Note: Phew! Was able to put my place in WPP on hold. Seems none of you care about Stan and Rachel. Lol.
Disclaimer: I do not own H50.
Chapter Seven.
"Stay with the kids." Chin ordered Kono as he ran down the stairs out to the lanai.
Opening the doors he found Rachel stood halfway down to the shore, gun in hand. Stan was still on his knees and he was staring down at John Clayton who lay in the sand. Stan shakily stood and then finding his feet ran to Rachel. Chin was by her side in a second.
"Give me the gun Rachel." He said relieving her of the deadly weapon.
"Oh god, what have I done? Is he dead? He was going to kill Stan. I had to do something." She rambled.
"It's fine Rachel." Chin reassured. "You were protecting your family."
He ran down to the shore to check on Clayton. The man lay on his side, unconscious, blood oozing from a bullet hole in the center of his back. He checked for a pulse and found one, albeit weak.
The two HPD officers rushed out to join them and taking in the scene before them, one turned and went back into the house returning minutes later with EMTs. Chin walked away and spoke to one of the officers. "I want someone with him at all times. Make sure he is cuffed. I don't care if he's unconscious."
He then walked over to Stan and Rachel who stood embraced in each other's arms. "Why don't we move inside guys, you don't need to see this."
"The children?" Rachel asked suddenly snapping out of her shocked state.
"Kono is with them." Chin reassured as he ushered them inside to the couch.
"Am I in trouble?" Rachel asked. "For shooting him, will I be charged?"
"No Rachel, the man was trying to kill your husband. You're not in trouble." He reassured. Hearing that she broke down in tears.
"That was quite a shot though. I'm impressed." Chin joked trying to put Rachel more at ease.
"Danny used to drag me down to the firing range. His idea of a good evening, not mine. But I guess I need to thank him now." She explained through her tears.
A minute later she stood. "I need to see the children." She stated moving towards to stairs.
Entering the bedroom she saw Kono seated on the bed. Grace and Charlie were clinging to her.
"Mommy," Grace shouted running to her. "Where's step Stan?" She asked.
"He's fine sweetheart, he's down stairs with your Uncle Chin." She reassured then moved to hug Charlie too.
"Thank you." She whispered to Kono.
"You're welcome."
Kono went down stairs and joined Chin in the kitchen where he had just finished talking to an HPD officer.
"Both the officers are ok. They have taken them to the hospital to get checked out but looks like concussions at worst." He filled her in.
"That's good." She replied. "What about Clayton?"
"They stabilised him. But they think the bullet hit his spine. He has been taken to Queens. I'm gonna head there now and fill Steve in." Chin explained. "Can you stay here until they are ready to head to the hospital? Ithink they would feel better with one of us here."
"Of course cus. Thank god this is all over. Now we just have to get Danny back to fighting fit." She replied.
5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0
Steve was dozing in the chair at the side of Danny's bed, when he sensed someone standing at the door. Coming to his senses he relaxed as he realised it was Chin.
"Hey, your early man. Did the nurses give you the stink eye on the way in?" He joked.
"No." Chin quietly replied trying not to wake Amber who was asleep on the cot. "Steve, we have Clayton. It's over man. We've got him."
"What? That's great. Where did he surface?" Steve asked.
"Err, at your place." Chin answered, watching Steve's eyes bug out. "Don't worry. Everyone's fine. Clayton broke in, hell bent on killing Stan, tied Rachel up and marched Stan outside."
"What? How the hell did he get in, what about HPD?" Steve asked furiously.
"He managed to sneak up on them and knocked them out. They're fine." He explained.
"So how did you catch him?"
"We didn't. Rachel technically did." Chin continued.
"What?" Steve asked. Not sure what he was hearing.
"Turns out Danny taught her to shoot well. She found the knife and gun you keep in your room, cut her self free and shot Clayton just as he was going to stab Stan." Chin informed him.
"Is he dead?" Steve asked.
"No. In surgery. Doctors think the bullet severed his spinal cord. As soon as he is stable he will be transferred to another hospital, away from Danny."
"My god." Steve replied shocked. "You hear that Danny, everyone's safe, and your ex kicked butt. The knife and gun aren't so extreme now, are they?"
Danny twitched his fingers causing Chin to gasp. "Steve, did he just move?"
"Yeah. He's been responding to us now on and off for a few hours. Scared us both silly a few hours ago by starting to breath for himself and upsetting the vent. Nurse says he's doing great." Steve happily explained.
"That's fantastic news." Chin stated. "Hey, how about I go to the cafeteria and get that breakfast I promised you."
"You're the best, man." Steve replied.
5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0
A few hours later Rachel, Grace, and Kono had joined them at the hospital. Stan had taken Charlie home now the danger had passed. They were all extremely happy to hear of Danny's good progress, and Amber was now hugging Grace tightly knowing that she was thankfully safe.
Dr. Hale entered the room. "Good morning. I hear you all had an eventful night one way or another."
"You can say that again doc." Kono answered.
"Well I'm glad everyone is safe and Danny here is making remarkable progress. I've reviewed his figures and I think it's time we woke him up and got him off this machine." Dr. Hale explained to a full room of relieved, smiling faces.
"We will stop the sedation now and it may take an hour or so for him to wake up enough to remove the tube. Although he is already a day ahead of where I expected him to be so he may surprise us and wake sooner." Dr. Hale joked. "I'd prefer to only have Steve and Amber here until he wakes. That's if they want to be. The nurses and myself will need to be able to get to him once he starts to wake."
"Of course," They all replied.
"Fantastic." Dr. Hale stated. "We have a beautiful courtyard down stairs, and it's lovely at this time of day. Perhaps you could wait there and we will call you once Danny is ready for visitors. I'm sure he will want to see you as soon as possible." He said ruffling Grace's hair.
They all left the room with the exception of Steve and Amber. Jane had returned for another shift and she busily set about changing Danny's sedation for a PCAS (patient controlled analgesia system).
"This will give him constant pain relief, but he can top it up himself if he needs it." She explained. "All he has to do is press the button."
Amber and Steve sat patiently waiting, Steve telling Amber an embarrassing Danny story. Just as he was getting to the funny part Danny stirred. His left arm suddenly rose to his mouth and he made a choking noise around the tube. Steve grabbed Danny's hand before he could pull out the tube and locked eyes with a terrified Danny.
"Hey, it's ok. Relax. The doc is gonna remove the tube in a sec." He reassured as Dr. Hale and Jane rushed to Danny's side.
"Well I was right, trouble with a capital T." He said to Jane who nodded, knowing that Dr. Hale was referring to the short waking time. "Ok Danny. I'm going to remove this tube now and then we will need to put an oxygen mask on? Ok?"
Danny gave a slight nod and squeezed Steve's hand. His eyes flickering to Amber, who had come around to stand by Steve's side, out of the doctor's way. His lips curled into a smile around the tube.
"Danny, I need you to cough on three." Dr. Hale said removing the tape that held the tube in place. "One, two, three."
Danny gave a weak cough and Dr. Hale removed the tube causing Danny to gag. A minute later Danny was reclined in bed. Oxygen mask in place and Jane was explaining to him how the pain pump worked.
"Danny, can you remember what happened?" Doctor Hale asked.
"Yeah." He replied, wincing at the weakness of his voice.
"Here." Jane said lifting the oxygen mask and offering a spoon of ice chips.
Danny gave her a grateful smile then continued. "A car, saved Grace. She's ok right?"
"She's fine Danny. Worried about you though," Amber reassured.
"What happened next?" Danny asked. "Not sure how I got here."
"Well it turned out you weren't as fine as you said you were. You collapsed and needed surgery." Steve filled him in.
"Damn," Danny weakly sighed. "Did Grace see? Where is she?"
"She's downstairs with Rachel, Chin and Kono." Steve replied. "Everyone is safe and the guy responsible has been caught. Just rest up buddy. I'll call and get them up here as soon as the doctor gives me the nod."
Danny nodded and closed his eyes. Seconds later he opened them again. "What the hell is going on with my nose and back of my throat?"
"You have a NG tube in Danny. It goes into your stomach via your nose and drains off bile and gas." Jane explained.
"Well that sounds pleasant." Danny replied.
"It's better than vomiting."
"Got it, tube stays!" Danny conceded.
"Get some rest Danny." Jane giggled. "I'll be just outside if you need me."
She left the room and Amber moved back to the other side of the bed. Danny reached to take her hand, wincing as he pulled his collar bone.
"Easy Jersey, you're rather banged up." She said leaning over and taking his hand.
"You can say that again doll, I feel like the car hit me then reversed back over me." He smiled at her. "Thanks for being here."
"Where else would I be?" She said gazing into his eyes.
"Ok, I'm gonna leave you too to get mushy." Steve piped up. "I'm gonna go call Grace."
One more chapter to go.