Steve had long been an early riser, but he'd never appreciated it as much as he did now. There was a subtle yet delightful distinction between being 'up early' and 'up before everyone else'. The latter allowed him several privileges; watching his little family sleep peacefully was at the top of the list. He was both thankful and deservedly proud of the fact that he could now wake up, press gentle kisses to the back of Jax's neck, and slip out of bed and into his board shorts without disturbing her. For the most part, the hypervigilance that once had her bolting awake at the slightest shift in sound or movement had been put to rest. Pupule accompanied him down the stairs, but even the cat had learned to expect an extended pause in the doorway of the nursery. Annie and Billy were curled in their crib, a chubby bundle of yin and yang. Steve felt like he could stare at them for hours and never tire of watching their little bellies rise and fall with their breath. Annie's tiny pink lips were in a little O around her thumb.
A deep meow from Pupule reminded him that the cat expected to be fed by the first person awake. There was also the other privilege Steve enjoyed – getting a generous cup of coffee before Jax stumbled out of bed and claimed the rest of the pot.
He smiled to himself as he set out an extra mug for her after pouring his own. He carefully went out the back door and down to the chairs. Their stretch of beach offered spectacular sunsets, but Steve still enjoyed the delicate shift of the light increasing at sunrise, shifting the appearance of the water from dull to sparkling as the sun rose behind him.
"Good morning, husband," Jax mumbled, sitting down next to him. She had the baby monitor in one hand and her coffee in the other.
"Well, good morning, wife." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Did you want to swim this morning, since you're up early?"
She gestured to his board shorts. "Nah, you're all set and ready. Go ahead; maybe this evening you can handle the munchkins' baths and I'll swim."
"Better yet," he said, standing and stretching, "we can take them out in the water together for a few minutes, then I'll take them in and let you get in some laps."
"Perfect," she sighed. "Now go, so I can shamelessly ogle the muscle and ink."
"Aye, aye, ma'am."
#*#*#*#*#
He was surprised to see Jax still sitting by the water when he emerged, dripping, from his morning swim.
"Hey," he said, jogging up to the chairs and grabbing a towel.
"Hey, yourself." She waggled the baby monitor in his direction. "Kids are still asleep. Want to see what trouble we can get into before they demand bottles?"
"Holy hell, woman, why'd you let me swim so long?" he demanded, scooping her up and tossing her over his shoulder. He strode toward the house, his long legs covering the distance, while Jax laughed. He deposited her gently – and quietly, very quietly – onto the bottom stair.
"Shower?" she whispered, kissing the soft skin beneath his ear.
Pupule came out of the kitchen, then promptly turned around and headed back to the laundry room as a damp towel was tossed absently in his general direction.
Their feet tangled together as Jax backed up, uninterested in relinquishing the access to Steve's neck provided by the stairs.
"We're going to wake the twins," he murmured. "Not to – shit – mention explaining a broken arm to Gus."
She sighed and tugged him impatiently up the last two stairs as he muffled a snort. His damp board shorts and her oversized FDNY t-shirt were haphazardly discarded between the bedroom door and the bathroom. Jax placed the baby monitor carefully on the counter as Steve adjusted the faucet. In their haste, they stepped into the shower before it was warm.
"'S cold," Jax hissed.
Steve wrapped his arms around her and spun them around, blocking the cold spray with his body.
"C'mere, I'll keep you warm," he said.
Jax groaned. "Ironic. Smooth Dog is a totally ironic nickname; we all know it."
#*#*#*#*#
Gus eyed her suspiciously.
"What?" Jax said, wide-eyed innocence personified as she looped her stethoscope around her neck.
"You know what, I don't want to know," Gus decided. "None of my business. But I'm just saying, three or more kids in diapers, that's too much. So watch it, you."
"Don't worry, Gus, not planning for more surprises, I assure you."
"That's the thing about surprises, they –"
She was cut off by a shout from the desk clerk. "Incoming!"
Jax and Gus headed for the central desk.
"What do we got?" Gus asked.
"Inbound from Pearl Hickam. Multiple injuries, something about an equipment malfunction in the engine room of a ship in port for repairs."
"How many patients?" Dr. Marks had joined them.
"At least three, not sure," the clerk said. "ETA is five minutes, I guess we'll know then."
"Okay, prep Trauma 1, 2, and 3," Dr. Marks ordered. "If they're calling ahead it's serious. And Jax?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Get Five-O in here to speak with these patients. Something is very wrong; these incidents are way too frequent to be coincidental. I'm not going to stand by and wait for the Army and Navy to have a pissing match over jurisdiction while we send soldiers and sailors to our morgue."
"On it," Jax said, pulling out her phone. "Steve? We need the team at Tripler." She hung up, hesitated, then dialed another number. The phone rang a few times, and she had her finger hovering over the end button when she heard the voice on the other end.
"Hello?"
She took a deep breath. "Dad? I'm sorry to call abruptly like this, and I don't have time to explain, but I have a question. How many accidents on a ship before it's no accident?"
#*#*#*#*#
When the team arrived, the Emergency Department was a scene of controlled chaos.
Dr. Marks saw them first. "Commander McGarrett, I know your team is here to ask some questions, but we could use your medic skills first."
"Absolutely," Steve said. "Where do you need me?"
"Trauma 2."
Steve didn't waste time with more questions. "Danny, everybody, see if extra hands are needed with the more minor injuries, otherwise, we'll hang back until everyone is stable and we see who can talk to us."
"Copy that," Kono said. She and Chin turned to check in with the desk clerk, but Danny stayed on Steve's heels.
"Danny, I –" Steve started, as he strode toward Trauma 2.
"Just tell me what to do," Danny said. "You know I can handle it."
Jax looked up as they pushed through the curtain, relief crossing her face. "We're spread too thin, and I need extra hands to control this bleeding. We just need to get him stable enough to go to surgery, but right now I'm standing here with one hand on the brachial and one on the femoral and I can't move."
"I'll take the femoral," Steve said, snapping on a pair of gloves. "Danny, find more gauze pads, the biggest and thickest you can."
"On it," Danny said, turning to the cabinets.
"Okay, on three," Steve said, placing the heel of his hand next to Jax's on the patient's thigh. "One, two, three." They transferred pressure from
Jax to Steve seamlessly. The sailor groaned in pain as Steve put significantly more weight on the wound.
Danny came to the gurney with large handfuls of gauze. He grabbed a pair of gloves and snapped them on, then started opening the packets quickly.
"The medics didn't get the bleeding under control?" Steve asked, gritting his teeth in sympathy as the man writhed beneath him.
"Thought it was," Jax said. "They couldn't see all the shrapnel; some of it moved transferring him from the ambulance gurney to this one. Must have been close already, and then with the small shift, nicked the arteries. Thanks, Danny, keep it coming. I should be able to get a pressure bandage on the arm in a moment."
"Same here," Steve said. "You want pressure bandage or tourniquet?"
Jax glanced down at the blood soaked wound and surrounding area. "Tourniquet. He's going straight to surgery, so we don't have to worry about it being on too long. Tray to your left."
Steve reached over with one hand and plucked the correct packet from the neatly stacked supplies.
"Danny," Jax said. "Help me with the arm, then I can help Steve with the leg."
"Got it, babe, what do you need?"
"Pressure bandage, tray to your right. Unwrap it and slide it under his forearm . . . perfect." With the bandage in place, Jax's hands moved at a blur, wrapping and fastening it. "Okay, Steve, I'll get the tourniquet in place, hold on." They moved in sync, swiftly wrapping the tourniquet and putting tension above the wound. The sailor groaned again.
"I know," Jax said, "I'm sorry. We're almost there . . . okay, got it." She stuck her head outside the curtain. "This one's ready for transport to –"
"Take him," Dr. Marks called from across the aisle. "Don't wait for orderlies."
"Got it," Jax said. She expertly kicked the locks free on the wheels of the gurney. "Give me a hand?" she asked Steve.
"Yeah, lead the way," Steve said. "Danny, get the id and bag his clothes for evidence. See what else you can bag from the other patients."
Jax and Steve pushed the gurney as quickly as they dared toward the elevator, catching it just before the doors closed.
Jax let out a slow breath. "Hi," she said, looking up at Steve, absently shoving an escaped curl behind her ear.
"Hi. I'm glad you called us."
"Marks made the decision. Steve, there's no way this is a coincidence. This was another fan blade incident. And I asked . . ."
"Yeah?" he prompted.
"I called my father. He agrees; he's never seen anything like this on a ship, not this many incidents this close together."
"Five-0 is going to take this on," Steve said. "We'll enlist the help of NCIS if we can use them, but we can cut through channels faster than they can."
"Four major injuries," Jax said. "That's four sailors headed for surgery. We've got about a half dozen other walk-ins waiting for sutures. I have no idea what the hell happened, just that it did involve a fan blade. He was able to tell me that much before it all went sideways."
The elevator dinged, and a team of scrub-clad personnel was waiting for them. "We've got it from here," one of them said, waving them back into the elevator. "No offense, but we try to keep ED cross-contamination off the surgical floor."
"Understood," Jax said. "Please keep us posted."
The elevator began its descent. "You talked to your dad?" Steve asked quietly.
"Just for a minute. I wanted his take on the situation. That was okay, right?"
"Of course. And I'm glad you reached out to him."
Jax shrugged. "I guess . . . I guess it was a good first step. To have a reason to call."
"So you think you'll talk to your parents again?" Steve asked. The elevator dinged their arrival back on the first floor.
"Maybe?" Jax hedged.
The doors slid open to a much more controlled scene than they had left. They pulled off their gloves and deposited them as the rest of the team came to meet them.
"What do we know?" Steve asked.
"Repairs were being done to the main ventilation system," Chin said. "When they restarted the system, two of the largest fans broke loose and hurtled through the technicians like helicopter rotors."
"Shit," Steve said. "Any idea why?"
"Not yet," Kono replied. "We called and got the area cordoned off as a crime scene."
"Yeah, and NCIS is finally paying attention, making noise about jurisdiction," Danny added.
"Okay, we have ID on all of the injured?" Steve asked.
Chin raised his Ipad in confirmation.
"Then let's head over. I'll call NCIS on the way and see if we can coordinate." Steve cupped his hand around Jax's jaw and bent to kiss her on the cheek. "I'll be late, sorry. I know I promised to help with the kids so you could get in a swim."
Jax shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I can hit the employee gym before I get the twins from childcare. Do what you need to do. The sooner you get to the bottom of this, the fewer days like today we'll have."