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

Notes: continued thanks to you all. I haven't been feeling well the last couple of days; be patient if tomorrow's chapter is delayed a day. The muse wants to poke but the writer can't seem to concentrate with a persistent tension headache.

Chapter Five

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

In a single breathless motion, Steve body-slammed himself through the sluggishly opening doors of the emergency room, taken aback by the sheer volume of people in its main lobby. Children, parents, uniformed officers and now he too, milled about vainly looking for a friendly face and searching for answers.

"Duke!" He finally spied the older sergeant and audibly sighed in relief when Grace peeked out from around him. Her stricken look mirrored his own as she bolted from her chair to throw herself into his arms. Her face was blotchy and reddened from tears which were still occasionally trickling down her cheeks. Once she reached Steve, she was sobbing all over again.

"Any word yet?" Caressing Grace's back in slow circles Steve softly addressed Duke whose stern countenance was answer enough. Things were bad and there was no definitive word on Danny; further proof was currently throttling his very neck and leaving wet stains on the collar of his dark blue shirt. He had a rudimentary understanding of what had happened that morning at the beach. But being called in for the unanticipated emergency from the Five-0 offices, it was enough at that moment to focus solely on Grace and then on the splintered bits of information being spoon fed from the doctors. It was only a matter of time until they learned the whole story and by then, the informational and emotional floodgates would be overwhelmingly melded together.

Trying not to listen, Grace couldn't help herself as she dwelled on the carefully shared details. Her headache had increased to a such an extent, it left her overly quiet and unwilling to move. Yet, she couldn't do the most important thing of turning her brain off. Based on the brief discussion, it was clear that Danno was injured very badly. He would need a big operation and a very special doctor. Sergeant Lukela had been doting on her the entire time, too. Next to the chair he'd sat her in was a stack of canned drinks, candy and even a plastic wrapped pastry from the vending machines. All the more, officers she didn't know were smiling nicely to her and hovering just a bit too closely. None of it boded well and Grace closed her eyes while laying her cheek tiredly on Steve's shoulder, quietly absorbing his hum which vibrated into her ear.

"Nothing?" Frowning, Steve mouthed the word to encourage Duke to carefully share what he might be able to speak out loud. The answering nod was slight and aimed in Grace's direction as the sergeant searched for the right words.

"Danny's being treated; stabilized and then probably prepped for surgery… but they're waiting on the physician and a few test results." Not knowing too much more but enough that might frighten Grace more than she already was, Duke's lament was duly edited for sensitive ears. While eyeing the back of Grace's quivering shoulders, his steady sigh was rife with concern and topped with a great deal of bewilderment.

"The little boy hurt his back and hit his head when he fell off the abutment and into the water. They're bringing in experts to assess his condition; the water wasn't very deep."

"Okay." Steve nodded as he filled in the holes and valleys purposefully skipped over by the wise officer. Baffled, he shook his head as he looked around from where he stood idle with Duke in their small corner of the emergency room. But his thoughts were racing regarding the unspoken implications. Mark Paquin had sustained serious head and back injuries requiring specialized care. When it came to Danny, waiting for the physician meant the right surgeon. And that could also indicate a specialist had perhaps been called in to manage his partner's surgical needs. His partner was likely close by, too as the medical staff worked to stabilize his condition, but Steve quite literally had his hands full. He didn't dare deposit Grace back into Duke's hands no matter how capable. Soothing himself as much as he was Grace, Steve also read through Duke's dire tone. No matter who or what might be demanded, no one was being allowed to see Danny regardless.

"Damn it." Steve closed his eyes as he barely mumbled under his breath and shifted Grace's weight in his arms which only served to tighten her strangle-hold on his neck. With a nod towards Duke, he walked quietly further down a more lightly inhabited corner to be alone with her. "How are you doing, sweetheart?"

Hidden in his neck, there was no sound. Not a whisper. Only the tiniest of shrugs which inadvertently brought on a tirade of new sniffles. "Hey, hey. Gracie." Steve found himself shushing and jostling her as if she were a toddler. With no chairs to be had and her resistance to being put down, he wound up walking the corridor to and fro in a short cyclical pattern while simply talking and hoping she'd say something in reply.

"I know it's hard. I know; I do. But he's in good hands and as soon as the doctors know something important, they'll come over and tell us."

Concentrating too hard again, Grace's stomach twisted in response to a particularly sharp throbbing in her head. She had listened to Duke while he had contacted Steve from the police car with sirens screaming as they followed behind the ambulance. Uncle Steve was finally with her which made things so much better, but there was no miracle and she still didn't know anything more about Danno. Feeling sick and extremely tired, Grace simply couldn't think of a single word to say. Instead she blinked against the dull thud between her eyes to find the buttons on his shirt.

"Grace, do you need anything?" Gently prompting, Steve tried to draw her out. Still though, she didn't do more than nod into his neck, only tiredly looking out to fumble forlornly with the pocket of his denim shirt. Her face was pale, but blotched in an unhealthy pattern of redness from near constant crying. Steve didn't doubt she needed a cold drink or some sort of break from the hectic pace of the emergency room. However, he also knew that she would never willingly do either without him. Leaning back while she perched in his arms, Steve offered her a smile while he pushed lank hair back from her over-heated face.

"It'll be okay, Grace. You can stay with me until we get to see Danno and then for as long as you want." Steve thumbed a tear from her cheek as she finally mumbled a sad affirmative sound. Her reactions combined with Duke's profound serious nature only heightened Steve's discomfort and he purposefully wandered back to the main area.

His second assessment was no different than that of his arrival. If anything, more people had arrived after the news was shared by overly excited students, concerned parents and stunned teachers. Returning to the main area, it now appeared as if the entire school had finally followed the two ambulances and multiple police vehicles to the hospital in a horrified procession. Co-mingled amongst the distressed gathering were staff nurses, orderlies and doctors; all of whom were attempting to manage multiple questions as well as the needs of other quite unrelated patients.

"We need to clear this place." In a normal conversational tone, Steve calmly spoke over Grace's head, not only to Duke but also to the two closest HPD officers. "Only family should be here at this point. Find a way to politely clear out whomever is non-essential."

Quietly and with care, the twosome started their task with gentle encouragement and guiding instructions. Most of the group were reticent about leaving, each understanding the need for privacy and the emergency room eventually began to lighten its load. However, Steve groaned into Grace's hair as the first of what could be many of the media arrived. The large white van with the ostentatious self-advertisement for one of Hawaii's most extensive television stations arrived with great fanfare wholly for itself. Nearly leaping from the passenger seat, the male news reporter already had a microphone in hand and a firm grasp of his camera-man's shoulder before the side doors of the van slid entirely open.

Forcing her eyes open, Grace automatically followed Steve's unconscious motion. She too was surprised by the crowded room and then the news crew, shrinking back slightly in Steve's arms. It was better with her eyes closed where she felt safely cocooned in the denial of darkness; blinded to prying eyes and sharply painful fluorescent lights. Adopting her former position of having her head resting on Steve's shoulder, Grace tried to get part of that feeling back. It wasn't easy though because now she had looked and seen the busy swirl of people. Combining with her headache, even Steve seemed suddenly more intense.

"Get them out of here, too. We don't have time for this." While still even-toned, Steve's voice carried a hint of his anger which automatically switched back to soothing as he felt Grace virtually melt into his body. Emotionally drained, she was reacting physically to the smallest nuance of his words and he focused now on softly murmuring in her ear.

He'd gotten the urgent call from Duke in the Five-0 offices and had sent a series of things in motion before literally running out the doors. Besides organizing the cousins who were at Halawa prison interviewing a felon, he had directly contacted Charlie Fong to request his personal assistance in guiding the forensics team at the crime scene. After, his only goal was getting to the hospital for both his partner and for Grace.

"It's alright." Murmuring softly, Steve simply held Grace tightly in his arms feeling every subtle tremor in her body, finally understanding that she might actually be sick. "Shhh. It's okay, Gracie. Duke and I have all of this under control. Aunt Kono and Uncle Chin will be here soon…. everything's going to be fine."

He felt the sad agreeable moan through his neck rather than heard it. Continuing to look over her weary dark head, Steve glared at the reporter as the pushy man was waylaid not only by HPD, but also hospital security and administrative staff just within the space of the double doors. He and other reporters would be handled thusly until someone in official authority was ready to provide a proper statement.

What none of them could stop though was the errant parent headed off in the parking lot as they dutifully left the property. Steve growled resentfully under his breath as he caught sight of a mother and two bewildered children cornered before they could find their car. At first appearing to be reserved, they eventually provided some sort of impression of that morning's events, and Steve glowered to himself for the media's dogged perseverance. Some news or other would certainly be getting out into the social mainstream within the hour; truthful, embellished or even worse.

There would be no real way to prevent those initial leaks from beginning and so Steve turned away, once more looking for a secluded corner. A place where he could sit with Grace and coax her to have a drink or even nap as the stressful day wore on. But once more Duke had intervened with a kind nurse who was stunned to learn that their charge was the injured detective's daughter. Moments later, Steve had been pressed to take a small examination room where Grace could relax after that same nurse had sweetly provided an appropriate child's dosage of over-the-counter pain medication.

Feeling empty and cold at first as Steve insisted she lay on the gurney, Grace eventually calmed as the nurse and then Duke left the room. Experimenting with the lights, Steve finally found the right combination to dim the glare of the overhead bulbs to leave just the single light on over the spartan single sink.

"Better?" Squinting but watching him like a hawk, Grace murmured a faint yes when Steve ceased his pacing to take a seat in one of the available chairs. He heaved a sigh as they momentarily stared each other down, wondering if the other was indeed okay. "Close your eyes and get some rest. I'm not going anywhere."

"Uncle Steve." The medicine hadn't quite begun to work yet and Grace swallowed hard as her stomach roiled uncomfortably. She must have looked funny for his disagreeable frown. But he knew what she was going to say as she struggled to keep her burning eyes open.

"I promise, Grace." Steve leaned forward to take her hand, a bit happier to find it less cold than it had been when he'd first arrived. "I'll wake you as soon as the doctor comes. And like I said before, I'm not going anywhere."

Holding his hand and with that promise repeating in her head, Grace closed her eyes, dozed and eventually fell asleep.

~ to be continued ~