A/N I do not own the rights to any of the characters.

A/N To the Guest reviewer who suggested I make Danny and Steve a couple: I don't do slash. Never have, never will. I write their friendship based on what is written on Hawaii Five-O, on the friendships I see male family members and friends have, and on the friendship that I have seen between the two actors who play Danny and Steve in interviews of Scott and Alex. Paraphrasing something I heard Channing Tatum say – it's okay for two men to say "I love you", they just have to add "man" to the end. Men should be allowed to love each other and be close without being labeled. That said, thank you for your review. I'm glad you like the story so far and I hope you keep reading even though they will never be a couple on my page.

A/N Thank for all the reviews, follows and favorites. It's truly humbling. I try to reply to every review as time permits. If I missed yours, I apologize. I stayed up way too late to get this posted, but I have a crazy weekend and then a busy week so I wanted to get this out.

H50 H50 H50

Now that he had shorts on, the next time Danny needed to use the bathroom he unsnapped the gown and left it on the bed before heading to the bathroom with the aid of a nurse. Feeling steadier on his feet helped as well. Returning to the bed, he never bothered donning the ugly, scratchy, hot gown again. He couldn't figure out how to put in on with just one hand; taking it off was much easier. Besides, he was feeling warm, with the heat of the Hawaiian sun forcing itself through the window so he simply sat on the bed in his shorts, with the covers pushed to the foot of the bed, trying to stay as cool as possible.

There were flower and balloon arrangements and even a few edible arrangements and stuffed animals now adorning the room. Danny had been surprised when they first began to arrive and the feeling only increased as more were brought in. A few were from people he knew well and weren't surprising at all – his parents, his sisters, some aunts, uncles and cousins, even the Selways - God bless them, his parents must have called them. Others were from people he knew well, but he wasn't sure how they knew he was even here; word certainly traveled fast – his old detective squad in Newark, Meka's widow Amy, Duke and Pua and some of the other HPD guys, even a bunch of shrimp shaped balloons from Kamekona and Flippa; at least he thought they were shrimp.

But others were totally surprising. There were two flower arrangements, four balloon arrangements and three stuffed animals from women he didn't know personally. He recognized a few of the women's names. One was the brunette, Vikki Lavergne, who had come on to him during his office hours, calling him Ben while sitting seductively on his desk and telling him he was approachable. What was it with young women these days? Another was a perky blond who always stared and smiled at him during class and who Eric had told him had Danny on her 'to do list'. Again he wondered about women these days. Several others mentioned Professor Jeffries on the card so he knew they were also from his class. He figured the others must have been also, as the names seemed vaguely familiar. It was simultaneously flattering and perplexing.

When another hospital helper came in carrying a stuffed bear attired in a police uniform Danny shook his head in disbelief. "Thank you. My son will love this but are you sure these are all for me?" Even though they all had his name on them Danny was so taken aback that he wasn't sure.

The young woman smiled, trying to tear her eyes away from his bare broad shoulders and chest, not in the least marred by the two inch stitched up wound or by the two older scars on his abdomen and the two on his upper left arm. He looked so ruggedly sexy. "You are Danny Williams, right?" At Danny's affirmative nod she went on. "Then they're all yours. If you don't want them, I can take them back."

"No. No. It's okay. I'm just surprised." He didn't want to appear ungrateful.

"Well, I'll be here a few more hours so maybe I'll see you again." With that she tossed him a dazzling smile, a wink and a little wave and left.

Kono noticed the young woman's flirty exit as she walked in with Grace carrying balloons and a few over-stuffed bags.

"Danno!" Grace shouted enthusiastically as she rushed to his side.

"Monkey!" he replied with equal vigor, stretching his left arm out for a hug.

Grace was old enough now, and sadly experienced enough with her Dad being injured, that she stepped carefully into the embrace. Danny buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her lavender shampoo. Oh how he loved her! She was the best medicine.

"Does it hurt much, Danno?" she said with a hint of tears in her eyes.

"Not with you here," was her father's reply as he gave her a kiss. He never wanted Grace to worry, so he wouldn't bother her with talk of pain. He could suck it up for a few hours of peaceful bliss with her.

She smiled. He always, always, always made her feel like the most special person in the universe. Even with Charlie in the picture now, he still managed to do it. She was pretty sure Charlie was starting to feel the same way.

Released from the hug, Danny turned to his friend but she spoke first as she gave him her own hug. "Hey brah. You look better than the last time I saw you." He looked haggard and pain lines creased his forehead. A row of stitches highlighted the red wound on his shoulder that stood out on his too pale skin. The two older scars on his abdomen and the two on his arm were now much less noticeable. He felt a bit warm to her touch and his face glistened with a fine sheen of sweat, which worried her a bit. But he was awake and talking which was so much better than when she last saw him still out cold from the surgery.

"Seems to be a consistent opinion," Danny laughed. "Thanks for coming, Kono, and for bringing this special blessing over here." He reached for Grace's hand and squeezed.

"Anytime brah." Looking at him sitting there in nothing but his shorts, Kono couldn't help but admire his broad-shouldered, well muscled physique, which reminded her. "Make a new friend?" she asked with a smirk, nodding her head at the now empty door where the very young flirtatious hospital worker had left. "What's that all about?"

Danny glanced at the door and caught on to her kidding. "Hey, people like me, Kono. When Steve's not around to intimidate them," he jested back, eliciting a chuckle from Kono.

"Look at all this stuff," Grace said as she admired the gifts that had been delivered.

"Melissa outdo herself?" Kono kidded, but Danny just shook his head no.

Grace read names off some of the gift cards. "Grandma and Pop, Aunt Stella, that's Eric's mom," she explained to Kono in case she didn't know. She read off a few other family names, explaining to Kono who each one was. "Ooooh, chocolate covered fruit! We have to open that. It's from the Selways." Again she explained to Kono. "Their son was best friends with Danno, but he died. They have albums full of pictures of the two of them as little kids. I love looking at them. They have a picture of me and Danno on their wall, too."

Kono glanced at Danny. Saw the flash of aching remembrance. Said nothing. Grace kept right on going. "Are these shrimp?" she asked about a batch of balloons.

"I think so Monkey. They're from Kame and Flippa."

"They look weird if you ask me," Kono opined.

"Danno, who's Vikki Lavergne?"

"Uh, she was in the class I was teaching."

That really caught Kono's attention. "She gave you a bear holding a heart?! Seriously Danny? She the teacher's pet?"

Danny was blushing now and tried to change the subject. "Hey, I see you brought some balloons."

But Grace and Kono were too intrigued by the gifts to be distracted. Every name that Grace didn't know was a female name. She read them off. "You have some kind of fan club going at that university?" Kono finally asked, a huge grin on her face. She was actually impressed that he had made that much of an impression but she wasn't going to tell him that.

Danny shrugged and quickly regretted it as the pain shot through his back. He gasped but tried to cover it up. He never wanted Grace to worry. But she noticed, they both did, and they came right over to him. "You okay Danno?"

"Yeah," he breathed out eventually as the pain leveled off. Blowing air out softly to relax, he finally was able to speak again. "Hey Monkey. Which stuffed animal do you like best? Take your pick and it's yours."

Grace looked them over and then picked up the cute light haired bear with its arm in a tiny little sling and hugged it. "I like this one. Thanks Danno. He's Ben, Professor Ben Jeffries and I love him already."

Smiling broadly, Danny turned to Kono. "You can have one too. But not this one." He nodded to the one in the police uniform. As Kono shook her head in declination, Danny went on. "That's for Charlie. Would you bring it to him for me, Grace?"

"He'll love it," Grace agreed with a nod. "He wanted to come but Mom said no. He picked out the balloons, though." She grabbed the balloons they brought in and moved them next to the bed. A monkey, a tiger, and a seal shaped balloons.

Danny laughed, albeit cautiously. "Danno's zoo."

Grace again explained to Kono. "I'm Monkey. Charlie is Tiger and the seal is…"

Kono got it now. "Let me guess. The seal is Steve." She snickered. "That's cute Danny, really cute."

Still holding the bear, Grace hopped off the bed. "I have some other things for you, too. Eric helped me with some of them." She picked up two plastic grocery bags and placed them on the long windowsill shelf near the bed and looked in, pulling out some of the items as she went. "Toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, hair gel, electric beard trimmer – Eric said you probably couldn't safely use a razor with your left hand and I didn't want you cutting yourself. Let's see, what else, in this bag there's a few pairs of shorts and boxers and clothes for when you get to come home! I hope that's tomorrow." She turned around and looked at Danny, a big smile lighting up her angelic face.

"I love you Monkey, thank you. Eric helped you with that?"

"Yep, I called him and we decided what you needed and he put it all in the bags, so Kono could pick them up."

"I guess I owe him another thank you." He grinned now as he pretended to growl. "And then I'll let him know to never go through my things again. Let a guy be your house guest for six months and he thinks he owns the place."

"Check this out," Grace said, beaming. She hated that her Dad was so badly injured but she loved spoiling him when he was. She pulled a stack of papers from another bag. "Ms. Kalua had my class make get-well cards for you. She gave us lots of time to make them too." She leaned towards Kono and whispered conspiratorially, "I think she likes my dad."

"I heard that Monkey," Danny said with a clear father's warning voice while Kono responded to Grace's words with a wink. "You shouldn't be talking like that."

"But it's true."

"Even if it was, which it's not, it's not something you should be saying."

Grace looked at him with those big, brown puppy dog eyes that got to him every time. "I'm sorry Danno."

"I know Monkey. Just think before you talk, huh?"

Kono snorted.

"What are you laughing at rookie?" She wasn't a rookie anymore, hadn't been for five years, but sometimes, the nickname just seemed to fit. She actually didn't mind when Danny said it. Somehow it made her feel special.

"Just thinking about a pot and a kettle."

Grace looked confused while Danny shook his head. "You are so not funny." He then turned back to his daughter. "Please tell Ms. Kalua and your class that I said thank you. It was very nice of all of them." It would give him something to do when he was alone and bored the next day.

"There's more," Grace said as she pulled a Tupperware box from another bag. "Charlie and I made brownies!" That really made Danny perk up. "But, don't worry, Eric didn't help."

Danny laughed. He knew Grace could make brownies by herself now. She was 14 after all and had done it with Danny's supervision many times. "What are we waiting for then?" he asked, mentally rubbing his hands together in glee while taking the box from his daughter. "Get the basket from the Selway's. We're going to have a party!"

Just then, Chin walked in. "Hey man, how's it going?" He stuck out his left hand for Danny to shake.

"Couldn't be better. Got the best medicine around," Danny replied, his left arm now pointing to his daughter who was bringing the basket over. "Thanks for coming."

"Abby sends her best wishes," Chin said, with a tinge of pink coloring the tips of his ears.

"She does, huh? Tell her I send my love. We'll have to get together sometime so I can share my undercover adventure stories with her." Danny teased, recalling the time back at the Palace when this whole thing started and Chin looked a bit jealous at Abby's interest in Danny's undercover work.

"Bring Melissa and we'll make it a double date," Chin said, grinning.

"That good, huh?" Danny asked, purposely not responding about Melissa. He still hadn't heard from her after the morning text when she said she was busy and wasn't sure when she could come. It hurt to think about what it might mean and he just couldn't handle it now.

Chin blushed. "I guess you could say that."

"You can definitely say that," Kono piped in to tease her cousin. "He picks her up in the morning, they ride together during the day so he can 'show her the ropes' of course, and then he brings her home, maybe has dinner with her …"

"Well, she is all alone on this pineapple infested island," Danny pointed out.

"See, he understands," Chin told Kono, still blushing.

"Well, she's welcome to come and join the party we're about to have."

"Party? Celebrating something?" Chin asked.

"I'm still breathing, that's good enough reason for me," Danny said with a smile. He didn't mention that breathing hurt, "and I have every intention of using this arm again so we'll throw that in too."

The three visitors stopped silently in their tracks and looked at Danny. "You can move your hand, Danno?" Grace asked for all of them.

"Nope. Not yet, but I will." At least that's how he felt at the moment and what he wanted his daughter to believe.

"Good on ya, brah. Stay positive," Chin told him as Danny set to work opening the box of brownies. He looked around the room at all the flowers and gifts. "Woah, what's with all the flowers and stuff? Melissa get all mushy on you?"

Danny found it unsurprising that the two cousins had the same sense of humor, a bad sense of humor at that the way he felt right now. He knew they had no idea how much the subject of Melissa rankled him right now so he simply chose to ignore the question rather than reply to it.

"They're from the Professor Jeffries fan club at the University," Kono said with a jaunty laugh.

Grace unknowingly saved Danny from further enquiry on that subject. "Look at this Uncle Chin. Chocolate covered fruit from the Selways." Grace spoke as she opened the clear plastic wrap that covered the treats.

Chin turned to Danny. "Who are the Selways?" He didn't recognize the name.

"Friends from Jersey. Their son and I were friends," Danny answered vaguely, still trying to open the box with one hand.

But Grace didn't hold the heartache her father did so she piped in with more information, although she didn't have many details. "Billy was Danno's best friend. He died when they were kids. His parents love my dad." She finished unwrapping the basket.

Chin and Kono each glanced at Danny and then exchanged a look. Chin spoke for both of them. "Sorry about your friend, man." It was cliché, but it couldn't go unsaid.

Danny looked up from the box and nodded his acceptance, then spoke to Grace, his voice a little strained, the closed box he was struggling with still in his lap. "You going to keep all the chocolate covered bananas to yourself or will you share, you little monkey?"

"Is that how you got your nickname? Because you love bananas?" Kono asked.

"Well that and because she used to climb everywhere," Danny said with a big smile, still fiddling with the box lid as Grace bit into a chocolate covered banana.

"When I was little, Danno would stand with his hands on his knees and I would climb all the way up to his shoulders."

"Sounds fun," Kono said. She loved her own father dearly, but they never had the close relationship that Danny and Grace had. It was unique and special.

Chin's thoughts mirrored Kono's. Danny could be irascible, sarcastic, argumentative and difficult to be around, but his fierce loyalty to those closest to him was unparalleled.

As if to prove the first part of Chin's thoughts Danny spoke up. "Somebody going to give me something from that basket or you going to make me get up and get it myself? And if you want any brownies you're going to have to open this yourself. Add it to the list of things you can't do with one hand." He dropped the box back onto the bed in defeat.

"Get it yourself, brah. I'm busy," Kono said as she took a bite of chocolate covered pineapple. Chin grabbed one just like it.

"Hey! Save some pineapple for the sick guy."

"I thought you hated pineapple," Kono said in reply.

"Only on pizza. Pineapple on pizza is…"

"An abomination," came three voices in unison.

"Ah, so you know!" Danny grinned in victory.