Note: glad you liked the two vest thing, very lethal weapon eh? Apologies for not having the time to reply to reviews individually but please know I do really appreciate each and every one of them.

Chapter Six

"I thought you guys were going to be careful?" Dr. Pearce scolded as they unloaded Danny from the ambulance.

"I was. I wore two vests." Danny replied. His voice was muffled by the oxygen mask, but Steve couldn't help but be relieved at the snarky comment. The extra fluids had helped to stabilise Danny and he was feeling a little better.

"That was one of my favourite shirts." Danny complained as a nurse cut it away rather than cause him pain trying to remove it. Dr. Pearce then moved in to examine Danny's chest and abdomen. She started on his sternum where a visible bruise was forming. She then listened to Danny's heart with her stethoscope.

"Can we set up for chest and abdo films, and I want a full set of bloods. I want to rule out a cardiac tamponade." Dr. Pearce ordered.

"A what?" Steve asked concerned.

"It's ok, I don't think he has one but I know Danny's flair for the dramatic, I want to rule it out, the impact over the heart could have caused blood to collect around his heart." Running her hand down Danny's chest she carefully pushed on his ribs where the second bullet had impacted. Danny looked about ready to pass out once she was done and moved on to the abdomen. "Cynthia, call CT, I want chest and abdo scans."

The next thing Steve knew he was being ushered out of the room to wait in the waiting room as the X-Ray machine was wheeled in. Danny managed to catch Steve's eye before he left, words weren't exchanged, but Steve knew Danny was trying to tell him, he was ok.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

"Steve?" The Commander looked up as he heard his name called out and saw his team walking toward him. Kono looked anxious. "How is he?"

"They've taken him to CT to check for internal damage, and have done X-Rays. He wasn't doing so good in the ambulance, but he picked up with more fluids. Doc was worried about damage around his heart, and Jonah was concerned about bleeding in his abdomen."

"Oh man." Lou sat down in the chair opposite Steve, Chin and Kono followed suit.

"He shouldn't have done it." Kono was shaking her head.

"He knew he was wearing two vests, Kono. He knew the odds were better for him than you." Steve explained, although he knew Danny would have done the same even if he hadn't been wearing a vest at all.

"He shouldn't have taken the risk. What about Grace?"

"Now stop that." Lou said abruptly. "Just because Danny and I have kids, doesn't mean we should hold back. That we are more important than you guys. Answer me this, would you take a bullet for us?"

"Of course I would." Kono replied, tears threatening to spill.

"I know you would. We all would for each other. We're a team. We watch each other's back. That doesn't change because we have kids. Danny and I know the dangers of the job. We accept them and take the risk. There was no way Danny was going to stand by and watch you be killed."

"I'm very grateful that he didn't." Chin placed his hand on his cousin's shoulder. "He'll be fine. He's in good hands."

"What did you find at the warehouse, any idea what they were planning?" Steve was keen to find out what this was all about, and to distract them all from waiting to hear how badly injured Danny was.

"We found plans for what looked like an attempt at a jail break." Lou declared.

"Jail break? Seriously?" Steve was shocked.

"They had all the details on the transport vehicles, and the vests the guards wear." Chin explained.

"The route from Halawa to the airport was mapped out, and places for ambush highlighted." Kono added.

"So they were planning on busting someone out when they were being moved?"

"Sure looks like it." Chin stated.

"Do we know who?"

"Not yet. We've contacted Halawa and they are sending us a list of all prisoners due to be moved in the next month." Kono answered.

"As soon as we hear news on Danny we'll head to the Palace and start running the names on the list." Lou stated.

"Then my timing is perfect." Dr. Pearce suddenly joined the group.

"Dr. Pearce, how is he?" Kono was probably the most anxious for news.

"He's stable, but he is going to need closely monitoring for a few days." Dr. Pearce sat down alongside the team. "He was so lucky to be wearing two vests. Each one of those shots could have been kill shots."

The reality left the team quiet, waiting for more information. "The first shot was to the centre of his chest. I'm afraid the impact has fractured his sternum. Fortunately it's a stable fracture, but it does resemble a spider web on the X-Ray, fracturing out from the point of impact. He is going to have a lot of pain there until it heals."

"What about his heart? What did the tests show?" Steve asked.

"So far, so good. There is no sign of damage and the EKG is good." That gained smiles from the team. "The second bullet hit his chest off to the right. I'm afraid he has broken two ribs, but my main concern is there's evidence of a pulmonary contusion on the scan."

"What does that mean?" Kono was starting to get scared again.

"His lung is bruised. So far he is holding his oxygen levels with just basic oxygen support. The concern is that the bruising could develop further, and his breathing could decline."

"Is that likely?" Steve wanted to have all the facts.

"I would expect it to worsen, but how bad I don't know." Dr. Pearce answered honestly.

"What about his abdomen? Steve said Jonah was worried about abdominal bleeding." Chin asked.

"He was right to be. He also has a liver contusion, with a small laceration."

"Does he need surgery?" Lou frowned.

"Actually, no. At the moment it is Grade 3. The best course of action is to observe for now. All his injuries will mean he needs to be closely monitored for at least the next 48 hours. He's being settled into a room on the Critical Care Unit. We will be able to monitor him closely there, but the visiting rules aren't as strict so you'll all be able to see him.

"What about Grace? Can she see him too? She's at school at the moment but she'll want to see her dad." Steve asked and was already mentally making plans to collect Grace from school.

"Yes she can see him too, but perhaps not for too long. Danny is in a lot of pain at the moment and needs to rest. I don't want him getting too excited. Any elevation in blood pressure could cause the contusions to worsen." Seeing the team agree, she continued, "I have started him on a patient controlled analgesia pump which has a continuous back ground infusion going too. He'll stay on that for the remainder of his stay in the CCU, and then we can start dialling it back and switch him to oral meds. Hopefully, if he behaves himself and the contusions don't worsen, I'll be able to send him home by the weekend. But he is going to be on restricted activities for the next few weeks."

"Thanks doc. Don't worry. We'll make sure he rests." Steve reassured her.

Dr. Pearce then got up and left, informing them that a nurse would come get them once Danny was settled.

"Well it could have been worse news." Chin wanted to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, we just need to make sure he rests and doesn't overdo things." Lou agreed.

Steve sighed and started to formulate a plan, "ok, can you guys go back to the Palace and look into that list? I want to know if there is still a threat. Interview the guys from the bust. See what you can get out of them. I'm going to go collect Grace from school before she hears anything on the news about another officer shooting. Danny said she was worried last night, and that was the reason he put on the extra vest."

"Will they let you collect her?" Lou knew all the paperwork he had to fill out for his kids approved people.

"Yeah, Danny has us all down on his list." Steve replied, Lou thought it was probably a good idea if he added the team to his kids too.

"Is Rachel on the island at the moment?" Chin was also wondering what care provisions they needed to make for the young girl they all regarded as a niece.

"No, she's in Vegas at the moment. She's going to need to stay with one of us."

"I'll stay with her at Danny's." Kono offered. "That way Steve can stay with Danny, and Grace will feel better being at home."

"Thanks Kono." Steve knew that Kono would feel better if she could help take care of Grace. "Ok, let's head out. I'm gonna let the nurses know I'm going to get Grace while they get Danny sorted."

"The Camaro is parked outside. We'll be back later with information, and to collect Grace." Chin passed Steve the car keys.

Plan made, and relieved that Danny was out of immediate danger, they headed off to complete their tasks.

TBC