Reaching up, Steve grabbed the overhanging triangle self-help bar and pulled himself a little higher in the bed, clenching his teeth as his broken ribs and aching head protested at the movement. Closing his eyes, he swallowed the hot bile that rose in the back of his throat as he waited for the room to stop spinning and the stabbing pain in his chest to subside enough for him to take another breath before he opened them again. Lifting the thin sheet that covered his legs, he threw it back before he slipped his legs off the side of the bed and slowly stood up, holding onto the bed rail until he gained some of his balance. Holding his head as still as he could so not to aggravate his pounding headache or the dizziness that threatened to topple him, he took a couple of slow and cautious steps across to the closet door and opened it.
"If you're thinking of trying to make one of your famous McGarrett escapes, Steve, then you're going to have to make it in your hospital gown." Doc's voice growled from the doorway. Quickly crossing the room and grabbing the lead detective's arm to stop him from falling over as Steve turned his head to look at him a little too fast, he grinned triumphantly,
"I suspected that you would try an escape, so I got the nurse to give your clothes to me and you're not getting them back until I decide you are well enough to discharge and not before!"
"Look Doc, I'm-"
"Going back to bed and staying there!" Bergman ordered as he firmly guided Steve back to the bed and helped him to get back in before covering his legs with the sheet again and putting up the bed rails to try and slow down McGarrett's next escape attempt. Removing his small torch from his pocket, Doc quickly checked Steve's pupils, frowning when the pupils were slower to react than he liked as Steve flinched and pulled away. "Hurts?" He asked, placing the torch back in his pocket before he walked around to the end of the bed and picked up the clipboard hanging there, jotting down the results of his examination.
McGarrett nodded as he settled his head back against the pillows, "A little."
"I'm ordering another x-ray done, Steve, and until I make sure that I didn't miss anything with the x-rays that we took down in Emergency," Bergman announced looking over the top of the clipboard as he ordered sternly. "And I am placing you on complete bed rest and I mean complete bed rest, even if I have to get Chin and Ben to handcuff you to the bed to make sure that you stay there."
Ignoring Doc's stern warning, Steve asked, "How's Danno?"
"Resting, just like you should be!" Doc growled as he hooked the clipboard back onto the rail at the end of the bed. Softening his tone, he continued, "I was hoping that his condition would improve enough to downgrade his condition to serious and transfer him to a step-down room later this afternoon but-"
"But?" Steve asked anxiously, ignoring the dizziness and the pain that flared through his chest as he sat up higher in the bed, his heart beating wildly in his chest.
"He has started running a fever, Steve, and his blood count is still far too low for my liking." Bergman answered, "I've increased his antibiotics and we're giving him some more blood. I'm going to keep him in the ICU for a few more days to keep a close eye on him."
"But Danno's going to be okay…isn't he, Doc?" Steve pushed.
Bergman sighed, aware that Steve wanted the whole unvarnished truth, no matter how hard it was to hear, "I don't know, Steve, the last thing in this world that boy needs is an infection."
Steve swallowed hard and looked down at the white sheet that covered his legs as the guilt for Danno's shooting washed over him as he remembered the warning Doc had said about Danny needing to be extra vigilant against colds and infections after the loss of his spleen.
Looking back up at Doc, he whispered through his tightening throat, "Especially now that he has lost his spleen."
Bergman sighed again and nodded in agreement. "Especially now that he has lost his spleen." He murmured as Steve's hospital room door opened and Ben and Chin hurried into the room.
Sensing they had interrupted something, Ben paused as he entered the room, looking first at the anxious, worried look on his boss's face before he looked at Bergman. He felt his chest tighten with dread as he asked cautiously, "Has something happened to Danny?"
"Danny's condition has taken a small turn for the worse, I'm afraid, " Doc told him softly,
"He's beginning to run a fever and we've had to give him some more blood."
"But he's going to be alright, isn't he?" Chin asked, echoing the same question that Steve had asked just minutes before.
"We've started him on stronger antibiotics and are giving him more blood," Doc sighed and shook his head as he looked at Ben and then back at Chin as he added softly, "but I'm sorry, Guys, I'm afraid, we just don't know yet."
"Can - can we see him?" Ben asked quietly.
"He's sleeping at the moment, but I will let the nurses know that you have my permission to sit with him." Doc answered quietly before he glanced down at his watch and added, "I better get back to my other patients, I have two autopsies waiting for me." Looking back up at Steve, he added, "I'll arrange with the nurses to get those x-rays done and remember Steve until I see the results of the new x-rays, you are on complete bed rest. So, I don't want any phone calls from the nurses telling me that you have made one of your famous McGarrett escapes. Not even an escape to Danny's room! He needs to rest, and we both know that won't happen if he sees you in your condition!"
Steve nodded carefully as he promised, "Complete bed rest, I promise."
"Hmm, we'll see," Doc muttered, not quite believing that McGarrett would be able to keep his promise as he turned to the other two Five-O detectives and promised, "I will let the nurses know that you both can stay with Danny for as long as you want but remember," Glancing accusingly back at Steve before he returned his attention to Ben and Chin, he added, "He needs to rest so no questioning him about what happened last night. I will be back to check on Danny and Steve after I have finished the autopsies."
"Thanks, Doc," Ben murmured, stepping out of Bergman's way as Bergman headed towards the door.
Closing the door after Doc left, he turned back towards Steve but stayed next to the door as Chin moved to the side of the bed and asked, "How are you feeling, Boss?"
Steve shrugged, instantly regretting the small movement as he swallowed hard, praying that he could ignore the nausea and pain as he answered, "I'm fine, and ready to get out of here Bergman's just being over cautious." He heard Ben's disbelieving snort from near the door but choose to ignore it as he asked, "So what have we got, Gentlemen?"
"We've checked and double-checked all the alibies of everyone on the board that you ticked as potential suspects in Danno's shooting and your accident but so far all the alibies are airtight." Chin began, "And HPD are searching for witnesses to your accident but so far no luck, Boss, no one saw the actual accident or anyone else in the car except you."
"Not even Duke, who I had tailing you," Ben added a little challengingly, not regretting disobeying Steve's orders, knowing that he would do it again if needed despite McGarrett's objections and orders not to, but deciding to get the eruption over and done. When Steve stayed quiet, he relaxed a little as he took a small step towards the bed and asked, "Can you remember what caused the crash, Steve? Che said that your car was traveling at about thirty miles an hour when you hit the tree, but the road was dry, there's nothing to suggest that there were any other cars involved and there's no indication that you even tried to break. Duke said that when he arrived at the scene less than a minute after you hit the tree, there was no one in the car with you."
"Danno's shooter was in the car with me!" Steve growled emphatically, wincing as he sat up a little higher in the bed, "He was in the back seat of the car, waiting for me! I didn't even know he was there until he sat up after I got into the car at the palace. He pressed the gun to the back of my head and told me not to turn around before he told me to start driving."
Chin nodded, trying to soothe Steve's growing temper, "We know, Boss, he must have been hurt in the crash. Che found AB negative blood smudged on the back of your seat-"
Steve nodded and swallowed hard, relieved that Che had found some evidence to prove Danno's shooter was in the car with him and not some figment of his imagination caused by his concussion as he closed his eyes for a moment, willing the world would stop spinning for a minute.
"He also found the Uzi used to shoot Danny under the driver's seat." Ben cut in.
Snapping his eyes open, McGarrett looked at Ben in surprise. "He dropped the gun?"
"Probably when he was thrown forward and hit your seat in the crash," Chin told him.
"What about prints?" Steve asked, hoping that they had finally got a lead.
"He must have worn gloves, Steve," Chin answered softly, "There were no prints of the gun and the serial numbers have been filed off. Che is trying to make the numbers eligible again."
"An Uzi is an unusual weapon to be out on the streets, Steve. It's more a military weapon than a Saturday night special. " Ben said softly, glancing across at chin before he returned his attention to the injured Five-O lead detective and suggested, "Maybe the motive has nothing to do with Danny or Five-O at all, maybe this has something to do with your time in Navy Intelligence."
"We've put a call through to Washington, Steve, to find out if anyone who has threatened you during your time as an investigator in Navy Intelligence has been released or who still may be holding a grudge against you," Chin added as Steve slowly shook his head, disagreeing with their theory.
"I don't think so," Steve frowned as he laid back against the pillows, giving up his fight to sit up straight as the sensation of the world spinning wildly around him, threatened to make him sick. "The suspect who was waiting for me in the car was too young…"
"You saw him?" Ben asked, glancing again at Chin at Steve's revelation.
"Only his eyes in the rear vision mirror."
Chin nodded as he pulled out his notebook, ready to jot down any little detail that Steve could provide as he pushed the boss to remember gently, "You said he was young? Why did you think that Boss?"
"His voice," Steve frowned, "And from the little that I saw of his face in the rear vision mirror."
"Can you remember what color his eyes were, Steve?" Ben asked quietly.
McGarrett's frown deepened, and he closed his eyes tried to draw up the memory from the several, small snatches of memory that he still retained about the minutes leading up to the accident. "Blue," he answered hesitatingly, "I'm sure they were blue but…"
"But?" Ben pushed watching his boss's face carefully.
Steve opened his eyes and sighed, rubbing his temples with his hand as he allowed his head to drop back against the pillows as he found himself starting to struggle to keep his eyes open.
"But?" He heard Ben ask gently again.
"I don't know. There was something familiar about his eyes. I think that I've seen them somewhere before." Steve mumbled softly as his eyes closed and his last word ended in a gentle snore.
Chin turned and looked across at Ben.
"Young and blue eyes isn't much to go on, Bruddah!" Ben sighed in frustration as he turned towards the door.
Chin nodded, "But it doesn't completely rule out that the two attempts against Steve's life aren't connected with his time in Navy Intelligence."
Ben paused in mid-stride and turned around to look at Chin. "What do you mean?"
"We were assuming that our suspect was older if this is connected to Steve's time in Navy Intelligence but what if the suspect is not the one who Steve investigated." Chin answered slowly, "What if the suspect is…"
"Their son?" Ben's frown deepened before he nodded, liking Chin's theory.
"Son, or a grandson, or maybe even a younger brother," Chin answered as he headed towards the door with Ben trailing after him.