Eversince finding out about her dad, Grace hadn't been able to focus on anything. She had paced the floors, worrying about her father. All she wanted was to be back in Hawaii, where she would be near her father. Her mom had checked for flights back home but most flights had been cancelled. She whipped out her phone. Maybe she should call Kono again. But she had already called her 4 times in the last 2 hours. She had tried calling her Dad too, several times, clinging on to the slightest hope that the call might get connected. But each time, the call failed. She searched for Chin's name on her phone and pressed call.

"Hello, Uncle Chin?" Grace said softly.

"Gracie?" Chin said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "How're you holding up?"

"I'm good.. umm.. I'm sorry to disturb if you're busy.."

"Not at all Grace." Chin assured.

"Aunt Kono said you were searching for Danno. Dd..did you find him yet? Uncle Chin, is Danno alright?" Grace asked.

"Grace... I'm so sorry. We're still working on it. I know how worried you must be and I wish I could tell you something more. You'll be the first person I call when we get him, alright? And we will get him out. You hear me? I'll get your Danno home, I promise."

Kono had told her the same thing too but why wasn't her dad rescued yet? She knew that that was all they could offer her. The fake assurance that her dad would be fine but honestly, she could no longer believe it. Her dad had been trapped for half a day now. Even if he had no injuries, the fact that he was in a small enclosed space would already be too much for him and Grace knew that better than anyone else. And add on the fact that a building fell on top of him not once but twice, his chance of survival was extremely low. But she didn't say any of this. All she said was, "Thank you, uncle Chin." She hung up the phone and sat on the edge of her bed with her face in her palms as she cried. Danno, please be alright. I can't lose you.

...

"Chin? You alright?" Lou asked, worried. Chin hadn't stopped to take a rest in hours.

He wiped the sweat of his forehead and looked at Lou. "No." He said honestly. "I made a promise to Grace. I won't be alright till we get Danny out."

Lou looked sadly at his pal. Hope was running thin for them, Danny had been trapped alone for 6 hours now, it was getting dark and they still had no idea where he was. There had been no signs of him, no call for help was heard which was a bad sign. The rescue team was exhausted, they have been working to clear the debris to pave a way down to the basement but despite their determination, it was no easy feat. Lou and Chin were working alongside the rescue team. There was no way they could stand aside and wait idly.

Chin was beginning to get impatient. "Captain Kekoa!" Chin called out. "How long more is this going to take? Ir's been 6 hours."

"Chin, I understand how hard this is for you but the team is putting in their all to find your team member."

"He's not just a team member. He's my friend, my family. And honestly, I can't just stay here anymore. I need to get down there."

"That's not a good idea. The whole building is unstable and we don't know if there might be an aftershock coming in."

"He's trapped down there. We don't know where he is and.. look I get it you need to think about your team's safety.. I can get down there on my own." Chin said, his voice slowly rising. He definitely understood that they were being held back by protocol but he wasn't and he would gladly go down there on his own.

"You know I can't let you do there."

"Then we'll just pretend you don't know about it. Cap.. Danny has a daughter... and I promised her that I'll get him out. I can't wait any longer."

Kekoa took in a deep breath and shook his head slightly. "Alright, I'm coming with you." He turned to his team. "Cortez? You up for this?"

"Of course, cap." The officer agreed without batting an eyelid.

Kekoa and Cortez led the way as they cleared debris down to the basement and navigated through the narrow space in between. Chin could feel his heart pounding. He couldn't wait to reach his friend but there was a growing fear in his stomach. What if they had been too late? What if Danny was gone?

Chin's breath was knocked out of him when they finally reached the basement and he took in how bad it looked. "Danny!" He shouted as he carefully scouted the area, trying not to move anything as it might potentially come cascading down on everyone.

"Danny?! Danny!" Chin called out continuously. The fact that Danny wasn't responding to the calls worried Chin.

"Chin! Over here." Kekoa called out. Chin climbed over the pile of debris between them and headed over.

"Danny.." Chin whispered. His friend was lying on the ground, unmoving. "Is he alive?" Chin choked out as Kekoa placed his fingers on Danny's carotid.

He looked at Chin with sympathetic eyes and slowly nodded his head. "His pulse is thready. We need to get him out of here right away."

Chin knelt down next to Danny and clasped his hand. "Hey buddy. We got you. We're gonna get you out alright?" Chin's eyes fell on Danny's phone which had Grace's face still on it's screen. He felt a lump rising in his throat. "Come on, you got to stay strong for Gracie."

There was no response from Danny. His eyes were screwed shut.

"Hurry," Chin demanded as they transferred Danny to the foldable stretcher they had brought down. The three of them swiftly buckled him up and were pulled up one by one from the basement by the rescue team on top.

"Danny." Lou breathed when Danny was brought up. He took in Danny's unconscious appearance and could barely speak a word. The paramedics that had been on standby swiftly carried him up and moved him into the ambulance while Lou followed silently, watching as they cut open Danny's shirt and placed electrodes over his chest.

"Are you coming with us?" One of the paramedics asked Lou. "We need to go fast. His vitals are not good."

"I am!" Chin called from behind as he ran towards them. He turned to Lou. "You meet us at the hospital." Chin said hurriedly.

Lou looked on with worry as Chin climbed into the ambulance and it drove off, the siren blaring. Lou quickly thanked the rescue team for their effort and drove off in his truck. He turned on his siren and headed to the hospital, closely tailing the ambulance. He said a silent prayer in his heart, hoping Danny's injuries were not as bad as it looked.

...

Chin got off the ambulance and followed as Danny was wheeled into the ER. The EMTs wheeled him in urgently and were shouting out his vital stats to the doctor. As Danny disappeared behind the doors, Chin felt a heavy weight settle in his chest. He grabbed on to the railing on the side of the wall as he felt his knees go weak. He remembered what he had told Grace, that he would call her first if Danny was found. But he didn't have the energy nor the heart to make the call. Not yet. He slid down the wall, sitting on the floor of the crowded ER and took a few minutes to compose himself. He took his phone out and dialled Grace's number.

"Hello."

"Grace?" Chin said.

"Uncle Chin... Do you have news about Danno?" Grace asked, sounding afraid.

"Yeah.. Grace. We got your dad." Chin said simply.

"Is he.. is he?" Grace couldnt bring herself to finish the sentence. Is he alive? She wanted to ask. Is he going to be okay?

"He's alive." Chin said. That was all he could tell her. He couldn't tell her how hard her father was fighting to stay alive. He couldn't tell her that his heart had stopped on the ambulance. He couldn't tell her that the EMTs had taken 2 minutes to restart his heart. Two minutes that felt way longer. Two minutes he never wanted to relive as he watched in horror while the EMT pressed on Danny's heavily bruised chest and Danny's lifeless body jerking in rhythm. Two minutes that he stared at the heart rate monitor, hoping to see the flat line spike up. He couldn't tell her that her father was barely alive or that if they had found him just a bit later, he probably wouldn't be. She didn't need to know that. "He's alive, Grace." Chin repeated, for his benefit more than Grace's.

"I..is it bad?" Grace asked, she knew it was bad. If it wasn't, it would be her dad's voice she heard on the end of the line. No matter how much he was hurting, he would have talked to her, knowing how worried she was. Her Danno would have assured her he was fine even if he wasn't. The fact that it was Chin making the call, Grace knew it meant that her father was so hurt that he couldn't talk.

"The doctors are with him now. I'll call you again once I get more news alright? I just wanted to let you know that he's safe now." Chin said.

"Thanks, Uncle Chin. Thank you for keeping your promise."

Chin could no longer hold back his tears as they fell silently down his cheeks. "Now, you promise me to stay strong for your Dad, okay? I'll call you again soon." Chin said gently as he slowly got up to his feet.

"Chin!" Lou called out. "Chin, what's wrong?" He asked seeing Chin's pale face and bloodshot eyes.

"His heart stopped, Lou." Chjn said.

"Chin? Is he.." Lou asked, fearing the worst.

"They got him back but it looks bad.." Chin said.

Lou enveloped Chin in a hug. "Danny is a tough guy. He's going to be alright." Lou affirmed. "He'll be alright."

...

"Family of Danny Williams?" The doctor called as he came out of the treatment room

"Doc, I'm Chin. I..I'm with Danny." Chin said. "How is he?"

The doctor looked unsmilingly at the three concerned faces of Lou, Chin and Kono. "We've managed to stabilise him but we will need to bring him for surgery right away. He suffered significant trauma to his chest, several broken ribs which has resulted in an internal bleeding. He is suffering from a hemothorax as the blood has accumulated in his pleural cavity. We will need to operate on him to stop the bleeding. We also detected a mild myocardial contusion and splenic contusion and we will have to check for any signs of bleeding from the spleen."

Chin could hardly understand the words the doctor was saying but if the look on the doctor's face was any indication, he knew enough to know that it was serious. "What are the.. what are his chances?" Chin asked.

"The bleeding has been left unattended for quite some time so that's not good. He's lost a significant amount of blood and his blood pressure is critically low. We will definitely try our best but.. you have to be mentally prepared." The doctor said. "Please excuse me, we need to prepare for his surgery."

Kono swallowed her sob as she heard what the doctor had said. "C..can I see him for a moment?"

The doctor gave her a tight-lipped smile. "Sure, we have about 10 minutes before we bring him up."

Kono walked warily into the treatment room as a nurse was fiddling with one of the many IV lines he was attached to. The electrodes on his bare chest was recording his erratic heart rate. Tears streaked her face as her eyes fell on Danny. "Brah.. Danny.." She gently caressed his face.

Danny's eyes slowly opened as he looked weakly at Kono. He tried to speak but no words came out due to the tube in his mouth.

"You're gonna win this fight. We'll all be right here waiting for you, okay? I know you can do this." She paused as she gazed into his eyes. "And Danny, Steve is alright. He's asleep now because of all the meds, but he'd want to tell me that he'll be waiting for you too. I love you, brah." Kono spoke gently, as she bent down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. Danny blinked his eyes purposefully, as if trying to assure Kono that he'll be alright.

Lou was the next one to enter the room. He rubbed his face with both hands as he approached Danny. "Hey, Danny. Buddy, I uh.. I know you're a fighter and you're as tough as they come. Your daughter still needs you and I know you as one of the best fathers in the world. So you can't let her down, alright? You need to come back stronger for her, you hear me?" He gently tapped Danny's wrist. In response, Danny, weakly squeezed his hand. "I'm going to see you real soon, okay." He said before he left the room to allow Chin to enter.

"Danny.. I'm sorry we couldn't get to you sooner. I'm sorry you were down there on your own for hours. I'm really sorry... I promised Grace that you'll be fine, that you'll come home to her. You have to help me keep that promise, brah." A tear slid out Danny's eye. "It's gonna be okay, Danny." Chin said as he wiped the tear away from his friend's face.

After 10 minutes, Danny was wheeled into the operating theatre. The three of them had followed and waited outside the OT. The doctor had said the surgeries would take minimally 8-10 hours. It was yet another waiting game for them.

...