I do not own Hawaii Five-0. No copyright infringement intended.

I glanced around once again finding myself in my room lying in bed as she moved towards me. She laid a gentle kiss against my forehead and moments later I heard a slight breath of a whisper, "Please stay with me, love."

I closed my eyes and clung to those words as darkness surrounded me, only this time I felt her breath on my skin as I let everything else go. In that moment, I felt only two things. At peace and Loved.

I couldn't explain it, I had no idea if what I was experiencing was real or if it was simply a coping mechanism. But, it was something worth holding onto. It was more than I had before. It was hope.

For a long time the peace she surrounded me with held me in it's calming grasp. The stress of the world around me, or lack thereof was of no concern when I could feel her with me.

I could sense Danno, too. But mostly he just made me want to laugh and sadly that brought with it pain, too. But, I so desperately wanted him to explain in great detail how little Lori Weston had lorded over a much larger Governor Denning. That alone was worth a lifetime of pain and would have been even more so if I'd seen it with my own eyes.

At some point, I felt Lori being pulled away from me.

And I heard Danno, as he spoke softly to her, "Sweetheart, you need to get some sleep. Like in an actually bed. It's right over there. You'll still be able to see him and everything." He whispered.

"Mmmm. No Danny. Mmm-fine. I can stay here." She mumbled half awake.

I wanted so badly to reach out to her. To tell her it was okay for her to sleep. I felt the pressure in my head as I tried so hard to reach her. Then suddenly the white light was stabbing my eyes and I could feel tears as they dripped into my hair even as I felt her fighting to maintain her hold.

"Shh, shh. It's okay to let go, sweetheart. Look who's back." He whispered.

I heard as much as I felt the air rush from her lungs as she suddenly became vibrantly awake before my burning eyes. She immediately reached up and switched out the light above me and Danny hit the call button. As far as the first things I had hoped I would see, she was far better than anything I could have hoped for.

"Hi." She whispered with tears in her eyes. "I've never been so happy to see those blue eyes in my life." She said as she placed her warm hands against my face and neck.

"We've missed you babe. You gave us a pretty good scare." Danno said as he smiled down.

"Well, well. I was planning to wean you off the meds at some point today. But, it seems like someone didn't like missing out on the party. I'm just going to take a quick look here, I'm sorry this is going to sting a little, but it will be over quickly." Dr. Hathaway said as he flashed a penlight into my eyes.

"Well hello. I'm Susie. I'm your nurse for the next 5 or 6 hours. It's good to see you awake." She said as she carried a chart over to Dr. Hathaway.

I reached up to the tube in my throat, it burned and I was thirsty. I wanted it out. Dr. Hathaway noticed and said, "That's next on my list, I just want to make sure that you are going to be able to breath on your own before I take it out. It's a whole lot worse if we take it out and have to put it back in, I promise you. Just hold tight for a few more minutes."

After what seemed like an eternity and an endless parade of doctors and specialists, Dr. Hathaway said, "Okay, now when I tell you I want you to breath out as hard as you can. Your probably going to cough and it's going to be uncomfortable for a minute, but just try to hold still. I don't want you to re-open any of your sutures or anything."

I reached for Lori's hand as they laid a towel across my lap and propped my bed up a bit to make the removal a little easier.

"Okay, Lori do me a favor. Just try to help him stay as still as possible if he starts to lean forward just support him so that he doesn't strain too much. And Steve, just try to let me do all the work, okay?"

I nodded in understanding.

"Okay, ready?" He asked.

I looked at him and he said, "Okay, breath out."

He pulled steadily on the tube as I coughed. Lori's hand was pressed against my back as I continued to cough and choke on the air as it filled my lungs. They burned like someone had lit a fire in my chest, but it felt good. Before I even had a chance to ask, Lori was right there with ice chips. The doctor had already told me I couldn't drink anything for a little while just until they were sure I was breathing well enough on my own and stable.

I guess based on their requirements, I had been anything but stable for however long I had been here.

"I don't want you to talk a lot. Nothing more than a whisper, but I'm sure you have some questions. If it started to hurt too much you can write them on the pad of paper next to Lori. Okay?"

"What happened?" I rasped.

"Well son, I can tell you what happened from a clinical perspective. Your friends can probably fill you in on the how later. You were shot just below your right armpit. It was a through and through that exited between your ribcage and your hip on the left side. You were extremely lucky. You have a number of broken ribs, a collapsed lung that we re-inflated and patched up, and you are less a spleen. But, there was no irreparable damage to any vital organs. Considering how the bullet entered, that was nothing short of a miracle." Dr. Hathaway said.

"Next time superman, let the vest take the hit. Okay babe?" Danno said with a smile.

I laughed, but it ended up being more of a cough. However, Lori's hand was once again brushing against my back, which was making it difficult to focus on the coughing.

God, what the hell happened while I was unconscious? Both of us seemed to be in a very different place since I woke up. I was trying to think back on how things had changed so dramatically, but the actual day of the shooting was a complete blank for me. Had something happened between us? Everything just felt so much…..more.

"Oh my god. You're awake!" Kono said as she turned the corner at a near run. Evidently she had seen the flurry of activity outside my doorway and been concerned. Chin wasn't far behind.

"How long have you been awake?" He asked with a smile.

"About an hour and a half." Lori answered.

"Tired." I whispered.

"That's to be expected. You're body has been through a tremendous trauma, blood loss, anesthesia and it's going to take you a while to bounce back. If you feel like you are getting too tired, then you should sleep. In fact over the next few days, I would expect you might be sleeping more than you are awake. So, don't feel like you need to stay awake. I'm sure your friends won't take it too personally if you fall asleep on them." Dr. Hathaway laughed.

"Yeah, we can let you get some sleep if you need to. I know I'd like to catch a shower and I'm sure Lori would like to sleep in a real bed at some point." Danno said.

"Sure. I wouldn't mind a shower either." She smiled.

I looked at her and then over to the chair. "I'm sorry." I whispered as I touched her arm.

"What are you sorry for?" She asked.

"You haven't slept?" I asked.

"I've slept." She answered as she looked at the rather uncomfortable looking chair.

I looked at Danno with a question in my eyes.

"She's slept an hour or so. Here or there." He said in answer to my unspoken question.

"Fine. I'll shower and sleep there." She smiled pointing to the bed beside him.

"Okay, but you can go home if you want to." I told her.

She gave me a terse shake of her head and ended the discussion as she entered the bathroom with the bag that Kono had brought for her.

"It's really good to see you awake boss." Kono said as she leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"Good to see you." I whispered back.

"Had us worried, brah." Chin said as he touched my arm.

"Makes two of us." I smiled as my eyes started to drift closed.

Evidently, Chin and Kono took that as their cue to leave. I heard Danno ask them to stop by the Governor's office with an update before they went in to finish up the paper work for our last case.

"He's likely to be a bit more irritable after yesterday." I heard Danno laugh before they left.

Chin laughed and said, "What you mean after this?" He held up his iphone and I immediately heard laughter from the trio in the doorway.

"If we'd put it on YouTube it would have gone viral no doubt." Kono laughed.

"Send that to my phone would you. I think Superman might get a laugh out of that when he's feeling a little better." Danno said.

After they left, he sat down beside me. "How are you feeling?"

"Probably about as well as can be expected." I answered.

"That bad, huh?" Danno laughed.

"Pretty much." I said.

After a minute or two, I turned to Danno and asked, "What happened? Not what the doctor said…I mean what happened. I feel like something has changed. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, or maybe I'm just feeling something that is a remnant of a dream."

"Babe, you were shot. I doubt anything is going to feel the same for a while."

"That' not what I mean. Lori. We're different. I think in a good way. But I don't know what changed."

"Everything and nothing. I know, bad answer. The short version is that I don't think that the feelings are anything new, it's just that neither of you are avoiding them or hiding them anymore. The long version is that someone took a shot at her and you, SuperSEAL stepped in front of a bullet for her, whether you remember it or not that is bound to change the bond between the two of you. In a split second, you chose her life over yours. But, as a casual observer I've been watching you two dance around each other since her first day. The sparks were already flying it's only a matter of time until the two of you catch fire."

"I had a dream when I was unconscious that I was too far away. I watched as the bullet pierced through her neck. It felt so real to me. I felt like I was witnessing it first hand. It was so strange, because I could hear both of you in the distance even as it occurred. Sometimes, we talked like you and I are talking right now. When you spoke it felt like it was further away, but with her…I felt her breath on my skin, her hand in mine. I swear I even felt her kiss me once or twice. She kept pulling me back. My dad even told me that she was my lifeline."

"She never left your side. Whatever you felt from her, was probably really happening. But, your dad? You saw your dad?"

"Yeah. Several times. Well, early on I saw him. Later, he would just talk to me and tell me I needed to stop coming back. He told me the longer I stayed with him the harder it would be for me to get back to her. All of it is such a jumbled mess right now." I said as I coughed a couple times. Danno stood up and helped me drink some water.

"You should probably rest. All this talking can wait." Danno said.

I nodded in agreement until the bathroom door opened and Lori walked out. The scent of Hibiscus and Plumeria wafted out on the air and I took a deep breath filling my lungs with her. She came over to me with a damp towel in her hand and gently pressed it to my forehead and neck.

"I'm just going to take a shower." I heard Danno say off in the distance.

It felt beyond good to have her hands against my skin even with the washcloth as a barrier. It was the gesture more than anything. But, it felt especially good as she rubbed the warm cloth against my aching neck. When the cloth had cooled, she set it on the stand beside the bed and I grasped her hand holding it against my neck instead. The warmth was comforting, and her touch made every part of me feel alive.

I couldn't begin to explain the bond that coursed between us now, but I also couldn't be bothered to care. As my eyes began to drift closed, I felt her hand against my forehead as she whispered, "Sleep well."

A moment later I could have sworn I felt her lips brush feather light across mine before she moved over to the bed next to mine.

I woke up a while later and glanced over to see her sleeping fitfully a few feet away. I felt relief knowing she was nearby. Danno was in the hallway on the phone when I looked out. He walked in and said quietly, "I'm going to go pick Gracie up and take her to dinner. Are you going to be okay for a bit?"

"Yeah. I'm good. Will you bring Gracie by tomorrow?" I asked.

"Sure. She was trying to talk me into bringing her tonight, but I thought maybe one more day would be good." He said.

"You should sleep at home tonight. In a real bed."

"You forget I have a pull out couch."

"Then sleep at my place. You have keys and the guest room has a real bed and a bathroom that doesn't have cracked tile."

"Wow, even after you get shot you're still giving me crap about my apartment."

I just smiled and closed my eyes.

"Sleep well. Have Lori call me if you need anything. I'll even bring you some pajama pants when I come back."

"K." I said as I was drifting off to sleep.

"It's so good to hear your voice again. Don't ever scare me like that again, okay?" He whispered as he touched my forehead.

The next time I woke up it was pitch black. My heart started to race as I waited to see who would turn up this time. I could hear the ping of the monitors then and before the panic could build, I felt the bed dip as Lori leaned in and whispered, "I'm right here. You're doing just fine."

Her hand brushing the hair from my forehead as she spoke again, "Tell me what happened."

"I just woke up and I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't feel you or Danno. I felt alone again. I thought maybe waking up earlier had been a delusion." I said as I shook with anxiety.

"It's okay. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." She said as she ran her hands over my arms trying to absorb the shivers that coursed through me.

"C-cold." I whispered.

"Hold on." She said as she stepped back into the shadows. She returned with the blankets from her bed and said, "Can you scoot over a little bit?"

I nodded and very carefully scooted to my right. I thought she was planning to sit beside me until I fell asleep. But then, I felt the warmth of her body as she crawled into the bed next to me. She pulled the blankets up around our shoulders and pressed her lips to the side of my neck.

"I'll be right here. I promise." She whispered.

I shivered again as her warmth began to envelope me and she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Mmmm. Better than okay." I whispered as I tucked her closer to my left side.

I was sore as hell, but I needed something to hang onto. I needed her.

Dr. Hathaway stopped by on his way home for the night to check on his patient. He started to head for the door when Susie stopped him. "Dr. Hathaway, Steve woke up about two hours ago with an elevated heart rate and signs of anxiety."

"Why didn't you call me. We should be giving him something to keep him calm."

"Well, we were about to call you when, uh. Well, why don't you just take a look." She said with a smile as she pointed towards Steve's room.

He hit the switch for the backsplash lighting to come up and saw what the nurses were all smiling about. Evidently, Lori had woken up to his rising panic and he'd found all the calm he needed in her. She was currently nestled up against his left side with the blankets from the other bed wrapped around the two of them. His hand was resting against her back as he held her to his side like a lifeline. Something Dr. Hathaway was beginning to get used to.

"As long as he stays calm, I'm okay with this development. However, if he shows any signs of increased pain or stress I want you to page me, or Dr. Caldwell. But, for now, I think he has exactly what he needs."

The nurses all smiled on as Dr. Hathaway switched off the lights once again and headed home for the rest of the night.