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12.
At the hospital, Steve paced the floor while watching the door Danny disappeared behind. Finally Chin and Kono arrived bringing with them a bag with dry clothing. Retreating into the restroom, Steve changed his clothes while Chin told him what they knew so far.
"They're both dead, Steve." Chin said as Steve stuffed his damp things into the bag. "When your boat flipped one of them was thrown under it and the other on some rocks. He was still alive but died before he could tell me anything. We might never know why they targeted Danny, unless of course he knows and isn't telling us everything."
Steve finished tying his boot then looked up at Chin and nodded. Both men knew Danny was hiding something but weren't sure why he was holding back.
Hearing a knock, several seconds went by before Kono stuck her head into the restroom. "Hey guys, the doctor wants to talk to us." Exiting the room, the two moved to the waiting area where Kono stood beside the doctor.
"I'm Doctor Wells. Detective Williams is being given oxygen and observed for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Luckily his blood oxygen levels are nearing the normal range. We'll watch him the next few hours and if everything looks satisfactory, we can release him.
The three team members looked at each other in relief knowing that Danny would be discharged shortly.
"Doctor, he suffered a severe concussion several weeks ago which has impaired his vision." Steve said. "His eyesight hasn't returned yet even though Doctor Michael thought it would. Is this going to be any kind of set back?"
"I saw the previous injuries in his records. No, this shouldn't present any problems." Doctor Wells flipped a few pages on his tablet and started reading. "Matter of fact, I doubt they called yet since the results were just posted earlier today, but the last MRI showed the swelling has dissipated quite a bit from when the previous test was done."
After the doctor walked off, Chin put his hand on Steve's arm. "Hey, I'm going back to your place and check with Duke to see if they've found anything else. He said he'd call somebody to repair your front door. Oh, and you're going to need to call your insurance company and tell them about the boat."
Kono agreed. "Yeah boss, the SS Ammo Dump doesn't look like anything I'd want to go boating in anymore." she said trying to lighten the mood.
Steve gave her a slight grin. "Alright, you two head back there. I'll stick around here for Danny. When the doctor says he can leave we'll head back to my place."
After they had left, Steve stopped at the nurse's station and received the room number. Walking past the vending machines, he stopped and purchased a cup of coffee. Deciding what Danny requested in the ambulance would be the best medicine he could receive, he pulled out his phone speaking briefly to the person on the other end. Ending the conversation, he headed down the hallway to Danny's room.
Danny felt groggy and was struggling to stay awake when Steve came in. A pretty nurse smiled and said in a low voice, "He's almost asleep. The rest will be good for him."
"Go to sleep Danno." Steve said quietly resting his hand on Danny's arm. "I'll be here when you wake up."
Danny gave a slight nod and gave up his battle to stay awake. His blue eyes closed as his body relaxed and gave in to the exhaustion he was feeling.
Several hours later, Danny woke to whispering. Focusing on the voices, the soft sound of a giggling girl filled the room. "Monkey?" he inquired. Hearing a gasp, then running footsteps, he suddenly had an armful of Grace as she carefully climbed on the bed to snuggle close.
"Oh Danno, I didn't think you'd ever wake up." she said. "I've missed you so much!"
"I know baby, I missed you too." Danny answered holding her tightly, wishing he could see her.
"Mom said you got hurt and can't see anything." Grace said her arms around his neck. "But Danno, I don't care if you can't see, I just want to be with you."
Danny blinked back the wetness he felt welling up in his eyes. Hugging Grace tighter he told her, "It was wrong of me to stay away from you, Grace. I just didn't want to scare you."
"It's alright Daddy." Grace answered pulling back slightly. "When we go places, I'll hold your hand to keep you from running into things and I'm sure Uncle Steve will drive us anywhere we want to go."
Danny pulled her back into a hug. Swallowing down tears, he was afraid to trust his voice to answer. Hugging him fiercely, Grace finally sat up and began to tell him all the things he'd missed in the past few weeks. Father and daughter talked quietly for fifteen minutes before another voice spoke up.
"Daniel, how are you feeling?" Rachel asked startling him.
"Oh...Rachel, I didn't know you were there." Danny replied. His voice turned a little cooler as he answered her sarcastically. "I'm doing better considering I've been used for batting practice and today almost drowned."
At Grace's gasp, Danny realized what he had said. "No, no Grace. Baby, it's alright. It wasn't really like that." Murmuring into her ear, Grace finally calmed.
Determined to not repeat his earlier mistake, Danny took a moment before he replied. Running his fingers through Grace's long hair he continued. "I'm really surprised you're here alone. Is Stan here?"
"No...no, he's not here. Well, I mean he's downstairs waiting. Danny, when Steve called I...well, I wanted to bring Grace by to see you." Rachel said talking quickly. "Grace, can I please speak to your father for a moment? Maybe you could go out in the hall and tell Steve that your father is awake now."
After Grace gave him another long hug and said goodbye, Rachel walked over and quietly shut the door. Moving back to the side of the bed she laid her hand gently over Danny's before he pulled away from her.
"Danny, I'm so sorry about what happened. I didn't know about it until the day before we came home. I lost my phone and well...I just couldn't call. Do the doctors think your eyesight will return?" Rachel asked.
"They think...hope so." Danny said coldly. A few seconds of silence went by. "So what happened, Rachel? I thought you were leaving Stan. What about us? We were going to be a family again. What happened to change your mind? Or am I just that much of a chump to think you were serious about us?"
"Oh Danny...you're just going to have to believe me that I was going to leave him. But things changed. When you got hurt...it's just too dangerous."
The anger that Danny felt disappeared when he heard the underlying love and concern in her voice. Knowing that he'd lost her once more, he couldn't help reaching out for her hand. "Rachel, we can make it work. We'll be together, the three of us. I love you." he told her.
"Danny, don't. Please, I can't. I...I just can't risk anything happening to Grace. Or to you again." Rachel added softly as tears filled her eyes. "It won't work anymore."
Picking up on her words, Danny frowned. "I don't understand, why would you say that about Grace?" he asked sitting up. "What happened? Tell me Rachel. I know something's wrong."
Abruptly, the door opened Stan's voice filled the room. "Rachel, are you ready? We really have to leave. Now. Hello Danny, sorry about your...accident. I hope you'll be up and around soon." The door clicked shut on his words.
"Yeah, thanks Stan." Danny spat out. Suddenly he remembered the warning he received. 'She's not yours.' Lowering his voice he began again asking quietly, "Rachel, is he forcing you to stay with him? Has he threatened you or Grace? Is that what's going on? I need to know, Rach. If he's threatening you, I'll..."
The noise of the heart monitor suddenly started increasing in volume. "No..calm down, Danny. Everything is alright. I just, well I just need to stay with Stan. Danny, I really have to go. I'm sorry." Leaning down, she kissed his cheek, "You know, I'll always care about you. But please, it has to be this way."
As her heels clicked across the floor to the door, he heard her quietly start to cry. "Rachel..." he called but there was no reply as the door opened and she left.
"Sorry buddy, she's gone." Steve said as he came into the room. Moving next to the bed, he laid his hand on Danny's shoulder wondering what to say or if Danny would tell him to leave.
Making a decision, Danny realized he needed to tell Steve everything. "Steve, please go close the door and then sit down." Listening to Steve's footsteps cross the room then return he leaned back on the pillow.
"I owe you an apology. I've got some explaining to do." Sighing he continued. "You've been really patient with me over the last few weeks and I've treated you, and Chin and Kono like crap. I'm so sorry. It's not like any of this was your fault." Hesitating a moment he turned his head away slightly. "I've never felt so angry...and helpless. I just don't know what I'm going to do if..."
Steve cut him off. "Danny, before you say anything else, the doctor in the ER told me earlier that the swelling is almost gone. You've just got to give it a little more time." Pausing a moment he added, "You know, you sounded like you were holding your own there earlier."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Danny questioned.
"Your phone. It was on speaker and I heard quite a bit before they got the drop on you. I'll tell you partner, I was so proud of you when that guy said you broke his nose."
"Yeah, I got so mad at his taunting since I couldn't see them that I just rushed the guy. He wasn't expecting it so I managed to get a few good punches in. What happened? Did they get away?" Danny questioned.
"No, they're dead. Wait a minute and I'll explain." Steve said grabbing Danny's hand which raised in a pre-rant. "I arrived just after they were pulling away from the dock. When I got to the water, they'd already pushed you over the side, but I didn't know that. They were moving along the shore and hit the breakwater a few houses down. The boat flipped and threw them out. When I spotted you I swam out, but you'd already gone under by then."
Taking a deep breath, Steve continued. "God Danny, you took ten years off of my life when you called asking for your gun. You've been so depressed lately and...well I just couldn't imagine why you'd be asking for it."
"Sorry, Steve. But when I recognized their voices at the door all I could think about was I needed it to protect myself." Danny told him.
"Wait, hold on a second. What do you mean you recognized their voices? I thought you couldn't remember them saying anything." Steve said scowling.
"Well, I wasn't totally honest with you about the attack either." Danny said. "I guess there's a few things I need to tell you." Starting at the beginning, he told Steve about meeting Rachel and their plans to re-marry once she divorced Stan. "That's over now though." he said sadly. "She said it'd be better if she stays with him. I think he's threatening her and she's protecting Grace by staying with him, but unless I can get her to tell me different..."
"Man, I'm sorry Danny. I know how much you want your family back. But you still haven't told me how you recognized their voices?" Steve pressed.
"When I was down, one of them kept kicking me. Right before I blacked out, one of them said they had a message for me. The message was 'she's not yours' . I didn't remember it at first and when I did, I didn't say anything because I really didn't want to drag Rachel into it. Besides, since I can't see, it's not like I have any proof to what they looked like."
"And now it doesn't look good. Both the men are dead and unless Chin and Kono can come up with something that ties them to Stan..." Steve trailed off.
"Look, as a cop, I know I was wrong not to say anything. Rachel and I were getting back together and I didn't want her involved. Plus I didn't want Grace to hear anything about it. And now it sounds like Rachel might be staying there so nobody else gets hurt." Danny hesitated before continuing. "Steve, I want you to promise that you won't say anything about this to anyone, especially Chin and Kono. I can't do much the way things are now, but if…no when, my sight returns I'll try to find out if Stan is behind all this."
"I don't like it Danny. If it is Stan, he tried once and what's to stop him from trying again?" Steve replied. "I'll keep quiet, but only if you promise that you'll let me help you catch him."
"That, my friend, is a promise. And it's not like he's going anywhere. I don't want Rachel or Grace around him but I can't protect them now. Rachel won't let anything happen to Grace so they should be okay for now. And when my sight comes back, Stan's going to know what it's like to feel my fist in his face." Danny was quiet for a moment. "Now, please go find out how soon I can get out of here?"
"Alright, I'll go track down a doctor." Steve said pleased that Danny sounded more like his old self.
"And Danno, I've got something for you." Reaching into his pocket, Steve pulled out a familiar object. Grabbing Danny's hand and turning it over, Steve laid it on his palm then watched with a smile as Danny's fingers closed tightly around his badge.