Hey! So sorry for the late update, but it's here. Enjoy.

As Steve slowly drifted into awareness, the pain came first. His chest ached, and a dull pain throbbed through his head with his pulse. The detestable scent of hospital disinfectant followed, with an odd, rhythmic beeping noise trailing behind. An urgent question nudged at his mind, but he was too tired to put the words together.

"Is he waking up?"

"Yeah, I think so."

The voices sounded awfully familiar, yet he couldn't place them until he forced his heavy eyelids apart to find Kono slumped in a chair by the bed, and Chin standing beside her. Surrounded by the utilitarian white walls of the hospital room, he stared at their faces hovering above him, their tired eyes unable to hold his attention.

What had happened to put that lost, tense expression on their faces? He tried to think past the fuzziness and pain, but the task seemed almost impossible. Something was wrong. It must've been, because they both looked utterly drained, almost as if they hadn't slept in a week.

"Hey." The corners of Kono's lips curled upwards, but the smile didn't mirror in her eyes that seemed darker than usual.

A pressing feeling burned in his chest, the one he could hardly understand, let alone explain. It was intense, fighting its way to the surface, yet he wasn't sure what it was. Something just didn't feel right for whatever reason.

Kono's lips moved again, but his brain refused to pick up on the words. Yet the soothing voice was widely appreciated, even though it wasn't the one he'd like to hear right now. The sense of urgency grew inside him along with the uncertainty of how he'd gotten to the hospital this time. Danny would most certainly put him through yet another worry-induced lecture.

Danny.

A shudder traveled across him and a deluge of memories rushed in–the crash, the hospital, Danny in a pool of blood, still and lifeless. What happened to his best friend?

"Danny?" A slurred whisper, barely audible, finally voiced the most urgent question on his terrified mind. He didn't even realize he'd been already trying to get up, until Kono's hand pushed him back down with surprising ease.

"Easy there. Danny's alive," she said in a calming tone, gesturing behind her. "He's right here."

He would have fought the hand that remained on his shoulder, heavy but grounding, but he couldn't find the strength to do so. The movement sent a spike of sharp pain across his chest, and it took him a moment to regain the lost control of his breath.

"He's right here," Kono repeated.

Hope stirred and for a swift moment blotted out the fear. His gaze trailed to the other side of the room, where Danny lay, his eyes closed and skin ashen. A tube stuck down Danny's throat and the regular sound of the ventilator breathing for his friend didn't do a thing to make him feel better.

"How's he?" Steve wasn't even sure he had said the words out loud, yet it seemed his friends understood.

Chin smiled, a genuine expression with a hint of worry in it. "Stable for now. The surgery went well and he was just admitted to the room not long ago."

The surgery? If Danny needed one, it couldn't possibly be good, could it? "How… how bad?"

His friends exchanged a quick glance.

"Tell me," he demanded.

"He's been shot and the bullet was still lodged inside his abdomen when they brought him in," Chin said. "It caused an injury to his bowel and he needed removal of some of his large intestine. But he's hanging in there and they're planning to extubate him when he wakes up and is strong enough."

When. Not if. Steve clung to that word for dear life, because he needed Danny to be okay.

He stared at Danny's still form, watched his chest rise and fall with each breath coming from the machine while letting Chin's words sink in. The urgent need to stand up and move to Danny's side was almost overwhelming, yet his muscles didn't cooperate.

"Easy, brah," Chin said. "Try to rest. You've done enough damage already."

"No, I need to–"

"Rest," Kono repeated her cousin's words. "Danny will be asleep for the next couple of hours anyway."

He wanted to protest. To ignore them and get across the room to his injured partner, to be by his side and let him know he was there. But the effects of the drugs flowing in his system weren't fully worn off just yet, and the depth of the darkness was already tugging him back to its claws.

"Nnn…."

"It's all right," Chin said. "You should get some more sleep too. Don't fight it."

Not like he had a choice, really. The strain he'd put on his aching and exhausted body had taken the toll and he could feel himself drifting against his will. His eyes remained fixed on his partner, but it didn't take long before he succumbed to restless slumber.

When he awoke, it was just him and Danny in the room. Nothing changed about his friend. It was as if Danny hadn't moved an inch since he'd last seen him. In a rhythmic manner, his chest kept rising and falling with each breath forced into his lungs.

To hell with everything. He needed to be by Danny's side. He glanced down at the IV line in his arm, and clumsily searched for the nasal cannula that was delivering so much-needed oxygen to his body. He was ready to yank it away when Mary entered the room.

Their eyes met. A long stare saying a thousand words, revealing a strange mix of anger and relief.

"Don't even think about that," Mary said, breaking the silence as soon as she realized what he was up to.

Steve dropped his arm. "Mary, I–"

"You what?" she blurted out. "I was worried sick, Steven. What were you thinking, disappearing like that?"

"I'm sorry, okay? I–"

"You were lucky Kono and Chin were there, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation now." His sister didn't give him a chance to finish.

"It was Danny, I had to do something."

"Steve, putting your team at risk or you hurting yourself all over again is not what Danny needed. Actually, I'm sure he'd kick your sorry ass if he knew what you'd done."

Steve turned his head to the right to check on his friend, who was oblivious to the conversation. He knew Mary was right, and his partner would go crazy if he knew.

"I thought I could do this, you know?" He shifted his gaze back to his sister. "I couldn't just lay here while he was out there." He pushed himself higher up in the bed, trying to ignore the stabbing pain. Despite his best effort, he wasn't able to muffle a pained groan.

Mary's eyes softened, and she released a long, heavy sigh. "What is it? Should I call someone?"

Steve shook his head. "I'm fine."

"If you were fine, I wouldn't spend the last six hours going crazy while waiting for you to wake up." His sister seemed almost ready to push the button beside the bed, eyeing him up and down.

"Chest hurts, that's all." It was a lie that wouldn't fool anyone. His whole body felt like a total wreck, but he'd never admit it out loud. Especially not to his little sister.

Mary settled herself in the chair beside the bed, glancing down at him. "I bet it does. You've re-injured your chest when you fell. Pulled out the stitches and fractured another rib. And you managed to get yourself another concussion. But it could have been worse, you know?"

"But it's not. And I said I was sorry. I might have slightly underestimated my injuries."

Mary lifted her eyebrow. "Slightly?"

Before Steve had a chance to say anything, a loud beeping noise coming from his partner's side of the room stole his attention. The alarm echoed the walls, and Steve nearly forgot how to breathe.

"Danny?" Ready to make his way to his friend, he pushed himself up just to be pushed down by Mary.

"No, no, no. Stay down," she said, her eyes flinching between him and Danny.

The door swung open just seconds later, and two nurses rushed in, going straight to Danny's bedside. One of them turned to freaked-out siblings, her face pulled in a serious grimace. "Miss, you need to wait outside," she said.

"What's going on?" he asked, but no one answered.

Mary squeezed his shoulder lightly. "It's gonna be okay," she tried to reassure him before doing as told and leaving the room.

Steve desperately wanted to believe it. He didn't tear his gaze from Danny, but in one swift motion, the nurse closed the curtain between them and blocked his view, the alarm still going on and seizing his heart.

Several hours later

Until now, Steve had never realized just how nerve-wracking it was to be on this side of the hospital bed. To be the one waiting and worrying and hoping, staring down at the evidence of violence and praying for the moment his best friend would open his eyes.

The nurse said the alarm that had freaked Steve out a couple of hours ago went off because Danny tried to breathe over the vent, which was good. More than that. It showed that the blonde detective was nowhere close to giving up, and stubborn as ever, slowly fighting his way back to consciousness.

The doctors started to wean Danny off the ventilator this morning, but he was still sleeping. Still recovering from the gunshot he'd suffered after days of captivity. They said Danny was lucky, but Steve knew better. It had nothing to do with luck. Jennifer must've known such a shot wouldn't kill him straight away. No, she had decided to let Danny bleed out slowly for whatever reason. Anger maybe, or something else. Steve could only guess. But it was a mistake that saved his partner's life.

Despite his own exhaustion and the doctor's belief that Danny would recover, Steve watched the blonde man anxiously, forcing his eyelids to stay apart, too afraid that something bad would happen if he so much as blinked. The relief didn't come even later on, when Danny's eyes opened up to tiny slits, revealing the confused and unfocused blues for a couple of short minutes. Enough to allow the staff to evaluate and extubate him, but not long enough to give Steve a chance to talk to him.

Danny was growing restless now, stirring and moaning in his sleep. He'd likely wake soon and Steve would be there when it happened. At least he didn't have to fight his sister and the nurses to let him go to Danny's side. Not anymore. Thanks to his persistence and Mary's request, they had moved his bed right next to Danny's. The closeness and the sound of Danny's regular breathing eased some of the tension and allowed Steve to doze off into a restless sleep. But the fear wasn't entirely gone.

So when Danny stirred in the bed, it shook Steve back to reality. He fluttered his eyes open and took Danny's hand into his, ushering calming whispers to the most important person in his life.

Awareness crept up on him slowly. It was as if immersing from the depths of the darkness, gradually allowing his senses to return. To feel the familiar smell of disinfectant, to hear the soft words spoken somewhere nearby, to feel the warmth on his skin.

He knew that voice. Knew that touch.

Exhausted and drenched in sweat, aware of dull pain spreading through his belly, Danny turned his head on the damp pillow, toward that tiny, flickering flame of comfort.

The familiar face swam into focus: Steve, laying in the bed next to his. Steve's hand wrapped around his own, his touch light but steady. Steve's gentle voice, soothing as ever.

"Steve," Danny whispered through his raw throat, and, relieved to see his partner alive, he slipped back into sweet oblivion.

*to be continued*

I wanted this to be the last chapter, but I didn't like it together with the ending, so there will be one more chapter, probably a short one.

Thanks for reading and all your opinions are appreciated.