Its late. It's short. I'm so not happy but I think I owe you guys a chapter. Please review; I herd nothing on the last chapter and would love to now what you're thinking.
Rose
Danny had been pacing the garden with badly subdued rage for nearing fifteen minutes when he suddenly was stopped by a body colliding with his.
"Oh, I'm sorry- Rachel?"
His ex had been the last person he'd expected to see.
"Good to see you too Danny." For once there was no malice in her voice. "Come sit, will you?"
Too tired to put up resistance, Danny meandered over to the bench with her, slumping down.
"Steve woke up while you were gone." Danny couldn't manage more than a disappointed sigh.
"He was worried about you."
He laughed humorously. "Of course, he was. Probably tried to escape, I take it?"
"He didn't have the energy for that I'm afraid. The poor thing was tired out from the three-minute conversation we had with him."
Danny shot up. "Conversation? He could hear you?"
"No Danny, sorry I should have chosen my words more carefully. He was asking questions, Kono was more of less miming. He fell back asleep before we had anything too complicated to worry about."
Danny slumped back down. "Right."
Rachel allowed Danny to mope in silence for several minutes before deciding he'd had enough time wallowing.
"Danny, your friend is alive. There is a family I that hospital that wasn't that lucky. Right now, he needs you. He needs you to be there for him like he's always been there for you. I'm heading back there to wait for him to wake again and keep Grace company. Come or don't. It's you who'll suffer." She began to walk away.
"Rachel, wait." Danny jogged o keep up with her. "Wait up."
Steve was looking almost as bad as the last time Danny had seen him. The ventilator still obscured his face, a fact which surprised the jersey man.
"I thought you said he was talking?"
Rachel chuckled. "Sorry. He was trying to, whispering around the tube. We got a general idea. I don't think he was thinking too clearly."
Danny nodded, moving further into the room and running a hand over Grace's hair. It seemed that in the time Rachel had been gone, their daughter had fallen to sleep; soothed by the motion of Steve's chest rising and falling mechanically. Just as Danny had settled back into his chair with a greeting to Danny and Kono, Callahan walked in, several nurses in tow. Danny knew he had an apology to make; he rose.
"Dr Callahan. I wanted to say sorry about earlier, I was way out of line and-"
Callahan placed a hand on Danny's shoulder; like most men, he towered over the detective.
"Nothing I haven't had and nowhere near the worst. Say, help me wake your buddy up and we'll call it even ay?"
"Sure I'll- wait, he needs to wake up? I thought it was better for him to be sleeping now?"
"We've just received his latest chest scans. He's also been taking breaths independent of the vent in the last few hours. We're ready to extubate."
Danny smiled. "That's great. Give me a second?" Callahan nodded. Danny moved first to Grace, gently shaking her shoulder.
"Wake up Monkey." Blinking big eyes, Grace woke slowly.
"Danno!" She flung herself at him, giving him an embrace which he returned with equal fervour.
"Hey, Grace. I need to have a moment with the doctor and Uncle Steve. I'll catch up with you down in the cafeteria in a little bit kay? Grab some lunch with you?" Rachel nodded behind her.
"Okay, Danno. I want to tell you all about my new science project, okay?"
"Can't wait, baby." He patted her backside, pushing her gently towards her mother waiting at the door.
Kono stood, pulling Chin with her.
"Coffee time for us, cuz. Well, be back soon brah."
"See you then." Danny was alone with Steve and the medical team. He moved to his friend's bedside.
Danny placed a hand on Steve's arm, attempting to wake the SEAL similarly to how he'd woken his daughter.
Steve shifted, face creasing as he was roused. Finally, Steve's eyes, clouded with exhaustion he'd yet to shake, opened.
As soon as his eyes opened, Callahan moved in, holding up a sign he'd obviously prepared.
"REMOVING TUBE. STAY CALM. DANNY NEXT TO YOU."
Steve attempted to nod his understanding and Danny moved to the foot of the bed where he could be seen but not in the way, placing what he hoped was a comforting hand on Steve's ankle. He locked eyes with the SEAL, nodding once.
Callahan moved back into Steve's line of sight, holding u another sign and reading for Danny's benefit.
"I'll count to three with my fingers. On three, cough as hard as you can." Steve once again nodded, and the nurses got into position, fiddling around and unhooking the monitors attached to the ventilator. Callahan held up his fingers, beginning the countdown both there and out-loud.
"-three." Steve expelled air in a fierce cough, choking and spluttering.
Dann gripped his ankle tightly, rubbing his thumb gently up and down the ankle to try and keep him calm. Finally, the tube was out and Steve was left gasping on the bed, slowly regaining control of his breathing even as an oxygen mask was slipped over his head, a disgruntled moan as he realised what the obstructive plastic was.
Callahan faced Danny. "I need a little while to run some tests, I want a full chest panel to make sure there are n ill effects from his time intubated. I think your daughter said something about wanting to tell you about a science project? Go be with our family and we'll be done before you know it."
All of Danny's arguments about leaving Steve had been shut down effectively by the level-headed doctor. He eyeballed Steve and the brunette man nodded, clearly not needing sound to identify Danny's conflict.
"Go." There was a hoarse grunt Danny was just able to decipher. Once more tightening his grip on Steve's foot in goodbye, he left, off to see his daughter and convince himself for a minute that everything was okay.
Steve once more blinked himself into wakefulness and for the first time since he'd initially come to in the hospital, the light didn't pierce his eyes. He rolled his neck, seeing that Danny had returned since leaving after the extubating. Steve hadn't lasted long after the tests, exhausted simply from the act of not sleeping ad he'd been out before the blonde-haired detective had returned.
"-kay Steve, It'll-" The words were faint, and they faded out but with a shout, Steve realised something. He had heard them. Sitting bolt upright, he stared at Danny.
"Danny I can hear you. I can hear you!" He might have been yelling, he couldn't hear anymore, but he had. And once was enough to know that he'd be okay. Steve's smile stretched the length of the ocean and his eyes sparkled twice as bright.