Chapter 2
When Steve woke up, he was disoriented. He had expected to be in a hospital room. Then he vaguely remembered that he had been discharged, but 'where am I? This it not my room. Are we at Danny's house? No. This looks different. This is familiar as well, but…I don't know.'
He shifted his body to get up, but stopped immediately when pain erupted from everywhere. He was still sore all over. He groaned loudly. Then he gritted his teeth and tried again. It took some more groaning and a little swearing until he was finally sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Hey," Danny called from the door. "What are you up to?"
"Need the bathroom."
"Do you need some help?"
'No, why would I?' Danny could already hear the answer in his head. That's why he was even more surprised when Steve answered with a "yes".
Danny needed a moment before he reacted and went to his friend's side.
"Need help standing up?"
"No, I can do. But I think I am going to be dizzy after."
"Okay. I am here. Don't worry."
And Steve was right. As soon as he was upright, his world tilted, his headache spiked and he desperately held on to whatever he could grab of his friend. Despite Steve's words Danny hadn't expected the dizziness to come that fast and being that severe, but considering the SEAL's loud groan and the death grip he had on Danny's one arm and the other side's sleeve, Danny was quick with stabilizing his friend.
"I've got you. Take your time. We start when you are ready."
It wasn't until almost two minutes later that Steve said "'m good. Let's go."
It wasn't far, but making just short and slow steps, it took them almost a minute to get there.
"Okay. Here you go. Call me when you are finished. Don't go back alone. You hear me?"
"I promise Danny. 'on't worry."
Five minutes later Steve was back in bed – in pain and exhausted.
"Head hurt bad, huh?" Danny asked softly, feeling with his friend knowing that the meds weren't due until another two hours.
"'s okay," Steve answered. "Face is worse." 'Wasn't nearly that bad in the hospital,' he added in his head.
"How's the vision?"
"'s okay. A bit blurry…from time…to time, but…not…worse…than before."
"I'll bring you an icepack. Doc said it might help."
"No. Just…let me rest. 's getting better when I am lying down…instead upright. And 'm tired."
"Okay, call out if you need anything."
"What did he say?" Mary asked.
"I didn't tell him yet."
"Why not? I'm his sister Danny. You have no right to keep me away from him. Or do you think I am that bad for him?"
"Of course not. But he is really feeling like crap right now. And when you are here, he wants to be there for you, wants to spoil you. He loves you, Mary. And if he knows you are here, he will try to ignore his condition. But we can't afford playing with his health right now. He is doing that way too often anyway."
"I understand that. But I want to be there for him too. I can't do that very often, but if I have the opportunity, I'll like to take it."
"And I won't keep you from doing that. Just give him some time. We'll need to try to get some food into him, so he can take his meds. I hope he is going to feel a bit better after that. Then he is much more reasonable."
"That smells good," Danny said entering the kitchen.
"It's a pureed soup by aunt Deb's recipe. She had always cooked it when I had been sick. It is just delicious and I had felt better with every spoon."
"Sounds good. As far as I can tell she was a nice woman."
"She was. I didn't want to leave home, dad or Steve. But I am still thankful that I had been able to live with her. She had saved me. Still can't imagine what might have happened if I would have been forced to attend a residential school or something like that. I felt so sorry for Steve. Thankfully, he had pulled through all that and has become a great man. But I had been very sad very often, thinking how he had to cope with everything alone. I knew it was a luxury to have aunt Deb."
Steve had fallen asleep after his talk with Danny. But the pain woke him up again. His vision was clear, but when he had managed to sit himself up at the edge of the bed after several tries, he got dizzy. He groaned and cursed, waited a few seconds and stood up. Another wave of dizziness was his "reward". Another minute later he started his walk to the living room. He felt like crap, but he didn't want to be in bed anymore. He made his way to the bedroom door, but then he got dizzy again. He held on to the doorframe and called for Danny.
Danny was still in the kitchen with Mary. When he heard Steve calling his name the urgency in his friend's voice didn't go unnoticed.
"Steve! What are you doing?!"
"Need some help," came the almost desperate sounding answer.
"I can see that. You should have called earlier. And you know you are supposed to stay in bed."
"Thought I could manage. And I want to be on the couch. Need…different position. And I need…meds."
'If Steve is asking for meds, it must be really bad. One reason more why he should've called earlier. Maybe it wasn't such a good decision to bring him home after all.'
The thoughts went through Danny's head in just a few seconds. His main focus was on bringing his friend to the couch safely. Which he did, then he helped Steve to sit down.
"Wait here. I am going to bring your meds."
Mary had observed both men from the kitchen door without being noticed by either of them. She was upset by her brother's appearance, scared how much weight he laid on Danny but fascinated how naturally Danny took over and Steve trusted him to master it.
"Is it good that he is out of bed?" she asked Danny in a low voice when he re-entered the kitchen.
"No, but I understand his reasons. And it is probably good if we want to get some food into him. Would be better if he could eat first, but I think he is in too much pain and too nauseous to do that. I'll give him his meds first."
Mary looked skeptical.
"Believe me, he can handle that. Better than eating and throwing up and taking the meds after it. We've tried enough to know which is the best way. Your brother is different – in more than just one way."
Steve took his meds with some water and closed his eyes.
Fifteen minutes later the first signs of improvement were visible.
Steve opened his eyes. Danny could still see some pain in it, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before. They didn't even look glazed anymore.
"You better?" Danny asked nonetheless.
"Yeah. Think the meds are starting to work…What are you cooking? It smells great."
"You hungry?"
"Yes." A growl of his stomach supported the statement.
"Good. But actually, it wasn't me who was cooking."
Danny signed Mary to come into the living room.
"Mary?" Steve asked surprised. "What are you doing here?" He tried to get up, but failed.
Mary rolled her eyes. First because of the question, then because of his stubbornness.
"No, don't get up." She leaned down and gave him a soft kiss on his forehead.
"I wanted to surprise you. Looks like it worked – just in a different way I had imagined.
You up for aunt Deb's "get-better-soup"?"
"If that is what smells so good, yes."
Another growl followed.
Mary put a bowl and a spoon in front of her brother.
"Be careful. It is still a little too hot to eat."
It was, but Steve took a spoonful anyway.
"This is delicious! Aunt Deb taught you that?"
"Yeah, I got that every time I was sick. I wanted to learn that. Now I am glad I did," she smiled at her brother.
"I am too." He smiled back.
Steve finished the bowl, but was still hungry. Mary served him a second one, but he managed only half of it.
The meds had caught up to him. They had done their job, but they also made Steve drowsy.
Danny helped his friend into a lying position and cushioned several body parts with pillows, but Steve didn't notice anymore. He was out before a blanket was spread over him.
Mary was once again amazed how thoughtful Danny was. She smiled knowing that her brother had someone by his side now who obviously cared a lot about him.
Danny tucked his friend in and when he looked up, he saw a smiling Mary.
"What?" he asked.
"I am just happy Steve has a friend like you. He deserves it. And I am going to feel much better when I am going to leave in a few days, knowing that someone is taking care of him like that. I know we hadn't much contact over the years, but I know Steve had some trust issues – understandably. But it looks like he trusts you unconditionally."
"We had quite the start, but we grew on each other. I think he is "marshmallow filled with testosterone" - haven't told him that yet though.
And before you ask: Yes, I trust him too – with my life. There is no-one else in this world I know who would die to save my kids without seconds thoughts, no-one else who I trust to make the right decisions when it comes to the safety of the team and on-one else who I want to have my back."
They had sat and talked for another two hours without even noticing, until Steve started to stir again. He opened his eyes a few minutes later. He was still a little groggy from his sleep, but he felt much better than the last time he had woken up.
"Hey," he blinked a few times to try to get a better vision and focus on the two people opposite of him. When his eyes landed on Mary, he smiled and said "thought that was a dream. Looks like it wasn't. Then the soup wasn't either, right?"
"No, it was real."
"Can I have another bowl?"
"Of course, you can."
While Mary went to the kitchen to heat the soup, Steve asked "What am I gonna do? I can't take care of her."
"I think she can take care of her own," Danny replied.
"That isn't what I meant. Whenever she is here, I try to be there for her, have everything here she likes, cook something, try to spent some time with her, spoil her, make her feel comfortable so that she feels at home and can relax for a while, take her mind of things. I can't do that now."
"I think she can live with that just once. Let her take care of you this time," Danny said.
"What? Where…where are you going?" Steve asked almost in a panicked voice.
"Nowhere. But she would love to do something for you too. She loves you. You are her brother. Her only living relative. She wants to feel needed."
"She is and I love her too." Steve said smiling.
"I know. Just let her do something for you for a change. It won't hurt."
"No. But you need to be the one responsible for the meds. I…I don't want to see her how bad the pain is at times That would only worry her more."
"Sure. No problem with that."
After another two bowls of soup, Steve dragged himself to bed again. Lying flat was a relief for him and he fell asleep soon after.
Danny wasn't sure if the words he had said to his friend or the fact that Steve felt so bad was the reason but the SEAL let Mary in without complaining in any kind. He let her do everything she wants for him. Even when she snuggled up to him on the couch, let his head rest against her shoulder and pressing a kiss or two to the crown of his head, he didn't resist and let her do it.
In the end Danny decided it was a combination of both.
Steve knew that Mary was staying for just a week and he wanted as much time with her as he could get.
But he was also on heavy meds which made him feel tired and let him sleep a lot – which was actually the purpose of it. Therefore, he hadn't much energy to fight his "fate" as he would usually do. Because of that it was a harmonic week and Steve felt much better after it. He promised Mary to be there for her again next time.
She replied that she had been happy that she could have taken care of him – aside from the circumstances – and would do it again if needed – which she hoped wouldn't be the case though.
Surprisingly Steve stayed a well-behaved patient after Mary had left.
He did what Danny was telling him, didn't even complain about the meds and even followed his resting schedule to the detail on his own.
At first, Danny wasn't sure if his friend was doing this just to make sure the detective would return to work as planned the following week, but it turned out that this wasn't the real reason.
Danny had gone back to work in the third week, but he also had returned a few hours later on the third day to make a check on his friend's activities.
Said friend was dozing on the couch – as he was supposed to do.
Another quick check showed that the SEAL hadn't been out for neither a swim nor a run.
"Danny, it's fine. You don't need to have an eye on me."
"You sure? Because you usually don't do anything the doctors are telling you."
"I know and I am sorry for that," Steve said in a serious voice. I will try to amend.
I already should have done that when I got the transplant. But…but I was too busy trying to understand what had happened and…to cope with the fact that I couldn't be a SEAL anymore and…with trying to prove myself that I am still the same guy, still worth something.
But after the talk we had at the hotel, I realized that this was the wrong way. After the wound had reopened and I still wanted to go inside to help catching the bad guy, you were extremely pissed at me – and deservedly so.
What I had done was unacceptable.
That was the reason why I wanted home afterwards and didn't return for another week.
I don't want to see that facial expression of yours of that day ever again.
I know you weren't angry this time, but I could see an equally high amount of worry on your face – and on Mary's. And I don't want to see that again either. You've been through enough already.
That doesn't mean I won't take risks anymore – because trying to protect and save others is who I am. It is who we are. But I promise you that I will stay to doctor's orders from now on.
Don't want to make it any more complicated for you than it already is.
Also I am not thirty anymore. My body is telling me that every day.
The pain of the broken cheekbone was enough for me. Don't want to risk surgery.
Do you think you can live with that?"
Danny was impressed and relieved by everything that Steve had just said.
"Yes, I think so. I would love to see that you won't risk your life either anymore, but you are right. That's who we are. We can't change that.
But your promise is a good start to make me feel better and since you've never broken a promise to me before, I think another control visit isn't necessary."
"Great. But since you are here, how about we make some coffee and sit down in our chairs at the beach and drink to it?"
"That my friend is the best idea you've ever had."
They smiled at each other and went to the kitchen to put their plan into action.
Author's note: That was it. All stories are published. Thanks for all the people who had supported me during my little journey as an author. It had been a great experience after all. Thanks again.