Chapter 27 "Getting Attached"
A/N: (23 November 2016) Thank you for all the lovely PMs and reviews, and know that I love you. You have been incredibly patient. I lost so much momentum that I had to take time to reread and dive back into not just the shallows. I'm back in the deep end now, and will be more frequent, Lead Pipes allowing. (Puts shield up to deflect all lead pipes incoming.)
For all Americans, have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Everyone, may life be kind!
I do not own Five-0, CBS does. (And I adored the line or ad lib between Steve and Danny after Grace was rescued at the dance. Steve: "What, not even a hug?" Danny: "Hug, kiss, pick a base!" –seriously best line ever. Steve: "I'll take a hug.")
Chapter 27 "Getting Attached"
(Friday, 23 December 2016, 6:15 pm)
It had been drizzling steadily for hours, and in the dark following sunset Honolulu was bedazzled and beautiful with car, business, traffic and Christmas lights reflecting off the wet surfaces. Decorated trees – anything from palms to firs to Norfolk Island Pines to the usual tinsel or green fake trees were showing in windows, with strings of lights on balconies of high rise offices and apartment buildings. Music was festive, a mixture of carols played on ukulele or sung by carolers entertaining hotel patrons, lobbies lavishly decorated and doing a great business indoors since the weather made outdoor celebrating unappealing.
It was cold, and Chin had turned on the heater in his Mustang, because especially Steve was shivering from the chill in the air. They were heading back to the Iolani Palace and the Five-0 offices, to catch up on the latest information on the case of their missing friend. They had ordered a variety of food from Kamekona's Shrimp Stand, and would be there hopefully before he came by with the deliveries. Later on, they planned a long interview with Rachel, Danny's traitorous ex-wife. If she cooperated, they might even find Danny in time for him to spend it with his children and friends after he had been seen by Dr. Cornett and sparingly debriefed on what he could tell them had happened, and what they could tell him had happened that he had no knowledge about. The psychologist would guide them on what and when to tell Danny some of the more troublesome information.
Steve wanted to see Danny reunited with those he loved, just as soon as possible. He needed to see his partner and best friend alive and well, with his kids, smiling, feeling the love of his real family, his ohana, being back where he belonged, with people who loved him and would never hurt him.
"I'm glad Lou is going to apologize to Danny," said Steve, shoving his left pointer finger under the cast over his right knuckles, to scratch an itchy spot on his hand which he could just barely reach. "I wasn't sure he would agree to that. I think he's starting to finally stop treating Danny as a rival."
Chin guided the red car into the parking lot across from the Palace and slid it into his usual parking space. As he turned off the headlights and then the engine, he turned to Steve. His head was slightly tipped to one side as he remarked to his boss and friend, "I wonder why Danny kept things so much to himself where Lou was concerned? Even I wondered why he didn't make any fuss when Lou used to tease him harshly. I think that is partly why I didn't take Lou seriously with the snide remarks – Danny didn't seem to. He usually makes it clearly known if something has gotten under his skin."
Steve leaned his head back against the head rest and gazed at the raindrops now collecting on the windshield. Each drop was a flash of many colors, for the Palace and parking lot were decorated for the time of year. "I've been thinking about that," Steve finally responded. "And I plan to talk with him about this, when the time is right. I know he felt put down by Lou, but he already was taking a lot of teasing, and to let on that it bothered him would have in a way been giving Lou the victory by proving that Lou was right, that Danny was a complainer."
"And leaving him open to even more teasing," added Chin. His eyes were sad. "I know there were times I was uncomfortable with the teasing, even though sometimes I joined in with it. I feel worse now than I did before about not thinking more. Not being nicer. I think we'd all been together for such a long time that we were falling into taking one another for granted, and Danny was the easiest one to take for granted."
Steve spoke softly, almost expressionlessly. "I messed up. I didn't lead. He couldn't even come to me, his partner, and tell me the teasing and jibes were getting to him, because he knew I would have ignored what he said. I betrayed him every bit as much as Lou did. It must have torn him up inside, every day, for how long? Maybe even over a year. And yet he took it, because we all were showing every day that we expected him to, while we didn't stop Lou, and even joined in. He finally 'broke' in the hospital, after the liver donation."
Chin's voice was compassionate, but unbending. "We all failed Danny, Steve. It wasn't just you. But the damage did accumulate. After the plane crash, in May, the whole landing thing, you just arriving at Tripler, we not knowing just how bad you were hurt, but knowing it would take awhile to know, Danny just took off past us down the hall toward the exit, in his mind maybe not even sure we would follow him or not, intent on going after those drug smugglers who shot you…he didn't talk to us at all, just took off, and we did follow him. He was hurt, and didn't say anything about it, because he could tell you were the only one we were worrying about, and something then struck me, but I didn't have words for it then."
Steve turned his ocean green eyes toward Chin, finally really paying attention. "What struck you?"
"The task force was broken. If you didn't survive, the task force was broken."
"But you followed him. You followed your second in command."
Chin nodded. "Because he finally said he was going after the guys who hurt you. We were still thinking only about you, and Danny had the most information, and was the most worried, having watched you get shot and seen you lose consciousness in the plane. He felt the fear that we would lose you. He had to save you, Steve. If he didn't, the task force would fall to pieces. He knew."
Steve turned his eyes back to watching the raindrops grow and slide down the windshield. "In the hospital, it honestly didn't seem strange to me that I got the cards and balloons and flowers and stuff, while he didn't. I'd almost died, saved by that liver donation. I mean, yeah, I was drugged, and almost dying takes a lot of thinking to get one's mind around, and of course I was grateful for the liver donation, and everything Danny did, but I didn't pay attention to what he was going through. I should have thanked him immediately, told him how grateful I was. Instead, I waited until it was almost too late. I made it about me, not including him, when really it was all about what he did, for me, for the task force, for Hawaii. There he was, in the bed next to me, suffering because we were ignoring him when he needed some kind of recognition. And I was cruel enough to tell him his son would come to hate him, when I didn't mean a word of it, but it cut him so deeply … I'd been shot with bullets, and nearly bled out, and instead of thanking him for saving me, I shot him with words and watched his heart break and almost bleed out before I realized what I'd done. Words can be more damaging than bullets."
Chin, too, was watching the windshield 'cry' with the raindrops sliding. "That old saying, 'Actions speak louder than words,' and all our actions were speaking loud and clear, but only Danny was listening. I still feel intense guilt. If you, Steve, had not realized his pain in time, I'm not sure the rest of us would have."
Steve sighed. "That scared me so badly. I was terrified that we were too late. It was a close call. And now … I hope Danny realizes just how hard we are working to try to find him. If he gives up on us, believes he is in this alone, or that we aren't giving it our all, he may not have the strength to get through this. Especially since he is injured. At least, the doc and I believe he is. –I don't sense anything serious, but in his situation, small things will add up fast."
Chin frowned. "You and the doc think Danny is injured, not just starving?"
"Yeah." Steve shifted a little, pulling his chamois shirt closer around him. "It's hard to explain."
"You knew he was hungry before the video showed Stan admitting to spoiling all but one bit of the food."
In a very sober, worried voice, Steve said, "He's my partner, Chin. Some things I just know. And other things I can deduce easily. He's claustrophobic, and he's locked in a shipping container smaller than an 1-car garage, with Christmas lights and the word COFFIN painted on one wall, and – wait. I just realized something, Chin. Another clue we can be looking for." Steve sounded excited, and smiled a little for the first time in quite awhile.
"Yeah? So keep me in suspense!" complained Chin, picking up on the excitement. Anything that helped them find Danny was something he wanted to hear.
"Those Christmas lights! They have to be powered by something, and I didn't see any battery box. They must be solar powered! That means outside that container is a small solar panel. It's one more way we can find him! I doubt there are many abandoned containers with a solar panel mounted on the top."
.
H50 H50 H50
Kamekona arrived with the meals of mainly shrimp and rice, with tea and lemonade as the drinks. Steve and Chin had been in the office for less than five minutes before he was buzzed in, accompanied surprisingly by Dr. Cornett. Kamekona led the way to the Five-0 offices, as the doctor had never been there before. The big Hawaiian chef was talking to Dr. Cornett as they came down the hall. "You da man who saved my ohana's lives, Doc, so you take this dinner I was gonna have. It's good stuff, and lets me thank you in at least a small way for saving Steve and Danny. You come by my Shrimp stand, I never charge you. Your money no good there, that be my thanks for you. You ohana now. I throw in a free T-shirt, too. You a tall, good looking guy, you make a good advertisement for my stand!"
"Thank you," replied Dr. Cornett, his smile slightly embarrassed but no less grateful. "I'll make sure and bring my family by. My son and his family fly in tomorrow, and I'll bring the whole lot by. I've seen your stand many times, but never had the chance to stop."
Kamekona looked alarmed, but never lost his friendliness. "Hey, Doc, you eat free, but you gotta pay for all the other meals and shirts. I give you, hmmm, ten percent discount on the others, anybody you bring wit' you!"
While the members of Five-0 complained teasingly that they never got those discounts, Dr. Cornett caught Steve's eye and eased out into the hallway, holding his newly acquired free meal. Steve came discreetly.
"Sarah, my wife, took Grace back to the house after the appointment, and Becca is off in another hour. Um … I couldn't tell her about Danny, what Stan did. She is so worried about him already, and that is so personal, I just couldn't be the one to tell her. If Danny does … I mean, he should choose," said the doc.
"I totally understand. I was still processing what happened myself. Do you … I have a copy of the … what happened. You're his doctor, and might notice things an untrained eye might miss," said Steve, patting the doc on his sweatered arm. Everyone was dressed for the cold.
"Not my favorite part of my job, but I should see this."
Steve played the copy of the tape, and watched Dr. Cornett's jaw go rigid as he frowned. He watched silently, but his breathing roughened. "I hate that guy," he said afterwards, and rubbed his eyes, as if to erase the images. "I'm glad Becca didn't see that."
"Did you bring names of psychologists? Did you notice anything?"
"Yes, and yes." He reached into his sweater pocket and pulled out a list of names, two with stars by them. "I would call them first, but if they are booked, give any of the others a try. I've worked with all of them before, and know they are all good. As for what I noticed," Cornett continued, while Steve looked over the names briefly and then pocketed the list, "Danny is not going to be prepared for this weather. I saw only a blanket, and it's thin. That container is going to become a metal ice cube. He doesn't even have socks. We will be prepared for hypothermia if he is found soon. Also, I noticed what appear to be needle marks over his jugular vein and other places. We will run tests to make sure he didn't pick up any illness from those needles, since I doubt the areas or the needles were sterilized. I saw no bruising indicating physical assault, but we will run the most comprehensive screens we can, once you get Danny back, because there is a lot we can't see that, well, we will have to check on."
"Are the labs back from the frozen blood?" Steve asked, nodding.
Cornett nodded. "Some. It's Danny's blood, and right now is testing negative for anything worrisome. But the Rohypnol test has not had time to complete. What I am most concerned about is the cleanliness of those needles. If he has contracted any of the Hepatitis forms from those, we have to act assertively, because his liver is not up to battling that kind of infection so soon after the liver donation. It is too soon for the screening tests to pick up on any newly contracted hepatitis infection."
"What about HIV?" asked Steve very quietly.
Dr. Cornett's eyes darkened. "We will be monitoring Danny for at least 18 months after he is found. But since I don't think Stan thought he would live beyond a few weeks at most, I doubt if that will be a concern."
"Tetanus?"
"Danny is up to date on his vaccinations. What we can't predict is any bacterial or viral infections he could contract while he is captive. That shipping container did not look filthy, but it didn't look clean, either. Steve, he is not in a healthy place. The air can't circulate, and we can only hope Stan didn't contaminate the water. If he did, Danny would be feeling more ill every day now."
Steve rubbed his own eyes. "Doc, I'm freezing. I don't have a fever, but I'm shivering, have been since it got cold. I'm aching all over."
"It could be worry, fatigue, the accident, the weather. Or it could be you are picking up on your partner's problems. Or both. Just find him, and when you do, make sure I'm on the medical team that is with you."
Steve smiled wanly, but warmly. "You got attached."
"I did," confirmed Dr. Cornett. He pulled in a long breath which he let out slowly. "Will you come by the house to see Grace and Charlie later?"
"Yeah. Now I'm going to eat, and you should too, and then I go interrogate Rachel. I need to talk to her before I talk to Stan. I'll call when I'm on my way. Please give the kids my love, and thanks for watching over them."
Cornett smiled, and his eyes were bright blue. "We all got attached." The smile faded slowly. "We don't know what to do about Christmas now."
Steve nodded. "We don't either. If Rachel doesn't cooperate …." He shook his head. "And if Stan doesn't …."
"You will find Danny as soon as you can." Cornett held up the bagged shrimp and rice meal. "Please thank Kamekona again for me. And go eat. Then go find Danny."