I'm sorry for the super duper crazy long wait for this update. I was kinda busy until now with many things, and I couldn't think of how to continue from where i last left off.
This chapter is rather short, but hopefully I'll more to update within the next few days.
Thanks for all the faves, follows and comments, as well as thanks to all who viewed this story. You all rock. :3
About a week later.
Steve was pretending that his head did not hurt. He thought he was getting pretty good at it too. Until 'the incident'.
In the week since they had been home, Steve had gotten very good at navigating around their house. So good, in fact, that he didn't need anyone's help to get around anymore, not in the house, or the backyard. Which is why it came as quite the surprise to everyone when he fell down the stairs.
He didn't slip on anything, or trip over anything. The landing was clear.
He had his right hand on the railing, and his left lightly brushing against the wall. He put one foot down onto the topmost step, and as he was moving to step down to the next one, the headache he had been stubbornly ignoring the whole day suddenly surged to an agonizing high.
He lost all bearing as dizziness overwhelmed him. Nausea stabbed at his stomach viciously. His head felt like it was about to burst.
As he felt himself beginning to fall, he reached desperately for the railing, trying to stop his descent. His fingers skimmed the edge, and then he hit the stairs, hard.
Danny was in the kitchen, making BLT sandwiches for lunch. He could hear someone walking around upstairs, and figured it was Steve on his way down. He paused a moment, waiting for the comforting sound of his partner descending the stairs. He had just started spreading the mayo on the sandwiches, and was just reaching to dip his knife back in the jar, when the first thud happened. He jumped, and, dropping the knife on the counter, dashed into the hall, his throat constricting in panic.
"Steve!" Danny called. He was at the stairs in seconds, swallowing thickly when he saw Steve slumped at the bottom.
He glanced up when he heard movement on the stairs.
"Dad!" Jesse exclaimed, dashing down the stairs.
"Don't touch him, Jesse!" Danny said, stopping her with a hand against her shoulder. "Grace get your phone and call Chin. Jesse, go get me the house phone." When she didn't move, he added, "Now, Jesse!"
Jesse stood up and ran off to get the phone, while Grace dashed back up the stairs to her room. They both made it back to the bottom of the stairs around the same time, GRace on the phone with Chin, Jesse with the house phone.
"Grace, tell Chin to come pick you and Jesse up. Jesse, pass me the phone." Danny said. As he took the phone from Jesse, he was mildly surprised to see his hands were steady.
The ambulance arrived before Chin did. Danny stood beside his girls while the paramedics stabilized Steve, and, once they had loaded Steve onto the stretcher, he crouched beside His girls.
"Stay here. Wait for Chin. I'll call him on the way and tell him what's going on. ANd I'll call you guys as soon as I know what happened, ok?" Danny said, a hand on each girl's shoulder.
"Can't we come with you, Danno?" Grace asked.
"No, you have to stay here. I'll come get you when I can."
Grace and Jesse nodded reluctantly.
Steve felt trapped. He felt like he was stuck in a cage.
No, that wasn't right.
He felt like he was stuck underwater. He felt like he couldn't breath. And his head, man his head. His head felt too full. His head felt like it was about to blow. It felt like it was on fire, and yet also felt like it was encompassed in ice.
He wanted to wake up, even though he didn't know he was unconscious. Well, not all of him did. A part of him knew he had to be asleep, although he didn't know why.
He was vaguely aware of someone, no, multiple someones, talking above and around him, and he forcefully opened his eyes. Not that that made any difference. He still couldn't see.
"Danno?" He murmured before clearing his throat. He couldn't help the moan that slipped past his lips. "What happ'ned?"
"Well, you clutz, you fell down the stairs." Danny replied. He picked up Steve's hand and kissed his knuckles.
And just like that, Steve remembered. And with the memories, came the pain. He moaned again as the throbbing in his head increased to a crescendo. He tried to roll onto his side, but couldn't since he was strapped to the stretcher with a neck brace supporting his head.
"Steve?" Danny asked, clutching his hand a little tighter.
Steve squeezed his eyes shut, and, under other circumstances, he would have been surprised when that seemed to help. The pain didn't stop, but it seemed to lessen to a slightly more bearable level. However, that gave him a chance to notice the building sense of nausea.
"I'm gonna be sick." He groaned.