Hello. Time for a short story. Oh how I do love story time… (: Oh, and for all of you who have been begging for more Steve whump…here ya go.
Steve looked down at the obviously dead man on the floor. For a moment, he forgot why he was here and what was going on. Then the memories came back and sat like broken glass in his broken head. He pressed his finger to his ear, but there was no earpiece anymore. Steve knew he had to find his team, so he continued to stumble on. He tried to run, but his legs wouldn't cooperate. For some reason, he kept bumping into the wall. Through his haze, he could hear shouts and gunfire upstairs. When he reached the metal staircase, he missed the first step and fell, landing hard on his broken body. He rolled onto his back, then lay still, feeling the beats of his heart slow. Suddenly, there was a voice in his ear. Warm and familiar, but he couldn't make out any of the words. He felt hands on him and panic overpowered reason. Was it them? He struggled with all of his remaining strength.
"Grab his arms, he's gonna hurt himself worse!" The familiar voice rang out, cutting through the fog that hung around him. Two strong, yet gentle hands grabbed his flailing limbs and pinned them. Steve's panic evaporated, and he tried to open his eyes. The light was too bright. That didn't matter since they were pried open a moment later.
"God, Chin. Look at his eyes!"
"Skull fracture maybe." Another familiar voice replied. What was a skull fracture? He knew that he should know. He must have blacked out for a while. When he was half aware again, he felt as if he was floating. Then he was gently lowered onto something soft. Unknown voices droned on in the background, but he could also hear three familiar voices. In addition to the two men, there was woman now too. Young and sweet. Dimly, he realized that the gunfire had stopped.
"-meet you at Tripler. Call if anything changes, okay brah?" One of the men. His voice calmed Steve, made him feel safe.
"Take care of him." Said the woman, her voice choked with emotion.
"I will. I gotta go." That voice…he felt like he should know that voice most of all. He felt more than heard someone beside him. Prying open his eyes, he saw the blurry outline a man.
"Danno?" he said in a weak whisper. The man's head instantly snapped up in surprise. He smiled as memories of the man came back to him.
"Hey, Steve. How ya doin' babe?" Danny said, his voice thick with concern.
"Wha' 'appened to me?"
"You got hurt pretty bad. Do you remember the raid on the human trafficking ring?"
"N-no…?" Steve began to get agitated.
"Shhhhhh, it's okay buddy. Everyone's okay. We got the bad guys, everything's alright." Steve calmed instantly. In the back of his mind, he vaguely remembered Danny using that same voice on someone named Grace. Grace…he liked the name as it flowed through the broken pieces of his mind that grated together with every thought. For some reason that name felt like sunshine on his cold skin. Sunshine…he tried to breathe in the sweet Hawaiian air, but his lungs burned with every breath.
"Danny…" he said, his pleading voice filled with pain.
"I'm right here, babe. What's wrong?"
"Can't breathe. H-hurts…" God, it felt like a fire was raging in his chest and bombs were going off in his head.
"I know it hurts, but you can breathe. Take small breaths, just like me, okay?" Danny put Steve's hand to his chest and demonstrated how he should breathe.
"'M I dying?" Steve's voice was weak and breathy.
"No." Danny said firmly. "You are not dying. You're going to be fine, you just have to hold on. We're almost there." He could hear the pain in Danny's voice. He hoped Danny was right, but the pain…God. He felt something beneath him jerk and then the feeling of movement beneath him that he hadn't even realized had existed stopped. With one last look at Danny's face, he slipped into blackness.
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When he woke up, everything was fuzzy. He blinked tiredly for a few seconds to rid himself of the cotton that stuffed his head, to no avail. He glanced around the room and his eyes fell on a haggard looking man. Danny…
"Hey." Steve whispered. Danny jumped.
"Steve! Hey man, how are ya feeling?"
"Uhhhhh…." Steve thought for a moment. How did he feel? His head was so foggy that he couldn't think properly.
"You're pretty high right now, aren't you?" Danny asked with a smile.
"As a kite." Steve replied honestly. "Where 'm I?"
"The trauma center at Tripler. How much do you remember?" Steve thought about it, and he must've fallen asleep because when he woke up, he was in a different room. This time, his whole family was there. Like before, Danny was sitting in the chair next to his bed, the only one awake, but he was exhausted. However, this time, he could see more people. Kono, sweet and innocent, like his little sister, was curled up on a couch against Chin, whose gentle face was lined with stress, even in his sleep. On another couch, Catherine, stunningly beautiful, even in her disheveled state, was holding a small girl to her chest. The small girl, Grace, like human sunshine. He smiled. Steve had no idea what was going on, but he felt at peace. Danny must have sensed his return to consciousness because he turned his gaze from his sleeping daughter to his finally awake partner.
"You look tired. Why?" Steve rasped, his voice rough from disuse.
"Why? Because you've been scaring the hell out of all of us and we almost lost you several times. I had to make sure you were okay." Danny said, his voice cracking from fatigue and emotion.
"I'm sorry." Steve said, genuinely apologetic for having caused them so much stress. Danny gave him a kind smile.
"It's not your fault."
"How long've I been out?" Steve asked after a moment.
"Two weeks. You spent the first in the ICU. Do you remember what happened?" Steve vaguely remembered similar conversation from earlier.
"No…maybe. Not everything. We went into that place…for the human trafficking thing. Did I get shot or somethin'?"
"Not exactly. We split up and you happened to find the bad guys first. They tossed you around and busted you up pretty bad. But, being the friggin' ninja that you are, you still managed to run after Romanov yourself. What is it with you and taken on the head bad guys hand to hand?" Steve gave him a 'what can I say?' shrug.
"So what's the damage?" he asked.
"Well…" Danny started off. Steve sighed. He had a feeling this was going to be a long list. "You have a cracked sternum, nine broken ribs, a bruised heart, bruised lungs, one lung collapsed during surgery, a skull fracture, swelling of the brain, cerebral hemorrhaging, a cracked fibula, and a broken left wrist. You also managed to have your heart stop three times on us." Steve stared at him for a moment.
"Damn…" he said at last. "How exactly am I still alive?"
"No idea babe." They smiled. After that, they both fell into a much needed sleep.
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Epilogue
Over the next few months, Steve's body healed. It was a long and painful process, he had support every step of the way. When he was finally able to return to field duty, he started of his first case with a high speed foot chase and fist fight, leaving Danny wondering about his sanity and half joking about looking for a new partner. When they all met at Side Street later that night for their celebratory beers to wrap up Steve's first day fully back on the job, they all toasted to his health and to his continued luck in evading death. As their glasses clinked, he looked around at the smiling and lively faces of his Ohana. He smiled. Luck was not what had gotten him through this. They had gotten him through this.
Are you Steve whumpers satisfied? I just couldn't resist putting in the injury to his left wrist. If my wrist is hurt, his has to be too! I hope ya'll enjoyed that! Be sure to check out my other stories as well as those By Irene Claire and Qweb. Be sure to leave me a review!