A/N There it is, chapter 8! Danny finally wakes up! This chapter isn't very long though :(

A/N Just to prevent any confusion, this is 3 days after the last chapter. I fast-forwarded the story. So basically when Steve was talking to Danny in the room, it was 3 days ago. You'll understand in the first few lines of the chapter :)

A/N Again, thank you all so much for the reviews and I hope you like this chapter!

Chapter Eight

It was around 8:30 AM when Steve woke up. Three days ago, he went back home after checking on Danny. That same night, the doctor informed the team that Danny would still need the assistance of the ventilator for at least 24 more hours. For the next days, Steve, Chin and Kono would come by the hospital whenever he had time. Yesterday, he decided to sleep there and stay with Danny. He felt refreshed when he woke up. After everything that transpired in the past few days, he felt tired and needed some rest. They still had to break the news to Rachel, Stan told them that he lied to her and told her that he was going on a business trip, and she believes him. She'd call every once in a while to check on Danny. She didn't want to come to the hospital or else she'd make Grace suspicious. Until Danny wakes up, Steve and Rachel decided that it would be better to keep Grace away from her dad. Now that he woke up, he felt much better. He took a look at Danny and sighed. He hoped that when he woke up, he'd find his partner awake and smiling, but he knew that this was far from happening, at least for today. He then remembered that Chin and Kono told him that they would come and check on them this morning, he wondered if they came or not yet. As he got up from the chair, the door of Danny's ICU room opened, and one of the nurses came in.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I woke you up, I'm just doing the usual check-ups" said the nurse upon entering the room. She looked nice and caring.

"No, no, I already woke up before you came in. Um, just one question… do you happen to know if Chin and Kono came by this morning? They work with Danny and I" questioned Steve.

"Oh yeah, don't worry about them. They came an hour ago but I told them that you were both asleep so they went back to work, they had stuff to finish. I was told to inform you but I came in and found that you were still asleep, and I didn't want to wake you up" answered the nurse, soothingly with a smile on her face.

"Oh okay, thank you" said Steve. He then sat back down and sighed, hoping he wouldn't have to wait any longer for Danny to wake up. Just then, it's like someone had listened to his prayers. The nurse was next to Danny at that moment. They heard a groan coming from him and he started slightly moving his right index finger. Steve immediately noticed and hovered to Danny's side.

"Danny?! Hey, Danny, can you hear me? It's me, Danny. Hey, Danny, wake up, stay with me buddy" said Steve frantically. But at the same time, there was a smile on his face. He couldn't believe Danny was waking up. That's everything he's been asking for. He then instantly held Danny's right hand and looked at him. The nurse then spoke.

"Commander, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the room, just for a bit. I need to call the doctor right now. He's waking up and I think we have to remove him off the ventilator." She then pressed on the call button by the bed and directed Steve to the waiting area right outside. She then went back to Danny's side and checked him up fast before the doctor would come in.

Right then, the doctor came in to the room, rushing. "What's wrong Denise?" asked the doctor.

"Doc, I think he's waking up" replied Denise, the nurse.

The doctor nodded and approached Danny. He then took a quick look at him and opened his mouth to start talking. "Okay Detective Williams, I need you to relax for me, okay?"

Danny had been very agitated ever since he drifted back to consciousness. He felt like there was something in his throat and it made him feel weird. His throat also felt very dry. He would try and open his eyes from time to time but only for a matter of seconds. He also felt like someone has been hitting his head with a sledgehammer, it was in throbbing pain, and his neck not so different. He also couldn't move his left arm but ignored that for now.

The doctor then went on, letting Danny know of what's about to happen. "Alright Detective, you're currently placed on a ventilator so that it can assist your breathing, that's why your throat feels weird and dry. I'm going to remove it, okay? Now I'm warning you, you might feel like coughing or you might choke as soon as I remove it, okay? But don't worry it'll all be alright." The doctor knew that it would take Danny some time to assess the situation, so he waited for his acknowledgment. A couple of seconds later, Danny lightly nodded to give the doctor the go.

The surgeon then asked the nurse if she did a check-up, just to make sure that everything's in place and that Danny is safe to be taken off the ventilator. She confirmed that he's stable and doesn't seem to be at risk. His vitals were all good and he seems to be fine. The doctor then slightly and gently placed his hand on the ventilator and removed it. Danny then started choking and coughing, but it was only a matter of seconds. Danny was wearing an oxygen mask so that he could still breathe normally. The doctor and the nurse gave Danny some time to stabilize himself before they could start checking him up again and ask him some questions.

Danny felt very tired and his throat was dry and sore. He needed some water but he was too tired to even speak. He then opened his eyes properly and saw two people, standing beside him. He didn't recognize them. He then closed his eyes back, wanting to sleep.

The doctor just had to make sure everything was fine. "Not so fast, Detective. I know you're tired and you need to rest, but I just want to ask you some questions, it won't take long." Danny re-opened his eyes gently and looked straight at the doctor.

"Detective, first of all, welcome back" the doctor paused, a small and gentle smile appearing on his face. "Okay, know on a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain do you feel?"

Danny tried to talk but he felt extremely tired, it took his brain some time to acknowledge the question and the situation. He then managed to answer, "nine." His voice was hoarse and low, but you could hear it.

"That wouldn't surprise me" said the doctor, he continued, "How much does your head hurt?"

" 't hurts… a… lot" mumbled Danny. The doctor nodded and resumed his questioning.

"What about your neck, do you feel any pain?" demanded the doctor, Denise taking some notes at the same time.

"Yeah, 't hurts" managed to say Danny.

"Alright Detective, one last question, and I'll leave you so that you can rest. Do you remember how you got here, to the hospital?" voiced the doctor.

Danny took some time to answer this question. He tried jogging his memory up. It took him over 5 seconds to remember what exactly happened. "Accident?"

"That's right, Detective. Okay, so it seems that you're stable for now. We'll put you on some painkillers to ease the pain you're feeling so that you can sleep peacefully. Thank you, Detective" said the doctor. With that, the doctor made his way to Steve and the nurse left to go get those painkillers.

H50 H50 H50

Steve had been anxiously waiting. Was Danny really waking up? It felt surreal at first, he's been wanting that to happen since what felt like forever. He waited desperately for the doctor to come out and tell him that it's all good and that Danny is okay. He's been pacing the floor for almost 10 minutes. That's when the doctor came out and made his way to Steve.

Steve saw him and instantly went towards him and spoke, "Doc, how is he? Is he okay?" He was sort of nervous and scared of what the doctor could tell him. All he wanted to hear was that Danny would be fine. That's all he needed.

The doctor sighed and started talking. "He's stable for now, Commander. We took him off the ventilator because he woke up and based on our check-ups, he can breathe on his own with just the help of the oxygen mask. Now when I took him off it, I gave him some time to stabilize himself and then asked him a couple of questions. He's in pain, so we're giving him some painkillers. I also asked him if he remembers what happened to him and why he's here, and he answered and remembers the crash, although it took him a couple of seconds to reply, but it's normal as he's getting out of unconsciousness. Also, don't forget that he has a brain concussion, so temporary memory loss could happen from time to time. But that concussion seems to be healing. I'm gonna have to do a PET scan to make sure of that. I haven't informed him about his injuries though, it would be a lot to take in for him at the moment. Now that he's awake, we need to keep a very close eye on him and also make sure that he doesn't get an infection from his wound on his thigh. But we're going slow, and from what we've seen now, his temperature isn't high and his blood pressure is also stabilized. Hopefully, that means that there are no signs of any infection. But it could change, that's why the next 48 hours are very crucial and critical. As for his neck disc, I've asked him if his neck hurts and he said that it does, so I suggest to keep the neck brace on for now to prevent any movement that could worsen his condition. Also, I expect him to start Physical Therapy as soon as he becomes perfectly fine to do so, and I'm guessing that this time would be in maybe 2 weeks, based on his current condition. That is, of course, if nothing happens. But now he's awake and that's all that matters. If his condition doesn't get any worse, we can consider moving him to a regular room in the next few days. But don't worry, he's fine now, you can go see him, Commander"

Steve tried to take in everything he just heard. From what the doctor just said, Danny seems to be doing okay, beside the fact that he's in pain. He really hoped that Danny wouldn't develop signs of infection, he wanted him to be okay. But now that he's awake, Steve couldn't be any happier. He thanked the doctor, shook hands with him and made his way to Danny's room.

He entered and saw him. He still looked kind of pale and small with all the equipment surrounding him. He sat on the chair and held Danny's hand. Just then, Danny slowly opened his eyes, and they both looked at each other. A smile appeared on Steve's face and couldn't hide the happiness he just felt. "Hey buddy."

A/N Sorry I ended it there! Don't worry, I'll make it up to you, next chapter will be full of bromance! Thanks for reading and as always, leave a review if you want, I'd appreciate it :)