-Chapter 19-

"Hey, guess what!"

Danny was standing on a covered porch overlooking the lawn behind the rehab. He was bundled in a down jacket, scarf, hat, and gloves; all black. He barely looked up from where he was absently poking the end of one crutch into a pile of snow.

Larry walked around to the other side of him and waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello?"

Danny pushed his crutch into the snow and looked up at his father. "I-I want…" he closed his eyes, struggling for the right word. "Go."

Larry frowned. "Go? Go where?"

Danny pointed one gloved hand out at the snow covered area in front of them, dropping his crutch.

"Ahh." Larry nodded. "Snow's calling at you to go play?"

Danny nodded as he steadied himself on his remaining crutch, now centered in front of him. His left foot, covered in a wool sock, held up behind him to stay dry.

"Soon enough, Danny-boy, soon enough." Larry smiled brightly. "Don't you want to hear my news?"

Danny shrugged sullenly.

Larry clapped a hand on his son's back. "You have got to get out of this funk."

Shrugging again, Danny shifted his eyes to his father's. "Wha-what news?"

Larry smiled again. "You are getting that cast off and," he paused for effect. "You are getting out of here!"

Danny's eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but couldn't seem to find the words he wanted.

"I know," Larry continued. "It's great! They're going to give you a brace or something and you'll still be on crutches at first, but not much longer. And you're going to come home with me. Well, not home home, but to my apartment here. All of your doctors say you're well enough to switch to out patient. We'll bring you back each day, but at night you can come home with me."

Larry stopped talking and looked up at Danny, who was still staring at him with his mouth open, but now he looked terrified.

"Danny?"

The younger man started shaking his head, slower at first and getting faster, before stumbling backward, stepping his casted foot down in the snow on the porch. Larry reached out and grabbed him by each arm, managing to steady him and keep him upright. Once he was temporarily balanced on his crutch again, Larry grabbed a chair and sat him down.

"Danny, what's wrong? I thought you'd be thrilled to get out of here."

Danny shook his head again, more controlled this time. He reached up and pulled his hat off, running his hand nervously through his hair. "No." He closed his eyes, concentrating. "N-no leave. Do-don't want bat." He opened his eyes and looked at Larry. "That."

Larry swallowed, disappointed at his son's reaction. "Well," he sighed. "It's not going to happen this minute, so we'll talk about it later." He wanted to ask Kate about Danny's reaction before pushing it any further.

Danny seemed to relax some and reached for his crutch.

"You wanted to play in the snow?" Larry crossed the porch to pick up the crutch that had been dropped in the snow earlier, but saw Danny nod from the corner of his eye. "Good." Larry smiled as he grabbed a handful of snow and dumped it on his son's head.

Danny yelped, but finally smiled as he brushed the snow off, leaving his wet hair sticking up along the middle of his head.

Larry shook his head at the ridiculous style and found himself catching a handful of snow in the face.

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

Kate stifled a laugh as she came around the corner and spotted Larry sneaking out of a supply closet with a towel in his hands. "You look like you could use some coffee."

Larry jumped, realizing he was caught. "You scared me."

Looking out the nearest window, Kate squinted at the bright sun. "Why do you look like you were caught in a rain storm?" she asked, turning back toward him.

Larry rubbed the towel over his face and shook his head. "Danny and I were having some fun in the snow. He has better aim than I remember."

"Apparently." She laughed. "How's he doing? Did you tell him he's getting out of here?"

Larry's smile faded. "Yeah, I did and he didn't take it well. Freaked out actually."

Kate looked out the window and silently chewed on her lip.

"Any thoughts?"

"Yeah," she turned back to him again. "I think it's time to bring Dr. Hammond in."

"Who's that?"

"When Danny came in here he was assigned a therapist. Of course at the time, he wasn't saying a whole lot, but Dr. Hammond has spent time observing. I think Danny has made enough progress that it's time for him to start talking about what's happened."

Larry thought about this for a while. Danny had made no effort to talk about what had happened to him. Larry wasn't really sure if he even remembered. He had done some reading on PTSD and Danny wasn't showing any of the signs. He told Kate as much.

"Regardless, he's got to talk to someone. If he doesn't remember now, he will eventually. He also needs to deal with all of this." She spread her hands to acknowledge their surroundings. "He was badly hurt and we know he's had issues with his recovery. He's made that clear without having to say anything out loud."

Larry nodded in defeat. "True."

"It's not my specialty, but I would say his reaction to his release just shows that he is comfortable here. He's scared of the outside world. It's pretty common here. Just reassure him that you'll be with him and that this doesn't mean we're all going to disappear. He'll be back here almost everyday."

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

Danny slumped down on the couch and eyed the woman standing in the doorway talking to his father. She looked nice enough, but he knew she was a shrink and he didn't want to talk to her.

He shifted his gaze and looked at his father, who was watching him over the woman's shoulder. Frowning, he looked away again and stared out the window until he heard the door close.

"So Danny, we finally get some time alone to talk." Dr. Hammond sat down in a chair across from him. After realizing that she was being ignored, she reached for a file folder sitting on the edge of her desk. Flipping through it, she glanced up and caught Danny checking her out. "I'm not going to make you talk. But I am going to make you come and sit here with me several times a week."

Danny sighed and looked toward the window again. "Why?"

Dr. Hammond raised her eyebrows and closed the folder. "Why? Because you should have someone to talk to who isn't going to judge you." Noting that she had his attention, she interrupted him before he could speak. "Your father told me that you had a problem when some friends from home came to visit. Yes?"

Danny blew out a breath and clenched his jaw. After a minute he nodded.

"He said that you felt like they wanted you to be who you were before." She paused for a moment, watching him for a reaction. "And your father, he gets who you are here, but he also knows you from before. Me? I'm someone who doesn't know you either way. I can just listen and help you deal with what is happening to you and maybe with some of the things that have happened."

"Don't re-remember." Danny stared her down. Without breaking his gaze, Dr. Hammond leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees.

"I believe that you will, eventually."

Danny quickly broke their eye contact and chewed on his lower lip. Feeling her hand gently rest on his knee, he looked up.

"You willing to give me a shot?"

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

Larry walked slowly around the hospital room. He stopped in front of an open drawer and took out the last couple of shirts that were sitting folded inside. Closing the drawer with his hip, he transferred the shirts into the open suitcase on the bed.

After looking through the full set of drawers again, he smiled as he closed the zipper on the bag and sat down next to it. "That's everything."

"See? All packed to go." Larry jumped and turned to find Shawn standing just inside the room and Danny leaning on his crutches in the doorway.

Shawn put his hand on Danny's shoulder and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow." He turned to face Larry. "He's all yours, for tonight anyway. Keep in mind that we have a no return policy here. And the warrantee's already run out on this one, so don't expect that to work." He grinned and shook Larry's hand before squeezing past Danny and out the door.

Danny hobbled through the door and stopped again, holding up his left foot for Larry to see. "Gone."

Larry smiled as he took in the change. The cast had been removed from Danny's foot and replaced with an impressive looking brace. "Congratulations."

"Still can't talk, w-walk, on it." Danny continued making his way over to the bed and sat down.

"One step at a time, kiddo." Larry picked up the suitcase from the bed and put it on the ground by the door. "Are you ready to go?" He turned to face his son.

Danny tipped his head to the side and nodded. "Normal."

"That's right. Normal. Not living in a hospital, living with me."

Reaching for his jacket, Danny nodded again. "Ti-time to g-go home."