AssGrabbing Chapter 6: Recovery, a hawaii five-0 fanfic

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long delay. This chapter got a little out of hand. I thought about posting a day at a time, but then I realized I wanted to rearrange the order of things in recovery and add more to day one, day four, day two... so I didn't. Sorry, sucks to be you all and having to wait. Hopefully this will make up for things a bit.

Since it's longer than the other six chapters combined. (Not joking! 42/71 pages in Word.)

Whew! I did not realize beforehand just how much there was to write here. And I'm pretty sure that everybody who voted for anything will get their wish here if at all possible. (Well, except the person who wanted Steve/Kono as a couple, which I don't see on the show, don't write, and which went against the wishes of at least 3 people.) I even managed to work in a way for Cath to be in the story from halfway around the world. ; )

Okay, before I go on to the story, a word about the timeline. In my brain, this is the way I envisioned the timeline:

Tuesday evening: original hostages get kidnapped.

Tuesday night, late: ransom demand gets made to HPD. Governor eventually gets woken up because they're demanding release of gang members from prison, yada, yada.

Wednesday morning, very early: Five-0 gets rousted out of bed for the case. Poor guys, they have to get up and work on only an hour or two of sleep.

Wednesday, roughly 6:00 am: (all that boring behind the scenes stuff is done) All the data's been compiled, Chin's made the list of property owned by gang; Steve splits it and the team up to check it out.

Wednesday, about 7:30 am: Steve & Danny enter the warehouse trap. The whumpathon begins.

Wednesday: Chin and Kono find the hostages, work with SWAT to free them, and get worried because they can't get in touch with Danny or Steve. So they start looking for the rest of the team.

Thursday, about 10-11 am: Chin and Kono find the guys and end the whumpathon with a trip to the hospital. Get me a chopper now!

Thursday, about 9-9:30 pm: Docs finish surgery and come out to fill Chin and Kono in.

Thursday 10-11ish pm: Sit reps to Rachel and Mary.

Friday morning, very early (1:30-2 am): Mary's plane arrives, having left on the first available flight after her 3pm-ish Hawaii time- which is -um- 9pm? LA time- call to the hospital.

Friday: "Day 1" of the guys' recovery. And... Cue lights! Camera! Action!

Recovery

DAY 1 (Friday)

Kono entered Steve's room the following morning to find her cousin already sitting in the chair by his bed. "How's he doing?"

"No change." Chin rubbed his thumb gently over the back of Steve's hand, which he was currently holding.

Kono was privately sure the boss-man wouldn't be too happy about that. Too much like a caress. Wonder if that's why he's doing it? To piss Steve into waking up?

Watching the tender movement of her cousin's thumb, Kono decided, Maybe not. Maybe Chin finds it comforting. Kono was seized with the sudden desire to take Steve's hand in her own, just to feel the warmth, the pulse of blood through his fingers proclaiming that Steve was indeed alive.

Instead she asked, "How's Danny?"

"The same," Chin answered. "I was in there earlier."

"Maybe I'll go sit with him. Neither of them should wake up alone."

"No," Chin breathed as his cousin left. "They shouldn't. Because their ohana's here for them."

In the next room, Kono moved the chair to the other side of the bed. Then she picked up Danny's free hand and gently started stroking the back of it with her thumb.

"Oh, God." Mary had stopped in the doorway, completely poleaxed by the sight of her brother.

Chin's only response was to get up and wrap her in a hug, eventually rubbing her back as she stared over the top of his shoulder.

It was only when he felt his shirt starting to get wet that he ventured to say anything.

"It'll be alright. He'll recover."

Mary wanted to believe him.

She swallowed. "He just looks so... so... not Steve."

"The bruises will fade. The bones will heal, and the bandages will come off."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know." Chin backed up enough to meet Mary's eyes. "Just you wait. In a week or two, it'll be all we can do to keep him in that bed. We'll be so sick of wrangling SuperSEAL, we'll wish he was out like this again."

Mary managed a single strangled, gasping laugh. "I hope so."

"Kono?" Chin's strained voice made her look up from Danny.

"What is it, cuz?"

"Do you have Catherine's phone number?"

Oh, God. We forgot to call Catherine.

"No."

"So how can we get in touch with her?"

"I dunno. We can't get it from his phone, because it got smashed into a million pieces." Kono paused, then grumbled under her breath, "Overachieving bad guys... couldn't just turn the phones off or pull the batteries out, oh, no, they had to smash them into so many pieces the CSIs couldn't even tell what pieces go to whose phone..."

"Steve's phone! Of course! Didn't he call her from headquarters once? While his phone was on the smart table? Because then I should be able to pull it from the database records." Chin had already turned and was heading for the door (presumably to go to the palace), muttering as he went. "Let's see, which case was that, again?"

"So?" Kono pounced on Chin as soon as she saw him coming back into the ICU.

"She's stuck on the Intrepid and can't come. She wants us to keep updating her and to call her and give the phone to Steve as soon as he's coherent."

"But she's not pissed that we didn't think to call her right away?"

Chin looked away. "I may have omitted that information... and skillfully implied that it took this long to find her number, and not that I just found it because I only started looking an hour ago."

Kono threw an arm around him. "Way to go, cuz."

Kono was trying to type up the reports for the last few days, but was having a lot of trouble concentrating. Every now and then, Danny's breath rate or pulse would speed up, and the noises coming from the monitors would change. The myriad lines on the brainwave monitor were almost hypnotic, in the same way that watching the little waveform visualizations on windows media player could be. At any rate, she was about to give up on the paperwork as a hopeless venture; she'd only managed three sentences in the last forty minutes.

Then the door opened and a tiny brunette tornado swept in, screaming, "Danno!"

Gracie stopped abruptly when her father's appearance registered. "Danno?" she whimpered.

Rachel was clutching the doorframe for support and looking like she would be sick soon.

Kono was torn between the two- who should I comfort first?- when a nurse appeared behind Rachel in the doorway, wrapped an arm around her waist, and steered her back into the hallway.

Kono walked around the bed and wrapped her arms around Grace. "Don't cry, baby." She patted Grace's hair for several moments to calm her down.

"But my Danno looks so bad!" Grace pulled back from Kono. "You lied! You said Daddy was getting better!"

Tears started in Kono's eyes, and it wasn't because of the accusation. "Oh Gracie, I promise, I didn't lie to you. Your Dad is getting better; it's just going to take a long time for him to get all the way better again."

Grace gave her a look that betrayed all of her uncertainty. "But he will get better?"

"Yes Grace, he will." Kono thought for a moment. "Do you remember when your Uncle Steve broke his arm?"

"Uh-huh."

"And he had to wear the cast for a long time, didn't he?"

"Yeah!" said Grace, brightening as she started to see where Kono was going with this. "It took months and months- like forever!- but his arm was all better when he got his cast off! He said it was as good as new!"

"That's right. And right now, your Daddy looks bad, but pretty soon they'll be able to get rid of some of the stuff around him, and his bruises will go away and he'll wake up and talk to us. And then it won't seem as bad, even though it'll probably be a long time- maybe even 'months and months'- before he gets completely better."

Grace carefully examined her father. "Can I hold Daddy's hand, or will it pull that stuff out?" she asked, pointing to the IV.

"Of course, Gracie. Of course you can hold your Daddy's hand," Kono answered, still stroking the little girl's hair. "Here, why don't I sit in the chair, and you can sit on my lap."

"Okay." Grace clambered into Kono's lap, grabbed Danny's hand, and looked hard at his face.

"Is Daddy's face always going to look like Frankenstein now, with that ugly sewing on it?"

"Oh, no, honey. Those stitches are just for a little while, to hold the skin together until it heals where it was cut."

"And will his hair grow back?"

"Of course, Gracie. The doctors just had to shave that little bit so that they could take care of that cut."

Grace was silent a moment as she turned back towards her dad and continued studying him.

"Aunt Kono, why does my Danno have tubes up his nose?"

"Here, ma'am. Why don't you have a seat right here for a minute." The nurse handed Rachel into a chair. "Would you like a Dramamine or something to help settle your stomach?"

Rachel swallowed hard and shook her head.

"Okay then, why don't you just take it easy for a few minutes?"

When she thought she could speak safely again, Rachel commented, "I guess I hadn't really adequately prepared myself. Kono said he was badly beaten and hooked up to a lot of machines, but it didn't really all sink in. I didn't realize until I was standing there how truly horrific he would look." She gulped. "I don't think I would have let Grace come if I had known... And I should be getting back there; she was scared, I think."

"Take another minute. She'll be more upset if you go in there and pass out or puke. Besides, she's not alone; I'd bet Officer Kalakaua will be taking good care of her."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure Kono will."

"Don't worry. Once you get them to understand that it's temporary, kids usually bounce back fast. In fact, I'd say kids usually adjust to seeing someone in here before adults."

Rachel scrutinized the nurse, whose name tag identified her as Stacy. "So you always work here in the ICU?"

"Yep. It takes special training, but I think it's very rewarding. Not only do you get to help the patients who need it the most, but I think the ICU's the place where you get to see the most dramatic recoveries.

"Not to mention, this is the place where you get to see just how far the doctors will go to try to save a patient. If one of these guys takes a turn for the worse, we page the doctors and the attending is there in seconds, with the primary care physician being paged as well. And they almost always come- doesn't matter where they are- the golf course, church, the beach, grocery shopping- I once had a doctor walk in, hand me a gallon of milk, and ask me to find a place for it.

"They never give up. Even if somebody's coded ten times in the last twelve hours, they refuse to give up on him. They'll keep trying, keep bringing the guy back, keep consulting other doctors, keep trying new drugs and treatments... whatever it takes.

"And yes, there are some times when we lose somebody, but it's less often than you might think." Stacy smiled at Rachel. "We have a very good team here."

The last line made Rachel think of what a good team Five-0 were, and she swallowed hard again, trying hard not to think of her ex-husband in the bed, his partner- oh, God! I never even asked about Steve! Kono probably thinks I'm an insensitive bitch. He's probably in here, too- and I'm sure Chin and Kono are spending as much time here as they can get away with. "How is Steve? Uh, Commander McGarrett?"

"He's in similar condition." Stacy couldn't help but wonder if everyone who came into the ICU for one of these two would ask about the other. Officers Kelly and Kalakaua were here before I was this morning, and they only leave one room to go to the other's; Officer McGarrett's sister asked about "Danny" before she even went into her own brother's room; the governor- the governor!- called to ask about the two of them; and now Williams' ex turns up, and is concerned about McGarrett as well. I need to find out more about these two. "Is he a friend?"

"Yes- well," Rachel amended, "Steve is Daniel's partner, but it's more than that. Danny told me a few months back that he was making Steve his next of kin... partially because he didn't want me to have to be called every time he -quote- 'got dragged to the ER by an overprotective SuperSEAL,' and partially because Steve's become like a brother to him. And that familial closeness extends to their whole team, who seem to have adopted Grace, and vice versa. 'Aunt' Kono is giving her surfing lessons, 'Uncle' Chin takes her out for shave ice, and 'Uncle' Steve has the best backyard in the whole wide world, according to Grace- a private beach."

"Oh." Stacy wasn't quite sure how to reply to that. The doctors and the nurses at the hospital worked well together, and she might even see one or two of them in her free time, occasionally... but she didn't consider them family.

"Well, I best be getting back to Daniel and Grace."

Grace poked at Danny from where she sat with Kono. Since she'd run out of questions about what everything did about half an hour before, Kono wasn't sure what was going through her mind or if she should stop the little girl.

Rachel had no such qualms. "Grace, please don't poke your father."

"But Momma, that's how Daddy says to wake him up if I wake up before him."

Kono hid a smile behind her hand as she caught Rachel's eyes.

"Yes, dear, but your father's sleeping very deeply right now, and no amount of poking will wake him up."

"Then what should I do?"

"What should you do about what?"

"How do I make Danno wake up?"

Rachel smiled sadly at her daughter. "We can't do anything to wake him up. We just have to wait for your Daddy to wake up on his own."

"But it's boring!"

Once again, Kono and Rachel's eyes met. If she's bored after two hours, this might be a long couple of days...

So Kono tried distraction. "I haven't seen Chin and Steve for a while. How'd you like to come with me, kiddo?"

Grace looked at Rachel. "Can I, Mom? Please?"

Rachel would have agreed even if she wasn't being hit with the big eyes.

After a half hour in Steve's room, Grace was bored again.

"Can we wake Uncle Steve up?"

"No, Grace. Both your dad and Steve need lots of sleep to get better. We have to wait until they wake up on their own."

Grace chewed on her lip for a minute. "Well, maybe if we did something fun, they'd hear us and decide they wanted to wake up and do it, too."

Chin smiled at his 'niece'. "Did you have something in mind?"

"Well..." Grace's voice trailed off as she considered things. "It should be something we can do here, so they hear us and get jealous. So it can't be something like swimming or surfing. I didn't bring a book, so we can't read to them... Danno would like that, though; he likes it when I read to him when I stay at his apartment. We can't play cards, because we don't have any. We can't play Monopoly or Life, because we don't have the boards and the money. We can't do charades, because there isn't enough room." Grace paused, barely able to speak as the emotions overwhelmed her. "Besides, I don't think I could do that without Daddy... he's the best in the whole world at charades."

To Chin and Kono's surprise, Mary was the one who saved the day by redirecting the topic of conversation before Grace could get too upset. "Oh, that's okay, Grace. I think we should save the charades for later, too. That's why I brought some cards with me. You see, I think maybe we should play a game, too. Do you know 'Go Fish'?"

"'Go Fish' is for babies," Grace declared. "Uncle Steve wouldn't want to play that." She smiled mischievously. "I think we should play poker."

"Do you know how?" Chin asked, willing to teach her.

"Of course I do, silly! Why else would I ask to play?"

"This is ridiculous," muttered Kono, punching the elevator button harder than necessary as she went to get everyone sandwiches for lunch. "I've just been fleeced by a ten-year-old card shark."

DAY 2 (Saturday)

"Uncle Chin?" Grace's small voice came from the doorway, drawing the man from his staring match with Danny's monitors.

"Yes, munchkin?" He looked behind her, and finding the space empty, asked, "Where's your mom?"

"She had a meeting, but she said I could come here and stay with my Danno since the nurse said you and Kono were here, too."

"Well, then, I think your uncle Chin needs a hug from his favorite niece." Chin opened his arms, and Grace stepped into them smiling and hugging him back one handed.

"Is it okay if I read to my Danno for a while?" Grace hefted the large, jewel-colored tome she was carrying in one hand.

"Of course, Grace." Chin stood and gave her the chair closest to the bed. "Is it okay if I stay and listen, too?"

"Okay," Grace nodded. "But is it okay if I don't start over at the beginning?"

Chin laughed, his first real laugh in days. He'd noticed when she opened the book that she was apparently about halfway through a book that was six hundred pages if it was ten. "Absolutely. You can start wherever you want."

Grace frowned at him. "No, I can't. I'm starting where me and Danno left off last weekend."

Chin relaxed back into the chair in the corner. "I'm sure he'll appreciate that."

As Grace's voice started weaving a story that somehow involved singing eggs, clues, and searching libraries after midnight for a book about water and trying not to fall asleep, Chin's head leaned into the wall as his own short-shrifting of sleep over the last few days caught up with him. He didn't even hear the little girl stop and giggle, telling him he didn't need to add sound effects to Harry falling asleep in the library before she realized he was asleep.

When he woke nearly two and a half hours later, Grace was gone and he was covered with a hospital blanket. But the laughter he heard through the wall made him curious.

"Hey, Aunt Kono. Hi, Mary."

"Hey, monkey," Kono greeted Grace. "Run short on spending money and come to clean us out again?"

Grace giggled. "No." She smiled hugely. "But I thought of something that might cheer uncle Steve up." She pulled her bookbag off and set it on the bed next to Steve's feet.

"Oh? What did you think of?" Kono asked.

"Well, one time when I was over at Uncle Steve's house with Danno, it started raining really hard and we couldn't play on the beach anymore. But I didn't feel like watching TV, so Uncle Steve went up to his attic. He came back with a box with his name on it, and when he opened it up, it had a bunch of dolls in it."

Kono's cheeks bulged as she tried not to spray the drink of coffee she just taken all over the room. "Dolls? Steve?"

Mary was giggling, pretty sure she knew which 'dolls' were being discussed. "Did Steve call them that, Grace?"

Grace cocked her head. "How did you know, Mary? When Danno called them that, Uncle Steve looked at him mad for a minute and said in his growly voice (she changed her own to imitate it) 'They're not dolls, they're action figures, Danno.'" She smiled as the adults laughed, both of them completely able to visualize the scene.

In a normal tone, she continued, "But whether you called them dolls like Danno or action figures like Steve, we all had fun playing with them all afternoon."

Kono and Mary laughed again. Danny playing dolls with his daughter- sure. Big, tough SuperSEAL playing dolls- in any situation- who'd have thought?

"Of course, Uncle Steve really needs to get more clothes for his dolls. Do you know he only has the clothes they came in? They can't even come home and change clothes after they've swum across the ocean-rug, climbed mount sofa, and arrested the bad guys!"

Mary laughed harder. Kono was half doubled over.

"So today I brought some of my dolls to play with." Grace started to pull them out of her bookbag and line them up on the bed. She ignored the howls of laughter coming from the two women from their first glimpse of the blond hair as she continued her commentary: "See, this is doctor Barbie, and this is nurse Barbie, and this is my other nurse Barbie, and this is the Barbie I'm going to make into my Navy SEAL Barbie- see how I smeared her face with mud for camouflage?- and this is my cop Barbie- see, Aunt Kono, she looks just like you!..."

"Right down to the surfboard!" Mary choked out to Kono in between laughs.

"And there's plenty enough Barbies that we can all play!"

"I think I'm leaving again," said a quiet voice from the door.

Kono and Mary's eyes met, sparkling with mischief. Neither of them had noticed Chin coming in the door, but this was too good to pass up.

"What, are you afraid to play dolls like a SEAL, cuz?" Kono said loudly as he walked out the door.

DAY 3 (Sunday)

Kono entered Danny's room to the sound of a little girl's voice. She barely contained her laughter as Grace switched from her normal reading voice to a low, gruff tone with a thick (and almost correct) Yorkshire accent.

"Harry Potter?" she asked.

"Yeah," Grace replied, looking down. "Danno and I were reading it together before he got hurt. We've been reading the whole series. Every time I come over, we read together."

"I'm sure he's enjoying it," Kono said as she sat next to Grace and slipped an arm around her. "Did you come with your mom?"

"Yeah, but Step-Stan called her and she had to go outside, because cell phones aren't allowed in here." Grace put the bookmark in her book and placed it in her bookbag. "I was really hoping Danno would wake up today," she said mournfully. "I drew him a picture to make him feel better, but if he doesn't wake up, he won't get to see it."

"May I see it?" Kono asked.

Grace reached down and pulled a large, rolled up sheet of butcher paper out of her bookbag. She unrolled it across their laps to show a picture of herself and Danno swimming with the dolphins. Across the top was written "Get Well Soon"; the bottom said "Gracie Loves You, Danno". "Do you think he'll like it, Aunt Kono?"

"He'll love it, Gracie." She stood decisively. "In fact, I think we should get some tape from the nurses and hang it up right here," she said as she spread the paper out on the wall across from Danny's bed, "where it'll be the first thing your Daddy sees when he wakes up. Whaddaya think of that?"

"I think that's a good plan!" Gracie nodded enthusiastically. "I'll go get the tape!" She started to run towards the nurses' station, but stopped in the doorway. "Aunt Kono?"

"Yes, Gracie?"

"Do you think it would be okay to do this in Uncle Steve's room, too? 'Cause I made a picture for him, too."

Kono smiled at the sweet little girl. "Absolutely."

DAY 4 (Monday)

That Rachel had brought Grace directly to the hospital after picking her up at school was immediately apparent as the uniformed girl came into the room.

"You're still asleep?" She addressed the man in the bed. "Come on, Danno! You need to wake up, you old lazybones!" She turned to Rachel, who'd followed her in. "Come on, Mom. Let's go see if Uncle Steve's awake."

"Why don't you take Kono with you, and I'll stay here with your Dad?"

Grace showed her agreement with this plan by holding out a hand to Kono. Meanwhile, Rachel took the chair next to the bed.

A few hours later, when she went to retrieve Grace (somewhat surprised that she hadn't come back on her own), she found them all-Chin, Kono, Mary, and Grace- engaged in another poker game. Grace and Chin had the biggest piles in front of them; Kono's was nearly gone.

That explains it. "Well, gang, I hate to break up the party, but I have a little girl who's overdue for supper and needs to get to bed soon so that she doesn't fall asleep in school tomorrow."

"But, Mom!"

"Maybe we," Kono nudged Mary, "should go out to supper with you. I don't think Mary's had a chance to eat anything but sandwiches and pizza since she got here." She winked at Grace. "We could make it sort of a girl's night adventure, and make Chin either stay here with our sleepyhead teammates or go home to bed, since I think his eyes are falling shut, too!"

Looking over at the older man, Rachel realized it was true he was flagging. "Sounds like a plan to me. Where shall we go?"

"The restaurant with the singing waitresses!" Gracie crowed. "Daddy hates that one."

A couple hours later, several nurses and orderlies brought Danny back from his umpteenth MRI. As they moved him back onto the ICU bed from the gurney, one of the orderlies accidently bumped his immobilized shoulder.

Danny groaned.

His eyes flickered.

A nurse went to fetch the attending physician, but took a second to knock on the door of the next room and tell the man dozing in the chair by the bed, "I think Detective Williams may be waking up."

When the nurse returned with Dr. Fong, Chin had a hand resting on Danny's ankle and was telling him, "Sometimes pain is good, Danny. Pain tells you you're alive."

"I thought that's what all these machines were for," Danny croaked, his voice nearly gone after days of getting his fluids by IV.

Chin grinned at his teammate's acerbic reply as a nurse held out an ice chip on a spoon to him. "Don't worry, brah. As soon as the doc finishes looking you over, I'm sure she'll stick a nice big needle full of painkillers in your IV."

"Yeah, and probably put me right back to sleep before I even get a chance to see how Steve's doing," Danny groused.

"Commander McGarrett is recovering at his own pace, just as you are," Dr. Fong announced as she shone a penlight in Danny's eyes. "And you will not, I repeat, not set back your own recovery by getting up to see how he's doing." She gave Danny a sharp look. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." Danny affirmed. But as the diminutive doctor put her stethoscope in her ears, he added in an accusatory whisper to Chin, "Napoleonic power-monger."

"I heard that." The petite Asian woman didn't even bother to glance up at Danny, but he still felt the reproof. Especially since she didn't bother to warm her icy stethoscope before placing it on his chest.

"Don't worry, Danny," Chin said as the doctor drew a wince and a gasp while checking her patient's ribs. "Steve's in the room right next door, and we've all been keeping an eye on both of you."

"So Steve's okay? What about the seizures? And his breathing, he wasn't breathing too -aah!" he interjected as Dr. Fong's fingers brushed a particularly painful spot, "he wasn't breathing too good there at the end. I thought he might have punctured a lung."

"Steve's unconscious, but you know as soon as I go back and tell him you woke up, his competitive streak will kick in and he'll wake up, too," Chin replied.

Danny didn't miss the dodge. "But how is he? Is he gonna be okay?"

"It'll be a while before he's ready to play SuperSEAL again. He's pretty banged up, just like you are. But yes, the doctors are predicting a full recovery."

"Again with the non-specific answers. What's wrong with Steve? And don't just give me that 'all banged up' line."

"Well, what do you want me to say, Danny? Do you want me to say that between the two of you, there's so many broken and cracked bones I can't remember which ones go with who anymore?" He put his chin in his hand and pretended to think about it. "Is it Danny whose collarbone is broken all the way through, or Steve? They both have their arms immobilized." Chin threw a hand toward the door as he continued his rant. "Do you want me to go get his chart so that I can read you the list of bruised and battered organs? Do you want me to sit here and tell you all the pretty colors his skin is turning? Do you want me to tell you how many times each of you has been taken from your rooms to be scanned for internal bleeding and brain damage since you got put here last Thursday night? Do you want me to tell you how close the two of you came to dying, Danny?" Chin gripped the rail on the side of the bed and stared into his teammate's wide eyes. "Do you want me to tell you how many times Kono and I have sat with you two for hours, only talking to each other when we trade places? How many times Mary's interrogated the nurses about your and Steve's conditions? How many times Rachel's sat in this room drinking a coffee or holding your hand? How many times Gracie's been in to read to you and Steve?" Chin's voice dropped and he scrubbed a hand across his face. "Do you want me to tell you how your daughter was nearly in tears yesterday because neither her Danno nor her Uncle Steve would wake up to see the pictures she drew?" He waved a hand at the wall. "What is it you want to hear, Danny?"

Danny was speechless. Between the things Chin had said, the amount Chin had said (I don't think I've ever heard him say so much at one time before), and the picture on the wall (How could I have missed Gracie's drawing? Oh, Gracie, my sweet Gracie. Danno loves you, too.), he was emotionally overwhelmed.

And after taking a few minutes to try to sort through his feelings without crying- and why is that such a temptation right now, anyway? I may not have Chin's stoic mask, but I usually don't cry in front of people.- Danny came to the realization that Grace, Rachel, and Kono weren't the only ones who had been worried. However Chin may have tried to joke it off at first, it was obvious he had been worried, too. Is probably still worried. Worried about Steve, and yes, worried about me, too.

"I'm gonna be okay, Chin."

"Hmph." Dr. Fong snorted. "Only if you rest. And allow yourself to recover. And preferably don't get shot or tortured or anything else violent in the near future." She stuck a needle in the IV port and pushed a dose of Demerol in. "Which I know is asking a lot of a member of Five-0. " She said the team name almost as if it was a swear word. "Now go to sleep, Detective."

As the painkillers kicked in, Danny's eyes fell shut. But he managed to whisper, "Tell Grace Danno loves her. And thanks for the picture."

"You can tell her yourself tomorrow."

But when Chin stepped out to call Rachel and tell her Danny had woken up but was now asleep again, he passed the message along anyway. Because you can never tell your ohana how much you care too often.

DAY 5 (Tuesday)

"Hey, brah." Chin strolled into Steve's room the next morning, coffee and a bag of malasadas in hand. "Figured I'd come say hi and see if you're ready to wake up before I go bring Danny his favorite breakfast. Although if anyone asks, these malasadas're all for me.

"Kinda surprised me, there, McGarrett. Never expected Danny to hold out longer and recover sooner. What happened to all that vaunted SEAL bad-assery, eh?" The friendly tone of his voice made it clear he was teasing, as he squeezed Steve's toes. "Well, you just take your time and get better now, okay, brah? I'll be back in a bit."

Not fifteen minutes after Chin went to give Danny half a malasada (and he had to stop there because Danny was getting nauseated), Grace appeared.

"Danno!" she yelled, running towards him, grabbing his hand, and clutching it to her chest.

"Hey, kiddo," Chin greeted her. "Shouldn't you be in school right now?"

Looking up at the detective, Grace answered, "Mumma said I don't have to today. She promised I could stay the whole day with my Danno when he woke up, no matter what day it was, so now she has to let me. Especially since she wouldn't let me come last night when Uncle Chin called." She finished her statement by grinning widely and getting possessively closer to her dad.

Danny managed to move his hand up to cup her cheek, despite the small hands still holding on to him tightly. "I missed you too, Monkey."

"Well, if you get the whole day with your daddy, I think maybe I'll go to the office for the first time in nearly a week," Chin said. Then he yawned. "Or maybe I'll go catch some Zs in a real bed."

Chin looked up from Grace to see Danny opening his mouth, and interrupted before Danny could verbalize the concerns on his face. And even if he did turn to look at Grace while he was speaking, his words were just as much for Danny. "But you won't be alone, Grace, not even if your Dad falls asleep again. I saw Mary on her way into Steve's room as I was coming in here, and I think Kono's probably gonna get here in a just a little bit. And if you need me, you know you can call me, right?"

"Of course, Uncle Chin. I'll call you when Uncle Steve wakes up."

"You think he'll wake up before I get back?"

Grace gave him a 'duh' look. "Daddy's awake, and he's usually the one who likes to sleep in."

"Well, I hope you're right, but remember, Uncle Steve needs a lot of sleep, so if he doesn't..."

"I know, I know, don't feel too bad, it's not my fault..." the sing-song manner Grace used had Danny shooting a look at Chin, who just shrugged, as if to say, 'Well, what do you expect? She has heard that a lot more than once in the last few days.'

The air in this tank is really old, thought Steve. I didn't realize it'd been that long since I used my scuba tanks. This stuff tastes like metal and plastic.

Wait a minute. If I'm diving, why can't I see anything? You don't go on a solo dive without a light. So why can't I see anything?

And why is it so hard to move? Forget a weight belt, I feel like I've got weights all over me. Shit, even my chest feels weighted. And my head, oh, God, please make it stop. Ringing...

Explosion? Was that what happened?

No, that doesn't seem right.

"Nnnngh." Steve turned his head. What's that noise? It sounds like someone groaning, but that can't be right. People don't groan underwater. They can't.

"Steve?"

Whose voice is that?

"Can you hear me, Steve?"

I know that voice... that voice is a good voice. It means caring. Love...

"Open your eyes for me, big bro. Please?"

Big bro? Mary...

Wait, why is Mary here? And how is she...

"Tokkin unnerwahr?" Steve's slurred words made no sense to his sister, but she pressed the call button again, anyway. Maybe he's finally waking up! she thought excitely.

Mmmm... so heavy...

Steve felt himself drifting deeper... deeper... deeper into the depths of the ocean. But even though a part of his mind told him he should be worried, he just couldn't do it. The feeling of safety was too strong.

He never realized that Mary had picked up his hand, or that he had closed his fingers around hers.

"Aunt Kono! the doctors are going into uncle Steve's room! Can we go see if he finally woke up? Can we? Please?"

"Whazzat, Monkey?" Danny's sleepy voice came from the bed.

"Daddy! You woke up again! I'm so glad!" Grace realized her tone of voice was not helping when Danny winced, and carefully took a minute to drop it to a near-whisper for his sake. "I was just telling Aunt Kono that a bunch of doctors just went into Uncle Steve's room. I wanna go see if he finally woke up. Can I? Please, Danno?" She pulled out the pouty lip and eyes the size of dinner plates to add to the pleading.

"No! No! Not the face!" Danny threw a hand in the air as if to block the look on his daughter's face. "You know I can't resist the face."

"Please?"

Danny sighed. "Okay, monkey. But you should wait a minute. The doctors might need a minute to make sure Steve's okay."

"O-kay." Grace crossed her arms over her chest. "But I don't want to wait too long and have him fall asleep again."

"Don't worry, Grace, we'll go over as soon as the doctors leave."

It was only about ten minutes later that Grace rushed into the room. Seeing Steve's eyes still shut, she whined, "I knew it. I knew if we waited too long, he'd fall asleep again."

Kono, on the other hand, noticed Mary's teary eyes and the way she was tightly clutching Steve's hand. "Grace, honey, why don't you go tell your Dad that Steve's still out."

"But Aunt Kono..."

"Please, Grace."

After the door shut behind the little girl, Kono put her arms around Mary. "What is it?"

"I feel like whining, too," Mary sobbed. "Just like Grace."

Kono rubbed her back. "Go ahead."

"I thought he was waking up. I really did. It made me happy, so happy! just because he groaned and was twitching a little. And then I held his hand and I swear- I swear to you!- he closed his fingers around my hand! I was so excited. And he mumbled something... I couldn't tell what it was, but he made a noise. I really thought that was it, he was going to wake up and be okay..." Mary's voice trailed off.

Kono could guess what was coming next. "But he didn't."

Mary sobbed. "No."

"Why were the doctors here?"

"When I thought he was waking up, I pushed the call button, like they said to. But when they got in here, all I got was doctor-speak about upgrading his status and how people don't usually come around all at once like in the movies, and the fact that his brainwaves were showing a REM sleep, even if it was only for a few minutes, showed definite improvement and this was a good sign, yadda, yadda, yadda..."

Mary sobbed heavily. "But I couldn't have cared less. It just felt like such a let-down, you know? I didn't want to hear that this was a step in the right direction to him waking up, I wanted him to wake up. All the way. I wanted to see those beautiful eyes, hear him say actual words..."

"And it just seems harder to come so close and then not have it happen." Kono finished.

"Yeah."

"Listen, Mary, why don't I go say goodbye to the others for a few minutes, and then drive you home. I think a nap would probably be good for you. You're tired, you're stressed, and a break might me nice."

Mary sniffed. "I dunno. I don't want to go to far. I want to be here if he does wake up... And I've barely spent five minutes with Danny since he woke up..."

"Take a break and then come back to see Danny. It'll be okay. Trust me, if anybody understands you spending most of your time with your brother, it's Danny."

"Okay."

"Alright, why don't you just grab your stuff. I'm just gonna pop in and tell Danny and Grace we're going."

As soon as Kono popped her head through the door, Danny started talking. "What's going on? Grace said you told her to come back here. Is Steve worse? Did something happen? What's going on?"

"Steve had a dream. Mary thought he was waking up, but he didn't. The doctors say it's a good thing, but the near miss was draining for Mary. I'm gonna take her home now. I should be back in 45 minutes to an hour. Need anything else?"

Danny was still three sentences behind when Kono finished. When his brain caught up, all he said was, "Grace..."

Understanding that he didn't want her left alone when he was barely able to stay awake fifteen minutes at a time due to the drugs, Kono turned to her. "Hey, Grace. How about coming for a ride with me and Mary in my car?" Glancing at the clock, she added, "And maybe we'll stop and pick up a pizza for lunch on the way back to see your dad."

Grace looked at Danno, who nodded sleepily, already dozing again. "Okay."

When Rachel arrived, she was slightly panicked at first that she couldn't find Grace in either room. Danny woke up and filled her in. At his request, she went to check on Steve.

"Hey there, Commander. I hear you've been putting people through the wringer today. Don't you think you should stop messing around and wake up for real?

"I'd really appreciate it if you did. Daniel and Grace are both worried about you, and it would make both of them feel better. And a happy Danny would be nice. I think we're all missing the sound of you two teasing each other and fighting good-naturedly. Not to mention, Grace gets more and more disappointed every time she visits and you're still asleep.

"Of course, that's just two pieces of the puzzle. Kono introduced me to your charming sister, who I think would be simply delightful company under normal circumstances but who is currently extremely worried about you. And I swear, Kono and Chin look more worn out every time that I see them. I think I even saw Chin dozing while doing something on his laptop Sunday. And if I were to guess, I would say that at least part of the reason that Kono keeps going on coffee runs for everyone is because she needs the coffee to wake herself up. When she's not sneaking Monsters out of her backpack.

"Not to mention, I want you to wake up and get better. You're a nice person, but I as much as I'd like you to get better for your own sake, I must admit my own reasons for wanting you to get better, Commander, are more than a little selfish. I want you to get better because I want my family to be happy, and if you don't, they're going to be devastated. I want you to get better because I don't want to see Grace crying her eyes out about her Uncle Steve. I want you to get better because I want you to keep being Danny's partner. I know there have been times when the two of you've gotten hurt- this time, for example- but I really do think that the best way to keep Danny safe is for him to have you watching his back.

"Which is why I really want you to hurry up and wake up now. I mean it, Commander. It's time to wake up, Steve. Wake up." Rachel waved her arms in a grotesque parody of her ex-husband. "Steven! Wake up! NOW! Come on, McGarrett, wake the hell up!"

After commanding Steve to wake up several more times, each time dwindling in force and volume, Rachel gave up, wrapped her arms around her stomach, and went back to Danny to report that her ranting wasn't enough to wake him up.

"But my ranting isn't as good as yours, Daniel. Never has been. You know that..."

The door opened and Grace came running in. "Mom! Danno! Guess what!"

"I dunno. What's got you so excited, Monkey?" Danny teased the little girl who jumped up on his bed next to his feet.

"Aunt Kono let me pick the toppings for the pizza! And we got two! And she said if I want, I can have three pieces! Three! Can you believe it?"

"No, I can't." Danny's tone was droll.

Kono's grin was wide as she approached the bed. "Well, other-boss, I figured as soon as you saw what toppings your daughter chose, you wouldn't want any, and she could have your piece."

"What? My daughter knows how to make a pizza properly. With real toppings, like mozz and pepperoni and ..."

Kono flipped the lid of the pizza box open.

"Pineapple." Danny closed his eyes and tilted his head back into the pillow. "How can this have happened? My own daughter, tainted by this insane island..."

"Danno, you should try it before you say you don't like it." Danny opened his eyes and rolled them at his daughter. What a time to have my own words thrown back in my face.

"This is Kono's favorite, you know. Pepperoni and pineapple. And it's really yummy."

Kono handed the top box to Chin, who had followed her into Danny's room. "Don't worry, we got one you'll like, too. See?" She flipped open the second box to reveal a pie smothered in Italian sausage, beef, pepperoni, onions, and extra cheese.

Danny inhaled deeply and sighed in pleasure. "Now that's a pizza."

"Yeah, brah, but I'm pretty sure it's contraband for you, so if you're planning to sneak a piece, I'd hurry up before one of your docs comes in to do rounds." Chin said while taking a slice of "Danny's" pizza to go with the slice of "Kono's" already on his plate.

Mmmm... that smells good...

Pizza...

With pineapple...

Danno would be so outraged...

Chin had looked up at the slight noise and nearly dropped his pizza when he saw the corners of Steve's mouth turn up the tiniest bit.

"Steve? You awake, brah?"

So tired...

Save me some of that pizza, okay?

"Steve?"

I'll eat it later...

Ham and pineapple's good cold.

Chin leaned back in the chair as the smirk melted off Steve's face and the monitors around recorded his drop from dreamland back into obliviousness. But I didn't imagine that. The pain in the ass was smirking at me, even if he wouldn't open his eyes.

Wait 'til I tell Danny.

"Come on, doc, please?" Danny pled. "I'll go in a wheelchair, I'll take all the stuff you want with me; shoot, you can escort me if you want. Besides, it's not like you haven't disconnected me from all this stuff before... they said you've been taking me out of here for tests five or six times a day. Come on, doc, just five minutes to go next door-next freaking door, not the moon!- and see my partner, maybe give him a little bit of a talking to for worrying everyone like this..."

"Knowing Steve, he'd probably wake up just to argue with him," Kono remarked in an undertone to Chin while the doctor denied the request yet again.

"Come on! I'm not even asking to leave the ICU!"

"And I said no, and that's final!" The young attending doctor was beginning to wish he had claimed he was on the way to emergency surgery or something when the woman had grabbed him- 'Just for a moment. I just need you to talk some sense into my ex-husband." Huh, easier said than done. Every time I say no, he just keeps right on arguing.

He'd grabbed the chart, looked over it again cursorily to remind himself which of the four in the unit it was- and entered chaos. Now I want to tear my hair out. Or give the nurses battle pay. Or something. Why is this man so stubborn?

"Detective, may I remind you that less than twenty-four hours ago, you were still in a coma yourself? You're still healing from internal injuries, you have more cracked and broken bones than I can count, and the nurses only disconnected you from the EEG an hour ago! You are in no condition to go anywhere, for anything!"

"But doc, I just want to go wake Steve up. When Dr. Haleua was in this morning, I heard him tell Chin he expected him to wake up by yesterday, and if he didn't wake up today, he was going to take him off the painkillers completely. So why not let me take a crack at it first?

"I'm sure someone else is equally capable of going into the Commander's room and talking to him..."

"But doc, I'm the one of the very few people he actually listens to!"

The young surgeon ignored the chuckles from the peanut gallery in the corner. "That is enough! This is the last time I am telling you no for the last time! And if you keep arguing with me about this now, I will do my best to make sure that they make you wait an extra day when you are well enough for a visit!"

With that, he left the room, angrily flinging the chart back into the clear plastic holder outside the door and muttering under his breath about reckless, stubborn patients. Stacy looked up from the nurses' station and asked, "Troubles, Dr. Mallory?"

"No, no... nothing I can't handle. Just that that idiot Williams is asking to go visit his buddy McGarrett. I mean, what the hell? Does he really think he's going to be allowed out of bed less than twenty-four hours after waking from a coma? And with as many severe injuries as he had? And his buddy's still in a coma!"

Stacy couldn't help chuckling herself.

"What's that for?"

The nurse immediately sobered a bit. "Oh, you wouldn't know, because you haven't been in here the last few days... but this is my third twelve since those two were brought in, and the amount of mother-henning going on in those two rooms is incredible. Not to mention, every single person who has been in to visit one of them has at least asked about the other one, and most of them split their time between the two fairly equally. Drs. Haleua and Fong left orders not to bother trying to fight their "family" (she did air quotes around the word)- half of whom aren't related to either one of them."

"You mean this sort of madness has been going on all week?"

"You think this is exciting, you should have been here when William's little girl was trying to get Detective Kelly to play barbies with her in the hopes that Commander McGarrett would get jealous and wake up to play with her."

Dr. Mallory frowned in puzzlement. "I thought he was an army tough guy or something."

"Navy SEAL."

"And she expected him to wake up jealous and wanting to play barbies?"

Stacy giggled. "Yeah."

"So what you're saying is that the insanity is either contagious or hereditary?"

The first thing Steve was aware of as he started to wake up was the snoring.

Man, Cath's got a bad cold.

I don't thing I've ever heard her snore that loudly before.

What's that beeping?

And why do I feel like I've been run over by a truck?

Disjointed memories flashed through his consciousness. Crates and thugs and being handcuffed to a chair. Oh yeah, that's why I feel so shitty.

Which means...

Steve moved his free arm slightly, just enough for his fingertips to run into the rail.

Yep, hospital.

Yay.

Wait a second, if I'm in the hospital, then is it Cath snoring?

He cracked an eye open. Even in the dark, it was enough to make him slightly dizzy. He closed his eyes again.

Man, oh man, what have they got me on this time?

Steve took a deep breath. Okay, let's try that again.

This time it was easier. His eyes examined the figure in the corner. Sitting and sleeping in one of those awful hospital chairs.

It took him less than three seconds to decide. That's not Cath.

Cath wouldn't be able to sleep like that- one knee up, with the arm propped on top, head tilted almost ninety degrees to lay on top of her arm.

That explains the snore.

Long straight hair.

Kono?

Oh-kay. That's unexpected.

If it wasn't Cath, I think the most likely person to be haunting my room in the middle of the night would be Danny...

Danny... More images flashed through his head. A crate smashing over his partner's head...

Danny...

...feeling Danny handcuffed to his chair...

Danno!...

The beeping of his heart monitor sped up.

...worrying about how long Danno'd been out...

"Danno!" His mind was screaming the name, but it came out as a weak whisper.

But Kono had already started coming around because of the beeping, so she heard it. "Steve!"

"Kono," Steve swallowed, "Danno?..." Shit, it hurts to talk.

"Shhh, don't talk too much. I'm pushing the button to get the doctor. Just let him check you over, okay brah?"

Steve managed to grab Kono's wrist weakly as she pushed the call button on his bed. Squeezing slightly, he got Kono to meet his eyes again. "Danno... okay?"

"Danny's going to be just fine, boss. He's banged up a bit, same as you are, but he actually woke up last night. He'll be real glad when I tell him you're awake; he had quite the argument earlier today about coming in to see you."

"Woke... up?"

Kono stroked Steve's hair back from his face and forced herself to meet his eyes. "Yeah, boss. You were both in comas for several..."

The lights came on and Steve flinched at the brightness. Seeing Steve awake in the bed, the nurse turned around and went back out to page the doctor.

"...days." Kono finished.

"Gang?" Steve managed to ask, eyes half-closed against the unwelcome light.

Kono shook her head in disbelief and dismay. "Bo-ss." She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Only you would be worrying about something like that two minutes after being in a coma for days."

Steve didn't need words to prompt an answer. His look said enough.

"Alright, alright. The four guys who were there when we busted you two out of the warehouse all ended up dead in a shootout. There were three other deaths when we rescued the hostages; two more got injured in the firefight. The other four we caught are in jail. As for the rest of the gang... we haven't got around to going after them yet."

"Hostages?"

"They're all fine. Chin and I wondered about that; none of them ..."

"Excuse me," Ray Haleua interrupted, looking at Steve over Kono's shoulder. "But I really should examine Commander McGarrett while he is awake. He probably won't stay awake too long at a time."

"By all means, doc. I'd rather not be interrogated about the case by someone who can only whisper his questions a single word at a time."

"What?" Dr. Haleua looked at her askance.

Steve hadn't let go of her wrist yet, so he gave it another squeeze and asked, "None of them?"

"None of the hostages was hurt at all. Not even a scratch. They weren't even tied up; just locked in a room. They're fine, boss.

"Now can I please have my arm back?"

"Yes, Commander, why don't let the detective go? I think we can skip the memory questions, but I do still need to examine you."

The phone rang and Chin fumbled for it sleepily. "Yeah?"

"Chin." He could hear the smile in Kono's voice as he sat up. "Steve's awake."

Chin sighed. "Thank God."

"Yeah? Wait 'til I tell you what the first words out of his mouth were."

"How's Danny?" Chin guessed.

"Right on. Followed closely by questions about the gang and the hostages. And an unhappy glare at me when I said we'd been too busy the last few days to track down the gang members we haven't caught yet."

Chin groaned. "Seriously?"

"Have you called the governor yet?"

"No, but I'm thinking that may have just got moved to the top of my to-do list for tomorrow morning." He rubbed his face. "That's gonna be so fun.- Why hello Governor, good morning to you, too. I'm calling to update you on the fact that McGarrett woke up last night. Oh, and by the way, could you order him to take several days off from the case and stay in the hospital? Thanks." He rubbed his face again. "I don't know how Danny does it."

"Well, while you're pondering that, do you want to call Mary? I'll call Cath and tell Danny."

"Alright, cuz. See you in the morning."

When Kono's call went straight to voicemail, she decided to leave the simplest message possible for Cath.

"Hey Cath, it's Kono. Just wanted to let you know Steve's awake and it looks like he's gonna be fine."

She ended the call by reciting both her cell number and the phone extension for Steve's room.

Then she headed upstairs to Danny's room. Peeking her head in the door, she whispered, "Psst! You awake, Danny?"

"I am now," Danny answered in a normal voice. "What's up?"

"Steve's awake."

"Good."

Kono raised her eyebrows. She'd expected more of a reaction than that. Apparently, though, it just took Danny a little longer to wind himself up into a proper rant with only one hand free to wave.

"Trust SuperSEAL to wake up from his coma in the middle of the night. His body's internal clock probably thinks this is a normal time to wake up. Gotta have time for the triathlon before you start the day, right?

"Well, you know what? He can just wait until a sensible hour. I have nothing to say to him in the middle of the night, except..." Danny's voice trailed off.

"Tell the big lug I'm glad he's not asleep anymore."

"Will do, Other-boss. Oh, and just so you know, he's glad you're okay, too. You were the first thing he asked about."

Danny turned his head and blinked back tears. Must. Not. Cry. in front of the rookie. C'mon, be tough, man. Just because you're relieved Steve's okay and touched by the fact that he asked about you, that's no reason to break down.

"Did you call everyone?" he managed to ask, his voice thick.

"I called Chin and left a voicemail for Cath. Chin's gonna call Mary."

"Oh, that's good."

Kono thought Danny sounded like he was starting to fall asleep again, so she said good-night and headed back to the room next door.

Steve was already asleep again. Dr. Kaleua was just finishing making notes on his chart as she came in.

"Well, doc?"

"The commander is making excellent progress so far. I am somewhat concerned, however, that the first thing he did when he woke up was question you about the case. He needs to take some time off from that."

"Chin's going to call the governor first thing in the morning."

"That's great. But you and I both know, even if he's here, he'll probably find ways to try to work around that. So from now on, as long as he's in the hospital, don't say a word to him about the case." He grinned. "Doctor's orders."

He was halfway out the door before the comeback occurred to Kono. "Hey, can I get a script for that?"

"No, detective. But I'd be happy to write you one for a sedative if you and Detective Kelly don't start going home to sleep more than every other night."

"Well, the rotation was so that neither of them would wake up without their ohana. Now that they're both out of their comas, we won't need to."

"So you'll go home now?"

"Well," Kono stammered. "I'll probably stick around a little longer, make sure Steve doesn't end up with nightmares or flashbacks or anything like that, check on them both again before I head out again. But I probably won't sleep here again after tonight, okay?"

Ray shook his head as he left the room. Given the grilling the Commander had tried to give me- ME!- to find out more about Detective Williams' condition, there's probably more danger of the man reinjuring himself trying to go see his friend than from having a nightmare-induced panic attack. Not to mention, if he does end up with nightmares, I doubt he'd want anyone else to be privy to it.

DAY 6 (Wednesday)

When Steve woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed was the crayon drawing taped to the wall across from his bed. It showed an enormous sand castle being assaulted by a mixed task force of GI Joes and barbies, who were being held by himself and a short brunette. Above and below the picture were the words: "Get Well Soon, Uncle Steve. Love, Grace."

The second thing he noticed was that the rolling table in front of him had several sticky notes stuck to it. They read:

"Steve- sorry to duck out on you before you wake up this morning, but I'll be back soon. Kono."

"PS. You'll probably have lots of other visitors today, too."

"Dr. Kaleua said he's prescribing a ban on talking about the case here. So don't expect an update when I get back."

"Danno's really glad you're awake again."

"If you want to talk to him, his extension is ICU2 (4282)."

The last note, combined with the fact that Kono had set the black bakelite phone on the table next to it, was the one that Steve was most interested in.

As soon as I get these damn tears out of my eyes, I'm going to call Danno. Well, and get rid of the lump in my throat.

It took a few minutes, but Steve managed. He dialed the number, and listened to the phone ring.

He could hear it ring through the wall as well as the receiver.

There were several very loud grunts, punctuated by a loud ker-thunk and a not-so-muffled obscenity.

"Danno?" Steve abandoned the phone and raised his voice.

"Steve?" Danny shouted back through the walls.

Damn, the lump is back. Steve swallowed. "Good to hear your voice!"

"Yours, too!"

"Trouble with the phone?"

Danny could hear the smirk in Steve's tone. "That was you, wasn't it? I should have known! Only an asshole like you would try to call me on the phone when it's sitting on the table that's two feet from the wrong side of the bed!"

"Speaking of the wrong side of the bed, sounds like you woke up on it!"

"Maybe I did! Some jackass, who shall remain nameless, went and woke me up out of a great dream..."

"Blond, brunette, or redhead?"

"Not that kind of dream, you shit! Anyways, as I was saying, some jackass went and woke me up at like 6:10 in the morning so that we could yell a conversation through a wall while he smirks at my misfortune in having my arm strapped to my chest, and my resultant inability to grab the phone on that side of the beh..."

Danno's voice cut off mid-word, and Steve was opening his mouth to ask him if something was wrong when he was glared into silence by the nurse standing in the doorway, hands akimbo, and a fierce look on her face.

"What do you two think you are doing? This is a hospital! More than that, this is the ICU! We do not shout through the walls at other patients! Especially not this early in the morning!"

"Okay."

The nurse raised an eyebrow. She'd been warned about these two; she hadn't expected her charge to surrender so easily.

"How 'bout a visit?"

"I don't think so."

"Aw, come on. I'll even let you throw me in the wheelchair."

"As tempting as that is, Commander, the answer is still no. If you want to talk to Detective Williams, you'll just have to use the phone."

"I actually tried the phone first, but Danno's having a little trouble with his. Don't suppose you could go straighten that out, could you?"

"I'm sure that Aheahe will take care of that. Have a nice day, Commander."

As soon as the door closed behind her, Steve redialed Danny's phone. When he picked up, Steve said, "I just got froze by an ice queen. You?"

"Ditto."

Forty minutes later, Chin arrived with Mary. He walked into Steve's room and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Who you on the phone with, brah?"

"Danno."

"Yeah, well, you better get off of there soon. Cath's tried to call you three times this morning, and all she can get is a busy signal."

"Not to mention, I could use a hello," Mary added.

Steve did a double take when his eyes slid past Chin to Mary. His whole face brightened with his smile. "Mary!" he smiled, and said goodbye to Danny. Then Steve resumed talking to his sister, joy evident in his voice. "When did you get here?"

"Early last Friday." Mary smiled back at her brother.

"Friday? How long?" Steve directed the second question at Chin; he was trying to piece together the timeline in his head.

"How long what, brah?"

"Wasn't it Wednesday when we started the case?"

"Yeah."

"So how did Mary get here by Friday?"

"I flew while you spent Thursday in surgery," Mary answered.

"I spent Thursday in surgery?"

"You and Danny both," Chin answered.

"I could have sworn we were in that warehouse more than one day..." Steve's voice trailed off as something else occurred to him. "What day is today?"

"Wednesday."

"Wednesday! You mean it's been a whole week?"

"Yeah, brah."

"Shit." The look on Steve's face was an insane mixture of little boy lost and someone whose brain has just shut down completely.

"Don't worry Steve." Mary took his good hand; Chin left quietly, sensing that the siblings might need some time on their own.

Steve shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm not worried. It's just that I've never been out that long. It's kind of... disconcerting."

"I happen to think that's a major understatement."

Looking carefully at his sister, Steve saw barely-brushed hair that spoke of her hurry; wrinkled clothes that had obviously spent the night in the dryer because she hadn't stayed awake to get them out; a missing watch that spoke of her distraction; stooped shoulders and tired bags under red eyes that told him she hadn't been sleeping well and crying more than a little; new worry lines inscribed on her face; and a tired, gentle smile that said it was all his fault, but it was slowly abating.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Worrying you. Making you come halfway around the world to sit a vigil with me."

"It's not your fault. Not like you planned to get captured and have the shit kicked out of you, is it?"

"No," Steve replied, "but Danno says if someone's hurt because of you, you say sorry even if you didn't hurt them yourself."

Mary's smile widened as she brushed Steve's hair back. "He's good for you. Smooth out some of your rough edges."

"Yeah, he's good at smoothing ruffled feathers. Even tells me how I should smooth over his ruffled feathers most of the time."

The phone rang.

"Speaking of which..."

"Huh?"

The phone rang again.

"Twenty says that's Cath." He paused. "And I'm probably going to either get the ass-chewing of my life, or the super-stoic 'if I let myself feel anything, I'm going to bust into a million bawling pieces' intelligence officer facade." He set his hand on the telephone. "And if I don't answer before it rings again, my ass is grass."

"Don't let me hold you up," Mary said as she began moseying towards the door.

Steve picked up the phone. "Hello?"

It wasn't Cath. It was the governor, calling to order to Steve to stay in the hospital. And if he left AMA this time, he wouldn't have a job to come back to.

Steve was 90% sure it was a bluff; but not willing to chance that other 10%. This job, this place, these people, mean too much to me to risk that. Well, at least, to risk that yet.

Cath called five minutes later, and Steve once again answered the phone with a "Hello?"

"Steve," Cath breathed an audible sigh of relief. "You owe me like a dozen steak dinners for this. You know that, don't you?" Only someone who knew her well would have picked up on the slight waver in her tone.

"It's not my fault?"

"Try again, sailor. It is entirely your fault that I've been so worried and distracted and all-around strung-out looking the last few days that my watch commander last night had me escorted out for a piss test."

Steve swallowed. He wouldn't have imagined that happening, ever.

"Steve?"

"Still here." He gulped again. "Just having trouble imagining you in a state to warrant that."

"Yeah, well, it's not so much that I look like I'm falling apart- although I won't deny the dark circles under red eyes- it's more that I've been having trouble concentrating for the last week. To the tune of a late report, which has never happened before, and staring at my computer screen without reading or typing for more than five minutes while someone called my name last night."

"Jeez, Cath, I'm sorry." Sorry for worrying you. Sorry that I can't hold you right now, because I can hear the waver in your voice growing. I can hear you getting closer to tears, and I can't do anything about it. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, well, let's just say that while they weren't willing to give me leave last week to visit a sick friend, they're considering giving me leave to see someone who's got me this distracted, especially since I threw your chart and that picture of you on my CO's desk to explain why I was so upset and distracted."

"How'd you get my chart? And what photo?"

"Your chart was simple enough... you know my skills. And the photo... well, before I got my hands on your chart, I begged Chin to send me a picture of you. I figured, what's a couple broken bones? Seeing you, even just in a picture, would help me feel better.

"Chin knew better. He fought me. He didn't want to send it. He started making excuses- he couldn't use his cell in the ICU, nobody ever looks good in a hospital picture, you know the drill- but after three calls in less than six hours just to bug him, he finally gave in and sent me one.

"It was horrible. All those wires and tubes on you; all those bandages and bruises. And you were so still. So still, and so pale. You didn't even look like you, Steve. I couldn't imagine what kind of beating could turn someone who usually looks like a bronze statue of a Greek god in perpetual motion into such a pathetic, wan body in a bed.

"And I should have learned my lesson with that," Cath sobbed, "but no-o. I had to go digging. I wanted to know exactly how you were injured. I wanted a list of your injuries and to know everything the doctors knew, so I got your chart. And I backtraced the stuff I've sent you guys to get access to the Five-0 office computers, so I could get access to all of the notes on the case, all of the forensics data, all the reports that came in.

"And if it was hard knowing you were hurt, it was twice as hard seeing that first picture from Chin. Reading your chart was twice as bad as that. But reading the forensics report and seeing the pictures, my God, that was a million times worse... The first picture in that file made me run for the head and puke- you and Danny cuffed there in a puddle of your own blood, Danny leaning on Chin, bleeding all down his back and Chin doing something with your handcuffs while Kono had her hand on your neck and was screaming into her cell- you could see she was screaming in that picture, her face all contorted as the crime techs tried to get pictures of where evidence was, collect samples and stuff, before the EMTs arrived and then the next picture, they were there with gurneys in the background, but the picture was focused on footprints in the blood- your blood!- and the very idea of th..."

"Shhh, shhh." Steve made soothing noises into the phone. When was the last time I heard Cath babble? It was when her Dad died... Oh, shit, oh shit, oh shit. "Cath, Cath, sweetie, it's okay, I'm okay."

"Don't lie to me, Steven! I know you're not okay!"

"But I will be, Cath. I will be."

"I've read the reports, Steve. They beat you with a crowbar... You had so much head trauma you were having seizures..."

"What?"

"They didn't tell you?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I would remember if somebody had mentioned seizures..." Steve was beginning to get slightly worried. If they didn't tell me that I was having seizures, what else did the doctors not tell me? He pressed the nurse call button. Well, we'll just find out, won't we?"

"Well, maybe they just didn't want to worry you. You did only wake up for the first time last night."

"So?"

Cath heard the bullheaded anger in that word, and strange as it might sound, it made her feel better. Part of him being Smooth Dog is that underlying fierceness, that ability to grab onto something like a pit bull and not let go. And right now, he's going after answers, and he isn't going to stop until he gets them. And then, he's going to take someone to task for not telling him right off.

"Yes?" Catherine heard a young woman's voice through the phone. "Is something the matter, Commander?"

"You're not planning on terrifying some poor nurse, are you, Steve?"

"Of course not," Steve answered Cath's question before looking at the nurse with steel in his eyes. "I need to speak to the doctor, as soon as possible, please."

She nodded and shut the door.

"Oh, Steve."

"What?"

"Patience has never been your strong suit."

"I can be patient when I have to be."

Catherine sniffed.

"I just don't usually see any advantage in waiting for things."

"Now that's the Steve I know and love."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I've got people like you who are willing to put up with me."

"And people like Danny and Chin and Kono who are willing to follow you around and watch your back."

"Yeah."

"How is Danny?"

"He sounds okay. I talked to him for a while this morning. Got a first-rate rant through the wall until the nurses came to chew us out."

"Through the wall?"

"Yeah, the first time, he knocked the phone on the floor. But after they told us off for shouting, they must have helped him get to the phone. I spent most of the morning talking to him on the phone until Chin came and told me that I needed to leave the line open so that you could get through."

"Remind me to buy that man flowers."

Steve chuckled. "Somehow, I doubt he'd go for that."

"You owe him and Kono big for saving your asses and taking care of you."

"I know. Maybe I'll give them a few weeks off, instead of making them work with HPD while Danno and I are stuck in here."

"Stuck in where?"

"Here, the hospital. Apparently, the governor feels that I can be too... 'careless with my health' were the words he used, I think. And that I must therefore be forced to stay here, as long as the doctors want to keep me, or he'll fire me."

"Those poor nurses," Catherine said sympathetically. "No one should be subjected to you for weeks. You're the worst patient on the face of the planet."

"So you'll campaign for my early release?"

"No... but I might buy some nurses flowers."

"I sure hope you didn't have Sarah drag me in here just so you could ask to go home, Commander. Because it's not happening. Not today, not tomorrow, not for several weeks." Min Fong stood in the doorway, hands on her hips.

"I understand that," Steve said to her. "I just wanted the doctor to explain why I wasn't told I'd had seizures. Why I had to hear it from someone halfway around the world."

"Concussive convulsions." Dr. Fong approached the bed. "While they visibly resemble gran mal seizures, they're somewhat different. In about 1% of concussions, convulsions occur within the first ten minutes. They are not indicative of brain damage, nor are they likely to recur. They are also not related to PTSD or post-traumatic epilepsy. In short, Commander, you weren't informed that you suffered them because they have no impact on your treatment or prognosis."

Steve nodded to the doctor even as he asked into the phone, "You get that, Cath?"

"Well, it's one less thing to worry about."

Steve refocused on the diminutive figure in front of him. "Was there anything else I wasn't told about my condition?"

"Without knowing exactly what you were told, I can't say for sure. However, knowing Ray, he only left out the convulsions because they were over and done with. I expect he most likely was trying to tell you all the important things in as concise a manner as possible. Would you like me to run through all of your injuries with you?"

"Yes." Steve's voice was adamant. "But give me a minute to say goodbye to my girlfriend first."

"I'll get your chart."

"I'm sorry, Cath, but I really need to find out what's going on."

"I understand."

"You want me to call you back when she's done talking?"

"Don't plan on it, Commander." Steve looked up at the doctor's firm tones. "The nurses tell me you've been awake and busy since six this morning, which means after our chat, you'll be taking a nap."

"But I've apparently been asleep for a week!"

"Correction: you've been comatose for most of the last six days. You still need to sleep."

"But I'm not tired!"

Dr. Fong examined the PCA, then hit the button herself. "You will be soon."

"Hey!"

"If you're going to refuse all analgesics, I'll have this replaced. I understand you like to be in control, Commander, but you are not on a mission, and there is no good reason why you should deny yourself the pain relief and rest your body needs to heal."

Catherine giggled down the phone line.

"And just what do you find so funny about this?"

"That you've met your match, and she's apparently dedicated to make sure you get well, even if you hate her for it."

"Well, since you have such a high opinion of me, maybe I'll just go back to talking to doctor."

Cath laughed again, and Steve was struck by how out-of-control she sounded. Bordering on hysteria. She's only laughing to keep from crying. "Jeez, Cath, I'm sorry. I've been kind of a jerk this morning, calling the nurse and the doctor while I was on the phone with you..."

"Yeah, well, you getting answers got me answers, so I'll forgive you that. But I'm still looking forward to eating out on your dime next time I'm there."

"Hope it's soon. Where are you?"

"Gulf of Aqaba."

"So I've got time to get better before I need to clean the house?"

"Please, your house is always clean."

"Probably not anymore. My sister's been there for a week."

"You forget, I've met Mary. I think clean is in both of your genes."

Dr. Fong cleared her throat and pointed to her watch.

"Gotta go for now, Cath. The doc's waiting to tell me how I am."

"Alright, Steve. But don't get into any more trouble for a while, okay? I'm not sure how much more of this worrying I can take."

"I'm sorry about worrying you."

"It comes with the territory. I know you. Your job will always be dangerous, whether you're a SEAL or a cop, and there's always the chance that you'll be hurt." She paused. "Goodbye, Steve. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright. Bye for now, Cath."

Steve hung up the phone. "So how am I, doc?"

The following day, both Danny and Steve were deemed fit enough to be transferred to regular inpatient rooms.

The fact that the nurses had stopped drawing straws to determine who would get to be the one to give a sponge bath and started drawing them to see who would have to tell them they couldn't visit each other had nothing to do with it.

AN:

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Chapter 7 coming soon. Final revisions in progress.