I do NOT own anything, but the plot.
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As always, thank you and I hope you continue to enjoy what's to come!
Nalo a loaʻa
-loosely translate to "lost and found"-
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"Detective Williams."
A voice broke Danny from his quiet reverie, his hopes dashed as he realised it was Governor Denning approaching the group. He had Grace settled, Charlie asleep beside her, and he didn't want any commotion to rock the calm that had descended during their wait.
"Stay here, Monkey," Danny ordered Grace lightly. He left his seat, and already felt his blood boiling. "Sir, with all due respect, I don't think now is the time to be here."
In actual fact, without any updates on Steve's health, Danny couldn't deal with more than his daughter's broken heart and his son's constant questioning about when Steve would be back.
"I'm here to offer my support … what happened today should never have happened." Denning placed his hands up in defeat. "But there is a breach in the situation given Franklin is still alive."
"You don't say?" Danny started sarcastically and couldn't contain his mounting anger.
"We need to put protocol into place until we secure the situation, Detective Williams."
Chin, observing the situation from afar, knew he had to intervene.
"Governor, with all due respect, the last few weeks have been testing, but this right now, is not the time or place to start discussing anything else but waiting for an update on our friend."
"I understand—"
"No, no you don't understand, and you don't get to pull any stunts this time!" Danny exploded at the Governor. "I am not sitting here for hours waiting on news only to be told he's dead. I am not doing the last five months again because I don't think anyone could survive it again."
"Detective Williams—"
"No! The man you said was dead the first time was alive all this time. The man behind all of it was also meant to be dead. I'm not doing the lies anymore! I want to know who sanctioned all of this before it happens again."
Denning immediately saw the entire fallout of their plan from April and knew Detective Williams was a man of his word over the matter.
"I want that, too, Detective Williams. Regardless of circumstance, we are both on the same team here."
Danny scoffed, but Denning allowed the disrespect.
"I have no intentions of putting McGarrett in witness protection or relocating him to a safe house again. We have Franklin in custody. This is over."
"I heard that before," Danny scoffed and turned to pace.
"We're all a little on edge, Governor," Chin liaised, his tone much calmer than Danny. "We had no idea this is how today would end, but we were serious when we said we wanted to remain by Steve's side regardless of the threat."
"You can't leave him again!" Grace yelled, stepping into the conversation.
"Gracie, we're not, I promise you," Danny immediately replied, sensing the destress. "Whatever happens, we aren't leaving him."
"I have noted your wishes, so please understand, I want to work with you to find out what happened," Denning replied, taking weight of the entire situation.
The waiting room was already a powder keg waiting to explode, his arrival was the light for the fuse apparently.
"What I want to know is how a dead man came back from the dead in the fashion Franklin Wright did," Danny intervened, his tone venomous. "Steve did it with help, so who was helping Wright?"
"That's what we're trying to work out," Denning mentioned, agreeing. "I'll have officers posted—"
"The only officer I trust to be around Steve outside of those in this room and our team is Duke Lukela." Danny was adamant on that stance too.
"Sir, I have to agree With Danny," Chin spoke. "He's known Steve his entire life, they have a relationship that goes beyond HPD. If anyone is going to lead this besides us, because you can be sure we are hands on with this, I want Duke at the head of this operation."
"I understand," Denning agreed, and he did. "I'll contact Sergeant Lukela directly, and get him started on possible links, but I think your main concern is Commander McGarrett. Have the doctors said anything?"
"Only that he's bleeding internally and has severe damage to his left leg," Chin notified solemnly. "He took a bullet to the stomach and looks like he suffered severe leg injury during a fight between him and Franklin."
"Was the bullet still inside?"
"Yes, Sir, it was," Chin replied, looking towards Danny before glancing back. "He lost a large amount of blood back at his house before the ambulance arrived and Danny said he was in and out of consciousness by the time he got here."
"I'm not leaving him this time," Danny argued, finally finding his voice. "The moment he's in a room, I'm in it as well and I'm not going elsewhere until I have his discharge papers in my hand."
"Detective Williams, I assure you, he is not going back into witness protection."
"And I can assure you, I don't care," Danny reacted, his eyes narrowing. "I have lived five months grieving someone I see as my brother ... for the last three weeks I have spent time knowing he's alive and making him feel like he never had a family. Why? Because you and whoever above our heads decided that was the best way to deal with this situation."
"It was the best way," Denning argued. "This was above your pay grade."
"No, are we or are we not the governor's task force?" Danny asked, questioningly. "And are we or are we not chosen to be a highly esteemed group of people to protect the people of Hawaii and ourselves?" He left no room for answers. "And are we or are we not led by a freaking navy SEAL?" His face loosened as he said. "Wait, ex-SEAL seeing as keeping this island safe cost Steve that and a whole lot more."
He heard Grace gasp, and so did Chin as the Hawaiian detective reached out to place a hand to Danny's shoulder.
"Danny, you need to calm down," Chin tried.
"Calm down?" Danny questioned, alarm lighting his voice. "I have two kids in this hospital, one terrified that she's never going to get another moment with her uncle and the other wondering why the party ended, and his Uncle Steve disappeared ... again."
"I understand the shock you all must be in, and I will do everything in my power to get Commander McGarrett the best care possible and to keep this from happening again." Denning's tone was harsh, but there was a level of compassion he hadn't really shown them before. "Excuse me. I'll be right back with as much information as I can get for you all."
The two detectives watched as the governor stalked off towards the main desk, but neither relaxed. The true severity of the day was weighing heavier by the minute.
"Chin, I can't do this again," Danny whispered almost painfully. "The first time was bad enough. I can't make it through that again."
"You won't have to," Chin said, trying to play the optimist. "This time he has a fair hand."
"Does he?" Danny questioned sceptically. "Last time he did, too, and then woke up to an entirely different life. This was out of our hands last time; how do we trust that it isn't this time?"
For once, Chin's calm wisdom wasn't enough.
It had been hours since the only news they had was that Steve was rushed for emergency surgery to stabilise his worsening condition.
Hours since the governor had arrived and taken a seat in the waiting area with them.
Hours since they all fell silent as they waited.
"Family of Commander McGarrett?"
Danny was off his seat before the doctor had even finished saying Steve's name. The wary look on the Hawaiian's face did little to ease Danny and the clammy touch to his hands grew worse.
"That's us!"
"I'm Doctor Keoni, I'm the attending doctor on Commander McGarrett's case," he told them, and took in the tension of the room. "Are you family?"
"Closest you'll get," Danny replied, his voice sharp. "I'm down as his medical power of attorney, so anything you say can be said freely here."
The doctor seemed to pause, but relented tiredly.
"He's alive," the doctor said after seeing the look on their faces. "We currently have him in recovery and we're waiting for him to wake up."
"But he's okay?" Danny asked, wanting more information.
"For now, he's critical but he's stable and that's the best we could hope for after the injuries he sustained," the doctor admitted. "He lost a lot of blood and there was severe damage to his left kidney that was already compromised from a prior injury. Removing the bullet was simple, cleaning up the damage not so much."
Danny glared at Denning but stilled his anger the best he could. The governor took the ire in his stride.
"We're going to need to monitor this over the next couple of days in the hope it will improve. The stab wound to his thigh was deep and it looks like the force saw the tip of the blade connect with a weak spot on his femur causing a small amount of damage, again exacerbating a prior injury. It, also, appears that he received a significant blow to his kneecap which forced the joint to dislocate. The over extension of the ligaments and muscles has caused quite some damage so we're going to have to keep his leg immobile with a brace to secure that this heals without the need for surgery and allows for little pressure on the injury to his thigh."
"What about his head wound?" Chin asked, remembering the cut.
"We won't know the full extent of this until we can conduct a neuro check on him. With the anaesthetic, we ran the risk of extra complications, especially as we were only able to diagnose a grade two concussion before surgery. This is something we'll need to monitor when he's awake … especially given his last concussion was only a few months ago."
"Always like McGarrett, can't do things in halves," Danny scoffed under his breath. "So where do we stand now? He's going to be fighting to leave the moment he's awake and he's going to want to know his down time."
"For now, he's here for a good few days, a week minimum, I'd say. His injuries are not to be taken lightly, and his recuperation time is going to be a lengthy one, especially with that knee. His kidney is struggling, right now, and I'm not having him jeopardise his recovery by thinking he can leave as soon as he's awake."
"Don't worry, Doctor, I will sanction any measures and orders necessary to make sure Commander McGarrett doesn't do anything against your orders," Denning declared, willing to use his position of power to his advantage.
"He's got an entire family that join that battle," Danny mused. "When can we see him?"
"I'm afraid I can't allow tha—"
"Look, I'm not being rude here, Doc, but I don't want to hear any BS that I can't see him or he's under observation or he needs his rest. We need to be in there with him."
"I'm sorry, but rules are in place for a reason," Doctor Keoni argued.
"And I understand those rules, but in this case, Commander McGarrett is not being left alone." Danny wouldn't budge. He would hunt down Steve's room if necessary. "He did his last recovery alone; I'm not having him waking up and thinking he's alone."
"He won't be alone—"
"He won't have family around him," Danny interjected harshly.
"Doctor Keoni, I have already given orders that Commander McGarrett be moved to the more private wing of the hospital and to have the best care possible. I also request that his family be allowed in granted his prior history from five months ago." Denning was fighting with the same tone Danny was, and he only hoped that this would help mend a bridge with the detective. "It'd be in Commander McGarrett's best interest to allow his family around him during this time."
"This isn't a playground. It's a hospital," the doctor argued. "This is not up for negotiations."
"If you want to give your patient a fighting chance, I suggest strongly reading back over his medical records before you make that decision," Denning stated rather forcefully. "As I said, I have already given orders, and based on the situation at hand, Commander McGarrett requires around the clock police protection. Five-O is leading that."
"And I suppose you're Five-0?" Keoni asked, giving Danny a pointed look.
"One and the same." Danny tried to stow his steadying growing impatience just to win over the doctor. "Now, we can do this the hard way or the easy way, Doc, but believe me, letting me into that room will grant you a much easier life until Steve is discharged."
"He's right, Steve can be somewhat of an awful patient," Chin agreed, snickering. "He'll be plotting his escape the moment he wakes up."
"I highly doubt that," Keoni jested to a very serious looking group of people
"Did you even take notice of his rank when you called his name out?" Danny asked, sarcastically. "You missed off a part … Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett."
"You clearly haven't learned of his reputation either," Kono chimed in.
"I thought they were joking," Keoni sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, fine… but the moment you get loud, disruptive, or my nurses feel they can't do their job, you're out."
"Believe us, Doc, it won't be us getting loud, disruptive, and not letting nurses do their job, it'll be Steve when he finds out he's here for a week."
"Minimum," the doctor added almost regretfully to Danny's statement. "Just know I am not happy about this, but if the Governor of Hawaii seems to think it needs sanctioning, I'll let the relevant people know. I'll put in the orders to move him to the private wing, too. Am I guessing there will be police presence as well as Five-O?"
"That is correct," Denning confirmed. "His family will give an approved list of who can and cannot be in his room outside of medical staff, and they'll be requiring a list of who will be part of the team looking after him."
"That I can do," the doctor agreed. "A nurse will let you know when he's moved out of recovery … you're not getting back there regardless of medical records or Governor demands."
"That's fine," Danny agreed, willing to let the doctor have some control in his workplace.
"I'll be by later to check on the Commander," the doctor said before walking away, none to happy with how that played out.
"I guess this starts to make up for some of the chaos you caused," Danny muttered, albeit thankfully.
"Regardless of what you think, we are on the same side."
Danny just couldn't quite agree with him on that one.