Chapter 66
Once Steve had his breathing back under control, Danny and Joe moved him into the front seat of the truck. Joe secured the seatbelt around him and had immediately driven his protégé to Tripler for observation, not at all happy with the lasting effects from whatever drug Doris had administered. The woman in question was not saying anything, maintaining that she wouldn't have done anything to hurt her own son but not providing the team with anything further. Charlie was still running the samples through his machines and was waiting for a result. Steve was uncharacteristically quiet for the entire journey, not protesting the trip to the hospital and that was a huge red flag in itself. His mentor made a mental note to see if the psychologist that Steve was seeing was on duty so that an appointment could be arranged at her earliest convenience. He had accompanied the man through the hospital and waited with him until he was shooed from the room by the non-nonsense nurse as he came in with all the supplies he needed to set up an IV.
Danny had watched as Joe set off to the hospital in Steve's truck and hadn't known what to do with Doris McGarrett, not realizing until that moment quite how much he had wanted his indestructible Energizer Bunny partner to jump up with a smirk and a cheeky, "Book 'em, Danno." To see his friend in such a state at the hands of his own mother had made his blood boil and he had to work really hard to not 'accidently' whack his prisoners head on the side of the car when he guided her into the back. Chin had called for backup and Danny was very relieved to see Duke emerging from one of the squad cars that had cautiously made its way up the rough track. Chin had spoken personally to the experienced officer, knowing instinctively that he would handle the situation with discretion and care. Danny decided to hand Mrs. McGarrett off to HPD and let them book her and do the interrogation; he didn't want to have to be in the same car as her or interact with the woman in any way.
They had already performed a sweep of the cabin and not found anything apart from an old cart, a thick blanket and the rubber bindings. The truck she had arrived in was very old and dirty but otherwise empty. They were not achieving anything by stopping in the woods and so Chin gave the order for everyone to go to Tripler to check on Steve and leave the scene to HPD forensics, so they could record and collect evidence to be used for any subsequent prosecution.
Joe had wandered downstairs and found the vending machine in the main lobby. It plopped out a cup full of indeterminate brown sludge and he was just stirring his 'coffee' suspiciously, wondering if he should sue for misrepresentation, when the Five-0 team arrived. He glanced up and took in their worried faces as he fully appreciated the depth of their feelings for his substitute son – they were more than just teammates and he was glad Steve had surrounded himself with such loyal friends.
Joe duly provided his typical succinct sitrep and they were pleased to hear that Steve's vitals were all within normal range and the doctors were expecting his muscle weakness to wear off as the drug was flushed from his system; they had him hooked up to an IV and were pushing fluids into him to speed up the process. The results from Charlie's analysis revealed it to be a fairly innocuous tranquilizer that shouldn't cause any long-term issues. Commander White indicated that they should go up to his room to see him, knowing that they wouldn't be satisfied until they had seen Steve for themselves.
Two of the nurses had been busy gossiping about their latest patient and debating if he had a significant other; Commander McGarrett was something of a local celebrity and his rugged good looks certainly didn't hurt. They quickly changed the topic when they saw the rest of Five-0 coming towards the nurses' station to ask if it was okay to see their boss now. Steve had been propped up in bed with lots of pillows and apart from the IV looked to be in good shape. There were no other machines monitoring his vitals, the nurses having no cause to do anything other than a cursory 2 hourly check.
The hospitalized man gave them a weak smile as his team piled into the hospital room, "Hey, guys. Thanks for the rescue, I was honestly starting to get worried about Shelburne's state of mind." Danny and Chin exchanged a brief glance between them at Steve's use of his mother's CIA handle instead of 'my mother' or even her name. Kono leaned in for a quick hug,
"Joe remembered that you still had your tracker implanted under your arm and had Harry activate it and trace its location. Good job it worked, otherwise we never would've found you . . . in fact, I'm going to see about getting you another one. Bad guys keep taking you way too often for my liking." At her comment Steve gave her a wry smile,
"Well, no one was expecting my own mother to fall into the 'bad guy' category. I'm going to suggest that she undergoes a psych eval, I think she may have suffered some sort of mental breakdown."
Chin stepped forward, "I can see to that, Steve. You could be right, this is not the Doris McGarrett that I remember." Steve looked over at his partner,
"I'm sorry, man. Gracie missed her surf lesson and I messed up your weekend with her." Danny frowned and took a few quick steps forward until he was standing at the side of the hospital bed,
"Would you just stop that, you giant goof! The ocean will still be there, ready to take her vengeance on any foolish souls who are misguided enough to attempt to stand upright on a plank of wood for longer than 30 seconds – Rachel's already agreed to let me have Grace next weekend in place of this one . . . and don't think for a minute that my eagle-eyed daughter didn't notice she was being entrusted with the bigger board. Now I'll have to listen to her nagging me all week to let her have the chance to show you what she can do. Thank you very much for that, Steven."
Steve's thoughts had been spiralling into a very dark place and he revelled in the feeling of normality at the familiar rant. At yet another low point of his life, his partner was there to provide support and stop him sinking into depression. He managed a little smile and felt up to baiting Danny, "Surfboards are not made from wood, Danno, that would be no good at all - they're polyurethane or polystyrene foam covered with layers of fiberglass cloth and a polyester or epoxy resin." Danny stepped back and lanced his hand through the air in a determined sweep,
"Oh my God, enough with the chemistry lesson already. It's a floating death trap, regardless of its composition." The spirited banter continued, Chin and Kono joining in the debate – Kono quick to point out the many health and psychological benefits of her beloved pastime. They were interrupted by the arrival of Steve's doctor, she was tall and slender with her light chestnut brown hair secured in a neat bun,
"Did I just hear the virtue of our national sport being besmirched?" She mock-glared at Danny with a barely hidden smirk, "How very dare you, Detective Williams." The man sighed in resignation,
"Well hello to you too, Dr. Shaw - I can see that this conversation is not going my way, so I'll make a tactical retreat while I still have the moral victory." Steve and the doctor exchanged a knowing look. Danny was using military speak in his every day conversation without even noticing. Mia Shaw was an Army Captain, having enlisted in the military during her training at medical school through the Health Services Scholarship Program. When she qualified as a doctor she was commissioned as an officer, taking the rank of captain and had been stationed all over the world. But she was born and raised on Oahu and was delighted to score a sweet commission back on the island and had started a surgical training position. However, she was seeing more of the Five-0 team than she would like as one or more of them kept being brought in for medical attention. She proceeded to tell them so,
"I'm not too happy to be seeing another one of you in a hospital bed again so soon, although why I am not surprised to find that it is Commander McGarrett . . . again. Perhaps we should start a frequent flyer-type loyalty programme just for Five-0 and you all get a bonus injection every tenth visit?" She glanced at Steve, "I'm tempted to write your name as Commander Commotion on these medical notes." Danny doubled over with a bark of laughter at that last comment,
"Oh, I like it. There are so many words we could use that mean chaos and mayhem. Let me see . . . it could be Commander Bedlam or Havoc or Pandemonium or Turmoil . . . but I think I like your suggestion best." Danny waved his arm in the direction of the bed-ridden man,
"I hardly ever needed the attention of medical professionals until I met this animal. Have I mentioned that he got me shot within hours of conscripting me against my will onto the Task Force."
Steve vigorously defended himself against this vicious character assassination, "Hey, how was it my fault? We were following a lead and you were stood behind the door of a known gun dealer. Maybe if you had positioned yourself to one side then he would have missed. Plus, you were miserable as sin at HPD. I saved you from yourself. You love it on Five-0 and you love me."
Danny had to concede that he made a good point, "Okay, maybe it's not all bad . . . and yeah, I love you - but you're still an animal."
The team stayed for another hour and made an effort to not dwell on the situation and instead kept the conversation light as they gently teased one another - the unspoken agreement between them to just be there for their boss. They eventually got kicked out of the room so the nurses could take their next round of obs. After finding Joe in the canteen, they let him know that they were on their way back to the Palace to take care of the paperwork. Chin also needed to swing by HPD HQ to speak with Duke and arrange for a psychological evaluation for Doris. Danny wondered about involving the CIA. Joe mused on this for a minute,
"Well, technically she is still one of their agents and so it would be prudent to involve the agency. I'll take care of that and leave everything else in the capable hands of the Task Force."
When Joe had finished his meal, he made his way back up to Steve's room. He stopped at the door as he could hear voices, a quick peek into the room confirmed that Captain Shaw was in with her patient. She was perched on the edge of Steve's bed and the two of them were chatting animatedly, discovering that they had both attended Kukui High. Steve had been 2 years ahead, so they never crossed paths, but they laughed about the same tutors and recalled all the stupid things that they had each got up to as kids. From the sounds of it, Mia had been just as bad as Steve – driving her parents to despair with her adventurous streak. Joe backed away quietly with a little smile and left them to it. He was suddenly a lot less worried about Steve's state of mind.