Waves above the Horizon Chapter 6
A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. I wonder if Steve's gonna be okay… Sorry it took so long to update. Anyway, as you probably have already figured out, I know nothing medical related, so if anything is ever off, just inform me. I try to do my research but I'm not very good at it. Anyway, hope you enjoy.
Chapter 6
"Why do you have to make everything complicated for me, Steven?" Danny huffed as he heaved Steve from his position on the floor. "This is the second – no, third – time that I had to pick your ass up today. Would it kill you to give me a break, just for once?" Danny started to brush off the glass that loosely clung to Steve's back and shoulders. His fall to the floor that was littered with glass didn't do much more than create microscopic lacerations on his arms.
Danny pulled Steve up from the ground and draped his limp arms over his shoulders so that Steve's weight was all resting on Danny's shoulders and his feet dragged lifelessly on the ground.
"We're going to the garage now. I can't believe that we hadn't thought of that earlier, it's probably the safest place in this house, yet you sent us to the basement. Sometimes I question your intelligence, McGarrett." Danny muttered. "Will you please wake up for me? You know, you're not the lightest man. Would it kill you to lay off the malasadas and help me out?" He continued his rant until he entered the garage, joining Grace and Spencer.
"Hey, how are you two?" Danny asked the pair, intently looking over anything that may have seemed out of place. "Uncle Steve told me that he tackled you, Gracie. He wanted me to make sure you were okay."
"I'm okay, Danno. Spencer is still a little cold, though, so I tried heating him up more. It didn't work yet, but I think he's almost better." Grace nodded triumphantly, acting as if she was a registered nurse. "I think if we gave him some warm chicken noodle soup and some water, he'll be back to normal." Grace smiled and glanced at Spencer who stared back in return.
"That's great, Grace! Thank you for taking such good care of him. I'm proud of you. But are you sure that you're okay? You don't have any glass or anything that cut you?"
"Nope, I'm okay." She nodded again. She had a small smile on her face, glad to see that her Danno was back and okay. Then the smile wiped off of her face and left a teary, wide-eyed expression on her face instead. "What about Uncle Steve? It didn't look good…" Her voice trailed off and she started sobbing. She told herself earlier that she wouldn't cry, but she needed her Uncle Steve. He couldn't be dead; she loved him too much for him to be dead.
Danny held out his arms and welcomed Grace into his arms. "He's going to be okay, Monkey. We just need to make sure that we can patch him up. He's still bleeding, but I think it was too dangerous to stay in here." He whispered into her hair. He cuddled her closer for a moment then released her. "Gracie, I need to help Uncle Steve. You go sit with Spencer and I'll be right back. I need to see if there's any food left and I need to patch up Uncle Steve. Stay here. Danno loves you." He told her then raced out of the garage as quickly as possible. Steve was already bleeding profusely before, but Danny was almost positive that moving him would make it bleed even more. He knew that if he was worried before, he should have been panicking at that moment. Only his job could keep him from doing exactly that, though.
Danny climbed down the cellar steps and stopped as soon as his feet were emerged in water. He could see a few cans floating around in contrast to the dark water. He waded in and fished out an armful of cans, careful to keep his footing. The water was already above his waist and it was gradually rising still. He cradled the cans in his arms and travelled back upstairs. He dropped the cans in a pile next to Gracie and left the room without saying a word. Steve needed him and he needed him quickly. Danny also felt bad about leaving Steve unconscious and bloody with the two children. Nothing says 'traumatizing moment' like seeing someone you love bleeding to death. He just hoped that the two children would at least have enough sense avert their eyes rather than to stare at the bloody mess.
Danny hurriedly retrieved the medical kit and brought it back to Steve in the matter of minutes. He cut his shirt off, not bothering to waste time over trying to just pull it off. The shirt was already gooey and slick with blood, which did not greet Danny as a good sign. He carefully wiped away the blood that was smeared around the wound and on his chest, discarding the bloody towels to the side. He then rinsed the wound out, hoping that it wasn't too late to keep the germs to a minimum. He already pressed his dirty hands to it, not taking the time to slide on gloves, so he figured that infection would surely settle in. He was just ashamed that it would partially be because of him. He finally put gloves on then took some more towels and shoved them into the open wound, peeling them out as soon as they were completely soaked in blood. Once he was – more or less – satisfied with his job, he packed bandages strategically on wound and wrapped it around his lower abdomen and stomach. It took close to twenty minutes to do all of that, and when he was done, he fell back on his butt and sighed in relief. At least the bleeding would slow a little bit. He pulled the blue plastic gloves off of his hand and wiped his brow with his upper arm.
"Danno? Is Uncle Steve okay?" Grace asked her dad.
"Yeah, he's going to be fine. Remember what I said? Uncle Steve is our Super SEAL; some stupid glass couldn't hurt him much." Danny replied with a warm smile that he wasn't quite feeling. "Now, how are you, Spencer?" Danny asked as he strode towards the child.
"Better. I'm still kinda cold, but it's not bad." The child told him, but not after having a shiver take over his body.
"That's really great. We were worried about you for a while. Actually, I'm really surprised that you're doing this well. It usually takes longer than this and people often have better things to heat them up. Well, it's still great that you're feeling better."
"Thanks."
"Now, I'm sure you're both starving, am I right?" Danny asked, his stomach growling to prove his point. They all chuckled for a minute and he could tell that some of the tense stress was lifted from their shoulders.
"I am. Can we just have some soup, Danno?"
"Course we can, that's pretty much all we have, anyway."
"Dannoo…" Steve's voice groaned from behind Danny. He turned on his heels to see his partner's eyes looking at him, a little disoriented.
"Hey babe. How are you feeling?" Danny said as he approached Steve slowly.
"Kinda thirsty. Got anything to drink?"
"That's a negative for you. I don't want to give you anything to drink because you have a stomach wound. How's the pain, though?"
"Hand hurts lil'. Can't feel my leg anym're." Steve grunted out.
"You're leg's numb?" Danny questioned him in bewilderment. He should have known that something like that could happen, but he was hoping that it was just temporary.
"Yeah, but it's 'kay. Probably nothing bad." He said as he started to sit up. "Are the kids okay?" His eyes suddenly bolted open. "Is Gracie hurt? Is Spencer okay?" Now Steve was scanning the room until his eyes rested upon the two children that were sitting behind Danny.
"They're fine, Steve, thanks to you." Danny smiled and patted his back a little. "Now, why don't you just lie back down? I don't want your stomach to bleed more. I'm no doctor, so I can't help you out." Danny snorted. It seemed as if Steve noticed the bandage on his stomach a little bit. His hands were shaking and his skin seemed to have a transparent color. Yet, Steve didn't lay down, he just sat there, half grinning at Danny. "I think you lost a lot of blood, buddy. I'd prefer it if you would just lay down. And stop smiling at me like that, you big goof."
Slowly, Steve laid down on the ground, closing his eyes and sighing as soon as his head was in contact with the cold cement pavement.
"I think the storm's letting up." Steve stated without opening his eyes.
"And how would you know that? Are you some kind of psychic freak and you never thought of telling me?" Danny retorted, a small chuckle escaping his lips. He thought he was clever.
"Just go look, you'll see." Steve laid an arm across his eyes and smirked.
"Uh huh." Danny muttered as he stood up and walked out to the kitchen. Sure enough, the storm was letting up. The rain was over, only occasional drips falling from palm trees. The shrubbery all swayed lazily, but not violently like before. The sun even peeked from behind black storm clouds, emitting a strange and ominous shadow over the island. The huge tsunami left as quickly as it came, and Danny just peeked through the window with a look of utter amazement plastered on his face. How Steve knew that the storm was letting up, he did not know. He slowly traipsed back to the garage where Steve, Grace, and Spencer were sitting in a circle, Steve tiredly smiling at them and bobbing his head.
"Well, apparently you are a psychic, Steven. It is letting up, left as fast as it came." Danny told them, relief evident throughout the room. "Now, I think it may be time for a trip to the hospital. I'll see if I can get any reception and then I'll go and call Chin. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't have any bars whatsoever, though." Danny exited the room and, to his astonishment, he had two meager bars. Then again, two meager bars were always better than nothing. He typed in Chin's number and waited impatiently for Chin to answer, foot tapping on the ground with urgency.
"Kelly." Chin's voice sounded through the phone.
"Chin, thank God! It's Danny." He started.
"What's wrong, Brah?" Chin asked worriedly, noticing the fear that was hinted in Danny's voice. "Is everyone okay?"
"I'm not exactly sure. Steve broke his leg pretty badly, damn tree fell on him. Then – of course, with Steve's luck – a window exploded and Steve got nailed right in the gut. It's exactly over where Hesse shanked him in jail, so it didn't hit any major organs, but he still bled a lot. I didn't bother stitching him up at all, I figured that I could do more damage with that, so I was a little apprehensive to do anything. He was responsive last time I talked to him, actually seemed to be doing pretty well, but I think it's just a front. Gracie and this kid that he rescued are sitting in the garage with him. I think that if they weren't there, he'd be ready to just drop to the ground and go into a deep slumber. Anyway, long story short, we're headed to the hospital. The kid, his name's Spencer, had hypothermia. Well, at least that's what we thought. It was a weird case of it, if that's what he actually had. So, half of the people over here aren't in very good shape." Danny huffed out, only taking a few short breaks in between.
"I knew you could talk, but not that fast." Chin chuckled. "Danny, don't panic. I'm sure that Steve is going to be okay. Even if he is just putting up a front, it means that he is still relatively okay. At least he isn't passed out on the ground. Listen to me, Danny." Chin paused to make sure Danny was listening. When he got a grunt in return, he continued. "The roads are going to be flooded and dangerous. You can't just drive out to the hospital, okay? You have to call an ambulance to take them."
"Chin, Steve needs to get there as soon as possible and the last time that I called, they said that they were really busy. I would feel better if I just took him. I really want to keep us all together, anyway."
"Danny, please be careful. We don't want you hurt, either. Drive slowly and don't try anything stupid to get around an obstacle. Do you understand me?" Chin instructed him firmly.
"Yes, Chin, I will be careful. Thanks. I'll call you when I get any news." Danny reassured him.
Chin just hoped that everything would turn out okay.
A/N: Sorry again. I didn't realize how long it's been since I updated, I guess I just lost track of time. I know that nothing really happened this chapter, but it will be more productive next time. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review.