"Commander McGarrett, I need you to let me check you over."
Steve glowers up at the paramedic. "I'm fine." He turns his gaze back to Danny, who's already got several IVs in his arms and whose blood is covering the hands of the other paramedic.
"Sir, that wasn't a request."
"I said I'm fine!" McGarrett snapped.
The paramedic looks at him sternly. "Commander, I don't want to sedate you, but I will do what I have to."
"I'd like to see you try," Steve growls, tensing.
The paramedic sighs, his expression softening. "Listen, Commander. Your partner has a very difficult road ahead of him, and he's going to need you there to support, alright? If you're down for the count, you won't be any good to him. Let me check you out."
Steve hesitates, then nods his consent. The paramedic takes his heart rate and blood pressure, frowning to himself, then looks at the cut on McGarrett's head. He takes out a small flashlight and shines it in front of McGarrett's eyes.
"Commander, how are you feeling? And dizziness, nausea, headache?"
"My head's killing me," Steve says, realizing for the first time since he'd first awoken in the boathouse just how true that was. He groans and closes his eyes.
"McGarrett, you with me?"
Steve thinks about answering, then decides it's easier to just let the darkness envelop him.
XXX
When he wakes up, his head feels like it's full of fog and the lights seem a little too bright and the monitors a little too loud and he just wants to go back to sleep.
"Steve! Good to see you awake."
"Kono. Hey," Steve says. "What happened? Why am I here?"
"You've got a concussion. Doc says you should be out in a few days, though, as long as someone keeps an eye on you and you take a break from chasing down bad guys for a bit."
Steve smirks. "Yeah. That'll happen." His smile melts away. "How's Danny?"
Kono tries to smile, but Steve can see the sadness in her face. His heart races. "He's not-" His voice catches. "Is he…"
"No, no, Steve. He's alive. Danny's alive. They got his shoulder patched up and though they might have to do surgery on it later, his knee. But between the injuries and the blood loss…he's sick, Steve. His fever hasn't broken and-well, they're worried."
Steve's face falls and his voice becomes quiet and thick with emotion. "This is all my fault. Everything that happened to him is my fault and now he's going to die because of me."
Kono puts a hand on his shoulder and looks him in the face. "No. This is not your fault. You can't blame yourself for this. And Danny is not going to die. He is going to be just fine."
McGarrett doesn't answer her, clearly unconvinced. He doesn't say anything for a few minutes, and Kono stands.
"I should let you rest," she says awkwardly, breaking the silence.
"Wait." Kono turns. "How'd you find us?"
Kono takes a deep breath and sits back down. "When we lost communication with you, we thought it was just a glitch. A few hours went by with not even a peep, and you guys still weren't back…and then Chin figured out that our signal was being blocked. Intentionally. We knew something was wrong so we jumped in the car and drove to the last place we'd tracked you to before the signal went out. When we got there, we found your car smashed and there was blood and…we didn't know what to do. Where to go. We followed the SUV tracks, and found the SUV even, but it had been ditched. There were so many places you guys could have been, and we had virtually no information about the situation. No idea how many hostiles, whether they were armed…we weren't even sure you were still alive. We tried to get information, anything that could be helpful, but we couldn't find anything. Finally, we decided to just go search all the boathouses and…well, we found you."
"Who else was there?"
"Only Lennon."
McGarrett frowns at that. "He can't have been operating alone. There were at least two people in the SUV."
Kono shrugs. "Chin and I have been thinking the same thing. But with Lennon dead, we have nothing to go on."
"Yeah we do."
Kono looks up at him. "What do you mean?"
"Lennon. He kept asking about someone in Wit Sec…Cameron Holloway. Obviously Lennon wasn't working alone, and if he's dead then the people he was working with are going to have to try and find Holloway another way." His mind is churning. A plan is beginning to form. He can see by the look on Kono's face that she's thinking too.
Suddenly, the door bursts open and a nurse rushes in.
"Commander McGarrett? We could really use some help. If you don't mind, could I ask you to get dressed and come with me to Daniel's room?"
McGarrett is already scrambling out of the hospital bed. "What is it?" he asks urgently. "Is he okay? Where the hell are my clothes?"
The nurse points to the closet and Steve yanks it open and pulls out his clothes, quickly getting dressed. "What's going on?" he demands as she leads him down the hall.
"He's hallucinating and they really don't want to have to sedate him. He keeps talking about you and, well, we're hoping you can calm him down."
When they get to the room, Danny is crouched defensively in the corner, his eyes darting back and forth. Blood is running down his arms from where he tore out the IVs. A doctor is standing to the side, trying to stop his nose bleeding with one hand, and holding ice to his jaw with the other.
"I got McGarrett," the nurse says. Steve is already pushing through the doorway. He crouches in front of Danny.
Danny stares through him with glassy, unfocused eyes, breathing heavily-almost wheezing. His hands tremble, and every muscle is tensed. Steve slowly reaches out and places a hand on his partner's shoulder. Danny flinches badly and strikes out. McGarrett barely dodges his fist. He decides to take a different approach, remembering what happened at the boat house.
"Danny? Can you hear me? It's me. It's Steve. I'm here."
There's a flicker of recognition. A frown. A catch in his breath. "Steve."
"Hey, Danno. Why don't you get back in your bed and let the doc take care of you?" Steve suggests.
Still frowning, Danny nods slowly. A few nurses (or doctors or orderlies, McGarret isn't sure) shoo him away and help Danny up and to his hospital bed and close the door and Steve stands alone in the hallway.
XXX
A/N: Sorry guys. Between fevers and funerals and doctor's appointments and auditions and homework and general hectic-ness, there was quite a delay up to this chapter. Thank you so much for the support!