Thank you all so much for reading. It was my turn to reply to all reviewers for chapter 2, if I failed to reply to someone, please know it was not intentionally. We both greatly appreciate all your kind words.
We hope you will enjoy the next chapter. Let us know in your comments.
Sam
Stairway to Heaven
Chapter 3
"Hey, Danny, have you heard from Steve? I've been waiting for about twenty minutes and no sign of him yet. He's not picking up his phone."
Danny glanced at the time. "Not a word. Maybe he just got delayed. And I would guess phone service is iffy on that mountain. Want me to head over there?"
"Um… no, I'm sure you're right. I'll try to call him again. Thanks."
Danny called her back five minutes later. He wasn't sure why, but he had a niggling fear that all was not right. "Where's Paul Bunyan?" he asked.
"I don't know and I'm now worried. I talked to the guard and he hasn't seen anyone, so I climbed the ladder at the beginning of the stairs and didn't see him coming down at all. And you can see pretty far from that location."
"OK, I'm headed over. Are you still on the stairs?"
"Yeah, I'm heading up. I also called Chin to ping Steve's phone."
"Watch for me, I'll head up when I get there."
"Thanks, Danny," she whispered, her voice laced with concern.
"When he comes down, give him one of those knuckle sandwiches you gave me this afternoon," Danny told her. "That'll straighten him out."
"Yeah?" she said. "You know this is Steve we're talking about, right?"
- - - H50 - - -
Off the Haiku Stairs 1989…
Steve groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times, but that didn't improve his vision at all. He chided himself for being stupid when he realized that all the blinking in the world wouldn't give him better vision if he didn't turn his head to the side. Away from the thick vegetation he was currently lying in face down.
Steve slowly turned his head and groaned when the movement made him sick to his stomach. He felt just like when Billy had tackled him from behind a few weeks ago. But then he had worn a helmet and had a lot of pads everywhere. Right now he was only clad in shorts and a tee shirt, and he just knew that he would be bruised all over. He closed his eyes again when the world wouldn't stop spinning.
He could feel something warm and sticky trickle down the side of his head. Steve raised his arm to touch the hurting spot, but cried out when the movement brought on a fierce pain shooting into his shoulder. Steve bit his lip and was not even ashamed when tears ran down his cheeks, mixing with the blood on their way.
Steve lay his head back down, sobbing now from the pain in his shoulder, head and back. He slowly rolled onto his non-hurting right side and cradled his arm to his chest, trying to avoid all movement to his hurting shoulder. He looked down to his legs and could see that his right one was bleeding from a gash that went from his knee a few inches down his shin. Steve could also see lots of scrapes and scratches on his arms.
And his shorts were torn, his mom would be so mad about that. Steve sniffled when he was finally able to stop crying. He blinked the last tears away, and used his right arm to push himself to a sitting position. The sound he made when the movement again rattled his shoulder was a mix of a grunt and a sob.
"Steve?"
Steve looked up when he heard his name from not that far away. "Kami, I'm here," he called back.
A moment later he saw his friend slowly sliding down closer to him. Kami was sitting on his backside and slowly and carefully moved towards him.
"Watch out for the roots," Steve called out when Kami's foot caught under one of the many roots in his path.
"Got it," Kami said and changed course to avoid the uneven ground. It took him another minute to reach Steve.
"Steve, are you hurt?" were Kami's first words when he reached his friend. "I mean... does anything hurt bad?"
Steve sniffled again and spit out before he answered, "I think my shoulder's broke or somethin'."
"Can you move your arm?" Kame asked while he took a closer look at the bloody gash on Steve's leg. "Ugh, that looks gross."
"Uh uhn... it hurts," Steve said and tried to stop the tears. "I feel sick," Steve added and couldn't keep himself from throwing up. Adding embarrassment to pain.
Kami wordlessly took off his bandana and cleaned his friend as best he could. "We have some bottles of water, we can clean you up a bit more when we get them down here," Kami whispered. "Steve?"
"Hmm?"
"I won't tell anyone," Kami promised.
Steve was still embarrassed but mumbled a quick "Thanks" for his friend's thoughtfulness.
"Do you think you can climb back up?"
"No. My head hurts bad, Kami," Steve said and leaned back against the rock that had ultimately stopped his descent. "I don't think I can get up."
"Okay," Kami said and bit his lip in thought. "I'll go back up and help Cale down here. We can get the water and the first aid kit down, and then I'll go and get help."
"NO! No, Kami, it'll get dark soon, you can't go down now... ow..." Steve groaned when he had moved forward to grab his friend. "Ow... stop… it's too dangerous to climb down in the dark."
"I'll be careful."
"No. Even if you make it down... then what? There's nothing there, and the first bus will be in the morning," Steve tried to make his friend see reason. "Please don't leave me here."
"Then what do we do?"
"Get Cale down here, bring the sleeping bags, we can camp here tonight. And in the morning, I'm sure I can make it up to the trail and we can head back down," Steve told his friend.
"Maybe Dorian did call for help," Kami wouldn't completely rule it out.
"I don't think so," Steve said in disgust.
"Okay, you just sit here and I'll get Cale and the supplies. Don't go to sleep, stay awake," Kami said as an afterthought. He wasn't sure why that was important, but he had heard his mom tell his dad to stay awake after he had hit his head.
" 'K," Steve answered with his eyes already closing.
"I'll be right back."
It took almost half an hour for the two friends to make their way down to where Steve was still resting against the rock.
"Steve?" Kami touched his friend's leg to get his attention.
"Hmm... you're back," Steve mumbled and slowly opened his eyes. He grinned at Cale, "hey."
"I'm so sorry, Steve. This is all my fault."
"What? No, it's not. It's Dorian's fault. You didn't do nothing wrong," Steve told his friend and grimaced when he moved his foot. His ankle had started to hurt a few minutes ago. "Cale, can you please open my boot?"
"Sure," the young boy said and got right to work. "You want me to take it off?"
"No, just open it a little." Steve was sure he wouldn't be able to get the foot back into his boot if he took it off. But the ankle was badly swollen and it needed more room, so opening the laces should help.
"Is it better this way?"
"Yeah, thank you," Steve said and hissed when Kami poured some water over the wounds on his leg. "Ouch."
"Sorry. We can put a bandage on it," Kami said and took a roll of gauze out of the first aid kit Steve had grabbed out of the garage.
Ten minutes later Steve sported a bandage on his leg and another around his head. The bleeding had stopped but Kami had insisted on the head bandage. "It looks pretty cool. There is a little blood coming through. Does your head still hurt?"
"Yeah," Steve said and adjusted the home-made sling Kami had made out of two elastic bandages. His arm was now secured to his chest and Steve had to admit it didn't hurt so much anymore. The Boy Scout first aid badge was useful for something after all.
"You're shivering, Steve. Are you cold?" Cale asked.
"A little."
The shivering had started before he felt cold. He didn't realize that his body was showing the first signs of shock loud and clear. The first aid training they had with the Boy Scouts couldn't prepare the 12-year-olds for dealing with an injured friend. It was one thing to train for it in a safe setting, and then to experience it firsthand. Steve's skin was clammy, his pulse way too fast. He was dizzy and cold. "I don't feel so good," Steve admitted.
"You need to drink some water, and then you should get into the sleeping bag," Kami said and got Steve's sleeping bag out of the back pack. They were on a small but flat area about 50 feet below the stairs and there was just enough room for the three boys. If the rock hadn't stopped Steve's fall he would have fallen at least another 100 feet. And that would have surely ended in his death.
It took a bit of maneuvering until Steve was settled in the sleeping bag, but they managed to make him as comfortable as possible. Cale had taken his jacket out of the pack and they used it as a pillow for Steve. He was now resting between the two friends who were watching as their friend slipped into sleep.
- - - H50 - - -
"Danny, I just got off the phone with Cath. Steve's phone is on and he's still on the mountain," Chin told him. "Are you going to meet her?"
"Yeah, I just pulled into the parking area next to the guard. Hang on and I'll see if he's heard anything."
"Hi, we met this morning," Danny said. "Any word from Catherine Rollins or Commander McGarrett?"
"No, Sir. No one has come down all day long. I believe the Rollins woman is up at the top of the ladder."
"Thanks," Danny said and headed in the direction Steve had shown him this morning. "Chin, did you get that?"
"Yeah, uh, I'm checking Steve's phone location with the elevation in the place it is, and something is off."
"What do you mean, 'off'?" Danny asked while carefully picking his way through shoots of bamboo.
"I don't like the looks of this," Chin muttered.
"Of what?" Danny barked.
"According to this, Steve's phone isn't on top of the stairway. It is about a hundred feet below that mark."
Danny ran his hand through his hair. "Hell's bells," he mumbled. "What the hell has he gotten into this time?"
"Maybe nothing," Chin replied. "Kono and I are on our way. I'll get a chopper in the air to see if they can spot him. Do you need anything?"
"Yeah, grab the extra set of Steve's keys from his office. There might be something in the truck box that we need."
"Good idea. We'll bring supplies…just in case."
"Hey! Wait, I might have something." Danny interrupted. "Get CSU over here. I'm at the base of the ladder and there's a patch of bamboo that we came through this morning. It was undisturbed. Now, there are crushed plants and I think I detect some blood. And it looks fresh."
"The sun's going down soon. I'll get CSU and some lights."
"Good. I'm headed up to find Catherine."
Danny put away his phone and grabbed the ladder with both hands. He had changed into tennis shoes after Catherine's first call, because he just knew that one way or another, he would be climbing up these fricking steps. He reached the top and looked around, spotting Cath above him, hundreds of steps away. "Holy shit," he breathed seeing the steps between his location and hers. Once he began walking, he called her, watching as she stopped and looked around while taking the call.
"Hey, Cath!"
"Danny. Have you heard anything?" she asked, waving to let him know she spotted him.
"No, but Chin and Kono are on their way and just to play it safe, they are sending a chopper up before dark."
"Good. Danny, I'm worried," she told him, turning around and climbing a few more steps.
"OK, before you go all girly on me, think about who we're talking about. He probably just saw something pretty and wandered off."
Catherine chuckled in spite of herself. "Did you just tell me not to go 'girly' on you? What's with the sexist comments today?"
Danny grinned. "I got you to smile, didn't I? Let's hang close until we hear from Chin. I saw some of the bamboo trampled down below. It wasn't that way when Steve and I walked through it this morning. I also saw some blood."
"You think Steve is chasing—"
"No, I think he's up ahead. His phone is still up there. Cath…"
"What?" she asked, stopping and turning around again to see his progress.
"Chin aligned the phone's location with a topographical map or something and it isn't on the stairs. In fact, from what he can tell, it is over the side."
"What? We have to find him!" She turned and began to rush up the steps.
"Hold it, Cath," Danny said. "We're going. Just take it easy. We'll find him. In fact, will you stay there for a couple of minutes and let me make some headway so you won't be so far ahead? This area is fairly level so I can make good time.
She took a deep breath and looked around before finally agreeing. "OK, no running. Now enough talk; let's move it."
- - - H50 - - -
"We're down below," Chin said over the phone while reaching into the back seat for his backpack and gear. Kono carried additional supplies. "But there's a problem."
"What's going on?" Danny asked. He was just about a hundred yards from Catherine and she had stopped to wait for him to catch up.
"There's been a boating accident off Kaena Point on the north of the island. Most of the rescue squad is heading that direction with their choppers. Several people are in the water. It will probably be dark before one of them can get back here to us."
"Damn."
"Yeah. We're ready to start the climb, so we won't be too far behind you. CSU is here and are talking to the guard right now. Hey, I'm getting another call."
"Kelly." He waited a beat and then smiled. "Excellent. Do me a favor and offer Raymond a seat in the Blue Room, please. And then let Duke Lukela know he is there. Have Duke call me."
"They found Raymond?" Kono asked, arranging her pack on her back.
"Yeah, let me get Danny back on the line. Hey," he began when Danny answered. "I do have some good news. I had an unmarked car parked on the street where these guys had parked, hoping at least one of them would show up. Raymond just got there. HPD said he is bleeding from cuts on both legs, probably from the bamboo. But the best news is that he has the statue in his backpack. Bad news is that it has blood on it, so they are taking it to Charlie."
Danny paused at that news. "We need to talk to him," Danny said. "Ask about Steve."
"Let's let Duke handle that for the time being," Chin said. "We have a mountain to climb."
"I have an idea," Danny said. "Let me call you back." He scrolled through the numbers before finding what he wanted.
"Hey, Big Guy, I need your help." Danny said and quickly explained the situation to Kamekona, asking him to fly over the mountain again. "Yes, I know it's getting close to dusk. I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't an emergency. OK, yeah, thanks."
Unable to stand and wait patiently, Catherine had walked a few feet down the stairs to meet Danny. "Who was on the phone?" she asked. "Any news?"
Danny reached out and hugged her and turned her around so that they both were moving in the upward direction. "First, Chin said that they caught Raymond when he got back to his truck. He's in custody and Duke will meet him in the Blue Room for a little one-on-one. Second, there was a boating accident on the north shore and all rescue helicopters are in use. But, not to worry, I just called Kamekona and he's going to head up to take a look."
Twenty minutes later they heard the whap-whap of the rotors and stopped walking to watch the caricature of Kamekona's face fly overhead. He crossed over the stairs, then banked to come back around, slowing to almost a hover as he looked out the bubble.
"Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I would ask his help as a pilot," Danny muttered.
"He did really well on his tests," Catherine assured him. "Well, after lots of instruction, but he passed."
"His knowledge isn't what concerns me," Danny admitted. "It's… other things. Like maybe his lack of concentration."
The helicopter was up near the next ridge from them and dipped closer to the ground before moving away, only to bank again.
"Detective," Kamekona said when Danny answered his phone. "There's a body. Was the boss man wearin' shorts and a blue shirt?"
"No," Danny replied.
"Den dis fella ain't him," the pilot said. "I didn't see any sign of McGarrett, but I'll do another fly over. But it's getting too dark fo' me to see da ground."
"Check once more," Catherine asked him. "Please."
There was no sign of Steve but Kamekona stayed in the air until they walked up nearer to the body he did find before waving and turning away to head back to the shrimp truck.
Immediately, they saw the cut end of rope still around the railing. "OK, Steve was through here earlier and said he didn't see anything that shouldn't be here," Danny said, looking down below utilizing the last rays of the sun before it dipped behind a mountain. "So, I'm guessing he went down with this rope."
Catherine walked farther up the stairs, then turned around to view the area from another angle. "I can see the guy in the blue shirt!" she exclaimed. "He's right under you… but out of the line of sight because of that boulder."
Cath continued to examine the area. "I see him!" she suddenly called out. "Danny, I see Steve." She came back down where Danny had waited for her. She pointed to a cluster of trees down below, "he's in there. We have to get down there… he's not moving. I couldn't see if he's…"
"OK, hold on, we will, but you can't go over the side without a rope," he told her. "We have to wait for Chin."
"He needs to hurry." She paced up the steps once again, and then glanced to the right, away from Steve's location. "Look over here. His backpack is on this side."
Danny followed her and looked where she pointed. "Yeah, I'd recognize that anywhere." They walked a bit further and she showed him Steve's location. He called it in to Chin and asked for as much help as was available.
- - - H50 - - -
Catherine was ready to jump over the side by the time Chin and Kono arrived with lights and a rope. They tied it off and she argued with them that she was going down first. Danny said that because he was Steve's partner, he should go, which caused a ruckus with the rest of them saying he shouldn't even attempt the trip down. Period.
"Brah, it is almost totally dark and you don't know the terrain or have the skills to scale down a mountain," Chin argued.
"Contrary to popular belief, I used to hike in upstate New York when I was a kid. I can get down there," Danny argued. "Hey, I'm getting down there one way or another."
Chin looked at the terrain. "OK," he finally said. "But I'm going down with you. We can take the supplies down together." He took the rope out of Catherine's hands. "And… Danny and I are going first." She started to argue and he held up his hand to stop her. "I know you want to be down there now, but we are going first. And if we have to, we can pull rank. This isn't negotiable."
Catherine stared at him, ready to argue, but realized that would waste valuable time.
Kono put her hand on Catherine's arm. "Come on, we can spot them from here and hold the extra lights. Help me out, OK?"
Cath nodded, disappointed but agreeing. "Yeah, just… just let me know what's going on."
Chin removed a walkie-talkie from one of the backpacks and handed it to her. "Let's conserve our phones and use these," he said. "Danny, I'll go over first and you follow right behind me."
Danny adjusted his backpack and agreed. "I'm ready. Let's go." He gave Cath a thumbs up. "We'll call as soon as we get there."
She paced while watching them go down the mountain at a slow pace. They were doing fine although they both had skidded a bit trying to gain purchase on the rocky soil.
Kono had gone through the supplies they brought with them and found a grappling hook which she used to retrieve Steve's backpack. "Hey, here's binoculars," she said, handing them to Catherine.
"Thanks," she said, quickly zooming in on Steve's body. While it wasn't completely dark, the shadows on the mountain made it difficult to really see any distance.
"Kono! He moved. I can see him. And… they need to get there fast…I think he's trying to get up!"
- - - H50 - - -