A/N I do not own any of the characters.

A/N Sorry it took so long to get this posted. Had extra hours at work taking care of a big problem and then a co-worker went to the ER, which meant more hours. (He's ok though, so that's good). Then I wasn't happy with the chapter and did a major rewrite. Then I decided that the re-written chapter worked better after this one so I finished this one instead. sigh

A/N Many of you got it this time – maybe because it was easy or maybe because I also included it in my Who's Your Daddy fic. The tip of the hat to Scott in the last chapter was the chess matches. Alex said in an interview that he and Scott used to play chess between takes but they stopped because Scott always won. I've seen photos of Scott playing chess with Masi Oka in later seasons. I guess if they're still playing then maybe they're fairly evenly matched. I have no idea if any of the others play chess.

A/N SPOILER alert for Hoa 'Inea (Misery Loves Company) 2/12/16 ep. I really enjoyed the Valentine's Day ep. I'm actually very proud of Danny. He's right – don't say "love" unless you mean it, even in a card. Team Danny on this one. He's been burned by love and he's not going to say that word or give his heart away totally without being really sure. That's a good thing. More people should be like that. On the other hand, how is Lou back in Hawaii? How did he get away with committing several premeditated felonies in Chicago in that last ep? I was never a big fan of Lou's but now he just seems scary. Allowing him to get away with those crimes from the last ep was just wrong.

A/N I'm doing something in this chapter that we haven't seen on the show yet, putting Grace and Eric together. I was hoping that we would get an episode with Danny and Steve going to NJ this season but that is looking unlikely to me now. So, since Clara is back in Hawaii in this week's ep, my new hope is that (after they resolve that neither Danny nor Clara has the money Matt stole) they will give us a scene with Danny, Clara, Eric, Grace and Charlie all together. That many Williams' in one room should be hilarious. Throw in Steve just to top it off. Scott would have a field day ad libbing a scene like this. It would be a H50 classic, no doubt. One can only hope though.

A/N There is a tip of the hat to Scott in this chapter. Can anybody spot it?

A/N (I promise this is the last A/N for this chapter). 9th day

H50 H50 H50

Danny continued his slow pace of improvement and 9 days after he was so brutally stabbed in the back he was again moved out of ICU and back into a regular room. The doctors were still slowly raising the dose of pain meds. The significant pain he was dealing with as a result of the low dose slowed his recovery. Sleep was needed for healing, but real sleep was elusive when pain was so severe. He spent a significant percentage of his time napping in a sort of limbo – not really awake but unable to really sleep.

The morning brought a visit from Kamekona with a huge box of malasades and cocoa puffs in hand. The enticing aroma reached Danny before Kamekona even entered the room and it already had his stomach growling.

"Howzit Minnow?" Kamekona said as he entered.

"Hey Shamu!" Danny was always happy to see this unique but special friend.

"How you feelin', brah?" To Kamekona, Danny looked pale and tired and very uncomfortable. A nasal cannula and IV lines would do that to you, not to mention the hole in his back.

"About what you'd expect after getting stabbed in the back."

"Hurts, huh? I know some guys with some good stuff…"

Danny held up his left hand. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"Oops. Hey, I brought a special treat for my favorite haole." The Hawaiian held the box up with a smile. "You look too skinny to me. Gotta fatten you up." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"If I had two working hands I'd wrap them around your neck Gigantor." Danny shifted in the bed, trying to find some semblance of comfort.

"Now is that any way to speak to a visitor bearing gifts?"

"It is when the doctor still has me on a restricted diet." With a sigh, he waved a hand at the remains of breakfast on the table. Apple juice, toast, and a fruit cup. Appetite back, Danny had eaten every bite but he was still hungry, like a rather famous caterpillar in one of Charlie's storybooks, he thought with a smile.

"That's not enough for your little blond keiki to live off of," Kamekona exclaimed. "Can't wait to meet him, brah."

"Just don't step on him, Sasquatch," Danny laughed back.

Danny was thrilled when a short time later the doctor came in and cleared him for a diet with no restrictions. The doctor was almost equally thrilled when Danny offered him one of Kamekona's treats.

When the doctor left, Danny dug into the box with gusto. "Ah, a little bit of heaven right here on earth," he said with a contented sigh when he finished eating a cocoa puff. There were still many pastries in the box. Kamekona always went big, especially for his favorite haole.

The good doctor must have spread the word because the steady stream of nurses and aides coming in to check on Danny after that was a bit surprising. Although considering the number of gifts, baskets, and balloons he received when he was first admitted, maybe it wasn't so surprising. Either way, each one was offered a treat.

"You got quite the fan club Blondie," Kamekona quipped when a cute young Hawaiian aide left the room after plumping the pillows and accepting a malasade for her efforts. "Girls must like them small, pale and ugly these days."

Danny waved his left pointer finger at his big friend. "Oh, I'm warning you Fridge, you better stay on the other side of the room because even with only one good hand, if I get a hold of you I'm gunna drop you like 3rd period French," Danny growled with a laugh.

The two men chatted in their own unique style for a while longer. The nurse interrupted briefly to apply the warm soothing compresses and later to remove them. They provided some relief to his back, shoulder and neck but none at all to his relentless headache.

With Kamekona's help, Danny took a walk and fared much better than he had with Chin and Max the day before. This time, holding onto the railing along the wall, he made it out the door of the room and partway down the hall before Kamekona, who was rolling the IV pole behind him, began to worry. "You okay, brah? You're looking a bit shaky if you ask me." He tried three times to get Danny to head back to the room.

"I'm fine."

Kamekona was concerned by Danny's limited response. Danny always spoke in long sentences with colorful nicknames. He tried to decide what to do. Danny was using his good arm to hold onto the railing with what by now looked like a death grip. He was walking with him on the other side but due to the massive injury to his back and chest and the lack of use of his right arm (which was bound up in a sling anyway) there wasn't a real good place to grab a hold of him. "Yeah, and I'm a ballerina. Come on, Blondie, let's turn around and go back."

"No. Gotta make it to the end of the hallway."

"What's so important about the end of the hallway, brah? You gotta make it back to your bed, that's what's important."

Danny answered in a shaky, pain-filled voice. "What's so important? You see those chairs there? Those nice empty chairs? That's what's important. They're calling me. Seriously calling me." They were much closer than the room was. Much, much closer.

To get to the chairs, Danny had to move away from the security of the railing and the speed with which Kamekona moved to Danny's left side and grabbed a hold of him to help belied his wide girth.

"You okay, brah?" Kamekona asked again as he helped Danny settle into an uncomfortable looking plastic chair, IV pole at his side. "You look a little pale if you ask me, even for a haole."

Danny groaned. "Made a bit of a strategic error."

"That's what you call it? You've been hanging with McGarrett too long. How's about I go get you a wheelchair?"

"How about you remember what I told you about my hand and your neck?" was Danny's snarky, testy response.

"Ok, brah, okay. Just tryin' to help," Kamekona answered, hands raised in front of him.

After a rest, Danny finally managed to get back to his room and promptly fell into an exhausted sleep. Kamekona stayed and once Danny awoke again, they played a couple games of chess. When Danny won two matches in less than 10 moves, Kamekona called it quits. He stayed, however and kept the injured blond company for a couple more hours, keeping him from going completely stir crazy.

That evening, Steve brought Grace to see her dad for only the second time since Danny had been so viciously attacked. Worried and concerned for his health, she was both eager and anxious to see him. There was no hesitation, however, when she stepped through the door and saw him sitting in the chair, dressed in gym shorts and a plaid button up that was easier to get on than a t-shirt. His arm was bound tightly to his chest in order to prevent any jostling of his arm, which could cause the open wound in his back to bleed profusely again.

"Danno!" she exclaimed while a matching cry of "Monkey" escaped her father's lips.

She hurried to him and bent down and gave him a careful but heartfelt hug. Danny buried his head in her hair and breathed in her familiar and beloved scent as he mouthed a thank you to Steve. "I love you Monkey," he said as she pulled away.

"Love you more," she replied in the familiar routine that had become a beloved tradition years ago and brought a goofy grin to Steve's face every time he witnessed it. She hopped up onto the empty bed so Steve could take the other chair. "How are you feeling, Danno? I've been so worried about you."

"I'm doing better now, Monkey. Please don't worry."

"Uncle Steve said they had to operate on your back again." Steve had carefully explained everything to her, and even though she loved and trusted her Uncle Steve, there was nothing in the world like hearing something from her dad.

Danny nodded. "Some infections are very strong, grow very quickly and don't respond well to antibiotics. That was the case with mine. By operating, the surgeon was able to see the infection and remove most of it." He purposely avoided saying they cut it out with a scalpel. "That makes it much harder for the infection to spread and gives the antibiotics and my body a better chance at fighting it off."

"Did it hurt?"

"Not while they were operating."

"But it hurts now, right? Your back hurts a lot." She could see that it did.

Danny hesitated for just a moment. He didn't ever lie to his children, but he tried to soften the truth when he could. "Yes it does, but not as much as it did yesterday so that's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah. What about your arm? You feel anything? Can you move it?"

"No. Not yet."

"What if you never do? How can you do your job with one arm?"

Danny swallowed hard. He hated that his daughter had to deal with these kinds of worries. Danny stole a quick glance at Steve, somehow trying to gain strength from his friend's presence. For his part, Steve had no idea how Danny could even answer that question. He was eternally grateful that Grace hadn't asked it of him and then he wondered if the question had been prompted by something Rachel had said.

"Come here Grace," Danny told his daughter. He reached out his left hand and when she was on her feet he gently tugged her into his lap. She was getting too big for this but neither one seemed to be bothered by it today. "First of all, I don't believe that's going to happen. But, if for some reason it does or if I can't use it enough, then I'll deal with that when the time comes. What you are doing, Monkey, is what your grandma would call 'borrowing trouble.' Right now, I'm focusing on getting well enough to go home, not worrying about my arm."

Grace didn't look convinced. Danno worried about everything. "But…"

Danny cut her off. "No. No buts." He pulled her to his chest with his left arm. "I can still hug you, right? What more do I need?"

Steve was surprised by Danny's answer. It contained none of his usual anxiety or cynicism. Instead it exuded patience and confidence. The odds of him regaining full use of his arm and hand weren't great, but Steve hoped to God that it happened anyway. He hoped to God that the Danny Williams theory of life didn't hold true this time and that this newfound optimism held true instead. For once in his life, his brother deserved a break.

Grace snuggled in close to her father, relishing the strong, comforting embrace of her life-long hero. Then she kissed him on the cheek, rose from his lap and hopped back onto the bed and resumed her interrogation. "Did you catch the guy who did this to you?"

"Uncle Chin and Auntie Kono arrested him."

"Eric helped them find him," Steve added, "after he helped your dad." He avoided using the phrase 'saved his life', not wanting to traumatize the teenager.

"Really? Eric? That is so cool! What did he do?"

Steve, with some input from Danny, told Grace the watered down version of how Eric found and helped her Danno and then helped the team track his attacker's escape. He was just finishing up the tale when Danny said, "Speak of the devil."

Steve looked up as Grace hopped off the bed and ran to her new hero. She now had a roomful of them.

"Hey there Gracie Cake," Eric told her as he enveloped his cousin in a big hug. He then turned to the other occupants of the room. "Hey Uncle D. Hi Steve."

"It's Commander McGarrett," Danny corrected his nephew.

Eric held up his hands and quickly defended himself. "Whoa, hey, relax Uncle D. Steve said that in the hospital we're family and I should call him Steve."

Danny turned to Steve now. "Seriously Steven? Seriously? I finally get him to show some respect and use proper titles and you go and tell him to call you Steve? You know how much work I've put into this kid? He even showers, shaves and brushes his teeth now. Look at him, shining like the star on the top of a Christmas tree."

"Uh Danno?" Grace interrupted Danny's rant.

"Yes Monkey?"

"I don't think Eric is shining because of you."

"Gracie Cake!" Eric warned.

"You don't huh?"

"Nope. Eric has a girlfriend," Grace revealed, ignoring her cousin's warning.

"You little devil," Danny laughed, turning to Eric. "Don't tell me you got Tiffany to actually go out with you."

Eric puffed up with pride. "Sure did, Uncle D."

"Well I'll be…" Danny cut himself off before he said something he shouldn't in front of his daughter.

"Who's Tiffany?" Steve asked.

"One of my students."

"Ah, one of your students. Okay, Professor Plum," Steve teased.

Danny laughed at the teasing. "Yep. Much smarter than she looks, too. Eric says she's a ten."

"She'd be a twelve in Jersey," Eric added.

Steve grinned. "Better material here, huh?" He always enjoyed the Hawaii/New Jersey competition, actually he enjoyed all competition, but that was a different story.

"Only because she'd have to be wearing a sweater and a parka in Jersey," Eric explained, his eyes and his smile growing wide. "In Hawaii…"

"We get the idea Eric," Danny said with a nod toward his precious teenage daughter. She didn't need to hear where this was going. He looked at her now. "How's school Monkey?"

"Okay, I guess."

"Okay I guess? You love school. What's the matter?"

"I messed up an assignment yesterday. Didn't hear the directions right. Ms. Kalua said I could fix it and hand it in tomorrow because she knows I was worried about you. But, she said I shouldn't worry because you're tough and strong." Grace smiled now with a sparkle in her eye. She really did believe that her teacher liked her dad.

"Sounds like your teacher…" Steve started with a grin on his face.

"Don't say it Steven," Danny interrupted as Grace laughed. "Don't you dare say it."

They all spoke for a while until Steve noticed that Danny was becoming quiet and still. He was clearly beginning to hurt too much sitting upright and trying to interact. It took a lot out of him. He knew that Danny had pushed himself past his limit for his daughter's sake, maybe even for his nephew's sake as well. It was admirable, but it wasn't good for Danny's recovery. "Oh look," he said casually. "It's almost time for your PT."

Eric and Grace both caught the hint and moved to say their goodbyes. Eric would bring Grace home so Steve could stay to attend Danny's PT session.

Once they left Danny noticed the real time. He knew Steve had done it on purpose so he could rest but that didn't mean he had to like it. Well, he did appreciate it, but he wouldn't say that. He'd show his appreciation his own unique way. He turned to Steve. "We have another hour before PT. Didn't they teach you how to tell time in the army?"

"Navy, Danny."

"Whatever. Might as well take a nap since you sent my daughter away, then I don't have to look at your Neanderthal mug for the next hour."

Steve knew a Danny thank you when he heard one. "You're welcome Danny."

"Well, are you going to help me out of this damn chair or not?"