Stairway to Heaven - Chapter 04
Steve groaned and lifted his hand to see why his head felt like it had been pummeled into the ground. But the movement tugged on his side and caused another groan when pain lanced through him. He pried open his eyes and stared upward, seeing something dark dancing above his head. Well, that tells you nothing.
He knew he would hate himself for it, but he raised his head to see what was going on. Shit, that hurts. His eyes immediately began to water but he also remembered cartoons with stars dancing around Wiley Coyote's head. He now knew what that actually looked like. Steve reached out his hand and touched the rough surface of the pine tree. And then he remembered the Haiku Stairs and a body down below. Make that two bodies down below.
Steve tried to take stock of his body. If he wasn't lying on the ground he was certain his head would have fallen off his shoulders, so he tried to keep still in the hope that it would stop pounding soon. His side felt like it was on fire and the rest of his body throbbed in various places to the rhythm of his heart. But he determined those injuries to be minor.
What didn't feel minor and was hard to ignore was the pain in his right foot and the deep ache in his left side. His foot throbbed in his too tight boot and he was sure he wouldn't be able to stand on it. Steve snorted at the thought of him getting up. Right now he couldn't even properly raise his head; standing up was out of the question. But he at least had to try.
After all, he was at the bottom of a mountain. In the dark. Get your phone. Steve felt the pocket which normally held his phone and came up empty. Damn. You're screwed.
And then he remembered that he was supposed to meet Catherine at the bottom of the stairs.
Make that double screwed.
Steve knew he couldn't lie there without at least trying to help himself, so he managed to scoot up on one elbow. His vision darkened and he felt close to passing out when he heard a familiar voice.
"Hey! Stay put," the voice yelled. "I didn't come down that mountain on my ass just to watch you get up!"
Steve grinned and gratefully slid back down to wait for Danny. Cavalry's here.
"Hey you," Danny said, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Got bored with the stairs, I presume?"
"Somethin' like that," he muttered. "The tree hit me in the head."
"What?" He quickly looked at Chin, thinking his partner was delirious. "Are you saying this is the tree's fault?"
"Damn straight, Danno." Steve paused, and then added, "Man, I've got a headache."
"I'll bet," Chin told him while they dropped all their packs. "You also have a girlfriend at the top of this mountain who is anxious to get down here," he informed Steve as he reached for his radio.
"Tell her to—" Steve began, but sighed and stopped himself. "Never mind, she'll do it anyway."
"Yep, we're talking about the same girl," Danny said.
"Chin to Catherine."
Steve reached out his hand and motioned with his fingers. "Let me."
They heard Cath's voice say "Go ahead, Chin," and he depressed the button and held the walkie talkie out to Steve.
"Be careful comin' down," Steve mumbled.
They heard the catch in her voice before she agreed. "Aye, aye, Commander. Be there soon."
Steve nodded and closed his eyes, the strength to stay awake leaving him. "Watch her, Chin," he whispered.
"Will do, Steve, but you need to stay awake for a minute and tell Danny what's wrong with you."
" 'K."
Danny leaned in close to his partner, examining the bruised and bloody raised knot on his temple. "I know you have a headache from hell, but what else hurts? I'm worried about your neck and back, so try not to move around much. Can you wiggle your toes?"
Steve thought for a moment about all the pains all over his body. "Yeah, nothing feels broken," Steve paused and then corrected himself. "Maybe my right foot, it feels tight and is throbbing inside my boot. And there's somethin' wrong with my side," he indicated with his hand, "back there… hurts."
Danny looked where he was pointing and found a bloody tear in his shirt. "Yeah, looks like you cut yourself pretty badly. We'll get you patched up, but it looks like transport won't be until tomorrow. There was a bad accident on the north shore right before we got word that you were down here."
"S'OK," Steve slurred, his eyes closing once again. Now that help was there the adrenaline rush he had upon coming to was fading fast.
"Do you remember how you got down here?" Danny asked.
"I fell. Slid. And rolled. Over and over. Danno?"
"Yeah, Babe?"
"Kinda dizzy."
"Do you feel sick?"
He thought, then said, "Not really." He half-way waved his hand in the air. "Just spinning."
"Let me know if you feel sick, OK. Do you remember why you fell?"
Steve thought for a moment, his face one of determination. "Um…yeah, there's a body down…" he waved the hand around again, "over there, I think. I was just gonna check it out but someone… Danny, there's someone else up here. He was hiding under the stairs and kicked me, then he cut the rope after I fell." Steve now remembered in vivid color how he painfully tumbled down the mountain. For the second time in his life.
"Not to worry, we have him in custody." Danny looked up and saw Chin grab Catherine's hand for her final jump down onto the rock to reach them. Kono was right behind her, carrying Steve's backpack. "We've got company, Steve."
"Huh?" His eyes were closed and he had a confused look on his face. "Who's here?" he slurred.
Danny frowned down at him; a look that didn't go unnoticed by Cath.
She leaned in close and placed her palm on the side of his head, checking the visible trauma on his face and head. "Hey, Sailor, fancy meeting you here."
Steve frowned, trying to follow the conversation. "Cath?"
"Yeah, it's me. We brought supplies and are going to patch you up, so just be patient with us, OK?"
"Un huh." He hadn't bothered opening his eyes and she looked at Danny with worry when Steve drifted to unconsciousness.
"Short term memory," he said in a low voice. "Probably a concussion. He's also bleeding from a wound on his side but I didn't want to move him before checking for broken bones," he told them when Chin and Kono gathered around them. Danny then pointed to Steve's foot which still had a coil of the rope wrapped around it. "He said his foot is painfully swollen and throbbing inside the boot."
Chin moved to unlace the boot. "Hopefully this will help, but I'd rather keep the boot on in case something is broken."
"Maybe we should log roll him to his side in case there's any back or neck injury," Danny suggested.
"I'll get the supplies set out," Kono said.
"Not a log," Steve mumbled. "I can hear ya."
Catherine smiled and leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on his scraped cheek.
Steve gave a lopsided grin. "That better not be Danno."
"Only in your dreams, Steven."
"Nightmares," Steve argued.
"Guys," Chin said, getting their attention. "Could we do less arguing and more working?" he asked them. "Steve, we're going to have to move you, so at the same time, I think we should get you onto one of the sleeping bags. That has to be better than lying on the hard ground and it doesn't look like you'll get off this mountain tonight."
"I can—"
"Hey, Boss. Just let us do the work," Kono interrupted. "We got'cha," she added with a grin.
There was a lot of grunting and groaning… mostly from the workers, but Steve was soon settled into a sleeping bag. A bandage was wrapped around his head, holding the dressing in place on his temple. There was also a bleeding cut to the back of his head from where he had collided with the tree.
The cut on Steve's side was jagged and raw, but had quit seeping blood before they began to cleanse it. Catherine had used a couple of bottles of water to flush as much dirt and rock that she could from the wound. It definitely needed medical attention, but it was as clean as they could make it with their meager supplies. She slathered antibiotic ointment on layered gauze on top of the wound then secured it with an Ace bandage around his abdomen.
Both Steve's hands were cut and scraped and his left one was raw from rope burns. It was treated and wrapped as well. His shirt and pants had been shredded in various places; the skin beneath scraped and cut. They cleaned them as well as they could although some of the deeper cuts should have been stitched. Painful looking bruises were already well formed all over his body. Cath had gently palpated his abdomen and lower belly for any signs of internal bleeding, but it looked like he had gotten away lucky. Now their main concern was the concussion and Steve's intermittent consciousness and memory loss.
Even while they were cleaning him up, he couldn't stay awake and each time he awoke had difficulty remembering where he was for a few moments.
Catherine was sitting on a second sleeping bag by Steve's side while he fitfully dozed. She absently rubbed his arm while listening to the others discussing their plan of action. It didn't concern her for the time being because she was right where she intended to stay regardless of the plans the team made.
Several minutes later it was decided that Chin and Kono would head back up top. The rope they had used to descend had been tied off around a tree and the trip back up should be easier, even in the dark. Before finishing their day, they would head back to the office to talk with Raymond who apparently was being very uncooperative with Duke. They hoped that by knowing Steve was alive and talking, it might cause him to reconsider confessing. Charlie Fong had also texted that the blood on the artifact was a match to Steve's, so even if they had nothing else, they had Raymond Mahoe on assault and attempted murder of a law enforcement official.
But even with that, they wanted to know what had happened to the other two dead bodies. Chin had managed to make his way over to where Dennis' body was located and got a positive ID and confirmed that Dennis was actually deceased.
A couple minutes after Chin and Kono had left, Danny's phone rang and Steve's face filled the screen. "Hello?" Danny hesitantly answered.
"Hey, Brah. Found the boss's phone and it doesn't even have a scratch on it."
"That's good, Kono, although I think Steve single-handedly keeps Apple in business with his numerous lost, smashed or water-logged iPhones. I'd hate for one of Steve Jobs' kids to go without shoes this month because we managed to salvage one."
Kono laughed "Brah, we don't even use iPhones, so the kids have to get their shoes without our help. … See you tomorrow. We'll be in touch."
- - - H50 - - -
Catherine and Danny settled on each side of Steve, each in a sleeping bag, but sitting there and watching him like hawks. It was nearing midnight but the stars were out in abundance, bathing the entire area in light. Steve had been quiet for a while before his face scrunched up in pain and he groaned.
"Hey, Steve, we're right here. Take it easy," Catherine whispered, touching his arm so that he could feel her presence.
He rolled his head in her direction and grimaced again. "Unh?" Steve struggled to open his eyes but they were too heavy and he lacked the strength to fully wake. "Kami?"
"What?" Cath asked, leaning closer to him and glancing at Danny with worry. "Steve, everything's OK" she soothed. "It's Catherine. Danny's here, too. Everything will be all right." She lightly rubbed her fingers across his forehead, on top of the bandage. "We've got you."
"Where's Cale?" Steve mumbled. "He still here?"
"Shh," she told him, confused at the names he was saying.
"Take care of Cale…" He settled back down and Catherine breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was weird," she remarked, leaning down to lightly touch his forehead with her lips.
"I'll watch him for a while," Danny offered. "Why don't you lie down for a bit and get some rest?"
"Thanks, Danny. I will later. Just not ready to stop and settle down yet. But you can lie down."
"Eh, I'm not sleepy yet either, so I guess we both will watch him for a while."
Catherine finally snuggled up close to Steve's side and closed her eyes, only to be wide awake again in minutes.
"What the hell were you thinkin, Cale?" Steve said in frustration. "I mean, glad you want to defend yourself, but come on…"
"Hey, Steve, it's Danny. You're OK. Go back to sleep."
"Dan-?"
"Yeah, buddy, I'm here."
"Where's Kami?"
"Who's Kami?" Danny patiently asked.
Steve huffed in frustration. "Cale, what's wrong with you? You should'a waited 'til we were down the stairs."
They waited for more dialogue but he drifted off again, only to mumble on and off for hours. At times, he knew Catherine and Danny but during other wakeful periods, Steve talked to unknown friends named Kami and Cale…
- - - H50 - - -
Haiku Stairs - 1989
"Steve? Come on, Steve, wake up!"
He heard the voice like through a thick fog and just wished it would stop so he could go back to sleep. Steve was just about to drift back to deeper sleep when the events from yesterday slammed into him, and with it came the pain all over his body. But the worst was his head… or maybe his shoulder. He changed that opinion when he moved his foot and cried out from the pain charging all the way up his leg.
"Steve?"
"Ugh... 'm awake," he whispered without opening his eyes.
"You don't look awake," Kami said and lightly shook his friend's uninjured shoulder.
"Ouch, stop that." Steve's eyes popped open when the jarring hurt not only his shoulder but also his head.
"Now you look awake." Kami grinned at Steve.
Steve only glared back and slowly sat up with the help of his two friends. The movement made him a little dizzy again, but at least he didn't feel sick.
"What time's it?" Steve asked, still not fully awake.
"Almost eight," Cale answered.
"What?" Steve couldn't believe how much time had passed. "We gotta get back up to the stairs and make our way down," Steve said without much enthusiasm.
"Steve, you think you can make it up to the stairs?" Kami asked and offered him an energy bar.
"Yeah, I think so," Steve said but shook his head about the 'breakfast'. He wasn't sure his stomach could handle any food at the moment, he still felt a little queasy.
"How's your head?" Cale asked.
"Doesn't hurt that much right now," Steve answered. He was happy that the intense pain from just a few minutes ago had dissipated somewhat. But the longer he sat up the dizzier he felt.
"Are you still dizzy?"
Steve looked at Kami and nodded, "a little."
"Maybe it would be better if I go to get help and you just wait here with Cale?"
"No, I can hike down the mountain. I'll be fine." Steve still hoped his dad wouldn't find out they had gone up the Haiku Stairs. "Our parents don't need to know that we were up here."
"How will you explain your injuries?" Kami was skeptical.
"I'll tell them that I fell, but we don't have to tell them where."
"NO!" Cale called out. "Dorian pushed you, he needs to get punished for what he did."
"But then they will know what we did," Steve said.
"You want to lie to your dad?" Kami asked.
"No, just not telling the…" Steve paused and thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, that won't work," Steve finally agreed. He could never lie to his dad or mom like that. "You're right, Cale, we need to tell them. Dorian shouldn't get away like that."
"So, you wait here for help?" Kami asked in hope.
"Hell, no!"
- - - H50 - - -
"Shit!" Steve exclaimed in his sleep just before dawn.
"What's wrong?" Danny quickly asked, rolling onto his side in the sleeping bag to check on his friend.
"They're gonna kill us," Steve mumbled.
Danny looked at Catherine who had sat up on Steve's other side. He shrugged at her blank look and asked, "Who's going to kill us?"
"Parents, you moron."
"Why?"
"Why? Geez, Cale, what's wrong with you? Your mom's gonna kill you, too. We weren't s'posed to ever climb up here. Like E.V.E.R. 'M gonna be grounded until I'm forty."
Danny grinned and whispered, "Do you get the feeling that Steve has been in trouble on these stairs before today?" he asked.
"I can't wait to find out the answer to that," Cath told him when Steve settled into sleep once again. "Wonder how soon the chopper will get here?"
HPD precinct - 1989
John McGarrett looked at the youngster lingering by the door and wondered if he would make up his mind anytime soon. He had been watching the maybe 14-year-old boy for the last few minutes. Just when he had decided to go over and ask him if he needed help the boy took a few tentative steps toward the front desk.
John smiled and turned back to the paperwork piling up on his desk, but was soon interrupted by Duke Lukela who was manning the front desk today.
"John, this is Marty Swan, he said he needs to talk to you," Duke told him.
"Marty, have a seat," John offered the obviously nervous boy a seat next to his desk. "Thanks, Duke."
"Sure. Call me if you need anything."
"So, Marty, what can I do for you? Are you in trouble?" John turned his full attention to the fidgeting boy.
"I... we... Sir, I'm so sorry," Marty began and then looked down to the floor.
"Marty, what did you do?"
"I... I didn't do it, Sir. Dorian... but he said not to tell anyone... but... he fell, and..."
"OK, slow down. Start from the beginning," John interrupted.
"We-"
"Who is 'we'?"
"Me, Dorian, Max and Keanu. Yesterday we went hiking... up the Haiku Stairs," Marty added in a low voice.
"You went up the Haiku Stairs?" John McGarrett asked in a stern voice. "That is really dangerous, they are closed for a reason. OK, then what happened?"
"On our way down... there were these three kids... they were on their way up, and taking a break, I guess... Dorian... he made fun of them, but then he started picking on Cale...," Marty said and paused, gathering his thoughts. "Dorian was really mad after Steve pushed him away from Cale, and then..."
"Wait, what? Steve and Cale? Who was the third boy?" McGarrett got a really bad feeling about this. How many Cales could there be on the islands with a friend whose name was Steve?
"Yeah, Kami, they're all in the same class."
McGarrett swore under his breath. "What happened then, Marty?"
"Dorian went after Cale, but Steve jumped in and... Dorian, he rammed into him... Steve... he crashed against the rail and then... then he fell down the mountain and was just gone..."
"Oh my God. This was yesterday?" After receiving a nod in the affirmative, McGarrett stood up and wasn't sure if he should slap this boy silly or hug him for coming forward. "You stay here," John ordered, pointing at the chair. He then called Duke over.
"What's going on?"
"Steve and his friends are in trouble," John didn't dare even think that his son might be dead. "We need to call in rescue... Marty, you tell Officer Lukela everything you just told me, and tell him where we can find Dorian."
"Yes, Sir," Marty quietly said.
"Duke, I gotta go, no time for an explanation." John McGarrett was out the precinct in seconds and on his way to the Haiku Stairs, already calling Fire & Rescue to organize the best and fastest way to get the three kids off the mountain.
- - - H50 - - -