I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
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Chapter Eighteen
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He didn't know precisely what was being said because the conversation was held in such a low confidential tone; but he certainly felt the tragic underpinnings. Because of that dark aura, Danny cradled Mark's head to his chest just in case tempers re-escalated while murmuring sounds which he hoped continued to be soothing. A few minutes later the air seemed to literally clear and lessen in its very intensity as a number of people left the stairwell for the upper floor. The change was palpable and he sighed thankfully as Mark slowly released his fingers from where they'd been buried in his robe.
"Do you think you can go to Doctor Webber?" Danny whispered the question before the man even returned to their side. "Mark? Everything is going to be alright. I promise."
The boy didn't verbally answer yet Danny sensed the pending agreement and he nodded up to Webber once he reappeared. "How's he doing?" The physician gently asked, surprised when Mark wearily peeked up to look his way. "Mark? Will you come with me now?"
Behind the doctor, a petite nurse snuck over to hand the doctor two blankets. One he draped over Mark's shoulders while the second was used to cover Danny's legs. Only then did Danny realize that he too was trembling. But where Mark was shaking from a traumatized fear, he was beginning to experience an exhausting adrenalin dump as his own tension leaked away.
"Detective?" Webber kept his hand on Mark, using the blanket as an excuse to maintain contact. He waited though for permission since Danny would know if he could literally scoop the boy up at that point. But only when he was ready for the transition. With one hand on Mark's shoulder, the doctor cautiously slid his other under the boy's knees while keeping the thick blanket bunched warmly around his body.
"Is it okay Mark?" He nearly stopped breathing when Mark stiffened and tucked the purple dolphin tightly to his chest. Relaxing completely yet maintaining some persistent contact, the physician waited. "Are we alright you two?"
"He's ready. Right, buddy?" Danny kept his eyes glued to Mark's face, measuring his expression and he smiled confidently just as he felt the willing change in pressure. "Yeah, he's good, Doc."
"That's my boy," Webber murmured into Mark's hair as he effortlessly stood with him now safely cradled in his arms. The same nurse moved forward to fix the blanket, allowing a fold to cover his face where he rested against the doctor's shoulder. Having heard some of the exchange with the Five-0 officer, the nurse's face was fraught with a mix of anger and grief. She couldn't hide her emotions as she spontaneously made sure Mark had his purple toy safely tucked in his hand under the blanket.
Afterwards, Danny wasn't alone for very long once Webber carefully peeled Mark Paquin from his lap. The very moment that the boy finally left his arms willingly for the doctor, he closed his eyes in direct response to the emotional drain. Tiredly, he rocked his head back into the wall while carefully exhaling a relieved purging of air. Both his arms wound up draped limply by his sides, hands falling palm up with fingers splayed. He sat there utterly still just listening to gentle murmurs and rustling sounds of movement, but keen to the soothing nature which kept Mark wholly at ease.
However, Danny couldn't help the weary vibration that made a tension-stressed muscle twitch in a leg or arm. Frankly though, he had no energy left to care. Unwilling to move, he focused on Webber's voice and the one or two other people speaking softly as they cared for Mark in their quiet manner. Their voices soon faded as Webber literally carried the boy up one flight to a waiting gurney, but Danny was far from being alone.
"Detective? How are you holding up?" Without opening his eyes, Danny knew it was whichever nurse Webber had asked to remain behind. She was now on her knees by his side, draping the blanket up to his very chin and tucking it between his shoulders and the concrete wall so it would stay in place. Then she was seeking his wrist to manually evaluate his pulse and checking his respiration. Waiting for more assistance to arrive, she pointed to the locked door while giving way to Steve who materialized seemingly from nowhere. "Security is going to turn off the alarm to the emergency exit. We're waiting on a wheelchair so we can bring you around outside ... no stairs ... to another side entrance where we'll take an elevator to the fourth floor. We'll have you back in your room in no time."
"Thanks," his voice was tinny, tired as he was, but it was enough to satisfy the nurse. He felt Steve assume her space and for that, Danny forced his eyes partially open and idly moved his hand under the blanket in a type of welcome. "Steve."
"Danno." He would have reprimanded Steve for using the nickname if not for a severe lack of energy and then the heavy dose of alarm in the tone. Frowning as he made his eyes focus, Danny wasn't disappointed when he saw the matching stress across the wind-burned face.
"Perfect ... timing. But where ...did you come from?" Danny slurred quietly as a fatigued tremor shook him from head to toe. "Why is your face ... all red?"
"The hospital was locked down when we got here. Grace is outside with Chin and Kono is running interference for Mark." The smallest of smiles broke out to crinkle white lines near Steve's eyes which were in direct contrast to the obvious signs of too much sun and wind irritation. Danny couldn't help staring at them and wondering why he hadn't noticed them earlier in the day. He paused, mesmerized by the sight, before realizing that Steve's concern was increasing the longer he remained quiet.
"I should have known. A lockdown won't stop a McGarrett. And ... once more ... you got your way," Danny finally responded adequately with a lopsided apologetic smile. But his voice faded as exhaustion took its toll making his thoughts as lethargic as his mouth. He was slow on the uptake and then grimacing as a spasm tightened his lower back. Once more, Danny's eyes closed as he rode the deep rolling ache to a barely manageable undercurrent.
"Yeah, I got my way," Steve affirmed with a bit of definitive heat behind the words, edited precisely the way he intended. "Are you okay?" Concerned by the the flicker of pain and Danny's increasing listlessness, he glanced to the nurse who was waiting for the okay to open the emergency door. But he frowned at the lax nature of Danny's entire body down to blanket hidden hands which were so obviously unmoving. "Are you going to be able to get up?"
"With ... help." Directly opposite to having originally done too much walking, now Danny had been sitting in one position for much too long. He groaned as another ache fluttered through his chest, wincing as his back picked up on the painful staccato echo. He moved and then regretted the attempt as the echo increased in a throbbing warning. "I need ... to get up, Steve. Oh ... man. Everything ... hurts."
"Okay, okay. Take it easy ... we're not ready yet." Gripping Danny's upper arm as he moaned at the slightest of movements, Steve coached his partner to try to relax, yet looked to the nurse for guidance. He was relieved to see her on her cell phone at the same time she used her shoulder to open the emergency door. Already waiting on the outside were two orderlies with one wheelchair. Steve winced as the bright sunlight streamed into the once overly shadowed corner as the nurse hurriedly came back to where they were sitting. "How're we going to do this? He's exhausted and in pain."
"Go on his left so I can be careful of his right side where the bandage is," the nurse said as Steve slid dutifully on one knee to Danny's left. Just behind them an orderly positioned the wheelchair, locking the brakes and ready to lend another set of hands. "Detective, let us do the work. We're going to stand you up and then move you right into the chair. I don't want you to do a thing, alright?"
Danny nodded as he forced his eyes to open, now wincing too as the natural light momentarily blinded him. He leaned heavily into Steve to take the weight off his entire right side as the nurse cradled his elbow and then his arm. Mindful of his injuries, her touch was firm but gentle as they lifted in tandem only to stop as Danny gasped in pain.
"Wait," he whimpered, sagging miserably between the two as stiffened muscles seized in his legs, lower back and through his chest with a brutal vengeance. Blood rushed into his ears as static white noise and he wobbled dangerously with knees which refused to lock in place. Eyes closed, his head hung limply down as he struggled to find a way to get enough of air into his sore lungs.
"Shit." Steve took the brunt of his partner's weight as he swayed, prevented from collapsing only by the people holding him up. "Bring the chair around!"
Reacting quickly, the orderly did just that bumping the back of Danny's legs gently as three sets of hands now carefully guided him down. Unable to see for the flux of vertigo which briefly stole his vision, it took a few minutes for Danny to regain a perspective on his surroundings. The hazy view of Steve crouched worriedly in front of him eventually made it through the disorientation. Almost disembodied from the action, he managed to shakily swipe at the cold sweat rolling annoyingly down his face while more trickled down his back to soak the thin hospital gown.
"That ... hurt." Danny tried to smile to appease their concern, surprised to find that his mouth was bone-dry. Dimly he realized that the blanket was already back in place yet his right wrist was firmly in the nurse's grip and she was murmuring something which was taking much too long for him to understand.
"Slower ... slow it down ... slow." Her chanting was rhythmic and Danny finally heard her to realize that his heart was pounding like an out of control drum. He could feel it thrumming in his chest and then his neck; creating a painful tempo in his temple. "Slower, Detective." He blinked and shakily rubbed his eyes, surprised by the moisture that came away on his fingers.
"Shit, Danny," Steve repeated, clearly rattled by what he had thought would be a much simpler transition. His eyes flew from his partner over to the nurse as she doted over his vital signs. "Are you okay? Is he alright?"
"I'm good. I'm fine," Danny whispered before the nurse could reply as Steve's hand almost desperately found his shoulder. Closing his eyes to the nurse's continued coaching, Danny carefully gathered his composure to breath more calmly. His chest tugged and burned resentfully as he slowly acclimated to sitting, giving him the eventual wherewithal to nod that he was truly fine. "We can go. I'm okay ... really."
"He's better," the nurse softly affirmed entirely for Steve's benefit. "He'll be alright once we get him upstairs." Then Danny was closing his eyes and ducking his head behind a hand as the small retinue hurried him out into the sunshine.
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"While Chin ran home to grab his stuff, we went to your place first and picked up the rest of Grace's things; I had gear in the truck. Then we went to rent the kayaks. We freshened up, had a bite to eat, and came right over, Danny," Steve explained. Despite the fact that his friend's eyes were closed, Steve knew he was awake and listening based on the pleased smile which never left his lips. What he was seeing now was a far cry from just forty-five minutes earlier before a change of hospital attire and the overdue administration of pain medications. Danny looked peaceful, even content where he now lay in bed.
"Grace had a blast and you are coming the next time. No arguments." Perched on the edge of the mattress, Steve managed to smile at the reaction. There was a subtle twitch to one side of Danny's lip, clearly amused by the pending promise and not voicing a hint of disagreement. Only thinking of Grace when it came to sunscreen and a hat, Steve's face and neck were pinked from a heavy dose of water-reflected sunshine and wind. Having just asked about their day for a second time, Danny was now getting the full story behind their afternoon adventure.
"She had a great time." Eyes wedged shut peacefully and glad to listen, Danny's smile broadened as he quietly replied. "Thank you. Again." The only lull thus far in his daughter's chatter was because Grace had been tasked with organizing the folder of images on Kono's tablet.
"And again, Danno, you don't have to thank me for anything when it comes to Grace. I had a great time, too." Unhappy about his bedridden condition though, Steve roughly ran his hands over his face as he lowered his voice so as not to disturb Grace who was tapping diligently through the pictures they'd taken that afternoon while kayaking. He'd uploaded the images to the tablet and she was busily going through each to show to her father as a benign distraction. "You over did it and you're damned lucky nothing happened. You're very lucky that Webber is still going to release you tomorrow."
Steve chuffed a dissatisfied sound under his breath at Danny's unfazed shrug and subsequent question. "Any word on Mark?"
"Just that Webber's with him and he's resting. Chin and Kono are handling the Paquins."
"She's mad. Kono." Danny quietly clarified as his peaceful smile changed to a snide smirk. With not enough time to properly catch up, he really only had Mark's side of the story. But knowing what he did about Beth Paquin and understanding that Kono had uncovered so much more was scarily telling and he trusted that sole fact. "After all of this, I can't say I blame her one bit."
"Mad is an understatement, Danno. She's ... ah ... been provoked so to speak."
He heard the ongoing tension which said Steve was also still feeling antagonized and Danny idly pinched the bridge of his nose. Through his fingers, he tried to reassure his friend again as he faintly heard what sounded like a long-suffering sigh. "I'm fine, Steve. Look at the bright side, at least I know my limitations."
"Hell of a way to find out," Steve retorted immediately. But Danny's eyes were suddenly wide open as he sharply inhaled, rubbing his side near the taped bandages. Glancing once towards Grace, Danny stared at him utterly unsettled. "What? What's wrong?"
"If I hadn't found Mark, do you realize who would have found him first?" He was louder than intended and Grace's head snapped up, surprised by the change in her father's quietude. Steve had nothing to say as the two stared speechlessly at each other, barely able to mull what might have happened. In fact, there was no adequate reply which Steve could think of as he shifted awkwardly on the bed towards where Grace was sitting.
"You about done there, Gracie? I need to see those pictures! Especially the ones with the sea turtle." With no recourse save that of distraction, Steve blithely changed the subject. Her hand was poised mid-tap on the tablet and she nodded while seemingly still stuck in the chair.
"You want to see them? You?" Embracing the swift change, Danny's face altered to one of mock outrage which had Grace smiling and then laughing. "I want to see them! Especially if you two think that I just might go the next time. I have to see what I'm in for!"
Pacified, Steve smiled warmly as he exchanged places with Grace so she could be next to her father. His hand idly stroked her hair as she squirreled herself comfortably into place. "I heard that, Danno," Steve drawled sneakily. "You're so in the next time and now I have a witness."
"It was fun, Danno. We all need to go the next time ... Aunt Kono, too." Tucking her legs so she could perch better on the side of the bed, Grace settled the tablet on his chest before leaning lightly on his right shoulder. Tapping to the first image, she pinched it to make it bigger so it filled the entire screen. "This was the best!"
"Uh?" Stunned, Danny stared at the image of his daughter chin-deep in crystal clear waters. In the picture, she was laughing with careless abandon. Her hand was on the side of the orange kayak as she so obviously tread water alongside. It made him feel only slightly better that she was wearing a life-vest. "Why are you not in the boat, Monkey?"
"It's a kayak, Daddy. Not a boat." Her eyes twinkled as her giggle increased in volume. Silently, Danny rotated the tablet so that Steve could also benefit from the first picture.
"Care to explain?" He asked softly because Steve was sickly smirking with both hands raised. "Uncle Steve?"
It was obvious Chin had taken a series of pictures of which he was quite unaware of at the time. But with a smile that refused to quit, it was Grace who so sweetly replied on his behalf with the most excited of explanations. "Uncle Steve said I needed a crash course in water safety in case the kayak ever capsized."
~ to be continued ~