Note: Thanks once again for all the reviews and favourites. I love reading them.

Time to get Danny better now I think.

Disclaimer: I do not own H50.

Chapter Eight.

Danny's fever slowly began to reduce, his vitals increasing as it did. Chin and Kono decided to go home for a few hours to get some rest, but Steve stubbornly remained by Danny's side.

It was 5 pm when Steve suddenly became aware of a feeling that someone was watching him, while he sat reading the newspaper. He looked around,mrelieved to see two hazy blue eyes staring at him. Dropping the paper to the floor he turned to face Danny. "Hey, you back with us?"

"Back with you? Where'd I go?" Danny asked, his voice muffled by the oxygen mask.

Steve reached up and pressed the nurse call button. "You've been really out of it for the past day. But your temperature is much better now. 100.5 the last time Dawn checked it."

"Dawn?" Danny smiled. "Did she draw the short straw again?"

"I certainly did." She answered, entering the room and shutting off the nurse call button. "Good to see you awake and lucid."

Danny groaned. "Oh god, did I say something stupid."

"Not at all, but I think you need to educate your team on the basics of Walt Disney." She smiled.

Danny looked confused, and Steve just shook his head. "Don't worry about it Danno."

Dawn busied herself taking another set of vitals then removed the oxygen mask, and swapped it for a nasal cannula. Danny asked her to raise the bed a little, and Steve helped her settle Danny, so he was more comfy.

"Are you in any pain, Danny?" Dawn asked.

"My side is throbbing a bit, and my leg is kind of sore. But I don't want any morphine. My head feels foggy enough as it is." Danny answered.

"I'll speak with Dr. Jackson, see if we can get you something else." She said leaving the room.

Danny turned to Steve and asked, "how bad is it?"

"You're through the worst now, Danno. The infection was really bad by the time we finally got you here, but the doctors are on top of it now. I think you'll need a few more days of IV antibiotics though. You still have drains in your side, and leg, so don't more around too much."

"Ok." Danny said taking in all the information. "What about permanent damage?"

"Just some lovely scars: as a memento of your fight with nature. Bit of physio, and you'll be fine." Steve explained.

Danny let out a big sigh. "Thanks Steve. For getting me out of there. For looking after Grace. Is she ok?"

"She's upset that she hasn't been able to see you. The doctor won't let her into the ICU."

"Probably for the best," Danny said looking at the monitors and drips connected to him.

"Keep improving the way you have the past few hours, and I'm sure they will move you out of here, and she can come see you."

Danny nodded then gave a little wince, as the pain in his side flared.

"Here you go, Danny," Dawn said holding out a paper cup containing a small round pill, and a glass of water. "It's codine. Stronger, than Tylenol: but not as strong as morphine."

Danny gladly accepted the pill, just as Chin and Kono returned.

"Well look whose awake, cus." Kono said coming over and kissing Danny on the forehead. "Good to see you awake brah, and much cooler now."

"I've always been cool." Danny said with a wink.

"Oh man. I think I preferred confused, ramblings, to bad jokes." Chin laughed.

The cousins pulled over their chairs to join Steve, at Danny's bedside. Then Kono handed Steve a container of food, insisting that he eat. Dawn also brought Danny a small bowl of broth, which Danny managed about half of, before falling asleep, spoon still in hand.

Chin turned to Steve, "one of my cousins and his friend, have headed out to the Manoa Valley to retrieve the rest of your things. They'll bring back your truck for you, tomorrow."

Steve smiled, grateful that he didn't have to make the trip himself. "Thanks, Chin. Make sure you thank them from me, won't you?"

"Of course, brah, we figured you wouldn't want to leave Danny for too long for the next few days, and my cousin knows that area really well. He has heard of several reports of people finding dead animals up there, that have died from arrow wounds. Sounds like someone is doing a bad job of hunting up there."

"You can say that again." Steve replied.

Later that evening, Dr. Jackson reviewed Danny and was happy with the progress he had made, since his fever broke. He informed the team that Danny would be moved to a private room in the morning, and that Grace was welcome to visit then.

Danny slept for most of the evening, but it had been a healing, settled sleep. Instead of the sedated sleep, or fever induced unconsciousness, of the past day and a half. The whole experience had obviously left him weak and exhausted.

Chin and Kono, left that night, leaving Steve alone with Danny. Dawn had done her usual trick of arranging a cot for him, before she went home for the night. She knew that Steve hadn't been home, or got any rest, while Danny had been so sick. Steve finally allowed himself to settle, once the night nurse had been in and declared Danny's temperature to finally be below 100.

Danny awoke in the morning to the sun streaming in through a gap in the blinds. Reaching for the bed remote he carefully sat himself up, mindful of the drains still in place. He slowly reached over for a glass of water, from the table beside his bed, only to have it passed the rest of the way. The noise of the bed moving had woken Steve, and he sprang into action to help his friend achieve his goal of getting a drink. After a sip of water, Danny passed the glass back to Steve, and thanked him.

"You look a lot better today." Steve said a smile plastered all over his face. Danny now had some colour to his skin that wasn't a fevered flush.

"Yeah, I feel better today, not as foggy." Danny answered.

Danny was definitely feeling better. He managed most of his light breakfast and juice, before Dawn returned to help him have a wash. Steve took the opportunity to nip to the canteen and get some breakfast for himself, and send a quick message to Chin and Kono, letting them know that Danny was doing a lot better. He also sent a quick message to Rachel to update her. He didn't want to call Grace just yet and get her hopes up about visiting, until the doctor had confirmed Danny's move from ICU.

He returned to the unit, just in time for Dr. Jackson to arrive to asses Danny.

"Morning Danny, you certainly look a lot better." Dr. Jackson said.

"I feel better, doc." Danny replied. "I'm hoping you're going to give the thumbs up so I can get out of here and let my baby girl see I'm doing ok."

"Well let's see what we can do about that then, shall we." Checking Danny's vitals, Dr. Jackson smiled. Then he moved on to checking the wounds and drains.

"I think we can remove the drain from your side now. The wounds will need to be dressed daily for a while. We weren't able to stitch them because of the infection, but they should heal up fine on their own."

Danny nodded, grateful to be getting rid of some tubes. The less he had. The better for when Grace came to visit.

"We can also remove the fluid drip. Now you're more awake you no longer need the IV fluids. The antibiotics continue for a good few more days yet though. The catheter can also be removed."

Danny smiled with relief at that one. He had been very aware of that particular tube all morning, and was desperate for it to be gone.

"The drain in your leg will need to stay put a day or so longer. This wound was much larger, and once the infection has cleared up, I'd like to take you back to surgery. It will take months to heal on its own. So I think it's best that we close it surgically." Dr. Jackson explained.

Danny wasn't too happy about the thought of another surgery. But it was better than facing months of dressings.

"Once the drains and drips are removed, we can get you moved to a standard room. Your daughter is more than welcome to visit then." Dr. Jackson smiled.

Dr. Jackson then left, and Dawn readied herself to remove everything the doctor had ordered. Steve stepped outside, allowing Danny some privacy, and within the hour, Danny was being moved to his own private room.

TBC