HAWAII FIVE-O

THE FALL AND RISE OF DANNY WILLIAMS

(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Hawaii Five-O and am making no money from this story. I am writing because I simply enjoy it. This is my first Five-O story. If you read please leave a review. Constructive criticism welcome.)

Chapter One

This wasn't how a birthday was supposed to be. Birthdays were supposed to be cake and gifts, balloons and stories about all the dumb things one did the previous year. It was a celebration of friends and family, maybe a few drinks with a few friends and a denial of how old one actually was. They were overall supposed to be fun and noisy.

Birthdays weren't supposed to be the sound of machines monitoring everything from your temperature to pulse or breathing for you. There weren't supposed to be tubes and wires coming from all over your body.

Instead of a beer or soft drink, there were needles in his friend's arm, feeding him medication to fight infections, to keep his temperature normal, tubes disappearing under the blanket. Most vulgar was the bolt in his head monitoring his brain activity.

Spending a birthday sitting in an uncomfortable chair was not how Steve McGarrett had imagined spending today. He shifted in the chair trying to get comfortable. He ran a hand over his face as he leaned forward.

"They wouldn't let Grace in here," Steve said as he held up a hand drawn card. It was blue construction paper showing two stick figures smiling under a bunch of colorful balloons and palm trees. "But she made you this and wanted me to give it to you. You should see what a great picture she drew for you."

Steve set the card on the small table beside the bed. He set it so it would hopefully be the first thing his friend saw when he opened his eyes. The former Navy Seal sighed as he returned his gaze to the figure on the bed. He couldn't believe he was spending today of all days here.

But he'd been spending a good part of his time in this chair over the past two weeks. The hospital staff had gotten used to seeing him here. At first they'd been intimidated by his presence, glaring at them and watching everything they did as they came and went. As the days wore on they became used to him. He wasn't as scary as he liked to think he was.

Steve's cell phone buzzed and he glanced at it. Chin. He sighed as he realized he would be late. Reluctantly he stood to leave. He leaned over and touched his friend's hand, no longer shocked by its coolness.

"I gotta go, buddy," he said. "Someone still has to fight crime while you lounge here. But I'll be back as soon as I can."

Steve hesitated for a moment longer. But Danny Williams didn't move or answer him. He remained the same as he had for two weeks now.

"Happy birthday, Danno," Steve said then left.