Chapter 34
"Team one in position." Sam said through his coms.
"Team two in position." Freddie replied.
"On my go, make your entrance through the back and we will follow 10 seconds later. "
Since they had landed they had received up to date information that Cath should still be in the building. They had also done thermal imaging that provided details of 10 people in the building, one person looking like a hostage. All the bodies were alive and radiating heat. Steve was finally get hopeful. He was hopefully close to bring his Cath home, to their family when she belonged.
"Team one, go." Sam said. A second later he could hear the sound of gun shots and team 2 making their entrance.
"Team 2, go." Sam repeated this time his 3 men made their way in.
As they got through the door they split off into each room clearing them one by one.
"1 Xray down." Steve said referring to the man he had just shot. "Moving to find Cath." Steve said. That was his given role, clear the entrance and move to where they thought Catherine was being held.
Steve made his way down the hall, killing another Xray on the way. "2nd Xray down." Steve told his team.
Steve finally got to the room they believed Catherine was being held in. The door was locked, he had waited long enough so just shot the lock and kicked the door before rushing in. He turned the light on his weapon on to get a look around the dark room. When he started looking he found a body lying at the back on the room tied to something on the back wall. "Cath." Steve said rushing over.
"All men down, building clear, no sign on Wo Fat." Sam said.
"Guys we need a medic in here." Steve shouted. Catherine was lying on the floor not moving and barely breathing.
She had given up her fight about an hour ago. She was lying on the floor curled in a ball, she had stopped trying to stay awake, it was taking all her strength not to give in but as she lost that battle she moved to the back of the room.
Steve rushed over to her. "Catherine, come on Cath, wake up for me." Steve kept on saying, trying to check if she was breathing. A couple of minutes later Ensign Peters came running in through the door, and over to Catherine.
"Steve," Sam shouted from the door. "Come and help me finish clearing the building, leave Peters to Catherine he knows what he is doing. We are having 2 choppers pick us up in half an hour with a medical team fully equipped in one." Sam said, trying to get Steve away from Catherine. He knew that all Steve wanted to do was be with Catherine, but Ensign Peters needed to be able to check Catherine over and Steve being there would not make things easier.
Steve kissed Catherine on the head, got up and walked over to the door. He followed Sam out the door, walking through the corridors checking all of the rooms.
"Wo Fat got away Steve. We know he was here, he either got tipped off, which means we have a problem, or he was just lucky and was already out, in which case he might be coming back, if he didn't hear our operation." Sam explained.
"I have got Catherine back, I can find him later." Steve said, thinking of the positives. He wanted nothing more than to kill Wo Fat with his bare hands right now, but he knew that he had Catherine back and that was the important thing.
After they had finished clearing the building, Steve and Sam made their way back to where Catherine was being treated, they had left Freddie, Wilcox and Jacks outside hoping Wo Fat would return, and waiting for the helicopter.
"How is she?" Steve asked as he kneeled on the floor next to Catherine. He knew she looked bad, she still looked the same as when he had left her, she was badly bruised and still lying on the floor not moving.
"She is very dehydrated, she is badly bruised and has a faint pulse. She needs pain medication, and to be put on an IV drip as soon as the medical team arrive, but she is holding on." Peters explained. She was worse than that, but he didn't want to tell Steve the full extent of her injuries until they were on their way out of there and she was being treated. The chances of Catherine making a full recovery were slim and Steve didn't need to know that right then.
"Steve, if you want to stay here me and Peters are just going to check on the choppers and see if anything is happening outside." Sam said.
Once Peters and Sam had left the room Steve took Catherine's hand, and kept reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. He wasn't sure if she could hear him but he wanted to talk to her just in case she could.
Outside, Peters and Sam stood down the corridor from the room Catherine and Steve were in. Sam knew things we looking bad and that Peters had not told Steve the full extent of Catherine's injuries.
"How is she really?" Sam asked.
"Not looking good, she has been tortured, her pulse is very faint, she is dehydrated, she has a worrying injury on her head, if we don't get her out of here quick her chances of survival are dropping. She needs proper treatment that I can't give her, there is nothing I can do for her here."
"Well the choppers should be here in 5 minutes, and we can move her straight her away." Sam said. He had seen Catherine, and she wasn't looking good, she had no colour in her cheeks, the bruises were already starting to show.
"Sam, choppers are outside med team are making their way to you now." Freddie said over the coms.
Sam walked to the door and let them through, leading them to the room where Catherine, Steve and Peters were.
"She's through there, she is not looking good, we need to move her as fast as we can." Sam explained. "Steve we need to leave them too it." Sam said as he took Steve by the arm. "They know what they are doing."
Steve reluctantly got up and off the floor and walked over to stand by Sam. "She has to be okay, she needs to be okay. What am I going to say to Chelsea and Jay. The only person you both had left to look after you died because of me. Died because of something involving my family." Steve said. For the first time he was admitting to himself that they had found Cath but she was in a bad way, that things might not be alright.
"We need to get her out of here. We will do our first examination when we get on the chopper." James, the head medic said.
"Right we will meet you at the hospital." Sam said.
A couple of minutes later Catherine was on the chopper and they had secured the building. "Steve we are in this chopper and will meet them at the hospital." Sam said as he guided Steve towards the chopper.
Steve reluctantly got onto the chopper and sat at the back just looking out of the window.
"When we get moving you should call your team and your sister. They are taking her to Tripler, you can tell the kids that she is going to the hospital, and when she has got settled they can come and visit her." Sam advised.
Meanwhile...
At home everyone was doing their own things trying not to think about what was going on god knows where with Steve and Catherine. They each tried to spend time by themselves hoping for the best. They were waiting for a phone call. They had to know what was going on. It was getting later in the day and Steve would have carried out the operation by now, and it was either going to be a great success or a failure.
Chelsea walked towards Jay's room. She was going to go mad with her own thoughts, she knew that if her mom never came back she would never forgive herself for what she had said. She was a cow to her mom before her mom left and now she might not have the chance to say sorry. For her to hug her mom one more time and apologise for everything that she had ever said or done to her.
"Come in," Jay responded to the knock on his door.
"What if Steve doesn't bring mom back. What if it is too late for me to apologise for everything I have done?" Chelsea said. She didn't say hello or anything she just needed to say something to him.
"Chelsea you can't think like that. We both don't know what has happened...I have faith in Steve and you know I have to have faith in him because thinking like this is only going to lead to you being like this. Now this is only going to be a one off thing, pick up a control, you can be the red team, I am the blue team and just in case you ask me again the man in the yellow is the referee." Jay explained, he knew she needed to relax take her mind of things. Normally Jay couldn't stand playing a game like this with Chelsea. She didn't know what to do, she was useless and asked stupid questions, but today he knew it would be good for both of them.
"Thanks." Chelsea said, as she took the controller off him.
Meanwhile...
When they has taken off Steve picked up his phone from out of his pocket. Steve had a number of people to call. He had to call his team first. Mary would not be able to cope with the 3 kids with the news he was about to deliver.
"Chin?" Steve said when someone answered the phone.
"Steve? How did it go?" Chin asked.
"We found her. She is injured, she is being taken to Tripler. I called to ask you a favour as well."
"Sure brah anything." Chin told him. Steve was ohana and Steve needed help right now.
"I need to tell the kids in a minute but, I don't think Mary will be able to handle the kids and I was hoping you and Malia would be able to go over to the house."
"Of course, we can be there in half an hour." Chin told Steve
"Thanks, Catherine is being taken to hospital and once they have got her settled the kids will be able to come and see her."
"Okay...Just call me when you have more news." Chin said.
Steve hung up the phone and made a phone call to both Danny and Kono to tell them what was happening.
Once he had done that he took a deep breath and pressed call.
"Steve? Please tell me she is okay." Mary said the second she answered the phone.
"She is being taken to hospital now. It's not looking good. Can you put Jay and Chelsea on the phone please." Steve said. He wanted to speak to them two first before he told Mary what had happened. "Have China and Malia arrived?"
"They might have done, someone has just knocked on the door Evie went to answer it." Mary said as she walked out of the kitchen, though the living room to see Chin and Malia stepping in. "They have just arrived, I am going to go and get Chelsea and Jay.
Mary started her climb up the stairs listening to everything Steve was saying about the mission to rescue Catherine. She knew then why Steve had asked Chin and Malia over, because there was no way she would know what to do when the kids, especially Chelsea found out that Catherine was in hospital, and not looking so well.
Mary knocked on Chelsea's door first and not getting a reply she pushed it open and looked inside, seeing no one she moved down the hall to Jay's room. She knocked on the door and pushed it open when Jay told her to come in. She found both kids on the bed.
"Steve is on the phone, he wants to talk to you. I will be downstairs." Mary said passing the phone to Jay. She left them too it because she knew that whatever Steve had to say to them, it was for them to hear and they needed the privacy.
"Did you find her?" Chelsea said the second it was on speaker.
"We found her." Steve started. "Your mom is badly injured. She is being taken to hospital as we speak. I know you both want to see her, but they need to get her settled, and then Chin will bring you over to see her." Steve explained.
"How badly injured?" Jay asked, he knew that it must be quite bad because Steve was talking to them not his mom and his mom would do everything she could to speak to them, if she had been able to do so.
"We're not sure at the moment, she is in a different chopper to us. They are carrying out a medical examination now." Steve told him.
"But you must have seen her, how did she look?" Chelsea asked.
"She didn't look good, but she is in the best possible hands." Steve told them, he knew he couldn't lie to them because they would soon see for themselves how bad Catherine looked. They would soon find out how much torture Catherine had been through. And if, she didn't make it, he would never be able to look at either of them again, if he had told them she looked fine and she wasn't.
"She's in the best possible hands? Is that all you can say? Nan was in the best possible hands. Dad was in the best possible hands and they both ended up dead." Chelsea said. She couldn't take it anymore, her eyes had filled with tears and she just needed to be alone. She needed time to be by herself.
"Has she gone?" Steve asked. He heard the door slam but wanted to confirm that she had left the room.
"Yeah, she does this, when she gets upset she needs time to cool down." Jay explained.
"I understand. Can you pass the phone to Evie?" Steve asked.
"I will go and get her." Jay said.
"If you need anything Chin, Malia and Mary are downstairs. And please keep an eye on your sister." Steve said.
"Dad?" Evie asked, when Jay passed her the phone.
"Hey sweetheart." Steve said.
"Is Catherine okay?" Evie asked, Chin had started to explain some things to her, but she needed to hear it from her dad.
"Yeah, she is being taken care of. But I am sorry this has been short, I need to go, but I promise I will see you soon. Love you." Steve said.
"Love you too dad." Evie said as she hung up.
"Where's Chelsea?" Malia asked. Since Malia had first meet Chelsea, she had liked the girl. Yes, she had some problems, but that was to be expected from the childhood she had. She had seen many girls like Chelsea at the hospital, who had ran away from home, ended up injured and worse, and she didn't want Chelsea to end up like that. Chelsea also reminded Malia of how she used to be, and Malia knew that she had support from family and friends to become a responsible adult, and she wanted to help Chelsea just the same.
"In her room, she left when Steve was on the phone. I think she blames herself somehow for what happened. She thinks it karma because she didn't say goodbye to mom and thinks now she will never get the chance." Jay explained his take on the situation.
"I'll go and check on her." Malia said as she made her way to Chelsea's bedroom.
Mary had gone into the kitchen to make drinks for everyone, leaving Evie, Chin and Jay in the living room. Jay and Evie just sat on the sofa thinking, thinking about everything that had happened. Hoping that Catherine would be alright and they could move. They were due a break for once, nothing in their lives ever seemed simple, never seemed normal like any other child's upbringing.
"Chin, when can we go to the hospital?" Jay asked. He knew Steve said it would be a while. nut how long was a while. He had missed his mom, he needed to see for himself that she was alright and that would be the only way he could relax.
"It shouldn't be too long. As soon as they have landed and got your mom settled then we can go. It will hopefully be before the end of the day." Chin explained. Truth be told, he didn't know how long it was going to be. Steve would do everything in his power to make it as soon as possible, but it wasn't a normal hospital. It was a military hospital and they had different rules.
"Well I need some time alone, I will be home in about an hour." Jay said as he walked towards the door.
Upstairs...
"Can I come in?" Malia asked as she pushed open Chelsea's door.
"Yeah." Chelsea said as she looked up from her bed.
Malia walked in to the room and sat down on the bed next to Chelsea.
"What is going to happen if my mom doesn't make it?" Chelsea asked. It was the first time she had allowed herself to ask that question, she had been thinking about it since her mom had been taken. What would happen to her and Jay? Would Steve look after them? They would have no one left.
"I could sit here and say that everything would be fine. And I would love to be able to tell you that, but I can't. I can tell you that the doctor at Tripler are some of the best and they will do everything they can to help your mom. But if she doesn't make it, you're not going to be alone. You will have me, Steve, Chin, Danny and Kono, and Jay isn't going anywhere. But you can't sit up here all by yourself thinking about it because if you do, you are going to go mad through worry. If you come downstairs we can get through this together." Malia explained.
Chelsea followed Malia as she stood up to leave the room.
"Before we go, thank you for everything. Since my mom has been back you have been there for me, and if you and Chin ever have kids they will be lucky to have you as a mother because you are everything I always wanted my mom to be, and she is starting to become the mum I want, but you have helped me too." Chelsea said. She was truly grateful of everything Malia had done for her, because without Malia, Chelsea wouldn't have been able to let go of everything she had been holding in.
Meanwhile...
Steve and the team had just landed at Tripler. Catherine had landed about 10 minutes earlier. Steve rushed off the helicopter and straight towards the door. He was stopped by Joe was seemed to be waiting for him at the door.
"Steve, she has been taken for an examination, they said they would be about half an hour. They will come and find us when they have some news. Go to the hall to the relatives room, have a shower and get changed. There is nothing you can do until then, and that is an order." Joe said.
"How long till I can let Jay and Chelsea come up?" Steve asked. He knew what it was like not knowing what was going on, but at least he would find out any news as soon as it happened.
"I spoke to the Coronel in charge, he said they can be brought on whenever, he said as long as they are supervised at all time and stay in authorised areas they can come whenever, but he also said that they won't be able to see her until the morning." Joe informed him.
"Right, I am going to call them and ask Chin to bring them here. I just think that them being hear will at least mean they know she is doing okay."
"Okay, I will go and sort them out some passes to get in. Tell Chin to call me when they arrive and I will bring them in."
Steve walked down the halls, and into the shower the room. It was empty, and for the first time he allowed himself to let his emotion out. He punched the wall over and over again, until he sunk to the floor, he vowed himself that he would find Wo Fat and make him pay for everything he put his family through. At first he thought he would send him to jail for the rest of his life, but now he was going to kill him, he took it too far, hurting him, he had tolerated, but his family that was not okay.
Sorry about the start of this chapter, adventure writing is not my strongest point. I know I keep saying I will update soon but life gets in the way. The next chapter should not be too long, as I have already started writing it. Please review!