Steve always had trouble with anesthesia. It never failed. His blood pressure dropped, he couldn't wake up as fast as the nurses in the recovery room wanted him to, and it made him horribly sick for days.

This time was no different.

After the group left, Callie and Danny headed back to Steve's room, where a nurse was smoothing a cool cloth over his forehead. "Hi," she said softly, smiling at them. "I'm Kim. He had a little more trouble with nausea, but I think we've got him settled now."

"I'm Callie and this is Danny," Callie said with a smile. "Thank you for all you're doing for him."

"Of course," Kim said. "His vitals look good for now. Let me know if you need anything at all, okay?"

"Thanks," Danny nodded.

Steve stirred a bit and partially opened his eyes. "Hey," he mumbled groggily. "Thought you all were leaving."

"The rest did, but you didn't think you could get rid of the two of us that easy, did you?" Danny teased.

"Hope not. Wouldn't…know what to do…without both of you." His eyes slid closed again.

"Just sleep, Steve," Callie said, rubbing his arm. "We'll be here."


And they were. They were there every time he awoke sick during the night. They petted him, held him, and consoled him as the retching caused searing pain in his abdomen and shoulder. They were there when the pain became too much and tears slid down his cheeks as the nurses and doctors tried to get it under control.

They weren't going anywhere. Not today, not ever.


Danny watched Callie carefully as she tended to Steve and beamed proudly. His partner couldn't have chosen a better girl. Physically, she was small, but what she lacked in size she made up for in heart. She was feisty and headstrong, but also nurturing and loving. She could light up any room she walked into, and Danny loved watching Steve watch her. He deserved this. He deserved every bit of happiness the world could throw at him because, man, had he been through some tough stuff.

"A penny for your thoughts, Danno?" Callie asked in a light tone.

Danny grinned as he heard Callie use his nickname. "What is it with you people?"

Callie shrugged, returning his grin. "It's a term of endearment, right?"

Danny laughed quietly, then turned serious. "Thank you for letting me stay last night. I...well, I didn't know what my place was and you helped me find it."

"Oh, Danny," Callie shook her head. "You know exactly where your place is-it's with him. It always will be. You're more like brothers than friends. Friendships like that are hard to come by." She moved beside of him and took his hand. "I hope you know that I would never, ever try to change that. I wouldn't want to. He's lucky to have you, and, by default, so am I. Dating, living together, married, whatever he and I do...you're always going to be a part of it. You're Danno-how could you not be a part of everything?"

She looked at him, her eyes big and honest.

Danny had to look away from her. He tried to swallow past the lump in his throat, but it was no use.


Kono and Chin quietly entered the hospital room later that day. "How's he doing?" Chin asked, nodding toward the sleeping man.

"Okay, all things considered," Callie answered with a friendly smile. "He has had some trouble with the effects of the anesthesia."

"He always does," Kono said, watching her sleeping boss. "Has he been sick?"

"Yeah," Danny said. "I think the worst of it is over now, don't you?"

"I think so," Callie agreed. "The pain is being managed better now, too, so that will help."

"Good," Chin said. " We brought a bunch of snacks and drinks and things. We figured you wouldn't want to leave him too often. How are the two of you doing?"

"Oh, thanks, guys," Callie said. "I'm good." She shrugged and smiled her signature megawatt smile. "I'm just so incredibly thankful it wasn't worse that it was, you know? He's going to be okay. It may take a while, and heaven knows it's going to be hard on all of us-" the group laughed "-but he'll be fine." She paused. "I'm so glad the best day of my life wasn't also the worst."

Kono hugged Callie tightly, then smiled. "So when's the big day?"

"We haven't exactly talked about that yet. Someone had to go off and get himself shot before a date could be set," Callie said teasingly, knowing Steve was awake. "Danny says he's a trouble magnet, and I'm beginning to believe that's true."

"Don't listen to Danno," a hoarse voice came from the bed. "Ever."

"Bud, you've done a lot of sleeping. Danno and I have bonded."

"God help me," Steve muttered to the amusement of the others. He was obviously still sleepy and high on the effects of pain medication.

Steve shifted then, wincing, trying to find a comfortable position. He huffed at the arm they'd put in a sling to immobilize his shoulder. "Stupid," he mumbled, more to himself than anyone else.

"You hurting, brah?" Chin asked, moving toward him.

"Mm. 'S hot in here," he complained with a frown, turning his head to the side and closing his eyes again.

Danny caught Callie's eye. The room wasn't hot—if anything it was a bit chilly. "Fever?" Danny mouthed to her.

"Probably," she mouthed back. She moved to lay a hand on Steve's forehead, then nodded to Danny. He stepped out to grab a nurse.

The nurse frowned as she checked Steve's temperature. "101.6. I'm going to put a call in to his doctor. It could just be from the trauma to his body, but it could also be an infection. It came out of nowhere, though. I checked his vitals less than an hour ago and his temp was normal."

A few minutes later, Dr. Vega poked his head into the room. "Hey," he gave a friendly smile as he came in. "I looked over Steve's chart again. I'm going to run a stronger antibiotic in his IV and we'll see if that takes care of the fever. I think he just needs a little more, and a little more time. It's probably just a reaction to the trauma, but I'm going to watch him closely, especially his lungs."

Callie nodded, smoothing a hand over Steve's sweaty forehead.

"Other than the fever, how do you feel, Steve?" he asked his patient, who had opened his sleepy eyes.

"'M fine," he mumbled.

"Of course he is," Danny grumbled. "He's only been shot twice, lost a lot of blood, and had several hours worth of surgery. Of course he's fine."

Steve blinked owlishly at Danny.

Dr. Vega chuckled. "It's okay. I think I pretty much understand that the commander's 'fine' is someone else's 'this is the worst I've ever felt in my life.'"

The group, except for Steve, laughed.

"That sounds about right," Chin told the doctor.

Dr. Vega patted his patient's leg. "Are you in any pain?"

Steve gave a nod, then swallowed hard. Dr. Vega noticed. "You still feeling sick?"

"Mm."

"That may be because of the antibiotics too. Since we just increased the dosage, I'm going to have Jill get you a stronger antiemetic. It'll probably make you even more sleepy, but sleep is the best thing for you right now. I'll order you something more for the pain too."

"'Kay," Steve mumbled, swallowing again. "Sprite?"

"Absolutely," Dr. Vega answered. "I'll get Jill."

Jill came back with a Sprite and three syringes of medication to push in Steve's IV.

"Hey, sweetie," she said softly. "Dr. Vega said you weren't feeling too good. I've got another antiemetic for you to hopefully help your stomach and some Tylenol for that fever. He's giving you something more for pain too." Steve merely blinked at her, not saying anything.

She handed a cup of ice and a can of Sprite to Callie. "Deary, will you fix that for him?"

"Of course," Callie said, pouring the Sprite and holding it for him while she put the straw against his lips. Steve drank a tiny sip then turned his head away.

Jill clucked her tongue sympathetically. "Not as good as you thought it would be?"

"No," Steve mumbled. "Jus' wanna sleep now."

She rubbed his arm and smiled. "That's good, sweetie. You do that."


Steve spent most of the day sleeping, waking several times to be miserably sick. His temperature was checked often and hovered around 102 during the afternoon hours. Seeing that the fever wasn't going down, Callie quickly switched into Dr. Ryan mode, borrowing a stethoscope from Jill. She listened to his lungs, didn't like what she heard, and had Dr. Vega called immediately.

Danny sat in a chair by Steve's side resting his head in his hands, dismayed by this latest development. Why could things never be easy for his friend?