Steve is not overreacting.
The three-inch gash on Gracie's palm doesn't look like much but it's bleeding more than the proverbial stuck pig and the trail of blood has already worked its way down the length of Grace's arm by the time he scrambles for a dishtowel, dotting the tiles between their feet with flecks of red as the blood pools at the tip of Grace's elbow before succumbing to the pull of gravity.
His niece is looking a little too pale beneath her summer tan as he wraps the towel around the wound and raises her hand up over her head. A trip to the emergency room it is, then.
Grace gives him the silent treatment when he refuses to stitch up her hand himself. He doesn't know whether to be amused or hurt that his niece is annoyed with him for not wanting to stick a needle into her skin, of all things. Sure, he's had to stitch up more wounds than he cares remember but this is Gracie and, as much as his partner finds the fact that his ten-year-old daughter has a big, bad Navy Seal wrapped around her little finger amusing, he's pretty sure that Danny will never talk to him again if he doesn't insist on taking Gracie to a hospital where they'll give her drugs before sticking needles into her skin.
Gracie's eyes widen when the doctor pulls the fresh suture needle out of its sterile packaging but she still gives the whole silent treatment thing as good as she's got despite the fear in her eyes and the subtle shake of her hands. At least, until the doctor starts to tie off the first suture. Grace ends up gripping his hand so tight he's pretty sure he's going to need a crowbar to prise her fingers from where they're clamped around his own. Not that he's complaining.
Steve will never admit it out loud but he kind of likes feeling needed, even if being needed means sacrificing being able to feel his fingers for however long it takes the doctor to stitch up Gracie's hand.
Danny's always ribbing him about what he refers to as Steve's lack of 'mammal-to-mammal communication skills' but honestly, the doctor treating Grace takes the cake. The guy doesn't have a clue when it comes to talking to kids and Steve's spent enough time around Gracie to realise when his partner's usually affable daughter really isn't taking to someone.
He shoots his niece a warning look when the offer of a sticker and a lollipop for 'being such a brave girl' goes down like a lead balloon. Grace might only be ten years old but she's her father's daughter through and through, and Steve's been on the receiving end of enough of Danny's rants, and even a fist or two, to know that his partner doesn't suffer fools lightly.
Danno is officially freaking out. Who needs speakerphone when there's a hysterical father on the other end of the line?
Steve's ears are ringing before he can even try to convince his partner that, despite Grace's little accident, he is perfectly capable of watching the little girl until Danny's done at work.
He's not sure Danny agrees so he hangs up before the detective can gather enough momentum to make the shift from hysterical to apoplectic. Steve tells himself that it has nothing to do with the fact that his eardrums might not survive another minute of his partner's headache-inducing rant, and everything to do with the fact that Danny is perfectly willing to risk being found in contempt of court over of a couple of stitches. Grace giggles when he hangs up on her father without so much as a goodbye.
Honestly, he thinks to himself as he leads Gracie across the parking lot to his truck, All of this drama over a little cut.
