Purple Heart – Chapter 15

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

"Lieutenant McGarrett, please come in, have a seat," Lieutenant Colonel Gregory told Steve when he stepped into the treatment room.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Sir," Steve apologized for being almost five minutes late. "Major Adams had a few questions; I met him on the way."

"That's okay, no problem. I'm glad to see you back on your feet. How are you doing? "The doctor, who Steve had met a few weeks ago, asked.

"Until this morning really well, Sir."

"What changed this morning?" Gregory looked curiously at his patient.

"I woke up with a pretty bad headache that lasted for about an hour. Then it was kind of come and go all day," Steve told him about the annoying headache that had been bugging him. "And I've been kind of dizzy, and sounds are also kind of muffled, you know?"

"Have you experienced any vertigo in the last couple of weeks?"

"No, Sir. Not at all. This is the first in weeks."

"Do you still have a headache?"

"Yes, Sir. It's mostly located right behind my left ear," Steve answered and touched the sore spot.

"I took a look at your latest MRI, and that looks really good. The fracture is completely healed and I must say the guy who operated on your inner ear did a great job." Colonel Gregory took out an otoscope from one of the cabinets as he spoke.

Steve watched the instrument wearily, remembering the first few times it was used on him. Back then it had really hurt, well maybe hurt was a slight exaggeration, but it had been very uncomfortable.

Sensing Steve's uneasiness, Gregory smiled at his patient. "I promise it won't hurt."

"I've heard that before," Steve mumbled.

Gregory kept his promise, the exam didn't really hurt, but Steve was still glad when it was over.

He looked at the frowning doctor. "What? Did you find something?"

"You have gone swimming almost every day, is that right?"

"Yeah, most days. Why?"

"Did you use the ear plug at all times?" Gregory asked and looked at Steve.

"Yeah… well, two days ago I lost it while swimming," Steve admitted.

"Did you get out of the water right away?"

"Eh… maybe five minutes later?" Steve wasn't sure how long he kept swimming without the aid that was supposed to protect his ear canal from the water.

"I figured as much. You have water in your ear and it looks like a mild infection," Gregory explained to Steve. "It's nothing to worry about, but because of your still healing injury it is affecting you more than it would anyone else."

"Can you do something about it?"

"Of course. You'll get an antibiotic that should clear this up in a few days. I don't expect any complications from it."

"So, it's not from the injury to the inner ear?" Steve had been worried that the balance disorder would force him out of the Navy.

"No, it's a simple ear infection. It has nothing to do with the traumatic injury," Gregory explained. "However, I want you to suspend your routine. No swimming for at least a week and no PT for a couple of days."

"But, Sir—"

"That was not a suggestion, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Sir." Steve knew when to shut up.

"The antibiotics should help soon. Come back if you develop a fever, the pain gets worse or you experience severe dizziness. Otherwise I would like to see you again next week. Make an appointment when you leave."

"Yes, Sir."

"Okay. Do you have any questions?" Colonel Gregory asked as he handed Steve a prescription.

"No, Sir, no questions," Steve said and stood up from his perch on the exam table.

"Good, then I see you next week. Take care, Lieutenant."

Steve took that as his cue to be dismissed and left to meet with Catherine who had driven him to the hospital and waited for him downstairs in the cafeteria.

H50 – H50 – H50

Cath looked around the cafeteria and was glad that Steve didn't have to stay at the hospital anymore. Seeing all those injured soldiers reminded her again how lucky her friend had been.

To finally be able to walk again was indeed a great gift. And she hoped that at least some of the injured here would be equally lucky.

She looked up from her musings when she saw Steve approaching. Cath had worried about him all day. She knew that he had a headache most of today and she also worried about his limp being a lot more pronounced than it had been this morning.

But the smile on his face eased her worry somewhat. It seemed whatever was wrong wasn't too bad.

"Hey, Lieutenant, how'd it go?" Cath asked when Steve was seated across from her.

"Good. Just an infection. Should be better in a couple of days," Steve told her the outcome of the exam. "Thanks for waiting for me."

"No problem. So, are you ready to head home?"

"Well, it's still early; I thought I'll take you to dinner. You know, for all your trouble and all," Steve told her with a smile. He had been planning this evening for a few days, and he had every intention to take her to that fancy restaurant in Georgetown he had found the other day.

"Oh. You want to wine and dine me?" Cath asked rather delightedly. She had been sure that he would want to go home. Probably to fall asleep on the couch again. This was a nice surprise.

"If you'll let me."

"I'd be delighted," Cath told him with an even bigger smile.

Steve shook his head at the silly conversation, but turned serious when he changed the topic. "You think we will get the new footage a bit faster now that we have found evidence?

"I'm sure they will allow us direct access to the data," Cath tried to reassure him, sure that they will be granted a higher clearance for easy and fast searching.

"You think?"

"I'm sure. Then we will be able to follow their movements and hopefully catch up to them."

"That'll be great," Steve said without much enthusiasm.

Cath looked at her friend and wondered for a moment what was wrong when it suddenly dawned on her. "You wish you could be on location to take them down, don't you?"

"Sure I do. I wish I could be back with my unit. But I don't even know if that will ever happen."

"Steve, you have come such a long way, I'm sure you will get back to full duty soon," Cath said and hoped he would only leave when he was really ready for it. "I know you miss your team and probably also the action, but I hope your time in D.C. has not been all bad for you."

"It was in the beginning. But not anymore. I even enjoy it. Well, at least most of the time," Steve told her grinning from ear to ear.

Cath hoped he meant he enjoyed her company, but was too chicken to ask.

"Cath, I hope we can stay in contact, and I would really like to see you on my next leave."

"I would like that," Cath told him and was really happy that Steve indirectly admitted enjoying their time together. For the first time she thought that despite being in the Navy, a long term friendship would be possible.

"Do you mind dropping me off at my apartment on the way? We need to change for tonight."

"Oh. You're taking me to a real restaurant?" Cath laughed and already thought about what to wear. And she asked herself even more what Steve would look like all dressed up.

"Yeah. I hope that is okay?" Steve looked like he had second thoughts about whatever he had planned.

"When is our reservation?" Cath asked.

"Twenty hundred."

"Then I'll pick you up at seven thirty? That enough time?" Cath had no idea where they were going, but hoped half an hour would be enough to reach their destination.

"That's great. You ready to leave?" Steve asked and stood up from the table.

Cath watched her friend carefully and noticed the slight wince when he stretched out his leg, but chose not to comment on it. Instead she offered her arm for him to take, seeing that he had grabbed the back of the chair to keep his balance.

She was very pleased that he didn't have a problem with accepting this offer of help.

A few minutes later they had reached her car and were on their way.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve McGarrett's home, Hawaii, present time

"You're telling us that you actually made it to dinner that night?" Danny interrupted his friend's narrative.

"What kind of question is that?" Steve looked at Danny and his friends who were snickering. Shaking his head he continued. "For your information, yes, we made it to dinner, and it was very nice," Steve informed is friends, looking at Cath for confirmation.

"Yeah, it actually was. In fact, almost as good as the dessert," Cath told them with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Oh please, spare us that," Danny told them laughing.

"What did you have for dessert, Uncle Steve?" Grace, who again sneaked up on them asked.

"Uh… chocolate… something?"

"You don't remember?"

Steve could remember the 'dessert' very vividly, just thinking about it made him slightly blush, but he couldn't tell Gracie about the special treat he got from Cath that evening. She had been very creative and had taken over his body and soul that night. He hadn't been allowed to move a muscle, and the way Cath had taken care of him and satisfied his needs had been breathtaking and something he had never experienced before.

It had been lovemaking on a completely new level. He had always been an attentive lover, but that night it had only been about him. Catherine had said it was her gift to him for his soon to be departure. Something for him to remember when they couldn't be together. And remember he did. To this day.

"Uncle Steve?"

"It was a very special dessert, one we both will never forget, Grace." Cath saved him from answering. "I remember it was very sweet, delicious in fact and I would love to have that particular dessert again."

Steve blushed even more and Danny coughed. Doris shook her head laughing at her son's discomfort, and Chin and Max just shook their heads at this side of their boss.

Grace looked suspiciously at the grownups. It's not like she was a kid anymore, "You're not talking about anything to put in your mouth, do you?"

Steve almost choked on his drink and started coughing which woke the pain in his shoulder and he couldn't keep in a groan. Uncontrolled shoulder movement still hurt, and Steve tried to avoid that at all costs, but was a bit overwhelmed by the coughing fit.

Almost suffocating on his drink had a positive side effect though; it made him forget about another part of his anatomy that had been vying for attention while he went down memory lane just a minute ago.

"Hey, you okay?" Steve heard Cath asking but was still not quite able to answer in a coherent manner.

"Uh huh," he panted out between a cough and a hiccup.

Great, just what he needed. Between the coughing and the agonizing pain in his shoulder, that was almost all consuming despite the pain killers he took not that long ago, he felt really miserable all of a sudden. His shoulder injury normally only hurt this bad right after PT, and certainly not when he had just taken his medication.

"Steve?" Cath again.

"I don't feel so good," he whispered and hung his head. He felt slightly sick and wondered if it was something he ate.

"Do you feel sick?"

"No… I… maybe a little," Steve finally admitted. He took a deep breath to control the pain and nausea. "I'll be okay, just moved wrong," he told his friends, trying to assure them that he would be alright.

"Does this happen often?" Danny wanted to know.

"No." And it really didn't. Steve had no idea why his shoulder suddenly felt like it was pulled out of its socket. The whole area was tense and cramping. There also was a slight tingling sensation in his fingers.

Steve looked up and saw Grace still standing next to his chair, watching him intently. "Grace, don't worry, I'm fine."

"Okay." Grace looked a little doubtful, but didn't comment further on what she had just witnessed. "Danno, can I have another ice-cream?" She asked why she had come up from the beach in the first place.

"Yeah, sure. I'm sure Steve has more ice-cream stashed in the freezer," Danny told his daughter, knowing that his partner always had the frozen treats handy.

"Yeah, Grace, there is chocolate and strawberry. Take whatever you like."

"Thanks, Uncle Steve. Does anyone want some?" Grace asked but was already halfway into the kitchen.

They watched Grace get herself a bowl of strawberry ice cream and come back out.

"I'll eat it down at the water," she said on her way down to the waterline.

"So, you two made it to dinner…" Chin tried to get the story going again.

"Yeah, Steve took me to that really fancy restaurant in Georgetown," Cath told them. "It had just opened a few weeks before, and it was almost impossible to get a table."

Cath turned to Steve, "How did you manage to get reservations?"

"I have my ways," Steve said smiling.

"Oh, really?" Cath laughed at that. "Who did you bribe to get that table?"

"What? No one," Steve said it like he felt offended by the mere idea of bribing anyone. No need to tell her that the reservations had cost him over a hundred bucks. He grinned at her, now that the pain was slowly receding, "I guess it was my charming personality."

"Ri—ght." Cath was obviously not convinced. "But whatever you had to do it was absolutely worth it. That was the best meal I ever had." Not to mention the dessert, she thought.

"Well, I sure hope so," Steve said laughing and thinking about the check.

"And the next day were you able to get more help about the footage you uncovered?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, we did. Steve wouldn't leave the poor guys alone until they granted us both direct access to the imaging and videos," Cath explained. "I can tell you my respect for the guys out in the field went up a notch after going through all the footage. It was something I hadn't done before and experiencing first hand, or at least almost first hand, what Steve and his team were doing… well it was something else."

Steve looked at Cath and remembered his last two weeks in Washington.

H50 – H50 – H50