Like anyone trained for combat, Steve knew to give his body a chance to rest while he had it. He'd managed to drift off into a light doze in the chair next to Riley's bed.
He was still holding her hand when she went into the first muscle spasm. Instantly alert, he pressed the call button for the nurse.
"What is it, Steve?" Danny asked, getting up quickly from his chair where he had also dozed off.
"She's having muscle spasms," Steve explained, wincing as Riley put a crushing grip on his hand.
Her eyes flew open, looking around in unfocused, wild panic. Steve gently cupped her face in his other hand and tried to get her to look at him.
"Riley, I'm right here. Look at me," he commanded gently.
Her eyes were filled with pain and panic. She grabbed at the tube in her throat, pulling on the stitches in her hand. Danny gently moved her hand away from her throat.
"No, sweetheart, don't try to take that out," Steve said. "You're having a muscle spasm; I've called the nurse. Riley, you have to trust me, I know this is awful, but it will pass, okay? Hang in there, hang on to me and Danny."
Her body arched off the bed as the muscles in her back and shoulders seized violently. Steve continued to talk her through it, switching back and forth between English, Japanese, and Korean.
Danny raised his eyebrows in question.
Steve shrugged, "I'm not sure how much she understands right now, Danny. She's fluent in three languages."
The nurse came into the room and took in the scene.
"What can I do for our patient?" she said. Grabbing Riley's chart, she glanced through it.
"Her muscles have started seizing," Steve said. "Can you give her anything? A muscle relaxant?"
The nurse shook her head. "I don't think so . . . let me get the attending to come check and see where we are with the ventilator, okay? And in the meantime, just keep doing what you're doing."
She stepped out of the room and returned with a blanket from the warmer in the hall. "Here, keep her warm, that will help."
Steve and Danny tucked the blanket around Riley.
"You told Malia that you'd had a run-in with the Keta – Ket . . . " Danny started.
"Ketamine," Steve supplied. "Yeah."
"Classified?"
"The op is classified, yeah. I was injured, had to be stitched up pretty good. Ketamine is an anesthetic of choice in the field. Fast acting. They had to give me a lot, though, because the damage was more extensive than they first thought, took them a while to finish sewing me up. Coming off the stuff – Danny, it was awful. Hallucinations, the muscle spasms. I damn near tore out the stitches they'd just put in. Apparently I had an exceptionally bad reaction to it," Steve explained.
"Ah, and you're afraid Riley will, too," Danny put the pieces together.
"Malia said she'd been given massive amounts," Steve said.
Danny nodded. "I'm sorry, babe," he said, his eyes filled with sadness for his friend.
"She'll be okay, Danny," Steve said.
"I believe that," Danny answered. "Wasn't just talking about her."
Steve felt the pressure on his hand increasing as Riley seemed to curl in on herself, turning on her side, her knees drawing up toward her chest as the large muscles of her legs contracted violently. Steve rubbed her legs lightly, not wanting to add to her discomfort but trying to encourage the muscles to relax. It seemed to help, and as her body relaxed she opened her eyes again.
Steve heaved a sigh of relief as her eyes focused on his and he saw a glimmer of recognition.
"Hey, there you are, that's my girl," he said, kissing her forehead.
She let go of his hand and made a purposeful motion toward the tube in her throat.
"Yeah, you're on a vent. Got a little water in your lungs this morning. You're in the hospital, you're safe."
She reached out a shaky hand and touched the bandage on Steve's arm.
"Just a graze, couple of stitches. I'm fine."
She pointed to the empty chairs behind Steve.
"Rest of the team is fine. Danny's right behind you."
Danny came around to stand beside Steve. "Hey, kid, welcome back," he said, pulling the warm blanket more securely around her.
A quiet knock on the door indicated the attending physician's arrival.
"Good afternoon, Riley," she said, slipping her reading glasses on and checking Riley's chart. "I see you've been having some muscle spasms; that's to be expected. It's good to see you alert. Let me look at the numbers on your breathing, okay?" The doctor studied the oxygen saturation levels and respiration data.
"Okay, it looks like Riley is breathing almost entirely on her own at this point; the ventilator has only kicked on for a few seconds here and there in the last hour; probably during a muscle spasm. I think we can safely pull this tube out now, which will make her much more comfortable. I'll have the respiratory team come in," she said, making notes on the chart. "Can you step outside for a moment, Commander McGarrett?"
As they stepped into the hall, the doctor continued. "This is a great step in the right direction, but I'm sorry to say that while she's breathing on her own, her respiration is still weak and shallow. We won't be able to give her much by the way of pain relief or sedation. I'm sorry, but it would slow her breathing and we can't risk her going into respiratory arrest again."
Steve sighed. "I understand. What can we do? How long will this go on?"
"The muscle spasms should start to subside in a few hours, and will steadily decrease as the ketamine flushes from her system. We will keep her on IV fluids to help dilute it as much as possible. You'll need to just keep doing what you're doing; talk her through it, keep her warm, apply gentle pressure to whichever muscle group seems to be seizing."
"She has other injuries as well," Steve said. "Can we do anything to provide pain relief?"
The doctor flipped through the chart again. "I can send in topical anesthetic for the taser burns on her lower back," she said. "Unfortunately, I can't offer more than ice packs for her hand. We'll put it in a removable splint as soon as some of the swelling goes down."
"Okay, I understand," Steve said wearily.
"Listen," the doctor hesitated, then continued. "Obviously you are her primary care-giver; I know you're also the head of Five-O . . . who's taking care of you, while you take care of everything else?"
Steve smiled at the doctor. "I appreciate your concern, doctor. My team is my family; we take care of each other."
"Good," the doctor smiled warmly. "Make sure you let them do their job then, okay? Alright; respiratory team should be here soon to take out that vent. We'll talk again after."
Danny and Steve had coaxed Riley through another muscle spasm when the respiratory team showed up. Danny winced in sympathy as Steve flexed his fingers, bruised from Riley's death grip.
"Okay, let's get this out," the respiratory therapist suggested to Riley. "How's that sound?"
Riley nodded weakly.
"Alright, on the count of three, I want you to cough really, really hard for me. Ready? One, two, three –there we go, cough, cough," he coaxed, as he gently pulled the ventilator tube from Riley's throat.
She coughed violently, eyes widening in alarm as a generous spray of blood came out along with the tube.
"Is she okay?" Steve asked in alarm.
"There was a lot of irritation, even before we vented her," the therapist explained. "The vent tube didn't help. There's a lot of bleeding but it's superficial . . . it's one of the reasons she can't tolerate a lot of painkillers, though, that would exacerbate the bleeding. Here's some ice chips, and we'll make sure the nurses keep you well stocked, that will make her much more comfortable."
As the respiratory team left, Steve spooned some ice chips into Riley's mouth. Danny got a wet cloth and gently wiped the fine mist of blood that had settled on her face.
"Steve?" she croaked.
"Yeah, sis?" Steve smiled at her.
"What the hell . . . " she frowned. "I don't remember . . . "
"Shh, it's okay," Steve said.
"No, it's not," she rasped out, becoming agitated. "What aren't you telling me? What happened? How did you get hurt?"
Steve gave her more ice. "What do you remember, starting with this morning?"
"You were swimming," she started, brow furrowing in concentration.
Steve's shoulders dropped, a pained expression crossing his face.
"Don't even go there, babe," Danny said quietly. "This isn't on you."
"I was watching you. I know that sounds creepy, but I was just . . . I remember because I was thinking how nice it was not to be alone, you know?" Riley looked down, picking at a thread on the blanket with her good hand.
Steve smiled. "Yeah, I do know. I was thinking the same thing as I came back toward the house and then, I got back and the officers were down, and you were gone, and . . . Riley, I'm so, so sorry. I should have been there, I shouldn't have left you."
"Joe was there. He had a mission for me. I don't remember . . . there was a computer. What were we doing? He said it would help, he promised . . . " her voice cracked.
"It's okay, Riley," Steve said, giving her more ice.
Riley started to continue, and then her eyes widened in pain once more, as the muscles in her back and shoulders started to spasm. She grabbed Steve's hand and let out a string of expletives. Danny couldn't keep the amused smile from his face as he stepped into the hall to grab another warm blanket.
"Okay, yeah, that's my girl," Steve said, gently rubbing her shoulders as she curled onto her side.
Danny placed the warm blanket around her back as she tried valiantly not to cry out in pain. She was gritting her teeth so hard that Steve could hear them grinding.
"Hey, it's okay, you don't have to try to be brave. I've been through this, I know how bad it hurts," he whispered. "You have nothing to prove, not to me or Danny."
"Riley can handle it," a voice said from the doorway. "She's been trained for this her whole life, haven't you, Riley? Now you understand why I pushed you so hard. Lock it down, sailor."
In all the years Danny had worked with Steve, and in all the high-stress, high-threat situations they had found themselves in, he'd never seen the SEAL move with such intensity. His teasing about Steve being a ninja was forgotten – he was pretty sure Steve had cleared the bed and had Joe in a choke-hold against the wall before he even blinked. Danny stepped in behind Riley and took over, pressing the warm blanket against her shoulders.
"Don't. Ever. Speak. To her. Again." Steve gritted out, his voice a menacing growl that made the hair on Danny's neck stand up. "You don't get to speak to her. You don't get to be in the same room with her. You don't get to share oxygen with her, you arrogant bastard. You're the reason she's here."
"Are you sure about that, son?" Joe wheezed out, as Steve's muscled forearm pressed into his windpipe. "I'm not the one who went out for a swim, left her alone and defenseless."
Danny saw Steve flinch, and hated Joe for the low blow. Riley was starting to relax under his hands. He came around to stand between her and the men struggling against the wall.
"Oh, she's anything but defenseless," Danny spat out. "We counted the bodies coming in and going out of your little computer lab this morning; seeing as how you found yourself tied up, we can only assume that Riley did most of that damage. No, Riley is perfectly capable, you son of a bitch; your so-called training did see to that much. But you took advantage of what makes Riley who she really is – the DNA that she shares with Steve, that has her hard-wired and hell-bent to protect the people she loves. That's why you really kept her isolated and squirreled away all these years, isn't it? You knew that was the only way you could possibly control her."
Steve had never been so thankful for one of Danny's rants. He allowed himself to absorb the truth of Danny's words and pressed one millimeter harder on Joe's neck.
"Wait," Joe wheezed out, " we need to know what she revealed to WoFat. We need to know what information she gave up. How many people did you compromise, Riley?"
Danny heard Riley gasp and turned to her, just barely grabbing a basin in time to put it in front of her as she retched violently in response to Joe's words. "Steve!" he shouted, as a scary amount of blood mixed with the meager contents of her stomach was violently expelled into the basin.
Steve spun Joe around and pushed him face first into the wall, his muscles bulging and threatening his fresh stitches. "What did I say about speaking to her, old man?" he growled. He flung the door open and pushed Joe into the hallway, calling for a nurse as he slapped handcuffs on Joe.
Chin and Kono rounded the corner, taking in the scene before them with alarm.
Kono rushed into the room behind the nurse, while Chin firmly removed Joe from Steve's grasp. The last thing he needed was more paperwork for dead people today, and he did not like the look in Steve's eyes.
"What's going on, Steve?" he demanded.
"Joe White is now under arrest for kidnapping, that's what's going on. I've decided to press charges on behalf of Riley McGarrett, who he kidnapped from my residence this morning. Add to that two counts of assault on HPD SWAT officers. Book him, get him out of my sight," Steve spat.
Chin sighed. "Come on, then, Joe . . . I don't think you're actually well enough to leave the hospital, though it would give me great pleasure to throw you in a cell right this minute." Chin marched Joe down the hallway, calling for HPD to come to the hospital to process a prisoner as he did so.
Danny stepped outside Riley's room and stood for a moment, watching Steve as he shook with rage, giving him a moment to collect himself.
"She okay?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, the nurse and Kono are getting her cleaned up," Danny answered.
"That was a lot of blood, Danny," Steve said.
"I know it looked that way, scared me to death," Danny replied, "but the nurse said it's okay. Some was from the vent, some from the irritation . . . " he hesitated.
"Her esophagus is irritated and bleeding. From where WoFat waterboarded her earlier today, to retaliate against me," Steve said flatly, "and to get information about our mother, who is probably a CIA agent." He groaned, reaching for his phone as it buzzed.
"Yeah, McGarrett," he said, leaning against the wall.
Danny waited as Steve listened intently for a few moments.
"Thanks, Chin," he said as he thumbed his phone off. "Okay, so Joe, in a rare moment of humanity, told Chin that he'd only gotten as far as informing Riley that he wanted her to plant a deep history that would implicate our father as Shelburne. He hadn't actually told her that Shelburne was . . . is . . . our mother. So, Riley couldn't possibly have given up that information – she still didn't know it."
"Then why the hell . . . "Danny asked, incredulous.
"Because, Danny, he's been playing god and playing mind games so long he's crossed the line. He's worried about protecting himself now. But apparently seeing Riley . . . all that blood . . ." Steve swallowed hard. Joe wasn't the only one deeply shaken by that image.
"Well, don't expect me to have much sympathy for him – one moment of humanity doesn't even begin to balance his ledger, as far as I'm concerned. At least we can tell Riley that she didn't know much more than she did before - that should make her feel better," Danny said.
"She's out," Kono said softly as Steve and Danny went back in the room. "The nurse said she's just exhausted, not to be worried. Oh, she reminded me though, that because of the ketamine, she's likely to wake up very confused for a while."
Kono handed Steve and Danny each one of the coffees she'd brought in with her.
"Where'd Chin go?" she asked.
"Chin went to process Joe White. He's under arrest for kidnapping and assault," Steve said darkly.
Kono wisely decided not to discuss Joe any further. "Danny," she said, "Why don't you head out? Go spend a little time with Gracie, call it a day? I'll hang out here, make sure Steve eats and gets a break."
Danny stretched, joints popping from the abuse they'd suffered in the last day or so.
"Steve, you need anything else from me before I take Kono up on that offer? " Danny asked.
Steve grabbed Danny in a rough hug. "No, partner, you've gone above and beyond once again. Thank you so much, Danny, for everything."
Danny leaned down and kissed Riley on the forehead. "Rest up, kid," he whispered, brushing the hair back from her face. Kono and the nurse had washed her hair and it was still damp. Frowning, he gently pulled her hair to one side and deftly wove it into a braid. Kono smiled and handed him a hair tie fished from her pocket.
"You're very talented, Danny," she smiled at him.
"I am, and often underappreciated," he quipped. "Okay, then, my damage here is done. I will see you tomorrow, Steve, unless you need me sooner."
Steve waved Danny out the door and then paced next to Riley's bed; he was still far too keyed up from his altercation with Joe to sit down.
Kono sat down next to Riley and let Steve try to burn off some of his nervous energy. She was just about to suggest he talk a long walk somewhere else when Riley let out a low moan and curled in on herself again. Kono reached for her hands and held them gently, while Steve rubbed her shoulders. He could feel the muscles spasm violently beneath his hands.
"Okay, Riley, it's okay. Just ride it out, try to breathe," he murmured to her. As she struggled against the pain, the back of her gown fell open, and Steve saw the cluster of electrical burns on her lower back.
A pained gasp escaped him, and Kono looked up at him quizzically.
"You, um, still have that coconut stuff, Kono?" he asked hoarsely.
"Yeah, why – oh . . . " Kono followed his line of vision. "Damn him," she said with feeling.
Riley trembled beneath his hands as the spasm ended.
"Riley," Steve said quietly, as he continued to rub her shoulders. "Kono is going to put some anesthetic that the doctor left, and some coconut oil, on your back, okay?
Riley nodded wearily. She flinched at Kono's first gentle touch on her back, but then relaxed visibly as the medicine took the edge off the pain.
"Thank you, Kono," she rasped.
"This will get better, Riley," Steve assured her. "Malia said that the muscle spasms would decrease."
"Everything is fuzzy . . .I don't remember what happened after I started working for Joe. Joe said that I was with WoFat, I don't understand. Why can't I remember? What happened, Steve, did I compromise you or anyone else?" Riley was starting to panic.
"Shh, no, Riley, you didn't. Joe only told you that he wanted you to create a false trail that would implicate our father as Shelburne. You had started to work on that, but he hadn't told you the true identity of Shelburne," Steve said.
"You know who Shelburne is now?" Riley said, alarmed. "WoFat will keep tracking you down."
"Riley, listen to me, you need to let me handle this, okay? We have some help with dealing with WoFat. I'm working out the details. And the only thing that you possibly could have told WoFat is that you were creating a false lead. That doesn't hurt anyone, sweetheart, you didn't say or do anything that could hurt anyone, okay?"
Riley collapsed into the bed in relief. Steve shook his head as he thumbed away a tear that escaped from the corner of her eye. Her own pain she suffered without complaint; but relief that she hadn't compromised anyone else's safety was what moved her to tears.
"But, we need to . . . Steve, we have to find him, what if he goes after someone else on the team," Riley protested. Kono had to move quickly to keep her from pulling out her IV.
"What . . . where do you think you're going, Riley?" Steve asked incredulously.
"We have to move, we have to warn . . . "Riley broke off with a pained gasp as she bumped the fractured bones in her hand against her bed rail.
Steve moved directly into her line of vision. "Riley," he said, in an authoritative tone that had Kono sitting up straight. "Stand down. I'm handling it."
Riley looked at him in confusion and panic.
Steve gentled his voice as he straightened out Riley's blankets and tucked them securely around her. "Riley, WoFat pumped you full of ketamine. He waterboarded you and electrocuted you. You're a mess right now, but you're going to be okay. In the meantime, you need to let me handle the case, and handle WoFat. You're safe. The team is safe. You need to concentrate on getting better, okay?"
She nodded doubtfully but settled back under the covers. Steve gave her some more ice chips and she sucked on them gratefully.
"But what about . . . "
"Nope," Steve said, interrupting her.
Riley coughed painfully, frowning at the taste of blood in her mouth. "Yuck," she rasped.
Steve held out another spoonful of ice chips and grabbed an empty cup. "Let them melt a little, rinse, and spit," he instructed.
Riley raised her eyebrows at him in silent question.
"Lots of sand on one of my deployments. Irritated the hell out of my lungs," he explained.
Riley spit in the cup. "Gross," she said weakly, and then squeezed her eyes shut against the pain as another spasm wracked her lower back. Steve pulled the blanket around her securely and gently rubbed her back, pleased that the muscles didn't feel as tense as before.
"How about another story?" he asked, trying to give her something else to focus on besides WoFat and pain.
She nodded. "First girlfriend," she gritted out.
"Oh, low blow, Riley," Steve protested. "Like I'm going to say no to you in a hospital bed . . . that's sneaky," he teased.
"I approve," Kono chimed in.
Steve sighed. "Okay, so it was in the spring of my freshman year at Annapolis . . . what, Kono? I was a late bloomer, nothing wrong with that . . . "
Riley drifted off again before Steve got very far, and no amount of pleading from Kono could get him to finish.
"It's going to be a long night, Kono," he said gently. "Why don't you get Chin to drop you off home, or crash at his place? I'll be fine here with Riley, really."
Kono protested but Steve convinced her that with WoFat still on the loose, it was important for Five-O to be ready for action, and when Chin and Malia stopped by on their way out, Kono reluctantly left with them. Steve quickly ate the simple meal they'd brought for him, and then settled in the chair next to Riley's bed to try to get some rest.
The nurse slipped in quietly; so quietly that she did not wake Steve as he dozed, exhausted, by Riley's bed. Her good hand was clutched in his, and she was sleeping peacefully for the moment.
The nurse double checked the order, picked up a syringe, and started to draw the requested blood sample. Before she had any idea what had happened, she found herself staring up at the ceiling, Riley's forearm wrapped securely around her neck. The nurse's feet scrambled for purchase and leverage, but Riley had her bent back awkwardly over the bed rail, and as dark spots started to swim in front of her eyes, she realized that Riley had wrangled the needle from her and was holding it like a weapon against her neck.
"Riley," Steve said, fully awake but speaking quietly and not moving. "Riley, you're in the hospital. That's a nurse; she was just trying to help you. Let go. You're safe, it's okay."
Riley loosened her hold on the nurse marginally; the nurse relaxed and made eye contact with Steve, who nodded at her gently. He could tell that she would make things easier by not struggling; good, she must have had experience with traumatized patients.
"No," Riley said, shaking her head. Her eyes were glazed and her voice was shaking. "No more needles. Tell me how to get out."
"Riley, you're safe, you don't need to get out," Steve repeated, cautiously reaching toward the needle clutched in her fist and dangerously close to the nurse's neck. His reflexes were faster than Riley's, especially while she was drugged and disoriented, and he firmly pulled her hand away and twisted the needle out of her fingers. She made a low sound of pain, deep in her throat, and he winced as he realized he may have torn the stitches.
"This is a nurse, she's not going to hurt you. Let go, okay?" Steve murmured, leaning forward but not standing up. Towering over her would just make her feel more threatened. "Riley, where do you think you are right now?"
She blinked, and relaxed her hold on the nurse a bit more. "I don't know," she said, disoriented. Her eyes darted from the nurse, to the door, to Steve. "There was . . . there were windows, and it smelled like fish," she said, looking around the room.
"You were there earlier," Steve said patiently. "Now you're in a hospital. I'm right here with you."
"WoFat," Riley gasped, tightening her hold on the nurse again. "He's coming back, we have to get out, we have to get away . . . " she started to struggle, pushing the weight of the nurse off. The nurse regained her footing and quietly and calmly backed away from the bed.
"Commander McGarrett," the nurse said very quietly, "I'm going to go notify the doctor; we may need to have . . . something prepared. Are you okay with her?"
Steve nodded gratefully at the nurse, who slipped quietly out the door. He turned his attention back to Riley. Blood was seeping through the bandage on her hand and she was struggling to get out of the bed. Her feet tangled in the sheets, and she cried out as pain radiated from the electrical burns scattered across her lower back.
"He'll be back; he'll be back any minute and I can't . . . it's too much, it hurts too much and I can't . . . " Riley's breathing was rapid and shallow and she was on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Riley, no," Steve said, gently pressing her shoulders back onto the bed. "Look . . . take a deep breath and look around. See, you're in a hospital."
She blinked again, her eyes darting unfocused around the room, and finally settling back on Steve. He was the only thing in the entire universe that made sense so she decided just to focus on him.
"WoFat knows," she said, her eyes widening in alarm. "He knows you're my brother . . . did I tell him?"
"No, no, he already knew," Steve said. He grabbed the cup of ice and held out a spoonful to Riley. She took it automatically, her eyes still full of panic, but fixed resolutely on Steve.
Her breathing was still much too fast, so Steve gently gripped her shoulders and started to talk her down.
"Riley," he said quietly, but with authority. "You're breathing too fast, and it's adding to your confusion. I want you to slow down your breathing, and that's going to slow down your heart rate. You'll feel less panic and I you'll be able to think more clearly. Okay? You've been trained to do this. Just let your training take over - no, don't worry about remembering, just trust me. I'm going to count with you, and your body will remember how to do this, even if you think you don't. Ready? Look at me. Slow, steady count, breathe in on even numbers and out on odd numbers."
Steve was counting on Joe's training and sure enough, even though Riley didn't consciously remember, she was easily able to match her breathing to Steve's and within moments, her breathing and heart rate slowed. With the decrease in panic, came clarity, and Steve saw it in her hazel eyes, mirrors of his own, as all of the pieces slotted together.
"Fucking son of a bitch," she said quietly. "Where the hell is he, Steve?"
"WoFat?" he asked. "HPD tried going after him, but he slipped through."
"No. Joe. Where is the lying, manipulative bastard? You know, don't you. He was going to force me to go with WoFat once I created the back history to make it look like your father was Shelburne. Joe's been planning this for years. That's what all of the training in Korea was for, this was his plan all along," her voice was strong now, but still raspy from the damage.
Steve held out another spoonful of ice. "Our father," he said softly.
Riley looked at him quizzically.
"Our father, Riley," he continued. "Remember? Full siblings. The DNA says so. And yes, I know that Joe's plan was to send you in to WoFat's organization. I don't know how he thought he would get away with it."
"I would have volunteered," Riley said, looking down and fidgeting with the blanket.
Steve felt a curl of dread deep in the pit of his stomach. "Why? Riley, you know you have a home here with us . . . with me. I know it's a lot to take in, but this is where you belong now."
"No, it's not that," she said quickly. "I would have volunteered, because Joe . . . the people he's involved with, Steve, they have a long reach. They can get to anyone, make anything happen, I couldn't risk . . . he threatened everyone. At your house, he said he had two snipers. That's why I went with him. And when I argued with him about infiltrating WoFat's organization, he threatened Chin, and Kono, and Danny . . . Steve, he threatened to take Danny's little girl away from him, and I couldn't . . . I would never let that happen, never. I would have gone willingly."
Steve stood up and paced, rubbing his hand over his face in a gesture that Riley recognized as frustration. He wanted to go find Joe and beat him all over again.
"I was relieved . . . " Riley said quietly. "When WoFat's men came, I was relieved. I'd rather have gone in as a prisoner and Joe not be able to threaten . . . it was better that way."
Steve stared at her in disbelief.
"You know I'm right," she said, a bit defensively. "It minimized the risk to innocent people. Really, given the situation, it was the best possible outcome."
"Riley, he tortured you," Steve said, his voice breaking. "How is that the best possible outcome?"
She shrugged, wincing as the movement pulled against burns and bruises. "It kept everyone else in the clear. The only problem is, I can't remember how much I told him. He had me so pumped full of drugs, it's a little hazy. I don't remember much of anything. So, you know, it's fine. I'll be just fine'; I don't even remember it."
"Liar," Steve whispered, coming to sit next to her, brushing her hair gently out of her face again. He grabbed a pillow and propped her hand on it, frowning at the blood still seeping through the bandage. "You're lying, Riley. You have the same tell as Mary; you blink funny and tilt your head to the side," he continued, gently removing the bandage from her hand, and pressing the call button for the nurse.
"I don't remember what I told him," Riley insisted quietly. "That's the truth, Steve. It scares the shit out of me, because I don't know how much of Joe's plan I revealed."
"I know," Steve said nodding. He cupped his hand gently around Riley's face, his thumb brushing over the bruises left by WoFat's hand. "But that's not what you're lying about. You remember, Riley. You remember what he did to you. I can see it in your eyes, and it's killing me."
Riley's eyes filled with tears and as Steve pulled her gently toward him, she buried her face in the crook of his neck. He held her close, one hand cradling the back of her head, and one hand rubbing soothing circles on her back.
"I'm so sorry, Riley," he murmured.
"We have to stop them, Steve," she said. "Before they go after your team, or Mary."
"We will, I promise," Steve said.
A voice came in over the nurse's call button. "Sorry for the delay. This is Riley's nurse. Commander McGarrett, what do you need?"
"I'm afraid a couple of the stitches on Riley's hand are torn and bleeding," Steve said, his voice full of regret. "Could someone come in and take a look?"
"Absolutely. I'll have an intern in as soon as possible," the nurse replied.
Riley looked down at her hand. "Did I do this?"
"No," Steve said, his strong fingers gentle on her arm. "I did, when I pulled the needle out of your hand."
The memory rushed back and Riley gasped in dismay. "Oh, no, that poor nurse. Did I hurt her? Is she okay?"
"She's fine," Steve assured her, turning as the intern came in the door.
By the time the intern was done repairing the stitches, the doctor had come to check on Riley and declared that enough of the Ketamine had been flushed from her system, that it would be safe to administer some heavy-duty pain relief.
"No, I need to be able to help, I need to be able to think clear enough to figure out -"
Steve cut her off. "Riley. What you need is to let them give you something for the pain, so you can get some rest."
"It's not so bad, really," she protested.
Steve raised his eyebrows at her, equal parts amused and frustrated. She sighed. Right. Steve could tell when she was lying.
Riley flinched when the intern turned her arm to start a new IV.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, realizing that something had spooked her. He stepped back a bit and looked at Steve, who sat down next to Riley and carefully took her injured hand in his.
"He needs to start a new IV, Riley," Steve said. "That okay?"
"Of course," she said, "it's fine. I'm fine. Go ahead."
The intern poked and prodded for a bit, and Steve realized that Riley's breathing was becoming rapid and shallow again.
Shit, he thought. WoFat had started an IV . . .
"Riley, look at me," Steve instructed. "I know, that bastard hooked you up to an IV . . . I get it, Riley. But you're safe. I'm right here, Riley."
"I'm sorry," the intern apologized again. "The veins have been damaged. I'm having a hard time . . . "
Steve felt a flash of rage. WoFat probably started the damn IV himself, and he hadn't been any too careful about it. Steve crossed the room in two long strides and scrubbed his hands thoroughly at the sink. He grabbed a pair of gloves from the dispenser over the sink and turned to the intern.
"Let me, okay?"
The intern looked at him skeptically.
"Look, she's tense and that's not helping. It's a long story, but she was kidnapped and given drugs via IV earlier. I'm trained for this, believe me, I've started IVs in far worse circumstances. You're welcome to go check with Dr. Waincroft; she can vouch for my training. And I'm Riley's next-of-kin; it's in her chart."
The intern nodded and left the room.
"Okay, kid, don't make a liar of me," Steve said, smiling down at Riley. He skipped over the obvious vein; it was too badly infiltrated to use again. Pressing gently on her arm, he found another option, and smoothly slid the needle in, threading in the IV line, and expertly taping it down. He hung the IV bag on the pole, checked the order, and drew up the prescribed amount of Demerol. Flicking the syringe to remove any bubbles, he added it to the IV.
Riley raised her eyebrows at him.
"Wow," she said. "Now I feel cheated. Joe didn't teach me any of that."
He smiled, the lopsided grin that mirrored her own. "Well, I guess there's a few things that I can teach you, then, when you're feeling better."
She nodded sleepily. Exhaustion had set in, and the Demerol was already taking the edge off the pain.
Steve adjusted her injured hand again, then covered her with another blanket and lowered the head of her bed just a bit. He turned off the overhead light in the room, leaving just the dim light in the corner. Moving the reclining chair next to the bed, he took her good hand in his and settled in, pulling a blanket over himself.
"Steve," she mumbled drowsily, "what happens next?"
"Next, we find a way to stop WoFat once and for all, and keep our ohana safe," he said. "But first, Riley, you rest."
His mind was racing, flooded with information and ideas and trying to process everything that had been thrown at him. Ideas for tracking WoFat were flicking through his mind like files racing across the plasma screen. Finally he gave up, and watched Riley's breathing even and slow, and allowed his own breathing to match hers, until he was able to close his eyes and drift into a relatively peaceful sleep. He gave in to the fatigue and was thankful for the sleep . . . he would need it. He had an international arms dealer to track down. And kill. Preferably with his bare hands.