Note: Of course Danny's recovery wouldn't be easy. Thank you all for the brilliant reviews. Sorry I haven't had the time to reply to them all, been super busy this weekend which included having cuddles with my best friends newborn daughter who arrived a month early. She is so dinky.

Warning: Some talk of mucus. Yuk!

Chapter Ten.

Steve sat alone at the side of Danny's bed. The rest of the team had left after their allotted thirty minutes, taking a very reluctant Amber with them.

The room was anything but quiet, with the beeping from the machines and hiss of oxygen. Nurses were coming and going, noting down vitals and taking blood to check oxygen levels.

Steve let out a sigh and then buried his head in his hands. Now the adrenaline of the rescue and worry during the hours of surgery had passed, Steve was starting to realise how tired he was. He had only managed about an hours sleep the night before, and he longed for his bed, but there was no way he was leaving his best friend. He leaned back in the chair and stretched his legs out, hissing as the stitches pulled in his thigh.

"Loving...the...new pants." A weak voice whispered at his side. "Miles better... than the...cargos."

"Danny," Steve said springing to his feet. "Hey, how're you feeling?"

"Like an elephant...is sat on my chest." Danny replied.

"Pneumonia and busted ribs will do that to you buddy." Steve smiled. "You missed everybody. They left about an hour ago. Kono practically had to carry Amber out of here."

Danny smiled, most of it was hidden by the mask but Steve could tell by the lines on his partner's forehead. Danny arched his back up off the bed causing Steve to ask, "You uncomfortable?"

"Yeah," Danny sighed which started off a coughing fit.

"Hang on." Steve said as he looked around and made eye contact with the nurse heading into the room.

She headed straight to the bed and coached Danny to get his breathing back under control. Helping him to have a drink she then helped him to roll slightly on his side and eased a pillow behind him to take the pressure off his back, the change of position eased his breathing. Waiting for the nurse to leave and Danny to open his eyes, Steve said. "Speaking of fashion, I'm digging the new top."

Danny glanced down at his chest, "how bad are the burns?"

"Second degree. They're gonna hurt like a bitch for a while but won't scar." Steve reassured.

Danny nodded. He reached out and took hold of Steve's hand that was resting on the bed. "Thanks, for finding me. Knew you would."

"I'm sorry it took so long, we didn't have much to go on. It was Kamekona that got us the first solid lead."

"Great, now I owe Shamu. I'm gonna be eating shrimp everyday of my life." Danny joked.

"I'll help you out with that debt." Steve offered.

"That'll be a first." Danny smiled.

"Seriously though Danny, I'm sorry it took so long." Steve said giving his friends hand a squeeze.

"It's alright," Danny said then coughed a little.

"No it's not, Danny. What they did to you, what you went through, it's not alright. If I'd found you earlier…"

"Stop," Danny interrupted, "don't do that. This is not on you. I'm 100% sure that you all did whatever you could to find me as soon as possible. I'm only alive because you and the team found me, and because Chin's a good shot with his shotgun."

Steve laughed out loud, "Yeah, we both owe Chin." Danny joined him, which started him off coughing again.

"Easy Danny, Dr. Pearce is going to kill me. She told me not to let you talk. I think that's enough, you should sleep now."

"Can't," Danny said shaking his head and wincing.

"You in pain?" Steve asked.

Danny nodded unable to speak. Steve left the room, and returned with the nurse in tow who hit the pump at the side of Danny's bed, releasing more pain killers into Danny's system. Danny's breathing gradually settled down and his eyes slipped closed.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Chin, Kono and Amber returned the next day just as visiting hours began. Grover had offered to go into the office and liaise with HPD and the FBI to tie up all the loose ends. Walking into the room, they saw Steve asleep in the chair beside Danny. His hair was a mess and he had bags under his eyes. He startled awake, the SEAL in him always on guard. "Hey."

"Hey, rough night?" Kono asked.

"Yeah, no matter how the nurses position him, he's in pain. If it's not the burns bothering him, it's his ribs or stomach, and his breathing has got worse through the night. They had to intervene and help him clear his chest about an hour ago." Steve explained trying hard not to remember the nurses having to feed a tube down Danny's nose so they could suction out the mucus blocking his airway. Danny had hated the procedure, but it had helped his breathing and allowed him to get some sleep.

Amber moved over to the bed and gently kissed Danny's forehead. "Steve, he feels really warm, is that just the burns?"

"No." Steve sighed. "His core temperature is up. His arm, surgical wound and burns look good so they think it's from the pneumonia."

"Hey guys." A voice came from the door. Turning they saw Dawn, a nurse that frequently looked after the team and had become part of their extended Ohana. "I thought you might like some more chairs."

She passed them into the room so they could all sit around Danny's bed. She then moved over to Danny and took her stethoscope and placing it in her ears, listened to Danny's chest. She frowned as she heard every crackle and wheeze. "He's very congested." She said to Danny's friends. Placing the stethoscope back around her neck she moved over to a near by trolley and returned with the equipment to take blood gas from the arterial line in Danny's wrist. "I'm just going to see how his gases are; we may need to increase his oxygen support." She explained.

She carefully tried to take the bloods without disturbing her patient but two tired blue eyes slowly opened and looked up at her. "Sorry Danny," she apologised. "Just taking some bloods, but look, you have visitors." She said pointing around the room. "Not too much talking though, we need to keep your breathing under control."

Danny gave her a slight nod then turned his head to see his friends. He smiled gently at them and when his eyes stopped and rested on Amber, sat at his side, he said, "hey doll, sorry I missed our... date night."

"You know I'm getting used to it now, trapped under a collapsed building; kidnapped by a drug cartel. The lengths you will go to to get out of a date are worrying." She joked.

Danny gave a little laugh, which started off a coughing fit. Bringing his arms across his chest to brace his ribs, Danny fought for every breath as tears ran down his cheek.

"Easy Danny, nice slow breaths." Steve coached. Once the coughing fit had subsided he helped him to take a sip of water, noticing the blue tinge to Danny's lips.

Chin, Kono and Amber watched on in shock, this was the first time they'd seen Danny fight to get a breath, and it was scary. Dawn returned, and seeing the scared faces asked, "Is everything ok?"

"He just had a bad coughing fit." Steve explained as Danny was too spent to say anything. Dawn moved to the head of the bed and increased the oxygen. "That should help, Danny, your gasses weren't where I'd like them to be so Dr. Pearce is on her way to review you. We might need to do some more suctioning." She warned to which Danny's screwed up his face and shook his head.

"Danny, it helped the last time." Steve comforted.

"You try having...a tube...stuck up your nose." Danny said between exhausted breaths.

"Danny, if it helps, let them, I want you better and home." Amber said.

Danny looked at her, and seeing how worried about him she looked, he nodded before dissolving into another coughing fit. This one took longer to settle and Danny was shaking from the exertion. Dawn once again listened to Danny's chest, as Amber sat holding his hand. Steve, who had moved to sit on the edge of the bed to coach his friend through the attack, saw her concerned face.

Dr. Pearce entered the room, and everyone let out a small sigh of relief. It was obvious that Danny was getting sicker, not better, just like she had warned. Asking everyone to wait in the waiting room, she quickly examined Danny. First listening to the front of his chest, then with Dawn and Steve's help, who had stubbornly remained behind, they sat Danny forward so she could listen to his lungs from behind. Danny groaned as the movement jostled his extremely sore ribs, and pulled the surgical wound on his abdomen. "Sorry Danny. Not long now." Dawn reassured. Easing their patient back down, Dr. Pearce then moved to look over the latest set of gasses. Returning to the bedside she addressed Danny and Steve.

"Your chest is very congested Danny, we need to do some more suctioning to clear away the mucus. I'm going to go chase up the microbiology department to see if the mucus samples we sent off grew anything, and if we need to change your antibiotics." Steve and Danny nodded as she left the room, Steve right on her heels.

"Doc, be straight with me, how's he really doing?" Steve asked.

Dr. Pearce sighed, "He's struggling Steve. His gasses weren't good, and if he doesn't improve soon I think we will need to put him on a ventilator." Seeing Steve's eyes shoot wide open she added, "Just 'til the antibiotics kick in and his chest improves."

On his return to the room Steve was glad to see Dawn had just finished the suctioning. Danny looked none too happy, but the rattle in his chest had lessened. "I'll send the others back in." She said as Danny gave a weak nod, his eyes slipping closed. "I gave him a top up of pain killer." She explained to Steve.

The others returned to the room and Steve updated them about Dr. Pearce checking to see if Danny's antibiotics needed to be changed. He deliberately held back on the information about Danny likely needing ventilation, not wanting to worry them.

Danny managed to sleep peacefully for about an hour. The others talked quietly. Steve noticed Dawns almost constant presence in the room, only leaving to fetch more IV fluids. Towards the end of the hour Danny's breathing had started to deteriorate again, and the crackles and wheezing increased. They all suddenly startled as Danny began yet another coughing fit and Dawn ran to his side. This time the fit refused to settle, and Danny's lips looked blue. Hitting the emergency buzzer above the bed to alert her colleague Dawn instructed everyone that they needed to leave. They all quickly left making room for several other nurses that ran into the room in response to the emergency alarm, but once again Steve remained stubbornly beside his partner's bedside.

Danny's eyes rolled back into his head and his chest deflated, and failed to rise again. "Steve. Out. Now." Dawn commanded. Not many nurses would stand up to Steve like that. Grabbing the bag and mask off the crash trolley that had been wheeled in, she immediately started to force air into Danny lungs. "I mean it Steve. Out! He's in respiratory arrest and we need room to move. Out!"

Steve reluctantly left as Dr. Pearce ran down the hallway and straight into Danny's room. Surprised by Dawns sudden authoritative commands, Steve still refused to leave the ICU and return to the waiting room with his friends. Instead he stood by the glass window of Danny's room, watching as the medical team desperately tried to save his best friends life.

TBC

I know you all hate me now, right?