Taken
Chapter Four
Zebraboymom
Disclaimer: They do not belong to me. If I was rich I'd try to buy them.
Author Notes: You guys are great. You write the best reviews and you're so kind. I open my email every day with anticipation. It literally gets me up in the morning. The aftermath of their ordeal. Boy, you guys are bloodthirsty. When I got some of your reviews I was like…okay. Okay, as reviewed, here's what happens next.
Kono turned back to Steve who was sitting with a stricken look on his face. She looked down and saw bright red blood soaking through his shirt. Liko had managed to stab him as he was lunging forward.
"Steve!"
Danny and Chin rushed to them. Chin started untying Kono. Danny dropped down by Steve.
"Steve, stay with me Babe."
Chin managed to free Kono and she was instantly at Steve's side in spite of her own pain. She took his hand in hers and placed her other hand on his cheek.
"Don't you dare leave us Steve! Do you hear me?"
Steve managed to lift his head and looked into her beautiful brown eyes. He tried to smile at her.
"Stop squawking woman, I already have a headache."
"Get the EMTs in here now!"
Kono doubled over and collapsed on the floor. Steve tried to get up and get to her.
"Kono!"
"I'm okay Steve, I just need a second. Danny, the kids are in the shed. They're tired and hungry and scared."
Danny was gone in an instant as EMTs swarmed the two of them.
"Is he going to be okay?"
The EMT working on Kono forced her to lie down on a gurney. She kept trying to sit up even though her sides were screaming. The EMT working on Steve looked over at her.
"He's going to be fine. We've got the bleeding stopped and it doesn't look like he hit anything vital, but we will have to wait and see when we get to the hospital."
Kono finally laid back and stopped fighting the emergency staff.
As they were taken out Kono saw the kids break free from the officers who were helping them. Kevin pulled free first and ran to Steve.
"Please be okay Steve. Please?"
The other six children converged on the two gurneys.
"Steve! Kono!"
"You're not gonna die are you Steve?"
"I'm not planning on it."
"Kono, they hurt you."
"Just a little bit. Are you all okay?"
Little heads started bobbing up and down. They walked along with them all the way to the helicopters holding their hands and patting them. They were all crying. Danny and Chin kept telling them it would be okay. They put Kono in one chopper with the girls. The boys and Steve went in another chopper. Chin and Danny split up and Danny went with Steve while Chin went with Kono. Kono finally gave in to the pain once she was settled and closed her eyes. When she opened them again the girls were all sitting side-by-side looking at her. Their little faces were terrified. Little Cassie could not stop crying. Sarah had her arm around her trying to comfort her.
"Cassie, I'm going to be just fine. I just hurt my ribs and my face hurts a lot. I look worse than I am, right guys?"
Kono turned to the EMT that was taking her vitals.
"Tell them I'm going to be okay."
"She's going to be just fine ladies. Don't worry about a thing. We'll take good care of her."
The girls stopped crying then and sat quietly staring at Kono.
Once they arrived at the hospital, Kono was whisked away and the girls were herded into the ER and put in different curtained off areas. After several tries to keep them in their beds, the nurses gave up. The girls all huddled together on one gurney right next to where the doctors were looking at Kono. Finally the nurse pulled back the curtain to let the girls see Kono's face.
"She looks to have three fractured ribs on the right side and she needs a couple of stitches over her eye. Let's take some additional x-rays just to be sure. Let's get some ice on her face and a shot for the pain. As soon as she gets back from x-ray we will wrap her ribs and get her in a room. I want to keep an eye on her in case there are any internal injuries we don't know about. If everything checks out, she can go home in a day or two."
The bed next to Kono's erupted with cheers. Kono smiled even though it hurt. She had her own little pep team.
Steve on the other hand was another story. He was rushed in to surgery to be sure the bullet didn't hit any vital organs. They put him under and wheeled him out within the first five minutes of being there. The boys found their way to where the girls were and the seven of them huddled. Finally the nurses checked them out one at a time and then gave Chin and Danny permission to take them to the cafeteria to eat. The girls protested saying they wanted to wait until Kono got back, but the men insisted they eat. They would take their statements so that when some of their parents arrived they could go home with them. Danny sat with the kids as Chin called them one by one to get their statements. He couldn't believe what all they had gone through. The kids had nothing but positive things to say about Kono and Steve. They all said that if it hadn't been for them, they wouldn't be there at all. After they ate and gave their statements, they went back to the ER only to find out that Kono had been placed in a private room. Even though it was against the rules, the nurses pretended to look the other way while Danny and Chin snuck the kids in to see Kono.
They all expected the worse, but when they entered her room, she was sitting up in her bed smiling at them.
"Come here you guys."
They all ran for the bed and climbed on. Kono winced when they bounced her, but she didn't care if it did hurt. They were all there and they were all okay.
"You guys did great out there. Steve and I are so proud of you."
"Are you going to be okay Kono?"
"Absolutely Sarah. I feel better already and they said in a month I won't even feel a pain."
"What about Steve?"
Little Cassie looked up at her with big crocodile tears.
"He hads to have surgy. And surgy means it's real bad don't it?"
"It just so happens that the doctor told me he is out of surgery and will be put in a room as soon as he wakes up. He only needed a few stitches and he's going to be good as new. His head will hurt for a bit, but he will be fine. He kind of looks like Frankenstein right now, but so do I. the swelling in our faces will go down in a few days. In the meantime I get to drink lots of milk shakes. Cool, huh?"
After another hour parents started to arrive to take their children home. The reunions were very sweet and Kono was so glad she got to witness them as they arrived in her room one by one. They all to a child refused to leave until they saw Steve with their own eyes and knew he was okay. The kids went on and on about how Steve and Kono took care of them. The parents thanked her over and over, but she kept talking about all that Steve had done and how well he had looked after them.
Kono blushed under their praise. She couldn't stop thinking about Steve though. She prayed there were no complications. She wanted to get permission to go and see him, but she was afraid that wouldn't happen. Given their newfound feelings, she didn't want to be away from him for another minute. She was shocked when a very groggy Steve was brought into her room and transferred to the extra bed. This had the governor written all over it. Sure enough, once Steve was settled she came into the room.
Steve looked over at Kono and sighed with relief. He had been worried about her and even though everyone had tried to reassure him she was fine, he had to see her with his own eyes to believe it. The kids all did the same thing to Steve that they had done to Kono. They piled onto his bed. Cassie curled up next to Steve and put her arms around his neck. She gave him a big kiss on the mouth.
"I like you like Kono does, Steve."
The governor's eyebrow went up. Kono and Steve exchanged a look. Danny and Chin exchanged a look as well.
The parents thanked Steve, Kono and the governor for all they had done and pretty soon it was just Kevin, Sarah, Cassie and her older brother. Kevin and Sarah's parents finally came. Steve spoke to them about Kevin.
"Your son was amazing these last two days. I want you to know that. He showed incredible bravery more than once. When he grows up, I'd be proud to have someone like him on my team at Five-0. Kevin, man-to-man, you were outstanding. If I had a medal, I'd pin it on you right now."
He reached out his hand to shake Kevin's. The boy blushed furiously, but his eyes were shining under Steve's heavy praise. It was hard to say good-bye and both kids clung to Steve and Kono one last time before they left.
The governor told both of them to take at least three weeks off. As she walked out the door she couldn't help herself.
"I'm assigning you to each other's care over those next three weeks. See to it that you "look after" one another."
She winked and then was gone. Danny and Chin grinned from ear to ear, but Steve and Kono couldn't look anybody in the eye, much less each other.
Little Cassie had fallen asleep on Steve's bed and her brother had fallen asleep in the window seat. Their parents were flying in from California and would be another couple of hours. Kono was jealous of Cassie's position just then. She wished those strong arms were holding her.
Poor Steve's face looked as bad as Kono's. Danny teased them that they looked like Frankenstein and his bride just as Kono had said. He took a pillow from Kono for that one. The last set of parents finally arrived and Steve gently shook Cassie awake.
"Hey Sweetie, some special people are here, wake up Cutie."
"Mommy! Daddy!"
The parents both became very emotional when they saw Steve and Kono in hospital beds and both of their children looking tired, but otherwise unhurt. It was obvious these two had been through hell protecting them.
"We can't even begin to tell you how much this means to us. We thought we might never see them again."
Kono knew everything they had gone through had been worth it to see the look on those parent's faces. Both children broke free from their parents and gave them each one last hug. Then Cassie shocked them all. She looked at Kono with the biggest smile on her face.
"When you mawwy Steve, can I come to da wedding? I could be da fwower girl. My aunt got mawwied and my cousin was the fwower girl. I want to be a fwower girl, so can I?"
All three of Kono's teammates snickered at the shocked look on Kono's face.
"Uh…well…Cassie…if I ever do marry Steve, consider yourself my flower girl."
Danny spoke up.
"Of course at the rate these two are going, you'll be old enough to be a bridesmaid by the time they get it together."
Steve gave Kono a look and the reunited family left the four of them alone.
"So, from now on, no teaming you two up alone. You get into way too much trouble. Right, Chin?"
"Right, besides, it looks like my cousin's virtue is in question and we can't have that. We come from a strict Hawaiian upbringing and well…"
"Ha ha, funny boys, now get outta here and let us get some rest. I know you're just gonna goof off for the next three weeks, so beat it and leave us be."
"See Chin, they can't wait to get rid of us. Oh to be a fly on the wall…"
A pillow came at him just like the one Kono had thrown earlier.
"Well, the governor did give them orders…"
Another pillow flew across the room.
"You guys are going to run out of pillows eventually, you know."
"Seriously guys. We'll see you tomorrow."
Danny gave Kono a hug and slapped Steve on his good shoulder. Chin hugged Kono and kissed her forehead before he shook Steve's hand.
"Seriously guys, take care of each other. You did good today."
The two men left and silence fell over the room. Kono couldn't look at Steve. They lay there in the quiet and then Steve spoke up.
"So…alone at last."
The laughter that followed filled the room.