Injured On Duty
By Deana Lisi
 
 
 
 

Excerpt from, "And I Want Some Candy and a Gun That Shoots..."

Danny scrambled up the hill. It was very difficult, but he tried to go as fast as possible. He heard the shooting, courtesy of HPD, and he hoped it would keep up long enough for him to get far enough up the hill.

Finally, he stopped. He could see where Bill Shem was holed up. He picked up his walkie-talkie.

"Okay, Steve, I'm in position," he said.

In the street, Steve was waiting to hear from Danny. Suddenly he heard his friend's voice.

"Cease fire!" Steve yelled. The shooting stopped. "Be careful, Danno. I'll try to lure him out to the front."
 
 

Danny heard Steve call Shem through a bullhorn. He was crouched behind a big rock, and he rested his rifle on it, pointing it in the direction of the sniper. Almost immediately after he looked through the site, Shem's head came into view. Danny pulled the trigger, not seeing Shem move until it was too late.

The bullet whizzed by Shem, and as fast as lightning, Shem turned towards Danny, and fired.

Danny didn't have a chance to duck. Suddenly he was thrown off his perch, and sent rolling down the hill at least a few yards. He saw his walkie-talkie, and he picked it up with his left hand.

"Steve," he called, into it.

Steve grabbed his walkie-talkie.

"I missed," Danny told him, his voice thick with pain.

"Hold on, Danno, hold on. We're coming!" Steve said.

"He'll chop you to pieces," Danny said, weakly.

Steve put down his walkie-talkie. "Let's go!" He shouted.

Danny put down his walkie-talkie, knowing nothing he said would stop Steve from coming after him. He winced. His shoulder felt like it was on fire, he could feel the blood soaking his shirt and jacket, dripping down his back. He realized that the bullet had gone all the way through. At least they won't have to dig it out of me, he thought. He reached over for his rifle, and, holding his right shoulder as stiff as he could, tried to load the gun. It was excruciating, but he wasn't about to let Shem shoot his best friend.

He managed to load it, and then he tried to scramble back up to the rock. It took all the strength he had to brace the rifle on the rock, and aim it again. His right arm didn't want to function properly, but he forced it. His finger sat on the trigger, and he waited.
 
 

The shooting that had been a cover for Steve and the other HPD officers climbing the hill stopped. Shem came out, obviously intending to shoot. Before he got a chance, Danny pulled the trigger, and he saw Shem go down. He lowered the rifle, nearly dropping it. He watched to see if Shem would get up and shoot him again. He didn't.

Danny slid back down behind the rock, breathing heavily. He picked up the walkie-talkie again.

"I got him," he said. He put the walkie-talkie back down, and closed his eyes as his shoulder screamed at him.

"Danno?!" He heard. It was Steve, scrambling over, sliding down to where Danny was. He grabbed Danny by the arm. "How is it?" He asked.

"I'll live," Danny said.

Steve saw the blood, and he unzipped Danny's jacket, and undid the button on his shirt. He looked at the wound. It was nasty, but he'd seen worse.

"Yeah," Steve said. "Yeah, I think you will. Good work, Danno." He patted his friend's back, and spoke into his walkie-talkie. "Kono, get a doctor up here for Danno." He looked at his friend, and could tell by his expression that he was in a lot of pain. He was hesitant to leave him, but he wanted to see what was left of Shem.

Touching Danny's arm, he advised, "I'll be right back."

Danny nodded, eyes closed.

Steve climbed over the rock, and made his way over to where Shem was. He found the young man's body on the ground, blood all over him. Steve turned him over, checked his pulse-nothing. Steve looked around, and stared, shocked, at something he saw on the ground.

Shem had drawn a big heart in the dirt. But he hadn't drawn it with his finger or a stick. The heart was made out of bullets. In the middle, he'd spelled out a word with more bullets.

The word, was 'Mom'.

End of Excerpt.

*****

Steve went back to where Danny was. His friend was still alone, the doctor hadn't reached him yet. Danny was no longer sitting up, he was now slumped back as far as the slope of the hill would let him go.

Steve knelt beside him, putting a hand on his good shoulder. "Danno?" He said, nervously.

Danny opened his eyes, looked at Steve. He could see how worried he looked. He closed his eyes again, as an intense stab of pain shot through him. He tried to stifle a groan. It didn't work. He felt the hand on his shoulder tighten.

Suddenly he heard a noise, of someone coming. He jumped, for an incoherent second thinking it was Shem coming to kill him, then he remembered that Shem was dead. He opened his eyes, saw Steve looking at him, even more worried. Danny saw that Chin, Kono, and a couple of paramedics had reached them. One of the medics opened a case of supplies, and they set about treating his wound.

Steve saw that Duke and his men had also reached them. "Shem's over there," Steve pointed. "He's dead."

Duke nodded, and led his men in Shem's direction.

"Well?" Steve said, watching as they taped a bandage over Danny's wound.

"This is all we can do up here," one of them said. "He needs to get to the hospital for the rest."

Suddenly, Steve realized something. "How're we going to get him down?" Everyone had to scramble up using their hands as well as their feet. Right now, Danny wasn't capable of that.

"A chopper?" Chin suggested.

"Yeah, that looks like the only way," Steve agreed. But before he got the chance to speak into the walkie-talkie, Kono spoke.

"Can't, Steve. I already called for one, the chopper with the stretcher is being used in a car accident somewhere."

Steve sighed, put the walkie-talkie back down.

"Steve," Danny said. "I can make it down. It's my shoulder, not one of my legs. It's not that bad." He tried to smile, but winced instead.

Steve looked at the medics, doubting that Danny could make it.

The two medics looked at each other. One of them shrugged at Steve. "It would be faster," he said.

"Are you sure, Danno?" Steve asked.

Danny nodded.

"All right, I'll help you," Steve said. He stood up, and gently pulled Danny to his feet.

Danny swayed dizzily. Steve was prepared for that, and held onto him until he regained some balance. Steve pulled his friend's left arm around his neck, and put his arm around Danny's back, holding onto him as tightly as he could.

They started to make their way down. It was very slow going, Steve was afraid one of them would lose their footing, and send them flying down the hill.

About halfway down, that's nearly what happened. Danny tripped, and they both fell. Steve tried to prevent Danny from hitting the ground, but he lost his grip on him. Danny, with his arm useless, couldn't catch himself, and was only saved from rolling down the hill by the fast actions of Kono, who managed to grab him.

Steve, nearly in a panic, crawled over to where Danny lay. "Danno?! Are you all right?"

Danny was gasping with pain, eyes tightly shut. He was unable to answer Steve.

Steve sighed, angry with himself. He looked at Chin and Kono, and saw what they were thinking. It wasn't your fault, Steve, he could practically hear them say.

Steve looked back at Danny, saw sweat glistening on his face. Steve realized suddenly how hot it was, much too warm for Danny to have had to wear the camouflage jacket he had on, to help hide himself on the hill. With the bulletproof vest under it, Danny must've been sweltering. Steve took a handkerchief out of his pocket, used it to wipe the sweat off his friend's face and forehead. A lot of good the vest did, Steve angrily thought to himself.

As he put the handkerchief away, he noticed that the blood stains on Danny's clothes was suddenly spreading more rapidly. He quickly opened Danny's shirt, and saw that the bandage was being totally soaked through.

He turned, to alert the medics, who saw and rushed over. Danny groaned as the medics tried to lay him flat.

"Oh my God," one of the medics said, as they removed the bandage. "We gotta get him down ASAP!" The medic pressed his hand against the shoulder with bruising force.

The sounds of pain Danny was making were stabbing at Steve's heart. He tried to see, as the medics hurriedly tried to bandage Danny up again. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Blood had suddenly started pouring out of Danny, and Steve knew what that meant.

"We gotta get him down NOW!" The medic repeated, as they tried to get Danny up.

Pure panic made Steve nearly throw the medics out of the way as he grabbed Danny, and pulled him up off the ground. Suddenly he saw that Duke was there, on the other side of Danny, concern for his friend outweighing his sense of duty in overseeing the bringing down of Shem's body.

Somehow, by a miracle, they managed to get Danny the rest of the way without anymore mishaps. As they got closer and closer, Danny was leaning more and more on Steve, as he got weaker. Steve was terrified, as he noticed Danny go from sweating, to shivering. He was afraid Danny was going into shock, and he blamed himself, assuming it was the fall earlier that had induced it.

They made it to the ground, finally. The minute they were stepping on the concrete, Danny's knees buckled. Steve carefully laid him on the ground, as the medics ran to the ambulance for the stretcher.

"Danno?" Steve said, his voice shaking with fear. "Stay with me, bruddah."

Danny opened his eyes halfway, breathing as if he'd just run a marathon.

The medics came back, and Steve helped them put Danny on the stretcher, and put it in the ambulance.

Steve saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned, saw that Shem's young wife was standing there, with Shem's psychiatrist, Dr. Fernando. Shem's mother was standing apart from them.

Steve faced them. He looked at Shem's wife -- widow. "I'm sorry," he said.

She put her hands up to her face, and turned around.

Shem's mother stared at Steve, with the same strange, defiant look of denial still on her face. She said nothing.

Steve realized where Shem had gotten his mental problems.

Without another word, he climbed into the back of the ambulance. He saw that Danny was now hooked up to an IV, and had an oxygen mask on his face.

One of the medics jumped into the driver's seat, and they sped away. Steve realized that he hadn't given Chin, Kono, or Duke any last instructions. He knew they were capable of the 'clean up'. It probably wouldn't be long before one of them called the hospital, anyway.

The ambulance flew around a sharp corner, making Steve hold on for dear life. Danny didn't make a sound. Steve realized that his friend was unconscious. He sighed.
 
 

********

In the hospital waiting room, Steve paced, waiting for word on Danny. All they had told him was that he was in surgery. That had been quite a while ago, and Steve was ready to pull out his hair.

Chin, Kono, and Duke had all taken turns calling, just as nervous and impatient as their boss was. Steve didn't have anything to tell them, but they told him that when Shem's mother had seen her son's body, that she'd been forced to admit -to herself-that it was indeed her son. Steve felt bad for her. He felt even worse for Shem's poor widow.

Just when Steve was ready to burst into the operating room, someone came out. Steve ran over to him.

"Doc! How's Danno?" he asked, anxiously.

"No matter what happens to you guys, you always come out lucky," Doc said. "An artery was damaged, as you must know, but miraculously we were able to fix it in time."

Steve let out the breath he was holding. "Will he be okay?"

Doc nodded. "Yeah. He lost a tremendous amount of blood, so he's really weak, but he should make a good recovery."

Steve sighed, literally dizzy with relief. "Thank you, Doc. Thank you. Can I see him?"

"Of course."

Steve followed him down the hall, to Danny's room. Doc opened the door, and they went in.

Steve was shocked at the way his friend looked. Danny was very pale, nearly as white as the sheets. Steve pulled a chair over to the bed, and sat in it. He sighed as he looked at his friend. The heart monitor seemed very loud.

"When will he wake up, Doc?"

Doc shook his head. "I can't say, Steve. He's still in shock, not totally stable yet. Probably not until tomorrow."

Steve looked at his watch. It was nearly 9 pm. "Okay, Doc. Thanks."

"I'll be back," Doc said, and left.

Steve saw a phone on the night table. He picked it up and dialed his office. It picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, boss. I was just about to call. How's Danno?" It was Kono.

"He's okay, out of surgery," Steve told him.

"Finally. We'll be there as soon as we can." Kono said, sounding a little happier.

"Okay." Steve hung up, and looked at his friend.

"Danno?" He said, hoping he'd hear him.

Danny didn't respond.

Steve sighed. It was going to be a long night.
 
 

********

The next morning, Steve was still there, having dozed on and off throughout the night. Chin, Kono, and Duke had all shown up, and stayed very late, but Steve had made them all go home eventually. Chin and Duke had families, and Steve didn't think it was fair to their wives and children for them to be gone all night, on top of the long hours being a Five-O detective demanded.

Steve was dozing again, when he heard a noise. His ears registered it, but his tired brain didn't until a minute later. He jumped, and looked at Danny.

Danny was blinking, trying to look around.

"Danno! Thank God," Steve said.

Danny looked at him. It took a few seconds for the disorientation to go away.

"Steve," he whispered, tiredly.

"How do you feel? How's your shoulder?"

"Don't ask," Danny mumbled.

Steve got up from his chair. "I'll go get Doc, okay?"

Danny nodded, closing his eyes.

Steve left the room, and found Doc at a nearby nurse's station.

"Danny's awake," he told him.

"Oh good. Is he in pain?" Doc asked.

Steve nodded.

They went back in Danny's room. Danny's eyes were still closed, but he opened them when Doc started to examine him. Doc took out a syringe, and shot the contents into the IV. Then he started to remove the bandage. When Steve saw the wound, it was bigger then when he'd first seen it, the day before. Steve sighed, knowing it was because they'd had to repair the artery.

Steve sighed, and looked at Danny. His eyes were closed again, and he was trying not to wince. Steve put a hand on his arm, in support.

"I can't prevent these from leaving scars, Danny, after we take out the stitches," Doc said, "But at least you'll have more to show off to the girls," he said, smiling.

Danny opened his eyes again, and smiled a little. "What's the grand total now?" He managed to say.

"Too many," Steve answered.

"Yeah," Danny agreed. His eyes drifted closed again, and he fell asleep.

Suddenly the door opened, and in walked Kono.

"Hey, Boss. How's he doing?" He asked.

"Okay. He finally woke up a little while ago. I'm afraid you missed it."

"Oh," Kono said, disappointed. "Oh, Boss, the Governor wants to see you."

"He does?"

"Yeah, as soon as you could. He knew he couldn't drag you away from here, so he told me to tell you at your convenience. I think it's important."

Steve looked at Danny, and sighed. He wanted to stay here with his friend.

"I gave him a sedative, Steve," Doc said. "He won't be awake again for a while. If you go now, he won't wake up while you're gone."

"Okay," Steve said. "If he does wake up, tell him I'll be right back."
 
 

********

Steve knocked on the door to Governor Jameson's office.

"Come in," he heard.

As Steve went in, the Governor looked up, and smiled.

"Steve! I take it Kono gave you my message. You didn't have to come immediately. How's Danny?" He asked.

Steve waved his hand in the 'so-so' gesture, and sat down.

"He finally woke up, about a half hour ago, but it didn't last. Doc sedated him," Steve told him.

The Governor frowned. "Is he going to be all right?"

"Yeah, after a little time. There was some damage, including some to an artery."

The Governor's eyes widened. "Looks like he earned himself some I.O.D. time."

"Yeah," Steve said, hoping that Danny wouldn't be on 'Injured On Duty' medical leave for too long. Steve remembered that he'd been summoned here, so he asked, "What did you want to see me about?"

"Well," the Governor said, "After I heard all the details, I realized how amazing it was, what Danny did."

Steve nodded. "I know. After getting shot in the shoulder, he still tried --and succeeded -- to carry out his mission." Steve shook his head. "He -"

The Governor cut him off. "--deserves a medal."

Steve looked at him, his eyebrows raised. "You're going to give Danno a medal?!"

"I was thinking about it," the Governor said, smiling.

Steve smiled. He shook his head again. "This is great! What kind of medal?"

"I'm not sure yet," he answered. "Bravery is the first thing I thought of, but from what I heard, it was more then just that."

Steve nodded his head. "Yes sir. It was that, and a lot more."
 
 

********

Steve went back to the hospital, excited about what he and the governor had discussed. It's about time, Steve thought, that Danno got some recognition.

Steve went into Danny's room, to see that Chin and Duke had both joined Kono.

"Is he awake?" Steve asked.

"No," said Chin.

"You sure?" Steve looked at Danny closely.

"Yeah," said Duke.

Steve smiled. "I went to see the governor."

"We know," Kono said, puzzled.

"He wants to give Danno a medal." Steve told them.

"You're kidding!" Chin said.

"All right!" Duke exclaimed.

"Really?!" Said Kono.

Steve nodded.

Duke smiled. "I wonder what Danny's reaction will be when he finds out!"

"He'll be shocked," Chin said.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell him yet. Let it be a surprise," Kono said.

Steve agreed. "Yeah, Kono. Maybe that's what we'll do."
 
 

********

For the week and a half that Danny was in the hospital, they managed to keep the secret. It wasn't easy!

The day finally came that Danny was released.

"Boy am I glad to get out of there," Danny said, as he and Steve walked out the hospital door.

"Yeah," Steve said, as they got into his car. "It's good to have you back, bruddah."

Danny smiled as Steve drove away. "It'll be nice to get back to work."

"Work?" Steve said. He gestured to Danny's right arm, which was in a sling. "You aren't getting back to work very soon, Danno."

"Come on, Steve. So I can't use my arm, big deal. I can still use my brain!"

Steve bit back the comment that came to mind, and realized that the conversation fit perfectly into his plan, about how to get Danny to the place where they were going to give him the medal.

"Okay, Danno, there is one thing you can do."

"What's that?" Danny asked.

"Tomorrow there's going to be an interview, uh, about the whole sniper incident. You can come with us to it."

"Okay," Danny said. "At the Palace? What time should I be there?"

"No, not the Palace." Steve tried to think fast. "What do you mean, when should you be there? You can't drive! I'll pick you up at noon."

"Okay," Danny said.

Steve sighed in relief. Danny had fallen for it so far.
 
 

********

The next day, Steve knocked on the door to Danny's apartment.

"Come in," he heard.

Steve opened the door, and walked in. He saw Danny putting on his tan suit jacket, trying to get his injured arm in the sleeve.

Steve hurried over, to help him. "You could've just let the sleeve hang, you know," he said.

Danny shook his head. "No way. I hate the way that looks." He winced as Steve helped him put the sling back on.

"This thing's a real pain. I had a hard time getting ready. Do I look okay for TV?" Danny asked.

Steve looked at his friend, noticing that he didn't sound quite like himself. He saw that Danny still looked pale and tired. He realized that they should've given Danny more time to recover, but they'd been too excited to realize that.

"Yeah, you look fine," Steve said.

Danny laughed. "You hesitated too long."

Steve laughed with him, as they left.
 
 

********

Steve finally pulled up, at the Ala Moana Park.

As they got out of the car, Danny thought to himself, This is a strange place for a TV interview.

"Why here?" Danny asked, as he followed Steve.

Steve couldn't resist anymore. "You'll see."

Danny was puzzled. "I'll see?"

"Yeah," Steve said, smiling. He kept walking.

Danny continued to follow him, wondering what was going on. He saw a large crowd of people. "What's going on over there?" He asked.

"I don't know. Let's find out," Steve said, playing dumb. He saw Chin, Kono, and Duke, and went over to them.

Danny followed, getting more and more confused. There were people everywhere, some sitting in chairs, others standing and talking. There was a stage set up, with a podium and a microphone. Danny suddenly noticed, as he looked around, that it seemed that the whole HPD force seemed to be there.

Danny suddenly heard what Kono asked Steve.

"Did you tell him yet?"

Danny looked at them. "Who, me? Tell me what?"

Chin, Kono, and Duke all smiled. They looked at Steve.

Danny looked at him too, waiting.

Steve smiled. "Sorry, Danno, I lied. We're not here for an interview."

Danny frowned. "Then why?"

"The Governor is giving you a medal!" Steve finally told him.

Danny's eyes bugged out of his head.

"He's what?!"

Everyone laughed.

"That's right. You're getting a medal, Danno."

Danny was speechless.

"Told you he'd be shocked!" Chin said.

"Ahem," they heard.

The crowd hushed down as the Governor spoke.

"It seems that everyone is here," he said, looking Danny's way.

Steve motioned for Danny and the rest of them to sit down, in the front row. Steve sat next to Danny, and looked at him. Danny still looked shocked.

"Good morning, everyone," the Governor said. He smiled. "I imagine everyone knows what happened recently. There was a sniper who decided to hole himself up on Diamond Head. Despite everyone's efforts to get him down, he was still there a few hours later. Until one of our Five-O detectives decided --at risk of his own life-- to try to take him out himself."

Oh, jeez, Danny thought, he's trying to make me into a hero!

"So Det. Danny Williams took his rifle, and climbed up the hill. Less then 20 minutes later, the sniper was dead, but not before he'd managed to shoot Danny first. Despite the serious injury, Danny still carried out his mission to the end. But now he was wounded, and stuck up the hill..."

Danny looked around at the crowd. It looked like every reporter on the Island was there. Some of the people caught his eye, and smiled at him.

"...I wasn't sure what kind of medal we should give you, Danny. The first thing I thought of was bravery. But as Steve and I were discussing it..."

As soon as he mentioned Steve's name, Danny looked at his friend, as if to say, 'You had a hand in this? I knew it!' Steve just smiled at him.

"...I realized that bravery wasn't the only quality you showed. Determination was another one. As well as perseverance, courage, responsibility, confidence, efficiency, and many others. But the one that really got me, was self-sacrifice. The sniper had seen you, and had shot you. He knew where you were. You knew that that if you revealed yourself again, he could kill you. But you chose that, rather then to let him shoot or kill anymore innocent people. And for that, Danny, I hold the utmost respect and awe for you. That took a lot of guts!"

There were murmurs in the crowd, of affirmation. A few people laughed at his "guts" statement. Steve smiled at Danny again, who looked like he was blushing a little.

"So anyway, Danny, I had to make up a special medal for you, because I couldn't find one for all that! And so, I award you this Medal of Meritorious Service in the Line of Fire."

The crowd started clapping.

Danny looked at Steve, who motioned for him to go up on the stage.

Danny got up, and went over to the Governor, who grabbed his left hand, and shook it vigorously. The Governor held up the medal, for everyone to see, he then draped it around Danny's neck, careful not to touch Danny's injured shoulder.

"Speech!" Someone yelled. It sounded suspiciously like Kono.

"Would you like to say anything, Danny?" The Governor asked, still smiling, as he guided Danny over to the microphone.

Danny looked at the medal. It was beautiful. The sash part of it was a royal blue color, and the medal itself was silver, with engraved on it the Island of Oahu and a volcano, with the words "Meritorious Service in the Line of Fire" written on it.

Danny looked at the Governor, then at the crowd. Steve and the rest of the guys were smiling ear to ear. At first, Danny wasn't sure what to say.

"I guess we struck him speechless," the Governor said, laughing. The crowd laughed with him.

"Well, of course I want to say thank you," Danny started. He looked at the medal again. "I didn't expect this at all, I was just doing my job," Danny said, embarrassed at the attention.

"No, Danny. That was beyond the call of duty," The Governor said. "We should be saying 'thank you' to you."

More murmurs were heard in the crowd. The Governor shook his hand again. "Mahalo, Governor," Danny said, smiling. The Governor smiled back, and Danny left the stage.

Steve met him at the bottom, grabbed his hand and shook it harder then the Governor had, if that was possible. Chin, Kono, and Duke surrounded him.

"Wow, Danny. Can I borrow that? Maybe it'll get me a girl!" Kono joked, as he touched the medal.

"I can't wait to see tomorrow's paper," Chin said

"Yeah, Danny, you should save it," said Duke.

Danny laughed. "I'm gonna get you guys for this. You just wait."

"You're welcome, Danno," Steve said, laughing. "Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?" Danny asked.

"That you'll never risk your life like that again, huh, bruddah?"

"I don't know, Steve," Danny joked, fingering the medal. "If it gets me more of these, I just might!"

"Mr. Williams! Mr. Williams!" A bunch of reporters surrounded them, sticking microphones in Danny's face.

"Then again, maybe not!" Said Danny.
 
 

PAU