The concert went off without a hitch. Watching Shauni onstage, no one would've ever known what happened beforehand. She was confident, smiling, and full of energy. It was like she flipped a switch the moment her feet hit the stage and she went into the role of superstar.
Meanwhile, Steve, Chin, and Kono helped patrol and monitor things going on around the venue. Danny stayed with Gracie and Bella as they enjoyed the concert. Shauni had wanted to give Gracie and her friend the best view, so she had them sitting side stage right where she would come off for costume changes which gave her an opportunity to chat with them some during breaks. The girls were thrilled with this adventure.
Steve and Shauni never had come to an agreement about the Meet and Greet, but Shauni had a plan. He probably wouldn't like it, but it was her show, she rationalized. She wasn't going to let Carl Matthews or Steve McGarrett ruin things for the children wanting to see her. She had given specific directions to Stacy to set things up as normal for the meet and greet but to keep it quiet so Steve or the rest of Five-0 wouldn't know what was going on.
After she did her last set, she quickly came off stage. She normally changed clothes and freshened up a little before meeting everyone, but not tonight. Knowing that they didn't have much time before Steve got backstage again, she had told Stacy to get everyone backstage and ready to go into the meet and greet room during her last song. She was going to go right in to see them instead of going to her dressing room first. Once she was in with everyone, Steve wouldn't have a chance to tell her no or stop her from going. It wasn't the best plan, but hopefully it would work and no one would be disappointed….Except for Steve.
The last song ended and she rushed off stage. She motioned for Gracie and Bella to follow her as she gave Stacy a questioning look. Stacy shook her head to confirm that things were set up in the Meet and Greet so they headed in that direction. Danny followed close behind with an uneasy feeling.
"Hold on. Why aren't we heading towards your dressing room? Am I missing something?" he asked.
"We're going to the meet and greet like I always do." Shauni said as she picked up her pace a little. They didn't have far to go.
"Uh, I would strongly discourage you from doing that. Didn't Steve specifically say there would be no Meet and Greet tonight?" he protested.
"Yes Steve did." Shauni confirmed, "But I didn't agree to that, so we're going to get in there before he has a chance to come back here and stop me."
"Oh boy." Danny shook his head. Shauni stopped right outside of the meeting room and Danny looked pointedly at her and warned, "Well, I'd just like to forewarn you of the wrath befalling you for crossing him like this."
"Shauni giggled a little, 'The wrath befalling me?" she teased. "Oh pooh, " Shauni retorted which then made Gracie and Bella giggle too, "I can handle Steve. Don't worry about it."
Steve walked around the corner just as he saw Shauni and the girls walking into the meeting room. He ran up to Danny. "Danny what's going on? What the hell is she doing? I said we weren't doing this tonight!" As predicted, he was furious.
Danny held up his hands in surrender, "Yes, I know that….and I tried to stop her….but she insisted on going in anyway. I think she had this planned all along so she could get in there before you got backstage."
"Dammit!" Steve fumed as he and Danny walked into the room that was already filling with fans.
Shauni looked over in their direction and smiled sweetly at Steve. If he wasn't so furious with her, he might's smiled back. Instead, he glared at her and made his way towards her like a man on a mission. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "We will talk about this later. Understand?"
Shauni smiled and whispered back, "Calm down, Commander. Everything will be fine. You'll see."
She turned around to greet the fans as they started making their way up to her for pictures, autographs, and a minute or two to talk to their favorite star. Steve had to admit, she had a special way with people, and the teenagers and children who were there were certainly enjoying it. Some of the fans started to press closer and it got harder to keep people at a distance until it was there turn. Steve started to get uneasy as he kept scanning the crowd. Shauni saw one young girl with cerebral palsy in a wheelchair and made her way over to her.
She kneeled down to talk to her, "Hello,sweetheart. Did you enjoy the show?" The girl smiled up at Shauni and shook her head "yes".
"This is Amanda and she just loves you, Miss Steele" said the girls mother. "Your music motivates her when we need to do her physical therapy or exercise. It was hard to get her to do any of it before you."
"Please, call me Shauni." she smiled to the mother before looking back at Amanda, "I'm glad my music makes you happy. Can I get a picture with you, Amanda?" The girl shook her head eagerly as her mother got ready to take the picture.
Just as the camera flashed, Shauni felt a sharp pain in her back that took her breath away. Then another sharp pain in her shoulder. It was a seering pain unlike anything she had ever felt before. She was trying to catch her breath and process what had just happened as she closed her eyes in pain. Then heard a scream, "He's got a knife!" and everyone started to scramble.
She heard Steve's voice booming over the crowd, "Kono! Get Shauni. Chin and Danny, let's go!"
Kono and Stacy were at her side in a moment. Stacy cried, "Oh my, God. She's bleeding! Shauni, are you okay? Where are you hurt?!" she was panicking.
Kono was focused but calm, "Stacy look at me. I need for you to get paramedics. I think she's been stabbed."
Stacy seemed to freeze, so Kono said it again, "Stacy, please. She needs our help. Now go get paramedics!"
Stacy snapped out of her panicked state as she ran from the room to find medical care. Shauni was losing a lot of blood, so Kono tried to put pressure on her wounds. A few minutes later, the paramedics arrived. Shauni had lost consciousness, so they immediately started getting her ready to transport to the closest hospital. Just as they were getting her into a waiting ambulance, Steve arrived.
"Is she okay?" he asked concern obvious in his voice.
"We don't know, Commander. He stabbed her twice in the back. One of them is pretty deep and she's lost a lot of blood. Hopefully he didn't hit any vital organs."
Steve looked at Kono. "Kono, go with Stacy and make sure her parents are notified. Chin and Danny are taking Carl to HQ and I'm going with Shauni."
"Got it, Boss."
Steve jumped up into the ambulance. One of the paramedics updated Steve in, "She's not responding, Commander, but her vitals are good despite losing blood. We're going to get her to the hospital as soon as we can. Hold on….Could be a bumpy ride!"
"Shauni, can you hear me?" he asked. When she didn't respond, he put his hand on her cheek and tried again. "Shauni, it's Steve. Can you hear me?"
He heard her moan before whispering, "Steve, it hurts so bad. I feel like I can't breathe."
"I know, honey. Hang in there. We're getting you to the hospital as soon as we can."
************h50**************h50
They arrived at the hospital a few minutes later and quickly wheeled Shauni into a private room where doctor's could see her without prying eyes. To keep himself occupied, Steve checked in with his team. Kono confirmed that Stacy had contacted Shauni's parents who were getting ready to board a plane to Hawaii.
Next, he contacted Danny who said they had Carl waiting in the Blue Room. He wasn't going anywhere until Steve got there to deal with him, but that wasn't going to happen until he knew Shauni was alright.
He started pacing around the emergency room ignoring those watching him do so. A nurse asked him if he wanted something to drink, but he turned it down. He just wanted to see her. It wasn't long before Stacy, Kono, and John arrived and asked for an update.
"I haven't heard anything. The doctor's are still with her." he relayed.
Just then, he noticed a couple of flashes in one of the windows outside. "You've gotta be kidding me." he muttered to himself before he stormed outside. Paparazzi and news crews were already setting up outside. As soon as he stepped outside, a couple of the reporters ran up to him shoving microphones into his face, "Can you tell us what happened, Commander McGarrett?" "Is Shauni okay?" "Was this an attack from a fan?" "We've heard Carl Matthews is the suspect. Can you confirm this, Commander?"
Steve held up his hand to quiet everyone, "We won't be giving any statements at the moment until we have an update on her condition. I would highly suggest you ladies and gentlemen find a place to wait….quietly…..until I have some news for you. I'm asking you to respect Ms. Steele's privacy as well as that of her friends and family. If I see anyone snapping pictures or harassing anyone coming into this emergency room, your cameras are going to be confiscated and you'll be charged with harassment. " He let that sink in for a minute before concluding, " I promise I'll update you when I can." And with that, he turned around to walk back into the hospital and wait for news.
It seemed like hours before a doctor came out to update them even though it was only about 30 minutes. He led Stacy, John, Kono and Steve into a private waiting room.
"I'm Dr. Barkley. First, let me say that Ms. Steele will be fine, but she sustained a couple of pretty severe injuries. As you may know, she was stabbed twice: Once in her upper right shoulder and again in her upper back. That one was pretty deep and punctured her lung causing it to collapse. We have been able to stabilize her and have moved her to a private room in the intensive care unit. This is mainly for her safety purposes since we can monitor who comes on and off of that floor more easily. We're keeping a close eye on her for now."
"When can we see her?" asked Steve trying not to appear too anxious.
"She pretty heavily sedated right now, so it may be a few hours before she responds to anyone, but you can go in whenever you want."
Steve told Stacy and John to go in first. Kono decided to head back to headquarters while Steve waited his turn to see Shauni for himself. He felt guilt weighing on him. He was supposed to protect her. He was supposed to prevent this from happening….and he had failed. Now he was going to have to face Shauni's parents with the news that their daughter had been injured because of his failure.