Happy New Year!

Steve had showed up about ten minutes prior to when Danny found him and Catherine at the coffee cart.

"How is she?" Catherine asks impatiently.

"Exhausted for sure. I uh- I am going to stay, if she'll have me."

"Danny are you sure? I can stay. Steve can come back and get us in the morning." Catherine offers.

"Yes, uh, things are going well, I would like to see if that continues to be the case. Listen if she doesn't want me to stay I'll let you know so she won't be alone."

Hesitantly Catherine nods her head, "Okay, call me if anything changes." Catherine wraps her arms around Danny's neck giving him a tight hug. "Take care of her Danny."

"I got you Babe, don't worry about it."

After saying goodnight to Steve and Catherine, Danny gets himself a cup of coffee from the cart before heading back inside and upstairs to Bex's room. She seems to be sleeping when he gets inside so he decides to go ask the desk nurse about a pillow. A friendly strawberry blonde nurse wearing the name tag "Maggie" was seated behind the counter. "Excuse me," glancing down at her name tag, "Maggie, my name is Detective Danny Williams. My friend Bexley is in 5511. I was wondering if I could get a pillow from someone? I'm going to be staying with her."

"Of course Detective, someone will get one to you." She offered a kind smile.

Danny returns her smile and nods his head, "Thank you very much."

Back in the room he rearranges the sleeper chair so it is closer to Bexley's bed. After the nurse brings him a pillow and a blanket, he texts Grace and then Rachel to let them know where he would be; he plugs his phone in and leaves it sitting on the bedside table. After placing his phone down, he catches himself staring at Bexley, she had a cute frown on her face, fast asleep. Even frowning he found her exceptionally beautiful.

Taking her hand in his he sits and settles in the sleeper chair. Stroking his thumb back and forth across her hand, he closes his eyes and rests his head back against the chair.

Bexley groans and slowly starts to open her eyes. She feels the warmth from Danny's hand before she realizes that it was indeed Danny. A small smile grows across her sleepy face. "You came back." She says in a soft sleepy whisper.

Danny doesn't open his eyes but he gives her hand a gentle squeeze, "I promised you I would." He goes back to stroking the back of her hand. "Last I checked you were supposed to be sleeping."

A genuine but weak smile appears on Bex's face, "Last I checked, only family is allowed to stay overnight."

Danny's hand froze, "I can go, if you aren't comfortable. I uh, I got the impression earlier that you weren't too fond of hospitals."

Bexley tightens her grip on Danny's hand, "Don't go. Please."

Danny continues stroking her hand. "I'm staying right here babe. Got a pillow and everything."

"Let me guess, Nurse Maggie?" Bex asked but she already knew the answer. Maggie was a sweet nurse and would have gone out of her way to make Danny comfortable.

Danny, perplexed and with a bona fide grin on his face says, "How could you possibly know that?"

"Because she's the nice one! She snuck me a Diet Coke!" Bexley's eyes were still closed but she had a wide grin on her face. Nothing made her happier than Diet Coke.

Unknown to her, Danny had opened his eyes. He couldn't help but smile wide when he saw the pure happiness on Bex's face; all from talking about Diet Coke. "You're gorgeous ya know that?" He asks. Bluntly yet sure of himself.

Bex's cheeks turn red, something that doesn't happen often with her olive toned skin but her smile softens. "Thank you," she replies but it sounds off.

Danny is confused, this is not the typical reaction he receives after complimenting a woman. "Hey, I didn't mean to insult you. You are just laying there and you lit up and you just knocked my socks off."

"You didn't insult me." Bexley whispers. Finally opening her eyes she looks at Danny's nose, not totally able to face him eye to eye yet. "I just have a hard time taking compliments."

Bexley used her left hand and grabbed on to the hospital bed railing using that to take her weight, she shifted so she was laying on her right side.

"Woah, slow down there lady." Danny jumps up and places his hands on Bex's waist to help guide her right hip down. Bex wasn't wearing anything besides the hospital gown, to which Danny took notice of right away. His palm was resting on her hip and his thumb started circling her hip bone. Bex felt her entire body turn to heat and start to tingle. She was starting to have trouble breathing. Her voice drops to a light yet sultry tone, "Danny?" she asks. Danny just about lost it when she said his name like that. He thought he would explode right then and there, his pants becoming tighter by the second. "Bex…"

"If you keep your hand on me, my body is not going to listen to my head and it is going to do things that I literally am forbidden from doing right now."

Danny quickly removed his hand and then stood up taking a few steps back. He quickly shoves his hand in his pockets and walks in a small circle.

"I'm sorry, I need some clarification," Danny says reluctantly. "Did you-"

Bexley cuts him off, "Just tell you to take your hands off of me because it was turning me on so much I almost jumped your bones?"

Danny tilts his head up and squints his eyes in that Danny way. "Uh, well yes. Yes, that would be what I was referring to."

Bexley takes a deep breath and then uses her remaining energy to muster up all the courage she can before saying, "Can you please just come kiss me so this conversation can be over?" Her eyes were squeezed shut and she slowly started to peek out of one eye. She wasn't known for having a very bold personality but if she had learned anything from life lately, it was to take any and every chance you get at happiness. She finally opens both eyes to find Danny standing in front of her with his mouth open wide in shock. He had moved back to the side of the bed and was yet again brushing Bex's hair away from her face, he leaned down and whispered "Only because you said please," before he cupped her jaw and kissed her.

Truth be told Bexley was never super into kissing. She found it awkward and never knew what to do with her tongue. But kissing Danny, this is what kissing should feel like, she thought to herself. She could feel this kiss in her toes. His lips were soft like velvet and his stubble scraped against her jaw, the sensation was chilling. They kissed for what felt like hours but was a mere two minutes before Danny pulled away. Before he sits back down in the sleeper chair he takes her hand back in his, leans over and kisses her on the forehead. "You have to get some rest."

"You're the one that was distracting me." Bexley snorts out.

Danny chuckles and finally sits back down in the sleeper chair, "You're the one who asked me to kiss you." Danny closes his eyes and leans back in the chair. "Go to sleep gorgeous."

Bexley punches her pillow a few times to get it perfectly smooshed, once satisfied she relaxes her body onto the pillow and starts to drift off. "Thank you for a memorable not not first date."

Danny caresses her hand until she falls asleep. Once he is sure she is out he drifts off as well.

Author's Note

First of all, thank you to Maggie for being, you.

Second, I'm hoping to get a few chapters up this week. Unfortunately I am stuck in quarantine after being exposed to COVID. So far no symptoms so keep those fingers crossed!

Third, PLEASE review, it means the world to me.