It was just before dawn when I woke up and got dressed, we had somewhere to be in just under an hour and needed time to get up the hill before the sunrise hit the summit; it took a little bit of persuasion but he managed to get up and within five minutes we were climbing the hill behind us at full speed. I lead him up the old path through the forest and stopped halfway through for a quick rest and drink at the waterfall, I saw he had ideas about that in his head and I pulled him away from it before we climbed for a further ten minutes and reached the small dip in the hill before the summit. We climbed up in silence as I requested and were greeted with the gang from last night in full regalia, I nodded to them all and pulled Steve to the circle that was now forming on the summit; he was looking confused for a moment and then one of the chieftains carried two urns into the centre of the circle. Steve looked at me and then noticed that the entire circle had gone into a strong stance and he looked at the horizon that was quickly becoming an amazing red and gold colour. The second chieftain came forward and took one of the urns in his hands, he showed it to everyone and we all drew our small daggers out and held them out like crosses.

"Ar ais mé na laochra fola a mháthair Albain, throid siad agus a fuair bás ar son saoirse na ndaoine nach bhfuil a fhios - táimid onóir dóibh mar laochra fíor agus a n-anam ar ais chuig an tír dhúchais." The first chieftain called.

"Beo saor in aisce agus a mheabhrú!" the second chieftain cried.

"Deo ar siúl" the circle and I called back.

Both men released the ashes as the sun hit the horizon and the wind scattered the remains to the four corners of Scotland that could be seen from this summit, Steve was still at attention but I could see the gooseflesh down his skin and I knew he was moved by what he had just witnessed. The bagpipes started to play the lament and tailed off to the sunrise hitting it's fullness; I touched his hand and smiled as the circle broke apart and headed for the small campfire further along the ridgeline, time for breakfast!

"That was, what was that?" Steve asks gently.

"Our regiment has a tradition, one only known to those who respect the old faith and pagan ways of Scotland. We bring up the remains of our fallen friends, say our goodbyes and then scatter them back to earth to be reborn," I replied following everyone for the camp.

"Can you tell me what was said exactly?"

I nodded and stopped him at the fallen log opposite the campfire.

"I return these blood warriors to mother Scotland, they fought and died for freedom of people they don't know - we honour them as true heroes and return their souls to the homeland." I started.

"Live free and be remembered!" I explained pointing to the second chieftain.

"Forever held," I said circling everyone else.

He nodded and shivered slightly, it was eerie the first time I had seen it, but now it was comforting, I smiled at Steve and leaned against his shoulder; he knew something was up and just held me for a moment.

"I knew of the first casualty, I didn't realise there was a secondary loss too – you should have said something and I would have been more prepared!"

"The second urn was Robert, his wish was to be returned home if possible and remain where he was loved – so I split his ashes between Hawaii and here – I let him go!"

Steve looked at me and pulled me in for a kiss and hug, he had wondered why I was protective over a small plastic tub in my bag and he wouldn't investigate due to respecting my privacy; he planted a kiss on my head and I heard his stomach rumble.

"Chief, you have a Navy Seal hungry over here – lads – time for a raid on the pantry!" I called.

Everyone burst out laughing and a lot of food was brought over to Steve in a basket and he flushed red as they poked fun at him; then they turned on me and said that to be able to eat like that then it must have been some night! I burst out laughing and went beetroot at their lurid comments and play acting – Steve froze and pointed in the background – everyone stopped and looked around to see this massive stag watching us all. We all stood gently and bowed in it's direction; the stag was part of our emblem and we respected it; it sniffed the air, cried out and then disappeared.

"You Scot's are crazier than I first thought!" whispered Steve.

"You just figuring that out Steve!" one of the others said.

"Must be the same kind of crazy though to be doing Sadie – she would scalp him if he misbehaved!" another called in hiliarity.

"Buckle it boneheads – I can still call medicals on you!" I replied.

I got a round of advice and requests that had everyone laughing and Steve choking on his breakfast, I pounded him on the back before we headed off the hill top and made our way back to the cottage – via the waterfall!

Two weeks later

We had arrived back in Hawaii just over ten days ago and we were still buzzed by the welcome we had received from my regiment, Steve made a lot of contacts and friends over there and I caught up on the gossip and even managed to grab some of my belongings I had left by accident on base. One of those things was a crochet blanket my mum had made years ago, it was securely wrapped and would do across the bed when the weather got bad or we wanted to snuggle on the couch at night-time. Steve and Danno were out at a meeting with the Governor and I was holding down the fort while Kono and Chin were still on the last days of medical leave; they had passed their medicals and requalification's with flying colours but I wanted them to enjoy the weekend before starting back on Monday.

I was busy catching up on some paperwork for the nice little drugs den we had busted by accident, well I say accident as I walked into the room doing a warrant search and uncovered a hot-room full of cannabis plants that had been hidden in the heated walls – that's how I mean by accident – I leaned against the wall and scalded my arm! I was trying to put the correct terminology down for my colourful language I had used when I unstuck myself from the wall when my phone went off.

"Corporal McGregor this is Simon Karenna, I'm the head teacher at Grace Williams elementary school!"

"Mr Karenna is everything alright, is Gracie hurt?" I asked with full interest.

"She has come down with a high temperature and stomach upset, we want to send her home but her mother is out of town and I can't contact her father, is it possible that you can take her due to being on the emergency list?" he requested.

I had already grabbed my gear and car keys and basically was walking out the building by the time he had asked; of course I would take Grace. I asked him to keep her warm and lie her down so she could rest and I would be at the school within ten minutes; I hit the light traffic and headed along Palo Way and onto the highway towards the area the school was in. I arrived and parked up outside the main entrance and grabbed my kitbag as I ran up the stairs towards the main office area, they directed me down to the nurses' station and I knocked on the door; thankfully they knew me and didn't freak out about the gun in the holster like some nurses did – that normally just deserved an eye roll. I walked in and found Gracie lying down on the small bed looking worse for wear, the nurse had done a quick check of her temp and showed me the results.

"Ouch, 102.8 – someone is definitely coming home with me!" I whispered.

"Have you given her anything I should know about?" I asked looking at the medication cabinet.

"No, she isn't registered for any medications by the family but she has been sick several times and has upper right tenderness on her stomach," she replied.

I knelt beside Grace who was out cold and I gently stroked her face, she sneezed and opened her eyes that grew large as she saw me kneeling there and she launched herself into my arms; I held on gently and felt her temperature – she was burning up!

"Hey Gracie, seems someone is feeling a little under the weather, want to come to the office with me for the afternoon – see Danno when he is out the meeting?"

She nodded and yawned, I wrapped her up in the blanket I had brought with me and she wobbled as she stood up, screw that she was getting lifted up and I carried her out of the school and got her strapped into the car seat we all had in the boots in case she needed it. I got in and strapped myself in and headed back to the office where I knew I could give her some painkillers and fluids depending on how she was feeling; she was out cold in the backseat and I put the windows down in the back for her to let the sea air clear her head.

About an hour later, after trying to call Danny, Steve and the Governor about forty times, I did another check on Gracie who was still too hot and hadn't managed to drink anything yet and keep it down; I sent one last message to Danno and headed to my medical room to get an IV sorted for Gracie. Five minutes later I had everything set up and Gracie had watched fascinated as I put the IV in the back of her hand and started her on the small bag of fluids and paracetamol for her stomach, she promised me that if she needed anything she had to tell me immediately and she was to sleep as much as possible. I put her back down on the soft couch in my office and wrapped the blanket over her, she was dozing off but I knew she was looking for her music that I had brought home from Scotland for her. Danno thought it was torture music but the Celtic music was a big hit for Gracie and she loved the soothing sounds when she was going to sleep. A few moments later she was out cold listening to her music and I got back down to my paperwork and kept my phone beside me knowing that Danny and Steve would phone me back immediately.

Four hours later the Governor concluded the meeting and allowed everyone to switch their phones back on, a mass of loud beeps came from the two men just about to walk through the door and they both glanced down at their phones that had gone slightly crazy; both of their heads snapped up and they ran out of the meeting room and down towards where they had parked the car. The taller man grabbed the car keys and slid in behind the wheel while the blond man hit up the messages and then started to dial a number.

I had just taken Gracie's temp and vitals again, I wasn't happy since they were a little high for her and her temp was 103.4 now despite the paracetamol and IV I had given her; I loaded up the second dose and got her to the bathroom to do a quick output check and then let her rest after a cooling shower and getting into a change of clothes she had about here from Kono's surfing lessons. I had just got her back into my office when my phone went off, I saw it was Danno and answered the call.

"Sadie, what the hell happened – how is she?" he demanded anxious as hell.

"Danny she is safe with me and I have everything under control, now take a couple of soothing breaths and I will explain alright!" I called over the phone.

I knew Steve was driving by the sudden increase in the engine I could hear in the background, both of them must have exchanged a look and Steve hit the pedal; I rolled my eyes and explained to Danno about the call I received and what I had done so far. I had sent messages to them both letting them know what I was doing, but he had given me full permission to do whatever I needed to help her at any time and I used my judgement call to start the IV since she was dehydrated and the high temperature. I walked over to Gracie and let her talk to her dad for a moment while I unlocked the main doors and then headed back over to her – poor soul had fallen asleep and the phone was now beeping and had ended the call. I tucked her back in and waited on the whirlwind that was Danno in full dad mode.

Thirty minutes later he came running in and headed to my office where I was sitting on the couch with Gracie cuddled up as I sang along to one of the songs she was listening too, she was in some pain with her stomach and I was not giving her stronger painkillers without Danno's consent – even then I would be taking her to hospital if it continued over the next hour. I stopped singing once the door opened and nodded to Danno as I lifted her up and placed her in his arms as he took my place on the couch; I checked the IV and headed out the door to Steve who was looking at his partner and Gracie through the window.

"Hey what happened?" he inquired giving me a cuddle.

"School called me and said she had developed a temperature and pain in her upper right side, her temp was high and I started her on fluids to keep her hydrated; she's been sick a few more times and she's in obvious pain – think it could be her appendix and I'm waiting on a test coming back from Max to make sure." I replied.

"I'm sorry we couldn't answer our phones, the governor had us on electronic lockdown for the meeting, I'll bring you up to speed once we know Gracie is settled and Danno has his hair back on." He replied kissing my head.

At that point the computer monitor went and Max popped up on the screen from his lab, I cheered him hello and he got down to the results of the samples I had sent him.

"You are correct in your assumption Sadie, Grace Williams has the bacterial infection that causes appendicitis and I believe it to be in an advanced stage, I have already alerted the hospital to warn them of your arrival; they are expecting you within the next ten minutes or so!" he shouted as I ran through to my office again.

Danno looked up and I told him to pick her up very gently and put her back on the couch, I ripped through my kit bag and found the cooling pads and wrapped them around her stomach and side as I stopped the IV and wrapped her up in the blanket again. Danno picked her up and Steve and I jumped into his truck moments later and we hit the highway with full lights and siren – screw the legal speed limit on this occasion. I was half over the back seat keeping checks on Gracie due to the temperature and the obvious pain she was in and Danno was holding onto her for dear life; I was keeping them both calm as Steve dodged all the traffic and hit the slipway to take us directly to the main hospital. Within minutes we had parked up and I was giving a run down to the surgeon on call that was waiting for us with his team and a trolley headed directly for theatre; I gave the anaesthetist all the information he needed and exactly what I had given her earlier on for pain relief and IV fluids so they wouldn't repeat the dose too early. We were blocked the moment they went past the red line on the floor and I kept beside Danny who was freaking out inside – couldn't blame him on this occasion since it was the first time Gracie had been properly sick and he wasn't there to help her when she needed it.

"Thank you for being there Sadie," he whispered taking a deep breath.

"You never need to thank me for that Danno, she's like a sister to me and you know I would do anything for her; I have credentials here and I can go and watch the operation – would that make you more comfortable knowing that I was there overseeing them?" I replied giving him a hug.

He looked at me and nodded, I leaned in to kiss his cheek and went over to Steve to let him know I would be back in a couple of hours, he nodded and I handed him some change to get Danno a cup of tea so he could take the Kalms I was slipping him. I went to the nurses' station and showed them my credentials, they directed me to the viewing platform along the corridor and I went with a quick wave to watch over Gracie.