A/N New chapter is up! I tried my best to write it and include some whump (physical and emotional), some nice cute scenes and a deep serious conversation with our favorite duo ;) Also, thanks for the reviews, they honestly make my day. I'm done talking now, I hope you like this one!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It had been almost 45 minutes since Grace and Rachel had arrived to the hospital. The team tried to pass the time by taking Grace for a walk and talking to her, and Kono bought her a coloring book, trying to make the wait more bearable. The doctor had advised the team that it would be better to leave Danny alone and let him rest for a bit. A nurse would come check on him every 20 minutes, to see if he was still sleeping or not.

Steve was sitting next to Grace, but visibly in his own thoughts. He was thinking about Danny, again, but this time, wondering how he'll bring up the fact that he had kept away such an important thing from him and Five-0. He didn't want to put Danny in an ugly situation and have him go through a panic attack or anything like that. He had to bring the subject up delicately and carefully, and try to be as calm and as understanding as ever. Even if Danny was about to be transferred to a regular room the next day, in less than 24 hours, it doesn't change the fact that he still isn't fully emotionally and mentally stable. Physically, he was seemingly on the right track, but who knows if that's the case mentally and emotionally. He had a sort of challenge ahead of him. Right then, Grace raised her head up and stopped coloring and spoke distracting him from his thoughts.

"Uncle Steve? Is Danno ever gonna wake up? It's taking so long" said the young girl. She came here to see her father, but she's been impatiently waiting for almost an hour. She is just like her dad, patience isn't exactly her biggest fan.

Steve turned around to face her and placed his right hand on her left cheek, opening his mouth to talk. "You just have to wait a little bit more sweetheart, okay? The doctor said that Danno shouldn't take long to wake up, alright? And when he does, you and I will go see him okay?"

Grace just nodded in defeat and went back to coloring. Steve laid his hand on her back and rubbed it, as a sign of comfort. He was always protective of her and would do anything for her, and now his job is to make sure she stays safe and to comfort her considering what they're all going through.

The team, along with Grace and Rachel, had waited for 20 more minutes, until the nurse that went in to check on Danny came back out of the room and delivered them the news. She made her way to them and as she got there, they all stood up. "Detective Williams, just woke up, and he's feeling a lot better. He can have some visitors, but no more than two at a time" informed the nurse, smiling softly at them.

Steve thanked her and decided that Grace should go in first. He would accompany her. As they entered the room, Grace couldn't help but smile. She was finally seeing her father. She missed him terribly and as waiting for a long time to have this moment with him. She immediately ran towards her father. "Danno!"

Danny wasn't expecting her at all, and the fact that she right there, with him, made him feel like the luckiest and happiest man alive. He had just woke up but instantly recognized his daughter's voice. "Monkey!"

Grace then embraced her father, lying on the hospital bed. Her embrace was tight which caused Danny to groan a little, but he wouldn't trade this moment for anything, and ignored the pain. He had everything he needed right this moment.

Steve on the other hand, was worried that Grace may have hurt his partner. But, as soon as he saw the smile on both their faces, he figured to let it go this time. They were both visibly happy to see each other, and that made him happy. He then went by Danny's right side of the bed, on the opposite side of Grace, to stay close to him. Danny looked up at him and they both smiled at each other.

As Grace pulled back from the hug, she looked at her father and was on the verge of crying. She was just overwhelmed with the current situation. Danny immediately noticed the tears in her eyes and it broke his heart.

"Monkey, what's wrong?" he asked. He couldn't wipe her tears away since he had a cast on his broken left arm.

"Gracie, are you alright?" added Steve as he got up and stood next to her, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Grace tried hard to fight the tears. "I don't like seeing you like this Danno. You're hurt and I don't like it."

"What are you talking about, monkey? Look at me… I'm fine. Nothing hurts and it's all good. The doctor said that it should all be okay, and it will be. And you just made me feel ten thousand times better. I'm gonna be alright, monkey, okay?" answered Danny. He couldn't bear to see his daughter like that.

Grace wiped the tears from her cheeks as she nodded. She was clearly overwhelmed. She then spoke again. "But Danno, these things here in the room, they're scary, and it makes me sad."

As Danny was about to answer back, Steve raised his finger, signaling that he would talk to her. He knelt down and looked at her straight in the eyes. "Gracie, these things are just there to help your dad feel better, okay? They don't hurt at all, the doctors use them to help patients feel better and make it faster for them to leave the hospital, that's it, okay?" Grace was still too young, so Steve tried to give her the most suitable and appropriate explanation.

"So these will make Danno leave the hospital faster?" questioned the young girl.

"Yeah, that's why they're here. There's nothing to worry about sweetie" replied Steve, assuring Grace and smiling at her.

She seemed to have been convinced. She then looked back at her father, who was smiling at her, and at Steve for helping Grace and assuring her. "Danno, I can't wait for you to get out, I want to hang out with you and uncle Steve every day and have fun, like we were supposed to."

Danny smiled at her, and so did Steve. "Of course Monkey. But how about we leave uncle Steve… out of… it, we don't want him to… ruin our hangouts, right?" said Danny, in between breaths.

Steve got slightly concerned but didn't want to scare or worry Grace. So, he jumped in to their conversation. "You know I can hear you, right?"

Danny mumbled the word 'Animal' which made both Steve and Grace chuckle. He then chatted with his daughter for ten more minutes before it was time for her to leave. She was sad because she didn't want to leave her father, she wanted to stay with him.

"Do I really have to leave uncle Steve?" she asked.

"I'm so sorry honey, but your mom said so. Now, you don't want to upset her right?" answered Steve.

Grace sadly nodded and sighed. She then hugged her dad one last time, and as she made her way to the door Danny called her out.

"Hey, Danno loves you" he said, smiling at his precious daughter.

"Love you too, Danno." With that, Grace left the room with Steve. She got out and went back to Rachel. She told her everything, from start to finish. Rachel was happy for her. Before leaving, Rachel asked Steve to give Danny her best regards to him and to tell him that she would call him at night, not wanting to bother any more right now. Grace then said her goodbyes to the three team members and hugged each one of them, which was much needed but appreciated.

After they both left, Chin and Kono both went to Danny's room and welcome him back. They stayed in there for over 20 minutes.

As they got out, Steve could see that they were both satisfied. It had been 4 terrible days, and to have Danny finally awake was such a huge relief. After talking to Steve for a bit, they had decided that it was time for them to leave. Steve wanted to stay at the hospital and sleep there. The cousins tried to convince him otherwise, but it didn't work. Chin then told him that he'd come back tomorrow morning with a new pair of clothes for him. With that, they said their goodbyes and left the hospital.

Steve then went back inside the room. He was going to leave the conversation for tomorrow. When he got in, Danny was already sound asleep. He was still tired and the fluids from the IV pole still had some effects on him. He then sat down on the chair and laid back, closing his eyes hoping to get some sleep.

H50 H50 H50

It was around 6:30 in the morning when Steve woke up. His night wasn't too comfortable. He had woken up and went back to sleep several times. Danny however was still sleeping. So, he decided to go to the bathroom and freshen up a little, taking with him the toothbrush from the bag Chin had dropped the other day.

He took almost 10 minutes. As he came back to the room, he could see Danny looking at the ceiling above him. He woke up. "Good morning, sunshine" enounced Steve as he entered the room, with a smirk on his face.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at home?" said Danny.

"Nope, I'm stayed here for the night, I didn't want to leave you alone" retorted Steve. He just felt like he should stay with him, in case anything goes wrong.

"Oh, so you suddenly became my own mother or something? I'm fine, Steve, really. Look at me, I look great, and I slept great. And don't forget that I'm finally leaving this room and going to a normal one, today. I'm totally fine, Steven" shot back Danny. He really appreciated what Steve has been doing, but he figured that staying alone for a night wouldn't be so bad, and he felt fine after all.

"I just wanted to stay with you and be here, you know, in case anything happened. That's all" responded Steve, looking at Danny with furrowed brows.

"Mother hen…" mumbled Danny, but with a soft smirk.

Steve smiled at his partner. Even when lying in a hospital bed inside the ICU, Danny still managed to have a little sarcasm in him and some humor. Typical Danny. Then, as Steve was about to talk, Denise, along with the doctor, entered the room.

"Good morning, Detective, Commander" said the doctor as he looked at both men. "How are you doing?" he said, turning his focus on his injured patient.

"I'm doing fine, doc. Really. And the nurses here are doing a great job too. I'm all good" responded Danny, smiling and looking at Denise.

Denise knew that Danny was specifically talking about her, since she was the one in charge, and that made her satisfied. "It's just my job, Detective" she said, smiling back at him.

The doctor then went on. "Okay Detective, Denise is just going to do a check-up, and if everything seems fine, we can transfer you to a regular room within the next half hour."

Both Steve and Danny were happy to hear the news. As Denise was doing a check-up, the doctor examined Danny's wound and asked him a couple of questions. He also asked him if he had been feeling any pain in his back or his head. Danny was indeed still feeling some pain, but these were all part of the injuries he had sustained. But he noted that his head has been feeling better than before. Danny's wound seemed to be healing. The doctor couldn't examine his hand yet, he had to wait for a week before he could take him for another X-RAY.

As Denise finished the check-up, she informed them that everything seemed fine. His vitals were all good. The medication and the fluids seemed to have done their job.

"Well, Detective, you're one hell of a fighter, that's for sure" noted the doctor. Steve smiled at that comment. He was incredibly proud of Danny. "Looks like you're all good and cleared up for the transfer."

Danny was incredibly happy and proud of himself. Denise had left to go get a wheelchair for Danny and another nurse came in to remove all the equipment attached to Danny's body. When they were removed, Denise came back with the wheelchair. The whole process took over 15 minutes.

As Danny was settled in his new room, Denise attached back an IV pole and a heart monitor for safety measures, just to keep track of his heart rate. As she and the doctor left, Steve looked at Danny and patted his shoulder, as a sign of support. "Danny, I'm so proud of you, buddy. I told you you were gonna make it" said Steve, with a smile on his face.

"Thanks, partner" replied Danny, smiling at Steve, a man he considered by now a brother.

As Danny became more and more comfortable in his new bed and room, Steve believed it was time to confront him and talk. He couldn't hold it in anymore. He sighed and looked at Danny, his brother, with a concerned look, but it was also serious.

Danny immediately noticed it, and felt like something wasn't right. "Steve? You're alright?" he asked worriedly.

"Danny, we… we need to talk" retorted Steve. He wasn't so sure how Danny was going to react but it was time and he didn't want to push back this conversation anymore.

Danny kept looking at him, anxiously and worriedly, waiting for Steve to talk.

"Danny, I don't know how you'll react to what I'm gonna say, but I have to do it. Chin, Kono and I… we… we know about your disc" voiced Steve.

Danny was confused. What was Steve trying to say? "Yeah, you told me about it you animal, the cervical disc."

Steve shook his head. He realized that he was going into a very deep and serious conversation, way more than he expected. "No.. Danny, not that. I'm talking about you're herniated neck disc, the one from months ago."

Danny was speechless, much to Steve's surprise. He didn't say a word. He did feel guilty however, for not telling them. They eventually had to know, and they did, because of this accident. He felt the lump in his throat. He didn't exactly know why he felt guilty. Maybe because he felt like he'd been lying to his friends, his family, for over 8 months? Whatever it was, it made him feel extremely guilty that a small tear went down his cheek. He swallowed the lump and tried to fight back the tears that were starting to form in his eyes.

Steve noticed Danny's reaction and he felt guilty as well. He saw Danny trying to fight back tears, but he saw the one tear that went down his cheek, and that was enough for him to feel guilty and bad. "Danny, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that now" he said, in a comforting and affectionate tone.

"No, I'm sorry. I should've told you, it's my fault, I should be sorry, not you. It's me" said Danny. The guilt was evident.

"Why didn't you?" wondered Steve. He was trying to keep the conversation going, but more smoothly. His voice was full of compassion for his friend.

"At the time, when I found out, you were still dealing with the whole Shelbourne thing with your mom, and you just came back from North Korea, and with Jenna's death, you know… and I just didn't want to add more stuff to the list of things you were going through. I kept it to myself. I was planning on telling maybe Chin or Kono, but I knew that they'd tell you eventually, and I didn't want that. And then time passed, and my doctor said that I caught it in its early stages so it was seemingly going well for me, and so I let it pass and didn't tell you guys about it. But now, you know… this thing happened" stated Danny. He had been keeping this for a long time, and honestly, getting it out of his chest was a relief.

Steve felt so sorry for Danny. All he did was looking after him. He hadn't told him because he was looking after him. He realized that sometimes loved ones lie and keep stuff away to protect or look after their other loved ones. He knew that this was all what Danny tried to do, look after him. He thought for a second that Danny didn't trust him, when all he was doing was preventing him from worrying about other stuff that could have some consequences. He was protecting him in a way. Despite that, Steve knew that he would've still helped him and supported him, even if he was going through some other things. "Danny, I.. gosh I.. you know that even if you had told me, I would've still helped you and supported you, right?"

"I know that, Steve. But you were going through enough things, and I didn't want to show up and tell you that I'm dealing with this. I didn't want that" declared Danny. "And now, I know that my disc is aggravated. When you told me I had the cervical degenerative disc diseases, I immediately knew that my condition got worse. Plus, the name itself is scary" continued Danny. He paused and Steve chuckled. "And that's why I got sort of emotional, you know. And it got me thinking, I mean… am I still capable of being a cop?" With that last sentence, Danny caught Steve's full attention.

"Whoa whoa whoa… hold on, you're not resigning or anything, are you?" asked Steve with surprise and also concern. There's no way he'd lose Danny.

"Steve, seriously, if you think about it, I'm not capable of being a cop. At least I won't be able to work at the field, that's for sure. Maybe, I could work it out with desk duty or something, but no way I'd go work on the field. To top it all off, I don't even know if I can still be a father and raise my kid right, I mean, god knows if I'll have to use a wheelchair or not? This injury's going to change my life Steve. I need more time to think about it, but would I be lying if I tell you that I didn't think of resigning from Five-0, yes. I don't know if I can do anything Steve, damn it I don't know." Danny's voice broke at that last sentence. He really didn't know. He could be losing his job, but also his duties as a father.

Steve was heartbroken seeing Danny like that and listening to what he was saying. He then held his partner's left hand and spoke reassuringly. "Danny, listen to me. Even if this disc will change many things in your life, there's no way you'll stop being Grace's father, you hear me? You're a great one too, and that won't change, even if you were in a wheelchair, you'll always be a dad, no matter what, and a great one. And one more thing, even if you stop working on the field, I'm putting you on desk duty, because there's no way you're leaving Five-0, got it? And I'll always, and I mean always. Be there for you, no matter what, I got your back brother."

Danny just looked at Steve and smiled. He really needed to hear that, and it reassured him. "Steve.. thank you, really, for everything."

"Anytime buddy, anytime."

"One more thing, you won't let me leave Five-0 or you just can't stand the idea of not seeing me every day and working with you?" asked Danny, jokingly and teasingly.

Steve chuckled. "You can say both if you want."

Danny smiled. "I love you, you Neanderthal animal."

"I love you too, pal" said Steve.

After that, both men stayed silent for a bit, until Danny broke the silence. "Hey Steve? Who did this to me?"

Steve didn't expect this at all. He just remembered that Danny had no idea about the man behind the crash. Damn it. Steve stayed silent.

"Steve? Who is it? Who did this to me? Please, tell me, I want to know" stated Danny. His partner's silence scared him.

"Danny, it was… it was Stan" affirmed Steve. He knows how risky delivering this news could be but he didn't want to leave any secrets.

Danny was utterly shocked and speechless. Stan wasn't exactly family to him, but he still felt betrayed, but mostly shocked.

"Danny? Danny, buddy can you hear me?" said Steve, worriedly.

"I just can-"

Danny couldn't even finish, as an extremely sharp and strong pain shot through his neck, radiating quickly to his shoulders and his back. He was screaming in agony. He was having one of those pain attacks, which were one of the consequences of the cervical degenerative disc disease.

Steve was instantly alarmed and hovered to Danny's side in a matter of seconds, standing next to him, holding his hand sharing comforting and supportive words. As he was trying to calm him down, he could hear the beeping of the heart monitor increasing in speed. Danny's heart rate then shot suddenly to the roof. Steve tried to look for the button that would alarm the nurse station. It was on the other side of Danny's bed. Danny's heart rate never ceased to increase, and that extremely worried Steve.

"Steve! Help! God it hurts!" screamed Danny.

"Hold on, Danno, help's on its way. Danny! Hey, Danny!" responded Steve frantically. He then pressed on the button. But, as he looked at Danny, he could see him drenched in sweat, and saw tears. He was in agony and Steve was helpless. Danny laid on the hospital bed, still in pain, but seemingly in a state of paralysis, and that was enough to terrify Steve.

A/N So? What do you guys think? Does that count as a cliffie? If yes, I'm so sorry! I tried my best to include a little bit of everything (and everyone ;)) in this chapter. Leave a review if you liked it, it truly means a lot :) Again, thank you so much for reading!