As always, I'd like to thank you all for your support! You have no idea how glad I am you enjoy this fic so far. It means a lot to me.

Danny blinked back tears that threatened to wet his cheeks. The world around closed in on him and his knees wobbled, throwing him off balance. Just when he felt a gentle touch on his arm, providing comfort, he realized Kono stood right next to him. Chin, too. Both stared at their boss without a word, yet their faces spoke out loud. There was no denying they were both ridden with fear just like him.

'We're losing him.'

A quiet whisper that deepened the dull ache in his chest. The words that Danny refused to believe, because they didn't make any sense.

"W-what do you mean?" he stuttered.

His question came unanswered. The paramedics' focus was solely on keeping Steve alive, and Danny assumed that at this point they didn't even care he was standing there, demanding answers. But he was able to catch parts of the conversation as they talked to each other.

And he liked none of it.

One of the paramedics shook her head, then turned to the fire chief. "If we don't get him out now he's not gonna make it," she said with urgency in her tone.

"My team is doing what they can." The fire chief threw her a stern look. "We cannot rush this. One wrong move and..." He cocked his head to the side, leaving the sentence unfinished as his eyes strayed to Danny.

But he knew. He knew and hated his best friend's predicament. Slowly inhaling a shaky breath, he squeezed his eyes shut.

"He's stabilized!" someone shouted a short moment later. "Let's cut him out."

Danny opened his eyes and watched the scene as if in slow motion, feeling helpless as ever. He forced himself to take another deep breath, counting. One, two, three, four. And out. Combat breathing Steve had taught him to regain his composure in a difficult situation. Like this one. He did it again, and again. In for four, out for four. In. Out.

It helped somewhat, allowing him to finally unfreeze and inch a little closer when one of the men began sawing off the branch while others held it in place carefully. He stayed far enough to give space to the rescue team, yet close enough for Steve to hear him, just in case he could.

"It's gonna be alright, buddy," he croaked, still half-focusing on his breath. "I know you can do this."

Too far gone to cling to consciousness, Steve remained stubbornly still and quiet. But Danny knew that somewhere deep inside, his voice would reach his partner. It had to. He just hoped it would be enough to make Steve fight.

Danny's eyes landed on a pool of blood underneath his best friend and his stomach knotted. There was too much of it. How much blood could a person lose and live? "Come on, Steven. You're not dying today," he said, barely recognizing his own, strangled voice. "You hear me? Do not dare to die."

'They're coming, Danny.'

Steve's words came to his mind, somehow resurfacing despite his effort to be a friend, not a detective right now. Maybe it was so ingrained in his brain it was impossible to shake off, and maybe it was the desire to punish whoever had caused his best friend to fight for his life - purposely or not.

Who the hell were they?

Why didn't they finish Steve off, if they wanted him dead?

Did they even want him dead?

Or was he missing something?

Maybe it was an accident, after all. But why disappear without calling for help if that was the case? Danny quickly expelled the thought. No one in their right mind would leave a man to die and flee, would they?

And then there was that heart-wrenching sound of a gunshot - that usually didn't go with an accident.

For a second, he lowered his eyes and, when something metallic right next to his knee caught his eyes, he had no more doubts about the crash being intentional. Frowning, he picked it up and turned it in his fingers. As he stared at the bullet, he could clearly hear the deafening noise again and at that moment, he had no doubt this was the same bullet he'd heard over the phone. And his guess was that it was meant for Steve. He didn't know how or why it ended up in the ground instead, but it didn't matter. Not now. His priority was to keep his partner alive.

He slipped it into a pocket for later and kept talking to the unconscious man. Kept repeating the reassuring phrases with a pleading voice until Steve was finally freed from that damn wreckage.

His partner was still breathing when pulled outside, surrounded by a bunch of paramedics, and strapped onto a spinal board to prevent more damage. Not for a second did Danny's eyes leave his partner as they hooked him up to IV and stabilized the branch–still awkwardly sticking out of Steve–and wrapped an occlusive dressing around the wound to prevent air leak. Afraid it might get even worse any second, Danny stayed close, watching for the slightest change in Steve's condition.

"Okay, let's go!" came the order soon, and finally, after what had felt like an eternity, they were ready to move.

The sight of Steve, bloodied and pale, covered in cuts and bruises was almost too much to take. It cost Danny all the strength to keep it together as he followed behind the paramedics rushing Steve into the ambulance. This wasn't the time to lose it. Steve needed him.

No one questioned him when he jumped in the back of the vehicle with Steve, which he was thankful for.

"We'll meet you in a hospital," Chin's voice penetrated his skull and he managed a small, almost invisible nod at his colleague before the door shut.

It wasn't a long ride, yet it was a never-ending one at the same time. His mind was in turmoil the whole time, and it only got worse when the nurse crossed his way in the hospital, telling him he couldn't follow anymore.

He stood there watching helplessly as Steve disappeared behind the all-too-familiar double door.

Steve was going to be fine, he tried to persuade himself, staring at the closed door, his feet glued to the spot. He had to be.

"Sir, are you alright?"

Danny turned toward the voice. A woman in her mid-thirties stared at him, her brows scrunched in concern. She was wearing light blue scrubs with a name tag on it. It said Patricia.

"Sir?" she repeated.

"Yeah," he managed. "I… I just…"

The nurse scanned his trembling body. "Okay, let's get you checked out, shall we?"

Danny shook his head. "No, I'm not hurt. It's my friend. He… uh, he was in an acc–" he stopped himself mid-word. "A car crash."

"I see. I'm sorry about your friend," she said, her voice softer. "But you can't stand here. Why don't you take a seat over there?" She pointed at the waiting room to her left, where a bunch of people waited for the news about their loved ones. "I'll bring you some water."

He didn't move an inch.

An older woman looked up at him from the waiting room, curious what was going on. The dark circles rimmed her eyes. She lowered her eyes and returned to bouncing her feet on the floor.

Danny couldn't do it. He couldn't sit and wait around, hoping for the best.

"I need some air."

He turned and walked away without any idea where he was going. Letting his feet decide, he roamed the corridors of the hospital for a few minutes, still not fully understanding how this day had changed its course so fast. One moment Steve stood right next to him with a goofy grin on his face, talking about time spent with his sister and niece and–

Mary.

He froze in his tracks. Should he call her? What was he supposed to say, anyway? That Steve was fighting for his life a mere hour after she'd seen him the last time? He shuddered at the thought.

When he made his way back, Chin and Kono were both waiting for him.

"Here you are," Kono said. "I was starting to be worried. The nurse said you've stormed off."

Danny heard the words, but his brain refused to process them at the usual speed. He slid on the empty chair next to his friends.

For a second, Danny thought his friends would try to assure him about Steve's superhero skills. And in a way, the super SEAL really was capable of more than most of the human race, but he was as mortal as anyone else. He couldn't heal miraculously, even though that would be a useful superpower in his case, considering he was a regular at this place. But they didn't say anything.

An hour passed in tense silence, then a second one, and there was still no news about Steve. Could that mean…?

No. Danny refused to go there. No news was good news, right? It meant Steve was still fighting.

More time passed, dragging more than ever, and he had to dig deep to keep himself together. Why was his partner always having to be the one to end up hurt? Why it was always him waiting in the hospital corridor, fearing this time Steve might not get lucky?

He hated hospitals. The hospital smell always made his stomach churn. The harsh mingling of disinfectant and illness triggered memories of sitting and waiting, hoping for the best. The detested scent wrapped around him again, and the same fear as always stuck in his chest while he stared at the doors of the emergency unit.

Somewhere, Steve lay on the other side of those doors marked No admittance – with a damn tree branch sticking out of his impaled chest, all bloody and bruised, or… worse. He pressed icy, trembling fingers to his lips in a futile attempt to suppress a horrified moan.

No one spoke a single word as time ticked by, yet Danny could say his friends shared his fears and impatience. How long was this going to take? Another ten minutes without news stretched, making him want to scream.

Please, please, someone come through those doors and say Steve's going to be all right.

Tension keeping his nerves taut, he pushed to his feet and paced to the window. Arms hugged around his stomach, he rested his forehead against the cool glass. Who wanted Steve to die this time and why? The list of people wanting his friend's head was longer than he'd like. But from what he could see, this didn't seem planned. No, pros wouldn't go after him in such a stupid manner, nor they'd flee without finishing the job. This was odd, to put it mildly. And Danny couldn't wrap his head around it.

"He'll be fine." Beside him, Kono appeared. "Boss is tough."

"I know." He closed his eyes against a burning wave of tears. The images of Steve blazed on his closed lids–Steve's face bruised and swollen, a cut still bleeding at his hairline, his blue eyes closed, dark lashes fanning across the unnatural pallor of his skin. A shudder traveled across him.

Please don't let him die.

The door whooshed open. "Family of Commander McGarrett?"

Hope fluttering in his chest, Danny spun to face the pretty brunette in a doctor's coat. "Is Steve okay?"

She tucked a dark curl behind her ear. "Far from that. But he's pulled through for now."

Danny's heart fluttered with relief. He sagged against the wall, aware of Kono's supportive hand at his shoulder.

"As you probably know, the branch impaled his upper chest, which caused damage to the lung tissue itself, causing a pneumothorax and blood vessel damage," the doctor began explaining.

Well aware of how serious such injuries were, he held his breath, carefully listening to each word.

"We were able to remove the branch without further damage, repair the blood vessel that was bleeding, and repair the damage to the lung tissue. We had to make a fairly large incision in his upper chest to evacuate the branch and be able to assure that we cleaned and got all the remnants of the branch. He has a chest tube in place that he will need for at least 24 - 48 hours, depending on how he is recovering, so we'll watch for stability of oxygen levels and vital signs, but also how he is doing with pain and his ability to wake up. We want to closely monitor for signs of infection and signs of any continued bleeding. Obviously, the infection at this case is a concern, and he'll be on strong antibiotics to prevent it." Just when it seemed she was done talking, she continued. "Given the circumstances, he was lucky - the impact of the crash didn't cause any spinal cord injuries. But both, radius and ulna in his left arm are fractured, as well as two of his ribs. And it's not a surprise he suffered a concussion on top of that."

"But…" Danny stuttered, feeling sick as he tried to process what the doctor was saying. "He'll be okay, right?"

The doctor shook her head and a sympathetic smile curved her lips. "I can't promise anything yet. He is definitely not out of the woods by no means. I'd say the next twelve hours will be the most critical. We hope he can get extubated within the next six hours or so if he wakes up well, not in severe pain and oxygenating well with all labs stabilizing."

Danny's stomach knotted with worry. But at the very least Steve was alive and had a fair chance at recovery. That was as much as he could hope for.

"Can we see him?" he asked.

"Sure, but one at a time, please."

It was no question he was the one to be the first one by Steve's side. He glanced at his friends, who threw him a reassuring smile.

"Go," Kono said. "Tell him to hurry back to us. We'll see if we can find out what happened meanwhile."

Danny nodded. "Here." He took the bullet out of his pocket and passed it to Chin. "I found this at the crash site."

"We'll take care of it. Maybe Fong will be able to find a match," Chin said.

"We've got this, Danny," "Kono assured him. "You focus on Steve."

"Someone should call Mary," Danny said. "Tell her what happened."

"I've got this, too." Kono smiled at him, but her eyes didn't reflect it. "Go."

He complied, anxious to finally be by Steve's side. He followed the doctor down the hall to the ICU department, readying himself for a sight that he would never get used to.

*to be continued*

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