Chapter Four

Day One – Late Afternoon

"Shhh… It's all right, you're okay..." Thomas murmured soothingly, over and over again, as he rubbed the back of the small girl, trying to calm her down while she sobbed uncontrollably into his chest. Gradually, her crying began to taper off, and she hiccupped, but didn't pull away.

As gently as he could, Thomas tried to loosen her hold on him so that he could check if she was hurt but she protested the move with a cry, and her tiny fists gripped his shirt even tighter. Swallowing his sigh, he continued rubbing circles on her back as he whispered words of comfort. His headache was now throbbing in earnest, while his left shoulder and knees were screaming for relief from his awkward, half-kneeling position but he made no move to get more comfortable, knowing that the little girl needed more time before she was ready. Taking a deep breath, he turned to meet the concerned blue gaze of his brother.

"How is he?" he asked quietly, mindful of the trembling child in his arms.

"Still unconscious. Mr Kim says the ambulance and police are on their way," Rick answered, his hands still pressing hard on the bullet wound on the man's lower abdomen. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. That was a close call. Too close for comfort, in fact, remembering how his heart had leapt to his throat when he'd turned the corner and found Thomas with a gun to his face. Mentally shaking off that image, he looked down at his hands and said with almost breathless apprehension, "They'd better be quick or he's going to bleed out before they get here..."

"Just keep pressure on the wound," Magnum replied, his attention still very much on the little girl. He was also uncomfortably aware that they were no longer alone. Now that the danger was over, curious residents were coming out from their homes to investigate what had happened and it felt like there were hundreds of curious eyes peering at them from every corner.

The approaching sirens cut off any reply Rick was about to make, and they watched mutely as police cars and an ambulance arrived at the scene. Suddenly, there was a hive of activity around them, and while the former Marine was able to hand over his charge to the EMTs, Magnum wasn't as lucky. The little girl still clung to him like a limpet despite his best efforts to disengage her and after a few tense moments, he gave up trying to pass her over to the waiting paramedic. Adjusting his hold on the young child so that he was supporting her entire weight, the private investigator struggled to his feet with a barely suppressed groan.

Rick was immediately by his side, his hands now clean of the blood that had coated them. They both watched in silence as the dazed gunman was hauled up from the ground and taken away by one of the police officers. Another officer came over to where they were standing and Rick took the gunman's weapon from Thomas' waistband and handed it over. Once they'd given their statements, he turned to Magnum, "You okay?"

Thomas nodded, shifting his precious burden to elevate the ache on his left shoulder. He could feel the tiny fingers tighten for a split second before they relaxed once more against his shirt. "What did the EMTs say?"

"He's stabilised for now. They'll know more once they get him to the hospital," Rick answered, his worried gaze on the child in Magnum's arms. She had quietened down and now appeared to be half asleep. "How is she?"

"Better… but I still can't get her to let go," Thomas grimaced.

"Magnum? Rick?" a familiar voice called out and they turned to see HPD Detective Gordon Katsumoto walking up to them with a frown on his normally impassive face. "What are you two doing here?"

"Believe it or not, it was just to pick up the Ferrari," Magnum said with a slight upward quirk to his lips.

Katsumoto gave the three of them an assessing look, his gaze lingering awhile on the small form in the PI's arms. "Why do I feel that there's more to that story than what you're saying?" he remarked drily, coughing in his hand to hide a smile when Rick mouthed Tell you later at him before presenting Magnum with his best innocent look.

While the private investigator shot daggers at his military buddy in response and they proceeded to have a brief, nonverbal conversation between them, Gordon used the opportunity to study both men. He didn't need to be a detective to see that Magnum was clearly in some pain, judging by his slight winces each time he shifted the position of the little girl or whenever she stirred in his arms. He also seemed to be favouring his left arm. Rick looked marginally better – his hair was a ruffled mess, as if he'd run his fingers through the dark blond strands repeatedly at some point in time, and his shirt had blood on it, but otherwise appeared uninjured.

He was debating with himself on whether he should try getting them checked out by the EMTs when Magnum met his eyes, silently indicating the girl in his arms, and Katsumoto saw that she was now fast asleep. He nodded, and then turned around to motion to one of his officers. He was sure all of them more or less held their breath as the PI carefully transferred the sleeping child over to the police officer.

"Get her to the hospital for a thorough checkup," he ordered sotto voce once the handoff was successful. "I've already arranged for her mother to be picked up from her workplace – she should be at the hospital by the time you get there."

The young officer nodded briskly and once she was gone, Gordon turned back to his friends and asked, "So, what happened here?"

Carefully flexing his sore arms, Magnum told him.

He turned the corner and slowed to a stop, instantly taking in the scene before him. A man in a green shirt was desperately trying to reason with a second man who had a gun in one hand and who was holding onto a small girl, no more than four, in his other arm. They were too busy yelling at each other to notice him at first so Thomas took the chance to move closer, after making sure his gun was safely tucked away, out of sight. The last thing he wanted was to give anyone a reason to start shooting. He managed a few steps before the gunman saw him and turned the gun towards his direction, and he froze, swiftly raising his arms in placating manner.

For a moment, no one moved, and the only sound was that of a crying child. Hoping that he would be able to talk the gunman down, Thomas took a breath, but before he could say anything, Rick suddenly appeared at the scene, blue eyes wide with alarm. Startled by the presence of yet another person, the gunman turned towards the newcomer, and without warning, the man in green lunged at him with an enraged yell. The gunman dropped the little girl, who continued crying, and there was a brief struggle between the men before a shot rang out. Almost in slow motion, the man in green crumpled to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Taking advantage of the gunman's stunned reaction to what just happened, Thomas made his move and quickly disarmed him, knocking him out in the process. As soon as it was safe, Rick ran towards the fallen man while Thomas made sure the gunman was firmly bound and his gun safely secured, before he turned his attention to the child who was still bawling her eyes out.

Magnum let out a sigh. "I was only trying to get her to stop crying before she made herself sick but then I couldn't get her to let go." He rubbed at his left shoulder. "How did you know who she was and where her mother worked?"

The HPD detective looked over at the crowd of curious onlookers. "One of the neighbours, who used to babysit the little girl, recognised her and her father. She also had the mother's number." He indicated the house with the broken door, frowning a little at the sight of the damage, "I was told they lived over there but apparently the mother and child moved out about three days ago."

"From what little I heard, I think the men knew each other…" Rick spoke up.

Magnum hummed in agreement and then added, "The guy with the gun was demanding that the other man hand something over but he yelled back about them having a deal." His eyes strayed to the spot where the confrontation took place and he continued, "Mostly, he was just pleading with the gunman to release his daughter and not hurt her."

Katsumoto pursed his lip, filing away the new information with a nod.

"Anything else?" he asked. When they shook their heads, he closed his pocket notebook and put it away. "All right, that should be sufficient for now. I'll be in touch." He turned to go but paused to give the dark-haired man a pointed look. "You might want to get that shoulder looked at." He managed, just barely, to keep his surprise from showing when Magnum dipped his head after a brief hesitation.

"It's a little sore," Thomas admitted, almost reluctantly. He turned towards Rick, "I guess we could stop by the hospital on our way back once we're done with your new supplier."

"It's fine, buddy, I can do that another day. I'll just let Jules know where we're going," Rick answered, relieved that his friend didn't need a lot of convincing this time to seek medical help. Thomas might have a major aversion to doctors and hospitals, but he was also astute enough, and had enough sense of self-preservation, to know when he needed to see one. And for him to acknowledge the discomfort… for those fluent in TM-speak, it meant that he was in a lot more pain than he was willing to admit.

~O~O~O~

As the day continued to drag on, Thomas was beginning to regret turning down Rick's initial offer to drive him home. His headache had increased in its intensity and he was starting to feel every ache in his body. They had no trouble getting to the hospital but with the number of people in the waiting room, he knew that it would be a while before they got to him. He was right. By the time it was his turn, the events of the past few days and the last few hours had finally caught up with him and he was nearly asleep in the waiting room chair.

"Tommy, hey…" Rick's gentle tone roused him from his drowsy stupor and he looked up in a daze to catch the nurse's sympathetic smile.

"Sorry for the wait, Mr Magnum," the young man said. "Let's get you in for a scan of that shoulder first before the doctor sees you."

"Okay, sure," Thomas replied as he stood up stiffly and trailed after the nurse through the doors, with Rick following close behind.

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A/N: My thanks to Gabb Magra, Sagitarscorpion1, SaraWrites120, Lhaven, Marlab, and Guest for your lovely reviews, and also to everyone following this story.