Hello everyone! Real life has been busy, that's why I haven't updated in awhile. I apologize for how short this chapter is. I've had it written for awhile, but I just didn't feel comfortable enough to post it. I put the finishing touches on it just now and I decided that all of you wonderful people deserved an update.
This latest season has me very confused. On one hand, Danny and Steve are never together. However, when they are apart, they are always talking about each other. It's really taking on the feeling of an old married couple. I like it. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-O or its characters. If I did, Danny and Steve would never be apart and they would probably be roommates by now.
Enjoy!
Danny repaid the salute with the bird, smiling triumphantly. His smile had to end, though, and it did as soon as the garage door hid them from view and Danny went limp. He dropped like a dead weight into Steve's worried arms and wouldn't respond, no matter how frantically Steve called.
Steve reached up to his unconscious partner's neck and pressed his fingers against the pulse point. But he already knew it was too late. Danny's blue eyes were staring up at him blankly and Steve knew that they saw nothing. Looking around himself, Steve saw the ground around him stained with red blood, seeming to have come from the wound in Danny's shoulder and the blood that was dripping from his nose and mouth.
A loud scream pierced the air around him and he looked up from his dead partner to see Grace Williams standing just a few feet away with the whole of Five-O standing behind her. Tears were streaming down her young face as she looked at the SEAL with disgust. "You promised you would protect him, Uncle Steve!"
Chin and Kono shook their heads, looking disappointed. "How could you, McGarrett? How could you? Huh, McGarrett? McGarrett?"
"Commander McGarrett?"
Steve jolted awake, head snapping up from his crossed arms. An older man in a pair of scrubs was looking down at him, trading nervous glances with the nurse at the desk. She was the same one from earlier and Steve briefly wondered how long he had been out. "Commander McGarrett? Are you alright?"
Steve scrambled to his feet, heart pounding as the image of Grace replayed in his mind. Her injured expression kept flashing through his mind and he couldn't seem to get the image of Danny's empty, blue eyes out of his mind, either. He never wanted to see that image again. "Yes, doctor. Sorry. I just . . . dozed off. Danny, doc. How's Danny?"
The doctor looked down at the floor before motioning towards the doors to the ICU. "Walk with me, Commander. There are some things that I need to talk to you about."
Those words made Steve's heart skip a beat, but he took a few long strides to catch up with the doctor as he walked through the door.
"Detective Williams came in with multiple injuries."
"That's somewhat of an understatement, Doc."
The doctor nodded, tilting his head to one side as he said, "Indeed, Commander." Turning a corner, he continued, "Detective Williams suffered several lacerations on his face and arms including extensive bruising over most of his body. He also has a severe concussion and his right hand and wrist were fractured in several places."
Steve held his breath and waited for the ball to drop. The doctor glanced in his direction and slowed his pace before stopping completely, turning to face the Navy SEAL. "He also had a stab wound to the upper left side of his chest. This combined with the internal bleeding caused heavy blood loss."
"But he's going to be fine, Doc, right? He's going to recover." Steve took a step forward and grabbed a hold of the doctor's arm, his eyes begging for the answer that he wanted.
"Commander . . . please. It's . . . it's not that simple. Detective Williams," the doctor started, pausing for a moment to take a breath, closing his eyes for a moment before looking back up and saying, "Detective Williams is in a coma."
Steve felt like he'd just been sucker punched. All of the air in his lungs quickly evacuated and he felt himself taking a step back and then another and then another until his back hit the wall. His knees were shaking and he struggled to remain standing, but there were still some things that he needed to have an answer to. "How? When?" His voice came out strangled and quiet, lacking any power or body.
"We lost him twice on the table. The second time, we struggled to get him back. Honestly, he's lucky to be alive. You have a very strong partner, but it was too much. Shortly after surgery, he fell into a coma."
Steve nodded, staring at the ground. He couldn't seem to get his body to cooperate with his thoughts. "He's going to wake up, right?" He knew it was a dumb question. A lot of the time, doctors couldn't even predict if the patient was going to wake up.
"I don't know, Commander. Only time will tell." The doctor replied. Speaking up before Steve could ask the question, he continued, "You can sit with him if you would like. Your reputation is known throughout the state." The doctor smiled sadly and shrugged. "I know that you'll end up in that hospital room somehow. I may as well put you in there myself."
Steve nodded and followed the doctor down the remaining length of the hallway, only distantly reading the sign on the wall that said "Intensive Care Unit". The walls were lined with glass windows that looked into the rooms of patients. At the end of the hall, in the last room, a familiar figure was settled amidst a sea of white cotton.
Entering the room in a daze, Steve vaguely registered the doctor saying something about checking in later, but he wasn't listening. All of his senses had attuned themselves to the man in the hospital bed; to the rhythmic beating of the pulse meter next to the bed, to the metallic whooshing of the breathing machine, to the machines that were keeping Danny with him. Stumbling towards the bedside, Steve all but collapsed into the chair beside Danny. He took in every detail about his partner, fighting for sight through the tears filling his eyes.
Danny looked terrible, covered in black and blue bruises and sporting a sling that tucked his right arm against his body. Several bags of fluid hung beside the bed, replacing the blood that Danny had lost. He'd been carefully cleaned to remove any blood from the past couple of days. But this care couldn't help the fact that there was a tube down his partner's throat, breathing for him.
Leaning forward in the chair, Steve gently took Danny's left hand and wrapped it in his two warm ones. He couldn't help but look at his friend's right hand, staring at the abrasions and bruising across his knuckles, telling the tale of his many in-ring battles.
Ignoring the tears beginning to travel down his cheeks, Steve forced some words past his dry throat. "Hey, buddy." Looking away from his partner, Steve rubbed his thumbs over his partner's hand, trying to block out the memory of his hands covered in Danny's blood. A shaking breath escaped him as he fought for control over his emotions. "Oh, Danny." Looking back up, he stared at his partner through a film. "I'm not going to demand anything from you. You've – You've done so much already. You saved both of us. I owe you even more than I did before, babe." More deep shaky breaths broke away from the SEAL and he paused, attempting to collect himself, but failing to do so. Barely holding together, Steve looked back up at his best friend, shaking at the sight of the life support equipment. "Go ahead and take a break, buddy. I'll be here when you wake up."
Steve wished that he could cry, he really did, but there were no tears left. Instead, he only had this icy feeling of emptiness, like a fathomless pit in his stomach. There was no outward show of emotion and Steve wasn't sure that he was even fully conscious. Rather, all he could do was sit in the chair beside Danny's bed and hold his partner's hand, hoping that the last glimpse of his partner's blue eyes wasn't in his nightmare.
Once again, sorry for the short chapter, but I knew where I wanted to go with this chapter and it just kind of ended here.
Please tell me your thoughts with a review. I appreciate every single one and I really hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter.
Thank you and have a wonderful New Year!
