Danny didn't feel connected with his body, everything just seemed so distant and the minutes passed in a blur. He barely breathed as he watched the doctor resuscitating his best friend and felt great relief when he saw Steve's chest move slightly. The EMTs rushing by and a ride to the hospital felt like in slow motion.

Now standing in the hospital bathroom and gripping the sink Danny tried his best not to break apart, to hold the tears that threatened to fall. With the adrenaline long gone, the pain in his chest tortured him, but he didn't want to focus on that. His best friend was a priority.

He didn't know for sure if Steve was still alive. When he had been rushed into the hospital his heartbeat had been so faint it was almost not there. His skin pale and cold, he looked so lifeless. Danny remembered the words of EMTs working on his friend only in a blur. Significant blood loss, low blood pressure, and hypovolemic shock were the ones that stuck at his mind. The one didn't have to be an expert to know well enough it'd been considered a life-threatening emergency.

And like it was not enough, Steve's heart stopped beating again, leaving Danny feeling desperate and helpless as he watched the paramedics resuscitate him for the second time in a matter of minutes. Those seconds felt like minutes to Danny, but Steve came back eventually. Again. And Danny was extremely grateful for that. He couldn't lose his partner. He couldn't even be sure he would ever be able to move on without him.

Thumping the bathroom sink in frustration he let the red marks from his bloodstained fingers on the white porcelain. "Please be okay," he whispered, unsure who he was even talking to. A higher power, the universe, he didn't really care. He just hoped Steve would be all right, just like many times before.

It's all your fault, Williams. He heard his own voice in his head as he lifted his sight and looked into the mirror. The dark-rimmed eyes of his reflection, full of hurt and blame, stared at him. He shouldn't have left Steve. He should have known better. Damn, he shouldn't have allowed Steve to let himself get captured in the first place. Danny was his partner and he was supposed to have his back, but he failed miserably.

Would Steve ever forgive him? What about Grace and Charlie? Would they ever forgive their father for allowing their precious uncle to get killed? He certainly wouldn't forgive himself. He tried his best to diminish that thought. Steve wasn't dead yet. He couldn't be.

Running the cold water he washed Steve's blood from his hands, wishing it would take away the pain and fear that he'd felt. He was scared like he'd been only a few times in his life. Most of it in the past ten years, since he's shown up in Steve's house. Since this trouble magnet has found a way into his heart. Steve gave him a serious scare several times during their friendship, every time he'd been near death. Steve had been through a lot but he had survived everything so far. The scars on his body and soul were the eternal reminder of the past, but he got through everything. And this time it couldn't be any different. They needed him. Danny needed him.

It took a moment and a few deep breaths to take the courage to walk out of that bathroom and wait for the doctor to come out of the ER. Wait to find out whether his worst fears had come true or not.

Catherine rushed into the waiting room looking for Danny. The desperate detective was curled on the chair, his face hidden in his hands. "Danny," she got his attention.

He lifted his sight and stood up, allowing Catherine to embrace him in a tight hug for a second. "I don't know anything yet," he whispered. "He was barely alive when we arrived."

"He'll be all right," she said, unsure if she was trying to convince Danny or herself. "He has to be."

They both waited impatiently, hoping for the good news. An hour passed, then a second one.

"Where the hell is the doctor?" Danny mumbled while pacing the waiting room. "It's been over two hours now, it can't be good."

Catherine nodded in agreement, just as a young doctor emerged from the glass door of the ER. She walked towards them with a file in her hands. "Family of McGarrett?" she asked. "I'm Dr. Cliff."

Danny nodded, frustrated it took so long for her to come. "Detective Danny Williams, Five-0," he introduced himself. "This is Lieutenant Rollins. I'm his next of kin. How is he?"

"Commander McGarrett has made it through the surgery," the doctor said, making Danny and Catherine sigh in relief. "He'd been in a shock when he was brought in, lost a lot of blood and there was internal bleeding within the abdominal cavity. We've managed to stop the bleeding but there was a bit of damage - the intraabdominal vascular was hit and there was a tear in the small intestine. We fixed that up but there is still a high risk of infection due to a possible leak, so we'll have to monitor him closely for the symptoms," the doctor said and took in a breath to pause. "The gunshot in his arm…"

"What?" Danny jumped in. "He's been shot?" Danny's jaw dropped. How did he miss that?

"Yes, he was. I'm sorry, I assumed you knew," the doctor noted. "Anyway, the wound has been patched up but the person taking care of the wound didn't exactly do a good job. The dressings were dirty and the wound is a little inflamed, which doesn't add to his already bad condition."

When Danny and Catherine didn't say anything, the doctor continued. "He's stable now, but he's not in a good condition, it seems he's been through a lot in the past few days."

"But… He's alive," Danny stuttered, feeling the need to say it out loud, mostly for himself. He felt a tangible relief at that.

"Just about, yes. Too early to tell what's going to happen to him. As you know, his heart stopped twice before he got to the hospital. But he is alive."

Steve was alive. And as long as that was the case, there was a chance he would recover. It was something, at least.

"As I said, he's not in a good condition," the doctor continued. "Except for the obvious blood loss due to penetrating trauma in his abdomen, he's severely dehydrated and his blood pressure is quite low. He also suffered not one, but several head injuries, which is another risk factor and might cause complications. And we've found several dangerous drugs in high doses in his system, some of which we couldn't even identify."

Danny closed his eyes for a moment in an attempt to ride off the images of what his best friend had been through in the last four days. "Can we see him now?" he asked.

"Sure, but as long as he is in the ICU I'll allow just one visitor at the time."

Danny exchanged glances with Catherine and caught her nod. "Go first," she said.

He thanked the doctor and followed her in silence into Steve's room. It was not the first time he'd been in a hospital to see his best friend. He knew it won't be nice to see. He'd braced himself before he pushed the door open.

Steve's still body and the machines attached to him took him by surprise anyway, it's not like one can ever be ready to see the ones they love in such a state. The numerous bruises on Steve's pale face looked worse now in the light of the hospital room and the back of his head was bandaged up. Just now Danny noticed a white dressing sticking out from under the right sleeve of Steve's hospital gown. It must have been the gunshot wound the doctor mentioned.

It was painful to see his partner like this. This man found his way into Danny's heart and after ten years of friendship, he considered him a brother.

"Hey, partner," Danny said as he lowered himself to the chair next to Steve's bed. "You have to stop doing this to me or my hair will turn grey soon."

Danny half expected him to open his eyes and say he's fine or that he'd been worse. But Steve was deep asleep thanks to all the drugs making sure to keep him this way so his body can finally get much-needed rest.

He remembered the person responsible for Steve being there, wrapped up in the white sheets, and anger surged through his body. "We'll find her, Steve," he said. "I promise."

The unfamiliar voices penetrated Steve's skull. He couldn't recognize the voices nor he could make out any words. His body felt heavy and he couldn't move. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't force himself to part his eyelids. He was aware of the stabbing pain in his abdomen and all he wanted was to stop it. Had he been able to scream, he would have done so, but his whole body felt completely frozen. The gnawing pain was increasing every second and every attempt to move or call for help was unsuccessful.

Danny returned to the waiting room after some time spent beside his friend's still body with a tired look on his face. He would like to stay with Steve but the nurse kicked him out so the doctor could examine him and check his vitals. It was Catherine's turn to spend some time with him anyway. He'd been deep in thoughts when a voice brought him back to clarity.

"How's our boy?" It was Lou.

Danny lifted his sight and saw his older colleague standing beside Tani, who was nervously pacing the room.

"No change yet," Danny said. "Were you able to find Bennett?"

Lou shook his head. "No, not yet," he said. "She's in the wind and doing damn good to stay that way. But with their crew arrested and dead, their whole plan going down, and her brother dead, I'm pretty sure Esther will come back."

Danny clenched his fists, angry at himself for letting her get away. "Do you think she'll come after Steve?"

Lou shrugged. "I don't know, it'd be too risky if she wants to stay hidden. But I think he should have police protection outside his room, just in case."

Danny turned to Tani, who took the phone out of her pocket before he could say anything. "On it," she said and made a call.

"I won't leave him alone," Danny said.

"I know. I know, don't you think for a second we would leave him. One of us can always stay with him," Lou assured Danny. "He's ohana and every one of us is willing to be with him until all this is over."

Danny nodded, his thoughts shifting to his encounter with Esther Bennett. "I want her locked up," he growled, blood boiling in his veins.

"We all do. Junior, Adam, and Quinn are in the headquarters, working on it," Lou added. "She'll get what she deserves."

Steve once again came to his senses partially, but the only thing he could feel was the unbearable agony. The pain sliced through his midsection and he wanted to beg for it to end, but he couldn't force any words out of his throat. He tried to move his hands but they didn't move, something was restricting the movement. His heart sank. He remembered Danny and Catherine coming for him, but was it all just another mind trick? Was he still somewhere in the damp cell, restrained and left to die? He growled in frustration.

"Steve?" Danny said, quickly jumping out of his chair, reaching for Steve's hand. "Hang on, buddy."

Steve released a cry of pain, loud enough to make Danny worried. Why was he in pain? The doctor told him they gave Steve a lot of painkillers, he shouldn't feel anything. He quickly pressed the button to call the nurse, scanning through Steve's grimaced face.

"Can you hear me, partner?" Danny asked. "You're all right, Steve. You're safe." He turned when the nurse entered the room and headed to Steve.

Another cry came from Steve, his breathing becoming shallow and fast. Danny didn't let go of Steve's hand, he squeezed it tightly. "Come on, buddy," he pleaded. "Wake up."

Danny? Was that Danny's voice? The pain came in the waves, each one stronger than the previous one. It was like he had razor blades inside of his body. He tried to move but with an attempt, nausea crept into his mouth.

Danny was in full panic mode by the time Steve cried in pain for the third time. "What the hell is going on?" he asked the nurse, who called the doctor immediately. "Why is he in pain, huh?"

"He shouldn't be," she replied. "Something is wrong, you may want to wait outs…"

"No," Danny cut her off. "I'm not going anywhere."

"D'no," Steve whispered through jolted breaths, gritting his teeth and squinting his still closed eyes in pain, sweat dripping from his forehead.

"I'm right here, buddy."

"Stop," Steve grunted, his eyes still squeezed shut.

"Stop what, Steve? Huh? What's wrong?" Danny's eyes were widened with fear. This is not how he imagined his partner to wake up. The nurse's words didn't make it any better. Something is wrong. He shook his head, trying to focus on Steve. "Come on, talk to me."

"Make it stop," Steve begged, his voice merely a whisper. "Please."

The next agonized cry was accompanied by loud beeping of one of the monitors beside Steve's bed.

"What's going on?" Danny heard the female voice of Steve's doctor behind his back.

"He's in a lot of pain despite the drugs, apparently. His blood pressure is 75/50 and dropping, the pulse is weak," the nurse explained as she attached the oxygen mask on Steve's face.

Danny watched in horror as Steve's cries stopped along with his weak attempts to fight. He brushed his finger through the face in frustration.

"Detective, you need to wait outside," the doctor said, turning to him. "I'll be with you in a moment."

Danny paced the waiting room like a caged tiger, checking the time every few seconds. Catherine sat in the corner with her feet up in the chair, hugging her knees tightly. Tani was holding her hand, trying to comfort her.

"If you don't stop, you'll soon walk a hole in the floor," Lou said to Danny.

"It's been half an hour," Danny growled.

Lou put a hand on his shoulder and sighed. "He's a fighter, Danny. He'll be all right."

Danny's eyes widened as he saw the doctor finally walking toward them, a grim expression on her face. They all jumped up from their seats.

"I'm sorry," she started.

No no no, please don't start with that, Danny thought, his heart skipping a beat. He had to face the very real possibility that Steve didn't make it.

"I'm afraid I don't have good news."