Tani had endured enough waiting. She slapped her thighs in determination and lighted her hands on the armrests to allow one more moment of self-cajoling before hoisting herself to standing once again. She had just sent Junior to try to catch up with Danny, knowing he shouldn't be alone right now but was rethinking her decision. She didn't want to be alone either. Maybe that's why she didn't snub the handsome hospital employee when he approached her with concern.

"Hey, you okay? You know, somebody will swipe this in an instant if you're not careful." He handed her phone to her. "You left it on the chair."

You spying on me? Her daring disposition wanted to ask, but instead, gratefully accepted the device. "Thank you," she said while tilting the phone in his direction and then put it in her back pocket. She turned and walked toward the window.

"I… I guess you're waiting to hear about someone? How stupid of me, of course you're… You know what, I'm just going to leave you alone. It looks like you want to be by yourself."

He turned to leave and smiled when he heard, "Wait!" He turned to see the pretty brunette following after him.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to bother you," Gabriel Waincroft lied.

"No. Really. I'm the one who should be apologizing. You're right. I'm waiting to hear about my boss, I mean a friend, and I guess I'm a little on edge."

"Oh, I see. Is he going to be okay?"

"I didn't say my friend is a 'he'."

"Or she," he quickly backpedaled. "Is she going to be okay? Sorry. I guess I just assumed…"

Tani smiled to put the stranger at ease after his gaffe. "It's okay. I'm sure he will be fine. He's got to be," she said more to herself than her company. "So, hey, I'm about to drive myself mad. Are you a doctor?" She didn't see any identification or credentials displayed.

"Oh, no. RN. I'm a nurse."

"Oh, sure. Of course. I just thought you could… well, maybe you'd be able to…"

"I may be able to help. Is your friend in surgery?"

"No. ICU, but they're not allowing any visitors. Not yet at least."

"ICU, huh?" He pondered the new information a moment. "Would you like me to see if I can get you in? What's his room number?"

"As tempting as that is, the doctor said it's best for him to not have visitors right now, so I think I'll decline the offer. Why would you risk getting in trouble? I don't even know you."

"How 'bout I remedy that. Would you like to go to the cafeteria to get a bite to eat? I just started my break."

Tani hesitated.

"Or maybe just some coffee? Come on. Don't you need to take a break, too?"

Tani wasn't too naïve to know this handsome gentleman was turning on the smooth talk, but she was intrigued nonetheless. Pointing at the two empty cups on the end table, she said, "I'm just about coffee'd out. I could probably use a bite to eat though. Sure."

Gabriel smiled. "You'll be glad you did. Gotta keep up your energy."

"I'm Tani, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Tani. I'm… John."

He let Tani lead the way to the elevator as he looked back through the window of the doors that led to the intensive care unit.

~~~~~H50~~~~~

Danny slide-jogged in his loafers through the corridor of Five-0 headquarters and slammed the door open to the main bullpen area. He was relieved to see Jerry was busy at work at the main computer.

"Jerry, please tell me you've got something."

"Oh, hey. How's McGarrett?"

"Still in ICU, still hit or miss," he spit out impatiently. "So... anything? Come on, Jer. Tell me what you got."

"What happened to your hand?" Jerry expressed concern as he just noticed the dark fabric wrapped around Danny's knuckles.

"Jerry! Please!"

Jerry switched to full-on professional mode. "We got the car on video, black 2018 Audi Q7."

"Nice car. Figures. Let me guess, stolen, or no plates maybe?"

"Actually, it's not been reported stolen and there were plates clearly visible."

Danny's forehead wrinkled as he raised his eyebrows in exasperation. "And? Who's it registered to?"

"We've got a name and address. John Smith at 110 Austin Lane. Right there." He pointed at a location on the map of Honolulu that was displayed on the computer. "Not exactly an address where you'd expect to find a car like that. And I'm a little skeptical about the name."

"Really, Jer?"

"So, you think so, too?" Jerry was pleased with his shared deduction.

"Little bit. Regular Columbo."

"Columbo, huh? I always thought Mannix was…"

Danny cut him off before he went down the rabbit hole. "What about Waincroft? Anything on him, yet?"

"Nothing yet. Everything I find shows he died in 2016. Are you sure?"

"Lou saw him with his own two eyes. I'm sure. What about his doctors? I know he was in bad shape when I last saw him, but somebody's covering up for him. I need the names of any medical personnel assigned to him after we took him in that day. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it. I'll pull their financials, too. It'll take some time, but I should be able to get something. So, uh, do you think we need to call Chin… or Kono even?"

"No. I don't think there's any need to worry them or disrupt their lives yet."

"What about McGarrett? Shouldn't they know?"

"Let's hold off. Til we know more, 'kay?" Danny looked down at his wrapped hand and went straight to Steve's office and opened a desk drawer. He laid some extraneous items on top of the desk to get them out of his way until he found what he was looking for.

"Really, Steve?" He set a flashbang on the desk and continued to rifle through the remaining contents. He finally found the roll of gauze. He removed the tee from his hand and sloppily wrapped the wound and secured it with some medical tape. He knew Steve had kept a stash of first aid items in his desk, thinking they would most likely be for his own use before it would ever be needed for another team member. Danny had made fun of him for it at one time and wished Steve was here now so he could again. And then, he'd reprimand him for having a stun grenade where a curious child, like Charlie, could find it.

Danny began talking again as soon as he came out of the office, wanting to follow up on his last request. "I asked Adam to hold off on contacting Kono. She'd just ask a lot of questions and Waincroft would come up. Then, she'd call Chin. I just think it's best if we wait."

"Whatever you think. Where is Adam anyway?"

"He's on his way to the hospital to check in with Tani and Junior."

"Hey! Where're you going? You're not going there alone are you?"

Danny was half way to the door when Junior entered and blocked his exit. "No, Jerry, wherever he's going, he's not going alone."

"What? Did Tani send you to be my babysitter?"

"No, sir. I want to find this guy as much as you."

"Doubt it, but come on. And don't slow me down."

"Copy that, sir. Wouldn't think of it."

Danny stopped at the door and hesitated just an instant. He then ran back into Steve's office and grabbed the flashbang and stuck it in his pocket.

"Should I send the address to Tani and Adam?!" Jerry yelled out after them.

"No!" Danny yelled without looking back.

Holding the door open, Junior took a moment before following Danny down the hall to nod to Jerry.

Jerry gave Junior a thumbs up but felt a little pang of uneasiness in disobeying the second in command, but something in his gut made him agree with Junior that some additional support may be needed.

~to be continued~

\,,,/BronsonL