Chapter Three: So many Harassment Seminars...
Dr. Lewis entered the lounge pulling off his surgical mask and hat. He quickly motioned for the team to remain seated as he made his was over to their chairs. He turned a chair so he could talk all of the people.
"First off, Danny made it through surgery just fine, no problems on the table," Lewis began. "We had to repair three broken ribs and patch his left lung. Those will heal with no problem. His forearm was cracked but not completely broken. That's being casted now. The gunshot wound was through and through, didn't hit the artery or the bone in his upper thigh. Again, cleaned and stitched and shouldn't cause any problems."
"Is there a 'but' coming up?" Steve asked.
"No, not really," Lewis shook his head. "The concussion is actually minor. He'll need some physical therapy to regain his strength. Some peace and quiet to heal. Overall he was very lucky."
"Getting beaten up is lucky?" Ms. Iatora spat out.
"Yes, ma'am, he is very lucky," he said patiently. "The bullet could have done a lot of damage and the concussion could have required a medical intervention like drilling through the skull. His lung was pierced, but it was a single poke, no bone shards. Yes, he was lucky."
Mama was still not too sure about the luck, but she settled back at the suggestion of her friends.
"When can we see him?" Steve asked as he leaned forward.
"Soon, once he's settled," Lewis said.
"Mama, you and Grace need to go first, then you can go home and rest," Chin suggested. Although Kono and Steve wanted first rights, they agreed that the older woman and Grace needed to see for themselves Danny was ok. Grace latched on to Steve's hand.
"I wanna go with Uncle Steve," she said.
With an affirmative nod Lewis offered an arm and gently led the woman down the hall to post op.
Steve brought Grace next and let her have some time talking to the unconscious man. She promised to come back with plenty of hugs and pictures the following day. Rachel carried the exhausted child out to the car.
When the team were finally let in Danny had been moved to step down for monitoring. There were wires everywhere but no ventilator. Monitors beeped and relayed data while other tubes carried various fluids to and from the still form. There were bruises everywhere that was visible, including deepening marks on his face.
"Oh, bro, this is so not fair," Kono whispered as she pushed back his hair from his face. Chin moved to the other side, picking up the lax hand of the non-casted arm.
"Mama's fine, Danny, you did good," he said. Steve hung back, still deeply guilty. Of all the suffering his partner had gone through, the thought that he could have helped was crushing.
"Boss, Danny won't blame you," Kono said as she looped her arm around his and pulled him closer.
"But I basically told him he was shirking his work," McGarrett muttered. "He was alone and protected Ms. Iatora and I didn't even let him tell me what was going on!"
"We were in the middle of a gun battle!" Chin protested. "He knew that! He won't hold you responsible for this!" A nurse entered the room and bustled around taking various vitals and marking them on her touch pad.
"Please let me know when he wakes," she said. "Then the doctor will assess him for pain relief." She moved out the door and the team once more circled the bed.
Morbid curiosity propelled Chin to check under the sheets grimacing at the additional bruised surfaces. Kono started to check it out as well, Chin clucked at her with a negative head shake. Rolling her eyes she peeked under the sheet as well.
"You... aren't... a nurse," a shaky voice chided. Blushing, Kono dropped the sheets and turned towards her friend.
"You don't have anything I haven't seen before!" she bluffed.
"But it's... my anything," Danny grimaced as pain zapped through his body. Chin immediately pushed the call button and reported the patient was awake.
"It's a very nice anything," Kono put her hand on the less damaged side of his face.
"So many sexual harassment seminars," he muttered, "ice?"
Steve reached over for the ever present cup of ice and spoon and carefully tipped some into his partner's mouth. He gratefully let the cold water trickle down his dry throat.
"Mama?" he asked, eyes clenched shut against yet another stab of pain. Steve pressed the button and repeated that the patient was awake and in pain.
"She's fine, Danny," Chin said still holding his good hand. "Shook up, but not harmed at all. You did good." The grip tightened as he rode through more bolts of pain.
"Hurts, really hurts," he rolled slightly on the bed. Steve leaned over him to hold him still.
"I know, aikaine, just hold on," he soothed. "Lewis will be here soon." He watched as Williams strove to not yell out, tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. McGarrett could only talk to him, whispering promises.
Kono had finally gone out to the nurse's station and surprised Lewis as he was reviewing charts.
"We called twice! Danny's awake and he's in a lot of pain!" she chastised him liberally.
"Awake? Why wasn't I contacted," he turned to the nurse at the station. She shrugged.
"I didn't take the calls," was her response. With a growl the doctor dropped the chart, ordered the nurse to follow, and walked quickly down the hall. He didn't even bother trying to shoo the team out of the room. It never worked. He just pushed Steve aside to do a quick assessment.
He ordered several meds and made sure the nurse understood she was not to stop for anyone else. Then he continued to look at the various wounds and tubes. Steve had moved to the top of the bed so he could continue to speak to his friend.
"Once we get some morphine on board we'll roll him a bit on his side, get him off those ribs," Lewis said calmly. The nurse was back with a small tray. The first syringe was carefully emptied into the iv tubing. He waited a few moments until he saw the muscles begin to relax. A second syringe was administered. He adjusted the drip and then had the nurse hang a small bag of antibiotics and connect it. Finally the nurse was dismissed.
"I don't like the way some of the staff ignores patients," Chin grumbled.
"Your team seems to draw the problems," Lewis allowed. "I will get it straightened out. Let's get you into a better position, Danny." With help Williams was carefully rolled onto his right side and pillows were tucked behind him. When he was settled back down he sighed in relief.
"Thanks, doc," he breathed as he slipped back into sleep. Lewis pulled his pad from his pocket and began tapping furiously.
"I'm ordering meds every four hours," he said aloud, "so you can make sure he gets 'em. I don't anticipate any problems, but I do want to keep ahead of the pain. We'll keep him sedated for a couple days then start to back off."
"We'll make sure someone's here with him," Steve asserted. There was plenty of Ohana that would come to sit with Danny.
"We need to call some people," Kono pointed out. Phones were pulled out (Lewis didn't even try to enforce hospital rules as there were no sensitive machines in the room). Soon Rachel, the Governor, Kamekona and Ms. Iatora were updated. The big man promised to be in later; he had some news for the team.