Thank you, as always, to those of you who took the time to reply. I really appreciate it.

-Chapter 14-

Larry clapped his hands together and cheered. "You did it!" He laughed at the surprised look on Danny's face.

Danny was still spitting water out of his mouth and panting from having the hot water down his throat. Coming out of his excited daze, Larry realized that Danny's mouth was probably hurting quite a bit. He jumped up to go get something cold for him just as Danny pushed everything out of the way reaching for Larry's soda. He ended up knocking it over.

As the soda spread across the table, Larry smiled. "Hang on." He ran back to the kitchen and got Danny a large soda. Returning to the table, he put it carefully in his son's hands and watched him drink most of it in one try.

When he put the cup down, Danny finally smiled. Larry sat back down and just looked at Danny, who looked truly happy for the first time since he had been awake. "Do it again."

The smile faded from Danny's face, worried that he wouldn't be able to. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about it too much. "Hot." Danny opened his eyes and his smile returned. "H-hot."

Unable to resist, Larry stood up and walked over to give his son a hug. Only when he had his arms around him did he realize that Danny's clothes were soaked from dropping the hot water.

Larry stood up and shook his head. "Let's go and get you some dry clothes."

Danny nodded and made a face at his father. "Not mice." He stopped and struggled for a second. "Nice," he finished with certainty.

Larry swallowed and decided to ignore the mistake for now. He put his hand on Danny's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I'm sorry for my methods, but the results were worth it."

Danny's smile slowly returned and Larry started pushing him back toward their room.

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In the room, Larry was going through drawers to get Danny his third set of clothes for the day. Danny was sitting on the edge of his bed with a towel, drying off; his wet shirt thrown on the floor at his feet.

"We need to do laundry." Larry sighed, pulling out one of the last clean shirts, a long sleeved gray one with the Montecito logo on it, a gift that had arrived from Ed shortly after their arrival at the rehab.

Danny looked over at his father and then over towards the window as he continued quietly toweling off.

Larry watched his son for a moment before walking over and pulling the shirt over Danny's head. He pulled Danny's chin up so their eyes met.

"No more changes of clothes today." Larry said, smiling.

Danny nodded and pushed his arms into the shirt sleeves. "K.O." He frowned and Larry nodded.

"It's okay." He ruffled Danny's hair and helped him to his wheelchair.

---------------

Kate sighed softly as she closed the door of her office behind her. She glanced through the window, watching Danny as he stared at the picture cards laid out on the table in front of him. After another minute, he shoved the cards onto the floor and put his head down. Kate frowned and walked away.

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Larry walked around the corner into the lounge area on Danny's floor. He smiled as he saw Kate there waiting for him and approached her quickly.

"There you are. I got a message that you were looking for me."

Kate took Larry's arm and led him toward the couch in the corner. Once they were both settled, she rested the pile of paperwork she had been holding on her lap.

"Where were you? I figured that you would be hanging around to hear what I had to say about Danny's breakthrough." She grinned at him.

Larry shrugged. "Eh, I was out checking out some construction companies in the area." He paused and looked down at his hands. "I need some extra money and figured I could do some part-time work."

Kate nodded, understanding. "Any luck?"

"Some." Larry met her eyes again. "So tell me… did he talk for you?"

She nodded again. "He did. He seems to be very excited to communicate, however unclear it is."

Larry frowned and watched her for a second. "This isn't just because he's been quiet for so long, is it?"

Kate shook her head. "You didn't really think that, did you?"

Larry sighed and shook his head. "No, but I was hoping it was going to be something easy." He leaned back on the couch and unzipped his jacket. "So what is it?"

"Danny has a form of something called aphasia. He's having a hard time coming up with words in general and at times with coming up with the correct words. I'm sure you noticed that he says incorrect words occasionally." She paused as Larry nodded quietly. "He is aware when he does it most of the time and corrects himself. That's a good sign Larry." She reached over and rested her hand on his arm.

"Aphasia? Is this something that can be fixed?"

"I wouldn't exactly use the word fixed, but this is something that is very common in head injuries like his and it's something that we can work with him on." Kate moved the paperwork from her lap to the table next to them. Leaning back on the couch, she looked over at Larry. "There's no quick fix here, it's going to take a while."

Larry nodded. "I guess I knew that." He looked over at her. "I was just still hoping."

Kate smiled and nodded. "I should go and talk to Shawn. Being able to diagnose the aphasia explains the weakness on Danny's right side and he needs to know that." She stood up and reached for her papers.

Larry stood up and reached for her arm, turning her around. "Where is he now?"

Not needing to ask who he was talking about, Kate smiled softly. "He was in my office when I left." She turned and left the lounge, disappearing around the corner.

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Larry quickly made his way through the hospital to the wing where Kate's office was. He frowned as he found the door open and the room empty. Sighing, he turned and headed back toward the lobby of the medical area, where the non-resident patients came in and out.

Approaching the main desk, Larry leaned against the counter and waited for the woman there to finish her phone call. When she did, she smiled up at him.

"Hi Larry. What can I help you with?"

"I'm looking for my son. You haven't seen him recently have you?"

The woman shook her head. "No, but I've only been here for a half an hour. Is something wrong?" she asked with the smallest amount of alarm.

"No." Larry reassured her. "I'm sure I just missed him. I just wanted to be sure he didn't come through here."

Her face relaxing, the woman smiled. "Well, if I do see him, I'll let him know you're looking for him."

With that, she returned to the paperwork that was in front of her. Larry took a minute to glance around the waiting room. He frowned slightly and headed back to the resident part of the hospital and Danny's room.

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Danny wasn't in his room and he wasn't in the lounge. Larry made his way down to the physical therapy rooms and found Shawn working with a soldier who had lost a leg.

Larry took a moment to appreciate the fact that, while his son's leg was still damaged and in a cast, it was there and he would learn to use it again.

"Danny was here about, I don't know," Shawn consulted his watch. "Fifteen minutes ago."

Larry relaxed some. "Did he go with Kate?"

Shawn shook his head. "No, he showed up after Kate had already left. And hey, great news about him talking finally!" He clasped Larry on the shoulder. "Now that I know what's causing his weakness, I'll have him overcoming it in no time."

"That's great. Shawn, do you know where he was going?" Larry unconsciously took a step back, toward the door.

Shawn thought for a second, scratching his throat. "Maybe outside? He didn't say anything to me, but he had a sweatshirt."

"Great! Thanks."

---------------

Larry made his way quickly to the courtyard. "Oh thank God." He muttered as he opened the door and headed over to where Danny was sitting in his wheelchair.

"There you are!" Larry shook his head as he stopped in front of his son. "I don't know why, but I got really scared when I couldn't find you." He smiled down at the man, but stopped when he realized that Danny was glaring up at him.

"What's going on kiddo?" Larry looked around for the nearest bench and, finding none nearby, decided to just sit on the ground.

Once he was settled, he looked up at his son, still waiting for him to answer. "Danny? What happened?"

"B-broken!" Danny looked down at the stress-ball he held in his hands. He squeezed it with his right hand angrily and looked back up. "Everything long… wrong. I'm broken."

Larry felt his heart ache as Danny yelled. He moved closer and rested his hand on his son's knee. "You're not broken Danny. Not in anyway that can't be fixed. It's just going to take some time…"

"No!" Danny shook his head, his jaw clenched tightly. "N-no no no! Nothing comes ri-right." He dropped his head, muttering again about being broken.

Larry got onto his knees so that he could reach Danny's face. He put his hand on his son's cheek and for a fraction of a second felt Danny relax into it before he pulled away and swatted at Larry's hand.

"Danny come on, you have to give this all time. You've been talking for what? A couple of hours?"

"F-fasia. That what K-kate said. Broken!" Danny smacked himself in the head to emphasize the last word.

"Aphasia." Larry sighed quietly as he reached for Danny's hand, trying to keep him from hitting himself again. "Not broken, just…" he thought how to put it without actually using the words brain damage. "Hurt. But it will heal."

Danny pulled his hand away and shook his head. Without warning, he launched the stress-ball across the courtyard and started moving himself away from his father and further down the pathway.

As Larry opened his mouth to call after him, he heard the door open and close behind him.

"Larry."

He closed his mouth and turned to find Kate standing there, her arms wrapped around herself to keep warm.

"Let him go. He'll be okay."

"What the hell was that?" Larry advanced on the smaller woman, the tears in his eyes ready to spill over.

Kate frowned at the pain she saw. "He's going to be fine Larry. It's very disappointing to find that something you take for granted, like speaking, is now such a struggle. I'm sure he expected that once he actually got that first word out, everything would be fine."

"He's never had a temper like that Kate. Never." Larry turned and watched Danny, still retreating away from them. Turning back to her, he shook his head. "I don't understand."

"Issues controlling anger are the most common symptom with cases of brain damage." She reached over and rested her hand on his shoulder, letting it slide down his arm to the elbow. "I've seen it in my sessions with him recently. Never to this extent, but this was a big blow to him." She sighed and pulled her hand back, wrapping her arms around herself again. "He's scared Larry."

Kate met Larry's eyes. "You can't get mad at him or frustrated with him. You need to remember that you are the only familiar face here for him and he needs you, no matter what he may make you think."

Larry bit his lip and slowly nodded his head. As he wiped at his eyes, Kate marveled at how much Danny resembled his father, something she hadn't noticed before.

"Please have faith that we will help him through all of this." Kate waited until Larry met her eyes again. "He's got a lot of work ahead of him, but I believe he can and will do it."

Larry swallowed hard and turned once again to face the direction Danny had disappeared in. After a minute, he turned back to Kate. "I'm in for the long haul, so he has no choice."

Kate smiled tentatively and nodded her head.

"I need to go make a phone call." With one more glance in the other direction, Larry headed back inside.