CHAPTER TWENTY

ON A SCALE OF ONE TO TEN? TWENTY

NEXT MORNING - DANNY'S ROOM - KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - O'AHU

After John Doe had died, Steve hadn't been able to close his eyes and sleep again. He had tried, but his mind had been too occupied with questions and worries. The hours ticked by nonetheless as Steve was trying to settle his worry and answer his questions. Around eight in the morning, he decided, tiredly, to give his brain a break and grab a cup of coffee. Danny remained out like a light, so Steve didn't think he'd be missed for a few minutes. As Steve waited for the coffee to pour, he tried to call Jerry at the office, but he didn't pick up nor did anyone else. They all probably were at home like Steve had told them to.

Steve put a to-go lid on the paper cup with hot coffee and started tracing his steps back to the ICU. As he passed the nurses' station, he checked his watch, eight-fifteen. Exactly twenty-four hours after Danny woke up the first time Steve walked back up to Danny's bed. To Steve's surprise, Danny was awake and stared at him. He seemed to be in less pain and his only functioning eye was more lucid than it had been. As those were good signs, Steve crossed his arms, looked down at his friend, and smiled.

"Hey man, how are you feeling?"

"Tired and everything hurts," Danny said in honesty. "Head's exploding."

Steve took a sip of his coffee and said, "Fits the picture."

"Thanks," Danny gave a half-smile and jabbed his left thumb aside. "How's the guy next door doing?"

"Yeah, about that," Steve put his coffee aside and leaned with both hands on the backend of the bed. "How'd you even know he was in the unit next door?"

"They pushed me past the room on the way back from the scan yesterday," Danny pointed at his own neck. "I recognized the terrible tattoo on his neck."

"Good thing you did, because I doubt his facial recognition will give us a hit."

"I'm surprised he made it," Danny remarked. "I left him for dead."

"Well, he's dead now." Steve straightened, picked up his coffee, and took a quick sip.

"What?" Danny frowned as far as his busted face let him. "He died?"

Before Steve could explain, Jerry barged into the bay at full tilt. In his hands, he held a tablet and his face had shock written all over it. Out of breath, he said, "Guys, we have a problem."

Danny dropped his head back on the pillow and said. "I love that I never get a moment of peace."

Jerry shook his head, still trying to catch his breath. "No, time for sarcasm I'm afraid."

"I'm not being sarcastic," Danny looked up at Jerry, "I get bored easily."

Steve rolled his eyes and went over to the chair. "Ignore him, please," he said and faced Jerry. "What are you doing here, Jer? What's the problem?"

Jerry stayed quiet for a beat, then he said. "The John Doe's dead."

"Yes, we know," Steve said and sat down. "He coded and died a few hours ago. Blood clots, due to the gunshot wound."

Danny rolled his head to the left and asked. "Who shot him?"

Confused, Steve locked eyes with Danny. "You did."

"I didn't shoot him."

Steve frowned. "You didn't?"

"No, I just strangled him and pounded his head against the ramp until he stopped moving," Danny explained.

Relief washed over Steve. Danny hadn't been the one that killed John Doe. There was no longer a need to prove it had been self-defense. It no longer mattered if Kim had thrown the gun away or not. Danny wasn't going to pay the price of this guy's death, period. Steve's concern had been for nothing. However, if Danny didn't kill John Doe, then who did?

Puzzled, Steve shared. "He had a GSW to the back, no exit wound," then he realized what might have happened. "They executed him and dumped his body in the forest."

Jerry commented. "That's cold."

Danny looked back at Steve. "Wait, he was dumped in the forest?"

Steve nodded. "Couple hikers found him."

"Kim shot him," Danny rolled his head back to the middle. "Or had somebody do it for him."

"How do you know for sure?"

Danny sighed. Steve could see he was struggling to verbalize his thought, then, "He said he'd do the same to me."

The room went silent. For a minute nobody said anything as there was nothing to say that would make the harrowing statement any less gut-wrenching.

Then Steve leaned forward in his seat and eyed Jerry. "What did you find out about the John Doe? Were you able to ID him?"

Jerry seemed uncertain to speak up and end his silence but eventually did. "Well, his facial recognition was a no-go, but I got a TSA hit on the fingerprints. He landed on O'ahu two weeks ago under the name, Cheng Wu. He flew in from Hong Kong. There was surprisingly no criminal record. The only things registered under that name are a credit cards, a gym membership, a rental apartment, and also a rental car."

Steve concluded, "He used a fake name."

"Probably," Jerry agreed. "Junior and Tani are checking out the rental apartment as we speak. Maybe they find something useful, like his real passport."

"If not, reach out to the Chinese authority in Hong Kong. I'll have his corpse transferred to the M.E's office and let Noelani perform an autopsy. Maybe if she runs his DNA, we'll get a legit ID."

Jerry gave a nod. "Copy that."

"What about the bullet they fished out of his body? Any hits?"

Jerry shook his head. "No match in the ballistic database."

Annoyed, Danny sighed. "So, it's a dead end. Literally, because the guy is dead, and let me tell you that we won't find anything useful. We're focussing on the wrong thing. We're just wasting our time and Kim knows it."

Steve looked at his partner as he could hear the frustration in Danny's voice. Steve couldn't blame him, so he said. "Maybe you're right, but we're not giving up."

"Yeah— well— thank you for trying, but it's not enough," Danny snapped. "This thing only ends when that son of a bitch is either behind bars or someplace deep in the ground."

Steve put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "We'll do whatever it takes. I promise you," they held each other's look for a long beat. This time Danny seemed to believe him. Then Steve focused back on Jerry. "What do we know about Kim so far?"

"I mean nothing useful, really," Jerry pouted. "He's in the system for multiple minor drug offences, like possession of a controlled substance. Did two years in Halawa, but ever since he got out, his business seem legit and on the up and up, nothing criminal, except for the obvious tie to the Chinese Triad. There are rumors that he trafficked drugs a few years back, but there's no evidence to prove it's true. Besides, he knows we are watching him. He's careful."

Hearing that, Steve eyed Danny. "You're right, we are focusing on the wrong thing here. But if we can't find anything on Kim, we might wanna look into the guys that are on his payroll," Steve said. "We know about three of them, right? John Doe, and those two idiots we arrested, the ones guarding the front," Steve leaned in, put his elbows on his knees. "What was John Doe's role in all this?"

Danny shrugged his shoulder. "Guard. I guess."

Jerry summarized the brain-racking calculation. "That makes three guards."

Steve checked. "Just three guards then?"

Danny shook his head. "No, closer to six. I think."

"Six?" Steve repeated and thought to himself, no wonder Danny couldn't escape. "All right, we need to find the other three, maybe they will tell us something or maybe testify, but we have to act fast before they end up in the forest as well."

"Two," Danny reminded. "They killed the CIA agent."

"Right," McGarrett was quiet for a beat. "So Kim put you up against these five guys then?"

"No, he didn't put me up against the guards," Danny's voice trailed off. It seemed like it was overwhelming to think about. "He had other guys for that."

"What other guys?" Steve questioned. "How many did you, you know— fight?"

Danny exhaled and closed his eye. He was either tired or trying to think. Eventually, he said. "I don't remember. I didn't count."

Steve's eyebrows snapped together. "That many?"

"Yes, that many," Danny's eye flicked back open. "I don't look like this for nothing."

Steve had nothing to say against that except, "Fair point,"

Then Jerry wouldn't stop talking. About the case. All the evidence that they might find or hadn't found. And all kinds of other topics both Danny and Steve didn't seem to have no energy for. Steve tried to listen attentively, but couldn't help to notice it wiped Danny out. He seemed to just let the words wash over him as he had settled into a comfortable doze and only opened his eye when he felt that they were looking or speaking at him.

Eventually, Jerry managed to get the attention of both Steve and Danny by saying. "You know, kidnap is a brutal business. Usually, it's the exact same thing as a homicide, just delayed a little. You beat the odds."

Steve let his head down as he couldn't believe the insensitivity, yet it was Jerry who said it. He didn't mean it that way. His communication was just as eccentric as the rest of him. And whether it was because Danny seemed exhausted or got reminded about his luck during such a traumatic experience, Danny only breathed out. "Smooth,"

"Get out of here, Jerry," Steve said. "Call me if anything changes, all right?"

"Call you, yeah— right," Jerry snorted, but his face changed and turned earnest. "You're not serious, are you?"

Steve signaled at his own face. "This is not my joking face, so yes I'm serious, give me a call if anything changes."

Jerry gave Steve a side-eye. "You know, you're not allowed to have your phone on inside the hospital in case its signal upset the delicate medical equipment, right?"

"Bye, Jerry," Steve stated.

"I'll just leave this here, then. It's turned off." Jerry put a tablet on a medical tray standing within reach. He turned around and left.

Steve watched Danny grimace as he pushed himself up and say. "Can you believe this guy?"

Steve joked. "As far as technology goes he really thinks we still live in 1980, doesn't he?"

The two of them shared a smile and after a beat, Danny asked. "How did you guys know?"

Steve stood up and grabbed the tablet Jerry had left. "Know what?"

"You know— ?"

Steve turned and faced Danny. "That Kim took you, you mean?"

"Yeah," Danny breathed out. "Because there wasn't much evidence to work with, right."

"No, there wasn't," Steve recognized. "But the hospital left me a voicemail saying you didn't show up for your appointment. That's when I knew things were wrong."

"Good thing I put your name down on the medical forms after Chin went to San Fransisco,"

"What?" Steve narrowed his eyes. He couldn't believe this. "You had Chin listed as your emergency contact all these years? Really?"

"Don't act surprised. Think about it. 96.5 percent of the time that I might get shot, stabbed, gassed, car-jacked, boat-jacked, or blown-up, is when I'm with you. Ergo, I listed Chin."

"96.5 percent? Are you serious?" Steve snorted with derision at the strange percentage. "Well, I guess it makes sense in a 'Danny Williams' sort of way."

"It does make sense."

Steve rolled his eyes. "You know what? I'm gonna call my contact at the CIA," he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contact list. He found the right number and tapped on it to make a call. Steve was about to raise his phone to his ear when medical equipment started making noise by beeping abruptly. His eyes went wide and shot up at Danny. "You good?"

Danny turned his head to the machinery. "That's not my doing."

Danny indeed seemed calm and relaxed in Steve's opinion. Along-side Danny's bed there were several IV poles, with bags of fluid and small machines attached. One of the pump monitors went pitch black and the noise died down. Steve quickly pressed his phone call away and locked his phone. The second he did, the pump monitor came back to life and made all kinds of rebooting noises.

"Did the battery just die?" Steve questioned himself and looked down at Danny. They shared a look and both knew. Jerry was right. Steve backed out of the room and said. "You know what, I'll make the call outside."

HALLWAY - KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - O'AHU

Steve didn't go far. Just far enough to make sure he wouldn't interfere with any medical machines. He unlocked his phone and opened his call log to the last call made and then pressed the green button to make it all over again. He raised the phone to his ear and waited. And listened. It would take five or six rings, at least. If not more and if his CIA contact decided to answer.

After a few more rings, a low male voice popped up on the other side of the line. "McGarrett?"

"Hey, Tom, I need a favor," Steve said.

"Cutting right to the chase, I like that."

"Right. Listen, I need every piece of information the CIA has on a guy named Kim Leung."

The phone went quiet. Expect the patter of a keyboard. Then the keyboard patter stopped and Steve knew Tom had the name right in front of him on a screen. Yet he said, "I ran the name and got nothing."

"You sure?" Steve asked, but it sounded more like a second chance to come clean than a question. "Because I know for a fact that you guys are building a case against him, so don't tell me you got nothing."

Tom kept his foot down. "I mean it. I got nothing. There's no record."

Steve couldn't help it and he let out a chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

With a grin on his face, Steve said. "My partner told me this would happen."

"Yeah, then how come I have you on the line and not your partner?"

"I'm sure he would've enjoyed that. But he's currently in the ICU after Kim Leung captured him and almost beat him to death. So you'll have to excuse him."

There was silence on the phone. Then Tom sincerely said. "I'm sorry to hear that. I really am, but, McGarrett, if there would've been something to tell you, I would. You know I would."

"I know," Steve acknowledged as he knew from the past that Tom was a reliable guy. "Then help me understand why my partner tells me that one of the guys that held him captive, turned out to be an undercover CIA agent and got killed over it."

There was a pause, then Tom admitted. "I get your point. That is confusing."

"Exactly."

"But I'm telling you, there's no case record of an undercover OPS. At least not one linked to Kim Leung," Tom went quiet again, but in a way that he was about to continue. "How bad did they beaten your partner?"

Steve went into full defensive mode and so did his tone. "What are you saying?"

"Are you sure your partner's information is solid?" This time it was Steve that stayed quiet. "I'll take that as a no."

"No, my partner's intel is solid, Tom," Steve stated with certainty. But that was a lie. As much as Steve wanted to take Danny's side, Steve simply wasn't sure. On any day Steve would believe his partner without even a shred of evidence, but Steve believed Tom too. Tom had earned that trust over the years as well. As of this moment, Steve was only sure of one thing— none of this was making sense. Steve ran his palm across his face, as he was racking his brain on the situation. "How about an off-the-record OPS? I mean, there's a dead agent and you're saying nobody's missing him?"

"Could be worth checking. I'll make some calls and get back to you."

"All right. Thanks, Tom." Steve said and hung up.

DANNY'S ROOM - KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - O'AHU

On his way back to Danny, Steve was thinking hard and scratching his head over the phone call he just had. Steve made the call expecting to get answers but instead, he got more questions. Steve sure hoped Tom would get back to him shortly and this time clear the air and make sense of the puzzling situation. With heavy feet, Steve went back to the ICU. He knew Danny would want clarifying answers, and Steve hated that he couldn't provide him that. In Steve's opinion, Danny could use a break from all the terrible things that had happened over the past few days, but that wasn't going to be the case.

Steve entered the ICU and barely made it to Danny's bedside when Danny's eye snapped open and asked.

"And?"

Before Steve could say anything, Dr. Keller appeared at the door opening. He was wearing pale blue scrubs, no white lab coat this time. Just scrubs. He seemed rested since the last time Steve had seen him. And as there was a smile on the doctor's face, he also seemed to be happy that his patient pulled through the critical hours. Dr. Keller put the tablet he was holding underneath his arm and put his hand underneath a dispenser hanging on the wall. Then he rubbed his hands thoroughly, sterilizing them with antiseptics. He greeted as he entered. "Detective Williams,"

"Hey doc," Danny greeted back. Steve said nothing and moved to the end of the bed, out of the doctor's way.

"I'm glad to see you made it through the night," the doctor said and went up to the bed, studied the numbers on the machines, and then Danny himself. "How are you feeling, all things considered?"

"Fine, I guess," Danny answered as he pushed himself a bit more upright with his left elbow.

"Yeah? How's the discomfort?" Dr. Keller asked taking the tablet from underneath his arm. "Feeling nauseous? Or any dizziness?"

"Bit of both."

The doctor started typing and simultaneously asked, "All right, how's the headache?"

"It's there."

Doctor Keller asked. "Scale of one to ten?"

"Twenty." Danny exaggerated, or maybe he didn't. Maybe the headache was really that bad and Steve had taken it for granted as Danny chatted almost like his normal self.

The doctor confirmed the gravity of the headache as he said, "Sounds about right," and typed it down on the tablet. "It will get less in a few days." He comforted.

"Can't wait," Danny breathed out. "When can I get out of here?"

Dr. Keller lowered the tablet and looked sternly at Danny "How about we get you to Medium Care first?" he gave a brief nod but had a compassionated smile on his face. "Now I personally would really like to see you up and walking, but Dr. Damar disagrees. The swelling in your knee has to come down first before we can put a brace around it. Otherwise, it will turn into a setback, and we don't want that, right?"

"No, but I don't think I can get up anyway."

Steve's gaze snapped at Danny. He wasn't joking, he meant it and it made Steve's heart drop. It really bothered him to see his friend hurt and disheartened.

Danny's gaze locked with Steve's like a magnet and he asked. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

Steve didn't get the chance to answer as Dr. Keller put the tablet aside and said. "I'm going to check the incision. If it looks good, I might decide that you can be transferred out of the ICU today. Sounds good?"

"No," Danny sighed. "It sounds like it's gonna hurt."

"Probably," the doctor went ahead and raised the bedhead until it was almost completely up. The surgeon shared a look with Danny and then with Steve. "The attitude's certainly a sign of improvement, right?"

Steve leaned with both his hands on the bed-end. "Don't let the curmudgeon fool you."

Doctor Keller shook his head, smiling. He opened up the blue patterned hospital gown and Danny's chest showed. Patterned and blue as well, but nearly as happily and light-blue as the gown. The bruises on Danny's chest had become more colorful and not in a good way. To Steve, it looked particularly painful. The skin now purple-black with reddish spots dancing within. Along with the other bandages Steve had seen before, there was now one covering the cardiac drainage. It was centered on Danny's chest at the bottom of his sternum. A thin tube snaked out from underneath and the only thing visible was something that came close to an IV port.

As the doctor grabbed some supplies he asked. "Could you carefully lift your right arm for me?"

Danny winced as he tried to execute the demand. "You know I have broken ribs, right?"

"I'll work quick, I promise."

With that promise, Danny slowly started to raise his right arm. About halfway he instantly froze and with a death grip, his left hand grasped the sheets and squeezed until his knuckles turned white. The same went for his facial color. He turned whiter with each heartbeat. All his blood just drained away from his face until he looked ghostly white. In evidence, Steve watched the green waves on the heart monitor spike and increase their frequency.

"Bit more," Dr. Keller encouraged as he guided Danny's arm a bit higher. Danny clenched his jaw to stifle a moan but to no avail. "Do you find it difficult to move your arm?" He asked and Steve could hear the concern in the doctor's voice.

"Difficult? No," Danny gritted his teeth. "It hurts, so I rather not move it."

"Where does it hurt exactly?"

Danny grimaced and said. "Shoulder, I think?"

Dr. Keller turned to one of the machines standing next to the bed and fumbled with some lines, pushed a few buttons and stretched up to a valve on the bottom of one of the IV bags. Clicked it a notch and tapped a tube with his finger. He frowned and questioned. "Are you taking the pain medication?"

Steve meddled. "He's not." It earned him a death stare from his partner.

The doctor's frown deepened. "And why's that?"

"They knock me right out," Danny sighed. "I don't want that."

Dr. Keller nodded understandingly. "All right, don't worry, I can lower the dose a little. It won't knock you out. But if you want to restore full mobility of your shoulder, you really should take the medication and try and use your arm and shoulder on the side of the incision," he instructed. "If you don't, it can become a serious problem."

Now it was Steve's turn to frown. "How much of a serious problem?"

With beads of sweat on his forehead due to effort, Danny snapped. "Ask about it another time, would you?"

The doctor understood the hint as well and focused back on Danny. "You can put your right hand on your left shoulder for support, if you want," he suggested and helped Danny carry it out. "Good, now, try to relax and lean forward. Focus on your breathing, all right?"

As Danny did lean forward, Dr. Keller slipped on a pair of gloves and began to remove the dressing. Steve could tell the doctor tried to gently peel off the bandage but out of experience, there was no gentle way to do that. Skin got pulled up, incision stretched. It simply hurt, whether it would be peeled off gently or ripped off within a second. The feeling was the same. Doctor Keller stripped the bandage and Danny's body went rigid with pain. Every muscle seized up. He grunted in agony.

The doctor continued but said. "If it's getting too much, just let me know, okay?"

Danny nodded, didn't say anything. It was telling Steve more than words could ever say. It already was too much, but there was no way Danny was going to say it, not in this world.

With the bandage removed Steve was given a front-row seat with a clean look of the surgical cut marring Danny's chest. The incision arched a little above the incision Steve had made months ago. Somewhere between the second and third rib, Steve guessed. The new cut was significantly larger and easily four times as long. Steve didn't know exactly but out of the ballpark, the cut appeared eight inches long. Eight inches of cruelty, slanting from below the tip of his shoulder blade to the side. The edges of the wound were raw and stitched together with black thread.

"We're almost done." Dr. Keller said and palpated his gloved fingertips along the arched-shaped incision line. Then the doctor checked the chest tube that had been inserted into the cut Steve once had provided. Dr. Keller pulled at it a little. Danny groaned and winced and the vital monitors started beeping erratically. Both Steve and Doctor Keller's eyes shot up to the monitor. Numbers flashed in red on the screen. Then the monitor abrupt its beeping as Danny's blood pressure took a dive. Danny slacked entirely. Every tensed muscle in his body went limp.

— TBC / HAWAIIFIVE0 —

A/N: Now I saw this meme/edit somewhere on the internet, as meme's do…

it had the hilarious emergency contact argument between the boys and I just couldn't help myself to put it in here,

( just wanted to properly give credit for the person who made that edit.)

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I'd love to hear what you think, so please do leave a review if you can!

Thanks for reading and have a great week :)