Chapter 6
Steve was sleeping peacefully when Danny reentered. There was no sign of pain on his face and his fingers weren't clawing at anything.
Danny sat down in the chair by his friend's bedside watching him closely. The regular rising and falling of Steve's chest gave Danny some peace too. If it weren't for all the swelling and bruising Steve would have looked like nothing had ever happened.
Danny was thinking about the doctor's words "to not worry". He didn't want to but he just couldn't shake the feeling.
He was always worrying when someone he loves was sick or injured. Even if it was trivial like a cold or a broken finger. There were always some images of the worst flashing though his mind. That's who he was. He had tried to change it but it had never worked out . The problem was every time it came to his kids or Steve, he was driving himself crazy.
In a way he was glad that the doctor hadn't told him everything that could happen. On the other hand, he wanted to be prepared, wanted to know what to look for, wanted to recognize the signs of change.
'Maybe he is going to tell me when Steve get discharged,' he thought to himself.
The SEAL slept almost until dinner time.
Danny had paced the room a few times and got himself a few coffees and two sandwiches during that time. But when his friend woke up, he was by his side. Once more he took Steve's hand in his and whispered "Hey, buddy. You slept long and well. You feel a bit better too?"
Steve opened his eyes. His vision was still blurry and he couldn't focus on anything. He closed them again.
"What happened?" he asked.
"You took a hit to your head," Danny told him once more. "How's the pain?"
"Okay…I guess. Can't see much though."
"Yeah, you've said that earlier. Doc said it is normal. The hit was pretty hard."
They talked for a while until Steve started to slur his words again.
"Why don't you rest a bit?" Danny asked. "We can continue later."
"'kay," Steve answered. The talk had tired him out. He was starting to get problems to follow the conversation and having his eyes closed the whole time had made him feel awkward although Danny had told him it wasn't a problem for him.
It didn't take long until he fell asleep again.
A minute later Danny's phone vibrated in his pocket. He stood up and left the room.
"Chin. What's up?"
"Hey, how's the boss?"
"Asleep. Doc said he is getting better."
"Good to hear. Listen, crime lab is done with the scene. And we now know where the hell the guy you killed had come from. Looks like they had built a huge basement under that store house. It was soundproof and the inside walls were revetted with some kind of a special lagging. That is why we couldn't see any more thermal images than those five. One of the techs found the entrance by pure luck.
Steve never would have seen or heard this guy coming out of there even if he wouldn't have been busy with one of the other perps. Kono checked with the building authorities and not surprising at all, there had never been filed a building application. They still have the same plans we used. The whole basement is illegal, including its content. We've not only found weapons. There was also a room full of different drugs. Looks like the crew wanted to get big into business." Chin stated.
"Yeah. Looks like they won't though," Danny said. Just wish we would have known all the facts."
"Yeah, me too. Keep us posted."
"I will."
Steve hadn't much of an appetite and only picked at his food. In the end he just ate a yoghurt a nurse had provided.
He and Danny talked for some time until the latter noticed that Steve zoned out a few times.
"Hey babe. I think it is enough for today. Why don't we just sit in silence for a while?" Danny asked sympathetically.
There was no response until ten seconds later.
"Home?" Steve asked.
"Buddy, you can't go home just yet. You are barely able to move your head from side to side without aggravating your headache and getting nauseous and dizzy. How do you think getting up will be?" Danny said in a soft tone.
"…no…you…home."
"No, I am going to stay a bit longer. They are going to kick me out soon enough,"
"…Don't 'ave t'."
"I know, but I want to or do you want me to go?"
"…No. 's nice…you here…'ove you."
"I love you too."
