Thank you once again for your reviews, I really love to read them, they keep me fueled!
For those who mentioned that the medical information seems to be quite detailed, I'm not a doctor nor am I working in the medical field, I just write about what I experienced myself although my own spinal cord injury isn't by far as severe as the one I chose for Steve, so if there are any inaccurate descriptions blame it on me and my bad memory.

Soooo, let's wheel back to our favourite team and see what's in store for Steve after the second surgery…

Chapter 14

TAMC, surgical recovery ward

Floating, that was how Steve felt when he tried to open his heavy eyelids. There was something pressing on his tongue and blocking his teeth. He felt like he was wrapped in cotton and he struggled to understand the voice calling his name.

"Commander McGarrett, are you awake? If you can hear me, don't be frightened, you are intubated. Would you try to open your eyes, please?"

Intubated? For a second Steve couldn't process this information but then he remembered all at once. The surgery! If he was still intubated, did this mean that something went wrong? Would he be paralyzed from the neck down? He panicked and struggled to open his eyes. Somewhere an erratic sound alarmed the voice to start talking to him again.

"You are doing just fine, don't panic. Try to open your eyes and I will explain you what happened during surgery."

When Steve finally managed to open his eyes at half mast he looked into the soft eyes of Dr Mason.

"There you are. It's all good. Before you stress out, I assure you that the surgery was a full success. We had a little more damage to repair than we first thought and as we put a lot more stabilizing material into your bones than we intended to do, we needed to put you on a ventilator as a precaution for the next 48 hours. We needed to drill more screws into your C4-vertebra than planned and as the respiratory muscles are controlled by your spinal cord at that C4-level, we won't take any risk. There still could be some after-surgical swelling that could affect your breathing temporarily. But I repeat, even if you don't feel it right now, the surgery was a success. We repaired all the bony damage and stabilized your neck. You are already off the rigid brace and resting in a soft collar. We have you on heavy duty medication, therefore you probably feel close to nothing, but the next time you are awake, you'll be pleased to feel the progress. I know, this is a lot of information to proceed at the moment and I'm sure I will explain it to you again in a couple of hours, but be sure to be fine."

Steve couldn't process what Dr Mason explained to him but he understood that he was fine. With that he drifted back to a deep slumber.

TAMC; ICU, 24 hours later

When Steve came to the next time he didn't know how much time had passed since he had woken up after surgery but he was relieved that he still didn't feel any pain. The cloudy feeling from before had receded and he opened his eyes. There was still something blocking his teeth and he needed a second to remember what Mason had told him about being intubated. His heart started to race and immediately there was a young nurse stepping close to his bedside.

"Calm down, commander, you are doing fine. Do you remember where you are? Blink once for yes and twice for no if you understand me."

Steve blinked once. Great, obviously his eyelids were his only way of communication for the time being. He closed his eyes again when he heard Dr Mason's voice, so he opened them again. Obviously, Dr Mason didn't want him to go back to sleep so soon.

"Commander, how are you feeling? Are you in pain?"

Steve blinked twice to answer the question with a no.

"That is good. I will now mobilize your neck. You are in a soft collar for the time being but this thing allows small movement to the sides. Please don't try to move your neck by yourself, I will now move your head slightly to your right, ok?" Mason put his hands at the sides of Steve's face and started to turn his head softly to a sideward direction.

For the first time in 4 months Steve's field of vision changed by simply turning his neck instead of someone stepping into his sight. It felt incredibly good even if Mason only turned Steve's head by some degrees. A huge weight seemed to drop off Steve's shoulders as tears of joy filled his eyes. Dr Mason smiled at his patient.

"From your reaction I understand that you are very relieved, ain't you? I promised you that we would succeed with the surgery. Do you have any new uncomfortable sensation in your upper limbs that wasn't there before the surgery?"

Again Steve blinked twice.

"That's great, it shows that there is no secondary tissue swelling. I will now turn your neck to your left side and if there is no new weird feeling, you can go back to sleep. You're doing very good, I think we can remove the ventilator in the morning."

The movement to the left turned out as good as the turning to the right and didn't trigger any new uncomfortable sensations and so Steve was allowed to go back to sleep. For the first time since the explosion he felt real hope.

TAMC, ICU, two days after second surgery

When Danny entered his partner's ICU cubicle the next morning he was surprised to see his partner awake, his upper body in a slightly raised position and instead of the breathing tube sporting a nasal cannula to provide some oxygen. His neck only protected by a soft collar, Steve smiled happily at Danny.

"Hey", he greeted his partner with a raspy voice. "I missed you yesterday."

"Buddy, I was here the whole time since you first woke up. Obviously, you were so drugged up, that you don't remember." Danny told Steve that he had been sitting at his bedside since he came out of surgery. Steve had been so sleepy that he didn't remember.

"Ok, sorry, I don't remember much of the last two days, only that I didn't sleep that good since the day of the explosion. Must have been pretty good drugs they had me on…"

"Believe me, it's better if you don't remember too much. Being intubated while being fully awake is no fun, I guess therefore the drugs. But I do believe you that you didn't sleep that good since getting injured. The moment when Dr Mason moved your head for the first time your eyes were filled with tears of relief. That was one of the most beautiful moments in my life, really." Danny's voice was filled with emotions and he had to suppress the tears dwelling in his own eyes. He was so happy to see his partner finally take the right turn, he wanted to hug him and never let him go.

"How does it feel to finally be able to move more than just your eyes?"

"It feels weird, my neck feels so unprotected and my head feels so heavy. Mason keeps reminding me not to try to turn my head by myself, but honestly, even if I wanted, I'm pretty sure that I don't have the strength. My shoulders and the part around my clavicles feel much better since the rigid brace is off. Somehow I feel lighter, and it's also easier to breathe. I'm really overwhelmed, I didn't expect such an improvement in such a short time." For the first time since the explosion, Steve's eyes had that gleam that had been so typical for them prior to the injury.

TAMC, SCI-ward 10 days later

Finally, nearly two weeks after his second surgery Steve was ready to leave TAMC hopefully forever and return to REHAB to continue his rehabilitation. He was looking forward to leave the hospital he had spent so much time in and the best thing was that this time, although he once again needed EMS to get to the rehab centre, he would be transported in a somewhat sitting position, being able to slowly turn his head by himself and being able to see what was happening around him. The last time, more than two months ago when he had been brought to REHAB for the first time, he had been laying flat on his back, his lower body without any feeling and the upper body constricted by a rigid brace up to his head, unable to see anything else than the ceiling of the corridor the gurney was wheeled through. Today, it felt like another life. Although he still had very few control over his upper limbs, he still felt much better and was highly motivated to train as hard as he could. After all, he was a SEAL. He nearly had had forgotten how it felt to have a goal.

Steve smiled to himself and slowly turned his head to look at his partner who was sitting at his bedside. "You are so silent, this is very unusual behaviour for you. What's going on?"

"I'm just happy. You know, I just remembered last time when you left this ward to start rehabilitation. At that time, the situation felt so desperate, you couldn't even be moved without getting dizzy and nauseous, and now you are laying there looking so much better. If it wasn't for the softcollar, the ever present back brace and your splinted forearms, one wouldn't see that you're injured." Danny's voice nearly broke as he described how much Steve's condition had improved during the last two weeks.

The two friends fell silent as the door of Steve's room opened and the same team of paramedics that had transported Steve the last time entered the room with a gurney.

"Hi, guys. Someone needs another ride? Commander McGarrett, I must admit you look way better than the last time." Max, the friendly paramedic, stepped close to the bed and watched Steve from head to toe. "I'm really impressed. I already got the information for the transport and therefore knew that you made good progress, but honestly, I didn't expect to see you in such a good shape. I understand that you won't need any medication for getting car sick this time?" He smiled mischievously at Danny and then patted Steve's shoulders as Steve rolled his eyes.

"Alright, we get you on the gurney now and then we can leave. I assume you want to stay in an upright position to supervise my driving?"