I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: thank you all for everything and the wonderful encouragement. ;-) I'm a little behind thanking each of you but will do my best to catch up.

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CHAPTER 3

It was late morning and the sun was well up when Steve got home just around the same time Danny was being examined at Tripler. Like Danny, he was exhausted after the fourteen hour stake-out but pleased they'd gotten their suspects locked up and now locked down in prison. And then, even though he was already running on fumes, he went for a short soothing swim before showering and falling into bed.

He fell asleep immediately not even thinking about Danny or the promise of a phone call after a side-trip to TAMC for a mandatory check of the bruised ribs. They both had known that nothing was broken, but the ache was indeed bad enough to warrant the check-up. Danny had disgustingly waved off the need for a McGarrett-sized babysitter. So Steve thought nothing of it as he rolled on his stomach, pulled the blankets over his head, and simply let his body relax completely.

Five hours later a persistent buzzing finally made it through his senses but he lay there in a complete haze trying to first understand what the noise could be. He groaned when he realized it was his cell phone and he snaked his hand out blindly to tap along the side table to find the offensive device.

"Daniel. Go to sleep." He mumbled to himself as he forced one eye open to blink at the now, much too bright display. But he only groaned louder when the buzzing vibration stopped and he saw that he'd missed not one, but five calls. His fingers fumbled to the caller id and he paged through expecting for them all to be from Danny. But two were from Kono and the last three were from Chin.

He was about to redial Chin's number when his phone went off again. "Chin." Steve croaked out in a voice raspy from a deep sleep and then cleared his throat. "What's going on?'

The urgent tone of Chin's voice woke him almost immediately as did the angry words from his normally quiet and reserved friend. "Where the hell have you been? There's a hostage situation at Tripler. Kono and I are here already and setting up a staging point. Steve .. we need you down here. Now. We've been trying to get you for over an hour. Steve, just where the hell have you been?"

He was kicking off blankets and quickly forgetting about his need for sleep as he searched for clothes to throw on. "I was sleeping. The stake out was a bear .. tell me about the situation. Who and how many are involved? Have you called Danny yet?"

And as the words left his mouth, Steve froze mid-stride in his bedroom. Tripler? Chin's anxiety, the number of missed calls and their desperate need to reach him. He knew it before Chin blurted the words out and his heart was plummeting while he was simultaneously shouting a frantic no in his head.

"Doc Ramirez and Danny .. they're the hostages." Chin hesitated and Steve could now hear the chaos in the background. The stress in Chin's voice was amplified as he continued to explain what was going on.

"There was an exchange of gunfire. Danny's been injured .. according to a nurse that managed to get away .. it looks pretty bad. They're holed up in a trauma area by the emergency room."

Steve closed his eyes for a moment in shock before he started moving again. His voice was low and grim as he jogged out of his house. "I'm on my way."

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Danny lay on the cold tiled floor of the lab room that he and Doc Ramirez had been forced into. He lay there in a shocked state of disbelief that he'd been shot in the abdomen by the crazed Army Corporal that was now dragging an over-turned gurney in front of the one door to create a barricade of sorts.

"Most people go to the E.R. to get fixed up. Me? No. I get shot at." Danny puffed out in a dazed mumble as he raised his bloody hand up in the air and looked at it in confusion before letting it sink back down to his chest. He closed his eyes again as he listened to Ramirez who was practically chanting his own angry tirade to himself while he efficiently emptied a cabinet in its entirety of bandages and gauze. Carter was still yelling but his anger was currently aimed back down the hallway and not at his hostages. Seconds later, Danny blinked up as the doctor knelt down, lifted his t-shirt and started to work.

"Doc." He grimaced in pain as he grabbed at the doctor's wrists with shaking hands while the man wadded a mound of bandages into the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Hurts." Danny whispered as his vision grayed around the edges and his fingers spasmed in pain around Ramirez' hands. "Stop .. it's good ..enough."

But Ramirez's face was unreadable with lips so firmly pressed together that they made one hard white line as he ignored Danny to continue a desperate triage with one eye on Derrick Carter. Pressing down firmly on the wound, he shushed Danny as the detective's knees reflexively came up in pain and weakening hands tried to push him away.

"Doc." Danny whimpered again as he began to pant in a pathetically pained rhythm.

"Sorry, Danny. I know the pain's bad." Ramirez softly whispered as he gently rolled the injured man over to examine the exit wound where he was forced to repeat the process despite Danny's moaned complaints. "But I've got to stop this bleeding. Just hang in there for me."

He scowled as Danny began to tremble and with one blood-stained hand, he leaned forward to take his pulse which was fluttery and much too rapid. His newest patient was quite obviously now going into shock from the bullet wound, pain and blood loss. Ramirez looked around the room again and slowly got to his feet pointing to extra sheets and blankets piled high on a small cabinet.

"I'm getting those to cover him." He waited a split second as Carter narrowed his eyes at the statement and then agreed.

Carefully, the doctor lifted Danny's head to pillow it with one blanket as he spread two more completely over his lower legs. "Better?" He asked as he used his stethoscope to not only listen to Danny's heart, but also his chest and stomach. Gentle fingers probed Danny's abdomen and the doctor sighed with some relief that things felt normal.

"So?" Danny murmured as he lay limply under the doctor's ministrations. It calmed him slightly when the doctor patted his hand reassuringly before bringing the heavy blankets up firmly around his shoulders. The warmth felt wonderful as Danny closed his eyes wearily. If he thought he was tired from the long stake out, what he was experiencing now trumped it in spades.

"I don't think you're bleeding internally. If the pain changes .. if it becomes worse though .. you tell me, Danny. Immediately."

With this eyes still closed, Danny huffed an agreeable sound before forcing words out on weak exhale. "You'll be the first to know, Doc."

"Medic. How's my Sergeant doing?" Carter demanded in a harsh voice as he watched the obviously skilled triage. So far the addled Corporal had called the esteemed E.R. doctor the enemy, someone named Reynolds and now he had switched him over to be an Army medic. And Ramirez was taking advantage of that new title for all it was worth and encouraging Carter's latest belief since it put him in a much better position.

Carter's voice was loud and angry as he held a television remote in his hand and wagged it in the doctor's direction. "Radio is still out. But we need to get evac on the line for a lift."

"Bloody hell." Ramirez glowered in disgust at the man knowing that the severe flashback was not his fault but completely feeling powerless to help put an end to the ill-begotten situation. Months ago, the traumatic brain injury resulting from a road side bomb in Iraq had altered the soldier's personality. And now the supposed altercation in the alley near a downtown bar had certainly exacerbated that condition. It was a lot to contend with and the doctor had limited options.

"He's not good and we can't wait for a chopper." Ramirez remained authoritative as he tried to play along and motioned towards Danny. "I need to get your Sergeant back to base now .. I need him behind the lines. I have limited supplies and I'm having trouble stopping this bleeding. He needs exploratory surgery and much more than I have at my disposal."

In frustration, the doctor clenched his hands into tight fists. He needed to go along with the ruse while he had the man's attention so he threw in a few new words for good measure. "Sir. I need to assess your injuries too. And I suggest we get a litter and walk out of here now .. while you still can .. together."

"No. I'm fine. And it's not safe." Carter complained as he gestured wildly in the air. On edge and jittery, the man was vehement as he rubbed his lower leg briefly. "I need to stay here on point and hold them back. You just make sure the Sarge stays alive until help gets here."

Shaking his head in aggravation, Ramirez froze as a vibration hummed near Danny. "Cell phone." Danny mumbled as his hand slowly searched under the blankets. Moving a corner of the blanket to the side, Ramirez quickly blocked its view from the Corporal, gently moved his patient's hand away as he tried to help, and turned it on noticing that the call was from Chin.

"Good news. It's your people." Ramirez very softly whispered. He was pleased to see the brief quirk of Danny's lips though worried by the unfocused expression. Keeping the phone on, but hiding it under a fold in the blanket, he sat back on his heels and spoke very loudly for the benefit of Chin Ho Kelly on the other side of the wireless connection.

"Corporal Carter, your leg wound is superficial but it needs treatment. And, sir. As a trained Army medic, I need help for this badly injured man and I need help …now."

~ to be continued ~