Chapter Seven
Once Dr. Fry was finished his evaluation of Steve he started to pull the curtain open but stopped when he saw Danny's face. He knew that Danny was having a hard time coming to terms with what happened on the North Shore, and now realised that Steve being awake had only made things worse. "Steve, I just need to leave this curtain while I check on Danny. I'm sure Kono or Chin will come and sit with you." He looked pointedly at Chin who nodded and moved around the doctor and up to Steve's bed.
"Tell me what happened, Chin." Steve came right to the point as Chin snagged a chair and sat down beside the bed.
"First, I need you to tell me what you remember, Steve." Chin settled into the chair and prepared to wait Steve out. Steve looked at Chin in annoyance, but when Chin crossed his arms, Steve knew he'd have to talk first as Chin could be just as stubborn as Danny always was.
"The last thing I remember is going up to the North Shore with Danny to find Wally Fallen. He was hold up in a motel and when we knocked on his door he escaped out the bathroom window." Steve looked a little puzzled. "I think there was more than that though. I remember Danny being mad at me for scaring Wally into running. I may have threatened him."
"Yes, you did," Chin answered. "Then you broke down the door. Do you remember what happened after that?"
"I ran after Wally into the forest."
"No, Steve, before that. What happened when you and Danny entered the room?"
Steve frowned as he remembered more. "Danny tried to stop me going after Wally," Steve gasped. "He wanted me to go see a doctor, but I pushed him aside and climbed out the window." Steve shifted uneasily in the bed. "I caught up to Wally and tackled him. That's all I remember, Chin."
"When you tackled Wally you hit your head, Steve." Chin supplied.
Steve put his hand up and felt the bandage on the right side of his forehead. "So I was knocked out? That's why I can't remember anything after that?" Chin shook his head no, but before he could say any more Dr. Fry interrupted him.
"Okay, that's enough for now," Dr. Fry said as he came back around the curtain. "I want you to rest Steve. You are not to get out of this bed, for any reason." At Steve's frown Dr. Fry continued. "I mean it Commander. You have recently had brain surgery." Dr. Fry motioned for Chin and Kono to follow him out of the room. When they were all in the hallway he continued. "I think it's best that you don't tell Steve what happened right now. It would be best if he remembered on his own."
"What if he doesn't remember?" Kono asked.
"If he doesn't remember, then we'll have to rethink it, but I'm sure that the memory is there, he's just having trouble connecting with it." Dr. Fry sighed. "We have a bigger problem than Steve's memory right now."
"Danny!" Chin said with a sigh.
"Yes. He's not handling being in the same room as Steve at all well, now that Steve's woken up. I think it would be best to move one of them out."
"And just how do we explain that to Steve?" Kono questioned. "He'll want to know why, and you know he will not rest until he gets an answer."
"What if we keep the curtain pulled?" Chin suggested. "We can tell Steve that Danny's sleeping. That should work for a while anyway, and one of us will stay with them at all times."
"Alright." Dr. Fry conceded. "We'll try that, hopefully it will work. Kono, you push the button on Danny's pain pump to release a dose it's almost time anyway then he really will be sleeping. Chin, I can't give Steve anything now as he's only just woken from his coma. You'll have to talk him down and get him to sleep if you can. I'll come back in a couple of hours and see how they're doing."
Chin and Kono both re-entered the room, Chin going to Steve, while Kono went to Danny.
"Try to sleep," Kono whispered to Danny. "We'll stay with you and keep the curtain closed for now." Danny nodded and settled down further in the bed. He was sure that he wouldn't be able to sleep, not with Steve being awake on the other side of the curtain. The fear he had was unreasonable, he had to get past it, but he felt so tired. Maybe Kono was right and he should sleep, when he woke up he'll deal with being in the same room as his SEAL partner.
Steve watched as Chin came back into the room and once again sat in the chair beside his bed. He'd seen Kono come in behind Chin and go to Danny's bed, but either seemed inclined to open the curtain. Steve looked at the curtain, then at Chin. "Danny's trying to sleep Steve so we thought we'd leave the curtain like that for now. You should get some sleep, too."
Something was wrong. Steve could feel it. The cousins were acting strangely and Danny had not spoken a word to him yet. He needed to remember what had happened after he tackled Wally. It was there just out of reach, he could almost grab onto it, and he would sooner or later. But the more he tried to remember, the worse his head hurt, until finally Steve realised that Chin had stood and was talking to him.
"Steve! Steve! Stop! Just give it time. You can not force the memories to surface. Dr. Fry thinks it will all come back in time, so you just need to be patient. Okay?" Chin had placed his hand on Steve's arm as he tried to get through to him. Now he gave Steve's arm a squeeze as he sat back down. "Danny's going to be fine you don't need to worry about him, just relax and get better."
"How, Chin? Something happened out there and Danny got hurt. I need to know." Steve shifted in the bed as he could feel his body betraying him with a strong need to sleep. He wanted to stay awake and remember, but his eyes closed of their own accord and soon he drifted into an uneasy sleep.
In the other bed Danny was also sleeping. Kono released the pain medication as Dr. Fry had instructed. She'd expected Danny to object, but instead he smiled at her with gratitude. Kono wasn't sure if Danny was grateful because he needed the medication, or because he wanted to avoid dealing with Steve. What she did know was that the two partners would have to deal with what happened soon or it would drive them apart.
TBC
