A/N: Thank you so much for Reading and reviewing!
Chapter 28: Anticipatory anxiety
Danny´s eyes were wide open, and he couldn't bring them to succumb to sleep or anything near that. His heart pounded with anticipation and his hands talked about nervousness by grabbing and wrinkling the sheets, although it was only three am and the sky outside was a pitch black. He still was developing his walking ability due to his recent healed and sore ankle and his four month unused muscles, but that was it and that afternoon he has been informed by his doctor that he was being released and going home in the morning. The news hadn´t been at all surprising because he already knew his discharge was near, but knowing it will be in a few hours had him involuntary nervous and anxious.
He had already been given the instructions, and they were very clear and delivered without any room for discussion. He´ll be send back home with a wheelchair to be used, while at the same time he worked on his rehabilitation, until his muscles regained their memory and he was able to walk normally again.
The nervousness made him already need to go to the bathroom two times, and now a third one was pushing him to consider waking Steve up again to help him, because the two previous times he didn´t and consequently he was enfatily reprimanded. The first time, he managed to step out of bed, but as soon as he trusted his legs to take a step forward they betrayed him, his ankles bucked, especially his recently healed one, and he fell on his butt to sit on the floor. The fall has been slow and soundlessly, and his friend, sleeping on the bed by the windows, didn´t even stir. Danny had to call him after trying in vain to get up by himself and there came the first hard reprimand. "Damn it Danny! You could have been hurt, why didn´t you call me? You have to call me if you want to get up". And he was scooped up by his strong partner and seated with care into the wheelchair, leaving Danny red of shame and also a bit of anger at being picked up so easily as if he were a child. The second time he urged to go to the bathroom he saw the wheelchair placed beside his bed and thought himself capable of sliding into it from the bed. But the traitors now were his arms and his hands, which couldn´t support his weight and, helped by the wheels which moved back because they didn´t had the brakes on, he fell to the floor again, this time in a loud and noise way. He didn´t hear much part of the reprimand because his head had hit the floor tiles when he was not fast enough to stop the harsh movement of the fall. The words of complaint from his partner faded away and were replaced by soothing sounds as Danny, who was still seeing stars, moved his hands to grab his pounding head as a result of his skull hitting the hard floor. His hands were moved aside and probing fingers traveled among his hair to carefully search for and evaluate the damage done, obviously checking for blood, but thank God not finding any. "Danny Danny Danny…" Danny could sense the tone Steve used as he was again lifted up, not without difficulty, but instead of finding himself on the wheelchair Danny was again placed on the bed. "No, I really have to go…" "Just in a minute Danny, just in a minute" Steve wanted to make sure there has not been harm caused by the impact of his friend´s head with the floor. He tested the skull one more time, finding the already large bump and receiving an exasperated sigh from his partner, who tried to escape the probing hand. "Should I call the doctor? How you feel, mm?" "No, I´m fine" The curt answer has been followed this time by Steve´s sigh and with him being helped down to the chair and moved to the bathroom in complete silence. When he had been returned to bed, Danny couldn´t avoid being strongly lectured to call his partner the next time he neded to go, if there was one.
So now Danny was considering his next choice, and he chose wisely, considering his two previous failed attempts and the headache he was now the owner of.
"Steve?"
o
After those two almost tragic events in which Danny was left with a protuberant bump and a considerable headache, Steve had made sure Danny was settled and comfortable again and then had laid down back on his bed, but he couldn´t go back to sleep. He also didn´t plan to because he wanted to be alert to prevent another possible fall. He could sense and hear Danny moving on the bed, from side to side, obviously also awake but restless. He was considering getting up to check on him when he heard his name being called with a low asking voice. Tossing the covers aside, he immediately was at Danny´s side, who was already trying to sit up, leaning on his elbows.
"Hey, easy" Steve assisted him to sit on the side of the bed, and then brought the wheelchair nearer.
"What time is it?" Danny lifted his hand to touch where his head has connected with the floor. The headache was really starting to be annoying, and he ended up massaging his hurting temples.
"It´s a little past three" The commander placed a supportive hand on Danny´s back and waited for his friend to take the initiative on moving again. He felt a wave of compassion for his friend; it was obvious that Danny was nervous and anxious. "Big day today uh?" Steve smiled when his friend´s face lighted up. "Are you anxious to go home buddy?"
"What kind of question is that?" Danny also smiled, and to emphasize his eagerness, he started to slide down the mattress´s side. Reaching the floor with his soft wool socks, he almost slipped if not for Steve´s firm grip on his arms. Steve almost rolled his eyes. If Danny survived this night he would go home in a few hours. Securing his friend on the wheelchair, they repeated the process they already knew by heart. Steve pushed Danny to the bathroom, helped him sit up on the toilet, went outside and waited, and then helped his friend back to the bed. Each time they took the opportunity to also make Danny take some steps, to help him start to regain strength.
Now, settled back on the bed, Steve pulled up the covers from the foot of the bed and Danny grabbed them, bringing the soft material to rest comfortably bellow his chin.
"Thanks" Danny´s eyes kept looking at the ceiling, open and without any indication of slumber. "I don't think I´d be able to sleep… I´m kind of anxious"
Steve smiled. "Kind of?" He hopped carefully and seated on the mattress at the foot of Danny´s bed. "Do you want to talk? I don't feel like sleeping either" Tapping his friend´s feet he then squeezed them, looking directly at Danny´s face in an askance way.
After a few slow and silent minutes, in which Danny seemed to be considering something important, the detective reached for the control and lifted up the head of the bed. He then looked at his friend straight in the eyes. Immediately, Steve sensed and knew Danny was about to open up about something very important. He mentally and spiritually prepared himself, at the same time that, involuntary, he squeezed with more force Danny´s feet under his hand.
"I…" Danny stopped; took his time; swallowed; make a pause; doubted; but his friend´s eyes were a secure and trustworthy place in which lay every burden out. The firm squeeze and strong presence gave him security and confidence, so he continued.
"I had just returned from taking Charlie to Rachel´s and…" Danny lowered his eyes, but as soon as he did so dread engulfed his chest, so he looked up again in search of his partner´s secure line. "…I… when I left the car to go to the house, someone was hiding, I didn´t see but there was more than one or two. They eeh, they grabbed me from behind and… tied my hands and put me a gag on my mouth and… a bag on the head. Then they…" Danny started to hyperventilate.
"Easy partner" Steve perched closer and grabbed fondly Danny´s hands on his. "You can do it. Let it out buddy".
"…Then they dumped and locked me on a small trunk of a car".
While Steve reached forward to pull his friend on a firm hug, those first moments and feelings of torture after arriving and finding the crime scene in front of Danny´s house came back to him and punched painfully on his own chest, aggravated by his friend´s involuntary shudders under their embrace.
"And I´m claustrophobic…" The barely whispered words made Steve close his eyes and let his tears run free course down his cheeks. He couldn´t, and didn´t want to, imagine Danny on that terrifying moments. He didn´t know how many hours had his friend endured that particular confinement and what kind of level of despair had he reached, all alone and with an uncertain fate.