Disclaimer: No, Hawaii 5-0 doesn't belong to me. It does to CBS.
A/N: Hi everyone, thanking for waiting. The next parts are here, all beta-ed thanks to Marie Thea. This is as good as my research. I hope I faired okay.
000
TAKEN
7: Taking in the Damages
Steve searched for his partner under all the white gauze covering his injured body. He had been at it for almost two days, failing. He had yet to associate the prone figure on the hospital bed as being the expressive Danny Williams.
One pad hid the seven stitches on Danny's left temple. Two more protected his eyes. A ventilator shadowed the rest of his face. Danny's hands had been thoroughly wrapped and his broken left wrist set into a brace. They were resting on soft looking pillows. Only the ugly dark strangulation bruises were left in plain sight, contrasting with the pallid skin.
By some miracle, Danny had sustained very few external burns; his hands having taken the brunt of it. However, he was suffering from a moderately severe case of smoke inhalation from which he might never completely recover. With a high risk of pneumonia within the next four to five days and other opportunistic infections, Danny might not recover at all.
"You got this far, Danno," Steve told the unconscious man. "You've got to keep going. You won't be alone, I promise." He looked down at the picture of Grace that had been given back to him. He had found a new picture frame for it earlier, down in the gift shop. It actually looked nice. Carefully, he placed it on a nearby bedside table, out of harm's way.
High heels hitting tiles informed Steve of Rachel's arrival. "It's a very beautiful picture of Gracie," said the child's mother from the doorway of Danny's ICU cubicle.
"It is," he agreed. He covered the distance separating him from his friend's ex-wife in two strides.
"How is he?" Rachel asked, voice strained and hesitant.
"Stable," Steve replied, eyes moving back in Danny's direction.
"I guess that's good," she said, at last.
"I'm not actually sure what it means, either," he told her. "I— I just wish we could have gotten to him sooner."
She put a hand on his arm, inviting him to look back at her. "You got to him, Steve," she pointed out the simple fact. "That's what is important."
He nodded. "How is Gracie holding up?"
The mother took a deep breath, obviously sympathizing with her eight year-old daughter. "She doesn't quite understand what happened to her father and why she can't be with him while he is sick. She's scared."
"Seeing her grandparents and her Aunt Allie might help," offered Steve.
"I think so, too," agreed Rachel, not insensitive to the need of the family to be together in such a difficult time. "It is too bad Patrick could not come right away. They are a close knitted family."
Steve had gathered as much when he had informed the Williams of what had happened to Danny. "Thank you for allowing me to bring Gracie to the airport with me," Steve told her with a small, but heartfelt smile.
"You're welcome. She is waiting for you in the lobby with Stan."
Understanding that Rachel needed her own time alone with her ex-husband, Steve gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before leaving the room. Danny's family was scheduled to land at Honolulu International in an hour; Steve and Gracie would be there to greet them.
000
A/N: I know this part is short, but more is coming.
(Dec 2010)