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Danny DeMarco and Julio Jaurez were sitting in their old beat up Toyota Camry. They'd just walked out of Walmart with a case of beer, having planned to do a little drinking later that evening. “That little punta is gonna regret cheating on me with that haole.” Danny said to his pal.
“I can't believe she did you like dat.” Julio replied. “We outta find that guy and beat the shit outta him.”
“Hey wait...” Danny put his hand out to shush his friend. Julio got quiet and followed his friends gaze out the window. “That guy heading to that blue silverado. Looks like our haole.”
“Awe man, he must have gone to see Layla at work.” Julio said, knowing his friend's girl worked at the Walmart.
Danny reached into the backseat. “I'm gonna take care of this asshole.” He pulled out a warn baseball bat and started to exit the car with it.
“Fuck man, wait for me.” Julio trailed after him.
Steve finished his shopping at Walmart and started out to the truck. His day at work wasn't too eventful. He'd spent most of it just catching up on some paper work and after action reports. They ended the day early and had a late lunch together before they all parted ways. He'd stopped at the store to get some toiletries, some laundry soap, and TP. He pushed the cart out to his truck, completely oblivious to the men watching him from a nearby car.
He fiddled with his key fob to get his doors unlocked when suddenly a hard force slammed into the back of his head. He went down instantly, the cart pushing out from him a few feet a way. He looked up only to see a long object coming at him again. This time, he was able to put his arms in front of it to block it from striking his face. The force slammed into his arms with enough force to bruise, but protected his face.
“You fucked with the wrong man's girl...” Danny said. He swung the bat again, but this time Steve rolled and it impacted with his back, pushing him onto the ground and forcing all the air out of him.
Before Steve could recover, Julio struck. His leg kicked out, hitting him hard on his left side. Another hard kick came and he thought he felt something snap, most likely a rib. The bat came down again and again, striking his back, his head. The two men were so fast, he didn't have time to recover or even attempt to fight them back.
Slowly, he could feel himself slipping away. His thoughts were getting cloudy and his vision was blurring. Darkness was closing in on him. “You fucking haole.” Was the last thing he heard before he slipped unconscious.
“Fuck man, we gotta get outta here.” Julio said, pulling on his friends arm. He had finally stopped the man after it seemed like he was going to keep beating the man with his bat until he was dead. “We ain't killas.”
Danny stopped and finally realized what he'd done. He didn't intend on hurting the man so badly, but once he started swinging that bat, he lost control. And damn if that wasn't the reason his girl had left him. She said he had a fierce temper and she couldn't stand to be around him when he lost control. Well fuck her. She didn't get to leave him and she certainly didn't get to move on with some other guy.
“Ok, let's get out of here.” Danny finally said. He ran back over to his Toyota and climbed in, stashing the blood stained bat back in the back seat. Julio got in next to him, the car already running at that point. He tore out of the parking lot at lightening speeds, not wanting to be around when someone reported the guy half dead in that very lot.
Danny Williams had just settled in to watch one of the games he pre-recorded on his DVR. Because he lived in Hawaii, a lot of his favorite sports games from the mainland were always on at weird hours. He had a beer ready and bag of Hawaiian brand pototato chips. He sighed in content as he hit play and started the game. Not even 5 minutes into the first inning, his phone rang. He let out a huff before he reached over to the table and plucked it up. He slide his hand across the screen answering. “Williams here.” He greeted.
“Detective Williams?” The man on the other end asked.
“Yeah, who's this.” He quickly glanced at the number on the screen, but didn't recognize it.
“This is officer Brantly, with HPD.” The man answered. “I'm calling to inform you that we just took Commander McGarrett to Queen's medical center.”
“What?!” Danny nearly shouted into the phone. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
“I'm sorry, but it seems he's been badly beaten.” Brantly explained. “I'll meet you at the medical center and we can go over the details there.”
Danny nodded and was already reaching for his badge and his gun. “I'll head over right now.” He said before the line went dead. Oh, god what has he gotten himself into now? Danny wondered. The man was a danger magnet, but as far as he knew Steve was just going to run to the store and then have a quiet night at home. He reached for his keys and ran out the door, driving at speeds that only someone like his partner could be proud of. He even flashed the lights a few times so he could get to his destination faster.
After parking, Danny walked and spotted an officer standing in the ER waiting room. “Officer Brantly?” He asked, then saw his name on his uniform. “What happened to Steve?”
“A woman walking to her car found him in the parking lot at Walmart next to his truck. He was unconscious and bleeding.” Officer Brantly explained. “When the paramedics looked him over they said he was definitely beaten. They think that perhaps a long blunt force object was used, something like a pipe or a bat. They also think he was kicked.”
Danny's hands went flying. “I don't understand, he was just getting some groceries.” Off the top of his head, he couldn't think of any threats recently against Steve or anyone else on the team, so who the hell could have beaten the man?
“There were camera's in the parking lot. They could have caught what happened.” Brantly said. “I figured you might want your team to handle this though.”
Danny nodded. “Yeah, I'll get them right on it. Have the doctors said anything?” He asked.
Brantly shook his head. “Nothing yet, but I told him you'd be here in a while so they can brief you once they have information.”
“Ok, thank you.” Danny replied. He shook the man's hand and dismissed him. He settled into one of the hard plastic waiting room chairs and pulled up his phone. He contacted Chin and Kono and briefed them on what was happening. He also instructed them to go the palace and check out those security camera's at Walmart and see what they could find out about what happened and who might be behind it.
He felt like he sat forever waiting, his butt going numb in the chair. “What the hell is taking so long?” He mumbled to himself.
“Danny Williams?” A doctor in scrubs called out in to the waiting room.
Danny jumped up so fast he nearly fell right back over again. “Yeah...” He moved quickly over to the doctor.
The doctor motioned for the younger detective to follow him into a hallway of the ER. “Please have a seat.” He instructed. Danny sat in yet another uncomfortable chair and waited for the doctor to speak again. “I'm sorry to inform you of this, but your friend and colleague is in pretty bad shape. He has two broken ribs and three cracked ribs. It appears his kidney is bruised, but we can't determine any actual damage yet. We'll have to wait and monitor it closely. His wrist is broken, most likely from blunt force trauma. I suspect, he may have tried to protect himself with his arms as there are several bruises on his arms as well. His back and left side are also covered in some pretty heavy bruising. And that's not even the worst of it.”
“Wait...” Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing. He shook his head as if just doing so would suddenly make everything magically better. “What do you mean, that's not the worst of it?”
“Are you his medical proxy?” The doctor asked.
Danny shook his head. “Yeah.” He took a deep calming breath, knowing that something bad was about to come out of the doctors mouth.
The doctor held out a clip board. Danny hadn't even noticed the man had been holding it all this time. “I need your consent for our neurological team to perform emergency brain surgery.
“What?!” He ran a weary hand down his face.
“We need to perform emergency surgery.” The doctor started explaining. “His skull was fractured, but he also suffered a serious injury to the brain, which has caused a bleed in the brain. The blood is causing pressure on the brain, which could kill him if we don't act fast enough. The procedure we would do, involves going in stopping the bleeding, but also inserting a drain to remove any fluid or blood that's causing the pressure. That along with medication should help your friend.”
Danny stared blankly at the doctor for a moment as he let the words sink in. Fractured, bleed, pressure, could kill him. “Where do I sign?” He finally asked, glancing down at the form on the clipboard. The doctor pointed with his finger and Danny signed his name. “Ok, do whatever you have to to save him.”
“We will.” The doctor replied. “Wait here and I'll have the neuro team come and find you when they are done.” He turned a moment later and walked off.
Mean while, Chin and Kono made their way into the palace. They had pulled up footage from the security cameras in the Walmart parking lot.
“Nothing on this one...” Chin said, moving onto the next camera feed. He fast fowarded a bit until he saw Steve's truck pull into one of the parking spots. “There's Steve.”
The cousins both watched him walk away from his truck towards the store. Chin fast forwarded again until they saw Steve pop back into the frame.
“There he is pushing his cart to the truck.” Kono observed.
Two shorter men came into the frame from what looked like across the parking aisle. Their car was out of view. They both looked hispanic. One of them was holding baseball bat.
“Steve didn't even see them coming.” Chin said. Wham! He watched the bat collide with his boss' head from behind. Steve went down instantly.
They both watched as Steve looked up and placed his arms in front of himself for protection, though they seemed no match for the bat. He tried to roll over and push himself up, but the bat was relentless and then the other guy jumped in, attacking with his feet. They couldn't see the faces of his attackers.
In an instant the two men were done and turned away from Steve, headed towards the cameras. The man with the bat happened to be holding the object just right that it blocked his face from view, but the other man's face was clear as day.
Chin quickly grabbed a screen shot of the man and ran him through the system to see if they could get a match to a name or record. “Let's see if we can find this guy.” Then he let the video finish playing out and saw the two drive off in some kind of older Toyota with the license plate blacked out. Not a second later, his phone rang. He answered it and set it on the smart table, clicking the speaker phone function. “Hey Danny, how's Steve?”
“It's not good.” Danny answered.
“How bad?” Kono asked, her face filled with worry.
“They just took him up for emergency brain surgery.” Danny explained. “He's got a skull fracture, but there was also some brain damage, which resulted in some bleeding. They need to operate to stop the bleeding and place in a drain to remove any of the excess fluid. He also has a broken wrist, some serious bruising on his side and back and a kidney that's not looking so hot.”
Kono's eyes grew teary. “Is Steve gonna be ok?”
“I'm not sure yet.” He replied. “What did you guys find out?”
“We found the video of the attack.” Chin answered. “Two guys went at him with a baseball bat and their feet. We've got facial recognition running on one of the attackers, but we couldn't see the face of the one with the bat who seemed to be the main attacker.”
“They both look hispanic.” Kono added.
The facial recognition software pinged, indicating it had found a match. “Wait, I've got something here.” Chin clicked on the screen and pulled up a record for one of the assailants. “Julio Jaurez. He's done some time for possession charges. There's an address listed so we'll go and check that out and then come check in with you at he hospital.”
“Let us know in the mean time, if you hear anything.” Kono said.
“I will, thanks guys.” Danny replied.
The cousins both headed out of the palace to Chin's SUV. They drove to the address listed for Julio Jaurez. It was an older apartment building and the unit they were looking for was on the second floor. The took the stairs up and carefully approached the door at the end of the row of apartments.
Chin knocked twice. He and Kono kept their hands on their side arms in case they received any resistance. The door opened and it was an older hispanic woman, with messy hair and a t-shirt that looked to have food stains on it. “Yeah...” She instantly noticed the badges and took a worrisome step back.
“Does Julio Jaurez live here?” Kono asked.
The woman sighed. “What's that Hupo done now?”
“Is he here?” Chin asked.
She opened the door further and motioned them in as she walked back to the open concept kitchen a short ways away. “Sorry, I was making tamales.” She had a mess of food and corn husks on the island. “He hasn't lived here in months. I kicked him out when I caught him and his friends in here smoking some weed. He's got a drug charge already on his record, I told him I didn't need him bringing that shit around.”
Chin and Kono entered cautiously, eyes roaming over the open concept living room and kitchen. “When was the last time you saw him?” Chin asked.
“Couple of weeks ago. Saw him at a gas station down the road. He was with some friend in this beat up old toyota.” She told the pair. “I don't know where he's been staying.”
Layla McCallister had heard the siren's earlier outside the store. She didn't know what all the fuss was about, but she'd heard some coworkers gossiping about some man that was nearly beaten to death in the parking lot. Her thoughts were rather preoccupied though. Her ex had come into the store and confronted her while she was at work. He said he wasn't going to let her walk away and that the other guy she was seeing was going to pay for taking her from him. Hell, the other guy hadn't taken anything from Danny. He was just a family friend. There was nothing romantic between them. She was scared of Danny though. The man had a temper and she'd seen him unleash it a few times. He was bad news and she had to get away from him.
Danny and Julio were chilling out at Danny's place. It was a small house in Pearl City that he shared with a couple other friends. They were all misfits who were usually up to no good. Each had done time for one crime or another. Danny was into drugs like Julio, in fact they had met in prison both doing stints on various drug charges. They two men sat in the backyard with a fire pit going and nursed the case of beers they'd gotten at Walmart after confronting Layla. They decided to add drugs into the mix and that didn't go very well, both finding themselves in a haze of colors and visions, seeing things that weren't really there. They found themselves dancing around the fire pit and rambling about the most nonsensical things. Their friends in the house thought it was funny as they watched the pair.
In the middle of the night, a doctor finally came out to address Danny in regards to Steve. By then Kono and Chin had joined him, all three of them waiting and praying for their fearless leader.
“Detective Williams?” The doctor walked towards the trio of people. When Danny looked up at him, he continued. “I'm doctor Blake, the surgeon who worked on Steve.”
Danny nervously licked his lip and asked. “Is he gonna be ok?”
“We've managed to stem to the bleeding in the brain.” Doctor Blake explained. “And we've placed in a drain to help remove the fluid that's been building up. Unfortunately, we won't know the extent of any actual brain damage until he wakes. Right now though, we do have him under sedation so we can keep him as relaxed as possible. That should make it easier for his brain and body to try and heal.”
“So you're saying their could be brain damage?” Kono asked.
“It's possible yes.” The doctor continued. “He did suffer a seizure just before we began operating, so it's possible, he could suffer more. If that does become an issue, we can put him on anti seizure medication, but I don't want to start that until we have to. It's also possible he could have some memory issues, maybe his thoughts might be jumbled. He could experience headaches, dizziness. We won't know for sure until he wakes and even then, we don't know that those issues will be permanent. Only time will tell.”
“Can we see him?” Danny asked.
“Of course, I've got him set up in the ICU, so only one can stay, but I'll let you all see him for a few minutes if you are quiet.” Doctor Blake answered. He motioned towards a desk just down the hall. “The nurse there can take you to his room.”
The nurse lead the teammates to Steve's room and they entered to find another nurse inside, checking on their boss. They took in the sight of the man they all considered family and were all left silent. Kono fought back tears that were threatening to fall as she eyed the white bandage the went from the left side of his head and wrapped around the back. She didn't realize it, but that's where the skull fracture was and a long gash that needed stitching. Slightly above the bandage on the left side of his skull, his hair had been shaved away and a thin tube lead out and was taped in place going down the side of his head and off to a bag that collected the red tinged fluid. The left side of his face was slightly swollen, especially around his eye. His left wrist was in a cast. They couldn't see the other injuries under his gown and blanket, but could see a bag attached near the foot of the bed with more red tinged liquid. It was bag for a catheter.
“You must be his teammates.” The kind nurse said. “The doctor informed me that you could all stay for a short while, but then only one of you could stay. He's actually doing quite well, despite how he might look. He'll be getting another scan of his head sometime tomorrow morning to check things out, but aside from that and this worrisome kidney, I think he'll be ok.”
“Thank you for looking after him.” Chin finally spoke, breaking the team's silence.
“I'll come by and check on him later.” She replied, excusing herself from the group.
“He's so still and quiet.” Kono said, even though they could hear the heart monitor beeping.
“At least they didn't have to intubate him.” Chin noticed that Steve was only wearing a nasal cannula.
Danny pulled a chair over to the bed, noting that at least it was padded. “We better catch the bastards that did this.” He said to the cousins.
“We will Danny, we will.” Chin tried to assure him.
Layla was asleep in bed when her phone rang. She moaned as she rolled over to reach it and noticed the time. It was nearly 4 in the morning. She didn't recognize the number so she answered it. “Hey, baby...” She heard the familiar voice of Danny. He must have called with someone elses phone because he knew she wouldn't pick up if she saw his number.
“What do you want?” Layla asked, now wide awake and immediately concerned.
“Hey, don't worry bout that haole. Told you I'd make 'im pay fer steealing you.” He slurred. She could tell his was drunk. She'd know that drunk voice anywhere.
“Have you been drinking?” She asked Danny.
“Drinkin' cause you broke my heart, but don't worry. Took care a that guy this afternoon. He shouldn't been bothrin' yous at work...” He slurred some more and then the line went dead.
“Danny?” She yelled into the phone. “What have you done, Danny?” Shit!
Layla jumped out of bed and ran for her car keys. She didn't even bother changing out of her pajamas before she headed out the door and drove to her friends house, banging on the door. His parents answered very tiredly, both looking concerned, and informed her that her friend left that previous morning to visit his uncle over on Maui. She had breathed a sigh of relief until she remembered all the commotion that happened at work that afternoon. Now she was suddenly convinced that Danny definitely hurt someone, but it wasn't her friend.
Back in her car, Layla drove to the HPD precinct. She walked into the lobby and addressed the female officer at the desk. “I think my ex boyfriend beat someone. He may have even killed him.” She said to the older officer.
The officer smiled at her and asked. “And who exactly do you think he might have killed?”
She pulled a picture up on the phone of her friend that Danny thought he'd attacked. “My ex said he attacked this guy yesterday. He thought the man and I were an item and got jealous, but my friend is over on Maui and someone was attacked at my work yesterday in the parking lot. I think it was Danny who attacked him.”
The officer was very stunned when she saw the photo. The man in the photo had an uncanny resemblance to the leader of the five-0 task force. “That looks like Commander McGarrett.” She knew about the incident at the Walmart the day before and heard the man was in serious condition at the hospital. “What did you say your exes name was?”
“It's Danny, Danny DeMarco. He hangs out with this guy Julio.” Layla explained. “He lives over in Pearl City.”
“Thank you for coming in Ma'am.” The officer said. “I'll give the investigating officers this information. Can you please just leave your number in case they want to talk to you?” She pushed a pad of paper at the younger woman.
“Sure...” Layla wrote her name and number down, also the name of her ex with a phone number next to it.
Chin and Kono were back at the palace trying to find any leads on that old beat up Toyota the pair of suspects were seen driving in. “There are 4 matching our toyota's description on the island.” He said, letting out a huff of frustration. “We'll have to look them each over and see if we can figure which is our exact one...” He pulled up pics of each registered Toyota.
As they carefully examined the pictures of each car, Chin's phone rang. He instantly placed it on speaker. “Kelly here...” He said. Kono moved closer so she could hear better.
“Hey, I'm over here at the front desk of HPD. We had a young woman come in and report an assault. She thinks she knows who attacked the Commander.” The woman on the line said.
“Who?” Chin asked.
“She gave me a name, Danny DeMarco. Said he hangs out with a pal named Julio.” She started explaining.
“Julio Jaurez.” Kono finished, remembering the name from the previous days investigation. He was one of the men in the security video.
“She said he called her bragging that he'd beaten a man they thought was her boyfriend in the parking lot where she worked, but her friend was already off the island visiting family. She showed me a picture of this friend and he looked a lot like the Commander.” The officer finished explaining. “Hopefully this info helps. I've sent an email already with the girls contact info if you need to speak with her.”
“Thanks.” Chin replied, letting the call end. He minimized the images of the cars they were sorting through and pulled up info on Danny DeMarco. He slid the info over to the big screen. “We've got some drug charges here and would you look at that.” He pulled up a DMV record. “He drives a beat up Toyota Camry.”
“Got an address?” Kono asked. “Let's go get this guy.”
“Yep.” Chin sent the address to his phone.
The cousins drove to Pearl City. They parked near the older home and approached cautiously. They knocked on the door. “Five-0.” Chin announced. “Open up.”
“Shit...” They could hear swearing on the other side of the door before it opened. “We didn't do nothing, I swear.”
He wasn't the man the cousins were after. “Where is Danny?” Kono asked.
The man look nervously behind him. “He and Julio are out back, they're sleeping off a hangover.” He said.
“Anyone else here?” Chin pulled the man outside. After he got a no, he said. “Get outta here.” He pushed the man and let him go. The man didn't waste any time running off, glade that he wasn't the one on the wrong end of the law for a change.
Chin and Kono both cleared the house as they walked through, making sure no one else was hiding inside to surprise them. The house was a mess. There were clothes and garbage laying around. A big bong sat out in the open on the living room coffee table and an open bag of pot was sitting on the kitchen table. They clearly didn't care about hiding their drugs. The walked to the back door and peeked out.
Julio laid on an old lounge chair like you'd see poolside at a resort. He had an arm over his eyes to shield them. It looked like there was a pool of vomit next to him on the ground. “Ugh, remind me never to get this wasted again.”
Danny was sitting on another chair nearest the fire pit that had long since extinguished. Beer cans and little baggies littered around the pit. “Quite complaining dumbass. I've gotta get inside and get showered. I can't win Layla back looking and smelling like this.” He pulled at his sweat soaked shirt. He hadn't remember much from the night before, more specifically the drunken phone call he'd made to Layla admitting what he did.
Chin and Kono took that moment to step out, both with their guns poised and ready. “Going somewhere?” Chin asked.
“What the...” Danny whipped around and jumped out of his seat. Julio sat up and turned to face the new voice, but instantly regretted it when his stomach did a backflip and he vomited all over himself.
“I wouldn't move if I were you.” Kono said.
“We didn't do anything.” Danny argued when he saw the guns and badges.
“Oh so you don't remember beating a man nearly to death in the Walmart parking lot yesterday?” Kono shot back, anger laced in her voice at what they had done to her friend and boss.
Julio quickly realized where this was going. It didn't take a genius to know there had to be security footage of them beating the man. He swallowed the taste of bile in his throat and threw his friend under the bus. “It was his idea to beat up that haole. He was mad cause he was grinding on his girl. I didn't wanna hurt the guy, but he made me.”
“What?!” Danny couldn't believe what his friend was doing. Some friend he was. Apparently, he had never learned the phrase 'there is no honor among thieves', or rather trust either. “I didn't do shit...”
“We have the video footage to prove it.” Chin replied. “Assaulting a police officer is a pretty serious crime. You'll both be going away for a long time.”
“Hey wait, that guys no cop.” Danny said. “He works at a bank.”
“Well, it seems you beat up the wrong guy.” Kono shot back. “Now get on your knees, both of you and place your hands behind you head.”
They both did as instructed. Chin moved over to Danny while Kono stood and kept watch. Chin got the man cuffed before he moved onto Julio. Neither suspect fought back and it was a surprisingly easy arrest. Usually their suspects like to take off running or try and fight. Not these two idiots.
“You're both under arrest.” Chin said before reading them their miranda rights.
It was late morning when the cousins finally made it back to the hospital to see Steve and talk with Danny. They entered the ICU just as Doctor Blake was walking out. Danny spotted the two walking towards him and offered them a small smile.
“How is Steve doing?” Kono asked. Her eyes fell on their unconscious leader.
“The doctor just came and talked with me. They did another scan this morning of his brain.” He explained. “They said the fluids drained and his pressure seems to be going down. It's all very promising according to the doctor.”
“That's good new, I guess.” She replied.
“So did we catch the guys?” He asked the cousins.
“Yeah, we got Danny DeMarco and Julio Jaurez.” Chin said. He sighed before he continued. “It turns out it was a case of mistaken identity.”
“What?” Danny wasn't sure what he meant by that.
“Danny's ex girlfriend works at Walmart and he confronted her yesterday because he thought she was seeing another man. I guess he'd seem them together a few times. We saw a picture of him and he looks a lot like Steve. They saw Steve leaving Walmart and thought he was this new boyfriend, so he and his buddy attacked him.”
“We found them in Pearl City and they had the bloody baseball bat in the back of their car.” Kono added.
“So this had nothing to do with revenge or a previous case?” Danny asked, his hands flailing like usual.
“No.” Chin answered.
Danny sighed and ran a weary hand down his face. He could't believe it. Steve was hurt and all because some punk thought he was someone else. Of course, this knowledge didn't make things any easier. It wouldn't help Steve heal faster.
Two days later, Doctor Blake had been pleased that all the swelling had gone down in Steve's head. They'd removed the drainage tube and treated the hole. Then they started to wean him from the sedation. Now, it was just a matter of time to see if and when he woke up.
Danny was extra fidgety sitting next to Steve. He'd drunk just about a gallon of coffee to keep himself awake. He didn't want to miss the moment his partner opened his eyes for the first time. He'd recently spoke with Rachel and filled her in on what had happened. He'd learned the attack was on the local nightly news and worried Grace may have seen it. That girl loved her Uncle Steve and he wanted Rachel to reassure the girl that her uncle would be ok.
Steve's eyes fluttered and slowly opened in the early evening. They quickly closed up tight, his face scrunching up in pain. It was a low moan that got Danny's attention. “Steve?” He leaned over his partner.
He tried to open his eyes again, but everything was just so bright and the light made a hammering in his brain flare up. “Ahhh...” His right hand had a death grip on the blanket.
“Ok, hang on.” Danny said, reaching for the call button to get the nurse. After he did that he moved to the light switch and lowered the dimming switch so it wasn't so bright. “Hey, I turned down the lights.”
The door opened a second later and a nurse walked in. “Everything ok?” She asked.
“I think he's waking up, but he seems like he's in pain.” Danny explained.
“I'll go and see if Doctor Blake is available.” She said before she turned and walked out.
Steve tried his eyes again. They opened to mere slits, one opened more than the swollen one. The light still hurt, but not as bad as before. He could make out a shape in front of him, but it was blurry and there seemed to be two of them.
Danny grew worried when it seemed like Steve was looking straight through him without any recognition in his eyes.
Doctor Blake walked in. “I hear our patient is awake.” His eyes landed on the Commander who had his eyes slightly opened and appeared to be looking at his partner.
“Yeah, but I think something's wrong.” Danny replied.
“Commander McGarrett?” The doctor asked. “Steve?” It took Steve several seconds to respond, but slowly his eyes moved, following the doctors voice.
“Can you tell me where you are?” He asked his patient.
Steve looked at him confused. Then his eyes moved back to Danny. “Hey partner, you wanna answer the nice doctors question?” Danny coaxed. He was starting to worry about his friend. Maybe there was some temporary or permanent brain damage. This couldn't be good.
Steve cold hear the words being spoken to him, but he couldn't understand them. Everything sounded garbled and his vision was still blurry. He had no idea what was going on, so he retreated into his mind and started to catalogue just what he knew. He was somewhere and there was obviously two people talking with words he couldn't understand. Why couldn't he understand them? His whole head felt heavy and foggy. There was underlying pain in the back of his skull. Maybe he had a head injury. His ribs and whole left side going into his back hurt too. There was something heavy around his left wrist. He couldn't for the life of him remember what had happened though. How did he come to be here and just where was here?
“It's sometimes normal for people who come out of sedation and even those with head injuries to be a little confused when they wake up, so I'm not too worried yet.” The doctor said. He removed a pen light from his pocket and moved to wave it in front of Steve's eyes.
Steve snapped his head away and clenched his eyes shut as soon as the light hit them. “Agh...” The light was like a sudden jolt to his brain. His death grip on the blanket resumed. “Hurs...” He slurred, trying to speak.
“It's alright Commander, I'm going to put the light away now.” Doctor Blake told his patient. He looked towards Danny. “I'm going to have the nurse bring some more pain meds, so he'll probably sleep some more. It might be a good time to get yourself something to eat.”
Several hours later into the late hours of the night, Steve awoke again. His eyes adjusted better to the light this time, having been dimmed still from earlier. He could vaguely make a shape slumped next to his bed in what he could only assume was a chair. His vision was still fuzzy, but at least there wasn't two of everything this time. He attempted to move his arm, but it felt heavy, like there was a weight on it. So he moved his other arm instead. He slowly waved it in front of us face, pleased to make out that there was a hand, blurry as it was in front of it. He let it drop with a plop against his chest and immediately regretted it. “Ahh...” He groaned as pain made itself evident around his ribs.
“Steve?” Danny shot upright instantly, feeling his neck pop at the sudden movement. He had no idea how long he'd been slumped in the chair sleeping. He noticed Steve's eyes were open again and that he'd moved his arm, which now rested across his belly. “Hey, partner.” He moved closer so Steve could see him better.
“Danno?” Steve let his eyes fall on the blurry man next to him. He could see his face and his blonde hair that was slicked back. He blinked his eyes several times trying to focus his vision.
“Yeah, it's me.” Danny replied. “Do you remember what happened?”
Steve tried to think back, but he had no idea what had happened. His eyes roamed around the room slowly, finally realizing he must have been in a hospital room. “It's all fuzzy.” He said. “Head hurs...”
“Let me get the doctor ok?” Danny stood from his chair. “I'll be right back.” He stepped out from the room and took a few steps to the nurses desk, informing them that Steve was awake again and that they needed the doctor.
A few minutes later, Danny walked back into Steve's room with Doctor Blake. He took to his chair again and left the doctor to assess Steve on the other side of the bed.
“Good evening Steve.” Doctor Blake addressed him. He watched Steve's focus shift from Danny to himself. “Your friend says you're still in a bit of pain. We can give you some more meds for that. Are you feeling nauseous or dizzy?”
“Evrythings fuzzy...” Steve slurred.
“Do you know why you're here?” He asked his patient.
Steve closed his eyes tightly as he tried to think, but nothing came to mind. There was no memory of anything happening. “No.”
“Steve, you were attacked at the grocery store.” He explained. “You suffered a head injury and we had to operate. You also broke your left wrist and have some serious contusions and bruising along the left side of your body and going into your back, which has lead to some damage to your ribs. We've been a little worried about your left kidney too, but...” He made a quick glance at the bag hung on the end of the bed collecting his patients urine. “There's no more blood in your urine, so we are optimistic there wasn't any permanent kidney damage.”
Head injury, wrist, ribs, kidney...Just a few words that seeped into Steve's battered mind. He couldn't remember any kind of attack. Hell, he couldn't seem to remember anything.
“Hey...” Danny broke through his momentary fog. “Doc thinks you're gonna be ok, right?” He eyed the doctor for confirmation.
The doctor let out an exasperated sigh. “Most of the injuries should heal, but we will have to wait and see what lasting affects, if any, are left behind from the head injury.”
Steve nodded at the doctor, but it turned out to be the wrong move. His stomach instantly flip flopped and he keeled over. The doctor moved like the flash and instantly had an emesis basin in front of the man. Steve retched and moaned immediately when the movement grated on his injured ribs. “I think we can add nausea to that list now.” Doctor Blake said. “I'll have the nurse bring some more pain meds and something for the nausea. Try and get some rest Commander.”
After getting a refresh of meds, Steve slept well into the next morning. Danny had gone to get himself some breakfast at some point early in the morning before settling back into that padded chair, which was now conformed perfectly to his butt. Chin and Kono decided to join in at some point before Steve woke up again.
Finally, feeling a bit more clear minded, Steve woke. His vision was much better. Though things were still a little blurry, he was starting to see more details of his friends and teammates. “I still don't know what happened.” He said to them. “Were we working a case?”
“What's the last thing you remember?” Chin asked and Steve felt like he'd heard that question before a few times.
“We had drinks and wings Side Street.” He answered, though it didn't seem like the right answer and the look on all their faces only confirmed that.
“That was last week, Steve.” Kono replied.
Steve squeezed his good fist in frustration and then thought long and hard, trying to remember something after that. All he succeeded in doing though was ramping up the pain in his head. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to breath through it.
“Hey, just try and relax partner.” Danny tried to calm the man. “Doc said you might not remember and that's ok. We can fill you in.”
“You were shopping at Walmart, walking back to your truck when two goons attacked you from behind.” Chin started to explain.
“Suspects?” He questioned, wondering if they were tied to a case he couldn't remember.
“No, the one goon thought you were the man his girlfriend had left him for.” Chin continued. “So he and his friends attacked you, one using a bat and the other his feet.”
Kono took over explaining. “They were there confronting the girlfriend when they saw you in the parking lot. Later that night, while drunk, they called her bragging about how they had beaten her new man.”
“So, they were after someone else?” Steve wasn't quite sure he was understanding.
“Yeah.” Danny answered. “That other man was a dead ringer for you too.”
“We managed to find the guys and arrest them.” Chin said. “They were surprised to find out that they'd actually attacked law enforcement, so I predict a long jail sentence.”
A few days later, Danny walked into Steve's hospital room just in time to see the man walking out from the adjoining bathroom. “Hey, you supposed to be on your feet?”
Steve walked slowly, but steadily back to the bed. “I can finally be upright without tossing my cookies and my balance and dizziness are better.” He replied as he carefully sat himself back on the bed. “I'm just waiting for the doctor to tell me when I can get outta here.”
“That's great, babe.” Danny moved to the chair and sat. “I wouldn't count on going home soon. Are you still getting those headaches?”
“Yeah a few.” Steve subconsciously rubbed on the bandage covering the spot where the drain had been inserted into his skull.
Doctor Blake walked in a moment later. “The nurse tells me you've been doing pretty well on your feet today.” He said, addressing Steve.
“Yes sir.” Steve answered.
“I'm glad to hear that. No more dizziness?” He asked.
Steve shook his head. “No.”
“Good.” Doctor Blake moved over to the blood pressure machine and reached to put the cup around Steve's arm. “Let me just take your BP here.” Steve had already been removed from the heart monitor and was only really tethered to the IV stand that he had to wheel around the room with him. “Just straighten your arm and try and relax.”
Danny gave a little snort. “There is not a relaxing bone in that man's body, doc.”
The machine whirred to life and squeezed around Steve's arm. The man shot Danny a glare, but didn't reply until the machine beeped that it was finished. “I know how to relax.” He said very matter of factly.
“BP is good.” Doctor Blake announced. “You're healing up really well.”
“So does that mean I can go home soon?” Steve asked. “I do know how to relax and I'd be a lot more relaxed at home.”
The doctor patted Steve on the arm. “I'd like to keep you just another day or two to make sure we have your headaches managed.”
Steve sighed in disappointment, but it was Danny who chimed in. “Told you not to count on it.”
“Yeah yeah.” Steve waved off his partner.
“I'm sorry, Steve.” Doctor Blake said. “I think you can manage another day or two.”
Two days later found Steve in a wheel chair being pushed by Chin towards the hospital entrance. Kono walked beside them holding a couple of get well cards and a balloon that had been given to Steve by various friends. Danny was already waiting curbside with the Camero.
“Your chariot awaits.” Kono joked as the hospital doors slid open to reveal Danny standing curbside with a camo colored object in his hands.
Steve looked at Danny curiously as he was wheeled closer to the man.
“I got you something.” Danny announced with a smile. He held it out to the man. Steve reached for it and looked it over. It was a helmet. “Doctor said you should be careful and make sure you don't have any head injuries in the near future since that skull of yours is still healing...”
Kono and Chin each let out a laugh.
Steve gave Danny a very stern glare before he finally shook his head. “You think you're real funny don't you?”
“Oh yeah I'm hilarious.” Danny shot back.
“The doctor didn't say I had to wear a helmet, just to be careful and avoid new injuries.” He replied stuffing the helmet back towards Danny.
“Yeah, I wasn't aware that careful was in your vocabulary.” Danny countered.
“Ah guys?” Chin interrupted. The both stopped and eyed the older man. “Can we just focus on getting Steve home?”
“Yeah can we?” Steve asked his partner.
“Let's go...” Danny opened the passenger side door and shoved the helmet into the back seat where he had a bag of things that Steve was bringing home from the hospital.
Steve stood from the wheelchair and moved over to the car. He wasn't happy to be in the passenger seat, but he knew Danny would pitch a fit about him driving so close after having brain surgery. Brain surgery...what a random thing to happen to him. He'd been shot before. Hell, numerous times before. He was used to that, as much as one can be of course. Brain surgery was not something he ever wanted to add into his medical file. He'd been lucky for years not to have any serious injuries beyond a concussion.
“Hey, you in there?” Danny broke through his thoughts.
“What?” He glanced around, realizing they were almost to his house already. He must have zoned out for the whole drive.
“We're almost home.” Danny pulled into the long drive that lead up to Steve's house. He parked behind Steve's truck. “Chin and I organized getting your truck home from the store.”
“Thanks.” Steve replied. He exited the car and walked towards the house completely forgetting he had a bag and some cards and balloons in the car.
“Gee, I guess, I'll carry your stuff Steve.” Danny called towards him, reaching into the back of the car.
Steve glanced back at him. “Sorry, I forgot.” He slid his key in the door and unlocked it. He stepped inside and heard the beep beep beep of the alarm system. He walked over and flipped open the flap to the keypad. He took a deep breath and focused on trying to remember the code. The code, the code. The doctor said he could have a few memory lapses, maybe this was part of that.
“Steve, you going to put the code in?” The machine continued to beep and Danny knew that soon the full alarm would glare and trigger a call to HPD.
He sighed and eyed Danny with a look of defeat. “I can't remember.”
“Last four of your social.” Danny said, placing all the items in his hand on the coffee table.
He nodded. “Oh right...” He at least remembered his social security number and quickly typed in the last four digits. The alarm went silent. Not a second later, he was settling into his recliner.
Danny ordered them a pizza and eventually they ate and drank a couple of sodas. Steve couldn't have alcohol for a while, per doctors orders. He was on some heavy pain meds still for his overall soreness and another med specifically for his headaches. They didn't mix well with alcohol. After a late lunch Danny left. He had to get Grace for the weekend.
Steve was grateful for Danny and all the help the man had given him, but he was happy to be home and left to relax on his own. He'd had to promise Danny that he'd behave and try not to overdo it though. Otherwise, his partner was threatening to move in for the weekend. He chuckled as he remembered the last time they'd briefly lived together. Danny hated the sounds of the waves and Steve had hated that he had the TV on all night to drown out the waves.
Walking up to his bedroom, Steve thought he'd take a nice hot shower. His own shower beat a hospital one any day. He stepped into the bathroom and felt a sudden urge. He quickly moved to the toilet to relieve himself only to discover he had no toilet paper. Shit! Double shit!!! He had nothing to wipe with. He thought for a second and whipped his head around. The box of kleenex would have to do. He finished that and finally flushed before he moved to the shower. He got the water nice and hot, then stepped in. He was careful around his stitches. The shower felt marvelous on his aching body. He sighed as he reached for the soap. Damn! He was almost out. Maybe he should start a list for the store, not realizing or remembering that he had actually been buying all these things the day of the attack.
Days later, Steve was back on desk duty. He was happy to be back at the palace with his team. He couldn't stand being at home. Sure he was relaxed and spent hours just sitting on the beach and soaking up the sun and the sea air, but he couldn't stand having idle hands. He always liked to be doing something. During his lunch break he and Danny were headed to Halawa. He wanted to meet the main perpetrator in his attack, Danny DeMarco.
Danny Demarco was sitting in the holding room, handcuffs attached to the table in front of him. He had no idea who was there to visit him. Maybe a lawyer, he supposed. The door opened and he spotted two cops. He knew they were cops because of the badges on their belts. “What do you guys want now?” He grumbled. He didn't recognize the blonde, but there was something familiar about the dark haired one who had the cast on his left wrist.
“You don't remember me?” Steve asked. Hell, he certainly didn't remember this Danny guy. He'd seen photos after he got back to work of both suspects involved in his attack. He also saw a photo of his doppelganger, the one they mistook him for. At a quick glance, the man did resemble him. They could almost be brothers, but the other man had green eyes and birthmark on his left cheek that made him stand out. From a distance Danny and his pal probably didn't even notice the differences in the two men.
Danny DeMarco sighed, quickly putting the pieces together. “Fuck man, I thought you were someone else.” He said, immediately trying to defend his actions.
“So that makes what you did to me ok?” Steve shot back. Danny couldn't understand how calm his partner was. He himself would be furious at the man. He was furious at the man, but he kept his cool for Steve's sake.
“I didn't say that...” DeMarco shifted nervously in his chair.
Steve slammed his hands down on the table. “You almost beat me to death.” He snarled. Ok, apparently calm was going out the window.
DeMarco flinched away from the sudden action of the cop in front of him. “So what, you gonna beat me for revenge?” He asked.
“As much as I'd like to, I think I'll just let you rot in prison.” Steve replied. “I don't beat people for kicks like you do.”
Now Danny chimed in. “I hear you're looking at several decades behind bars. You'll probably be an old man when you finally get out of here.”
“And that girl of yours, she'll be happily married and probably have some grandkids by then.” Steve added.
“Fuck you man.” DeMarco swore. “You don't know shit.”
“Have a nice life.” Steve said before he walked off with Danny following close behind him.
“Feel better?” Danny asked as they walked down the hall towards the area where they could exit.
“No, but I'm glad I confronted him.” Steve replied. “I think I'll rest a little better now that I've confronted him.”
“Guess we can get back to the case now.” Danny stepped outside and started to walk towards the driver's side of the car. Steve stopped at the head of the car, glaring at Danny. Danny turned and saw the look on his friends face. “Ok, that's either your aneurysm face or you have to shit.”
Steve let out a low growl and put out his hand. “I do not have to shit.”
“Did you want me to shit?” Danny asked with a smirk as he opened the driver's side door.
“Hand over the keys, buddy.” Steve ordered. Danny glared back so he added. “You know I get carsick when someone else drives.”
Danny scrunched up his face in disproval. “You and I both know that's a load of BS.”
“Do you really want me to get sick?” Steve asked. “Doctor said I can drive, in fact, I drove myself into work today.”
“Steven...” Danny started.
Steve placed a hand over his stomach. “Oh man, I think I'm getting nauseous just thinking about....”
Danny cut him off with a wave of his hand. “Fine, you win.” He tossed over the keys and walked around the other end of the car to the passenger side. “You're so controlling.”
As Steve walked to the driver's side having caught the keys, he said. “But I know you love me.” He grinned as he sat and started the car. He tore out of the parking lot a second later before Danny could even put on his seat belt. The duo was back and headed off to finish their latest case. Steve was getting better and back to his over controlling, reckless, and annoying self. It was time to put his ordeal behind him.