Wānana Pū – Recollect

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.

A/N: The story is set somewhere in season 7. I apologize in advance for any mistakes... Thank you for the kind reviews, the favs and follows. You guys are awesome! Also the guests who are reviewing, thank you for your kind words!

I really enjoyed writing this story, so I hope you'll enjoy it as well while reading it! Love to hear what you think of it! Suggestions are always welcome; you guys read it after all :) Mahalo for your support.

Chapter Four

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"He's seizing. Sats are dropping. Push two of Ativan. Doctor Kalani start bagging him and someone page Doctor Reid again!" Nolan shouted to the people around him. The intern placed an ambu bag over Danny's mouth and nose and started to squeeze it.

A younger woman, with dark brown hair tied up in a knot, wearing scrubs and a lab coat came jogging towards them. "I'm here, Thom. What do we have?" She asked with a British accent. Steve hadn't seen her before.

"Small epidural hematoma. He just started seizing. Pushed two of Ativan." Nolan informed her. Steve assumed she must be the neurosurgeon. Out of the blue Danny's body relaxed and went completely limp. Steve let out a deep and relieved breath.

"Scans please?" The female doctor asked. The intern Doctor Kalani handed the CT scans quickly, while he continued to squeeze the ambu bag. The doctor studied the scans. "All right I need some lido and a drill, STAT!" She ordered the nurse. Steve followed everything with big eyes and a furrowed brow. He probably shouldn't be in here, but he would stay until someone asked him to leave.

"You're going to do it here?" Nolan asked perplexed.

"Yes, there's no time. I have to relieve the pressure." The doctor took off her lab coat, grabbed a pair of gloves and put them on. The nurse had returned with all kinds of stuff. A few things looked familiar to Steve, but most things he had never seen before.

"Fifteen blade please. I need a catheter ready to drain as soon as I penetrate the Dura." The doctor gradually took the scalpel handed by the nurse. She made the incision as Doctor Nolan held on to Danny. Who was still on his right side. She placed the scalpel back on the tray as the nurse handed her the drill. Steve took a deep breath as the doctor turned on the drill. His stomach turned around at the thought that she was about to drill a hole into Danny's skull.

She started to drill into the skull. "Almost," It sounded higher and faster than a normal drill. A shiver ran down Steve's spine. It sounded gruesome to him. Sure he had heard that sound before, but never to make a hole into someone's skull. "Okay. Tube quickly," the doctor reacted rapidly.

"All right, lets move." Both doctor's pulled up the racks on the side of the gurney. Doctor Nolan and Kalani rushed through the swinging door and disappeared out of Steve's sight.

"Commander? Hi, I'm Leslie Reid the Neurosurgeon." The female doctor with the British accent introduced herself to Steve. He hadn't even noticed she stayed behind. Her expression was compassionated and her voice soft.

"Doc, what's going on? Is he going to be okay?" Steve quickly gave her a handshake; he had honestly no idea what all just happened. It all was just a blur to him.

"Doctor Nolan is prepping him for surgery. Commander, you're listed as Detective Williams his emergency contact, do you know who his next of kin is?" Doctor Reid asked with a comforting smile and her big blue eyes. She was the opposite of Doctor Nolan. Steve didn't like the guy, so he was glad she came on board.

"I'm his next of kin." Fear gripped Steve's heart. Why would she ask for Danny's next of kin? He was going to make it right?

"In that case I need you to sign off on the surgery and let me inform you on the risks, complications and the possible outcome." Reid said it with complete serene. She gestured they should go over to the nurses station.

"Sure whatever he needs." Steve would do anything for his partner. He followed the doctor. She grabbed a file from the desk and scribbled something on the paper before she returned her attention back to Steve.

"Detective Williams is undergoing a surgery to remove the bleed in his brain. I already drilled one hole into his skull to relieve some pressure, but during the procedure I'll drill a second hole into his skull. It will allow us to drain the blood from the epidural. After we drain the blood out, a small tube will be temporarily left inside the burr holes for a few days to help drain away any blood and debris from the site of the surgery. Using drainage tubes reduces the risk of complications, but there are still some possibilities." The doctor explained patiently the whole procedure to Steve.

"Like what?" Steve looked with his brow furrowed and his eyes darting about in concern at the doctor.

"Complications include, post-op infection, excessive bleeding or a stroke. Symptoms that occurred before surgery may persist after surgery," she spoke calmly with Steve. Her British accent seemed to make the conversation less hard. Doctor Reid tucked her left hand into her lab coat pocket as she handed the form to Steve, so he could sign off on the procedure. Steve quickly signed the form with a hand that barely seemed his own.

"What? Like permanent damage?" Steve looked up from the form. His stomach turned around as his heart began to pump faster and his breathing quickened. He felt a gut-wreaking fear set in. Real fear, the kind that left no room to think or feel anything else.

"It can take a while to recover from a Epidural Hematoma. There may indeed be some permanent damage, such as problems with certain brain functions that affect talking and understanding others. Changes to his moods and concentration, or memory problems, seizures and weakness in his limbs. The length of time it takes to completely recover from a Epidural Hematoma will vary from person to person." Reid added as she took the form back from Steve.

Steve swallowed hard. "When will you know?" He stared with his eyes widely at the doc. None of this was sitting well with him. It all seemed to get worse. He had wished a lot of times that Danny would've shut up, but the thought that he could have trouble talking from now on made his whole world fall apart. He never indended for any of this to happen.

Doctor Reid could see a lot of guilt in Steve's eyes, so she reassured him by placing her hand on his bicep. "I'll find you as soon as I'm done with the surgery." She could see that Steve cared deeply about his friend and she admired that. She nodded firmly and went through the same swinging door as Danny did earlier.

Steve stayed behind. His muscles were tense. He couldn't move, like there was a gun pointed to his head. Even then he would be thinking of ways to escape from the gunpoint. This time, all he could do was breathe. All the noise that had been there before seemed to have disappeared. He didn't remember being this uncertain, not once in his entire life. And it was just the beginning.

His mind was numb with shock. Danny couldn't die. Danny couldn't leave his kids behind like that. He had to see them grow up. Grace couldn't live without her dad. Charlie hadn't spent enough time with his father yet and Steve needed his best friend. Closing his eyes, he sank into a chair, trying to suppress any of those awful thoughts. Danny was going to be fine.

His right hand rubbed the back of his neck. He looked down at his feet. Steve let out a deep breath and looked back up. Kono was standing in the hallway, looking confused at the empty ER room. She walked towards Steve.

"Steve, where's Danny?" She had a white plastic bag with take-outs in her hands. She gazed at Steve with her big puppy dog brown eyes.

Steve didn't answer right away. "They took him up to surgery." Kono took place next to him as she held onto the plastic bag. Steve had to clear his throat before he could tell the whole conversation he just had with the doctor.

After he explained everything he placed his hand on Kono's shoulder and pulled her in a hug while they remained seated. "He's going to pull through."

"I know," Kono gave her best smile, but it wasn't anything more than a very weak grin. "Do we need to call Rachel?" Kono reminded Steve of Danny's ex wife.

Steve hadn't thought about any of that. Suddenly the conversation he had with Danny popped back up in his head. "Grace," Steve ran his hand through his hair. He suddenly remembered Danny's rant about Grace going to a party. That's why he needed to go so badly. He was supposed to pick her up tonight.

"I have to pick up Grace," he probably reacted just as confused as Danny did to him as he just did to Kono. She looked puzzled at him. "Danny was supposed to pick her up from a party on the other side of the island."

"I'm sure HPD can pick her up." Kono offered as possibility.

"No, I have to go myself. I promised." Steve stood up and was ready to go, but at the same time it didn't feel okay to leave Danny behind.

"You go. I'll stay here and call Chin and Lou. They'll come too. He isn't going to be alone." Kono had stood up as well and looked Steve in the eye. He should go without any doubt.

"Thank you, Kono." Steve started to jog towards the exit. He turned around and added. "Call me immediately if something changes."

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FRIDAY 10:35 PM PALI HIGHWAY – HONOLULU – O'AHU.

Steve was speeding on the highway to the other side of the island. He was glad that HPD had dropped the Camaro off at the hospital. He was satisfied with his new truck, but the Camaro was a lot faster to handle on the highway and such. Steve had absolutely no idea where Grace would be and he didn't want to worry her until it was absolutely necessary, so he called Rachel. She had to be notified anyway.

Steve could hear her concerns on the other side of the line. Steve wasn't completely sure on what terms they were since the whole Charlie thing, but Steve could tell she still cared about him. It wasn't a total surprise to him though, Danny was the father of her children and she had been married to him. Steve hated to make such phone calls, but she was in her rights to know, even if it was just for Grace and Charlie. Gosh he had no idea how to tell Grace about this. All he knew was that he had a knot in his stomach about it.

He had been in the same position before and he would never get used to it. Danny was family, like a brother to him. At first he hadn't completely understood why Danny had moved all the way from New Jersey to Hawaii, cause he hated the place so much, but the minute he saw him together with Grace he understood. She was his life and breath and would do anything for the little girl. Right now, Steve would do the same. Grace was like his own, he would go through trouble for the girl. Only if it was just to help Danny with it. He would do anything for him.

After the plane crash the doctor had told him that Danny donated his liver to him. He was too damn tired to understand it at first and even later he didn't get Danny. Sure he would do the same for him if he needed it, he actually had given it a lot of thought. He had spent a lot of nights awake wondering what had gotten into Danny to voluntarily under go surgery. Up until now he hadn't fully realized what he would do to keep his partner alive. There had been a few times Danny got hurt or where Steve had gotten a disconcerting phone call, but they all seemed noting compared to this. Danny might not ever be the same again.

Steve had been driving to the other side of the island in some kind of daze. He couldn't recall how he got where he was right now and if he had past some red lights. All he had been doing was thinking about the last few hours. Twenty-four minutes later Steve pulled over in front of the address that Rachel had given him. He looked through the window at the house. The party was still on. The kids inside were having probably one of the best nights of their lives so far and Steve was about to ruin it for one of them. The one he never wanted to see get hurt or in trouble.

He ran his hands over his face and let out an anxious sigh. There was no way to prepare for what was about to happen and he had no idea how Grace would react. Steve could see the front door open and Grace walked down the front porch. Steve gathered up the courage and he needed a lot.

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"Grace, that's your dad's car isn't it." Jake, the boy how threw the party, looked outside and pointed to the Camaro that was standing in front of the house.

"Argh seriously? Does he ever listen to me?" Grace rolled with her eyes out of complete irritation. "He wasn't supposed to be here for another hour." Grace opened the front door to go outside. She was about to be real pissed off on her father. Could he just for once not overreact? She had already made the deal that he was allowed to pick her up, but that wasn't enough for him. No, he had to embarrass her in front of her friends. She marched down the front porch.

"Gracie!" Steve got out of the car and walked towards her. Grace was wearing a cute white top with high waist jeans and low white converse. She had curled her hair a bit. She definitely put some time in to her look.

"Uncle Steve?" Grace was completely surprised to see Steve. There could only be one reason why her uncle was here instead of her dad. "What are you doing here? Where's Danno?" Grace asked suspicious as she glanced sideways at Steve.

Steve just blurted it out, there wasn't another way to tell her, well there was, but the outcome wouldn't change. "Grace, I'm sorry, but your dad, he's in the hospital-" Grace cut him off. "Is he all right?" She looked vulnerable at Steve with her big brown eyes.

"We don't know. He's is surgery, so that's why I'm here to bring you home." Steve stood straight in front of her. He put his hand on Grace's arm to calm her.

"I'm not going home, Uncle Steve. I'm coming with you." Grace demanded. She needed to see her dad. Just up until two minutes ago she was about to ignore her father for a week, if it weren't any longer. She was really pissed off and for what. She should have known better, her dad would've kept his promise. He probably had shown up right on time, but he would've waited until she came outside by herself.

"Grace, it can take all night." Steve didn't like the idea of taking Grace back to the hospital with him. He knew she had been there when Danny and himself were under going the transplantation, but he could barely handle himself this time. Let alone Grace too.

"I don't care. I need to be there." Her eyes were darting around in concern.

"I'll take you home and I promise I will call you and pick you up once Danno's out of surgery and awake." Steve didn't want to scare her or take any risks. Normally Danny would be happy to see his little girl, but this time Steve wasn't sure how he would come out of it. He didn't know what the possible damage was going to look like. Danny might not be able to speak straight or act like the dad she knew.

"You promise?" Grace whispered. Tears welled up in her eyes. Steve placed his hand on her cheek. His heart broke, as he looked in her eyes.

"I do," Steve had a hard time not to tear up himself, so he pulled Grace into a hug. "Come here kiddo. I love you and I'm really sorry. Your dad is a tough one, you know that, right?"

"Uhu. Thanks for coming and get me, Uncle Steve." Grace wiped the few tears that had rolled down off her cheek.

"You? Anytime, Grace!" Steve winked at her and gave her a small smile, trying to ease the situation.

-H50-

A/N: Love to know what you think about it. Is it too short, too long, enough whump and bromance so far? You guys are reading it, so as the writer and would love to improve.