I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter Twenty-One
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Steve stood in the hallway surrounded by women. It didn't matter that two were twelve because all three seemed to have remarkably different needs. Grace was almost possessively leaning into his side, while Kia wandered a few feet away with an evident interest in anything except being in the hospital. She was watching him closely though.
"Coffee?" Gina was the third female and she was enthusiastically pushing her idea of a quick get-together in the cafeteria. "We do have cookies and it sounds like Danny's doctor will be at least a few minutes. The cafeteria shouldn't be too far."
"While I'd certainly like to, it's just not a good time." Motioning for Grace to remain where she was, Steve firmly moved Gina away before he truthfully replied. Standing around in a bland hallway waiting for Doctor Webber to assess Danny's health before being released was suddenly weighing heavily on Grace. A quick glance down to her face had Steve focused solely on her now. She was failing at hiding a lingering concern that Danno might not truly be able to come home regardless of the physician's high level of confidence. His kind reassurance that he was merely double checking her father's healing wound failed at completely putting her at ease. For some reason, once the doctor closed the door to the hospital room for privacy, Grace was on the verge of tears.
Gina's crushed look faded when she followed his gaze and to her benefit, she instantly changed gears before his eyes. Crushed became concerned and playfully forward advances seemed to dissolve in an instant.
"Oh, she's upset," Gina whispered with an honest understanding. "Maybe next time?" Perplexed by the remarkable transformation, Steve nodded his thanks momentarily worried when the woman went directly to Grace to say a few words. He hovered, watchful, until Gina Montrose completely surprised him once more.
"Kia and I are going to go now, Grace. We put together a special bag of chocolate chip cookies for little Mark and Kia made him a get-well card. We should go see him before it gets much later." Despite her pretty skirt and designer heels, Gina was virtually on her knees next to Grace. Cupping her cheek, the woman leveled a beaming reassuring smile into her sad, worried brown eyes. "You're father's going to be just fine, Peanut. You take care of him when he gets home, alright?"
"Yes," Grace murmured, thankful for the unexpected departure. She had been certain that Kia and Gina Montrose would stay for hours imposing and infiltrating on her time and her father's space. But now the divorcee was only tugging lovingly on a braid before standing to leave. Then there was a blatant wiggle to her slim hips as she straightened her pencil-thin skirt. But almost imperiously, she was now waving to Kia to come to her side.
"Let's go, Peanut. We need to go find Mark's room and bring him your get-well gifts. Cookies make everyone feel better." Gina practically cooed to her simultaneously relieved daughter. "Say goodbye to Grace and Detective McGarrett."
"Shhh," Steve put his finger to his lips when a tiny stunned gasp echoed from Grace's very being. He knew what she wanted to say to correct the eccentric Mrs. Montrose but now he was adamantly shaking his head to quiet her. The last thing he needed was to impress the strangely fickle woman with his official title; she'd nearly gone off the charts on his Naval announcement much to Danny's delight.
"But..." The smile was mixed with a bizarre frown as she folded her arms in his defense. Through watery eyes, she seemed determined to voice the correction regardless of her concern for her father. "...Uncle Steve?"
"Shh, it's not necessary, Grace." Around an self-conscious chuckle, Steve gave her a meaningful look which he wiped from his face when Gina whirled around in confusion. He recovered quickly with a thankful smile solely meant to appease. "She's fine ... we'll be fine, Gina. Thank you for coming to see Danny."
"But, Uncle Steve, you're not a..." Striding to Grace's side to interrupt the pending diatribe, Steve smiled warmly at the Montrose females. Once more little Kia was shyly saying goodbye, but he was pleased when Gina merely bid farewell with a single winning glance back in their direction before the elevator swallowed her whole.
Still amused about the incorrect use of the detective title, he bent down to Grace but her face completely changed his mind. Tears were now welling obviously higher within her brown eyes as her bottom lip trembled dangerously. "Hey, hey, hey. Danno's going to be okay," Steve leaned down to whisper in Grace's ear, surprised when her fingers found his hand seeking comfort. Her lip quivered as the tears slowly began to escape in earnest. "It's just a checkup. Danno will sign a bunch of papers and then we'll all go home."
"I know," Grace couldn't hide the tears which now wracked her voice. She didn't know why she was suddenly so upset. But staring at the closed door to Danno's room, she simply was. "Suppose he's sick again?"
"Gracie, he's not sick, sweetheart.' Steve crouched down then, taking her into his arms for a soothing hug. "This is normal doctor stuff. Danno will be home by lunch with his feet up on the lanai before you know it. Promise."
"Okay," Grace whispered, wiping her face with the side of her hand. She could hardly speak for the lump in her throat. Needing constant comfort, she insisted on holding Steve's hand as he tucked her sympathetically to his side. They stood in the hallway, waiting patiently until there was a loud click. She knew it was the handle to Danno's hospital room door, but still she startled when it swung open to reveal Doctor Webber and the nurse who had been assisting him. The physician cocked his head curiously as he measured Grace's splotchy complexion and the obvious tear-stains which so newly streaked down her face.
"Well now," Webber remarked carefully. A multitude of comments ran through his head but he settled on the most simple thing as more tears ran unheeded down Grace's cheeks. "He passed with flying colors. So are you ready to take him home, young lady?"
The tears didn't exactly dry though as Grace mutely nodded. A shuddered inhale attempted to stem the flow, yet Grace didn't seem able to stop as she flew from Steve's side with a sob.
"Sometimes even good news is stressful," Webber softly noted to Steve as he followed Grace to intercept Danny's distantly voiced and very worried queries. "Like I said, he's fine ... the release forms are already in progress. You'll all be on your way in no time."
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"I didn't expect her to cry," Danny whispered from where he had been placed on the lanai. With the threat of rain, he was more inside than out, but the air was crisply fresh. "How did I miss that? How didn't I see it?"
"It's my fault. I'm the one who didn't know that she was so upset." Like Danny, Steve was mortified by Grace's exhausted crying jag which had started in the hospital and then carried on intermittently through her father's release. His whisper came from overhead where he stood vigil over his partner and sleeping daughter. With beer in hand and one of Gina Montrose's chocolate chip cookie's in the other, he watched as Danny idly ran his fingers over Grace's hair.
Upon making sure that her father had been placed just so in a particular safely covered area of the lanai and served him an ample lunch complete with requisite medicines, Grace had then been unable to get close enough. Using all her youthful agility, she had carefully wedged herself between the arm of the chair and his uninjured left side only to fall asleep as he too dozed.
"I scared her," Danny murmured regretfully. "I scared her ... badly. Rachel comes home today and if she were to see our daughter, she'd be ... well... she'd not be very pleased." Brought on by lack of movement, a deep gnawing ache had recently woken him. He was content to have Grace by his side but he winced now as he forced his body to remain still. There was an annoying ache settling in his back, just below where his lungs were and he held his breath to intentionally strangle the frightening need to cough. It was decidedly the wrong thing to do as a sharper pain took up base camp nearer his spine. Unable to get comfortable, Danny frowned as Steve put his bottle down while popping the entire remainder of the cookie into his mouth.
"Breathe or I take you back to Webber!" Wiping crumbs away, Steve quietly reprimanded his partner while also defending his small charge. His long-winded whisper was valid but Danny was slow to agree. "By the way, don't go there because Grace is fine, Danno. We had a busy day kayaking yesterday and she was over excited about you getting released from the hospital. She got herself worked up and she'll be fine after a good night's sleep."
"She saw everything, Steven," Danny retorted crossly about the accident. But his flare of temper faded as Steve began initiating a plan much to his consternation. "Everything ... what do I do about that, huh? And now what are you doing?"
"I'm putting her to bed," Steve whispered while purposefully bending down and wending his hands between child and chair. Carefully rearranging lax arms and legs, Steve lifted Grace effortlessly up and out of the tight space she'd squirreled herself into.
"Leave her, she's fine," Danny whispered, annoyed when Steve merely shushed him. Stranded where he sat, he was stuck as his friend cradled his daughter to his chest. Face flushed from tears and a deep sleep, Grace never flinched as her right arm fell loosely to hang down.
"She is fine, Danno. But you're not," the knowing whisper was barely audible and blatantly correct in its assessment. Effectively silencing his partner, Steve paused as he adjusted Grace in his arms with a pleased, gentle smile which dwindled to nothing the more he watched him. The strain on Danny's face couldn't be hidden; nor could he prevent himself from the pained grimaces as he carefully straightened cramped muscles. Danny's eyes closed as the dreaded shallow cough broke free to pull on his healing chest wound.
"You're hurting and Grace would object. Loudly." Steve ground out firmly. "You're also thinking way too much, partner. Take it down a few notches."
The frustrated sound which emanated from Danny's throat validated Steve's ultimatums. Motioning with his chin towards the incentive spirometer which had been sent home with his ailing friend, Steve rediscovered an easier grin. However, there were two meanings behind his next words, neither of which was lost on Danny. "Just breathe, Danno. Baby steps."
The ostentatious vase of flowers so generously given by Gina Montrose nearly hid the medical device under a few of its hanging blooms. The ornate box of now half-eaten double chocolate chip cookies sat nearby with the cardboard top rocked partially open. The contrast provided for a memorable and very amusing state of affairs which prompted Steve's grin to remain longer on his face. But the entertaining comparison was something of which Danny wasn't willing to see.
"Later. I'm not in the mood." Eyeing the spirometer, Danny's pursed lips further communicated his growing exasperation caused by his weakness, Grace's tears and what he perceived as a ridiculous need to inhale on a plastic childlike toy to move other brightly colored plastic things. Mark Paquin was never far from his thoughts; nor were the boy's volatile parents. At a loss, Danny glared at the gaudy, strongly scented display. The colors were even more vivid as gathering clouds increased to block the sun in thickening streaks.
"Do it, Danno, or I'm reporting back to the boss! This one here, brah!" His sincerely whispered tease was pitched as he nodded towards the sleeping child. It was met with another disagreeable sound, but Danny was easing off the chair to follow through on his required breathing exercises. Softly moving away and still smiling, Steve carried Grace into the house and on to the spare bedroom. His return trip to the lanai was fast as he checked his watch. Neither Chin nor Kono had arrived and they were easily over an hour late now.
Pulling out his cell phone, Steve paused just inside the doorway deciding if he should call one of them or just wait. His own mood soured at the mere concept of dealing with Beth Paquin. Kono's hushed revelations in the hospital stairwell were beyond rational belief. Because of what they all now knew, Steve was thankful that Danny had discovered Mark first. None of them dared fathom what Beth might have said ... or even done ... to the boy.
Thumbing his phone on to the main screen, Steve leaned against the frame of the door. His finger strayed to where he could speed-dial Kono, but he didn't tap through. While he was positive that the threats of a lawsuit were duly mitigated by Kono's findings, the accident and Mark still held ramifications. Heaving a worried sigh, Steve silently studied his friend.
Danny was standing by the table, slightly hunched. A breeze from off the ocean was ruffling already mussed hair and he was barefoot. However, he was dutifully inhaling on the simple medical device. Barely two of the three colored plastic balls moved inside the cylinders and Steve scowled as he watched feelings of frustration increase. All three balls should move in their independent tubes to reach adequate pre-marked heights; and that afternoon, Danny was nowhere near being able to achieve the goal. The failure and the negative mood it so obviously sparked made Steve's decision for him as he tossed his cell phone to the closest chair.
"Grace never woke up, Danno; the rest will do her good." Steve announced as he rejoined him. Mustering as much credible support as he could, he tapped one finger on the table. " How's it going? Looks good to me."
"Thanks for trying...," Danny wheezed back around a poorly vocalized chuckle. His eyes held mixed notes of self-disgust and worry for his daughter as he gazed dismally across the beach-like expanse towards the water. With one hand, he lightly thumped the incentive spirometer back down on the table. "... but it looks like shit. How can this stupid kid's toy be so damned hard?"
"Give it time. You'll be done with that thing inside of a week. Guaranteed," Steve noted. "In fact, it's Danno's one hundred percent guarantee," he affirmed with a settling arm now draped amiably over Danny's shoulders. The first half-laugh had been disingenuine. But what came out of Danny's mouth now was a truer attempt. It ended again on a wheeze but was substantiated by a smile as he held a protective hand to his side; but he laughed.
"You have to try one of these cookies," Steve suggested next as he slid Gina Montrose's second offering closer. The move was an unabashed deflection because he knew how Danny was doing. He also realized that Danny recognized that for exactly what it was.
Staring at the riot of low-hanging clouds in the sky and then the distant waves, Danny shook his head. There was a fuzzy, gray vertical sheet on the horizon which meant it was raining far out at sea. Overhead though, those smokey clouds were interspersed with slivers of blue. The scent of rain was heavier but they could still miss the rain showers entirely based on the occasional gust of wind. He opened his mouth and then closed it without saying a word before sighing in patient acquiescence.
"Fine. Okay," Danny murmured as he mentally tabled the Paquins and took consolation in his daughter's safety. "Cookies."
"They're seriously good," Steve prompted, taking advantage of the subtle opening. He was telling the truth though. After consuming no less than five of the double-chocolate treats, he was now on a new page of opinion where he felt that the eccentric divorcee simply meant well. He, for one, could deal with her hands at least straying in the kitchen if the woman could turn out such deliciously baked goods.
Selecting a sixth for himself, Steve took a demonstrative bite to send crumbs flying across the table. Rudely muffled, he gently rocked Danny into a one-armed hug complete with a devilish grin. "No lie ... these are great, Danno. Maybe you should take her up on that coffee date. We need an in, buddy."
"An in? Is it that you're deranged or are you that easily ruled by your stomach?" Finally, Danny smiled at the lighthearted suggestion. He chuffed a baffled noise as he stared at the flowers before condescending to take a cookie. Suspiciously inspecting it between his fingers, he grinned around the first tentative bite. His second bite was bigger and backed by an appreciative sound of agreement.
"Okay, point well taken. Gina can certainly bake."
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"It's not fair," Kono moaned angrily into her hands. She had just gotten off the phone with two district attorneys, one employed within the Paquin's original home State. Both insisted that they had no case against either Beth Paquin or State Senator Sloan. "Damned statutes, Chin! It's not fair ... it's not right! What am I supposed to tell Roger now?"
Running his hands tiredly over his face, Chin wholeheartedly agreed. What precisely were they supposed to tell the man? The truth was sickening in its simplicity; stunningly appalling thanks to the legal mandates contrived by State. Chin growled under his breath at the utter futility of it all before slapping the Smart table as if it were the fault of an emotionless technology. It seemed as if a lawsuit could be levied against HPD, the school system, the County and possibly even Danny, but the odious woman and her lover were untouchable.
"Call him," Chin sighed as he met Kono's troubled eyes. They were now very overdue on getting to Steve's house for a visit with their friends and there was nothing left to do that day. Their investigation combined with Mark's personal confessions had yielded a terrible past, yet there was no current recourse.
"We don't have a case against his wife or Sloan because the statute of limitations has run out on every possible charge." Chin reiterated.
"It's so wrong." Kono had to stop herself from shouting. "It's insane!" She felt off-kilter by what two different attorneys had agreed upon. While their verbiage might have been different and their conversations with the Five-0 officer slightly altered, their unfortunate opinions were identical. No case. The two converged on the same narrow legal path.
No charges. No case. Not worth the potential emotional harm to the surviving child. The monies in the offshore account were too vague in their source.
Here-say and words. Sticks and stones.
They had nothing except the potential to use the media to conduct a smear campaign against Sloan who was now firmly entrenched in his political seat of power. However, that action would by default involve Mark and his father, which of course had zero value.
"Call him," her cousin stressed. He allowed her the room to vent but maintained his calm. He was indeed angry but they literally had no charges to bring against either person. There was no outward abuse involved and it wasn't necessarily illegal to leave the twins home alone for a few hours. They could never prove that there was any intent to do physical harm to the children. The subterfuge to hide the 911 call was definitely illegal but there was nothing to come of it without being able to leverage those child endangerment charges. Finally, if there had ever been an attempt, the ability for someone to have filed wrongful death charges had long expired under the statute just three years after Allen's death.
"Kono, we don't have anything and the man has a right to know." Chin pushed softly. "We don't even know what Roger might have wanted to do. But we have to tell him so he can protect Mark and make his own choices."
They were long beyond the terrible crossroads. When push came to shove, the only thing to know was that two consenting adults had an affair while a child fell to his death.
~ to be continued ~