Steve settled in the waiting room. Danny's nurse made it abundantly clear that she would only let one person stay with him in the room and that person, for the moment, was Grace.

Steve was worried. His partner looked worse than Steve had ever seen him. His normally compact and muscular form was diminished. He looked frail and, even though he was unconscious, he looked depressed. Or maybe it was just that Steve was depressed. He hadn't found the peace he had been seeking. Not off-island, not with Catherine; not even with himself. Peace eluded him wherever he turned. Having Danny so very sick and Grace so very angry with him seemed to guarantee that peace was not arriving any time soon.

Steve felt rather than saw Lou Grover settle in the chair next to him. The big man remained silent, but his presence lent Steve comfort nonetheless.

"I guess I shouldn't have left so quickly."

"Nah, you probably shouldn't have. But you did. So now we just move on from here. Did you find what you were looking for?"

Steve got the feeling Grover knew the answer.

"No. I didn't. Catherine met me on the plane, but the more time we spent together, the more I realized how much we have grown apart over the years. We have history. I will always be there for her and she will always be there for me, but we are not meant to be together. It's funny. I told Lincoln that she was the one that got away. I think the truth is she is the one that RAN away."

"I'm sorry, Steve. I know that sucks. Believe me, when you find the right one, you aren't going to be willing to let them get away. Maybe it's for the best that you had this time together, so that you know that it is just not meant to be. Sometimes, being alone is better than being with the wrong one."

"When did you get so smart Lou?' Steve hung his head with a slight grin. Then he got serious in a hurry. "What happened with Danny? He looks like hell. Is this all sepsis?"

Lou's face grew solemn. "Nah, he ain't been doing so good. When you left, he was in pretty crappy shape. You saw how he could barely move. Then, instead of staying at your place with Junior, he packs up and heads to his own. Bad idea. He could barely move and then he was trying to take care of everything himself. We all knew it wasn't working, but nobody could get through to him. Brother, that boy is stubborn, with a capital 'S'."

Steve chuckled but there was no humor in it. "Yeah, he never would listen to reason. Always had to do everything the hard headed way."

Lou turned an incredulous look on Steve. "Pot….kettle much."

Steve was just about to retort when he felt a presence by his elbow.

"Uncle Steve…." The most plaintive little voice he had heard in a while.

Grace was standing next to him with tears running down her face. When he went to reach for her hand, she stepped back. Steve felt terrible, but realized that while he was "uncle" once again, she may not be quite ready to forgive and forget.

"How's Danno, Grace?"

"He's still pretty out of it. The nurse says that they have him on a lot of medicine and he will be slow and groggy to wake up. I just thought you might want to sit with him for a while? The doctors want to talk to us at 4:00."

"Yeah, Gracie, I'll go sit with him. Maybe you can go and get something to eat in the cafeteria with Uncle Lou?"

"That's a good idea little miss. You come with me and maybe you can tell me how my kid is doing…I never get all the truth out of him."

Grace smiled at Lou and let him lead her down the hall to the elevator.

Steve stood looking after them until they got on. His shoulders slumped when he didn't get a wave when the doors closed.

Steve settled into the chair at the side of Danny's bed. He looked at his best friend, his partner, his brother…and his heart shattered.

Danny's eyes were closed. So much of his life radiated out of his bright blue eyes. His mouth was slack, his hair was a mess, and his face was grey and drawn. The good news was that he only had a nasal canula for oxygen. He was fidgeting in the bed and muttering under his breath, but nothing was really clear.

Steve picked up his hand and shifted the chair even closer to the bed.

"Okay, you stubborn pain in the ass. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I left. I shouldn't have gone and after I did, I should have kept in better touch. So, if this is you making me feel bad for leaving, it worked. You win, all right? I'll stick around. You just have to get better. I'll even take you to Jersey when you pull out of this. Swear to God, Danny. Nothing works if you aren't okay."

In the movies, at this point, the hero's eyes would pop open and the musical interlude would begin. Danny was too stubborn for that.

The nurse came hustling in to check his lines and Steve moved to get out of her way.

"You're fine Commander. I can work around you. It won't be the first time."

Steve realized that he knew this nurse. She was a larger, older, Hawaiian lady and she had been one of the ones that was pretty consistently on duty when Danny was recovering from the gunshot wound he received when they were in isolation.

"Nurse Nancy, right?"

"That's right Commander. I'm sorry to see Detective Danny back here. But, don't you worry, we'll get him back on his feet."

"Will you really? Everyone's pretty worried about the rough shape he's in."

"Rough shape for sure! But, that's okay. This one is tough. I remember when he was here last time. I thought he wouldn't ever get back to work after that, but he did. He even came back to see me sometimes."

"Did he?" Steve was quite surprised. He didn't know that and he thought he knew everything about Danny.

"Oh sure." Nancy continued, "Detective Danny was wonderful about visiting. He would even stop down at the children's ward and visit. Those kids loved to see his badge and he would always be so friendly and kind to them."

She studied Steve for a moment and then looked at the door. Realizing they were still alone, she went on.

"His little girl remembered me too. Now don't you worry, son, all of this will work out. She just loves her daddy so and she is worried about him. I know that she isn't as mad at you as she would like you to think."

While the words might have been meant to comfort him they did anything except that. Steve felt badly that Gracie was so upset with him that she was sharing that information with someone else.

Nancy patted him on the shoulder and went on her rounds and Steve shifted back to be close to Danny.