Hawaii Five-0

Caught In The Crossfire

Chapter 26

For that brief moment in time everything was quiet and time slowed down; baby Jessica even remained quiet despite the two loud gunshots that echoed through the halls. Michael was lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to his arm, but had managed to keep a tight hold on his baby daughter as he had fallen; Chin and Kono had manage to duck of the line of fire. Nathan was lying on the floor, clutching his shoulder in pain as blood flowed freely from gunshot wound after Nathan had raised his gun at Michael and Jessica. April's wife and motherly instincts kicked in when she saw her family in danger. Though she hadn't been quick enough to stop her husband from being shot, April had managed to take him down before he hurt someone else.

Suddenly, the short lived silence ended and time went back to normal. Jessica's loud cries replaced the sounds of the two gunshots as they filled the halls. April still had her weapon raised as the reality of what had just happened sunk in. Chin and Kono ran to the aid of Michael and Jessica while Steve made his way over to Nathan to handcuff him and Danny went over to April.

"All clear!" Steve yelled as he handcuffed Nathan; not caring that it must have been complete agony to have his shoulder yanked backwards.

With that being said, Gabby and other hospital staff emerged from the room Danny had sent her to in order to keep her safe until the heat died down; she then also made her way over to April. April was visibly shaking from the shock and adrenaline after she had shot Nathan.

"It's okay April, you can put the gun down now; it's over" said Danny as placed his hand on April's, which were still firmly gripping the gun.

"He can't hurt us anymore" he assured her as he felt her shaking hands start to release their grip on the weapon.

"Okay" April nodded, letting out a deep breath, as Danny took the gun from her hands before handing to Steve after he had handed Nathan over to the HPD officers.

"The nurse in my room needs help" she stated.

"They've got her; she's in good hands" Gabby replied.

"Are Michael and Jessica okay?" April asked as the adrenaline started wear off.

"They're fi…" Danny replied before cutting himself off mid-sentence as his sister suddenly collapsed right in front of him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa" Steve exclaimed as he and Gabby grabbed April before she hit the floor at full force.

"You got her?" he asked Gabby.

"Yeah" Gabby replied as the both slowly lowered April to lie on the floor.

"Can we get some help over here!" Steve yelled as Danny knelt down on the floor beside April.

"April…" Danny said as he leaned over to touch her neck to check for a pulse; relieved to find one.

"April, can you hear me?" he asked as he placed his hands on either side of her face which was hot and sweaty.

"Guys?" Gabby asked.

"Yeah?" Danny and Steve asked in unison.

"She's bleeding…a lot" Gabby stated as they looked to see a fair amount of blood soaking through her hospital gown.

"Damn it" Danny exclaimed as two doctors and two nurses excused themselves as they pushed their way through Danny, Steve and Gabby so they could help April; one of those doctors was April's red headed friend Emma who had been called as soon as April went down.

"Get me a gurney" Emma asked the nurses.

"We need to get back to the OR; she's bleeding again" she stated.

"What happened?" Michael asked, panicked as he saw his wife lying on the floor unconscious.

"April's collapsed from blood loss" Emma replied as she, the other doctor and the two nurses lifted her onto the gurney.

"How? From when she got out of bed?" Danny asked.

"Maybe, it could've been something we missed earlier; we'll find out when we get her into surgery" Emma replied as they started hooking her up to all the medical equipment again.

"Hang in there" said Michael as he leaned over to kiss April while holding her hand, which was cold and clammy, before they put an oxygen mask over her face.

"She's going to be alright" Emma assured them, placing a hand on Danny's uninjured shoulder before they wheeled her away.

"I'll make sure of it; she's already made this far" she said before following the others.

"You guys alright?" Chin asked.

"Yeah, we're fine" Steve replied.

"I've been better" Michael stated, holding his arm as he continued to look down the hallway in the direction they had taken April

"Yeah me too" said Danny, doing the same.

"How's Jessica?" Gabby asked as she wrapped her arm around Danny's waist.

"She's perfectly fine" Kono replied as she cradled her in her arms.

"Just a bit upset from all of the noise, that's all" she stated.

"Yeah I bet" Danny agreed as he looked his niece over.

"Um, alright, Chin and Kono after Nathan's been treated, go with the officers back to HPD as back up to make sure that he doesn't try anything, I'm going to call Catherine to tell her what's going on and Michael's going to go and get his arm checked out" said Steve.

"And while you're doing that we'll look after Jessica" Danny stated.

"No actually I'll do that while you rest" said Gabby as she took Jessica from Kono's arms.

"Why does everybody keep saying that?" Danny asked.

"Because you've barely relaxed since you got here Danny" Steve stated.

"So as you can see, it's not up for discussion" Gabby told him.

"Fine, fine I'll go lie down" said Danny.

"But as soon as you hear something about April, I want to know" he told Michael.

"As soon as I know, you'll know believe me" said Michael.

"Okay good, now that's all sorted out, I'm going to go see Grace and Rachel" Gabby stated.

"I'm going to properly introduce them to Jessica and tell what's happening"

Two hours later after having the bullet removed from his arm and giving his statement, Michael made his way back upstairs to the ICU to wait for news on April. CSU had finished taking photos and collecting evidence from the crime scene which was now being cleaned of the pools of blood on the floor. The two nurses who had been shot were going to be okay; the nurse, Evelyn, who had been shot while treating April was extremely lucky because the bullet hadn't hit any vital organs. As Michael continued walking down the hallway he heard the sound of broken glass as he came to a stop outside his wife's room; she would be put into a new room now because of the shattered window. Michael stood there with his hands in his pockets as he stared at the shattered window, thinking that if he hadn't come around the corner when he did, Nathan probably would've shot April. It was good timing on his part but it might not meaning anything if April doesn't pull through from her collapsing of blood loss. As he continued to stare at the window he heard his name being called by a familiar voice.

"Michael" Steve called as he and Catherine who pushing their two month old daughter Lucy in her stroller.

"Hey guys" said Michael.

"How's the arm?" Steve asked.

"It's okay" Michael replied.

"I spent six months in a war zone and manage to walk away unscathed. But six hours after getting home, I get shot… in a hospital"

"Have you heard anything on April yet?" Catherine asked.

"No, not yet" Michael replied.

"But I'm not too worried; believe or not, sometimes no news is actually good news"

Just as those very words came out of Michael's mouth, Emma, April's friend and doctor came around the corner followed by April being pushed along on a gurney by two nurses. Emma glanced back to see the two nurses push April into her new room while she walked towards Michael with a smile on her face.

"She's going to be okay; she's having blood transfusions and antibiotics for the infection" Emma stated with relief.

"But the bleeding was much worse than we first thought and…" she explained before stopped herself to work herself up to say the next part.

"And what?" Michael asked. "What happened?"

"We…we lost her for minute…but we got her back almost straight away" April explained.

"So as you know it's extremely unlikely April sustained any brain damage"

"Okay…um…was…was Danny right? Did this happen because she got out of bed too soon?" Michael asked.

"Yes" Emma replied.

"When April got out of bed she pulled out the stitches on one of the arteries that was damaged"

"And because of the stress of the "situation" April bled faster" Michael added.

"Exactly" Emma agreed.

"But the main thing now is that she's stable and going to be alright; provided she doesn't get out of bed for at least another twenty four hours" she added.

"I can assure you that April will stay put" Michael promised as one of the nurses came out of April's room and walked towards them.

"April's all settled now and she's starting to wake up" the nurse told Michael.

"She's asking for you" she added.

"Okay thank you" Michael smiled as he turned to Steve and Catherine.

"I'm going to go and sit with April; can you do me a favour and let everybody know that she's okay?" he asked them.

"Yeah sure" Catherine replied.

"It's not a problem" Steve added. "We'll see if we can get your daughter away from them too"

"Thanks that would be great" said Michael as turned and headed to April's room.

Michael sat down beside April's bed and slid his hands through the bed rail to hold hers. Almost instantly April squeezed back when she felt the warmth of his hand. He then looked up to April's face to see that her eyes were still closed; awake but too tired to open them yet.

"I'm sorry" said April; her voice slightly muffled by the oxygen mask over her face.

"I shouldn't have gotten out of bed"

"Yeah, you probably shouldn't have" Michael agreed.

"But you did what you felt you had to do" he assured her.

"Where's Jessica? Is she okay?" April asked as finally manages to open her eyes.

"Jessica's fine, she's okay" Michael replied. "She's with Gabby"

"Good" said April. "How's your arm?" she asked.

"It's okay, it's just a flesh wound; but getting shot does hurt" Michael replied with a smile.

"Look I'm going to let you get some rest while I go see if I can get our daughter"

"Okay" April agreed as Michael leaned over to kiss her on the forehead.

"I'll be back" Michael assured her as he left the room while April complied with the drugs and drifted off to sleep.

Thanks for reading. The next chapter will be the last chapter for this story.