Thank you so much for all your reviews. I really, really appreciate every single one of them. For whatever reason, I wasn't able to answer all of them. I was thrown out of ffn a few times. So, if you didn't get a reply, it's not because I ignored you.
Also thanks for all the alerts.
A huge thank you again to Cokie316 for her incredible beta work. It's such fun working with you. And last but definitely not least to Sherry57 for her insight and suggestions. You both rock.
I received some pm's asking about Steve and Danny ending up together? In a romantic relationship. As long as that is not happening on the show, it will NOT happen in my stories. Yes, I do write them heavily on the bromance and friendship, but that is not slash.
Just so you know, whatever might be your cup of tea is okay, but you won't find slash in here.
Chapter 14 – Spreading rumors
It's the noise that wakes him. Seems to be a commotion in front of his room, a rather loud one. He would know that accent anywhere, and the high voice of the child makes him smile. "But I want to see my Uncle Steve." It's unmistakable that Gracie is her father's daughter. Speaking of her father, where is that partner of his? Steve knows that he doesn't have the volume to call out loud enough for the people outside his room to hear him. So he presses the call button for the nurse and simply waits. He doesn't have to wait long for Anny to appear again. And in her wake Rachel, Grace and Officer Dale Palani enter.
"Dale, thank you, but it's alright. Rachel and Grace are welcome to stay." Steve tries to speak with his usual authority, but it's a little hard to do, when the room is spinning slightly and his voice is hardly above a whisper.
But obviously being the head of Five-0 is enough for Office Palani to follow his order. "Yes, Sir. If you need me, I'll be right outside. Ma'am." He acknowledges Rachel with a nod of his head and positions himself in front of the door again.
"Anny, thank you for coming. But I'm fine, I just…"
"That's okay Commander, I understand. Call me, if you need anything." She looks at her patient and seems to be convinced that he is indeed fine. She winks at the two visitors who are standing a few feet from the bed as she leaves the room.
"Gracie." Steve smiles at his little visitor, hoping to convey that he's fine and happy to see her.
"Uncle Steve!" Grace Williams sees the smile as an invitation to practically jump her Uncle Steve and she lands with a thud on his bed. Before he can even blink Steve gets a surprisingly gentle hug from Grace.
"Careful Grace, don't hurt the Commander." Rachel steps closer and looks apologetically at Steve.
"No, it's okay. Thank you for coming by, Rachel." Steve looks at Grace, who has settled down on his left side and has a firm grip on his hand.
"Grace saw a news report that you were missing. When Daniel called and told us that you were safe, well, she wouldn't calm down until she saw you. I hope it is alright to come see you this late?"
"That's fine. Thank you for bringing her by. Gracie, how are you?"
"Uncle Steve, why are you whispering? Do you have a cold?"
"Something like that. I can't speak very loud at the moment." Some mild coughing interrupts him again.
"Does it hurt, Uncle Steve?" Grace gently touches the patch on his forehead that conceals the gash from his fall.
"A little. But I'll be fine. I'm really happy that you came to see me. And you don't have to worry about me anymore, Gracie. I'm fine, and I'll be home again really soon." He has no idea when he will be allowed to leave, but Grace doesn't need to know that.
"Can I come over for the weekend again, when I'm with Danno? Can we swim in the ocean?"
"Yes, of course. I don't know how soon I'll be allowed to swim again but we can play on the beach and build another sand castle."
Rachel looks down in surprise at her ex-husband's partner. Who would have thought the big bad SEAL would build sand castles with his partner's daughter? The world is full of surprises. Even though the situation with Daniel and Rachel isn't ideal, a soft smile settles on her face when she sees her daughter sitting on Steve's bed, engaged in a conversation about sand castles, seashells and the best technique for making the castle more stable.
"Grace, honey, we should leave and let Commander McGarrett get some more rest."
"Okay, mommy." Grace bends down to Steve again and gives him another sweet hug and two kisses. "That one you have to give to Danno, and tell him it's from me."
"I will Gracie. Thank you." Steve has a big smile on his face, thinking about giving that kiss to his partner. By doing that at the right time and with the right witnesses, there will be even more rumors. Steve must admit he gets a little kick out of Danny's embarrassment about the whole staff thinking he's Steve's boyfriend. It might have something to do with what Danny said on Friday, and this is harmless payback. Not nice, but Danny was not really nice to him either. Actually, Steve hates to admit it, but he was hurt by it. And it hurts even more that Danny is not willing to talk about it.
Steve is totally surprised when Rachel, kind of out of character, steps up to him and gives him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "My daughter loves you. You're a good man, Steve. I'm glad you're okay," she softly whispers to him. Before he can even answer, she turns, takes Grace's hand and leaves with one last wink, before disappearing from view.
Leaving behind a confused but happy Steve, who's grinning from ear to ear.
H50 – H50 – H50
Mick Douglas looks at his sleeping 'girlfriend'. He made the mistake of becoming attached to her. He should have gotten rid of her when he offed the other three idiots who were close to ruining his plan. When that dimwit kidnapped the SEAL, he couldn't really believe it. How could that schmuck snatch a SEAL? And not just any SEAL, but Steve McGarrett, highly decorated, one of the best. And now the head of the Governor's Task Force. How could Bubblehead Barns, BB as he refers to him, have had so much luck with his stupid plan? Ram the truck and sedate McGarrett? Please!
But be that as it may, BB succeeded. And almost killed the man in the process. Overdosing him on the tranquilizer? That was not funny. Had Mick not intervened and injected McGarrett with the antidote, he'd be dead now, still rotting in that damn bunker. But he doesn't expect a thank you for it, or for putting the backpack and the bricks there for the man to free himself. It was actually rather entertaining watching McGarrett struggle to get out of the bunker. For a while he thought the drugged man would never find his way out, but in the end he did. It was kind of impressive how determined he was. Even while drugged to the gills.
But all that greatly interfered with his own plans. Snatching the guy before he even has the information. Douglas just hopes that the Navy will stick to their original plan and will use McGarrett and Rollins for the operation. If not, his clients won't be happy. To put it mildly. It could cost not only his reputation but actually his head.
He has invested two months to get this show on the road. Two months of pretending to be Mick Douglas, mild mannered personal trainer. He has to smile at the thought of mild mannered. It is just one more week before Lt. Rollins will be back for the briefing. Jinny excitedly told him that her friend will be in Pearl for a couple of days before shipping out again. Now with McGarrett injured, they might even change the plans and get her here sooner than that.
Of course Mick knows that McGarrett would never give him any information. That's why he needs them both, because he is sure that Rollins will tell him everything. She'll just need a little nudge in the right direction. That nudge will be provided by her old friend Jinny, and of course by her lover McGarrett. It will be so much fun torturing them both in front of her. He's sure that it won't take that much to make Rollins talk. Almost a shame that it will be practically over before he can really get started.
Rollins is not a trained operative, she's a communications officer with no front experience. But she has been present at every meeting and has all the information McGarrett needs for doing his job. But Mick Douglas will make sure that the SEAL won't succeed and that the only ones to die will be McGarrett and Rollins. And maybe Jinny, but he hasn't decided her fate yet.
H50 – H50 – H50
Right after Rachel and Grace left, a new face enters his hospital room. Again accompanied by Officer Palani.
"Commander, I'm Robert Wise, your orthopedic surgeon. I set your elbow and would like to take another look at it."
"Oh, okay." Steve sits up a little more and looks at Palani, "I think it's okay for you to leave."
"Sorry, Chin will have my head if I leave you alone with Dr. Wise."
They're all saved from any further discussion by Danny, who's finally back from his run to HQ.
"Dr. Wise, good to see you again. Thank you Officer Palani, I'll take it from here."
"Yes, Sir." He nods at McGarrett and Wise before he leaves.
"Hey Danny, where have you been?"
"Tell you later. I'll just wait over here until your doc is done. Unless you want me to leave while he takes a look at you?"
"No, that's fine. You can stay." Steve watches Dr. Wise lifting his right arm, taking a look at his wrist and fingers.
"Can you move your wrist without pain?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Can you hold your arm in that position please? I'm going to take the splint off."
Steve keeps his arm slightly elevated so that Dr. Wise can remove the bandages keeping the splint in place.
"Does it hurt to keep your arm up?"
"No, it's fine."
"Okay, I'm almost done. When the splint is off, don't try to move your elbow." Robert Wise takes the last part of the bandage off and carefully removes the splint and the underlying bolstering. "Good, not as swollen as I had feared. This looks very good. You were extremely lucky, Commander. It was a very simple dislocation. You should be back to full strength in less than a week. Now let's see how your movement is."
Dr. Wise very carefully moves the joint, watching his patient for signs of pain.
"That hurts a little, yeah, that." Steve tries to keep the doctor from moving his arm any further.
"It's alright. I think we can keep the splint off. Which does not mean however, you're allowed to move your arm freely. Keep it mostly still and elevated. But you can do these exercises, we just did, up to the point of pain. Do that about every 30 minutes. If you feel pain, stop. And don't lift anything with your right arm. I'll tell the nurse to get you some more pillows so that you can lay your arm down a little more comfortably. Commander, this looks really good."
Steve smiles at the doctor, because it feels really good. To be able to move the arm relatively freely is a huge improvement. Now he only needs to get rid of the IV. "How about my ankle? Nobody could tell me exactly what's wrong with it, I only hear that it's messed up. Not exactly a very clear explanation."
"Maybe not, but it's pretty accurate anyway. I was told that you had two handcuffs around your ankle?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Well, there are deep lacerations right above your ankle. One in particular is very deep. It looks like the metal was pushed into the flesh with great force. It cut deep down and injured the bone surface. Such an injury can lead to inflammation of the bone itself. Luckily that didn't happen. And we're optimistic that it won't. There was a lot of dirt in the wounds, which is why you had such a violent infection. But you were very lucky that no nerves or blood vessels were cut. However the muscle tissue was not so lucky. And to top it off, you also sprained your ankle."
"Sounds great. What about the rest of my leg? It aches from my ankle up to my groin. And my hip hurts."
"I'm not sure what was done to you. But you strained a couple of muscles in your leg and pulled a groin muscle. Your hip is bruised, but no bone damage. My guess is that you were dragged along by your ankle. I'm afraid you're going to have some lingering pain for a while."
"When can I get up?"
"You feel like getting up?"
"Not really, but I thought maybe to the bathroom?" Steve hopes he can soon leave this bed. He hates staying in bed all day and since he's not so dizzy anymore, he wants to get up. He also decides to ignore Danny's snorting from the other side of the room.
"We'll see about that tomorrow. If your elbow is stable enough, I see no reason why you shouldn't be up on crutches. I'll talk to Dr. Heller about your head injury, but I'm sure if you feel up to it, you can do that. So, if it's okay with Heller, I'd say we get you out of bed in the morning. Try to be patient until then and don't try anything foolish."
"Deal. I can stay in bed till morning." That actually sounds rather good to Steve. A few more hours, most of which he will be asleep anyway, won't make a big difference.
"Good. I'll send the nurse with some pillows and will see you in the morning. If you experience any unusual pain, please tell the nurse and I'll come take another look. Good night, gentlemen."
Danny moves back next to Steve's bed and sits down in the chair. "That doesn't sound too bad. I mean, it could be worse."
"Easy for you to say." Steve grumbles and tries to push himself up into a more comfortable position.
"You want any help?" Danny watches his friend for another moment, very unsuccessfully trying to get more comfortable using only one arm to push himself up. Not to mention having a head that is probably hurting again after all the talking and prodding by the doctor.
"Yeah, thanks."
Danny bends over Steve and says, "Put your arm around my neck. How the hell did you slide that far down in the bed anyway?"
Danny manages to pull the larger man up in his bed, but almost falls onto Steve in the progress. Of course right at that moment, Anny comes in with the promised pillows. Steve finds the situation more than amusing, and thinks this couldn't have gone better even if he had planned it.
"Ehm… Gentlemen, everything okay in here?"
"Fine, Anny, thank you. Are those for me? Danno, could you please hand me those pillows?" Steve plays this just to perfection; at least if Danny's flustered face and death glare are any indication.
Anny gives the pillows to Danny and practically flees the room.
"What the hell are you doing?" Danny glares at Steve and puts the pillows not so gently under his arm.
"What do you mean? Argh, watch it." Steve glares back at Danny and rubs his elbow.
"Sorry. Is it okay like that?"
"Yeah, thanks. I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not doing anything."
Danny looks at his friend and tries to figure out if he's messing with him or not. And if so, why? If he's honest, Steve doesn't look like he's scheming anything, he looks rather tired and hurting.
"Are you in pain?"
"My leg hurts."
"You want me to call Anny again?"
"No, it's not too bad. Danny, I had another visitor earlier."
"A visitor? Who?"
"One who wants me to give you a kiss." Steve grins at his friend.
"Grace was here? How?"
"Rachel came by with her. Said Gracie wouldn't calm down until she could see me. I invited you both over to my place next weekend, hope that's okay with you?"
"Yes, of course. Rachel brought her? Wow."
"Yeah. Danny, she was really nice."
"Huh. Well, I'm sorry I missed Monkey, but I'm happy that she saw you. Grace was very upset, you know? She saw some news report by accident and called me, making me promise to call as soon as you were back. My Monkey never doubted that we'd find you."
Both men fall silent for a minute, thinking about Danny's little girl.
"Danny, what about Admiral Dickens? I really need to talk to him. Can Chin get me a secure line?"
"Oh, we actually can do you one better. Your Admiral will come see you in the morning. I explained the situation to him and he agreed to come here."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Why is that surprising?"
"He's the Admiral, he doesn't do hospital visits."
"Well, I don't know about that, but he sounded very concerned for you. He asked me several times if you're alright. Have you known him for some time?"
"Not really. I…"
"I get it… it's classified."
"Well… after the incident with Lt. Jacks, I was called into the Admiral's office. My training weekend was coming up, remember the long weekend I took off?"
"Yeah, you went to re-qualify for… diving I think."
"Not exactly. I wasn't on a training weekend. I went to Norfolk to attend a briefing. The first of six. The others were down here in Pearl."
"And they were about?"
"You know I can't tell you that, Danny."
"Oh, that's really convenient, isn't it? When you don't want to talk about something, it's classified."
"It's not 'convenient', Danny. It's an oath I took. I'm sorry you can't accept that there are things I can't tell you. It isn't because I don't want to, Danny. It's because I can't.
"I know. And I do accept that. But it still makes me mad, okay?"
"Okay." Steve lies back on his pillow; he feels really sick all of a sudden and his voice is almost completely gone after all the talking.
"Hey, you okay?"
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Steve tries to swallow the rising bile back down and ride out the wave of nausea. Until now, he had been so happy that his concussion hadn't made him throw up. He hates puking.
Danny watches his friend and waits for Anny, who he called as soon as Steve said he felt sick. He knows, of course that nausea is one of the main side effects of a concussion and is actually surprised that Steve has seemed relatively fine up till now.
"Steve, you called? What's the problem?" Anny goes straight to her patient, noticing the sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Steve, are you in pain?"
"Feel sick."
"It came on suddenly. Can you give him something for the nausea?" Danny asks her.
"He's already on anti-nausea medication through his IV. Steve you feel like you need to puke?"
"Think so."
Anny puts the basin in easy reach, in case Steve needs it. "Steve, your temperature is up a little, and I think you overdid it a bit with all the talking. Listen, I'm going to lower your headrest and help you turn onto your left side. And I'll give you something to make you a bit more comfortable." She's already injecting meds into his IV-line and lowers him down, so that he can comfortably turn onto his side. "See, now we arrange the pillows some. Is your arm okay like this? Does it hurt, or your leg?"
"Hmm, no, it's fine." All the while Steve never opened his eyes.
"You still feel sick or is the nausea better now?"
"Hmm."
"Okay." Anny keeps gently rubbing his back, but looks up from her patient over to Danny. "Your partner needs to rest a little. Come here please, you can take over until he's asleep. Just gently rub his back like this. That always helps." Anny motions for Danny to take her place.
Danny looks down at his partner and can see that he has a soft smile on his face. He's enjoying this way too much. But just as Anny said, it only takes a minute for Steve's breathing to even out.
While Danny was getting his friend to sleep, Anny checked the IV and the bandages on his leg. Satisfied with everything, she's about to leave, but whispers, "you two are very good together." She smiles at Danny and is out the door, before Danny can utter another word. But he swears that he heard a soft giggle from his 'sleeping' partner.
H50 – H50 – H50