Chapter 42 "Devastation"

A/N: (2 March 2017) Thank you for the reviews. You are so kind. Thank you from all my heart. Thank you for the reads. I appreciate every single one.

This chapter carries a warning: it deals with the effect of an abortion on the father. It isn't talked about much, and really it should be. Because fathers have no rights before a child is born, and afterwards are little more than a wallet. And that's not right. I am a woman, and I am anti-abortion, and not afraid to say it. I don't care how the baby came to be, it is never the baby's fault that it came to be, and nobody benefits from abortion except agencies who don't give a damn about anything but making money. And most babies aborted are female. How does this help women? It doesn't. Abortion is as anti-woman as it gets. It is a for-profit industry that kills babies, hurts women and men. There is nothing admirable about it.

If this opinion loses me some readers, I'm okay with that.

CBS owns Hawaii Five-0.

Chapter 42 "Devastation"

(Sunday, Christmas 2016, still noon)

The phone slipped from Danny's hand, falling onto the blanket. He didn't move, his arm still upraised to his ear, his mind whirling is shock. Rachel, his ex-wife for many good reasons, was trying to blackmail him into getting back together with her, or she would kill her unborn child by the man who had tried to murder him, with her full consent and cooperation, the man who had died and left her a widow on Christmas Eve.

Rachel was blackmailing him, a baby's life in the balance. A baby's life. He had to do something. Something. He would stall. Until he could think.

He picked up the phone, his mind sliding into stall mode. "Yes, I'm still here. You have to give me time to think about this," he said to the lawyer. "I will come to see … Mrs. Edwards when my doctor allows it."

Ron Parker, Rachel's robotic lawyer, asked, "Any idea how soon that might be?"

"No," replied Danny, his emotions numb. "A day or two. I have to consult my doctor." Danny was unwilling to divulge that his lawyer was calling him again sometime on Monday, and he definitely needed to talk to him, too. "I'll get back to you. Not today."

He was about to end the phone call when the lawyer, Ron Parker, said in his monotone, "I was instructed to tell you Mrs. Edwards is quite serious. She has terminated pregnancies before, one of which was your child."

Danny's numbness jolted into a slow, disbelieving pain, which grew as he realized he believed the lawyer, for Danny of all people knew beyond doubt that there was nothing Rachel would not do to get what she wanted, and to hell with how he felt about anything. "When?" he whispered, his voice thin and quavering, hoping to hold back the tears until the call was over.

The voice was unaffected. Robotic. Uncaring. "Just after she filed for divorce from you. She said she already had a girl, and didn't need another one."

A girl. His daughter he never even knew about. It took Danny most of a minute to compose his voice enough to say, "I'll be … in touch." A second later the phone was on the bedside table, and Danny was curled into a ball, sobbing into tissues, his mouth stuffed with blanket to keep his keening groans almost inaudible. He did manage to keep quiet, eventually adding a pillow. But the pain grew until it tore out of him in a cry of grief he could no longer stifle. That wrenching sound, and the monitors for his breathing and blood pressure gave his suffering away. When the monitors began to beep, a nurse came, saw his emotional distress, and instantly called Dr. Cornett, who had just arrived with his son, David, David's wife and baby son, to visit the hospital. Dr. Cornett stopped by his office just long enough grab his white lab coat with his name and badge on it, and was at Danny's side in less than five minutes after being paged.

That Danny was suffering from deep emotional devastation was clear. Even behind the pillow, his heart-rending groans were enough to break the hearts of all who heard them.

Dr. Cornett didn't even wait five seconds before he was calling Steve and Becca, both at his home. "Just get here," he said. "Not the kids, please. Not even Hannah, I'm sorry. Danny has had some kind of emotional setback." Since they could hear Danny's grieving wails, they both turned pale and were out the door before they even said they were on their way. Isaac Cornett pocketed his phone, turned to Danny, and wrapped him in a father's embrace, and Danny's anguish remained wordless for a few wrenching minutes.

By the time Steve and Becca had arrived, the party was only 45 minutes away. Danny had calmed just enough to tell his doctor what the lawyer had said Rachel had done, and what she would do if her demands of reconciliation were not met. Steve and Becca hurried in as Danny sobbed, "She aborted Gracie's sister. She killed my unborn child. And she told me on Christmas. My baby … she killed my baby. And I didn't know it. I would have loved her as much as I love Grace and Charlie." The tears just kept streaming like rivers down Danny's face.

Becca immediately wrapped her arms around him, and it physically hurt Steve to not be able to as well, so he hugged them both. Becca had the first claim now, and Steve respected her place in Danny's life. Danny's face was buried against Becca's neck, hugging her tight with his left arm, while the right with its hand in a partial cast was around Steve's back, four fingers digging into the fabric of Steve's maroon chamois shirt when Steve had briefly pulled away, uncertain of what Danny wanted from him. It reassured him that his partner didn't want him to let go, and when Becca's arm pulled him closer to Danny, it further reassured him that his sister-in-law-to-be respected how close he and Danny were.

"Doc," whispered Danny from Becca's collarbone. "Give me something to get me through the party. I … just … can't tell everyone yet. I … I can't tell my kids this. I can't. It would be wrong. Get me through the party." He then, haltingly, in a shredded voice, told them about the call from Rachel's lawyer. Halfway through the telling, Dr. Cornett injected his IV with a mild sedative and compatible anti-depressant.

When Becca gasped, Danny assured her instantly that he would not marry Rachel for anything.

"But … her baby …."

"We will all put our heads together to figure out if we can save the baby, but I'm not being manipulated by her. Becca, I love you. I need you and Steve to help me. I … I … I can't … do this without you. Please don't leave me."

Becca was a jewel. "I would never leave you. I'm not … like her."

"Thank God," whispered Danny, tears welling again, and when Steve told him he was not going to let Rachel hurt him again, Danny stifled a small sob. "She killed my unborn baby. She …."

"—May have been lying," spoke Dr. Cornett, quietly. "I will make inquiries."

The drugs were beginning to have an effect. Danny was physically relaxing, but it was clear his heart was still in tatters. "I have never in my life hoped so hard that she is lying to me about this. Doc?"

Cornett's voice was husky. "Yeah?"

"If she did … do that … I need to know."

"Yeah. I'll get on it."

Steve laid his friend back against the pillows, new ones just brought in by a kind, silent nurse who took the tear-stained ones away. "Can you handle the party? Your kids?"

Danny cleared his throat, and pulled himself together. "I have to. Do you have the … Santa pajamas?"

Becca nodded. "At the nurses' station. Even the cap, which we stole from Angel. She was sleeping like a rock, she was so worn out from the hairball."

"She's okay, though, right?"

"Yes," reassured Becca, running her hand up and down Danny's left hand and forearm. "She misses you.

"I miss Angel. Angela would have made a good name for …." Danny swallowed around the lump in his throat. "Okay, help me into those jammies. First, though, Steve, I need to c-clean up. I'm not sure I can stand very long. I'm a f-freaking mess." He felt hit by three trains, sore from his heavy cry, and drained, weary.

"I got you, brother. I got you." Steve was inwardly seething at Rachel, but he was internalizing it until he could let the feeling out. His first priority was being there for Danny and his kids. When he was alone, he would vent his emotions toward Rachel. He hoped she was lying, but had a feeling she wasn't. And he knew Danny would be scarred forever because she had taken from him a child he would have loved. His house and possessions could be replaced; Becca would heal his heart; his kids would fill his life; but nothing would ever heal the hole in Danny's heart from the daughter he had never gotten to know. Even if it turned out that Rachel had lied, the pain this had caused Danny was as close to unforgiveable as anything could ever be.

"Tony Archer is coming to the party," Danny suddenly remembered to tell them.

Becca and Dr. Cornett were quickly filled in on the connection Danny and Steve had to the man in question. Danny finished explaining. "He would have been alone today, and nobody should be alone on … Christmas. –He has contacts in Jersey that might, uh, help. Doc, talk to him. You can tell him. He won't … he'll be discreet."

"Okay," said the Doc. "My son David and his wife and, uh, baby son are here. Flew in on holiday from Germany yesterday. Can you handle meeting them?"

Danny was breathing a bit roughly as Steve helped him out of bed, but he nodded. "Yeah, I'd love to meet them. Just … I might need more drugs for the party. Maybe a little bit. It won't look weird if I'm sleepy, right?"

"Not a bit, Danny."

"Okay, everybody, help me get ready."

And they did.