"Surprise, Danno!" Grace yelled as the door clicked open and Danny appeared at the doorway with Steve right behind him.
"Monkey," Danny said, slightly surprised but more confused. "What are you doing here?"
Danny hobbled over to his daughter. Grace wrapped her arms around his waist tightly and Danny planted a kiss on her head as she did so. "Well, I told mom that I wanted to take care of you so.. she dropped me off a while ago and here I am."
Danny pursed his lips. "Grace.."
"Danny. You won't let me be here for you. At least have Grace. You need someone around, buddy." Steve said before Danny could protest. Danny knew that this must have been planned by Steve and while he was grateful to have his daughter around, he really didn't want to trouble her.
"Uncle Steve's right. I will be worried about you if I'm not here so it's better that I'm here with you. Let me stay, please." Grace looked at him with her eyes widened.
"Okay, monkey. But just for a few days, alright? And you're not missing school or anything like that." Danny said.
"Yes, okay, Danno."
Steve had helped Danny get settled back home and Danny had spent most of the afternoon resting in his room. Steve stayed till evening and fixed up dinner for Danny and Grace. While Grace had lapped up the food in an instant, Danny barely ate a few mouthful. It was then that Steve noticed that his friend had lost quite a bit of weight. Maybe partly due to the injuries and hospitalization but he suddenly realised that Danny's weight had been declining even before that. Steve didn't say anything about it, though, wanting to keep the conversation light with Grace around. Once they were done with dinner, he gave Danny his medicine before leaving.
"I'll come by again tomorrow, Danny. You take care. And call me if there's anything." Steve said before he left.
Danny knew there was no point telling Steve that he didn't need to come because his partner would still come anyway. He merely nodded his head. "Drive safe."
"I will." Steve said. "Alright, Grace, I'm counting on you to take care of your dad and call me if you need anything, okay. No matter what time." Steve said.
"Thanks, Uncle Steve. Good night." Grace said as she hugged him briefly.
"Good night, Grace. Good night, Danny." Steve said. Reluctant as he was, he left the two of them at the door and drove off.
"Danno? Do you want to go to bed now?" Grace asked.
"In a while." Danny said. He walked over to the couch and sat down on it.
Grace sat herself next to her father. Danny looked at his daughter's face. All of a sudden, he remembered the moment before he lost consciousness while he was trapped underneath the building. He remembered seeing his daughter and he remembered her trying to keep him awake.
"Why are you smiling?" Grace asked.
"Because I have you." Danny said. "I love you, you know that, right?"
"I love you too, Dad." Grace said as she gently rested her head on his shoulder. "I was really scared when... I'm glad you're okay now. You know when you were trapped, I kept calling Aunt Kono and Uncle Chin. They promised to get you home but for a while I couldn't believe them because you had been trapped for hours. But Uncle Chin kept his promise. He went down and got you out."
"I'm sorry, monkey."
"For a while, you were so sick and I thought I was going to lose you." Grace said, tearing up. "Danno, promise, you won't leave me?"
Danny put his arm around her shoulder. "I can't promise you that. But what I do promise is that I will fight till my last breath to come home to you. And my last thought will always, always be of you."
Grace buried her head in Danny's chest as she sobbed. She never wanted to experience almost losing her dad again.
""It's alright, Grace. I'm here and I'm alright now." Danny coaxed.
She paused, contemplating if she should ask him about what's been bugging her. "Danno?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I ask you something?" Grace asked as she broke loose from Danny and looked into his eyes.
"What is it, monkey? Is everything alright?" Danny asked, concerned.
"Are you okay?" Grace asked. She had realised that her dad was not himself these days but she had been too afraid to ask.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
"I mean.. you.. you don't seem yourself. You haven't been talking much at all and each time I visited you at the hospital, you.. I don't know how to describe it.. you just seemed down? And.. even at dinner earlier, you weren't eating much and you barely said anything to Uncle Steve. What's wrong, Danno?" Grace asked.
Danny averted her gaze, he couldn't lie to her while staring into her eyes. "I'm okay. There's nothing to worry about."
"But I am worried. Danno, I know you think I'm still a kid but I want to be there for you as much as you're always there for me. Please tell me what's wrong."
"I don't think you are a kid. You are still a kid." Danny smiled. "It's my job to worry about you, not the other way around."
"But Da..."
"And Grace, you were there for me when it mattered the most." Danny said.
"What do you mean?" Grace asked, slightly confused.
Danny didn't answer as he planted a kiss in his daughter's hair.
"Danno, come on. What is it? I just want to help.."
"Alright, here's how you can help. I think I'm tired enough now. I'm going to go sleep. Can you help me to my room?" Danny asked.
Grace frowned slightly but as she took in her Dad's tired features, she got up from the couch and held her hand out for her Dad. "Okay, but this conversation is not over."
"Wait, isn't that my line, usually?" Danny asked as he got up and took Grace's hand, walking to his room.
"I'm borrowing it for now." Grace looked at him sternly and Danny could see his own reflection in her.
"Alright. Goodnight, monkey."
"Goodnight, Danno." She said as she pulled the blanket over him and bent over to kiss him on the cheek. "Love you."
"Love you more." He smiled.
Danny laid down on his bed and closed his eyes but sleep eluded him. He had been lying on the bed for close to 3 hours now. He was struggling to keep the negative thoughts out of his mind. They came when he was alone. And they attacked him mercilessly. The silence of the night made him overthink every single detail of his life. It had started after he saw Matty's body but he had ignored it, thinking that it was a normal reaction to seeing a loved one dead. He had kept awake, playing different scenarios in his mind and it always filled him with regret how he could have done things differently, then maybe his brother would still be alive.
He thought it would get better with time, that it would pass but it didn't. In fact, it had worsened. He could barely sleep a wink. Every night, he laid in bed thinking about how he should have done things differently. Or how he might screw up the next day. How he was incapable of doing anything right. Then he had heard the conversation between the officers and it had further rooted his belief that he was no good for anything. And he began doubting his team, his ohana. He thought they didn't want him around. That they were better off without him. He had been on a downward spiral and he had no idea how to stop it. He didn't want to feel this way any longer.
...
Steve sat on his bed, feeling slightly uneasy. He was worried about Danny. He knew that Danny had been discharged, meaning he was mostly fine but he was still concerned about Danny's condition, knowing he wasn't fully recovered. He wished Danny had agreed to staying with him so that he could keep an eye on him but he had been adamant. So, Steve had had to rely on the second best option, Grace. At the very least, with Grace by Danny's side, maybe his recovery would be faster. Steve took out his phone and typed a text to Danny.
Steve: You asleep yet?
Danny: Almost.
Steve: It's late.
Steve: You feeling okay? Are you in any pain?
Danny: I'm okay. Don't worry.
Steve: Okay.. Go to sleep, Danno.
Danny: Yeah, you too.
Steve looked at the time. It was almost midnight which meant it was probably around 11am in Jersey. He searched for Clara's number on his phone. His fingers hovered over the call button before he tapped it.
"Clara? Hi. It's me, Steve."
"Hello, Steve." Clara said. She looked at the time and mentally calculated what time it would be in Hawaii. "Is everything alright? Is Danny okay?" She knew he had been discharged that day but there was no reason for Steve to be calling her if there was nothing wrong.
"Yeah, everything's alright. Danny is doing okay, too." Steve said. "It's just.. there's something I need to ask you about Danny."
"Oh thank god.." she heaved a sigh of relief. "What is it you wanted to ask?"
"Well.. I uh.. I'm not sure if you've noticed something going on with him lately?" Steve asked. "The last time he went back to Jersey, did he say anything?"
"Yes.. yes I have." Clara said. "But I don't know what's going on. He wouldn't say."
"Well, I know." Steve said. He told Clara about what had been bothering Danny.
"I guess that explains it.." Clara said.
"Explains what?"
"The last night before he left for Hawaii.. he asked me what I thought if he decided to come back to New Jersey for good." Clara said. She had found it weird that he would ask such a question, considering that Grace was still in Hawaii. "I thought it was weird he would ask me such a thing so I just brushed it aside, thinking he was joking."
Steve let out a sigh. So his partner was indeed serious about the resignation letter and he was even planning to leave the island.
...
A/N: Thanks again everyone for reading and reviewing. Always love reading what you have to say about the chapters so keep them coming:) Hope you guys enjoy this one too!