Darkness surrounded Magnum's entire being. He only vaguely had a feeling of pain radiating from… well, everywhere. He thought he was managing to crawl out of the darkness, but as he did so, his pain level increased, making him question if he actually wanted to wake up.
Suddenly, a cooling and healing sensation filled his body and he allowed himself to sink back into unconsciousness. He thought he heard a voice say something soothing, but his ears couldn't catch the words before he was out.
The second time Thomas started waking up, the pain still encompassed him, but he was able to handle it. As he battled his way to consciousness, light started finding its way through his eyelids. He slowly opened his eyes, and after some time adjusting to the new sights, sounds, and smells, he was able to determine he was in a hospital room.
Without moving a muscle, he scanned the room with his eyes. It was an average-sized room, but it was crowded with machines and pieces of furniture. The window to his left had a couple recliners, and with his detective skills, Thomas noticed that the wrinkled cushions meant they were well-used recently. Glancing to his right, he found another chair next to his hospital bed, but this one was not empty. Higgins was sitting in the recliner, but her outstretched legs and closed eyes indicated she was sleeping. Debating whether or not to wake her up, Magnum decided to let her get some rest while he became accustomed to his situation.
The throbbing in his head and sensitivity to the hospital lights told Magnum that he likely had a concussion. He looked down at his legs and he noticed that his left leg was propped up with some pillows and there was a thick bandage wrapped around his thigh. It took several seconds too long for Thomas to remember what had happened to require the bandage, but when he remembered, all the memories started coming back to him, ending with passing out on the deck of a boat.
Magnum remained laying in his bed quietly for a few minutes before the light was really starting to bother him. Seeing no other option, as he didn't want to call a nurse into the room, he decided to wake Higgins. He reached to touch her arm with his right hand, ignoring the pulse oximeter on his index finger and the numerous injuries up his arm.
"Higgy," he said quietly, trying not to shock her awake. Thomas knew better than to startle a sleeping former spy. "Higgins, can you wake up please?"
The light touch on her arm and the quiet voice woke Higgins up from a restless attempt of sleep. After blinking a couple times, she realized what she saw wasn't her imagination; Thomas was looking at her.
"Magnum," she breathed out in a gasp. "You're awake."
"Yeah," he replied indifferently. "Sorry to wake up, but could you dim the lights or something? Please?"
His typical nonchalant attitude was present, and this dumfounded Higgins. Remembering what he had politely requested, she shook her head to focus. "Of course." She quickly got up and turned half of the lights off in the room, seeing the immediate relief of Magnum's face. She reoccupied her seat and looked at him. "How are you feeling?"
Magnum took a minute to determine how he actually felt. "Fine. A little sore and tired, but I'm fine." He saw Higgins press her lips in a thin line as she broke eye contact with him, and this puzzled him.
"What's wrong?" With Higgins still not answering, he tried to sound more confident while trying to remain calm. "Higgins, are you okay? What about Rick and T.C.?"
That got Higgins to look at him again. "Everyone else is okay." She took a breath in hopes to gain the strength to say what was on her mind. "Thomas, I am so sorry. It is completely my fault that you're here."
Magnum looked at her quizzically, but after recalling his memories, he sighed in reply. "Higgins, it's fine. It's not your fault, and what you said was true-"
"No, it wasn't," Higgins cut him off sharply. "I have a lot going on, but that is no excuse to say what I said. Truthfully, I do enjoy helping out with your cases."
It was then that Rick and T.C. returned to the room, coffee in hand. When they entered, they glanced at Thomas's bed, and the shock on their faces was almost laughable.
"Thomas!" Rick exclaimed. He quickly set his coffee down on the window ledge and moved one of the empty chairs closer to the bed before taking a seat. T.C. followed suit. "How you feeling buddy?"
Magnum looked at his friends and the first thing he noticed was how exhausted they looked. The second thing was Rick was wearing a scrub top instead of a normal shirt.
"I'm fine," Magnum said, ignoring the scoff coming from Higgins. "You guys have seen better days though. Rick, where's your shirt?"
"Well, when your brother is missing and you find him bleeding out on a boat in the ocean, it tends to take a toll on you. As for my shirt, I'm going for a new look these days," Rick said sarcastically. He shook his head. "Sorry, that was a bit harsh. We've just been worried about you TM."
Magnum shook his head, regretting the movement once his vision swirled a bit. He knew how Rick processed emotion, so the sarcasm was pretty much expected, and Thomas had no reason to hold it against him.
"It's okay Rick, I get it," Thomas replied. "What did I miss?"
The other three shared a look before T.C. summarized the chain of events.
"Higgy called us after you were missing for a couple hours. She asked if we had talked to you earlier, but when we said no, we all knew something was up," T.C. started. "We showed up at the marina, but the police were there with yellow tape. They found a body and your weapon there."
Thomas knew it must have been his mind working against him, but the mention of the marina sent a shot of pain from his thigh all the way up to his head. "I didn't want to shoot him, but he got me first and I didn't have a choice." Magnum's voice sounded distant, like he didn't realize he was saying this out loud.
"When we figured you were out on the water, HPD searched by boat and we searched by helo," Rick continued. "It took a while, but we found you. And Tommy, you didn't look too good."
Magnum closed his eyes briefly and pushed his head back into the pillow. "I can only imagine what that looked like."
"You were in a pool of blood," Rick said, and this was enough to get Thomas to look at him again. "And in case you're still wondering, that's when I got your blood all over my shirt. You owe me a new one."
This made Thomas laugh for the first time in… what, hours? Days?
"How long have I been here?" Thomas asked.
It was T.C. that replied. "Two days. They got the bullet out of your leg and they stitched up the knife wounds. You're going to end up with more scars than any other creature on this planet."
Magnum prodded his abdomen where he could feel the familiar tug of sutures. He sighed. "Could've been worse, I guess."
"It could've been worse?" Rick asked with a hint of anger in his voice. "Do you realize how close you were to dying? We almost lost you man, and you say you're fine and it 'could've been worse?'"
T.C. put his hand on Rick's shoulder and Rick immediately calmed down. "I think what Rick means to say is that we're glad you're feeling okay."
Rick nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that and if you ever pull that shit again, I might just have to shoot you in the leg too."
"Yeah TM, what were you thinking? Why did you think doing this alone was the right thing to do?" T.C. questioned. It was his turn to show a little anger.
Magnum sat there, trying to think of something to say that would answer the question without mentioning Higgins, but his brain wasn't functioning well enough. Much to his surprise, Higgins, who had been quiet since Rick and T.C. entered the room, spoke up.
"It's entirely my fault," Higgins said. She took a deep breath before explaining what had transpired a couple days prior. "Magnum knew that it would be beneficial to have some help, so he had asked me to go with him to the warehouse, but I declined. Then he mentioned that he may contact you two, but I told him he should leave you two out of his cases since he is the private investigator." She sighed again, preparing to admit the most awful part of the story. "I told him that when he asks you gents for favors, he puts your lives in danger. Then I said the most regretful thing I have ever said in my entire life; I suggested that his friends only do favors for him because they feel like they owe him something."
Juliet couldn't recall the last time she had tears in her eyes, and while she wished they would disappear, she appreciated they at least showed she was genuinely upset about what she had said. She couldn't look at any of the men in the room for fear of the looks on their faces, so she looked down at her hands. She sat there in silence, waiting for the tongue-lashing that was coming.
But it never came.
"We understand, Higgy," T.C. said after a dreadfully long time. He waited to continue until Higgins looked up at him, a confused look on her face. "We get it."
Higgins waited for more, but he didn't continue. "You get what? That I'm a blunt, British nowt?"
"Well for one thing, we don't even know what that word means," Rick said coolly. "And second, we understand where you're coming from. You meant well; you meant to keep us safe while trying to make Tommy have more responsibility when it comes to his private investigation business."
Juliet was perplexed. These guys were supposed to be furious with her, but instead they're making her feel better and like she was understood?
"But the one thing you're forgetting is that we're Ohana," T.C. added. After a pause for this statement to sink in, T.C. continued. "Yes, TM sometimes drags us into situations that potentially puts us in danger, but we know and accept this. Honestly, we're used to it by now. We do it because we're family and no matter what trouble our boy gets into, if he needs us, we're there."
"That's right, and Thomas should know that," Rick said pointedly to the injured man in the hospital bed. "So instead of thinking he can take on the world by himself, he should let his friends help him."
"Plus, if we actually kept track of who owed who what, we would go insane," T.C. said. "Not that I've completely ignored the amount of fuel I've burned helping out with TM's cases," the large man added with a grin.
Finally catching up to all of the words that were spoken, Magnum jumped into the conversation. "Whoa, I don't get into that much trouble." Thomas ignored the eye rolls and he continued. "And Higgins is right; I shouldn't keep dragging you guys into dangerous situations. We all know I did enough of that in the Sandbox. That's why what she said made sense, and I figured the least I could do was protect you guys-"
"You did enough of that in the Korengal," T.C. interrupted. "We're Ohana, brother. Let us help you. And you could have at least informed Katsumoto what you were up to."
"You see Higgins," Rick started. "We know when Thomas asks for a favor, sometimes things can get rough, but we do it anyway. We're brothers. We're Ohana. If he needs help, we'll be there."
"That goes for you two, Higgy Baby. You're part of this Ohana too," T.C. added.
Higgins couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face. She thought she had completely ruined the friendships she had established with the three men in the room with her. Instead, they made her feel like she had a family on the island with her.