Steve was in and out of HPD as quickly as possible, not wanting anyone to recognize he was injured and call Danny. Steve loved Danny, but he was always much too concerned. Steve could take care of himself, and he didn't want Danny worrying about him. Of course, all the blood on his face made it impossible not to be noticed, and Pua had been extremely close to calling Danny, but Steve managed to convince him that the hospital was his next stop, and it really wasn't as bad as it looked. It helped that Pua didn't notice the holes in the right shoulder of Steve's shirt, assuming all the blood had just come from Steve's face.
As Steve rode up to his house, he was confused. His shiny, new silver truck was in the driveway. He wondered why Danny hadn't just driven it to the restaurant where they were all meeting later. As far as Danny knew, Steve still had his Camaro, and Steve had thought that they would trade vehicles back tonight. Brushing that thought aside, Steve clutched him arm to his chest, breathing heavily as he hurried through the yard. I hope Danny won't get worried when I'm late for drinks, Steve thought, knowing he still had to call Noelani to come over, and it might take a while to get him fixed up.
Steve unlocked his door, walked inside, closed the door, and leaned against it, sighing heavily. He was exhausted, just walking from the motorcycle to the house. He turned on the lights and was greeted by a giant "Surprise!", followed by Danny yelling "What the hell, Steven?" Steve heard a few gasps, as everyone looked over his bloody, tired state. As Steve looked around, there were about twenty very concerned faces staring back at him. The team had obviously arranged a surprise party for him, which would've been nice if he wasn't currently shot and in need of medical attention.
"What happened to you? You told me you were fine!" Danny exploded. "I was," Steve answered sheepishly. "Steve? Did you get shot?" Lynn's voice asked timidly above the crowd. She sounded scared, and Steve hated that she was seeing him like this. She didn't need to worry about him. Steve sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I took two rounds to the shoulder, but they're both through and throughs, so it's really no big deal. I was just going to have Noelani stitch me up." He said, pointing at her through the crowd of now mostly dumbstruck, and some admiring, faces. "I didn't know all of you were going to be here."
"That's enough!" Danny yelled. "Come on Steve, we're going to the hospital." Steve began to protest, but Danny nipped it in the bud. He opened the door and walked out, holding it open expectantly for Steve, who gave in and walked outside. "We'll be back in a little bit. Please, enjoy the party!" Steve addressed the guests as Danny closed the door, rolling his eyes. "So did you really... Steve, where's my car?" "Oh yeah, um... it kind of got torched by the guys who shot me. I think they were Yakuza trying to steal the diamonds. Don't worry, I got them both." "Yeah, because that's what I was so worried about!" Danny threw his hands in the air, exasperated, as he climbed into the driver seat of Steve's truck.
"Did you really drive yourself here on a motorcycle after being shot twice? Why didn't you call me?" Danny asked, sounding and looking genuinely hurt. "I just knew you would worry, and you were so excited about my birthday." "That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard. You're impossible," Danny sighed as they pulled up to the ER.
The hospital staff immediately began rushing around Steve, and he began to feel bad, seeing the extremely concerned look on his partner's face. "Hey, Danno, trust me, I'm fine!" Steve yelled as they wheeled him away. It only took the ER half an hour to stitch Steve's shoulder and eyebrow, determine he had a broken nose and cheekbone, give him a prescription, and send him on his way.
Steve's shoulder was heavily bandaged, and his right arm was in a sling to keep it still. Steve's shirt had been cut off and the hospital was running low on scrubs, so the big bandage was all he was wearing from the chest up. Paired with his cargo pants, combat boots, and bruised face, Steve thought he looked ridiculous, but when they thought he wasn't paying attention, Steve had heard two nurses whispering about how badass he looked.
"Do you think they really ran out of scrubs?" Danny whispered to him as they walked down the hall to the emergency room doors. "What do you mean?" Steve asked, confused. Danny raised his eyebrows at Steve, looking around at all of the nurses who were oogoling a shirtless Steve walking down the hall. "Please Danny, those are professionals," Steve responded with a grin and a wink. Even though he felt and thought he looked like crap, he still was a Navy SEAL, and always noticed women looking appreciatively at his body wherever they went.
"So... who all is at this party of yours?" Steve asked, modestly trying to change the subject. "Pretty much everyone you know," Danny snorted, "We've got, of course, Chin, Kono, Lou, Jerry, Abby, Adam, and myself,along with Kamekona, Grace, Charlie, Nahele, the Grovers, Duke and his wife, Lynn, Noelani, Sang Min, Odell, and a few others. You get the picture." "Sounds great!" Steve chuckled, "Maybe now we can actually show up at my own party." "There may be one person there that I forgot to mention," Danny said, trying to sound innocent. "Well?" Steve asked impatiently. "Alicia." Danny replied with a smile. Steve cared deeply for Alicia and thought there might be something there, but with Lynn at the party it would just be awkward. Steve liked Lynn a lot, but he and Alicia just had a connection somehow. This was going to be interesting.