A/N: The next couple of chapters has some medical things in it that have been documented and written about, but that may not be mainstream treatments. I know it's vague, but I'm just reminding readers that this is fiction, LOL. So if you read something and think there is no way that could happen, just know that it was researched, and it can happen - but it may not be utilized that often.

To the anonymous and signed reviewers - thank you for your encouraging words. I can't reply to all of you, but hope you know how much I really appreciate you.

And geez - this chapter didn't want to break properly anywhere else, so you get a long chapter.

H50 H50

Chapter 10

Danny managed to rest for much of the remainder of the night. He awoke with a bit of a medication hangover and wondered just what had gone on. He remembered coming awake quickly and there being a world of pain in his ribs, but the rest of the 'what happened' questions would have to wait for a bit.

Steve was gone, but Danny saw his note on the white board telling him that he had gone to grab some coffee and a shower.

Danny shifted in bed and swore as his muscles screamed at the change in position. Marissa, his day nurse, poked her head into the room with his breakfast tray.

"Hi Mr. Williams. I'm Marissa, and I'll be your nurse for today. How are you feeling?" She set the tray down on the table and grinned at the double frame that rested there.

Danny followed her gaze and something niggled in the back of his mind that involved Grace, but he couldn't figure out what it was. "It's Danny, please. I'm a little fuzzy, to be honest. I think something happened last night, but I'm not sure what it was – I'm guessing it involved medication?"

Marissa nodded. "Cody shared with me that you had quite the rough dream last night – he had to give you medication for pain and for nausea. Do you remember what it was about?"

Danny looked back at the picture, as if it would give him the answers. As he stared at Grace, snippets of his dream started to bubble to the surface – Grace in the water – Grace grabbing at his arm – Grace trapped. Shit…Grace trapped. All too forcefully, the dream exploded in a rolling boil; building in its intensity until Danny gasped. "Grace!"

Marissa reached out to steady Danny, but he shook his head. "Fuck. sorry…I just…let's just say I no longer have any difficulty in remembering what the dream was about. It's all there in Technicolor HD."

Danny looked like he was about to be sick, so Marissa grabbed an emesis basin. Danny waved her off. "I'm okay…or I will be, anyway."

Just then, Steve made it back from his coffee run. He could tell that something was off. He needed to not overwhelm Danny, so he approached cautiously. "Danny? You all right?

Danny looked at Steve with absolute despair in his eyes…he might have been able to hide it from most people, but not Steve. "Just remembered the dream from last night. I need to see Grace…I need to make sure that she's okay." Danny's mind was not doing well with the sudden change in direction – Grace was fine yesterday but not at all last night. Dreams…reality…they both were fighting for dominance, and he was exhausted trying to keep up with them.

Steve nodded and grabbed his phone. "Let me text Chin and see if she's up. I promise you that she's fine, but I get it."

Marissa kept an eye on her patient. It was clear that he was upset, but seemed to be handling things fairly well. She knew that he had had a rough night and hoped he wasn't headed for more of the same today.

Steve clipped his phone back to his belt and sat down in the chair next to Danny's bed. Remembering what Cody had said about not bottling things in, he decided to reach out. "Do you want to talk about it, D? I don't want to push, but I know it rattled you pretty good."

Marissa saw that Danny's vitals had improved to a more normal state, so she pointed at the tray. "I know it's hard, Danny, but I want you to try to at least drink what's on your tray, okay? There's juice and tea – if you want coffee, I can probably get you some decaf…but that will be key to getting you to a regular room, among other things."

Danny nodded and tried to calm his churning stomach. "I'll try…can't promise anything, but I will try."

Steve's phone rang and Danny's heart caught in his throat. He knew it was ridiculous the way he was acting, but his head was a mess right now.

"Hey, Chin. Thanks for calling so quickly." Steve smiled and Danny let out a breath. "Yeah, he's here. Hang on."

Steve handed Danny the phone. "Someone wants to say hi."

Danny had to swallow a couple of times before any sound would come out. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Danno! Are you feeling better today?" Grace's voice washed over him like a gentle stream, cooling off the fiery fear that had burned him from the inside out.

"Aww, Monkey. It's so good to hear your voice, baby girl." Grace had told him once that she didn't mind if he still called her that, even though she was eleven – she knew it was something special between her and her dad…kind of like Danno and Monkey were.

Grace could tell that something was off with her dad. He sounded…well, sad was the best way she could describe. "What's wrong, Danno?"

Danny blew out a shallow breath. He wasn't about to cry in front of his daughter. Blinking furiously to try to regain his composure he shook his head, not caring that she couldn't see him. "I'm okay, Monkey. I just had a really bad dream last night, but hearing from you is making it all better. I promise."

Grace bit her lip as she digested what her dad had told her. She kind of wondered if the dream was about her – but she didn't want to ask him and make him sadder. She decided to try to cheer him up, and vowed to text Steve later on to make sure her dad was okay.

"Guess what we did? Uncle Chin and Auntie Kono made a huge blanket fort in the living room. Uncle Chin found the closet with the extra sheets and blankets in it, and he showed me how to use these clip things to hold the sheets up. The way he put it, we can still see the TV, but we're inside the fort. I'll send Uncle Steve a picture and he can show you, okay? I told you about it on the video – did Uncle Steve play it for you?"

Danny chuckled softly. "He did, babe. A lot of times. I love you, too. And sending me a picture would be great, Monkey. That would be so unbelievably great."

Steve could see that Danny was flagging – hearing from Grace had brought such a sense of relief that once the emotional upheaval had settled down, Danny physically was deflating before his eyes. He waved at Marissa, who had stepped out into the hallway, wanting her to take a peek at Danny but also to justify his ulterior motives. He motioned for Danny to give him the phone, and after a couple of murmured grumbles, Steve now had Grace on the line.

"Hey, Gracie…Danno has to go for a little bit. One of the nurses just came in. Are we going to see you later?" He listened and smiled at her answer.

"That sounds good – tell Chin and Kono to text first just to make sure he's awake, okay? I'll tell him, I promise." Steve disconnected the call, passing on Grace's message to Danny that she loved him. He couldn't quite interpret Danny's look, but went for the proactive explanation just in case.

"I'm not sorry – I know it's been a rough morning, and you need to try to keep things calm. Grace is coming by later…one of the cousins will bring her in about an hour. You needed to see that she was okay, and now that you've heard from her, you need to try to slow things down for a little bit."

Danny shook his head. "I'm not mad – I wasn't going to be able to stay on the phone much longer without losing it – so thank you for not letting me break down in front of my daughter. She's been traumatized enough by me…this…whatever…she didn't need to listen to my potential meltdown. I know she didn't die – I just fucking talked to her, but the dream? It was so real. How am I supposed to be strong for her when I can't even make sense of things?"

Steve sat down next to him as Marissa charted his vital signs. Her nod reassured him that Danny was doing okay. "Danny, man; don't do this – you shouldn't beat yourself up. Grace is fine – she'll be fine as long as she sees you making progress. The situation was fucked up from the start, but that isn't on you – you didn't ask for this to happen. This wasn't job related – it was just a freak accident. And I wouldn't call this a meltdown. I get it, Danny. You needed to hear Grace's voice. You've done that for me when I needed reminding that there was good in the world – remember? The case with the Ranger suicide? You brought Grace over, even when I said I wanted to be alone. And then last year when Grace was in the hospital – both you and Grace were there to show me that I couldn't have done anything different to save her. So you needing to talk to your daughter? It makes perfect sense."

Danny blew out a breath. He was beyond frustrated at how shitty he felt and how slowly he felt he was progressing. But he knew that Steve was right. He heard from Grace – and would see her in about sixty minutes. One short hour out of the twenty-four he had been granted for today. He could do this. He could deal with whatever as long as he focused on the fact that Grace would be here in an hour.

Resignedly, he picked up the small cup of cranberry juice and sipped it. It didn't taste horrible…it didn't taste good. As a matter of fact, it didn't really taste like anything. But he knew that drinking more would not only get the IV out, but would get the catheter out as well. And that was something he could get behind sooner, rather than later.

H50 H50

Danny had been able to doze a little more after hearing from Grace, but was fairly wide awake right now. He knew that some of the medications were messing with his state of mind – he wasn't sleeping that well, and knew that part of it was related to the terrifying dreams that seemed to stalk him in the middle of the night.

He had only had a couple, but they were more than enough. He understood that his mind was still trying to work through everything that had happened – and that bad dreams were likely on the agenda for a while longer.

Cody had talked to him earlier this morning before he went off shift. Steve had stayed pretty soundly sleeping, which Danny was a little surprised at. Cody hadn't given him any magical words of wisdom during their whispered conversation, but had told him of the possibility of PTSD rearing its ugly head.

Danny appreciated his candidness, and having seen Grace benefit from a few therapy sessions at least had him considering the option, should he need it. He figured he could get a recommendation from either Dr. Kuwada or Dr. Teleia – or even from Steve. The SEAL had never made a big deal out of it, but Danny knew that he had met with a guy at Pearl a few times over the years that they had been partners.

Danny glanced at the clock on the wall and tried to calm his breathing. It seemed as though the closer it got to Grace's visit, the more the anxiety was starting to seep out of him. Steve had gone to the small kitchen and brought him back a lemon ice cup. For whatever reason, the icy cold confection was helping to settle the persistent nausea that had been in the background from the moment he had been awake enough to realize how shitty he truly felt.

"Ten more minutes, Danny. Just ten more." Steve kept his voice low, not wanting to startle Danny.

Danny shook his head. "You must think I'm a fucking nut job, huh? Badass detective can't go ten minutes without freaking the hell out." His self-deprecation was palpable, as was the almost defeated look on his face.

Steve moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "Danny, don't. I mean it. Cut yourself some slack here, okay? Between the stress of the accident, and then the anxiety of waking up on a ventilator – I get it. I mean, I really get it. I can't go into too much detail, but there was a point in time where I was where you are right now. Only…I didn't have Grace's visit to look forward to. I spent a few days sort of locked in this hell where I didn't know whether I was coming or going. Nothing made sense…nothing was right, you know? It took time before things were straightened out enough that I could tell the truth from my fucked up mind, but it happened eventually. And Danny, I promise you, man. You don't have to go through this alone. If you need one more reminder or a hundred more reminders that Grace is okay, then that's what you'll get."

Danny blinked at the tears rolling down his cheeks. A part of him was embarrassed that he was so emotional, but another part of him was suddenly pissed at John and Doris for the way Steve's early adult life had to be lived because of the choices they made. He knew that Steve was proud of his time in the military, but during that time, he had been shoved into becoming a man; essentially alone and keeping everyone at arm's length.

He took a breath, hoping to quell the shaking from deep inside his chest. "I just…I don't know what I'm doing, Steve. I don't feel like me, you know? I can say it out loud that Grace is fine, but then my mind kicks into overdrive and all I picture is her wipeout ending with her trapped at the bottom of the fucking ocean. How do I stop it? Huh? How do I shut my mind off? I'm so damn tired, Steve. I sleep, but I'm not asleep. How stupid is that?"

Steve reached out and squeezed Danny's forearm. "It's not stupid. You're still recovering from a pretty rough go of everything – between the accident and then getting pneumonia and sepsis on top of it? It's going to take time, but I'll bet that once you're out of here and in a regular room, you'll start to feel more normal. If I were you, though, I'd mention it to the Doc and see if there's anything she would recommend."

Danny nodded his head. "I thought I'd bring it up whenever she came in. I don't care what I have to do, but I know I have to do something. I don't want to keep feeling like this, you know?"

"Feeling like what, Danny?" Dr. Kuwada had come into the room at the tail end of their conversation and had an inkling as to what was going on. Cody had left a note in his chart regarding the nightmare and Danny not sleeping very well. Part of the problem was being in the ICU. There were windows but they were small, and in Danny's case, faced a wall; and patients tended to get off of their normal sleep cycles, mixing up days and nights and the like. Combine that with trying to recover physically from whatever put them in the ICU – Danny would not be the first patient to ever struggle with this type of thing.

Danny glanced at the clock and then at Steve, who quickly figured out what was going on. "Grace should be here soon. I'll go out and meet her in the waiting room. I'll give you about ten minutes…is that good?"

Danny shrugged, but nodded. He had no idea how long this would take.

Abby, however, had also picked up on the cues. "I'll call the volunteer if we're done sooner, okay?"

Steve grinned, glad that Danny would hopefully get some help to get him through the rough patch. "Sounds good. See you guys in a bit."

Danny was absentmindedly picking at the frozen dessert, not realizing that he had eaten almost the whole thing. Abby doubted whether he knew he had done that, either. She had a feeling that the vast majority of Danny's nausea was antibiotic related. But a small part could be tied to the anxiety from the dreams.

"Danny, look. You kind of look like you're heading for a firing squad here, so I'm going to make it easy for you. I saw Cody's note. I know you've had a couple of nightmares and potentially are worried about PTSD developing. I also know you're not sleeping that well, which, given everything that has happened since your admission, is not the least bit surprising. I think I have a solution – one that we'll try and see how you do. It's a medication called prazosin. It's actually a blood pressure medication which has shown fair progress in treating nightmares and insomnia due to PTSD. It's not a medicine that will put you to sleep, so to speak, but it will keep you asleep longer and will help curb the nightmares. It helps to block the adrenaline so that you get into a deeper REM sleep, which is what your body needs in order to heal."

Danny had never before appreciated something just putting it out there like that. He wasn't sure he would have gotten to the root of things so quickly, but was thankful Dr. Kuwada had. "How did…I mean, I guess it's in my chart, but…are you sure this will work?"

Abby grinned at him and squeezed his hand. "Honestly…not 100 percent certain, but I really believe it will help. Look, Danny. We're not sure that this is PTSD full blown or not. But if it is, there's not one person associated with you that would be surprised. And not because you somehow failed at your recovery. Your daughter means the world to you – it makes sense that your brain is struggling with this. For now, we'll try this to see if we can't get you some good solid sleep, which may be all you need to get the nightmares to slow or stop. If it works like I think it will, we will work to wean you back off of it in a few weeks and see how you do. You're not alone, Danny. I'm going to do my best to help you with this, I promise."

Danny's eyes flooded again, and he may or may not have held onto Dr. Kuwada's fingers a few seconds longer than necessary when she handed him a tissue.

She waited until he had composed himself before speaking with a much gentler tone. "Danny, sweetheart. I need you to really listen here for a second, okay? I have a plan for you, but I need to know you're on board with this."

Danny nodded and swallowed hard against the emotion still clogging his throat.

"Good. Now, the first thing will be to start you on the prazosin. We'll start at 1mg tonight at bedtime. We'll leave you on that dose for a few days and see how you do. If it works, great. If not, we will go up every few days until we find the dose that works for you. Some people have found relief within a couple of days, so we'll see how it goes. I don't think that you'll need to be on this for any great length of time, but I am also going to give you some recommendations for counselors that work with your insurance I understand you know Dr. Teleia? With your permission, I'd like to confer with her and see if we can't find a couple of names that would do you the most good, should you need to meet with someone. If the nightmares don't abate, you may wish to try a few sessions of talking things out. I'm highly on board with that as an option, just so you know. I've seen it work tremendously well for others in your shoes."

She saw Danny's nod and continued on. "Also, you keep improving like you are, then tomorrow we'll move you to the regular floor. I'm satisfied with everything except for how much you are eating and drinking, so I need you to try to step it up. I think that we can also get rid of the catheter…and yes, before Grace comes in, so wipe that pleading look off of your face, mister. And I'm going to go out on a limb and say that none of us like you enough to want to have to put it back in – so you're going to have to keep trying to drink more. We can keep up with the nausea medication if we need to – at least for the time being."

Danny smiled, his heart feeling lighter than it had in days. Abby just grinned and shook her head right back at him.

"I'm also going to write in your transfer orders for tomorrow that you are to be out of bed as tolerated. Now, that doesn't mean push yourself to the point where you end up back on your ass…you're still dealing with broken ribs that I know cause you some pain. But if you wanted to sit in a wheelchair and let your daughter push you down to the garden, or to the cafeteria, or hell, to the benches in front of the hospital…just let your nurse know where you're headed, okay? We can even make a trip part of your PT session – Ryan had mentioned it to me, and I think it's a great idea. Finally, if you keep this up, I will tentatively look at discharging you in the next 72 hours, provided you show me that you can maintain things at home."

Danny could only nod at first. He almost wanted to pinch himself when he realized that this nightmare was possibly on its way to being over soon. "Thanks, Doc. I mean it…I just…thank you for everything. I know I owe you so much more than that, but that's all I have for right now."

Abby leaned forward and gave him a tight hug. "That's all I need, Danny. And you're so very welcome. You got the ending we always hope for – and I'm happy to have been in the right place at the right time to help you."

Danny dropped his head back onto his pillow, suddenly feeling the weight of everything that had happened. He was exhausted, and truly hoped he managed to get some sleep tonight. He wasn't expecting the new medication to be a wonder drug, but if it got him even a few hours of uninterrupted rest, he'd be thrilled.

He felt her hand on his shoulder and glanced wearily in her direction. "Please take it easy, Danny. While I know you're feeling better, the fact is, you're still recovering. I'll have Marissa come in and take care of that catheter for you, and then enjoy your visit with your daughter. I'm even willing to allow her to visit you for fifteen minutes this time, provided you promise that you will rest once she leaves. I'll go stall her for a few minutes while you get yourself unattached. It might be cantankerous of me, but your discharge to the regular floor hinges on how well you take it easy this afternoon – so don't push me, okay? You relax this afternoon and try to drink a little more. We'll start the prazosin tonight, and then tomorrow we look to get you into a regular room with activity as tolerated. I like you, Danny – but I'm getting kind of tired of seeing your ugly mug in here."

Her eyes twinkled as she grinned at him on her way out the door. He could only shake his head in response as she sashayed into the hallway, dancing to her own tune; not even trying to resemble the esteemed physician that she was.

Within the next few minutes, Marissa had blessedly removed the catheter, gotten him into a pair of scrub pants, and had helped Danny settle into the reclining chair. He was much less dizzy than before, which was probably due to him taking things a bit more slowly and having forced himself to drink more. His stomach was still really nauseous, but he was sipping on some ginger tea that Marissa had made for him earlier. She swore by it, and so far, it wasn't bothering him too much.

"Danno!" He opened his eyes to see Grace rushing into the room. Within seconds, she was tucked against his side, just like before.

"Hey, Monkey. How are you doing? I've missed you so much." Danny's voice was a little hoarse as he fought against the emotion threatening to spill out again.

"I missed you too, Danno. Are you feeling any better? Did you have any more bad dreams?" Grace had told herself that she wasn't going to ask her dad about the dreams, but truth be told, she was worried about him. He looked really tired still, and she kind of thought that he might not be sleeping very well.

Danny kissed the top of her head a few times in rapid succession before taking a shallow breath. "I didn't have any more after I talked to you. You must have been really good medicine for me."

Grace just grinned. She loved hearing that she helped her dad, even if it was something as simple as talking to him on the phone. "I loved getting to talk to you, Danno. I'm glad you're getting better."

Steve hadn't heard the latest news, so Danny figured he's share with both of them at the same time. "Well, guess what, Monkey? Dr. Kuwada says I'm doing better enough to get to move to the regular floor tomorrow. And you know what that means, right?"

He waited to see if she figured it out, but she looked a little puzzled as she shook her head.

Danny smiled as he shared what Abby had told him. "That means that if I'm on the regular floor, you get to visit as long as you want to. No more time limits. And she said that I'm allowed to move around a little bit, so if we want to go for a little walk down the halls, we can. We can go out to the garden or down to the cafeteria. I just have to go a little slow, because my ribs still are still pretty sore. Also, if I move too fast, it's like I just ran a race and I have to slow my breathing down. But, babe – Dr. Kuwada wasn't kidding when she said that I'm doing better. I might even get to go home in a few more days. What do you think about that?"

Grace was silent for a while, but eventually, Danny could hear her quiet sniffles as she tried not to cry out loud. The truth was, Danny understood – he got it. He tucked her more carefully against his side. "Aww, babe. I know. It's okay, Grace…everything is going to be okay."

Grace shook her head, embarrassed at showing her emotions like that. "I know, Danno…"

Danny shared a soft smile with Steve, as the two waited for Grace to pull herself together. Finally, she lifted her chin and wiped at her eyes.

"Wanna know a secret, Monkey? I had a few tears myself when Dr. Kuwada told me that I might get to go home by Friday."

Her giggle snuck through, despite her best efforts, making both Steve and Danny chuckle out loud as well. "I'm just so happy you're getting better. I love you, Danno."

He kissed the top of her head once more and murmured, "I love you, too, Monkey. To the moon and back."

Steve just sat back and watched as Danny and Grace whispered contentedly back and forth. This particular visit seemed to be medicine for both of them. He quietly took out his phone and texted Chin, wondering if anything had gone on with Grace last night or not that would have her more emotional than normal, given the situation.

Shortly and over the course of a few messages, Chin had texted back to tell him that Grace had been a little more quiet than normal, but that she had promised it wasn't anything that she needed to write down. She was just worried about her dad. Chin said he thought that Grace might have had a nightmare, but she wouldn't talk about it with him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve could see that Grace was now cuddled against Danny's chest, resting with her eyes closed. He could see that Danny was a bit worried, as Grace was usually much more chatty with her dad. Catching his eye, Steve mouthed the word nightmare, and knew that Danny understood when his own eyes closed as well, and he wrapped his arms a little tighter around his daughter.

Steve tilted his head towards the hallway while holding his empty coffee cup, silently telling Danny that he was going to go to the staff lounge. He wasn't sure whether Danny wanted to talk to Grace privately or not, so he was giving him an out if he wanted it.

"Hey, Monkey. Uncle Steve is going to get some coffee – do you want him to bring you back a juice or something?"

Grace shook her head. "No thanks, Uncle Steve."

Giving her a wink, he headed for the break room while Danny shifted a little more comfortably in the chair. "Hey, Grace? Wanna tell me what's going through your head right about now? You're kind of quiet, babe. Is everything okay?"

Grace shrugged one shoulder before looking up at her dad and remembering her promise to be brave. "I just had a bad dream last night."

Danny kissed her cheek before settling back against the pillows. "What was it about?"

Grace was silent for a few moments before turning to look at her father. "My phone rang and it was Uncle Steve. I got excited because I thought he was calling with good news. But when I answered the phone – he told me…he said that you died, Danno. He said that he wasn't going to stay here any more because you were gone, and that he was going to go back to the Navy. It really scared me, because I thought I lost you and Uncle Steve at the same time. I know it was a dream, but it seemed like it really happened."

Danny pulled her so that she was facing him and linked his fingers around her back. "Aww, babe. I'm sorry you had that dream. I'm glad you know it wasn't real, but dreams like that are really scary, aren't they?"

Grace contemplated his words. "You had one like that, too? When I talked to you on the phone?"

Danny chuckled to himself. His daughter was one bright girl. "I did."

She stared, pensively; understanding just what type of dream would have scared her dad like that. "Did I die in your dream, Danno?"

Danny blew out a breath. He didn't even want to think of that dream again, for fear of even remotely putting it out there in the universe. "I couldn't get to you, Monkey. You were stuck under the water, and I couldn't save you."

Grace shook her head. "But I'm okay, Danno. I was never stuck like you thought."

Danny smiled wryly. "I know that now, but just like you, I thought it really happened."

Grace leaned forward and gave her dad a big hug. "I'm glad we're both okay, Danno."

Danny took a breath and blew it out as he nestled his chin on her shoulder. "Me too, baby girl. Me too."

Steve poked his head back into the room and could not help but smile as he took sight of his best friend. This was the most peaceful he had looked in a while, and he took out his phone and captured a picture that he knew Danny would want to have.

"Hey sweetheart? I just saw Dr. Abby and she said to tell you that your fifteen minutes was up, but that tomorrow, she expects to see you in Danny's room for the whole day." He smiled at the slight scowl on her face, understanding her disappointment.

"Okay, but I'm going to see if Uncle Chin can bring me in time to have breakfast with Danno."

Danny grimaced, as the thought of food still had his stomach turning inside out. "Do you think you could maybe bring me another smoothie? I'm still not super hungry, but maybe we could share one?"

Grace nodded enthusiastically. "And you have movies on your iPad – maybe we can watch them together tomorrow? I'll bring my art book and some colored pencils – I can draw if you get tired and need to rest. I also have a book report due next week – I will bring my book and can read if you take a nap, too."

Steve was impressed with Grace's ability to realize that her dad was not up to doing much activity and had planned her visit accordingly. "That sounds perfect, Grace – you thought of some great things to bring with you tomorrow. Now how about if I take you back to Uncle Chin and the two of you can get back home and pack your things together."

Grace was more secure this time when it came to leaving her dad. She gave him one more hug and kiss before moving towards the door and taking Steve's hand. "Bye, Danno. I love you! See you tomorrow!"

He grinned as she practically bounced out the door. "Bye, Monkey. Be good, okay?" She was already dragging Steve towards the elevator, but Danny held no worries that his daughter would be anything but on her best behavior.

He sighed as he contemplated getting back into bed. He hated that he had no endurance whatsoever, but understood that it was to be expected. It didn't mean that he had to like it, though.

Marissa peeked around the curtain, and seeing that Danny was alone, bustled into the room. "Are you okay sitting there for a while longer, or are you about done?"

Danny grimaced as his ribs burned from him being upright. "I hate to say it, but I'm done."

Marissa nodded and moved to Danny's side. "I know you hate hearing it, but give it time, Danny. You will get back to your normal activity level before too long. I know it may not feel like it now, but I've been doing this a long time, and I promise you it will happen."

The hitch in his breath prompted Marissa to take more of Danny's weight. "Just breathe, Danny. Holding your breath makes things worse." She helped him stand steady for a moment while he regained control of his breathing before guiding him the few steps to his bed.

"Do you want a clean gown before we get you settled?"

Danny shook his head. "I'm okay for now. Maybe later I can get a few wet washcloths and clean up a little?"

Marissa nodded her head. "Absolutely. We can even try a sit-down shower if you feel up to it?"

Danny was a little embarrassed by the noise that came out of his mouth, but the idea of an actual shower after not having had one for so long was almost orgasmic in nature. Marissa's laughter followed him as he carefully sat down and shifted a quarter turn so that he could rest back against the pillows.

He glared as she bumped up his oxygen level, but before he had a chance to complain, she had fixed him with a stare. "Just for a little while, Danny. It'll help your breathing. I can tell you're winded – just humor me for the next twenty minutes or so and then we'll work our way back down. Okay?"

Reluctantly, he nodded. Truth was? He felt pretty wrecked after his longer trip out of bed. To say he was discouraged would be an understatement, but right this moment, he felt like he would never recover from this.

Marissa finished getting Danny settled and stepped back out towards the pod where the computers were housed. On her way, she saw Steve coming back and motioned for him to wait. Stalling his nervous questions, she held up a hand. "He's okay, Steve. I'm just a little bit concerned at where his head is right now. His trip out of bed really wiped him out, and I know he's frustrated. I just don't want him to be too worried. This is all normal for someone in his situation, including the frustration. Just…keep an eye on him. Try not to let him get too low, if you can."

Steve nodded. He had worried about this, wondering whether Danny would end up trying to push himself too hard on his quest to recover and get out of the hospital. "I think Ryan is supposed to come and see him later…do you think Danny will be up for it?"

Marissa nodded. "He should bounce back pretty quickly, I imagine. He just needs to rest and listen to what his body is telling him. I bumped him up on the oxygen for a little while just until his breathing settles down – it's not a setback, but he's feeling like it is."

Steve could see into Danny's room and saw that his head was facing away from the doorway. Thanking Marissa for the warning, he headed towards his best friend. He kept quiet on the off chance that Danny was napping, but the minute he stepped over to the window seat, Danny's eyes were open again.

"I'll bet Grace starts making noise at about 5:00 in the morning – she's so excited to get to spend the day here tomorrow." Steve grinned as he sat down on the cushion.

Danny shook his head. "I'm excited too. I'd be more excited if I wasn't lying here like a wet blanket."

Ahh, there it was. "Danny…"

Danny waved him off. "I'm sorry. Don't mind me. I'm just feeling sorry for myself today."

Steve nodded. "I know it's hard to see from where you are, but it's only been a couple of days. Give it a couple more and you'll be feeling more like yourself."

Danny blew out a breath before reluctantly nodding. "I hate this so much. You know that, right?"

Steve grinned. "Not a doubt in my mind, man. Not a doubt in my mind."

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