At seven thirty Danny woke Steve and then he dialed Rachel.
"Danny? Good morning, is everything alright?"
"Yeah Rach, I've got someone here who would like to talk to Gracie"
"Really! That's wonderful. Here she is"
"Hi Danno"
"Good morning Monkey. I have someone here who is anxious to talk to you"
"UNCLE STEVE?"
"Yep, here he is" Danny then handed the phone to Steve.
"Hi Gracie"
"Oh Uncle Steve, I've been so worried about you"
"Thank you sweetheart. You don't need to worry about me, you know that"
"That's what Daddy says, 'cause you're Super Seal AND you fell on your head. Daddy always says you're hard headed"
Steve chuckled at the innocence of the child's comment, "Your Daddy's right honey, I am hard-headed"
"Are you feeling better Uncle Steve?"
"Yes I am, thank you. Danno is taking very good care of me"
"Can I come see you after school"
"Of course. I'd love to see you. You go get ready for school now and I'll see you later. I love you"
Gracie responded quickly, "I love you more!"
"Bye, bye….here's your Daddy" He was smiling as he handed the phone to his partner.
"Hi Monkey, wasn't this a nice surprise?"
"Yes Danno! He said I can come over after school, okay?"
"Yes darling, we both can't wait to see you. You have a good day at school okay. I love you"
Again the little girl responded, "I love you more!"
Rachel then took the phone, "So he's doing better?"
"Yes, much better"
"It's alright to bring her up to visit then?"
"Yes, they both need to see each other. Call me when you get here and I'll meet you downstairs. We need to prepare her before she sees him"
"Will do, we should be there about four o'clock"
"Great, see you then, Thank You Rachel"
"You're welcome. See you soon"
Steve looked at him inquiring, "Prepare her? Do I look that bad?"
"Let's put it this way babe…you look a hell of a lot better than you did. At least she'll be able to recognize you now. You look pretty wiped out. Why don't you take a nap. Chin and Kono will be here in about an hour and we'll tell you everything that happened. You need to know partner…..Kono was shot…"
The SEAL interrupted him quickly, "WHAT?"
"Calm down, she's fine. She took a round to the shoulder and spent a night here but she's doing fine. We'll tell you everything after you rest for a while"
"She's fine?"
"YES Steven, yes she's fine…now if you don't stay calm I'll have to give you more meds"
"No you won't. No more drugs Danny, do you hear me?"
"You are as weak as a baby so you had better just do what you're told, because I'm in charge here, do you hear ME?"
Danny could see the irritation in his friend's eyes and it was great…he saw the fight, the determination in those blue eyes and he now knew Steve was going to make it.
Steve spoke softly, "I hear you partner"
"Good. Now how do you feel?"
"Tired"
"Then listen to me and take a nap"
"Yeah….Can I have some water first boss?"
Danny chuckled, "Yeah" After helping Steve drink he turned on the television and watched the local morning news as Steve quickly drifted off.
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He woke when Chin and Kono arrived and approached the bed.
Chin smiled broadly and spoke first as they grasped hands, "Hey hey, look at you!"
"Hi brother" Steve then turned to Kono, "Kono, How are you?"
She moved to his side and leaned down to kiss his forehead, "I'm fine boss, really I am. How do you feel?"
"Like I got hit by a truck!" They all chuckled and Steve added softly, "Better Kono, I feel a lot better. Now are you all ready to tell me everything that happened?"
The detectives took seats around the bed and recanted everything to their leader.
Once done Danny asked, "Steve….how did you know that this wasn't an accident and that Gracie was in danger?"
I noticed the blue Caravan at the school but I just assumed he was picking up a child. In the split second before he hit me I realized it was the same vehicle and driver"
"Okay babe, your recognition skills are amazing but what would make you think they were after Grace and not you?"
"The Caravan was at the school before I arrived Danny, I drove past it. No one could have known I was picking up Gracie, they had to have been stalking her. Danny, why didn't HPD tell you when Martinsen was released?"
"I don't know. According to Warden Nedahl they gave the information to Frank Radcliffe at HPD. I'm not sure why it never got relayed to me. I haven't had time to talk to Duke about it yet"
"Well, we'll need to do that. This could have led to a disaster. Thank God that Gracie is okay"
Danny stood and sighed deeply. Steve asked, "What's wrong Danno?"
"Wrong, nothing's wrong" He closed his eyes taking a minute before continuing "Steve, Kono, Chin…..I've been doing a lot of thinking the last week and you're right Steve, this could have led to a disaster. I thank God that Gracie's fine and that you're doing better. I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to my baby" His voice was shaking with raw emotion as he continued, "Steve, you almost died protecting her…Kono, you saved both Gracie and Rachel and you could have been killed in that gunfight. My God, I placed you all in such danger, what gives me that right?"
Steve responded, "Danny look at me. What gives you the right? Are you kidding us? Danny, we're family man. That's what gives you the right. We love you and we love Gracie. We will always protect her and you, just as you would for us because we're family brother. The ONLY thing that matters is that Gracie is safe. You had no possible way of knowing this was going to happen, especially since you didn't even know Martinsen had been released. Danny…..this isn't your fault. It's over brother"
Tears were falling down Danny's cheeks as he choked out the words, "Thank You….all of you…..Thank You"
Kono moved to his side and they embraced.
The group talked quietly until Doctor Kalanni arrived a couple of hours later to examine Steve.
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Chin and Kono left the room and Danny remained as the prepared to remove the bandaging covering the injured eye.
"Danny can you please close the drapes and dim the lights"
As Danny did this, the Doctor raised the bed so Steve was more upright.
"Are you okay Steve? How do your ribs feel? Can you breathe okay?"
"Yeah Doc, I'm good. Let's get on with this"
Danny stood at Steve's right side and grasped his hand in encouragement as the Doctor began to pull back the bandaging.
"Now Steve I need you to do as I say and keep your eye closed until I tell you to open it"
"Okay Doc"
A couple of minutes passed as the Doctor checked the wound. They had changed the bandages twice over the last couple of days in Danny's presence but the eye had been swollen shut. The swelling was now gone and boy was the eye ugly. Dark, deep purple and black bruising covered every inch of skin. The coloring was so dark that the black stitches were hardly visible.
Doctor Kalanni finally said, "Okay Steve, open your eye slowly"
Danny squeezed his partner's hand as he watched the eye flutter open. Steve blinked furiously and tears fell from the eye, "It's too bright…..the lights are too bright"
The Doctor turned to Danny, "Shut the lights off please Danny"
The blonde detective jumped up and did as he was asked and then returned to the bedside.
Doctor Kalanni prompted Steve, "Okay young man, try it again"
As his eye opened he smiled widely, "Everything looks good Doc, good and clear"
Danny watched carefully, smiling each time Steve blinked. At the Doctors request Danny turned to lights on low, steadily brightening the room.
The excitement in Steve's voice was evident as the Doctor asked him questions about the eye. His vision was clear and he had no pain. He was able to blink when prompted and the Doctor then removed the numerous stitches from the tender flesh. As he checked Steve's head, ribs and abdomen he answered the SEAL's numerous questions and then he removed the stitches from the wounds to the clavicle and the back of his head.
"Steve, you're doing wonderful. It appears that the micro surgeon did an amazing job with reattaching the muscles in the eyelid. Your movement is excellent. I'm certain he'll stop by in the next day or two to check on you. Do you have any more questions for me?"
"Yeah, when can I go home?"
"Let's not push things alright"
Danny jumped in, "Doc….now that he's awake and coherent, you need to know something about SuperSeal here…..he's the most stubborn and persistent SOB I've ever known. He gets something in his head and he doesn't let it go"
"Well I think that those traits are probably the reason that 'SuperSeal' is still with us. I need you to listen to me Steve, you CANNOT push this. You have a long recovery ahead of you and if you push this too fast you risk a relapse, especially with your head injury. I need you to listen to me, and listen to Danny. If he thinks you're pushing it he will tell you and you must, do you hear me Steve …..you MUST do what he tells you. You feel better, but you're still very sick. Your body is very very weak. Now to answer your question, where you stand today….you will be here at least eight to ten days. I will schedule the surgery for the colostomy reversal for tomorrow. We'll remove the catheter and the feeding tube tomorrow as well. The sooner we get you eating and your body functions regulated the quicker you'll be able to go home. So once the tubes are all out tomorrow we'll get you up and moving"
"Can't we do the surgery today?"
Danny shook his head wildly, ""See what I mean Doc?"
Doctor Kalanni grinned and pointed at Steve, "Tomorrow…don't push it"
Steve grinned back, "Yes sir"