Another day, another chapter. I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but I decided to post it anyway.
Please let me know what you think...
Enjoy!
Danny had fallen asleep immediately after he'd finished his lunch, so after a while Steve stepped outside to call his teammates. He told them Danny was doing okay, but he didn't mention the card, he wouldn't give her that satisfaction, and Danny would probably tell Kono as soon as he saw her anyway.
Chin told him that they'd interrogated Mrs. Kekoa, but she hadn't really told them much. At first, she'd told them she didn't know anything, but later she'd admitted she had known about most of the things her husband had done.
She said she'd just been too scared off him. Kono was inclined to believe her, the woman was still shaking like a leaf when they were interrogating her.
Mr. Kekoa would probably be released from the hospital that afternoon, but Chin told Steve that he and Chin could interrogate him, if Steve wanted to.
Steve wasn't really sure he'd be able to keep himself in check during the questioning, but he didn't really care either. That man deserved something way worse than whatever Steve would allow himself to do to him.
"Steve? Are you still there?" he heard Kono ask, worry evident in her voice.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I got a bit distracted. I'll call you guys when I know when I can be there, alright?"
"Okay, take care of Danny," Chin said, and he ended the call.
Steve pocketed his phone and punched the wall. He had to let some frustration out. He took a deep breath and tried to get himself under control again. He wouldn't be of any use to Danny this way.
Just when he had managed to calm down he heard footsteps come closer and a familiar voice called out "Uncle Steve!" Seconds later, Grace threw her arms around him.
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking up at him.
Steve swallowed hard. "Why would you ask me that? I'm great! It's your Danno you should be worrying about," he said after a moment.
"I know, but he's got you. I'm just making sure you're okay too," she said earnestly.
Steve choked up a little. Danny sure had done an amazing job raising his daughter. "I'll be okay," he said very sincerely. He knew Danny was always very honest with Grace, with everybody in fact, so he could be honest too.
"Where's your mom?" he asked, looking around.
"She just dropped me off, she said she didn't want to interfere," Grace said, sounding like she didn't really believe her mom.
Steve actually didn't believe it either, Rachel probably just didn't want to see Danny. She'd been avoiding Danny ever since she'd told him Charlie was his. He wouldn't trouble Grace about it though.
"Come on, I bet you'd like to see your dad. I know for a fact he really wants to see you," he said, giving her a gentle push towards the entrance. He led Grace to Danny's room and cautiously looked inside.
Danny was still asleep. There were fine lines of pain on his face, but all in all he looked pretty peaceful. He figured Danny wouldn't mind to be woken by his not so little monkey, so he motioned for Grace to go inside.
She looked at her father a little uncertain, not sure if she should wake him, but she walked over to the bed and gave him a soft kiss on his cheeck. Danny groaned softly, his blue eyes slowly blinking open.
When he saw Grace, his face lit up in a radiant smile. "Monkey!" He held his left arm out for a clumsy one-armed hug. Grace happily complied, burrying herself against her dad. After a few seconds, he let go.
Grace grabbed her backpack and rummaged through it. She drew out a drawing and handed it to Danny. "Charlie made you this," she said, smiling softly.
Danny looked at the piece of paper and proudly showed it to Steve. "Look at this! Isn't he amazing?"
Steve squinted a little. "That's you, isn't it? And who's the other guy?"
"I think that's you, look, he's eaven wearing cargopants! He already knows you so well!"
Steve huffed a little, not wanting them to see how touched he was. "He's quite the artist," he said after swallowing past the lump in his throat.
Danny looked at him a little curious, but he just smiled and didn't say anything. Steve returned the smile and sat down in his chair. Grace sat down on Danny's bed.
"How's your arm?" she said, looking at the cast on Danny's arm.
"Well, it's going to be fine," Danny said, slightly wiggling his fingers. Steve could see the pain it caused him, and apparently Grace noticed too.
"Danno, I know you're in pain. I'm not a little girl anymore, you don't have to put on a brave face for me," she said, gently scolding him.
"I think I'm always going to do that," Danny softly said. "That's what dads do."
"I know, but there's no need. I just want you to be okay, and I don't want you to be in pain, so just take some pain meds," she said, taking his left hand.
Steve hadn't said anything during their conversation, but Danny looked at him a little anxiously. "You know Grace, I think your dad doesn't want you to see him when he's on drugs. And I'm not entirely sure you'd want to see it," he smirked.
"You know what, I'll make sure he takes something for the pain as soon as you leave, is that okay with you?" He looked at Danny, as if to warn him not to argue.
"Okay, thanks uncle Steve," Grace said, settling against her dad.
TBC
