As much as I like to whump the boys...I just couldn't. I wanted Danny to be the one to discover Steve's ankle injury. I am not really that happy with this chapter, but i hope that you enjoy it anyway.
Danny tried to sleep, but despite the medication he still just wasn't that tired. He decided to get up and walk around a little. He needed to stretch out his knee before it got any more stiff and he was really in trouble. He slowly got up. His knee was protesting, his neck aching a little. He knew that it was time to start moving his neck now that it wasn't throbbing and wasn't sending shooting pain through his body. It hadn't felt that bad all day and now it had been officially a week so he was supposed to start to use the brace less and start moving it gently. He went to find the paper with the exercises that the doctor had left for him. He remembered that the doctor had said that although they wanted to protect it while it was healing he had to be careful not to let it get too stiff or he would have a hard time getting the range of motion back and his muscles would weaken. He went into the kitchen and found the papers on the refrigerator. They were clipped there with Steve's discharge papers. He quickly grabbed the pile and looked through it to find his and as he did he browsed through Steve's. Then he noticed there was other stuff attached to Steve's papers besides the stuff about the elbow dislocation and how to use the splint. There was paperwork on bruising and sprains as well. It was all very generic computer generated information sheets that he assumed were given to anyone who might have those injuries to cover the hospital. He couldn't find anything that said where the bruising or sprains might be, he assumed that it must involve his arm as well. He grabbed his exercise papers and went back to the chair.
He sat down and took the neck brace off. He just sat there for a little while and enjoyed the freedom. He looked over the exercises. They were pretty basic. Just moving his head to either side, up down and doing gentle circles with his neck. It shouldn't be too bad and would be easy enough he figured. So he started gently and realized pretty quickly that he was wrong. It was not easy and it definitely was not comfortable. The paper said to start with 10 repetitions of each motion a couple of times a day so he very slowly and very gently did that. Then he just sat there. He waited for the pain to recede to a level that allowed him to think of something other than that pain for more than a few seconds. He hadn't expected it to hurt that much, but he knew that he needed to do it. He leaned back and grabbed the heating pad. He put it around his neck in an attempt to calm the angry muscles, then he tried to massage his neck a little the way Steve had done. It helped, but it wasn't as good as when Steve had done it. Damn him, now he only has one good arm, he won't be able to do that anymore. Danny thought to himself. Then he thought that he might ask Kono, but he would see if he needed to as the night went on. He closed his eyes letting the heating pad work and finally slept a little.
Steve woke up with a start a little while later. He had rolled over slightly and was putting pressure on his arm. He was on the couch. He took a minute to remember what had happened. As soon as he shifted, it came back to him in a flash. A blaring, painful, knocked him back down to the pillow flash. His arm was on fire and the rest of him ached pretty badly. He stretched out and when he did, his foot pressed against the far arm of the couch and Steve felt pain again. He remembered the arm. That made sense, but why the hell was his leg hurting him. He searched his memory. He remembered the doctor and then Chin also saying something about him bruising his back, but he couldn't place the burning pain in his foot. He tried to move his toes and found that they were swollen and sluggish to respond. Then he tried to move his ankle and again was hit with the white hot pain searing through his leg. OK, well at least he knew what hurt. He thought a little more and then he remembered that the doctor had said something about an ankle sprain and staying off it while it was painful. Steve hadn't really paid attention to that though since his arm had hurt so much he thought that was the important information to listen to and he had. His back also wasn't feeling all that great.
As he sat up he realized he was moving like an old man. Steve had only hurt his back once before and it was a pain in the ass. Literally. He had pain that radiated down into both of his butt cheeks and it took a while to get better. He hoped that this wouldn't be like that since it was only bruising, but he would have to wait and see. He decided to get up to grab something to eat. He didn't want snacks. He wanted a sandwich or something more filling. He slowly swung his legs around and gingerly put his foot on the ground. He managed after several attempts and a few strings of curses under his breath to get to his feet. He used the couch to hold onto. He realized as more time was passing that his ankle was hurting more and more. It hurt to the point that he wasn't sure if it or his arm was hurting more. He made his sandwich, but when he went to open the mustard jar he encountered a problem. Opening a jar with only one hand was pretty difficult. His injured arm still hurt too much to hold the jar, but he tried anyway and the jar went crashing to the floor. He wasn't one to leave a mess, but he was barefoot and there was glass on the floor and there was no way that he was going to be able to get down on the floor to clean it up without hurting himself. He felt bad, but figured that it would have to wait until Chin and Kono got back. Luckily, it hadn't shattered into a million pieces, but cracked and was in only a few large pieces. He resigned to eating his sandwich without mustard.
The jar breaking woke Danny. He was up and in the kitchen much quicker than Steve thought someone with a bum knee and neck injury could move. "What the hell are you doing Steve?" he asked.
"I just wanted a sandwich." he said.
"Well go sit down before you hurt yourself again." Danny said.
"Fine, but I didn't hurt myself." Steve would have argued more, but he wasn't feeling that great and did want to sit down. He slowly walked over to the couch trying to mask the limp and tried to get comfortable. Then he grabbed the remote and put on a baseball game. He figured that Danny would like it.
Danny knew he wasn't going to be able to clean up the mess either. He watched as Steve limped stiffly to the couch. Then he wanted to kick himself. Of course, the wince when he moved the chair with his foot, and when Danny accidentally pushed on his leg, the limp, and then the hospital papers. He went to the freezer and grabbed some stuff out, grabbed some dish towels from one of the drawers and then headed back to the other room. He could only carry so much stuff while using his cane. He put an ice pack on the high back recliner. That was for his knee. Then he walked over to where Steve had laid across the couch. Danny grabbed some pillows. He used one to elevate his injured arm, then he grabbed another ice pack and put it in a dish towel and then put it on Steve's elbow.
"Thanks." Steve said as he grimaced. It hurt, it always hurt at first, but Steve knew it would feel good in a few minutes as the numbness took over.
"Don't thank me yet." he said. Danny walked down to the far end of the couch. Steve instinctively but painfully pulled his leg back so Danny could sit down. Steve laid his head back and closed his eyes. He was just letting the ice do it's magic on his arm. He was jerked back to reality by a sudden spike in pain.
"Danny, what the hell?" he asked as Danny lifted his ankle. He felt the couch move and then he felt his ankle being lifted up very gently and it was placed on several pillows then an ice pack was placed around the injured joint. Steve hissed with pain.
"Me? I didn't do anything but help you. Why are you yelling at me?" Danny asked. "You are the one who is ignoring his sprained ankle." Danny said.
"I wasn't ignoring, well OK maybe I was. I was hoping it would stop hurting. It didn't really start until I came downstairs this morning." he said. "How did you know?" he asked his hand on his head.
"I'm not stupid Steve. I put the pieces together. The winces, the muffled groans, the limp. Did you really think I wouldn't notice you limping. I am the king of limp remember? So how bad is it?" Danny asked.
"Not too bad. The arm is much worse. The ankle only really hurts when I am up and walking on it or someone accidentally hits it." he said honestly.
"...Or the blanket touches it or the wind blows on it or you look at it the wrong way?" Danny supplied.
"Does Chin know?" Danny asked.
"I'm not sure. I am sure that he figured it out or suspected something. He spent a lot more time with me with the hospital and all, but he didn't say anything so I don't know. I don't think that he was in the room when the doctor told me about it" he said. "I know he saw there was some bruising on my back. I haven't seen it myself, so I don't know how bad it is, but it's enough that it hurts to straighten up my back when I'm walking." he finished.
Danny walked away. He was glad that Steve was coming clean with him, but was upset that his friend was hurt and that it took him a while to tell him, but he did tell him and that counted for something. He went over to the chair and grabbed the heating pad. He brought it over to Steve. He gently rolled Steve forward. He lifted his shirt a little to see where the bruising was and he sucked in his breath.
"Steve, this isn't a little bruising. This is bad." Danny said with sympathy for his injured friend.
"Yeah, you should see the wall. I think there is a dent in it that matches those bruises." Steve said with a feeble attempt at humor.
"I bet there is." Danny said as he shook his head. He grabbed the heating pad and put in on his back. It took a minute, but then Steve relaxed into it welcoming the warmth that was wrapping itself around his back and easing the tension. He pulled the blanket back up and over Steve and then went back to his chair. He grabbed his own ice pack and put it on his knee. He leaned back and watched the game.
He called Chin to stop at the pharmacy and get Steve something for his ankle.
"Chin, did you see Steve's ankle?" Danny inquired.
"No, what is wrong with his ankle?" Chin asked.
"He sprained it when he fell." Danny said.
"He didn't say anything" Chin replied guiltily for not realizing sooner.
"Did you really expect him to? This is Rambo we are talking about, remember?" Danny said.
"Yeah, I guess now that you mention it, he was favoring one leg a little, but after I saw the bruises on his back I figured that he probably had some other ones and just figured it was that. I didn't ask him. I should have. I'm sorry Danny. Tell Steve I'm sorry too. I'll stop at the pharmacy and see what I should get him." Chin said.
"Thanks man. Don't worry about apologizing. You know Steve. You only know something if he wants you to know. Just bring him something so we can take care of that ankle." Danny said.
He went to check on Steve. He was sleeping on the couch snoring quietly face still etched with pain. Danny was starting to feel the ache set back in so he popped an ibuprofen, climbed back into the recliner and tried to sleep. He figured if he slept now he would be able to visit with his friends and play with Grace when they came back for the BBQ. He hoped that the ibuprofen would be enough until he was able to take his next dose at dinner time. He hoped Steve would be up to it as well. He knew that Steve would be upset if he wasn't. He closed his eyes and was asleep within minutes. The pain and exhaustion was taking its toll on him.
