"What's John doing up there?" Tani was perplexed.
Danny stopped mid-sentence and looked up at the monitor as well. "What?"
"Tani, that's Gabriel," Adam corrected.
"Noooo," she drew out her contention with a smile and little snicker. "That's John." She pointed at the screen emphasizing her certitude.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Danny realized this was coming from somewhere and didn't like the direction it was headed. "That's the asshole that shot Lou and Steve." Danny's voice was rising without him realizing it.
"Guys. … Come on," she pleaded, certain they were trying to get something over on her. "Guys?" The others weren't laughing. They weren't even smiling. They were looking at her with bewilderment. Her grin faded with her reluctance to accept what they were telling her.
A shiver of dread ran through Danny's spine. His confusion grew into impatience as he deliberately spoke, "I don't know how else to say it. That is Gabriel Waincroft. Have you seen him? Tani? Where did you see that man?"
"But he… I…" Tani had become flustered.
Adam stepped directly in front of Tani and put his hands on her upper arms in an attempt to calm her. He spoke to her as though they were the only two in the room. "Is that him? Is that who you met at the hospital?"
"What?!" Danny stepped closer now. "What did you say?"
Adam held up one finger to Danny without taking his eyes off Tani to beg a chance to continue his questioning. Danny must have sensed Adam's approach may have merit and yielded because Adam didn't hear a forthcoming objection. "You said his name was John."
"I… I don't understand. Yeah, that's him. He was so nice."
"Son of a bitch!" Danny spit out, unable to hold it any longer.
"Oh, God. He said he had a sister and wife that had died and that…" Tani hesitated.
"What?" Adam urged.
"… and that he had a daughter… who lives with her uncle."
Jerry and Junior were stupefied and remained speechless. Danny spun around and was combing both hands through his hair. Almost as quickly as he did his one-eighty, he turned back. "Tani, you're coming with me. We need to talk. Adam, Jerry, whoever, call the hospital, now!" He was backing towards the door as he spoke. "Call Duke, double check on Steve and Lou's security detail. I want that place locked down! Let's go," he pressed Tani to hurry.
"Oh, God," she repeated as she stood frozen. "What have I done?"
"Hey, you didn't know," Junior placated with an encouraging smile.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to no one in particular. Then she realized Adam was still standing there and she addressed him personally, "I'm sorry."
Adam could feel the subtle tremble and see the swirl of guilt in her eyes.
"Tani! Let's go!"
She jumped at Danny's harsh command.
"Now!" Danny's impatience was evident, spurred on by his worry.
"It's okay," Adam softly reassured. "Go with Danny and we'll be there shortly."
"Yeah, yeah. Okay." She finally came to herself and took after Danny.
~~~~~H50~~~~~
Renee looked up from her book and noticed a couple of uniformed police officers walking determinedly down the hallway outside the door. Then the officer stationed outside of Lou's room grabbed at the radio on his shoulder and spoke into it. He immediately turned to look into the room before speaking to an unknown person on the other end. She looked over at her sleeping husband, closed her book, and casually strolled over to the door. She opened it and asked the young man stationed outside if something was going on that she should know about.
"We've been asked to make sure you and your husband stay inside the room for the time being. They're bumping up security and another officer will be joining me."
"What's happened?"
"I'm sorry. I don't have any more information right now."
"Please, if my husband's in danger, I have the right to know."
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I can't tell you what I don't know."
Hearing the interaction at the door, Lou awoke from his light sleep. "Baby? Hey, what's going on?" he called out to Renee at the door.
The officer heard as well and stepped in after Renee to address his question. "We just got orders to lock down the hospital, Captain. That includes asking that you and your wife stay in this room for now."
"Well, my husband is obviously not going anywhere and therefore, neither am I," Renee spoke scornfully.
"Sweetie, it's okay. The nice officer, here, is just following orders. I'm sure everything is just fine. Riiiight, Officer Kunola?" Lou had pushed himself up and off of the pillows behind him. One eyebrow rose with his voice as he willfully guided the posted security officer to follow his lead.
"Uh, yes, sir. Everything's fine, sir."
"See? Everything's fine," Lou reinforced to his wife with a wink and a smile. He then asked the guard, "And when do you think you'll have more information for us?" With eyebrows raised, his smile persisted, as he awaited his answer.
"I'm told Detective Williams is on his way. I'm sure he'll be able to tell you more."
"Thank you, Officer. See, no need to worry," he tenderly pacified his wife.
Lou's smile changed to a frown as soon as the guard left and Renee was turned away to see him out. He knew this had something to do with Gabriel and was eager to hear what Danny had to say.
~~~~~H50~~~~~
The ride to the hospital had been a fast one considering Danny had used his lights and sirens. Even Steve would be impressed, and probably proud, at his uncharacteristically unrestrained driving. However, even in the short period that he was alone with Tani, he was able to get a brief account of her contact with Gabriel. What concerned him most from their conversation was Gabriel's invitation to help her gain access to Steve. He had been wearing the garb of a hospital employee and had unsuccessfully tried to entice her to break doctor's orders, thereby showing his card of his access to his partner.
A wave of anger coursed through him at the thought of Gabriel having access to Steve in his delicate, vulnerable state. If anything happened to Steve, while undergoing medical care, in what was supposed to be a safe place for healing, Danny didn't know if he would be able to forgive himself for leaving his partner there alone.
Danny felt only vaguely better at seeing the added police presence outside the hospital. Duke had definitely come through, but he needed to make sure his ohana was okay for himself. He carried his badge in his hand, ready to display it, or in his current state of mind, to prop it on the nose of anyone who dared stop him from getting access to where he wanted to go, and right now he wanted to get to Steve.
Besides the extra uniforms milling about and those stationed at entry and exit areas of main doors, the atmosphere was casual and routine.
"Go to the security office and check the cameras. Call me immediately if you see anything," he ordered Tani.
"Got it. Tell him I said hello," Tani endearingly kidded, conveying her positivity and simultaneously letting him know she knew where he would be without him having to tell her.
The lighthearted request helped to settle his nerves a bit. He appreciated it and nodded before going their separate ways.
When he entered the intensive care corridor, he didn't have to ask which room was Steve's. There were two officers, whom he knew personally, thanks to Duke he was sure, stolidly guarding a door to his left. Knowing he wouldn't need it, he clipped his badge back on his belt.
He didn't waste any time. "Has anyone been in this room since the start of your post?"
"Just medical personnel."
"Male or female?"
"One male, one female."
"Would you recognize the male?" He pulled his phone out and held up Gabriel's image for them to see. "Is this him?"
"No, no, not the one I saw. Doesn't look right." The other officer just shook his head in agreement.
With a reserved smile and nod to acknowledge his appreciation, he started to enter the room but was stopped by the guard's arm blockading his path. Maybe he was going to have a fight on his hands after all.
"I'm not sure if you can have your phone turned on in there with the equipment and all."
Relaxing a bit at the actual reason for the delay, he impatiently shoved the phone into the officer's chest. "Here, just take it. I'll get it on the way out."
Without a doctor's expressed permission, he stepped into Steve's room. His prior conversation with Steve's doctor coupled with his current concern was all the consent he needed.
As soon as he stepped in, the velocity of his day slowed like a diver hitting water. Even the stagnant time in the waiting room earlier that day had had a restless energy that didn't come close to the calm that now enveloped Danny. Even with the lulling, rhythmic sounds of the standard medical equipment, the room conveyed silence. The chaos of the day seemed to melt away when he saw Steve.
He stood where he had entered and observed his surroundings. The primary thing he noticed was Steve was breathing. He was not on a ventilator. He was wearing an oxygen mask, but the obnoxious, ridiculing sound of a ventilator was not there. Steve's chest was rising and falling on his own. Danny exhaled slowly from the revelation. He should have paid closer attention when the doctor gave details of his status. He was breathing on his own and appeared to be very peaceful and not in distress in any way.
He had been wrong. Gabriel had not tried anything.
Danny was able to experience some aberrant form of relief, albeit still mixed with a nagging trepidation of what Gabriel's little game with Tani had been about.
"Hey, Steve... how ya doing?" His mind formed the word 'fine' and one side of his mouth turned up at the thought. "Hey, Tani said 'hi' … so, yeah, hi." His voice faded as he felt foolish.
He wanted him to wake up. He wanted him to hear what he was saying. Then he had the thought that maybe he did hear him. He finally stepped nearer to the bed and put his bandaged hand on the rail, still afraid his touch may cause him harm. "You sure did a bang-up job at making us all worry. No pun…," he started to add but chose to swat the air in dismissal of the fatuous comment instead. "Hope you're happy."
He turned when he heard the sound of the door opening. It was Dr. Patterson. "I thought I saw you come in here."
"Uh, yeah, doc, we had gotten some intel that he may be in danger."
"You mean 'in danger' other than his current health condition." He didn't give Danny time to respond to his jab. "No, believe me, I noticed the increased police presence. Not too comforting to the other patients and visitors. Makes them think something's wrong."
"Look, sorry about that, but something is wrong. The maniac that put two of my team members in here has been seen here… at the hospital… since they were admitted." Danny was wondering if the doctor was getting it. His voice was rising with his frustration. He visibly turned down his anger as he glanced to Steve as though his volume were going to disturb him.
"He can't hear you. He's way too medicated."
"I don't think I believe that. I'm going to assume he can. 'kay?"
"Suit yourself. Your hand okay?"
"It's nothing. It's fine." He couldn't help but smirk at how quickly the familiar word spilled out. "We'll reevaluate the threat level and make a revision to security if it's warranted. Until then, you're going to see more of HPD and Five-0." Danny raised an eyebrow at the doctor, daring him to challenge him on that. "So, how's he doing?"
The doctor took his que and shifted gears also. "Quite well, actually. Not out of the woods by any means, but well. I'm somewhat surprised." He walked around the bed to get to the keyboard to check the stats from the last nurse's visit so he could report accurately. "That's why I called you. He's stabilized and from what I understand, he's ahead of our anticipated schedule."
"I'm not… surprised, that is. If anybody's going to beat this thing ahead of schedule, it's going to be him."
Dr. Patterson prepared to type, but paused when something caught his attention. "What's this?" He picked up a piece of paper that was partially held in place under the keyboard. "Is this a friend or relative?" He brought the paper over to Danny and held it out to him.
Danny saw that it wasn't just a piece of paper, but a photograph. He took the photo in his hand and stared at it. "No, no." He nervously laughed complete with a timid grin.
Dr. Patterson returned the smile thinking this must be a pleasant surprise of some kind.
"Eh, heh," Danny added another giggle. "You gotta be kidding me." He hardily flicked the paper with his fingers. "You gotta be f*cking kidding me."
~to be continued~
\,,,/BronsonL