I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: as usual, the typical "not a doctor caveats' apply. I read a ton of different things about ventilators and how someone may or may not come off one. A bunch of things have been adapted to hopefully make sense, but it's fiction folks. And while I did my best, much is contrived.

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

Chapter Seven: Letters U and V

They were all there when the doctors finally decided to lessen the sedation and wean Steve off the mechanical aspect of the ventilator to see if he'd naturally pick up the rhythm of breathing on his own. According to Ponch, it could take up to two or even three hours for Steve to fully awaken and then they would judge his continued ability to breathe and maintain adequate levels of oxygenation. If all went well, the vent would be removed permanently.

The process took but a few minutes for the cadence of the ventilator to be staggered and then halted entirely. For a startling few seconds nothing happened and the team looked worriedly to the doctors who merely waited. A few long seconds later and Steve compensated by self-starting natural breaths.

As usual, Steve was then wholly unpredictable and he surprised everyone - except maybe for Danny who had refused to go farther than five feet away from the bed. He looked at Kono and held up two fingers much to her chagrin.

"I called it. Unpredictable and versatile." Chin raised his eyebrows as he looked from Kono to Danny.

"What are you talking about?" Neither answered him though and secretly, Danny was far from choosing versatile though it fit. His fretful mind in his anger had vacillated between vengeful and violent to a sudden feeling of guilt to select valor. But with another rise in his hope as the doctors stood watch over his friend and the sedation was removed and the ventilator completely turned off, Danny was swayed yet again to his initial and more gentle choice.

"Hey, buddy." Steve moved, frowned and then slightly turned his head towards his voice. With that, Danny grabbed for the hand that was weakly starting to move upwards towards the tubes that remained in his mouth. "Doc? Now what? He's coming around pretty fast."

Impressed by the startlingly quick return to consciousness, Ramirez nodded. "Talk to him. He's waking and will undoubtedly have trouble with the feeling of the tube but I want him more aware."

Steve found that climbing out of the depths towards the gentle murmur of sound was suddenly easier. His ability to latch onto the warmth that radiated into his hand was returned with a genuine feeling of relief. But the lethargic coldness still made him feel heavy and uncomfortable and with a pang of real fear, Steve realized that something was almost impeding his breathing.

He dimly fought the feeling because he obviously was breathing and his hand reflexively spasmed around Danny's. Sound became words and he actually heard then the calm but very snarky demand that he relax and listen ... for a change.

"Welcome back. Once again you've managed to scare me half to death." Danny was whispering and obviously smiling in relief, but there was a certain tolerant tone in his voice.

"No kidding." The disgusted sound from Chin seconded that for the entire team so Danny amended his words.

"Actually .. yeah you just about scared all of us. Thank you for that. Though you managed to do your swan dive directly for my personal benefit." It was a lot to say and Danny hung his head before taking a deep breath to settle himself. Ponch had an odd and almost bewildered smile of his own on his face as he watched Danny take another deep breath and expected yet another short tirade. But Danny could feel the tremor beginning when he saw the plaintive swallow followed by an immediate gag reflex.

"Easy, big guy. Steve, you're on a vent to breathe .. try not to go crazy .. Doc is going to take it out once he's sure you're ready."

"Danny." He heard most of it but understood little. Something was wrong. There was something very much off with the world. He couldn't wrap his head around some of the words as he purely reacted to how he was feeling. "Hurt .. sick." He hurt for one and that was a surprise after feeling nothing more than leaden weight. He tried to form a word and then choked as he forgot that he was in fact already breathing. He hummed deep in his throat and struggled to open heavy eyes that refused to cooperate.

"Steve, listen to me." He tried. Steve gave it a gallant effort as he inhaled, tried to swallow and choked again only to hear Danny curse in frustration. He felt Kono nearby and the Chin offering the same support as Danny. But the pressure was overwhelming and Steve arched his neck painfully into the bed before tossing his head. Steve's rising tension clearly was absorbed by Danny as he quickly reprimanded him about moving. "Hey! What did I just say about listening?"

"Doc? He's starting to panic." He heard Danny's voice again and a then a louder more commanding one and though he dug into Danny's hand, Steve stilled instantly out of habit.

"Commander, at ease." Doctor Ramirez's own large hand was now firmly holding Steve's forehead in place. He could also feel the tell-tale signs of panic beginning through the subtle tremor.

"Listen to me closely. You are breathing and not you're not in trouble." Doc Ramirez was used to dealing with military men and women. The stern tone that he adopted halted the pending panic as Steve almost strangled Danny's hand.

"You can breathe. Relax. It's coming out." Eyes wedged closed, Steve's face remained lined with stress but he realized that Ponch was right. It was only the constrictive feeling and tight gagging that was causing him the most distress.

"On my mark of three, inhale and simply breathe out through your mouth." A tear leaked out as he fought the urge to choke and cough prematurely. Steve relied on Danny as he weakly readjusted his grip and then forced himself to squeeze his friend's hand.

"He's good. He's ready when you are." Steve heard the encouragement in Danny's voice as the strong, steady pressure was returned.

"On three, Commander. One, two, ready to inhale." Ponch reminded him and then issued the requisite number three. "Now exhale nice and long for me."

He barely registered what he might do to his partner's hand as his chest heaved and he gagged out a fairly long exhale. The obstruction was instantly gone and he was left with a weak, straggly cough but not much of an improvement when it came to the heaviness that remained in his chest and a dull ache in his side.

"Danno?" Steve blinked through the onset of tears brought on by a scratchy, dry throat and barely made out Danny's face and then that of Doctor Ramirez. He was flat out on his back without even a pillow, and seeing anyone or anything else was out of the question.

"Hap..pnd?" He swallowed hard and winced which earned him nothing more than a piece of ice. "I'm .. good." The weak words evidently meant nothing to anyone in the room since Danny rolled his eyes before staring in blatant disgust at the cousins.

"Look. He's fine." Danny muttered sarcastically as he aimed another pointed look at Chin who was in charge of the occasional piece of ice. Muttering something unintelligible under his breath, Chin had nothing much to say either. The doctor completely ignored Steve too as he went about his job triple checking his vitals and readings.

By the third sliver of ice, Steve tried again to find his voice and succeeded with a few more words. "So .. what happened?"

"You tried to fly." Steve gazed up at Danny with a confused expression. He heard Kono laugh in relief somewhere down by his feet as Danny peered into his face with a sarcastic grin. "But you left your cape at home so it was an epic fail. You and I will be discussing this penchant of yours in detail."

"What?" Steve furrowed his brow in confusion and as more of his vision cleared he noticed the doctor assessing his overall awareness level. He was bewildered though and already catching his partner's odd underlying tone. Anger? Aggravation? Disgust? Steve wasn't sure and it could have been all three emotions for all he could figure out in his beleaguered brain, but he certainly didn't remember being in a plane.

"Fly? Did ... we ... go some .. where?" Coughing and then wheezing, Steve rubbed his forehead with shaky fingers.

"Forget it for now." Danny patted his hand soothingly as Steve tried to remember what had happened. "Don't worry about it. You're going to be fine with a few more days rest."

"Weeks." Ponch muttered under his breath. Steve hesitated and then blinked at him in alarm. He still distinctly remembered the black spiral and he shuddered enough for Danny to grab his hand again.

"What's wrong? What hurts?" He was in distress but Danny wasn't sure if it was actually pain or lack of memory until Steve managed to clarify it.

"I ..fell. Dark. Dizzy."

"Yeah, you did and unfortunately, it was not like Superman at all. Not even close. In fact like I said .. it was an epic fail." Danny punctuated each word with his hands demonstrating an ever-widening distance of grand proportions over Steve's bed which made the recovering man raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"A - Huge - Epic - Fail."

"What?" Kono began to chuckle as Steve only blinked at his partner. It was obvious he was still dizzy and not entirely caught up on events regardless of what anyone was saying.

"But you're going to be okay .. in time." Danny glanced to Ramirez who made a face but didn't seem to be overly concerned about his patient's sketchy memory as he rechecked Steve's readings. Determined to remain awake, Steve was blinking his eyes furiously and continually trying to focus on everyone in the room. Kono and Chin moved closer to help him out and he relaxed even more when he saw them.

"Hey boss!" Kono was thrilled and Chin was pleased as Ramirez confirmed Steve was doing well. "Just do what Doc says for now and take it easy."

"He's fine; his vital signs are essentially stable. His blood pressure is a bit elevated and we're going to keep him on full oxygen to help his levels stay up. Dizziness and general confusion are to be expected." Ponch leaned back over and slipped the mask over Steve's nose and mouth. The complaint was softly spoken as the doctor gently refused him.

"No, it stays on. You're doing fine, Commander. Don't try to talk just yet .. relax and stay calm. Focus on slow, steady breathing."

Steve was exceedingly tired but his brain was slowly starting to re-engage. He still wasn't sure what had happened but he could feel Danny's concern and alarming personal brand of aggravation, plus Chin's bolstering presence and Kono's steady, quiet hand which was now on his arm. Try as he might, he couldn't stay awake for them though. With Ponch encouraging him to rest, Steve's eyes fought to stay open only briefly. He murmured his uneasiness about the void, but he was gently shushed and reminded that he could sleep.

Danny was standing over the bed when he drifted off so quickly. Placing Steve's hand under the light sheet, he turned on the doctor. "Well? How's he really doing?"

The curt demand was clear and Ponch spared them nothing. "He's over the first hurdle but there will be more. He'll be in the ICU for at least another two or three days so we can monitor his progress. Expect him in the hospital at least another seven days after that."

"That's a long time. Almost three weeks total." Kono whispered worriedly. "Why so long?" With the Commander waking, the doctor knew that his problems with the team would only worsen so he laid the law down early.

"Find a way to rotate and do so quietly. I can't condone all of you here at every hour of the day or night. He needs a great deal of rest and too much talking or excitement is going to be decidedly counter-productive to the Commander's recovery." Meticulously checking each and every line, every remaining machine and bandage, Ponch reassured himself and the team that Steve was indeed doing well.

"I suggest you figure it out now. He's going to be sleeping often." Tapping his watch, Ponch's point was obvious and each frowned unhappily. He looked at Danny the longest who finally held both hands up in submission. Reading the reaction incorrectly, Ponch made his point even more clear about all of them remaining in the ICU. Shoving his hands back into his pockets, he used his head to gesture to the door to clearly indicate one, two or even all three of them could leave and go home for a while.

"You're smart people, I'm sure you can do it. Figure it out. Now."

Then he was gone and the three were left staring at each other. Danny eyed Steve's new look with a bit more peace. The overwhelming sound of the ventilator was already an aging echo. He was relieved to see more of Steve's face under a basic and much more benign oxygen mask. Without the sedation, even his friend's sleep was more natural.

"I've got it." The words were out of his mouth before he could think. Pausing for a a second, Danny realized he needed air or at least some time outside of the stifling confines of the ward. It made sense on many levels and he repeated himself with a reassuring glance now to Kono and then Chin.

"Alright. Yeah, I'll go first." Chin was stunned when Danny raised his hand, turned quickly from the bed, and gathered his things to leave the hospital room.

"Call me .. if something changes. I'll probably be at my place. Or maybe I'll swing by the office." The cousins watched him go and then stared at each other in confusion. Danny didn't offer anything else as he all but bolted from the hospital room.

"What was that about? He just left? No argument?" Kono asked as Chin heaved out a heavy sigh. Though not exactly angry, Danny was upset once more and still very tense. He was distancing himself just a bit as Steve pulled himself forward to heal; Chin was confident that time would heal them both. Danny's was a fairly normal reaction and Chin wasn't overly worried by the man's need for some healthy distractions to clear his head. He said as much to Kono after suggesting that she actually leave too, to take a longer break for herself.

"He'll be fine. Danny just needs some space now that things are looking up." It sounded right and Chin was confident in what he was recognizing. With a short huff, he pointed to Steve to include him before his cousin left as suggested. "And ... when he gets better, Steve needs to think a little bit more."

~ to be continued ~