was watching every move and gauging Danny's reaction.

"Get some rest now," Steve muttered, still watching as the contents of the needle were dispensed into a port on Danny's arm. The sedative was necessary to calm his friend, even though it would likely push him back into a deep sleep. Steve found yet another reason to feel guilty and he sighed around a need to talk. "Everything's okay, so go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up; if not me, then Kono and one of us will fill you in on everything that's happened."

There was no response in kind, nor even an objection to the doctor's protocol. Nothing happened for a moment until there was a muscle by muscle unfolding, the last being those connected to the fingers on Danny's right hand which fell open, splayed to the bed.

'And then ... you can fill me in, buddy,' Steve added silently to himself because something else was very wrong and he could literally feel that, too.

"Is he all right?" Steve whispered out loud as he finally addressed the medical staff. He still had Danny propped up against him; slumped heavily just under his chin, he'd need their help for the next step.

"What happened?" A new voice inquired from behind them all. Concerned and perhaps even slightly afraid, Kono was standing just inside the doorway.

Steve carefully shifted, conscious of his wounds and the pain in his hip. He moved just enough to see where she stood rooted in place. She stood there, uncertain as to if she should enter based solely on the level of urgency shared amongst Danny's caregivers. "Steve? What's wrong? What happened to Danny?"

She'd changed her clothes, as well as the dressing on her scalp wound after a decent spread of time spent at home. Re-energized, she'd come back to check on her friends, as well as deliver an update related to the ongoing status of the manhunt. When she didn't find Steve in his own room, she rightly guessed where he'd be. Later, after a final discussion with the doctor, she'd take Chin home because he'd be released after a standard overnight to monitor his own concussion.

"Is he okay?" She asked again.

Instead of answering, Steve drew his attention back to Danny where the doctor and the two nurses were literally jockeying him back onto the bed. "So, how is he?" Steve repeated, echoing Kono and wincing though a deep breath which oddly managed to painfully pop and ping all the way into his hip. He'd been told countless times that the injury was a painful one and his perched position had never been comfortable. Steve bit back a scowl as the burning heat worsened. He'd also need help, but for now, first things had to be done first. The doctor was busily checking and rechecking the readings being displayed on the bedside monitors, while a nurse ensured that Danny's injured arm hadn't moved inside the sling.

"Yes, his readings are coming back to more acceptable ranges," the doctor confirmed. "We'll be keeping him on oxygen for a bit longer, though. What happened here, Commander?"

"He didn't expect to see me," Steve admitted quietly. He met Kono's stunned expression, an apology lancing through his own because he'd so stupidly forgotten. "He thought ...and I forgot ... and seeing me ... it shook him up a bit."

"A bit?" The doctor heaved in a deep settling breath. He shook his head at the minimalist explanation, then pulled the wheelchair closer to the bed. "Get back to your room, Commander. Your own injuries are nothing to fool with; your partner's fine and he's going to be sleeping for quite some time. I recommend you take advantage of that before round two."

Kono chuffed a wry sound at the doctor's words, surprised by the depth of the underlying meaning. Though the rebuke was not voiced unkindly, it was still hard to swallow, and the man was entirely right. He knew enough about the situation to provide a savvy modicum of advice. He'd also been the one warning of the injuries of which they couldn't see. Ones, for example, which had prompted the attempted strangulation, now laying beneath the thick smattering of purplish bruises.

"Understood," Steve breathed out. With an almost plaintive expression, Steve pointed from himself to the wheelchair. He didn't dare move another inch for the deep ache now leaking into his lower back. He also refused to look Kono's way when she stifled a chuckle around his next comment. "I ... uh ... need help."

"No worries there, I have no intention of allowing you to do anything on your own," the doctor said, daring to smile as a nurse took Steve's opposite side. "As you seem to be learning, taking a bullet to the sensitive iliac crest is a very painful undertaking. Making matters worse, you've been up for a long time and I want you in bed, Commander. I want you in bed and resting before you do irreparable damage to yourself."

"Un ... un...derstood," Steve repeated through gritted teeth as he eased himself to his feet. "Yeah, it ... hurts." He'd been corrected about his hip numerous times as well. While he phrased his injury as a somewhat simple ding of the hip bone, this fine physician took greater pleasure in explaining that he'd sustained a fracture to his pelvis.

Regardless of who called his injury what, Steve needed their help to take the three or four unsteady steps to the chair. But then the chair became a problem unto itself. Each carefully adopted position was worse than the one before and Steve strangled breath after pained breath in his throat as he tried to lower himself to sit. Almost getting stuck mid-way, he nearly embarrassed himself through a desperately pained moan. He closed his eyes once he got there, sweat now dotting his forehead as he tried to deal with the heat he was feeling from front to back.

"I know ... I know this is bad. Try to breathe through it. Slowly," the doctor coached quietly. "We'll get you back to your room quickly; I'm sure sitting isn't much better and you're due for your own meds. How's your head? Headache?"

Steve nodded to everything the doctor said. He appreciated the man's ability to not hound him and yet Steve precisely understood and accepted the unspoken reprimands. Yes, he certainly was learning about his limitations as he focused on breathing in through his nose. Each wave of pain sent that air out as an erratically panted puff of air from his mouth. However, he had needed to see Danny and he didn't regret much except what he'd so wrongly forgotten. And now the doctor was very right because his head was beginning to spin, while sitting so straight pulled on all the wrong spots. With all the attention turned his way, Steve realized just how much he'd been pushing. So much so, he required a nurse's help to physically lift and position each foot for him on an elevated rest.

"Let's go boss," Kono grinned as they quietly left Danny to sleep. But the small group didn't get very far from the ICU. Just on the other side of the double doors, they were stopped by two officials with INTERPOL credentials.

"Agent Cynthia LaRouche and Agent Marcus Wells, INTERPOL, IRT. We're looking for Detective Williams," the female agent explained. Her manner was authoritative, yet not rushed nor intimidating. While the most basic of niceties and introductions were exchanged, both Kono and Steve remained on their guard.

"I'm Commander McGarrett and this is Officer Kalakaua, Five-0. You can talk to us. But as for Detective Williams? No. He's not up to seeing anyone and won't be for quite awhile." Backed by Kono, Steve firmly stood his ground just outside the ICU. At least he tried from a seated position in a wheelchair. "You got me and the rest of my team. What can we do for you?"

"This was quick," Kono murmured softly, just loud enough for Steve to hear. He relaxed at her words since it indicated an awareness on their part. No matter what she hadn't had time to tell him, his team wasn't completely in the dark. The arrival of agents from INTERPOL was part and parcel of the update Kono had saved for him that day. Their arrival at the hospital though seemed rather ... fast.

From what Kono had recently learned, not one, but six agents from INTERPOL had arrived in Oahu as part of an Incident Response Team to help support the local authorities with what was easily considered a serious policing issue; possibly even a predecessor to a more severe terrorist attack. Of the six, evidently these two had been dispatched with much alacrity to focus their questioning with Five-0. Or more particularly, with Danny first.

However, when it came to anyone seeing Danny, Steve wouldn't hear of it. Already on high alert, he was curt and almost abrasive as he refused them access to his very ill friend.

"You can talk to his doctors to confirm what I'm saying," Steve stated. "Detective Williams is not up to being interrogated now or in the immediate future; in fact, he wouldn't be able to provide any answers if he wanted to participate."

The two agents nodded in understanding, though their disappointment was clearly evident. "We're sorry that he's not well," LaRouche genuinely shared. "And you, Commander, we weren't fully advised as to the extent of your own injuries. We hope that ... you and your team members recover quite soon. But if there's any way to speak to the detective or to Lieutenant Kelly ... we would like to have that opportunity sooner rather than later. We understand that both of your men were in direct contact with the mercenaries who orchestrated this attack."

What was clear to both Steve and Kono by then was that INTERPOL wasn't there for a straight forward assist. They knew too much about the attack; too much about Chin and Danny, even. More importantly though, the agents knew something about the perpetrators. They apparently knew much more what they'd also provide in terms of responding to an incident that could have global ramifications.

"Who are these people?" Steve bluntly asked. "What do you know about the people who did this?" He cocked his head quizzically when LaRouche bit her lip, a bad habit that would always be a clue to what she'd squirreled away inside her mind. By her side, her partner shifted ever so slightly which Steve also read as confirmation of his suspicions.

"Excuse me. But I must agree with Commander McGarrett. Detective Williams isn't in any condition to entertain visitors let alone be questioned for any length of time," Steve's and Danny's doctor said, interrupting the small group's formal discussion. He'd loitered by the nurse's station and was now strolling towards them after having kicked the double-doors open. Arms-folded, he rounded on Steve next to further defuse what would soon be an intense discussion in the middle of his hospital's hallway.

"What did I tell you? You're to be off your feet and I don't mean sitting in this wheelchair. I want you in bed before you're invited back to the ICU. Now, Commander," the doctor said adamantly. "If you're feeling up to it, meeting with these illustrious individuals is entirely at your discretion. But only once you're settled ... not before."

"He's going. I'll take him," Kono quickly agreed with the doctor in part to put a temporary cease fire on the agents' combined energy. They were setting Steve off and he'd harry them back like a dog with a bone. He wasn't up to it and it certainly wasn't entirely necessary. Plus, she was already understanding that the two would only be interested in interviewing those who had directly spoken to or been abducted by any one of their attackers. That wasn't going to be Steve; and frankly, it wasn't even herself. But she could coordinate their first visit with Chin easily enough.

"We can talk later; you both can meet with me first and I'll introduce you to Lieutenant Kelly. But for right now, I need time with Commander McGarrett," Kono said, taking smooth advantage of the opportunity which the doctor had provided. The two agents were overwhelming and eager to dive into their work and having another pair of astute hands was certainly going to be a boon to everyone. However, their unannounced arrival at the hospital was already sapping Kono dry; having them around the other members of her recovering team needed to be managed much more closely and she was now digging in more protectively. Steve growled under his breath and shook his head at her continued intervention.

"Commander McGarrett is recovering from a concussion and two bullet wounds. Despite what he might say, he's not well and he needs his rest," Kono's smile was sweet but determined. In fact, she used her body to wedge the nurse away from the wheelchair's rear handles.

"Kono? Seriously?" Steve frowned at her honesty. Yet, he guilty dropped his hand from the back of his neck where he'd unconsciously been massaging achingly bunched muscles. But that was only the start of it, the aura had begun to threaten along with the one-sided spike of pain preceding a worsening nausea. He glanced up and slightly behind; seeing Kono's amused shrug only challenged him to deny how he was feeling. There was no way around it, so he softly snorted under his breath. His head was indeed aching with a certain vengeance and not entirely from the concussion he'd sustained. Danny's stress had sent Steve's blood pressure skyrocketing and it was his turn to have a very valid, but extremely negative, physical reaction.

"All right. That's fair," the female agent agreed. "We'll get something to eat from the cafeteria and look for you, in let's say, about an hour? Would that be enough time to get the Commander settled and to setup time to meet with Lieutenant Kelly?"

"Yeah," Steve replied in a tone that bespoke of his relief. "Thanks, that's a good first step." He didn't feel well and was now approaching a desperate point of no return as his chest began to adopt the fire which was eking out from the left side of his damaged ... pelvis.

"You're keeping me on my toes, boss," Kono lightly chastised him once they found his room. "You're going to be the death of me if you continue trying to be everyplace all at once!"

He groaned thickly at her reprimand, his eyes resolutely closing as he accepted the help of new hands to get settled in the hospital bed. The pain throughout his body was nearly impossible to surmount and he genuinely wanted to just sleep. As the nursing staff poked and prodded him gently into place, Steve simply allowed the activity to wash over where he lay. He groaned in disgust as readings were read - none of which seemed good - including his slightly elevated temperature.

"You are going to send me drink, Steve," Kono dramatically moaned, shaking her head as the nurses disapproved his current state. She made a face when his stats were shared and then was more than happy to fill him in. "You've got a fever and ... I know you have a migraine. You're starting to look like hell, boss."

"Find out what they know but don't let them in," Steve whispered when he felt Kono gently tuck another blanket around his waist. "Don't leave him alone for too long, either. I promised him we'd be there ... I promised him that one of us would be there when he woke up."

"I won't ... and I know, boss," Kono reiterated. "I'll be there right after Chin and I handle INTERPOL."

"He's been through a lot and we still don't know the half of it," Steve rallied briefly. The stern look in his eye quieted any further words from Kono while she just took in everything he had to say.

"Danny doesn't know about Chin," he added, squinting painfully up through his lashes. Any and all light was suddenly too much for him to cope with, yet he was continually worried about Danny's state of mind. "If he asks ... or there's an opportunity to tell him ... go slow."

"I figured that much, too," she assured him, encouraging his eyes to stay close by running her fingers lightly over his temple. "I'll be careful every step of the way, Steve. But you don't have anything to worry about for a very long time; like the doctor said, Danny's going to just sleep himself out. You should too ... sleep ... and leave everything else to me."

~ to be continued ~