Danny was on the midnight shift with Steve twelve days after he had entered the hospital when it happened. It was almost three o'clock in the morning and Danny was leaning back in his chair, eyes closed, holding Steve's hand and chatting to his boss, giving him details of a new case 5-0 had started working the day before, when he felt it. At first he thought his mind was playing tricks on him and he bolted up to the bedside.
"Steve, Steve...if you hear me, squeeze my hand babe, squeeze my hand"
We watched their hands as Steve's finger's slowly squeezed around his, "That a boy ! Can you open your eyes now buddy, come on, open your eyes"
It took several seconds but eventually Steve's eyes began to slowly flutter open and they came into focus on his partner and best friend who had tears of joy streaming down his cheeks and a smile wider than Steve had ever seen.
"Dannnoooo"
"Yeah buddy, welcome back"
Steve's voice was very soft and Danny leaned in close, "Why….you crying?"
"These are happy tears babe, happy tears… are you in pain Steve?"
"It's not too….bad…..I'm th…hirssty"
"Let me call the nurse first. They've got you on IV's and a feeding tube, I'm not sure if they'll give you water just yet" Danny leaned over and pressed the nurses call button. "Now you don't hurt 'too bad', what's that mean? Where do you hurt and don't sugarcoat it you hear me?"
"Yes sir….my belly hurts…my….back…..Danno…..what hhhappened man?"
"Do you remember anything about the cave?"
Steve's eyes closed and several seconds later, tears slid down his cheeks. "Julia…"
Danny gently wiped the tears from Steve's cheeks. The two remained quiet for several minutes as Danny knew Steve was pained by the memories flooding his mind. Steve was still quiet when the nurse came into the room.
"Mr. Williams, Can I help you?"
Steve opened his eyes as Danny turned towards her, "Yes, our patient here is thirsty. Can he have water?"
"This is wonderful. Hello Mr. McGarrett, can you tell me how you feel?"
"I'm...tthirstyy, my...throat hurtss"
"That's due to the respirator. I'll need to check with the Doctor to see if I can get you water. For now, I'll bring you a wet cloth to moisten your mouth. Can you tell me if you hurt elsewhere?"
"My...stomach hhurts...and my bback, not bad though"
"Okay, let me get the cloth and then I'll contact the Doctor"
Danny smiled at the nurse, "Thank you Nikki"
She left the room, as Danny smiled broadly and looked back down at his partner, "God buddy, it's so good to have you awake. You really had us worried"
"I heard...you...Dan..nnoo...I heard yyyouu"
"You mean when you were out, you could hear us?"
"Uhh...hhuh..."
Nurse Nikki returned with the cloth and water and Danny held it to Steve's lips.
As Nikki left she let them know that the Doctor was handling an emergency and would be in to see him in about an hour, "Do you need me to increase your pain medication Mr. McGarrett?"
"No...no...I'm ffine...Thank you"
Once Nikki left the room Steve looked up at Danny, "Danno...Julia...where's Julia?"
"She's alright Steve, she's in jail right now"
"Did she...ttell you...wwhy?" Steve's grip on Danny's hand tightened and his facial features contorted in pain.
"Squeeze tight babe, I got you" Danny held his hand firmly until his grip began to relax. "Steve, let me have Nikki increase your meds"
"No...Danny...no...don't want to sleeppp mman...no mmore meds. Julia...wwhyy?"
Steve was sweating as the pain was obviously severe and Danny was not going to sit by and watch this. He leaned over and pushed the Nurses call button.
"Hey Steve, we'll talk about Julia later okay? I just need you to get better now. I'm going to have Nikki give you more meds and I need you to rest until the Doctor gets here"
"No...Ddanno no meds...please Dannno"
"It's no use arguing with me buddy 'cause you're going to lose. You need the meds and I need you to relax. Slow down your breathing now, calm down"
Nikki entered the room, "Nikki, he does need more pain meds please"
She increased the drip of pain meds entering Steve's forearm and then she fetched a cool wet cloth which she placed on Steve's forehead before she left the room.
Danny held his partners hand and with his other hand he wiped his sweat drenched brow as he spoke soothingly to him, "Just relax Steve, no more talking. Rest now buddy"
"Dannyy...I hheard you...man...love you too"
"Ssshhhh...sleep now Steve, I'm right here. Sleep now"
In just minutes the drugs took Steve McGarrett under. He decided not to call the others until after the Doctor examined him. Danny Williams took a seat and smiled at his best friend sending out a prayer of thanks.
Danny dozed off as well, waking when the Doctor arrived around 4:30.
The Doctor checked Steve's vitals and examined the wounds but the injured man continued to sleep. "Did he seem coherent to you Mr. Williams?"
"Yes, he did. He seems to remember what happened. Should he be in this much pain though Doc?"
"Oh certainly. He had multiple surgeries with deep incisions through muscle and tissue. His back wound was also very deep. The fact that he has been bedridden this long doesn't help either. The body stiffens up. Even in his excellent physical condition this is normal. His body is weakened. I'll order another Cat scan now to see if there are any noticeable abnormalities but this is wonderful news and very encouraging. His vitals are strong and he's showing no signs of any additional infections. We'll talk again after the Cat scan"
"Thank You Doc" Danny stood and shook hands with the Doctor and then turned back to Steve who was moaning softly. He ran a hand through the sleeping man's hair,
"Relax Steve, just sleep now" Once he was convinced that Steve was truly under, Danny made his way to the side of the room and called the others with the good news.
Steve woke about twenty minutes later, "Danno?"
Danny moved quickly to his side, "I'm right here, how do you feel?"
"Dopey..."
Danny chuckled, "Dopey? Well that's better than being in pain, isn't it?"
"No...can handle pain...hate drugs"
"Well Superman, until you're strong enough to fight me on this I'm going to have them give you the drugs"
"Danny, no... no more drugs...please"
"How about if we talk about this when you're not quite so 'dopey', Can we agree to that partner?"
"Yeah...'K...has the Doc...been in?"
"You slept through the visit. He said you're looking good. The wounds are healing babe, it's just going to take time. They're going to take you down for another Cat scan soon here to see how that brain of yours is working so I, my friend am a bit concerned about that"
Steve chuckled bringing a smile to Danno's face.
"I've called Chin and the girls and they should all be her soon"
"The girls?"
"Catherine and MaryAnn are here Steve. We've all been with you brother. Like I said, you've had us all worried to death these last two weeks"
"Two weeks?"
"Well twelve days actually, but it feels like a lot longer. You were in a coma Steve. That's why they want to run the Cat scan. Can you tell me everything you remember?"
"I remember having dinner, we were sitting on the couch...the wine..."
"Julia drugged you Steve, she gave you rohypnol"
Steve closed his eyes, sighed and went on, "I was beaten with a bullwhip but mostly fists..." Steve's grasp on Danny's hand tightened as he re-lived the beating in his mind.
"It's okay Steve..."
"My shoulder...my arms...oh God Julia...why?" His breathing became very fast and he again was sweating profusely.
"Hey buddy, it's over...I'm here now. Relax now, sssshhhh. Slow down your breathing for me...come on, relax"
It took several minutes for Steve to calm down as Danny wiped his face and head with a cool cloth.
Once he was calm Danny spoke, "Steve, I need you to listen to me now. Julia and Jonathan are Jenna's siblings"
"Yeah...they told me...my fault...my fault Danno"
"Okay partner, I know that's the drugs talking because we've been over this a hundred times remember. Steven, what happened to Jenna is NOT your fault and her brother snapping is definitely NOT your fault"
Tears were sliding down Steve's cheeks, "I...I loved her Danno"
Danny reached over and wiped the tears, "I know that Steve, and I'm so sorry she hurt you like this. When it came right down to it though, she couldn't watch you die and she called me Steve. That's how we found you. She wanted me to tell you how sorry she was...she loved you too Steve"
"She called you?"
Danny then told Steve everything about the rescue and what had happened to him in the hospital.
When done he added, "Steve, I can sure tell you that someone else loves you very much…..Catherine. She's been frantic with worry for you and she got here as soon as she could. It's been hard to pull her away from you for even a minute. She loves you man. You have a second chance with her and as your friend I'm telling you that I sure hope you make the best of it"
Steve looked up at his dear friend, "Thank you Danno. Thank you for everything"
At that moment the Nurses and orderlies came in to take Steve down for his Cat scan.
Once they had him situated on the table, Danny grabbed his hand, "See you when you get back buddy"