Azucena woke to the sound of a beeping machine. She looked towards the sound and saw a nurse changing out medicines. Catherine was flipping through a magazine, but noticed 'Cena was awake, "How are you feeling?"
"Better, still a lot of pain, but I don't feel so foggy."
"That's goodness." The small brunette offered, "Steve just went to go grab a shower at your place. I said I would hang out here."
"Glad to hear it. You are all probably tired of hanging out in the hospital and watching me sleep."
"You're healing, there's nothing wrong with it." Catherine responded. The nurse quietly disappeared from the room, and Azucena decided this would be a good way to know how Steve was doing, "How is he?"
Catherine knew what the youngest sister was asking and she wasn't surprised this was the first thing she asked about. Catherine took a deep breath, "He struggled when you went away. He was pretty defeated and WoFat had basically disappeared. We couldn't find any leads and none of our contacts had any information. He never stopped searching, but mentally and emotionally, it ate away at him. He felt like he was letting you down and he beat himself up about it."
"I never doubted for a minute he was searching, but I figured it was like when we first met. WoFat had gone underground for a long time before he resurfaced. I was pretty certain I was in WITSEC for longer than a few months. I don't want him to blame himself."
"You probably need to have that talk with him." Offered Catherine, hoping the siblings would have a heart to heart sooner, rather than later. She wasn't going to rush them. Azucena was still healing and Steve hid his emotions most of the time. However, she knew the two would find the right time to share their feelings and thoughts.
"I will, when the timing is right." Azucena paused, curious of the whole dog situation. "Tell me about Eddie."
"Eddie is probably the one thing that helped Steve through you being gone. Eddie's handler was killed about two weeks after you left. Steve took him in and you could tell they both were in some form of mourning. But they started running together in the mornings and now I can't imagine not having Eddie in our lives. He goes to work with Steve every day. Eddie even has a little bed at Five-0, that I like to refer to as his office."
A giant smile spread across Azucena's face. It was good to hear that Steve had 1.5 partners now. "I'm sure Danny was thrilled about Eddie."
"Honestly, Danny and Grace love Eddie. If Eddie didn't play such a big role in Steve's life, I'm sure Gracie would have adopted him."
"How is Grace?"
"She's good, She has grown probably three inches since you left. She's taking ballet and doing great. We watched her first recital about four weeks ago and it was adorable." Catherine paused, and quietly shared, "She was so disappointed you weren't there to see her dance at her first recital. We all assured her that you would see her dance before long and we recorded it on our phones. You can watch it whenever you want."
"I can't wait to watch her dance." Azucena answered, truly excited to see the little girl with a giant smile. There was a hole in her heart these last few months. Maybe when she went back to Hawaii, she would find a dance studio and teach little kids, like she had tried to do here in Roswell.
"We have a gentleman that lives in the guest room downstairs. He is a former Naval officer" Supplied Catherine, "He works for Steve on Five-0, but we didn't realize he was homeless. So Steve offered him one of the guest rooms."
"That's my brother." She replied, with pride in her voice. Her brother was always taking care of people. She was a prime example of this generosity and caring. "What's he doing with Five-0? How is the rest of the team?"
"He is one of the two new junior agents and he's a good addition to the team. Chin was recruited to start a version of Five-0 out in San Francisco, so him and Malia moved out to California about a month after you left."
"Wow, good for Chin. That has to be a big change for both him and Malia." Offered up Azucena, trying to be positive, but realizing things had continued along after she left. It wasn't a pause, like she had been telling herself to get through the last few months. Life had carried on without her and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Kono took a job on the mainland as well."
"What?" A shocked 'Cena inquired.
"She went to work for a team that works to recover missing and exploited children."
"Oh my gosh, good on her. I can't imagine seeing that day in and day out, but we need people willing to do the work."
"Yeah, we occasionally hear from her, but more from Chin and Malia."
"Did Adam go with her?"
"Unfortunately, they had a pretty bad breakup. He stayed here, and does some consulting for Five-0."
"That's a good use of his skill set." Observed 'Cena, thinking about all the working knowledge Adam had of the criminal underworld. Azucena didn't know too much about Adam Noshimuri, but Steve had been incredibly open with her about him, when he first started coming around Kono.
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Steve walked into the darkened hospital room, and saw the sleeping form of his youngest sister and his fiancée . Catherine's sock covered feet were propped up on the chair across from her, a blanket covering her sleeping form. Steve silently moved across the room and watched the two slumbering women, and was curious where Mary was. She had been leaving 'Cena's apartment, as he was arriving. He had taken a shower, made a small meal, and watched the news before he headed back to the hospital.
He had assumed Mary would have beat him back to the hospital, but it was appearing that was not the case. The protective big brother came out in him, and quietly picked up Catherine's cell phone and stepped into hallway. He flipped through Catherine's contacts and selected Mary's name, as he walked the hallway towards the waiting area.
Mary's slurred voice answered the phone, "Catherine, when are you and my brother going to really tie the knot? I mean, you guys have been together for ages. Is he not what you want? Is he not that great in bed? Really, what's the hang up?"
Steve bit back the anger that was preparing to pop out of his mouth, but he could hear the liquor in Mary's voice. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He should have seen this coming, Mary was feeling rejected by Doris skipping out of the program and she was drowning her hurt in the bottom of a bottle.
"Mary, it's Steve. I'm at the hospital, but you aren't here."
"No big brother, I'm spending some quality time with my friend Jose." She paused and laughed, while supplying, "Jose Cuervo."
"Where are you?" He exhaled, knowing he needed to get his sister out of the bar before she did something she would regret. Not that he had any room to judge, before Catherine, he had picked up a woman or two in bars. Sometimes you just wanted to release stress in the most pleasurable way, and in his old job, he sometimes allowed that to happen. They weren't some of his finer moments, but life wasn't always easy. Especially being a SEAL.
He knew Mary was no saint, but he could hardly imagine she would want to remember back during this time of a family emergency that she dove into a bottle and went home with a stranger. There was a big part of him that wanted a drink to ease some of the stress of the situation and anger at WoFat, but that wasn't going to help Azucena heal and head home quicker. Being surrounded by her family and reassured that they were are all going home would help expedite the situation.
"Nope, you'll just come down to this lovely little establishment and shut down my fun." She answered, and Steve thought about how many times growing up she had been a petulant, little sister. There were so many examples from prior to being sent away. Or the most recent, when she skipped their father's funeral. He honestly wasn't certain if she had been high and chose not to come or if she legitimately decided not to come because their father had sent them away. He had never asked because he truly didn't want to know the answer.
He knew she was hurt and this was her way of lashing out. Over the years, this side of her surfaced was she was scared, hurt, or threatened. Sometimes her behavior made him question if she was really was the younger of his two sisters. All the paperwork dictated otherwise, but her behavior reinforced his thoughts.
"Mary, I get it that you are hurt. Mom left us and we don't think she is coming back. We can talk about it, but I don't think this is the right time to drink on it."
"This has nothing to do with mom." She snipped at him, and he could hear her slam back a shot and tell the bartender, "Another."
He knew this approach wasn't going to fix things, so he decided to take another tack, "Okay, let me come down there and we'll drink to her disappearance."
"You're fucking with me. You won't come down and drink to mom's disappearance and besides, I said this has nothing to do with mom."
"Fine, maybe I just want a drink. The last few days have been incredibly stressful and maybe I want to blow off some steam as well." Steve said, partially speaking the truth. He would have a beer or two, but he wasn't going to do shots and get wasted. He was trying to look out for both of his sisters, but honestly, he wanted a moment to not have to think about the repercussions of WoFat and Doris' actions.
"Promise you won't be a wet blanket?" Mary quizzed, she knew sometimes Steve didn't want to be the responsible one. Sometimes he needed to indulge like everyone else.
"No wet blanket." He promised, knowing he would sit next to his sister and let her drink herself into oblivion. He would then take her to Azucena's apartment to sleep off the binge.
"There's a small dive bar down the street from 'Cena's. It's called O'Malley's."
"I know which one you are talking about. I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"No wet blanket!" Mary reminded him, her words very slurred.
"Promise." Steve said, and he hung up the phone. He walked back to Azucena's room to return Catherine's phone, but Catherine was awake. "Hey, feel more human?"
He handed her the cell phone, "For about five minutes. Just got off the phone with Mary, she's currently deep into a bottle of Tequila at a dive bar down the street from 'Cena's."
Catherine's jaw dropped. She knew Steve's sister had destructive tendencies, but this was the first time they had presented with Catherine around. "Are you going down there?"
"Probably best to keep her from making a bad decision later this evening." He said, as he rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. He didn't mind helping his sisters, but he preferred one issue at a time.
"You're a good brother." Replied Catherine, as she stood up from her chair. She reached out and wrapped her arms around him, holding him and giving him as much love as she could. He held her to him, and she knew he was exhausted.
"You do what you need to do. I've got 'Cena covered for the night."
"You sure?" Questioned Steve, leery with what Catherine was implying.
"She's not going anywhere. I have a good book, plenty of magazines, and a television to occupy my time."
"I love you so much." Steve said, knowing she was giving him permission to let go of all responsibility right now.
"I love you too."
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Thank you for continuing to read and leave notes. I figured it was about time that Mary had a few moments, so this chapter seemed appropriate. Hope you are all safe and healthy! ~Avy73