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

Notes: warning that the next chapter or two may be delayed due to a business trip this week. Plus of course, some plot massaging. Nothing major .. thank you for the continued happy messages on this story! I am behind in personal thanks and having some issues with some of the FF site problems.

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Chapter 5

After receiving the terrifying call from Kono, Doctor Ramirez literally ran down to the emergency room from his office. Jogging past patients and hospital workers, he wove through a few crowded hallways and then took the stairs two at a time to the first floor. Arriving breathlessly, Ponch listened to and then participated in the worrisome transmissions between the E.R. and the traveling ambulance. Mike was coming in critically wounded after being discovered at the doctor's own home and though he was focused on the urgent medical aspect of his brother's condition, Ponch didn't have enough information about that piece of the puzzle.

"Where's Becca?" Usually hiding his large hands in the depths of his lab coat, this time Ponch didn't know where to put them as he paced the entrance to the emergency room where the ambulance would soon arrive. Kono hadn't mentioned his niece and it meant something; he could feel it in the depths of his being and he was petrified of the coming truth.

"Where is she .. where? Something's wrong." He was talking under his breath and constantly checking his watch while he paced. But word was spreading quickly that his brother was the seriously injured incoming patient and his wife, Ellen, was soon at his side. Also employed at Tripler, Ellen Ramirez was a skilled trauma nurse and that weekend, their schedules were overlapping.

"It's Mike?" She asked needlessly for the cold, sternly set jaw-line of her husband. She didn't need to ask if it was bad, because his entire body reeked of fear and she'd already heard the initial reports, herself.

"Alphonse. What's happened and where's Rebecca? I thought Danny and Grace were spending the day with them." He looked at her with dark, brooding eyes and felt her concern immediately. It was a mirror image to his own made worse by her natural maternal instincts. Ellen had become mother-figure and confidant to Becca and the two were nearly inseparable. That made his inability to respond and find words twice as difficult.

"It's Mike." Ponch confirmed softly. "It's Mikey and Kono called to say that she was also on her way in. But, I don't know … I'm not sure .. about Becca."

Unused to stammering over his tongue, he slammed his mouth shut. It was another uncharacteristic move as he wrung his hands and resumed his nervous pacing. His mind chased a variety of additional answers for his wife's benefit, but each would be a terrible lie and he had an abysmal feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. All Ponch could find to add was a brief truth and it left him feeling even colder. "I don't know, Ellen."

Something was horrifically wrong and he shook his head as the latest transmission reported crashing vitals and heavy blood loss. Two minutes out from arrival, his face was hard and unyielding to take a more firm command of the situation. Ellen paled as his demeanor suddenly changed to focus solely on his incoming patient.

Turning to a nearby nurse, he pointed an imposing finger in her direction. "Get an operating room ready immediately. I need a vascular surgeon and I want Doctor Harris - get him here."

Growling out orders before the ambulance arrived, Ponch mobilized his critical care team and the next steps to emergency surgery for his brother. Each of his demands were met with quiet, unquestioning resolve. "Mikey's O positive; get me four units stat and a crash cart ready."

No one questioned his potential conflict of interest, but Ellen saw the subtle shake to his hands and covertly left the emergency room to make her own calls. Her stress level mounted as she thought about her niece and the too little information from the officers and their friends. She was internally becoming frantic, but until she knew more, Ellen pushed it down to place a call to an on-call doctor who readily agreed to help Doctor Ramirez.

Scarcely five minutes after the ambulance arrived with the critically injured man, Doctor Josiah Brandt, another of the dedicated emergency room doctors was on site to assist her husband. Her fast thinking was a good thing too for Ponch's first stunned and very emotional reaction at seeing the condition of Mike's ruined body.

"Mike. Mikey." He stood stock still with his gloved hands held high as the gurney came rushing in through the door. Eyes wide, Ramirez stood unmoving over his brother's barely breathing body as he whispered his special nickname. The bullet had torn completely through Mike's abdomen to exit out his lower back. His shirt had been cut off, his chest was smeared with blood and Ponch was almost afraid to remove the expansive pressure bandage because he knew what he would find. Ashen and virtually lifeless, Ponch barely recognized his vibrant younger brother as a nurse used an ambu-bag to manually push oxygen into his lungs.

"Bleeder." Watching the seeping fresh blood stain the pressure bandage, Ponch finally got to work focusing on the gunshot wound and its entry point. "It's a bad one .. we .. I .. need clamps here." Tools were presented to his seeking hands. His fingers were slick with blood within seconds, but one look at the failing respiration had him jumping at Doctor Brandt upon his arrival. Just through the doors of the E.R., Ponch neatly accepted his presence without question and was blurting orders to his peer.

"Josiah, intubate. He's crashing." Seconding his commands and picking up any necessary slack, Brandt dug in to offer a soothing antithesis to Doctor Ramirez's expert but volatile temperament.

"Hang in there, Mikey." Ponch demanded as his brother's blood pressure plummeted and his heart stuttered. "Don't you dare check out on me." His worry caused his fury to rise as Ellen took over from a frazzled nurse who couldn't locate a cooperative vein in her brother-in-law's arms. Her inability was perceived as incompetence and Ponch was virtually down her throat for her failure.

"Here. Let me." With years more experience handling trauma cases as well as her husband, Ellen stowed her emotions as she expertly lay a central venous catheter into the large vein in Mike's neck after Brandt inserted the breathing tube. Moments later, Doctor Harris was striding into the hectically crowded room and the team was moving Mike Ramirez to surgery.

Instead of following the men, Ellen remained behind hoping to see Danny, Becca and Grace. Her worries grew exponentially when Steve and Kono entered the E.R. doors with only Grace. By the look on Steve's face alone, Ellen didn't need to be told that something was indeed very wrong. Kono was equally stressed and Ellen literally forced herself to walk forward to meet them halfway.

"Steve?" Feeling faint at his severe look, Ellen had to put her hand on the wall for support. "Where are Danny and Rebecca? "

Thinking that at least they might be arriving in another ambulance if god forbid they were injured, Ellen gasped at Kono's careful reply. There was no way to couch the terrible news though and Ellen felt suddenly sick to her stomach.

"Four men attacked Danny and Mike. Chin and HPD are at your home right now evaluating it as a crime scene." Carding her fingers gently through Grace's long hair as Steve rocked the quietly weeping child; Kono had no choice but to add the truth.

"The men shot Mike and abducted both Danny and Becca. We don't know why .. or by who .. yet. Grace was hiding in the house and she managed to call 911 and then Steve for help." Ellen covered her mouth with her free hand and leaned even more heavily against the wall. For a minute she forgot everything as the news sank into her brain and she gasped in disbelief.

"But .. why?" Kono was sympathetic as she left Grace to pull the nurse into a hug. "Why would anyone do this?"

"We don't know yet. But we're looking …. everyone is looking. How's Mike doing?"

"Surgery. It's bad." Ellen whispered distractedly. Her mind was barely coping with how Mike came into the emergency room and now after what she'd just been told, Ellen was numb. Her voice was monotone as she spoke more out of a trained auto-response. "Ponch is with him, as well as the best vascular surgeon on staff. But he's critical .. it's bad."

Kono rubbed Ellen's back soothingly. She and Steve were already anxious to get back to the scene, but they would never leave Grace especially in the state that she was in. Kono was about to ask the nurse for help when Steve interrupted her very thoughts.

"Ellen, we need someone to take a look at Grace." Steve was too soft and measured; it was a dangerous tone and Kono worriedly watched him walk towards an empty bed. He was unsuccessful at unwrapping Grace's arms from around his neck, so he settled for sitting on the gurney himself. Tightly burrowed into his lap, Grace mumbled for her Danno. It was upsetting and difficult, and Steve clearly didn't know what to do.

"Ellen, please. Can you help us or get someone who can?" He was gentle and ready to accept her need for space with compromise, but Ellen suddenly turned to gather supplies and blankets.

"No, no I can help. Grace should be with someone she knows." With a great deal of prodding, Ellen softly managed to get Grace physically separated from Steve. As Grace curled up on her side, Steve kept his hand on her head and another on her shoulder as she gradually calmed.

"Uncle Steve?" Stroking her hair repetitively, Steve gave her a small kiss on the side of her head at her mumbled whisper.

"We're all still here, Gracie." He furrowed his brow in confusion when she shook her head. Tears clumped her lashes and her eyes were closed. She was obviously exhausted from the mental stress, but she had something to say. Tucking a warm blanket around her shoulders after Ellen received permission to inject a light sedative, Steve leaned forward. "What do you need, sweetheart?"

"You need to go." Her fingers wrapped around his hand before she spoke and he was honestly surprised. "Go find Danno. Please."

Rendered speechless, Steve was stunned when she forced her eyes open and tried to smile. He was saved from having to answer when Ellen placed a hand on top of their two.

"I'll stay with her. Go find them, Steve." Ellen whispered with tears now running down her cheeks. "I'll stay."

She needed something to do and Grace needed a friendly face. Compounded by Grace's request, Ellen freed Steve and Kono to get back to their jobs. Laying another kiss on Grace's warm cheek, Steve cupped the side of Ellen's head in thanks and was already moving hurriedly out of the hospital. In his tracks, Kono was quickly giving Ellen more information and promising to call with updates.

"Rachel will be back sometime tomorrow morning. It's the best she can do with the flights." Kono explained. "Don't leave the hospital and if you hear from anyone … you need to tell us immediately."

Taking Steve's place next to Grace, Ellen nodded in understanding. "Yes, I know .. and I will."

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Steve and Kono were back at the scene just a little more than an hour after leaving with Grace. Running his hand over the smooth hood of the Camaro, Steve was on high alert as he stalked back to the yard to get an update from Chin and the officers on scene.

"What do we have .. and it better be good." Within that time, Chin had found the torn black piece of cloth on the rabbit hutch and taken blood samples for analysis from the sharp hinge. The officers who had arrived first, had bagged Danny's wallet, car keys and cell phone from when his pockets had been emptied. Those items were already ready for transit with the crime scene unit who would analyze everything for prints and DNA.

"Four officers are canvassing the neighbors for information; we have nothing there yet. Now, CSU just found one shell; the one that hit Mike." Pointing to the patio area, Chin drew their attention to a CSU team member who was on his hands and knees by the Alpine chair. He was busily but carefully digging the shell out from one of the solid planks. That too would be bagged and taken in for analyses.

"That's it?" Hands on hips, Steve was in a dark mood. He wanted more and he wanted it now; but Chin was fairly adamant that they had used their time well in the yard. He absorbed the temper stoically as he went over each and every fact that they could possibly make a move on.

"Unfortunately, until we get these results back or they call with demands, we wait." Chin had of course rushed everything to the highest priority but it all still suffered for want of time. Steve almost grumbled when his phone rang in his pocket, but one look at the caller ID had him holding up a hand. His eyes changed from annoyance to an honest worry quickly and he could only nod when Kono mouthed 'Grace?'

"Ellen. Did you hear from the kidnappers?" For a moment, Steve shrugged helplessly because he wasn't sure what he was hearing on the other end. "Ellen? What's wrong .. is it Grace .. or Mike?"

The three stood in a silent circle with two staring expectantly at Steve while his face altered yet again to one of shock and then almost, delight. Motioning to Chin and Kono, Steve was multi-tasking and memorizing what he was being told though Ellen was going to text him all the information.

"Office. Now." He muttered to his team as he jogged to the front of the house and to his truck. As he listened to the excited nurse, he put his hand over the microphone to quickly explain what was happening. Chin's smile was immediate, followed by Kono's anxious need for the data. "We need a trace on Becca's cell phone and an organized plan of action."

"I have it here and it's working." Eyes glistening from tears, and nearly vibrating in place from a mix of horror and pure excitement, Ellen Ramirez was calling Steve from just outside the emergency room. She was holding Mike's belongings in a plastic bag. On top nested in his torn shirt had been his smart phone and at first, Elllen had merely looked at it sadly until she realized something. Her brain churned as she pulled the device out of the bag and stared at it, mutely.

He never locked it with the excuse that he couldn't be bothered. Thumbing through the applications, she found the one he had told them about. The one he had installed after the heated argument with Ponch about the actual need for a young child to have her very own smart phone at all. But if one person in Hawaii was more diligent, anal and near stifling than Danny Williams, it was Michael Ramirez. Having lost his daughter for three agonizing years, he was taking no chances ever again.

"It's not about her age, Ponchie." Face set in stone, Mike had already given Becca her personal cell phone that very day. "It's for her safety. It's for me - and for my sanity."

That had been two weeks ago and Becca had been off in the yard making her very first excited call to Grace. Hours of texting were soon to follow and Ponch had remained old-fashionedly adamant about the ridiculousness of the device for a child. The brothers argued for hours about it at the drop of the hat; the last terse words just the prior day when Becca left the dinner table with an excuse about needing the bathroom. In actuality, she was once again busily texting to someone from school instead.

Now, Ellen was staring at the glowing red dot. Her most obvious first call had to be to Steve as a hysterical giggle accidentally surged out of her throat. He heard the odd sound and it confused him, but she couldn't help it. She was thrilled that Mike had fought his brother about spoiling his little girl so very much; ecstatic because now they had something.

"It works. It's on and .. you can find them."

~ to be continued ~