Later that afternoon Chin convinced Danny to head home so he could shower, see Gracie and catch up on some sleep in his comfortable bed, vs. the hard-backed chair provided in the ICU. Steve's body temp was slowly rising and they continued with their therapies. Danny knew how much Steve hated having that damn tube down his throat, but he wasn't feeling well enough to argue the point. Danny also knew that with the tube and being unable to speak, if he WAS feeling well at all he would find some way to complain about his current state.
Once at home Danny stood under the shower, enjoying immensely the hot water beating down on his aching neck, back and shoulders. As he began to relax the totality of the past few days crashed in on him and before he realized it he was shaking and sobbing. Images flashed across his mind, Tyler and Owen's beaten and bloodied bodies, naked and tied up in that heat box that was their prison. David's body lying a few feet from them in a pool of blood, his decapitated head having rolled to within inches of Ty's feet. Dino's body lying in the corner of the shed, his eyes open and cloudy in death. He played over in his head Javier and Mike being struck by bullets and thrown like ragdolls against the steel shed, and he saw Steve, lying unconscious and way too damn still in an expanding pool of blood on the deck of the boat. As all these horrible events played out in his head, one image stood out the most. He would never forget the look on his best friend's face as his eyes fell on his son in that shed. The horror in Steve's eyes was palpable yet there was also a look of steely determination in them that he had never before seen. Nothing short of death was going to stop the man from getting his son out of there. It was one more moment in their friendship that again confirmed in his mind that Steve McGarrett was a very special human being.
He stood under the water for a long time before his phone ringing on the counter pulled him back to the present.
Shutting off the water and stepping from the shower he grinned as he saw Gracie's smiling face lighting up the screen.
"Hey Monkey!"
"Hi Danno. How long before you get here?"
"What, Are you hungry?"
"I want to see you. I miss you!"
"You mean we don't have to go out to eat?"
Gracie giggled, "I'm starving Daddy"
Danny laughed, "Good because so am I! So what do you want, burgers or pizza?"
"Burgers and Shave Ice"
"Shave Ice too?"
"Yeah"
"That sounds like a perfect dinner to me baby. I'll be there in about half an hour"
"Okay. I love you Danno"
"I love you too Monkey. I'll see you soon"
"Bye"
Hanging up the phone Danny smiled broadly at the thought of seeing and hugging his little angel shortly.
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They had a fantastic meal of Bacon Cheeseburgers, fries and Strawberry Lemonade and then they walked the couple of blocks from the restaurant to the beach. As they walked barefoot at the Ocean water's edge Danny said, "Monkey, I need to tell you something"
She looked up at him, "What's wrong Danno?"
"Your Mom told you that I had to go help Steve on a mission right?"
"Uh huh …Danno is Uncle Steve okay?"
"He's going to be, but he was hurt"
"Did he get shot?"
They had stopped walking, and taking her hand Danny led her up onto the beach and they sat in the soft, warm sand.
"I hope so honey, he's doing better but he's really sick. He's got a really bad infection and they're giving him a lot of medicine to help him"
"Can I see him?"
"Not yet. They have him in Intensive Care and they won't let children in there"
"Well that's a stupid rule"
Danny chuckled, "Yeah it is. He needs lots of rest now but you'll be able to see him soon. Gracie, I need to tell you that the mission we went on was to rescue Ty"
We could see the concern in her eyes and he added quickly, "Honey, he's in the hospital too. He was hurt pretty bad, but he's going to be okay"
Gracie smiled at him, "So are you a SEAL now Daddy?"
"Heavens no my dear! I'm very glad I was able to help out though"
"Me too Danno…..I love you"
"I love you more"
Smiling, she added "Can I see Ty Daddy?"
"Very soon. Amber, Jia and Ty's parents are here with him now, so you can see them all"
"Cool! I've missed them"
"Oh and guess who else is here?"
The ten year old blushed as she said softly, "Sam?"
"Yep….he was on the mission with us"
Gracie giggled nervously and Danny pulled her into an embrace, kissing the top of her head. He smiled at the knowledge that Sam was his little girls first 'crush' She had followed him around constantly since the moment they had met at the rehearsal for Ty's wedding. Sensing the youngsters feelings, Sam had handled her with genuine kindness, sharing several dances with her at the reception and even going so far as to become her pen-pal after she had returned to Hawaii.
They sat on the beach watching the surfers for a while and then they ended their night sharing a cherry and grape Shave Ice from Kamekona's.
Danny called Chin to check on his partner's condition when he arrived back home, and confident that things were going well he got ready for bed. Chin was also heading home for the night and Kono would stay to watch over Steve.
Cracking open a beer and setting it and his cellphone on the coffee table he laid on the couch. It was nine o'clock and turning on a baseball game, exhaustion soon overtook him and Danny slept.
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He woke to his phone ringing and sitting up quickly we saw that it was Kono.
"Kono….is Steve okay?"
"Danny, his fever has spiked. The Doctor is on his way in...he may need to go back into surgery"
"I'm on my way"
Dressing quickly, Danny raced from the house noting it was almost four in the morning. He sped through the streets towards the hospital. 'Damn it! His infection has flared up and he needs more surgery…' His mind raced and his concerns rose. Was Steve strong enough for more surgery? Had the infection spread to other organs? 'Oh shit, this is not good'
He arrived at Tripler at about four-twenty and ran into the hospital and down the long main corridor to the elevators.
Hitting the elevator button he paced nervously as he waited for the doors to open, "Come on….come on…..."
Moments later he entered the ICU to find his partner literally strapped down to the bed to keep him still. Kono was leaning close to his ear and whispering softly to him as she wiped his sweat drenched face with a cool cloth. Two Nurses stood on the other side of the bed monitoring his vitals as Danny moved closer.
He leaned over Kono touching her shoulder. Steve's eyes were open wide and they were full of pain and fear as Danny said softly, "Hey partner, I'm here. It looks like Kono's taking good care of you" Danny looked at the Nurses and asked, "How long until the Doctor gets here?"
"He should be here any minute"
Kono spoke in a soft, shaky voice "He's in horrible pain Danny"
Danny asked "Can you give him something for the pain?"
"No, we can't give him anything until the Doctor arrived to evaluate him"
"How high is his fever?"
"103"
"When did this start?"
Kono spoke, "It happened so quick Danny, just the last couple of hours. He was sleeping and suddenly he woke up and tried to pull the tube from his throat"
Steve moaned and his body arched up off the bed as his body was wracked with pain. Kono stepped aside quickly and Danny pushed on his chest with one hand while placing his other hand on his forehead. He leaned close to Steve's ear and spoke softly, "Relax Steve….sssshhhhhh…...I got you partner" Tears streaked Steve's cheeks as the pain and the discomfort from the tube in his throat were overwhelming. "Steve, listen to me babe. I know you're in pain but you need to relax….ssshhhhhh….ssshhhhhhh" Steve again pushed up. Danny easily pushed him back onto the bed as he was in a horribly weakened state.
Danny continued to soothe him until Doctor Preston arrived a few minutes later along with an intern.
Danny remained at Steve's side talking to him softly as the Doctor pulled the blankets back.
Steve was naked and as the bandaging was peeled back from the wound the extent of the infection was obvious. His abdomen was red and swollen and the fluid flowing from the tube inserted to drain the wound was greenish/grey in color. The intern rattled off Steve's vital statistics and it only took a few minutes for Doctor Preston to confirm their fears.
As Danny stroked Steve's cheek and Kono held his hand, Doctor Preston moved up and placing a hand on his patient's shoulder he gave them the news.
"Steve, your infection has flared up and I'm going to need to operate, do you understand?"
The SEAL blinked once.
The Doctor squeezed his shoulder adding, "I'm going to go prep and we'll move you soon. I'll have Nina give you something for your pain now"
Steve again blinked once in acknowledgment.
The Doctor then gave instructions to his Nurse Nina, and left the room. As she inserted the needle into Steve's forearm and the medication entered his vein Danny talked to him soothingly, "There you go babe…..just relax, I got you. The Doc's gonna take good care of you and you'll be feeing better real soon. We'll be right here waiting for you…..close your eyes and relax…."
In minutes his grip on Kono's hand eased and his eyes closed.
They stayed with him until the medical personnel entered the room. Stepping back, Danny placed his arm around Kono and they watched quietly as their unconscious friend was transferred onto a stretcher and wheeled from the room.
****** Much more to follow…..I'm sorry for the delay in posting. I'm having surgery on Monday and had a very busy final week at work. I will try to get another chapter up this weekend but I have a lot of other things I have to finish up on. I look forward to writing quite a bit while I'm off work and recovering but I'm sure it may be a few days before I feel up to it, so please be patient! Thank you so much for all the amazing reviews, it makes writing fun to know that other's enjoy your efforts, so please keep them coming! *******