Take Two: Chapter Fifteen

When Danny woke up, it was the next day. He was in the hospital. This took him a while to decipher. He had on an oxygen mask. Moreover, a nurse was changing the bandages around his chest. The pain had forced him out of sleep.

"Good morning, sir." The nurse whispered. "Are you in any pain?'

He nodded.

"Out of ten?"

"Ten." Danny admitted. He clenched his teeth.

"I'm sorry to hear that." The nurse said. He finished bandaging Danny's chest. "Then he turned up the dial on Danny's morphine. "Would you like some water?"

Danny didn't hear this question. He was looking at the bed around him. Rachel was asleep in the corner of the room. Grace was next to her, also asleep.

"Sir?"

"Um, yes. Please." Danny tried to swallow, but his throat was dry. He stared at his girls once more. The nurse nodded and left the room.

Danny craned his neck to check the clock on the nightstand. It was three in the morning. What were they still doing here? They should be asleep in their own rooms, at their home.

As if to answer his question, Danny was surprised when Stan himself walked into the room. Danny was so surprised he didn't know if he should pretend to sleep or not. Stan was holding a sleeping Charlie. He walked into the room, without looking at Danny, and woke Rachel up. Then, Danny really pretended to sleep.

"Let's go." Stan said. "The nurse said there's not much we can do right now."

Rachel nodded. She was tired, and she knew Stan was unhappy. She woke up Grace, who was too tired to protest. Grace kissed her father on the forehead before the family left. His family.

Stan was always a better father, anyway.

Before Danny could think any further, the nurse returned with a much-needed glass of water. Danny opened his eyes and accepted the water, cringing as he moved.

"Your partner just arrived, sir." The nurse said.

"Hm?"

"Commander McGarrett. He just arrived, sir. I told him to let you rest."

"No." Danny shook his head, swallowing the cold water. "No, it's okay, let him in."

"Of course, sir." The nurse nodded. He left the room.

Steve was so happy to see Danny he almost forgot about the broken ribs. Before he could pat Danny on the shoulder, however, Danny interjected.

"I'm fragile, Steven."

"Back to your old self in no time." Steve smiled, pulling up a chair. "I can't tell you how good it is to see your frowning face."

"Thanks, babe." Danny smiled back. "Likewise."

Steve's smile faded. He checked his phone before putting it in his pocket. "You okay, man?"

"I don't know. What's wrong?"

"With you?'

"With me."

"Two broken ribs. Cuts and bruises all over your chest. Smoke in your lungs. Done with the water?" When Danny nodded, Steve took the cup from his hands. "Put this back on." He put the oxygen mask crudely back on his partner. Danny rolled his eyes and readjusted the mask.

"What happened?" Danny asked, his breath fogging up the mask. "I'm freaking out a little."

Steve started to respond, but shrugged and put his head in his hands. "What's the last thing you remember, Danny?"

"You."

"Cute."

"Your voice." Danny persisted. "I kept hearing your voice, yelling my name. But I'm not sure why, or what-" Danny stopped. His eyes shut quickly. The pain was slowly fading, but that didn't stop the slew of memories.

"Danny-"

"Eric."

Steve looked down. "Danny, I should have stayed with you. I shouldn't have gone to see Joel with Lou. It was stupid, to split up like that."

"Steve-"

"Eric's okay. Eric's okay. He's, uh, he's in custody, but he's okay."

"Steve." Danny was beginning to panic.

"He shot Ricardo, Danny."

"No. No." Danny shook his head. "That doesn't make sense."

The nurse popped his head in before Steve could respond. Danny's pulse had risen exponentially. "All right, out." He said to Steve. "He doesn't need this stress right now."

"No-" Danny and Steve both protested. The nurse was also persistent.

"My patient needs to rest. He's only been able to sleep when his pain medication is working."

Steve glanced at Danny. He hadn't know this.

"This is police business." Danny didn't miss a beat. "Please."

The nurse pursed his lips. "Fine. Five more minutes."

"Ten minutes. Thank you." Steve nodded. The nurse left the room, shaking his head.

"Steve, what the hell is going on?"

"Okay," Steve leaned forward slightly on Danny's hospital bed. "You remember there were some assassins sent to kill you from the cartel?"

"Uh-huh."

"It was a set up. There were no assassins. Remember your office was trashed, though? Your file was stolen."

"Uh-huh."

"Someone planted a bomb in your office."

Danny grabbed Steve's wrist suddenly. "Abby." He said. His eyes were wide. "Steve-"

"She's in the room next to you. She's going to be okay. She has a concussion."

Danny closed his eyes.

"She saved your life. Ricardo had locked the doors, and Abby was able to open it and let us in before she passed out."

"Ricardo?" Danny shook his head. "Who's Ricardo?"

"Marco Reyes's older brother. He's the one who's been behind it all, Danny. He was going to kill you."

"But-"

"But." Steve ran a tired hand along his face. "Eric shot him."

Danny was silent. He didn't know what to say. "Eric doesn't own a gun, Steven."

"He took Kono's gun." Steve could see Danny was still confused. "Kono and Eric tried to get Ricardo off of you. He was…he was strangling you, Danny."

"What?" Danny whispered. He had no recollection of his at all. He could see, however, that Steve clearly remembered. His eyes were ablaze with fury. "No, no-"

"Kono dropped her gun while pulling him off of you. Eric picked it up."

Danny stared at Steve. He shook his head. "Is he-?"

"Ricardo's in surgery. We still don't know if he's going to make it. But, Danny, we had policemen downstairs, they heard the explosion, and they saw Eric shoot him. They had to arrest him."

Danny put his head in his hands. "What time is it?" he muttered into his palms.

"3:30 in the morning."

"Eric's in jail?"

"Yes."

Danny sucked in his breath. He popped his neck. Then, he began to take out the needles in his arm. He pushed his covers back and got out of the bed.

"Whoa, Danny!" Steve held up his partner as Danny clutched his side, eyes squeezed shut. "Danny, get back in bed."

"Are you going to help me, or not, huh? Go distract the nurses. Say something cute. Try to make a joke. I don't care." Danny struggled to stand back up. He slowly made his way to the bathroom. He wanted to see what he looked like. When he flipped on the light and took a look at himself, he was surprised. He wasn't wearing a shirt, since the nurse had been taping his chest. Danny could see bruising emerging from under the tape. Moreover, his chest was covered in cuts. He turned around and looked at his back. He had stitches in places where the shards of glass had cut deep. Danny looked at his neck. Purple bruises. Danny still didn't remember being strangled. This thought terrified him.

When Danny went back into the room, Steve handed him a sweatshirt. New York Mets. Rachel had brought it over when she brought Grace to see her father. Danny gratefully put on the sweatshirt. He kept on the hospital sweatpants.

"Coast is clear. We'll take my truck." Steve said. Without further ado, the two snuck out of the hospital.

Kono had nearly fallen asleep standing up, but her phone chimed suddenly. She was in Ricardo's room, waiting for the man to return from surgery. The surgery was long. Eric, a terrible shot, had managed to shoot Ricardo in the collar bone.

Kono looked at her phone. A message from Steve. Cover us.

Kono looked up. Oh no. What's going on? She quickly typed back.

Danny and I are going to jail. He wants to see Eric.

Kono didn't respond. Instead, she called Chin.

Abby was still unconscious. The doctor had assured Chin she would be okay, but Chin was still worried. Lou sat next to Chin. He was asleep, as well. When Chin's phone rang, Lou jolted.

"What in hell?" Lou grumbled as Chin laughed an apology.

"It's Kono." He said. "It could be about Ricardo." He put the phone to his ear. "Kono."

"Chin, Steve and Danny escaped."

"Escaped?"

"You know what I mean. They left the hospital."

"To go where?" Lou asked.

"They went to see Eric."

Chin glanced at Lou. He didn't want to leave Abby, but someone should go after them. Lou took the hint.

"I'm on my way." Lou said, standing and stretching.

"Lou's on his way." Chin informed Kono as Lou left the room.

"Okay good. How's Abby?"

"Still asleep." Chin said.

"Hang in there cuz, she'll be fine."

"She saved Danny's life, you know." Chin said quietly.

Kono didn't answer, for at the moment, Ricardo was being wheeled into the rom. Kono watched the man's chest rise and fall evenly.

"Kono?" Chin said.

"He's alive, Chin." Kono said.