The ER was quieter than they had expected to find it. A couple of people from the Ilikai were waiting to be seen and there were a few others, too, but that was all. A quick show of their badges got them through to the treatment rooms and there they found Danny and Steve together. Danny gave them a quick smile of welcome as they entered the small room. He was perched on the edge of Steve's gurney. Neither Chin nor Kono could imagine taking up such a position or looking as comfortable sitting there if they did.
"Howzit?" Kono enquired.
"What's the situation at the Ilikai?" Danny asked in return.
"One dead, the other in custody," Kono reported. "Da lab boys are going over da place, but it all seems straight forward."
"We got plenty of eye witness reports," Chin elaborated. "There won't be any problem in making charges stick."
"Good," Steve grunted. He kept his eyes closed although the room was only dimly illuminated. An IV dripped fluid into his left arm, he was clad in a hospital gown and his skin bore a distinct green tinge. A bandage encircled his head, but his face had been washed clean of the blood.
"What does Doc say?" Kono ventured.
"Too much," Steve muttered.
"Steve's got a concussion," Danny replied with an affectionate, amused glanced at his supine boss. "Doc's keeping him in for observation until the vomiting is under control."
"What about you?" Chin asked, taking in Danny's dirty dishevelled clothing.
"Nothing's broken," Danny replied dismissively. "I'm just a bit bruised."
Remembering how unsteady Danny had been at the scene and the way he had protected his arm, both of the detectives were immediately sceptical. Danny caught the look they exchanged and protested at once. "I am just bruised! Ask Doc!"
"Ask me what?" Bergman enquired as he came into the room. He eyed the Five-O men. It was rather crowded with all of them in there. He didn't wait for a reply. "Steve, there's no skull fracture but you do have a moderate concussion and I'm keeping you here until the vomiting is under control and I'm 100% certain that you don't have a bleed on the brain."
"I'm fine," Steve objected, but his protest would have carried more weight if he hadn't been flat on his back, looking as weak as a kitten.
"Yeah, yeah," Bergman scoffed.
"We'll look after the office until you get back, Steve," Danny assured the older man. "I'll keep you up to speed."
"You'd better," Steve growled but a small grin flitted across his wan face.
"What about Danny?" Chin asked. "He was pretty shaky at the scene."
At that, Steve's eyes opened a slit and he fixed Danny with a basilisk stare. "You didn't say that," he accused the detective.
"It was just for a moment," Danny protested. "I'm fine."
"You're fine now," Bergman agreed, "but the ambulance attendant on scene told me you were shaky and that's why we gave you some juice to boost your blood sugar."
"Are you keeping him in?" Chin asked.
"No," Bergman replied. "He's just bruised but he's going to be stiff and sore for a few days and needs to take it easy. No surfing and no more fights."
"I can promise about the surfing," Danny assured him cheekily, "but the fights are out with my control."
"Danno!" Steve scolded but he was smiling while Bergman spluttered.
"Take this one home," Bergman ordered, indicating Danny. "Don't let him drive for a few days. But he'll be fine." The withering look he gave Danny couldn't conceal the affection he felt for the young man. "Steve, you're going upstairs now."
As Danny slid to the floor, Steve caught his wrist. "Danno – mahalo for tonight. I want all the details when my head aches less."
"Sure thing," Danny smiled. He stepped out of the way and watched as Steve was wheeled out of the room. As the gurney disappeared from view, Danny's bright, alert posture sagged and he suddenly looked exhausted.
"Take him home," Bergman advised again. "And take tomorrow off, Danny."
"He will," Kono assured the doctor and steered Danny towards the exit. The younger man went meekly – for now.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Somehow it didn't come as a surprise to find Danny already in the office when they arrived the next morning. The company LTD was parked outside and although Danny still looked tired, he looked a lot better than he had the previous night.
"How's da shoulder?" Kono asked, resisting the urge to clap his hand down on the injured appendage, knowing that it would be aching. The shadow of a dark bruise showed through Danny's white shirt.
"Still there," Danny replied flippantly. "I phoned the hospital and Steve is finally resting. They say we can see him later this afternoon and I asked that Doc call us after he has seen Steve this morning. The bad news is that the Ilikai receptionist died during the night, so I called down to HPD to add murder to the charges against the batter. Most likely it'll be knocked down to manslaughter, but we can try. The custody sergeant told me there'll be a bail hearing later on today, so I'll go along to make our recommendations."
"You aren't supposed to be driving, Danny," Chin reminded him sternly. "And Doc told you to take today off."
"There's too much to do," Danny protested. "Besides, I'm fine." He watched with annoyance as the other two men exchanged glances. "And what does that look mean?" he demanded. "I am here, you know."
"Yep, dat's what it means," Kono agreed, smiling at his friend's bafflement. "On your own head be it," he added.
Not happy to just acquiesce, Chin frowned at Danny. "You should be at home resting," Chin admonished.
"I'm fine, honestly," Danny insisted, exasperated. "There's too much to do for me to lie around at home." With that final word, he ducked back into his cubicle and sat down at his desk.
"A chip off the old block," Chin grumbled as he went towards his own cubicle. After a moment, he looked over at Kono and grinned.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The judge at the bail hearing was one Danny knew by repute only and his heart sank. Judge Petrowski was well known to be something of a bleeding heart with a soft spot for a good sob story. Knowing that didn't help Danny's nerves any. This was the first time he had been Five-O's sole representative in court and he didn't want to let Steve down by messing up. He didn't want his new boss to be disappointed in him.
It was reassuring to have the Attorney General there with him, although Danny was stung when Walter Stuart looked beyond hi, clearly seeking someone else and not bothering to hide his disappointment in not finding them. "Is Steve still in hospital?" he asked.
"He should be getting out soon," Danny replied. He felt the nerves growing even more. He didn't have time to brood though. The batter was brought in, clearly suffering from a desperate hangover and with one arm in a sling. Danny stood beside Stuart.
The charges were enumerated and the judge shook his head and tutted under his breath in what seemed to be disappointment that someone could behave so badly.
"And does the state oppose bail?" he asked in a tone that implied that doing so was really rather unfair.
"Yes, Your Honour," Danny replied.
There was a long pause as the judge looked Danny up and down. Danny was annoyed and fought to keep a flush from staining his face. He wasn't entirely successful. "Who are you?" the judge finally asked.
"Detective Williams, Five-O," Danny answered proudly.
"Where's McGarrett?" Petrowski enquired.
"Mr McGarrett sustained a concussion last night at the hands of the defendant," Danny explained, "and is still in hospital."
"An alleged concussion," the judge corrected.
"No, Sir," Danny denied. "The concussion has been confirmed by the doctor." Beside Danny, Stuart had stiffened as the young detective started arguing – albeit mildly – with the judge. "The defendant is the alleged perpetrator."
After a moment, when the whole court was holding its breath, waiting for the judge to declare Danny in contempt of court, Petrowski laughed. "Quite right, young man," he smiled. "Do we know for sure that the defendant was wielding the bat?"
"Detective Williams can testify that the defendant was wielding the bat," Stuart said smoothly.
"Oh? And what makes you so sure he was the person, Detective?"
The last thing Danny wanted to do was tell the judge what had happened, but he had no choice. "He hit me a glancing with the bat," he replied.
"It can't have been too bad a blow," the judge decided. "You look all right."
"I'm just bruised, Your Honour," Danny replied, but he couldn't stop the edge of irritation creeping into his voice. He was stiff and sore, just as Doc had predicted, but hadn't had anything for the discomfort because of this hearing.
However, Walter Stuart was not having Danny's disclaimer taken at face value. He had already spoken to Dr Bergman about the injuries Steve and Danny had sustained and knew that Bergman had told the young detective to take the day off. "If I may, You Honour, Detective Williams is rather down-playing the severity of the bruising. According to the attending physician last night, Detective Williams sustained deep bruising to the shoulder area and for a time it was feared he might have broken his scapula – the shoulder blade." Stuart loved an audience when things were going his way and he could hear the scribble of pens on paper as the reporters present took notes. "He was advised by his physician to take today off, but with Mr McGarrett in hospital, he did not feel he could do that. Ignoring his own discomfort, he came here today to testify."
Frowning, the judge was clearly trying to decide if he should take this at face value. "May I see this bruising?" he asked.
With an encouraging word from Stuart, Danny slid off his suit jacket and indicated the bruising through his shirt. The judge was not satisfied with that and shortly, Danny found himself easing out of his shirt, something he had hoped not to have to do before undressing for the night. There were gasps from the gallery as the deep black/purple bruise was displayed and the judge looked rather taken aback. "Thank you…"
"Detective Williams," Stuart reminded the judge as he helped Danny back into his shirt. "Detective Dan Williams."
"Thank you. And this was a glancing blow, you say?" Petrowski asked.
"Yes, Your Honour." Danny couldn't remember the last time he had been so embarrassed. "I ducked."
The judge looked through the papers in front of him again, then looked at the public defender. The PD shook his head, clearly not willing to say anything at all in his client's defence. In fact, he looked like he would prefer to say a few things that would be detrimental to his client. "Bail denied," Petrowski announced. He banged his gavel. "The trial will commence on Thursday of next week. Next!"
Hugely relieved, Danny shoved his tie into his jacket pocket for the moment and hurried to escape the court room so that he could find a place to hide from the reporters who were surging towards him.
"There will be no statements until after the trial," declared a familiar voice in a no-nonsense tone.
"Steve!" Danny was simultaneously delighted to see his boss and concerned that he was doing too much when he was newly out of hospital. "What are you doing here? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Steve replied. He was still pale, but the bandage was gone from his head and he was dressed in a clean suit. "You did a good job here, Danno." He ushered his detective out of the court and into a side room. "Petrowski is not the easiest of men to deal with." He eyed the younger man. "Aren't you supposed to be at home resting?" he added, a slight edge to his tone.
Just the few short weeks he had been working with Steve had taught Danny a lot about the tones his boss used. "There was a lot to do," he replied. "Chin and Kono couldn't do it all themselves."
"Well, I want you to go home now," Steve ordered. "You need to rest."
"But I want to question the batter," Danny protested.
"Someone else can do that," Steve said firmly. "Let's go." He put his hand on Danny's good shoulder and steered him towards the exit where a patrolman was waiting to drive them wherever they wanted to go. Steve had arrived at the court in time to see Danny's bruise and was horrified by the extent of it.
"You mustn't go to the office," Danny objected. "You've got a concussion."
"I won't be there long," Steve agreed. "But I do need to give my statement about last night."
"I don't want to miss hearing that," Danny cried. "And I haven't given mine yet, either."
For a moment, he thought Steve was going to put his foot down, then the older man sighed. "All right, all right," he smiled. "Come back to the office with me, we'll both give our statements and then we can both go home. Deal?"
"Deal," Danny agreed.