A/N: Umm...this one kind of took off on me. So it's a long one. I hope nobody minds. Believe it or not, I haven't forgotten about Mr. Murdock - we'll see more of him coming up pretty soon.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Hawaii Five-0 or CBS. No copyright infringement intended.
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Once Danny's system had essentially been bombarded with medication, he made a fairly steady turnaround. His hands had been cold for a while due to the low blood pressure, but Grace had taken it upon herself to hold his hands to try to warm them up.
It didn't matter that her hands were so much smaller than Danny's – it truly was the thought that counted. He had snuggled up under warmed blankets, the fevered flush of the medications fighting with the chill in his bones – eventually the chill won out, keeping him buried under a mound of covers for a good hour before his blood pressure finally came up enough to keep his body temperature regulated.
Through his stay in the ER, everyone stayed firm in their resolve to be there for Danny. Chin and Kono had kept an eye on Grace, taking her for walks and in search of snacks when sitting still became too much. Danny had been cleared to eat, which meant that Grace was now on a mission.
Steve was never far from his side – except for now, when he had made a quick tea run, and had Danny not known how hard this had all been on him, he might have given him a hard time for preferring tea over coffee. Danny wasn't stupid. He could see that Steve was at the end of his rope. He had helped rescue Grace – and had to see all of her health struggles up close and personal.
After Danny had spoken with Dr. Kuwada, he had pieced together parts of what had happened to Grace, and knew that there was no way he would be okay had he witnessed her fighting for life firsthand. He also knew just how much Steve loved Grace – and therefore, he understood just why Steve had reached his limit.
He had been there for all of Danny's issues as well, never even flinching at what needed to be done. Steve had given his all, putting himself completely at the bottom of his list of people to care about, and that bothered Danny to a certain extent.
It was a little as if Steve just didn't care what happened to him – he was so focused on taking care of everyone else, that he tended to forget about himself. Danny needed to find a way to make sure that Steve wasn't forgotten in all of this.
Dr. Kuwada knocked on the door frame before entering the room. She was smiling, which immediately put Danny at ease. "Hey, Danny. How are you feeling?" She efficiently removed the mask setup from Danny's face and turned the oxygen off, placing things inside a plastic bag and setting everything to the side.
Danny took an experimental breath, coughing only slightly this time. "Not too bad, I guess." His voice was rough, but much less hoarse than it had been earlier. The swelling in his airway had decreased dramatically in the past two hours.
Abby took a few minutes to assess his vital signs, much more pleased with what she heard this time around. Standing next to the bed, she glanced around. "Where is everyone?"
Danny smiled softly. "Grace was getting antsy, so Chin and Kono took her down to the cafeteria. She's decided that I need snacks, so who knows when she might return. Steve needed a little caffeine boost, so he went to find some tea. He should be back soon."
Abby could see on Danny's face that he was concerned for his friend. "How's he holding up?"
Danny shook his head wryly. "I honestly don't know. I mean, it's not that I don't appreciate everything he's done here for me…and for Grace…but at what cost? He's going to run himself ragged, and it's going to be because of me."
Abby put a hand on his arm, waiting until he stopped and looked at her. "Danny, listen to me. I've had a chance to sit back and watch a lot of this unfold, and while I'm mildly concerned about Steve, I don't see any massive warning signs that he's sending up. Yeah, he needs to remember that he's not invincible. And yeah, he needs to remember to take some time for himself now and again. However, I fully believe that he will do that once we get you out of here. Detective Kelly shared with me that he and Officer Kalakaua would be staying a night or two to help out, and trying to give Steve a little time to himself."
Danny blew out a deep breath. He did feel a little better knowing that there would be extra people around for the first night at least. Physically, he felt much better than he had earlier, and hoped that he would crash fairly hard once he settled into the guest bedroom. He hoped that Steve would allow himself to crash hard as well. A good night's sleep would do everyone a world of good.
"So when do you think I can get out of here?" Danny was grateful for the care he had gotten – he truly understood how close he came to things going horrifically bad. That being said, he was ready to be done with this whole nightmare.
Abby glanced at the monitors, and then at Steve as he came back into the room. "I need to know that you can maintain your breathing without requiring any further breathing treatments – at least for another 3 hours or so. That's also about when the epinephrine should wear off – if your body can't maintain without more doses, I will need to consider admitting you. But, I think that you'll be okay. After another few hours, I'll do a final check. At that point, if things still look good, I will feel pretty comfortable in getting you out of here, with a few instructions, of course."
Danny rolled his eyes, but knew he would do whatever he had to do in order to never see that terrified look on his daughter's face again. "Okay, Doc. Hit me."
Abby toed the stool over to the edge of the bed and sat down. "It's not too bad, actually. First, we need to make sure that you have a supply of Epi-Pens at home and at work. We don't know whether this was an isolated incident, or whether you have a true allergy. I'd recommend testing in the future; to try to get better information, but your reaction will be noted in your file here, as well as at the pharmacy, so there shouldn't be any other issues."
Danny nodded. Whatever it took.
Abby looked at Steve, and then towards Danny. "Second, you need to rest as much as you can, at least for the first 48 hours. I mean it. You're feeling better now – but you're going to have times in the next few days where you don't feel that great. The medications are likely to give you a residual headache for a few days, and you probably will have some muscle pain, believe it or not."
Danny's face fell. He really thought that once he got out of here, it would be back to normal – as normal could be, that is.
"Danny, don't." Abby saw the emotions in full display on his face. "I'm not saying that you're going to feel wretched. I wouldn't let you out of here if you did. But, I'm just saying that you need to take it easy. You're already taking an anti-inflammatory for your shoulder, right? So I'm not even going to add Advil to your discharge instructions. But things like drinking enough water and resting will go a long way to you feeling better, okay?"
Danny nodded as she continued. "You'll be discharged with a short course of Prednisone – it's a corticosteroid that will help keep the inflammation in your airways down. I'm also going to send you home with an inhaler – I doubt that you'll need it, but I'd rather you have it and never use it, than need it and not have it. The last thing I want you to have on hand is Benadryl – I want you to have both pills and liquid on hand. Should you have a severe reaction, you may not be able to swallow pills – but you may get the liquid down. Again, Danny, I don't think you will need any of this, other than the Prednisone. But I'd feel better if you had this stuff on hand, just in case."
Danny looked a little overwhelmed, so Steve put a hand on his shoulder to ground him. "Doc, is there anything else to watch for?"
Abby squeezed Danny's knee before addressing Steve's question. "We'll send you home with a list of warning signs, but again – I don't foresee any complications from this at all. You got treatment quickly, and have responded just like we would have hoped. So yeah, we'll make sure you know how to use the Epi-Pen, just in case; and have meds available if this should ever happen again. But really believe this will all just be precautionary, okay?"
Danny nodded, although it was halfhearted, at best. He didn't have time to dwell, though, as Grace, Chin, and Kono came back through the doorway. Steve chuckled as he saw how loaded down Grace's arms were.
"What's all this?" Abby stepped back to watch, loving the interaction between Danny and his daughter.
"Danno, I couldn't decide what you might want to eat, so Aunt Kono just said to get a little bit of everything. So we did." She carefully dumped the loot onto Danny's bed and climbed up next to him.
Danny smiled at the thoughtfulness of his daughter and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Well, Babe – did you leave anything left in the cafeteria? Let's see what you brought here."
As Grace shared the pudding, fruit, trail mix, licorice, donut holes, and goldfish crackers with everyone in the room, Dr. Kuwada caught Steve's eye before making her way out of the room. She nodded at him, letting him know that she truly felt that things would be okay.
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Danny made it through the three hour 'test' before finally, Dr. Kuwada felt comfortable enough in discharging him from the ER. Chin and Kono would take Kono's car, and pick up the prescriptions and the Benadryl, while Steve was tasked with getting Danny and Grace back to the house.
Within an hour, they were saying goodbye to Dr. Kuwada, who had made good on her promise to walk them to the truck, even though she still had quite a few hours left in her shift. She gave both Danny and Steve a tight hug before turning to Grace. "Now Grace, you make sure that you take care of yourself, okay? I'm going to give you my card with my number on it. I want you to promise that you'll call me if you're worried about your dad, okay?"
Abby knew that she was probably stepping way out on a limb, but she didn't care. She had been a physician for over half of her life. She had gone into medicine to help people, and if Grace needed help, then she would make sure that she was there for her.
Danny just smiled, knowing that he also had a card tucked inside his discharge paperwork. But if it made Grace feel more secure, then who was he to share his secret?
Steve had everyone securely loaded and was pulling out of the parking lot when Grace asked if they were headed back to Steve's house.
"Yeah, sweetheart. We should be there soon. Is that okay?" Steve caught her eyes in the rear view mirror and relaxed a little as he saw that her expression was calm.
"Yeah…I just…I…I just want to spend time with Danno. And you, Uncle Steve." Grace didn't want to leave him out, but really wanted to just curl up with her dad wherever he was.
Steve smiled and glanced at Danny out of the corner of his eye. He had a soft smile on his face, and Steve knew that Grace would be perfect medicine for Danny as well. "I know that Uncle Chin and Auntie Kono are going to go pick up your dad's medicine, and then will come over after that. I thought that when they get there, I might go for a swim or a run, while you keep an eye on your dad. Would that be okay?"
Grace bit her bottom lip before meeting his gaze in the mirror. "I think you need to go for a run, Uncle Steve. You'll feel better."
Steve winked at her in the mirror before turning his focus back on the road ahead of them. He figured that he would get Danny and Grace set up on the couch or on the lanai, and then he would go for a quick run once Chin and Kono got there. He knew he was running on fumes – it wasn't his intention, but right now, he had more important things to focus on; namely his best friend's health and well-being, along with taking care of the same for Grace.
He carefully pulled into the driveway, not wanting to jostle Danny by hitting the pothole he hadn't gotten around to fixing just yet. As soon as the keys were out of the truck, Grace had unbuckled her seatbelt and had hopped down from the back seat.
She grabbed what bags she could reach, and followed Steve up to the house. Once everything was unloaded inside, Steve went back to help Danny into the house.
"Couch or lanai? Your choice, Danny." As much as Danny craved the fresh air, his body preferred the comfort of the couch.
"Couch, I guess."
While Steve was helping Danny get settled, Grace had run to the guest room and grabbed her blanket. While she was in the guest room, she hesitated, but grabbed her worry can and took everything in to the other room.
Danny and Steve noticed her holding the can, but neither said anything; wanting her to feel like she could set her own pace.
Steve helped her position herself so that she was not resting her weight on Danny's injured shoulder, but was still tucked up against his side. He placed a kiss against the top of her head before going to the kitchen to grab a couple of water bottles.
He also snagged a pencil and pad of paper from the junk drawer before taking everything out to the living room. Without fanfare, he set one water bottle on the arm of the couch for Danny, and put the rest of the supplies on the other end, for Grace.
The way they were situated, Danny was mostly on his back, and left arm was securely positioned in the corner of the couch, propped up on pillows; with his right arm resting along the cushions against the back. This gave Grace room to slip next to Danny's right side and curl up under his arm. It was the perfect place for her to relax for a little while, which she took advantage of.
The feel of her dad's hand stroking her hair was just what she needed, as she closed her eyes and drifted off into a light doze.
Danny grinned as he felt her weight settle more fully against him, and knew that she was gone for a little while, at least. It was okay – she needed the rest. He glanced over to where Steve was parked in the recliner. "Is she out?" He kept his voice to a whisper and tried to contort his head in order to see her face.
Steve nodded. "Yeah – not too deep, though." He glanced around the room. "I'm going to go clean up the kitchen a little bit, if you're okay. There are a few things growing in the fridge that probably ought to get thrown out."
Danny just rolled his eyes as he settled more comfortably onto the couch. He figured he'd shut his eyes for a few minutes himself, knowing that once Chin and Kono got there, it would be awake time for everyone.
When he surfaced again, he vaguely heard noises coming from the kitchen and knew that Steve was taking care of the few dishes that had accumulated. He thought he also heard murmured voices, which meant that Chin and Kono were probably here as well.
Sighing, he forced his eyes open and blinked a few times. Lightly squeezing Grace, he was rewarded with the sight of her head popping up sleepily. "Hi, Danno."
"Hey, Monkey." He stayed still as she unraveled herself from her nest. Once she was free, he held out his hand for her to help pull him more upright. He grinned as he noticed how careful she was – she really took this caregiving thing seriously.
Kono poked her head into the room and noticed that Danny and Grace were now upright. "Hey, you guys. How are you doing in here?"
Grace shifted down to the end of the couch and picked up the worry can, not looking at her dad or Kono.
Kono picked up on it, but as she looked to Danny, he shook his head imperceptibly. "We're doing okay in here, I think. We had a little power nap, and now it's time to just relax, I think. I might see if there's a game on. Grace, do you want to hang in here with me, or maybe go down to the beach with Kono?"
"I'll stay here." Her voice was quiet, but everyone understood her need to make her own choices. She had spent a few days where everything had been decided for her – it was time for Grace to start taking charge again.
"Well, Uncle Chin and I are going to make us all a late lunch – or maybe an early dinner – and I think that Uncle Steve is getting ready to go for a run. You just yell if you need something, okay?"
Grace nodded, reaching her arms up for a quick hug.
After Kono returned to the grill, Danny turned the TV onto a baseball game and settled in. He knew that Grace was mulling something over in her head, but didn't want to push her. He knew his daughter, and knew that she would share when she was ready.
He kept one eye on the game, and the other on Grace. He noticed that she alternated between chewing on her bottom lip and biting at her thumbnail. Both were nervous habits that he hadn't seen in a very long time. After about fifteen minutes, though, he saw her reach for the pad of paper and pencil.
She glanced sideways, and firmly believing that Danny was engrossed in his game, finally began to write.
Danny let out a soft breath – hopefully she would take that step and initiate the sharing with him.
He left her to her writing for a few minutes before he noticed that she was finishing up. Abandoning the game, he watched as she tore the paper from the pad and folded it up.
She looked over at him and gave him a worried smile, before stuffing the paper into the slot at the end of the can. Unsure of what to do now, she just set it on the couch in between them and stared down at her knees.
Wanting to break the tension that had suddenly blanketed them, he lightly poked her in the ribs. "Um, Monkey? You know I'm a little bit one-handed here, right? Would you mind helping me with the lid? It's suddenly become Danno proof."
He was rewarded with a slightly larger grin before she scooted closer and picked up the can. She pried the lid from the end and pulled out the one folded paper before setting the can to the side. Unfolding it, she handed it to Danny before scooting closer to his side.
She didn't want to watch as he read the note – she didn't think he'd be upset, but she just wasn't sure.
"I was mad that Uncle Chin took me away from you. It didn't matter that you were sick – I was more scared about leaving you."
Danny blinked his eyes a few times. "Aww, Monkey. Come here, babe." As she tucked under his arm and wrapped her arms around his waist, he swallowed against the lump in his throat. He was so proud of her for telling him the truth about what was on her mind.
"I'm sorry, Danno. I wanted to be brave, but I was really scared when I had to leave you." Grace knew, in her mind, why she had to leave. But her heart, which was still quite bruised from her own ordeal, was terrified at having to leave Danny.
"Baby, I know you were scared. But I want you to listen, okay? I knew that I was pretty sick – and I was kind of afraid that the paramedics would have to do some not so nice things to me if my breathing got worse…things that are hard enough for grown-ups to see, much less ten-year-old daughters. Uncle Steve and I didn't want you to have to see that."
Grace had tears rolling down her cheeks. "But Danno, I promise I wouldn't have been scared. I wouldn't! I don't understand why Uncle Steve had to send me away!"
Just then, Steve came back in from his run. He couldn't help but hear Grace's words, and his heart sank. 'Was she pissed at him for sending her with Chin? He was only looking out for her. He only wanted to help.' He couldn't get to his room without crossing through the living room, so he just ducked his head down and hurried.
Danny saw the look on his face and – he wasn't a detective for nothing – quickly figured out what had happened. Steve had heard Grace, and now the unnecessary guilt had crashed over him like a wave. "Steve, wait."
"I'm…I'm just going to grab a shower, Danny. I'll be back in a bit." Steve didn't wait for a response – he just rushed into his room and shut the door.
"Danno?" Grace saw the look on Steve's face and her stomach started jumping. She could see that he was upset and didn't like it one bit.
"Sh…oot." Danny looked down at Grace's sad face and squeezed her close. "I think Uncle Steve might have heard us talking, and I think he might think you're kind of mad at him for sending you away."
Grace shook her head. "But I didn't finish what I was telling you. I was scared when I had to leave – mad, too; but I understand why you and Uncle Steve did it. If I would have stayed and saw you, I might have had bad memories in my head, if the doctors had to do scary things. And I wouldn't have wanted that. So I'm not mad any more. I promise."
Danny kissed the top of her head. "Then we just have to make sure that Uncle Steve knows that, too. I think he's been pretty worried about all of us for a while – we don't want him to be sad from this too, right?"
Grace shook her head furiously. "I wanna tell him, Danno. I wanna tell him I'm not mad."
Danny nodded, knowing that they wouldn't have to wait too long. Steve never really took the time to appreciate long showers, and tonight was no different. He was back out in the living room in the requisite three minute allotted time, but before he could try to sneak through the kitchen and onto the lanai, Grace had him by the hand and was pulling him over to the couch.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Steve. I'm not mad any more. I promise." She wrapped her arms around his middle, and although the guilt was eating away at him, he couldn't ignore the fact that she was trembling and he needed to do something to fix it.
"No, Gracie. You don't have to apologize. I'm the one who is sorry. I never wanted to make you upset by sending you with Chin. I just didn't want you to have to see anything bad happening to your dad."
Grace scrambled to her knees beside Steve. "I know that, Uncle Steve. I do. I was mad at first – I just wanted to stay with Danno and you. But Danno told me some of what happened upstairs, and I know that you didn't want me to be scared. I'm glad I have you to look out for me."
Steve looked at Grace, before turning to his best friend. "I just…I know I'm not your family. I just never want to disappoint you – either of you."
"Oh, for fuck's sake, Steve. Really?" Before Danny's rant could get fully involved, both Steve and Grace piped up.
"Quarter, Danno." Danny just blew out a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose, counting backwards from five, just in case.
"Like I was saying. Steve, really? Do you really think that you're not family? You have taught me and Grace about ohana practically since I've known you. So are you telling me that it's a lie? That ohana doesn't exist?" He knew that Steve was wrung out – but he was not thrilled with where his head was right now, and wanted to make sure that there were no doubts about his place in the Williams family.
"No. It's not a lie. It's just…" He trailed off, shaking his head. He was frustrated that he was nearly in tears over a simple conversation.
"Uncle Steve? Can I tell you something?" Grace moved closer to Steve's side.
He looked down at her and nodded. "I have other aunts and uncles, but none of them treat me like you do. I know it's mostly because they don't live here, but you're the only one of them who doesn't treat me like I'm a little kid. You teach me things. You listen when I tell you stuff. You take care of me." She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath.
"Uncle Steve, you're my hero. You saved my life from when the bad men took me. You are also my hero because you helped save Danno's life. I have other aunts and uncles, but I don't have a lot of heroes."
Steve blinked furiously, unable to stop a few tears from escaping. "Gracie, I…I don't know what to say. Just…thank you. So much." He wrapped Grace up in a tight hug, and just held her close.
Danny took in the scene in front of him, and it was almost too much. Emotions were raw, and he knew that any of the three of them could lose it at any given point tonight.
Fortunately, Grace saved face as she sat back on her heels. She reached up and carefully wiped the moisture from Steve's face before leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. "I love you, Uncle Steve."
Steve just nodded, needing a couple of minutes to pull himself together. For the vast majority of his life, shedding tears meant defeat. He needed a little time to reconcile it all in his head that it was okay to show emotion – to share emotion. They were his ohana, after all.
Grace gently turned to her dad. "And Danno, I love you, too. You have a great job where you protect Hawaii for me and my friends. You save people, and you fight to keep me safe – you're kind of like my own Superman and my hero rolled into one, and I'm really proud to have you for my dad."
Danny just grinned. "Aww, Monkey. I'm pretty proud to have you for my daughter, too. But my job has caused you some problems lately – I'm really sorry for that."
Grace shook her head, suddenly much wiser than her ten years would indicate. "Danno, your job didn't hurt me. The men that took me did." Just like that, there was no hesitation on her part. She didn't associate Danny's job with danger, any more than she had previously; understanding that policemen sometimes dealt with danger. She knew there were risks, but she understood what a team was, and how they all looked out for each other.
For Grace, it was enough. Ohana meant family, and family meant taking care of each other, whether they were family by blood, or family by choice.
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