Chapter 5

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Keola returned almost an hour later to find an almost jubilant group. She smiled at their giddy relief and noticed that the 'family' had grown by one. She studied the man in the wheelchair for a moment and wondered about his back story. The small things she'd learned about her patient had intrigued her and she found herself wondering if this man had been part of the group held as prisoners, if that was how he'd lost the use of his legs. She was noticed a second after she had that thought and it flew from her head as they clustered around her. She smiled at all of them.

"Mr. Magnum has been moved to a room in ICU and is doing well. I can take the first two of you in now, the rest of you should wait here until the others return."

"Thomas." Rick said.

"I'm sorry?"

T.C. laughed. "You might as well start calling him Thomas instead of Mr. Magnum, now. He'll only insist on it later."

"Thomas then." She laughed in return. Rick and T.C. started towards the door, eager to get to their friend. She watched them go with a bemused look on her face.

Juliet laughed softly. "You get used to it." Keola smiled at her, then turned to lead the impatient men to their objective.

The rest watched them go with varying degrees of impatience of their own. They all wanted to see with their own eyes that he was very much alive. Not quite knowing what to do with themselves, they sat again and waited their turn. The stories and gentle laughter were replaced by relative silence in the absence of the longtime friends.

When Rick and T.C. got to the entrance to Magnum's room, they both paused and centered themselves. Keola waited for them with a small smile on her face. When they were ready, she opened the door and let them pass her, closing it quietly behind them. They both moved to his bed, Rick on one side and T.C. on the other. Each reached out and placed a hand on the forearm closest to them, mindful of tubes and wiring attaching him to various machines. Grateful one of them wasn't a ventilator. The oxygen mask was enough, and they knew the nurses would have a hard time making him keep it on.

"He doesn't look half bad, considering." T.C. said.

"Yeah, almost peaceful."

"I want to be mad at him for putting us through this again, but this time, it wasn't his fault."

"I hear you, brother. Still, I'm getting too old for this." Rick sighed a little as he squeezed Magnum's arm. He leaned down to get closer to his ear. "We're here for you, buddy. You're not alone."

T.C.'s deep voice joined Rick's. "Damn straight, my brother." And he, too, squeezed the arm he was holding. "You'll be up in no time, charming the nurses into waiting on you hand and foot, terrorizing the doctors with demands to be released. You gotta listen to them though, brah."

They pretend bantered with him for a few more minutes until Keola stuck her head in the door and said quietly. "Your time is up; the rest of your family is waiting for their turn." They said their goodbyes and reluctantly followed her from the room, both turning to look at him once last time as the door closed between them. They were rather somber as they made their way back to the waiting room, where five pairs of eyes silently asked how he really was. Both smiled.

"He looks good." Rick said.

"Yeah, better than either of us expected." T.C. added.

The others nodded as Higgins and Kumu stood up to take their turn. They quietly followed Keola from the room. The other's comments had made them less nervous about what they would find but didn't quell the apprehension altogether. The nurse quietly let them into the room, closing the door behind them as she had for the other two. They looked at Magnum and then at each other. Tears welled in both sets of eyes.

While Juliet fought them back, Kumu let them fall unashamedly. Since he had taken up residence in the guest house, the still man in the bed had wormed his way into her Ohana. Or, had he enfolded her into his? She really didn't care either way. Thomas was her family now and she sent up a prayer to the Aumakua, both to give thanks for his life and to ask for their protection over him as he recovered and, truth be told, beyond. She acknowledged that the man was a trouble magnet, but she also knew it was because he had a good heart, with a strong moral compass when it came to righting wrongs and a, shall we say, way of playing footloose with the law and his own safety. There were plenty of people on the island who the P.I. and his friends, including Juliet, had helped out of bad situations. He wasn't universally loved, but he had a lot of people on his side. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Hi Thomas. You're going to be just fine. Everyone is here and you've apparently made a new friend. He wouldn't leave your side and we're very grateful to him for that." She smoothed out his hair a little, letting her hand linger at the crown, wishing his eyes would open and he'd smile up at her, the crinkles around his eyes charming her, not that she'd ever let him know that. "You need to concentrate on getting better."

Juliet looked on and blinked her eyes a few times to clear the mist. She marched up to the bed and stood looking down at him. "You can't just leave me alone here now that I've finally given into your begging to become your partner. I won't have it." If her voice was huskier than normal, Kumu didn't comment and fought the smile the smaller woman's words invoked. "Plus, the lads need their exercise and you are their favorite chew toy. They might even take it into their small brains that it's my fault. I won't have that either." Almost without volition, her hand reached out and stroked his cheek. "No, I won't have it at all. You need to get better quickly. We have a new client and I don't want to be following Mr. Cheating Husband by myself. Maybe this time you'll even make sure the camera is working." Looking down at him, she was unaware that her feelings were showing on her face and they were the complete antithesis of her words. Kumu watched and tilted her head, wondering but not saying anything. It was none of her business…yet.

When they were told their time was up and they needed to leave, Higgins acted completely out of character and leaned down to gently kiss his cheek. Straightening, she caught Kumu staring at her and she went bright red. She cocked an eyebrow though and bluffed. "What?"

"Nothing, Juliet, nothing at all."

Higgins huffed out a breath and turned to leave, the other woman right behind her, a small smile playing on her face. Katsumoto and Chris were waiting for them and left immediately with Keola. Rick and T.C. were still there, belying their promise to go home and rest until their shift. When called on it, they just stated they were waiting for everyone to have their turn and would head home when everyone else did. They fell into a discussion about how he looked and how long they thought he'd be in the hospital for. Rick started a pool for when Magnum would start asking or begging to be allowed to go home. Everyone bought in for twenty bucks a guess. T.C. had immediately claimed the moment he woke up. Juliet jumped in with as soon as they weaned him off the pain killers and the others took various times close to that. No one bet on anything longer than a few days.

Katsumoto walked into the room and stopped short, Chris almost running into him. The other man looked at him questioningly but didn't say anything as he moved into the room. The detective stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. He had friends but none that were particularly close. He worked long hours at a dangerous job and didn't always have the time to maintain the friendships. He wasn't really close with any of the other HPD personnel. He'd just realized that Magnum was about as close to a best friend that he'd had in years. He also realized that he could include Wright, Calvin and Higgins in that mix. He wasn't sure when they'd gone from thorns in his side to people he wanted on his side. It had been so gradual that he hadn't even noticed. He wasn't sure what he felt about this new knowledge. The man was a pain in the ass, but he was a good man all the same. One he knew would walk through fire for his friends and he also knew that he would be included in that list.

Shaking himself out of this reverie, he approached the bed in time to hear Chris say, as he gently patted the man on the leg. "Hey, Thomas. I know you were kind of out of it at the accident but I'm hoping you'll remember me when you wake up. I've met your friends and they're a great group of people, if a little overprotective. I'd like to stay in touch with you and them. I'm sorry about Nuzo and I hope you can forgive me for pretending to be him. It was the only thing I could think of to keep you calm. I meant no harm by it."

The detective had to smile at the younger man's earnestness. He knew that group and it was already too late for Chris. He was going to be included whether he wanted it or not. He'd stood by their brother when he was hurt and in pain and that was not something they would ever forget. He stared down at the P.I. and wondered at the fact that he actually missed the sly smile on his face whenever he'd ask for a favor or the genuine one that showed when he was with the people he cared about. The man could be an enigma. He let you think he was incompetent and always looking for the easy way out. And then it would happen. The case or the situation that required him to show his skills and he'd surprise you. Knock you off balance. He shook his head and placed a hand on Magnum's foot, squeezing a little.

"You know, Magnum. This is getting a little old. Kidnapped by a rogue FBI agent and almost killed out at sea. Kidnapped by a rouge ex-CIA operative and his henchman and almost killed out at sea. Shot by your ex, who was also ex-CIA, followed by falling out of a moving truck and almost killed. I think you need to stay away from ex federal anythings. They aren't good for your health." He stopped at the look of incredulity on Chris's face and had to hide a smirk. Turning back to his conversation with the unconscious man, he continued. "But this? A little mundane for you, don't you think?"

Chris had to ask. "Is he really just a Private Investigator? None of those things sound like anything one would get involved in."

"You would think, wouldn't you? He just has a way of attracting trouble. One time he took a case from a little girl to find her missing cat…"

The other man interrupted. "A missing cat? Like, a pet detective? Like Ace Ventura?"

"Yup, charged her quite a pretty penny too."

Chris frowned; he wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. "How much could a little girl pay? I'm assuming it was her parents that paid?"

"No, he charged her directly. Twenty-five cents per day."

Now the other man laughed, the worry that his new friend wasn't a good man, allayed. "Did he find the cat?"

"Actually, the cat came home on its own but based on something Magnum told her to do. No, he found another similar cat that led him to the murder of an FBI agent that led to another FBI agent who had turned and had been paid to kill a protected witness in a high-profile case. The body of the first agent disappeared and it took a while for Higgins and him to convince HPD that there actually had been a crime committed. We got to the witness before he was killed, but the agent took Magnum at gun point and forced him to pilot a boat out into the ocean at night. He had plans to kill him and dump his body, along with that of the missing agent, into the ocean, never to be seen again. Magnum got the drop on him, but the boat blew up in the ensuing fight. He ended up shooting the agent and then saving his life. T.C. is a helicopter pilot. He, Rick and Higgins went up to help the Coast Guard find them. They were just about to turn back to refuel, when they saw him in a life raft with the agent. A little worse for wear but alive."

"Wow, he really does step into it, doesn't he?"

"You have no idea."

They both looked down at the silent man in the bed, unconsciously watching his chest rise and fall with each breath, indicating life. The machines he was hooked up to beeped gently and rthymically. It was almost hypnotic. Both were shocked when they were told their time was up. They left with a final pat and good wishes. Back in the waiting room, they were informed about the pool. Katsumoto was immediately in, although disappointed that all the good times were gone. Chris declined as he really didn't know the man well enough to hazard a guess, although he found it amusing to listen to them discussing the merits of the various selections. He had a feeling he was going to enjoy finding out more about him. Shammy said his goodbyes and wheeled away after Keola. The others didn't seem to want to leave, even if they had promised.

Rick finally said. "Look, anyone who's not tired, how about we head over to La Mariana?"

Chris's face lit up. "I've been dying to try that place! Been hearing some really good things about it. Kind of kitshy but the food is supposed to be good and they have some great entertainment."

Rick puffed up. "Glad to hear that, seeing as I'm the owner."

"Really? Well, that's…interesting."

T.C. frowned a little. "Why?"

"Don't know, he just doesn't seem like a bar owner. Personal bodyguard, secret agent, maybe."

Everyone laughed, knowing that he had no idea who close he was to the men's old profession while in the service. Rick clapped him on the back. "Come on junior, I'll treat you to a beer if you can prove you're old enough."

"Hey! I'm twenty-five!"

The laughter stopped and there were several sighs around the room. T.C. shook his head. "They just keep looking younger and younger, don't they?"

Amidst laughter, the group finally left the hospital. Left behind, Shammy wheeled into Magnum's room and up to the bed. Setting the brakes, he leaned forward and squeezed his friend's hand. "You know, you really scared us this time. I know this wasn't your fault, there was nothing you could do to stop it, but you're giving us all premature gray hair. When you wake up, I'm going to make you promise that you won't end up in the hospital again for at least a year. Give us time to calm down." He started at the silent form. "I know it was Rick and T.C. who brought me into your little circle, but you've become my family as much as they have. You guys saved my life. I don't want to lose any of you now. So, that's it. No more almost dying." He sat back and prepared to keep his vigil.

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