McDanno - A True Hawaiian Love Story

Chapter 9: Unfortunate Events and Quick Decisions

Danny's P.O.V.

"Oh no, buddy." I held Steve's shoulder as he fell back into his chair. Steve had both hands clenched to his side, where blood stained his shirt and seat. His breathing was shallow and quick, as if gasping for breath. 

"Oh, Steve. Oh shit." I swore, wiping my eyes, seeing if this was all a dream. Hoping, wishing that this was all a dream. Steve wasn't really shot, this was just a nightmare. I would wake up any second, just watch. I snapped out of the trance as an alarm went off in the plane. I grabbed the steering and switched on the radio. I shouted into the phone, "Mayday! Mayday! I'm in a Cessna aircraft en route to Oahu, and I have a serious, serious problem." I looked over at his unconscious body, tears forming, "Mayday! Our pilot has been shot; we request immediate assistance!" 

A voice came over the radio, responding almost immediately, "This is the Honolulu International   Control." His voice reminded of me Steve, "We read you; go ahead." I hesitated to answer, knowing I had to tell the truth. I didn't want to risk the chance of Dae killing me and Steve, but I knew I had no choice if I wanted Steve to live. "This is, this is Detective Danny Williams with the Five-O task force." I stuttered, almost feeling Dae's glare on the back of my head. "I need help landing this plane."

"You're a cop!" Dae screamed, pulling out his gun. Let go of the steering wheel and pointed my gun at him. He pointed it right back at me. I could feel the plane gliding towards the water in a slow descent as we stared each other, guns cocked in our faces.  "Hey, put down the gun!" I yelled. Dae yelled, "You put yours down!" I wasn't thinking straight, just worried about Steve. "Put down the gun--I'm not gonna ask you again." I said seriously. 

He smiled a psycho grin, but bore worried eyes, "Not gonna happen." He said. We were quiet, then I felt Steve move beside me, mumbling, "It's really bad, Danny." I looked over at him, "You need to hold on." The radio erupted with the man's voice once again, "Mayday request, do you copy?" The voice asked, "Please switch to channel 17 for immediate assist." I moved my hand and placed it on the receiver.

"Don't you answer that." Dae glared at me, still holding the gun. I kept gun pointed, but looked at him sympathetically. "If I don't answer it, we're gonna die, both of us." His didn't waver, so I continued. "Either we shoot each other or this plane goes down-- you understand that? Does that make sense to you?" He still didn't respond, but his gun lowered slightly, as if the fact began to sink in. I looked over at Steve, who was starting to turn blue, blood dripping from his side. "Oh, Steve." My eyes fluttered with distress, "Stay awake, alright?" I told him  He looked out the window.  

I was growing angry, frustration was an understatement, "All right, you know what? You know what? You want to shoot me, shoot me-- go ahead-- but who's gonna fly this plane?" I yelled at him. "Uh, well, apparently you can't fly it, either." He said. 

"That's true," I nodded at him, still pointing the gun at him, "but the people on the other end can, all right?" He looked at the radio, saying nothing, so I continued, not knowing what else to do, "You want to shoot me, come sit in my lap, be my guest!" I yelled at him.

"Do it, all right? Huh?" I looked him dead in the eye, deciding to put the gun down. I tossed on the floor of the plane and put my hands up in the air, still looking at Dae, "Look I promise you I land this plane safely, you and I will pick up right where we left off, okay?" I was screaming now,  "All right?" 

He was quiet, looking frustrated, "Fine, okay." He finally said, putting the gun back in the briefcase with the finger print scanner. I turned back towards the steering wheel, "All right, good." I stuttered. I was completely terrified, mainly of crashing this metal tube, but also of Steve in his state. I was determined to land this plane and put this son of a bitch behind bars. 

"You're alright, Steve." I said, looking at him out of the corner of my eye. He rolled his back, "I'm gonna die, Danny." He croaked. This time I looked right at him,  "No, you're not; just hang in there, okay?" I gripped my hands tighter on the wheel, "You're gonna be all right, all right?" I turned back to the radio,  "Again, this is Detective Danny Williams, I am in a Cessna aircraft with two other passengers." I looked over the horizon to spot which direction we were heading,  "I'm headed your way. Our pilot, my colleague, has been shot." I looked over at where Steve was clutching his side, trying to stop the bleeding, "He's got multiple gunshot wounds; I need EMT standing by right when we get this thing on the ground, which I have no clue, zero clue how to do." My voice stuttered with fright and anxiety. I tried to shake away the tears and focus, "Over."

"Copy that, Detective," The voice came back on the radio, "Approach is good, we just need to slow you down a little." I nodded looking around the panel, "Okay, all right, slow us down-- h-how do I do that?" I asked frantically. "Between you and the pilot Steve, are three pull levers." The voice said slowly, "The furthest to the left is your throttle." I put my hand on the red metal lever, "Push it down to 25%." I gently pushed it down 3 jolts, 1, 2, 3. "Okay, done." I said into the radio. "Okay, Good. Now I need you to keep both hands on the control." The voice said.Check your level; Dead center to the pilot." I looked at the gauge, "Make sure you don't dip below the horizon line." The voice continued,  

"And keep your compass heading between north and the number three." I nodded as I saw the little black needle pointing up, "Okay, north and number three-- got that."

Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Steve keel forward, then snap back in his chair, groaning. "Buddy? Oh, no! Steve? All-all right, you-" I looked back at Dae

"I need you to do something for me, all right?" I asked him. "You focus on getting the plane down-- do not talk to me!" He said sternly, pointing through the windshield. "Listen, do what I-- do what I tell you to do or I'm gonna drop this thing in the water-- you understand?" I was yelling now, making sure he understood,  "What do you want?" He asked reluctantly. I sighed with relief,  " Okay, I want you to put your hand on his neck, and tell me if you feel a pulse, okay?" I said, turning my headlock to the gauges,  "I-I don't know, man!" He said, throwing his hand off of Steve's neck. "What do you mean, you don't know? Keep your hand on his neck!" I yelled at him, keeping my eyes on the compass. 

"Either you feel a pulse or you don't!" I told him, but he kept looking to the back of the plane. At that very second, a loud, pinging alarm started to go off. I picked up the radio as Dae looked around, terrified. "Uh, Control, I got, I got an alarm, and I don't know what it is." I said into the black box. "Check your gauges-- what do you see?" The voice asked.  "What do I see?" I repeated, getting frustrated, "What do I see? I see a lot of gauges!" As I was freaking out, the voice on the other end remained completely calm, "What's your airspeed?" He asked. "Uh, air-airspeed is 155." I said.

"What about altitude?" He continued to ask. I looked around the array of gauges looking for the altitude, finally I found the glass case with altitude in bold letters, "Altitude - Altitude's 500, but falling."  I heard him sigh slightly, "Fuel?" I looked over to Steve's side of the plane where the fuel gage was. "Fuel's no good; Uh, needle's right at zero." The voice got serious, "All right, you're running out of fuel, so we need to get you down as soon as possible." 

"Well, it's fine-fine with me." I stuttered into the radio. "The Coast Guard has been notified." The voice continued, "Stand by for emergency ditch procedure."

Dae grabbed my shoulder "Wh-Wh-Wh-What does he mean by "ditch"?" He asked, looking around. I turned my head slightly, "I don't know." I said while flipping the switch on the radio. "What do you mean by "ditch"?" The voice sighed again, "Detective, based on your current altitude, airspeed and available fuel, you're never gonna make the runway." He said.

I looked out the window, watching us slowly descend to the water. I peered over at Steve's unconscious body, developing a pool of blood on the carpeted floor. They  always say that before you die, your life passes before your eyes. Memories of meeting Steve, becoming his partner and discovering the secrets about each other. All of it came rushing back, which made me realize that there was still more memories to come. I gripped the wheel tighter and stared over the horizon. I was determined to land this plane.