Here's the next chapter, posted between meetings...
Reviews are greatly appreciated, I'm hoping to personally reply to them this week.
Enjoy!

When Danny had his emotions in check again, he asked what was in the bag that was next to Steve's chair. Steve had simply dumped the bag on the floor after Danny had been brought to his room and totally forgotten about the stuff that Kono had brought.

He grabbed the bag and emptied it on Danny's bed. A small card fluttered to the ground. He picked it up and handed it to Danny, trying to see what it said, but without success.

When Danny read the card, his face split into a wide smile. "What does it say?" Steve asked, a little curious.

"You'd really like to know that, wouldn't you? But that stays between me and Kono," Danny said, grinning a little.

Steve was tempted to throw something at his head to wipe the smug grin of Danny's face, but decided not to, mostly because Danny wouldn't be impressed by it anyway.

Danny rummaged through his stuff,clearly looking for something. Apparently he didn't find what he was looking for, and he looked a little disappointed.

"What are you looking for?" Steve asked, looking at the mess Danny had made one-handedly, itching to clean it up.

"I was reading a book, but I don't think it's here. I need to do something, otherwise I'll go crazy," Danny said, trying to tidy the mess a little.

"I can go to your house to pick it up?" Steve half asked, glad to be able to do something. He'd never admit it to Danny, but if he didn't get out of the hospital soon, he'd probably lose his mind.

"Could you? That would be great." Danny paused for a while, then said "Maybe you can also go for a swim, and in the meantime I'll try to get dressed. That's probably going to take a while."

"Okay, I'll go pick it up. Anything else you need?" Steve said, trying to think of anything Danny could need.

"Not that I can think of at the moment. The book's probably on my nightstand," Danny said. He ushered Steve to the door with his left hand.

"Don't forget your swim, Aquaman," he said when Steve was at the door. Steve simply walked out of the door, not bothering to react.

He stopped a nurse on his way out to ask if she could help Danny with getting dressed, knowing he'd probably be too stubborn to ask for help.


Danny heaved a sigh of relief when he was dressed in his own clothes. Although he didn't like the fact that Steve had obviously asked the nurse to help him, he was sure it would have taken much longer to get dressed on his own. He thanked the nurse and sank into the pillow.

He was pretty tired, especially since the anesthetics hadn't fully worn of yet. Plus, sleeping was better than being in pain and he wanted to be well rested when Grace came to visit.

He smiled when he thought about Steve. He might be smart, but he hadn't even realized that the book was just an excuse Danny had used to get him to leave for a while. He closed his eyes and a few minutes later, he was asleep.

Steve had gone to Danny's house to get his book. It had felt odd to be there without Danny. The trickle of a water faucet had emphasized the silence in the house. He had grabbed the book and had left as rapidly as possible.

Now he pierced through the water of the ocean with fast, powerful strokes. A swim always cleared his head, and he was glad he'd listened to Danny. He had considered to simply go back to the hospital after he'd picked up the book, but he could already hear Danny's rant when he realized Steve hadn't gone for a swim.

He returned to the coast and grabbed the towel that hung over one of the chairs. After a quick shower, which did last a little longer than his normal showers, he got dressed and returned to the hospital.


When he entered Danny's room, he was still asleep. Steve looked around the room and spotted Kono's card on the bedside table. He crept towards the bed and carefully picked up the card. He wanted to open it when he suddenly heard Danny say "I knew it!"

He jumped and promptly dropped the card. "I... I just-"

"Steve, Steve. You know what, just read the card. I could have expected this. You simply don't know the concept of privacy."

Steve stammered, looking a bit insecure. Suddenly Danny burst out laughing. "You should see yourself standing there! Come on, read the card."

Steve opened the card.

Hey Danny,

Hope you feel better soon.

Could you do me a favor? Act very secretive about what's in the card, just to see how long Steve can restrain himself..."

Kono

TBC