A/N: Thank you to Cokie's doctor pal who helped with the medical portion of this chapter. Any remaining mistakes are mine, as I did continue to tweak it a little bit.
Steve couldn't do anything but watch as the medical staff unloaded the stretcher from the ambulance and hurried it through the doors of the hospital. Steve was nearly out of the back of the ambulance himself when he saw someone in scrubs climb on top of the stretcher to begin administering CPR to his friend.
Damn it, Danny… You've made it this far…
Steve jogged to catch up as Danny was pushed through the halls of the hospital, but he wasn't able to follow them far before a nurse grabbed his arm, forcing him to wait in the ER's waiting room. It was like déjà vu. For a few moments he frantically paced, but eventually he sat down and forced himself not to fidget. A short time later, a second team of medical personnel rushed through with another stretcher, this one carrying Stan. Steve hated to admit it, but he hadn't even spared the other man a single thought… all of them were currently directed toward his partner.
Steve stood and quickly followed behind the second team of physicians, using the current flurry of activity as a cover to sneak past the nurse's station and enter the inner sanctum of the emergency room. No one noticed as he silently made his way toward the end of the hall, where nurses were rushing in and out of one of the patient rooms. Steve's heart dropped when he leaned around the doorway to see chaos within.
Danny was lying lifeless on the bed, a stark contrast to the wild activity swirling around him.
"IV is in," a nurse was reporting. "Pulse is 180. Oxygen Saturation is at 70%."
"Push 4 units of O-neg," a physician responded as he ripped open Danny's shirt and began chest compressions.
Steve stepped in and stood off to the side, standing silent and rigid as the medical teams worked on saving his partner. C'mon, Danny. Don't do this to me…
"…probable hemothorax. Prep for a chest tube."
"V-fib," the nurse announced, far too calmly.
"Epinephrine, 1mg. IV push."
Steve was rooted to the spot, unable to look away as Danny's body began to shut down.
"Charge the defibrillator."
"Charging!"
"360 joules. Clear!"
CPR was ceased a split second before the charge was administered. Steve closed his eyes as Danny's body refused to respond to the life-saving efforts. Please, Danny… please…
"Again!
"Charging!"
"Clear!"
Steve had a flashback to when Danny was brought in to the emergency room after his exposure to Sarin. Watching him struggle to breathe had been agonizing for him. But this was worse. Much, much worse.
"Resume CPR."
"Sir, you can't be in here."
"Another Epinephrine, 1mg. IV push."
"They're ready for him upstairs."
"Got to get him stable, first. Charge it again."
"Charging!"
"Sir, you have to leave."
It took Steve a moment to realize that someone was speaking to him, and he opened his eyes to find a nurse standing directly in front of him. Though she barely reached his shoulders, her presence was formidable and she fixed him with a commanding, yet somehow sympathetic, gaze. Steve let her guide him outside of the room with promises that she'd have someone inform him of any changes as soon as possible.
Steve risked one more look at his partner, praying that it wasn't the last time he would see him alive.
"Commander McGarrett?"
Steve nearly shot out of the chair he'd been sitting in for the past several hours. He glanced quickly over to Chin and Kono, who were sprawled awkwardly on their own respective chairs. Kono's head rested against Chin's shoulder as they slept. They had arrived just over an hour ago and joined Steve in his silent vigil as they waited for word on Danny.
Steve recognized the man as the same doctor that had worked on Rachel the day before.
"How is he?"
"Shall we head to a more private area?" Steve swallowed but nodded, and Dr. Quincy led him down a passageway and inside a small conference room. "Have a seat, Commander. Mr. Williams is stable, but critical. He suffered from a hemothorax, most likely caused by blunt force trauma to his chest. He had a significant amount of internal bleeding as a result. The amount of pooled blood is consistent with the amount of time that has passed since the accident. I am assuming he was hit with the same vehicle as Mrs. Edwards?" Steve nodded. "Quite frankly, Commander, he is very lucky. We've inserted a chest tube, and we'll keep that in until everything has been drained and his lung has re-inflated."
Steve took a deep breath, but the doctor wasn't done.
"His spleen also ruptured, but we are choosing to wait and monitor it. We hope it will heal on its own. Several other injuries, however none are life-threatening. I'll say it again, Commander… he is extremely lucky that you brought him in when you did. We'll be watching him for several more hours before he is moved into a room. You'll be able to see him then."
Steve nodded. Finally finding his voice, he asked, "What about Stanley Edwards? He was brought in right after Danny."
"Mr. Edwards is not one of my patients. However, I'll ask my colleagues and see what I can find out."
"Thank you."
Steve stood and followed Dr. Quincy back out into the waiting room. He afforded a small smile at the cousins, who hadn't moved an inch during his absence.
True to his word, Dr. Quincy led Steve back to see Danny three hours later. If it was possible, he looked worse than he had when Steve had found him before.
The bruises were darker. His eyes were sunken. His face was pale. The amount of machinery attached to him was remarkable, and Steve let out a shaky breath as he pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat. Tentatively, he reached out and placed a hand on Danny's arm, giving it a small squeeze.
"You're going to be okay, Danny."
There was no response from the slumbering man, but Steve didn't really expect one. He released his hold on his friend and leaned back in the chair, getting as comfortable as possible for the long wait.
Hours dragged into days, and a routine settled in for the Five-0 team as they divided their time between visiting their injured friend and finishing up the case.
Grace was a frequent visitor, making the trek through the hospital hallways to see her father, her mother, and her step-father. Rachel was on the mend and was roomed on a floor below Danny's. Stan was also still admitted, though it was a slight case of malnutrition that was keeping him hospital-bound, not his injuries. It looked as though husband and wife would be released on the same day, and Grace's relief at having her family back together was intense. There was the constant sadness, however, over Danny's continued unconsciousness. The doctors didn't seem concerned, so that helped ease some of the tension that the entire family and Five-0 team felt.
The days, though long, had shown great improvement for Danny. He still looked horrible, in Steve's opinion, but at least he was breathing on his own… a mask covering half his face, providing the needed oxygen as his lung continued to heal. Bruises were now yellowing, and the swelling that had been prominent a few days ago had almost completely disappeared.
Steve spent as much time as he could at the hospital, but he knew closing the case was almost as important as standing watch over his partner. The ease of which the team was able to quickly put this case to bed almost made up for the frustrations they suffered through in the beginning.
Malachi Whitworth admitted to Stan's kidnapping, although the confession was unnecessary with the amount of evidence piled against him. His once-solid alibi crumbled once word got out regarding his arrest, as participants of the Hawaiian Conservation Alliance conference didn't remember seeing him during portions of the evening's opening event. In addition to the confession, Stan's testimony, Mr. Victor's participation, and the fact that two men were found beaten and locked inside an isolated structure leased out to Whitworth, there was also Stan's disposable phone, found in Malachi's possession, which he had used to lure Stan out in the first place.
Steve had been more than happy to let HPD tie up all of the loose ends, but he did have to step in once it was revealed that Danny had been looking into Stan on his own time. Being the head of the Governor's task force had its benefits, and he fully took advantage of it now to essentially sweep it all under the rug the best he could. Time would only tell if it would come back to hurt Danny.
It was as tight of a case as you could get. And for that, Steve was thankful. Now they could only plan for the upcoming emotional fallout.
Steve had borne witness to Stan's confession to his wife regarding the affair. A wheelchair-bound Rachel had nowhere to run as her husband apologized for his unfaithfulness to her those many months ago, and she silently wept at his bedside. Steve had left shortly after, allowing the married couple to talk for several hours before Rachel returned to her own hospital room. The Five-0 leader dared not ask her what had transpired, though her red-rimmed eyes and stoic behavior gave him some clues.
Grace and Charlie were both frequent visitors. Stan's sister had flown in from the mainland to take over full-time care of the children while their parents recovered. Grace, though still more subdued than Steve was used to, was always a ray of sunshine to the entire medical staff. Nurses doted on her whenever she was around, happy to escort her between the three hospital rooms which spanned two floors, and bringing her soft-serve ice cream when she arrived after school.
It had been three days since the rescue, and Steve found himself at Danny's bedside early one morning, as had become routine for him. Chin had taken the overnight shift the evening before, and Steve was feeling refreshed after getting his first full-night's sleep in over a week. The team didn't want Danny waking up alone, so someone was always with him, and it was only luck that had Steve here with Danny when he finally showed signs of waking… his eyes fluttering open for a mere moment before closing again. Steve leaned closer to the bed, grasping Danny's arm in a manner that had become habit to him over the past thirty-six hours.
"Danny? Hey, buddy, you with me?"
Danny's eyes cracked open once more and his gaze moved uncomprehendingly around the room before settling on Steve. He blinked a few times, and then his eyes sagged closed once more.
"C'mon, Danno. It's time to wake up." Steve squeezed the arm again, almost desperate for Danny to stay awake. The pleading, or the pressure, had its desired effect, and Danny's eyes re-opened, fixating on Steve's face. "Hey, it's good to see you."
Danny's lips moved, his soft breath fogging the inside of the mask, but Steve couldn't make out what he was trying to say. He leaned in even closer.
"What?"
It was soft, barely a whisper, but Steve just barely made it out.
"Rachel?"
Steve patted the arm he still grasped and offered Danny a small smile. "She's fine, Danny. She's okay."
The corners of Danny's mouth curved up a moment in the barest of smiles before his eyes slipped shut. Steve sighed, content with the small moment he was able to get with his partner before he fell back into a deep sleep, and feeling more hopeful by the minute that they'd be through this ordeal soon.
Noises penetrated his consciousness and he groaned. Not ready to wake completely, he remained still and chose not to open his eyes just yet. He felt sore… no, worse than sore. He felt raw, if that was a word to describe the horrible feeling of having your body put through a wood chipper and then stomped on a few times. Though he could feel aches throughout his entire body, his chest hurt the most, and each breath brought another pang of pain.
Though he couldn't place the date and time, Danny knew he'd been here awhile… faint memories began surfacing of waking up before to see a worried Steve lurking over him. He also vaguely remembered waking another time to find Grace snuggled up against him, the scent of her strawberry shampoo tickling his nose and immediately pushing all of his worries and pains to the back of his mind.
Thoughts of his daughter had his mind wandering to Rachel, and his breath hitched. Where was Rachel? Was she okay? Memories of a car, blood and a cement room flashed in his mind, and he began to panic. He could feel his heart beginning to race and he felt as though his chest was on fire. His ragged breathing made him cough, and that only made things infinitely worse. Just as he began to think that the pain was too much and he began to slip back into unconsciousness, a voice penetrated through his fog of pain.
"Easy, Danny. Easy. You okay?"
Danny finally opened his eyes to see Steve standing above him, his face blurry beyond all the tears currently leaking out of Danny's eyes. Danny wanted to respond that no, he obviously was not okay, but he couldn't seem to get his voice to work.
"Calm down, buddy, okay? Slow, deep breaths. C'mon, in and out. In… and out. There you go."
Danny hated being coddled like this, but watching and hearing Steve's steady breathing allowed him to do the same, and a few minutes later he found that his own breathing had slowed and the pain in his chest had decreased exponentially. He nodded his thanks to his partner before closing his eyes, exhausted. It wasn't until he felt a pressure on his hand that Danny re-opened his eyes, fixing his partner with a more focused gaze.
"Are… you holding… my hand?" His voice was strained and weak, but Steve smiled at the sarcasm.
"Well, yeah, Danno. Seemed like you needed it."
Danny rolled his eyes, lacking the energy to do much more. Sleep was tugging him under again, but Steve wouldn't allow it to happen just yet as another squeeze of Danny's hand kept him grounded in the land of consciousness.
"How do you feel?"
Danny's brow furrowed in what he hoped was an 'are you serious?' look before he stopped to actually consider the question. He felt like shit, if he was honest. But he also remembered clearly feeling much, much worse than this.
"M'ok," he whispered, and Steve nodded, apparently satisfied with that lame response.
"Do you remember what happened?"
Danny closed his eyes again as he recalled what had happened to him. He could sense that there were still pieces missing… being found was the biggest piece… but he remembered everything else. The car. The beatings. All of it.
"Yeah," he finally responded before pulling his eyes back open… something that was getting increasingly harder to do the longer he tried to stay awake. "Rachel?"
A look of concern flashed across Steve's face, and Danny had a small moment of panic. Steve quickly reassured him that she was okay, and the knot in Danny's chest eased slightly.
"Stan?"
"Recovering. He and Rachel are being released tomorrow."
Danny nodded. "The case?"
Steve smiled. "Well, the good news is, you've been cleared of any suspicion. You didn't kidnap Stan."
Danny snorted, which led to another coughing fit. After a few minutes, and a few ice chips to soothe his throat, Danny managed a small smile.
"Of course… I didn't. I wouldn't… leave… any forensic… evidence."
Steve shook his head with another smile. "Just don't worry about the case right now, okay? You just worry about getting yourself better."
"You… found us… how?" Danny closed his eyes and shook his head at himself for his apparent lack of ability to form a coherent sentence. Luckily Steve seemed to understand what he was asking.
"Well, it's a long story," he admitted.
"Not… goin'… anywhere…" Danny opened his eyes again and his eyes locked with Steve's. "What happened?"
"Okay, partner," Steve smiled and settled back into his chair. "The case took a lot of twists and turns after you were hit, but it really all started after we found Robbie Sundt's body in the trunk of his car…"
Danny's glassy eyes stayed fixated on him as he began the story of how the team tracked down and rescued him. If Danny was aware that the version was a bit… truncated… he never showed any sign.
One more chapter to go!