Note: well I haven't done a tag before but Nanahu (5x16) was crying out for a little bromance scene so this is my attempt. A big thanks to wenwalke for her super fast beta on this one.
Disclaimer: no copy right infringement intended.
Steve had just finished calling Chin, and updating the rest of the team on Danny's condition, when the doors to recovery opened and his partner's girlfriend joined him. "Hey, Amber, how's our boy doing?" He asked.
She gave a weary smile and replied, "He's doing ok, tired and in a bit of pain, but good considering. We talked, and I told him everything. You should probably call me Melissa now."
"Well that's gonna take some getting used to." Steve smiled.
"Yeah, it will be strange for a while, but I'm glad I won't have to keep looking over my shoulder all the time." Melissa replied. "They're just moving Danny to room 209. The doctor said we could go sit with him once he's settled."
"That'll be good." Steve said running a hand through his hair, "I'll feel better once I've seen him for myself. When you called I think my heart dropped into my stomach. I think I understand now why Danny rants so much at me when I go all SuperSEAL, as he calls it, and end up getting hurt."
Melissa smiled sweetly remembering the many occasions Danny had ranted to her about some of the dangerous stunt Steve had pulled that day. Looking past Steve her smile fell as she saw a uniformed police officer heading their way.
"Duke, hey." Steve greeted the officer as he joined them.
"Hi, Steve, Miss Vitale." The older man said.
"Actually it's Armstrong. Melissa Armstrong." Melissa corrected.
"Of course, my apologies." Duke corrected himself. "How's Danny doing?"
"He's ok Duke. They are just settling him into a room. He's gonna be sore for a while but will make a full recovery." Steve informed the Sergeant.
"Thank god. I was really worried when I saw the size of the knife. He's lucky to be alive." Duke replied.
"You've been to the house?" Melissa asked looking scared, "What happened with Frank?"
"He was still alive when the first officers responded, but I'm afraid he died in the ambulance." Duke said trying to break the news gently. "If we had managed to get the GPS co-ordinates from the Camaro we could have stopped all of this. I've already taken the liberty of booked it in to be looked at, HPD garage will find out why the system was down and fix it."
"Thanks Duke. I just know Danny is gonna blame me, I can hear the rant already, your crazy driving must have knocked something loose." Steve said imitating Danny.
Duke laughed, "you're forgetting I've seen your driving Steve, Danny is probably right."
"So what happens now?" Melissa dared to ask, "Are you here to arrest me?"
"What? No." Steve responded looking straight at Duke.
"Relax. No. From your brief statement and history, plus Danny's injuries, it is obvious it was self defence. There isn't a jury in the country that would convict you. I do however need a full statement from yourself and Danny, once he is up to it, so we can close the case."
"Of course," Melissa replied with a sigh of relief. "Can we do it now? I just want to get it done."
"There is a relative's room just down the hall why don't we go there?" Duke suggested.
"I don't know." Melissa replied glancing towards the room where the doctor and nurses were still busy settling Danny. "I don't really want to leave Danny alone."
"Go." Steve said putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "the sooner you get it done the better. I'll go sit with Danny as soon as they are done."
"You're sure?"
"Of course, to be honest I wouldn't mind a few minutes alone with him." Steve smiled and Melissa nodded and followed Duke down the hall.
5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0
As Duke and Melissa disappeared from sight Steve turned and headed to Danny's room. As he arrive Danny's Doctor and nurses left the room. "Commander McGarrett." The doctor said walking over to Steve. "Dr. Hills. Sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself properly earlier."
"No problem doc, how's Danny doing?"
"He's doing well, his vitals are stable and he is resting. The surgery went well and we were able to repair the damage the knife did quite easily. We have him on antibiotics as a precaution. He has a drain in place which will need to stay for 24 to 48 hours. Once that is removed, and he is managing to eat and drink enough, we can look at releasing him, but he is going to have to take it easy for a week or two." The doctor explained.
"I can make sure he does that." Steve said shaking the doctor's hand.
"Can you also make sure he uses the pain pump? I know he's the hero of the hour, saving his girlfriend and all, but he doesn't have to be in pain."
"I'll do my best." Steve smiled and headed towards his partner's room.
Standing at the doorway he saw Danny lying in bed his head slightly raised. He appeared to be sleeping, so Steve quietly walked over and took a seat beside the bed and cast a critical eye over his best friend. Considering he had just undergone surgery he didn't look too bad. Sure he looked pale, but aside from the basic monitoring equipment, and the drain the doctor mentioned, he only had the one IV running in to his left arm which was providing Danny with fluids, with the pain pump piggy backing it.
Steve sat back and patiently waited. He was rewarded a few minutes later with two, groggy, blue eyes. "Hey." Steve said sitting forward in his chair.
Danny cleared his throat and turned to look at Steve, "hey." He croaked back.
Steve immediately grabbed the ice chips that were sat on the bedside unit, and passed them to Danny who gratefully took them and helped himself to a mouthful, before passing them back to Steve. "Thanks."
"No problem. How you feeling?"
"Err... kinda sore, I guess." Danny replied glancing towards the door. "Where's Amb...Melissa?"
"Melissa." Steve smiled at Danny's faux par, "is with Duke. He's taking her statement."
"She's gonna be ok, right? It was self defence." Danny asked concerned.
"Yeah, Duke just needs to get both your statements so he can close the case."
"Good." Danny replied and attempted to shift a little in bed, but stopped immediately when it caused pain to rip through his abdomen.
"Here." Steve said passing Danny the control for the pain pump. "The doctor wants you to use it."
"I'm fine." Danny said waving it off.
"The hell you are." Steve responded overriding his friend and pressing the button for him. "Danny you're lucky to be alive. That guy could have killed you, killed both of you, and I didn't do anything to stop it."
Danny looked at his partner, trying to understand what he meant, "How could you have known this was going to happen?"
"Kamekona let me know that Frank was looking for Amber. I got Chin to do a background, and we found out who he was, and the truth about Melissa. But I left it to HPD to try and find you. I was caught up in the case and I though they could handle it. Chin tried calling you, but your phones were off. You have to stop doing that, by the way." Steve scolded. "The GPS on the Camaro was down too, so we didn't know where you were."
"The GPS is down?" Danny asked rubbing his left hand carefully across his aching stomach. "You probably killed it with your crazy ass driving."
Steve laughed, "I told Duke you would say that."
"I chose to go off grid, Steve. It wasn't your fault you couldn't find us."
"But I didn't try, Danny." Steve replied looking ashamed. "You've saved my ass on so many occasions, and I let you down when you needed me."
"Steve, you didn't know what Frank was going to do. If HPD couldn't find us, God only knows how he did. You were working a case. I'm guessing it was a big one."
"Yeah, serial arsonist who liked to watch his victims' burn, but…"
"No buts, Steve." Danny interrupted. "You weren't to know how much danger we were in. Just promise you'll run to my rescue the next time I need it, and we'll say no more."
"Done," Steve smiled and placed his hand on Danny's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "I'm glad you're ok buddy. I was worried sick when I got the call. Once you're feeling better we are gonna work on your knife fighting skills."
"Well isn't that an incentive." Danny laughed then regretted it as it pulled on his stitches.
"See, I told you he would be fine." Chin said arriving at the door to Danny's room along with Kono and Lou.
"Hey guys." Danny said with a small wave of his left hand, being careful not to dislodge the bulky grey clip on his index finger that was monitoring his oxygen levels.
"Well that wasn't the romantic getaway you had planned, was it?" Lou said strolling into the room.
"No, not exactly." Danny replied stifling a yawn.
"Tired?" Kono asked leaning down and kissing her friend gently on the forehead.
"Kinda, I'm still groggy from the anaesthetic."
"Sleep then. Don't worry about us. We just needed to see you were ok." Kono smiled.
"Steve, Special Agent Millwood has been checked out. She's fine and can go home. I think she wanted to speak to you first though." Chin informed his boss.
"Ok." Steve said as he stood up. "You good?" He asked his injured friend.
"Yeah, go. I think I'm gonna take another hit of the good stuff then sleep 'til Melissa is done with Duke. He wants my statement right?"
"I think that can wait until tomorrow. You need to rest. I'll be back soon. Sleep." Steve ordered before starting to leave the room, nodding to the rest of the team, a silent acknowledgement that they would make sure Danny rested. He glanced back at his best friend, whose eyes were now closed.
Steve thought back to what he had said to Melissa about understanding why Danny ranted at him so much. If Danny felt even a little bit of the worry that had been eating away at him, since the second he received the phone call informing him of his partner attack, then it was no wonder Danny blew his top at him so frequently. Leaving the room in search of Special Agent Millwood, he promised himself that he would be more mindful of that, before rushing into the next dangerous situation.
The End.
A second chapter may be on the horizon. A post golf course, Danny doing too much scene. What do you think?