Right here waiting

Pairing: McRoll

Based on Season 9, episode 12.

Chapter five

The two women walked together through the corridor's of the hospital in the direction that they had seen Steve and Danny go, the feelings that Catherine had felt when Steve had called her at 4:00am had all dissipated and it was a feeling of pure relief at knowing that she was going to be okay. It was like the stress that she had been feeling left her, her shoulders more relaxed, and her heart beat a more reasonable beats per minute.

As they rounded a corner, they saw the two of them sitting on the floor, backs up against the wall, Danny the first one to turn his head at the sound of their feet walking towards them. Catherine had a giant smile on her face, unable to keep it off her lips, Steve turned next when he realised that Danny was looking to his left, Catherine staying back a little to let Rachel deliver the good news.

"She's out, She's okay", was all she needed to say and Catherine could see the tension just lift off them both as soon as Rachel got those words out, It had been a long day, and she couldn't even imagine what Danny and Rachel were feeling as parents of a daughter who had been involved in a life threatening car accident. Watching the boys both visibly relax, it looked exactly as she felt it happen to her, like the stress just dissolved completely.

Walking up to Danny, Catherine heard Rachel once more when Danny and Steve both sighed with relief, "She's okay", she repeated again with a chuckle, coming up to wrap her arms around Danny, Catherine then moving to Steve, both of them holding each other as tight as they could. After losing Joe, Catherine knew that Steve couldn't bare to lose another person close to him, and the thought of losing her niece had enough to have made her really re-consider her life as a CIA agent.

Once Steve and Danny had hugged Catherine and Rachel, they pulled away and Steve went to hug Rachel just as tight as he did Catherine and Danny hugged Catherine, "Thanks again for being here Hun, It really means a lot and I know when Gracie is up for visitors, she will be happy to see you". Smiling softly Catherine squeezed him a bit tighter, "Of course Danny, you guys are family and there is no place else I'd rather be".

Meanwhile, as Rachel and Steve hugged, she realised she hadn't had the chance to thank Steve for all he did, "Thank you Steve, I know you, Lou and Junior put a lot of time and effort into finding the man that was involved in running Grace and Katie off the road, we really appreciate it". Steve knew that Danny had wanted to be out there investigating as well, but he also wanted to be with Rachel at the hospital too, "You know we all think of that little girl as our family, and there is nothing I and the other guys wouldn't do for her and you guys".

Danny and Catherine were all of a sudden enveloped in a group hug with Steve and Rachel, the four of them hugging each other tight, swaying back and forth, the relief causing the four of them to all feel tears running down their faces. Losing a child was never easy and it was one thing that at least Danny and Rachel didn't have to experience and the relief was evident for all of them. Just as they were all still hugging, another figure rounded the corner, it was Katie's father and her mother.

Lou and Junior had dropped by and let them know what happened, Lou figured Steve would be too focused on Grace and on Danny to think about informing Katie's parents, but he felt it was his duty to let them know the full story. He had heard from Steve about the altercation between Danny and Katie's father so he wanted to clear that up but also let him know they had found the man that had caused harm to this two girls.

"Excuse me, I'm Katie's father, Darryl and this here is her mother, my wife, Serena". They all pulled away from the hug, Steve and Catherine standing back a little while Danny and Rachel approached the couple, "I'm Danny and this is Rachel", responded Danny, introducing himself and Rachel to the couple.

Darryl continued on, wanting to get this out as hard as it was, "I was out of line this morning, I shouldn't have shouted at you like that.. Captain Grover and Officer Reigns made us aware of of what happened". He took a breath while his wife put her hand on his arm for support, "I am sorry to accuse Grace of causing the accident, I understand now that she was just helping out a friend in need and was acting on instinct to get her and Katie out of a bad situation".

Nodding his head, Danny held out his hand to Darryl and they shook hands, "You have nothing to be sorry about, we were all stressed and worried about our children, I know I would have reacted the same way if it was the other way around.. I'm just glad that my colleagues could get to the bottom of it all". Rachel smiled softly and reached out to Serena, taking her hand in hers and squeezing softly, "I hope that Katie is doing okay?" Serena smiled at Rachel and nodded her head, squeezing back, "She is doing much better, she is awake and nearly ready to be moved to a normal ward, how is Grace? I know there were complications?".

Danny having put his hand back around Rachel's waist nodded, "We just heard that she is okay and is out of surgery, perhaps when they are both feeling up to it, they could visit with each other". Darryl smiled at that, he felt terrible for how he acted, and he felt blessed that the Williams forgave him for his outburst, "I think that would be a lovely idea, why don't we exchange numbers and we can text each other when they are up to having visitors besides family".

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, they exchanged numbers, and then the girls parents left to go see their daughter, "So what are you too waiting for, go see your daughter, Catherine and I'll let everyone know our girl is out of surgery and is doing well", Steve and Catherine had come up behind them just as Danny put his phone back in his pocket. "Thanks Steve, Cath, for everything". Catherine leaned into Steve and smiled, Steve leaning his face into Cath's head and nodded, "Of course, now go you two knuckleheads, and let us know when she wants to see everyone else".

As the two of them left to go see their daughter, Steve looked down at Catherine, "I'm just so glad that she is okay". Nodding her head, a sigh of relief, "I know, me too, Danny and Rachel looked like they had won the lottery". It was a little after six in the evening, the sun was just starting to set, and Catherine stifled back a yawn… "How about we let everyone know how Grace is, we get some take out to bring home for us all, and then we can grab a shower and hit the sack?" Steve knew after surgery that Grace wouldn't be up for visitors besides her parents and possibly Charlie and her step-father once he arrived so he figured they would wait till tomorrow to come see her.

"Sounds good to me, I'm tired and I know you have been up for hours as well. I'm sure Grace would prefer to just rest and sleep tonight, she will still be groggy from the anaesthetic, and Mary and Joan will be waiting at home for an update as well". Catherine knew Steve wanted to see Grace but having been through surgery before, both of them understood that when you are coming out of the anaesthetic and on pain medications, you are groggy and not up for visitors and right now all she needed was her parents and they were right there. "I love you, I hope you know that", Steve's arm wrapped around her shoulder as they walked through the corridor, "I know, I love you too Sailor", the conversation fading out as they walked into the waiting room to see a room full of people waiting to hear if Gracie was okay.

Author Notes:

I am sorry I was a bit delayed in getting this one out. I got distracted by some stuff that happened at work this week but I finally got it all written. I hope you enjoy this one. I wanted to add the parents of Katie and give an update of her condition. I know I did it in another story I did as well about this episode, but wanted to add it here as well. I wasn't happy with how they left that part of it unresolved, they made sure we knew about Grace and her condition and that she was okay, but not the other girl, and I do think the father needed to apologise to Danny and Rachel as well. It was the heat of the moment but still, I wanted to see that.

SteveMcGarrettLover:

Thank you so much, I am really happy you are loving this story, it means so much to me that you keep supporting me and my stories.