***** WARNING ! Please be forewarned that this chapter contains a scene of domestic violence. I have been weighing whether or not to go this way with it as I do not in any way view abuse lightly. I hope you can all keep it in the context of the fictional story of Steve's difficult struggle *****

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Steve was doing so well that on Tuesday Doctor Kam agreed to stop the daily visits and round the clock nursing care with the understanding that Danny would contact him if he needed anything. He removed all of Steve's stitches except in the injured left hand which was still slightly red and infected.

Steve and Danny also agreed that it was finally safe enough to bring Gracie for a visit.
Wednesday afternoon Rachel brought the little girl over after school. Steve was sitting on the couch when they entered the house and as her eyes met his, he sat forward and help out his arms. She raced to him and he engulfed her in a warm, loving hug.
She touched his bruised face with her tiny fingers, "Does it hurt much Uncle Steve?"
"Just a little bit honey"
"I love you Uncle Steve, I'm so sorry you're hurt"
"You always make me feel so much better Gracie. I'm so happy to see you, and I love you very, very much"
She whispered softly, "Thanks for talking to Danno. I'm so happy we're staying with you in Hawaii"
He kissed her forehead, "Me too sweetheart. Hey, thanks for calling me"
She grinned widely, "And thank you for saving my Uncle Matty"
"You're welcome. So Miss Grace, when is your Spelling B?"
"Next Thursday"
"Did you bring your list so we can study together?"
"Mommy didn't want me to bring it tonight"
"That's okay. We'll have lots of time to study. Did you know Danno was cooking dinner tonight?"
She turned up her nose, "Really?"

Danny came in from the kitchen, "Hey, I heard that Monkey! Come give Danno a hug" She jumped off Steve's lap and moved to give him a hug as he added, "I thought you liked my cooking?"

"I love your cooking Danno!"
Steve added, "It's just not as good as mine, right Gracie?"
Danny pointed at his friend, "That's enough out of you Superman"
Gracie giggled, "What are we having Daddy?"
"Lasagna, garlic bread and salads"
"I LOVE your lasagna Danno!"
"Now, that's my girl!"
They all laughed and Rachel went into the kitchen to help Danny as Gracie went back to visiting with Steve, Catherine, Kono and Chin.

They all had a wonderful time at dinner and were all in agreement that Danny's lasagna was fantastic! After dinner they all sat on the patio visiting. There were lots of smiles and laughter, but at about nine o'clock Danny noticed Steve squirming more in his chair.
"Hey, you okay Steve?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm great….Why don't I look pretty?"
That comment drew a giggle from Gracie which turned to ruckus laughter as the SEAL pulled her onto his lap tickling her.

Danny saw the pain in his partner's face as the little girl banged up against his injured ribcage.
He reached down and pulled Gracie from the SEAL's arms, "Steven, are you trying to hurt yourself or what?"
"Calm down Danno, I'm fine!" Steve smiled at the little girl, "Can you believe him Gracie?"
"STEVE, you have multiple broken and badly bruised ribs"
"Danno….I'm fine, I promise"

By ten thirty everyone had left for the night and Steve took a shower as Danny and Catherine cleaned up the kitchen.
"He's hurting pretty bad right now, you know….."
Cath took hold of his arm and squeezed firmly, "Yes, but he had a wonderful time tonight"
"I'm just afraid he won't sleep well"
"He's right…."
"Right about what?"
"You worry too much Danno"
"Yeah, well it's part of my job description and he gives me lots to worry about"

Once they finished up, she took Steve's meds and a bottle of water and headed up to bed leaving Danny trying to find something to watch on TV.

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He couldn't sleep, he just had a gut feeling Steve had overdone it.
At about one thirty his fears were realized as he heard tortured screams, cries and banging coming from the upstairs bedroom.
He raced two steps at a time up the stairs towards the bedroom.
He could hear Steve screaming…..horribly pained, emotional screams, "NO! NO! NO MORE….TELL ME WHO KILLED CHAD! GOD DAMN IT TELL ME OR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Danny could not have even imagined the horror that faced him as he ran through the door. Steve had Catherine by the throat. They were on the bed and he had thrown her up against the wall behind the beds' headboard. Catherine's arms were flaying weakly and her lips were tinged blue. Danny did not hesitate, throwing himself across the bed barreling into the SEAL's midsection. Steve released his grip on Catherine and the two men fell across the nightstand onto the floor. Danny was hollering to his partner the entire time attempting to snap him back to reality. Danny's head came into contact with the small lamp as they crashed to the ground, cutting the side of his forehead. He could hear Cath gasping for air and sobbing hysterically as he attempted to pin Steve to the ground. He was sitting on his chest, his knees holding Steve's struggling arms to the ground. Blood was flowing freely from his head wound falling onto Steve's face. Danny held one arm across his partners' chest while pushing down onto his forehead with the other.

"STEVE, STEVE! SNAP OUT OF BABE, WAKE UP STEVE! WAKE UP"
The SEAL struggled as much as his injured body allowed. He was in obvious pain and he continued to call out, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH REYNOLDS, WHERE"S MY PARTNER?"

At this moment Danny was thankful Steve was injured for he was certain he could not have subdued him if he were at full strength. His head was throbbing as he slapped Steve hard across the face, one…two….three times, "STEVEN, WAKE UP! IT'S DANNY BABE, ITS DANNY, WAKE UP!"

Suddenly Steve came around and with a look of absolute confusion on his face he asked quietly, "Danny? What the hell happened?"
"Are you okay Steve?"
"No…oh God no….what did I do? Where's Cath?"
"Relax buddy. I'm going to get off you, now you don't move"
"WHAT DID I DO?"
Hearing his anguished cries, Catherine knelt at his side as Danny slid off him and helped him sit up. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, her lip was split and swollen and her cheekbone was bruising. But even worse than that was her throat. Violent red hand marks covered her tender flesh from where his strong hands had tightly grasped.

Danny's eyes never left his partners face. As the realization of what he had done sank in, tears instantly began streaming down Steve's face and his lips quivered as he choked out the words, "Oh my God Cath….no" Without hesitation she pulled him to her breast as he sobbed uncontrollably, "I'm sorry.…oh shit what's wrong with me…..oh my God"
She cradled his head, talking soothingly "Ssshhhhh, I'm fine baby…you had a bad dream…ssshhh"

Danny left the room quickly to grab a towel from the bathroom for his head and a wet cloth for Cath's face. Returning he handed the cloth to Cath and holding the towel to his wound he knelt next to them and took hold of Steve's hand.
"Steve, look at me buddy"
Steve turned his head to face his partner, "I'm so sorry"
"Catherine's right, we're both okay…you had a bad dream"
"What's wrong with me. Danno, if you weren't here I could have killed Cath…..oh my God, oh my God" His body was shaking with fear and pain.
Danny added, "You're sick babe. The drugs in your body are fucking you up"
"I could have killed her…."
"Look at her partner, she's okay. I'm okay. This is my fault, I shouldn't have left you alone. I won't do it again. We'll get through this, I promise"

Cath used the cloth to clean Danny's blood from Steve's face and it took a good twenty minutes before he had calmed down enough to get back into bed. Danny pulled chairs up to the bed and he and Catherine sat with him quietly, soothing him as he continued to mumble apologies until exhaustion finally took him back under.

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Once they were certain he was asleep Danny turned to Catherine, "Are you okay sweetheart?"
She glanced back at Steve and the floodgates opened. Not wanting to wake him and still pressing the towel against his forehead, Danny grabbed her hand saying softly, "Come here"

Moving into the hallway Danny pulled her into an embrace, "It's going to be okay" He rubbed her back attempting to calm her.
The poor girl was shaking in his arms. After a few minutes she pulled from him, "Oh God, I'm sorry Danny"
"Stop….listen to me, are you okay?"
"Yes, yes…..thanks to you. Oh Danny, I was so scared….his eyes…they were so full of anger…..and pain"
"It's my fault"
"No, it's not your fault….it's not Steve's fault…..it's nobody's fault"

He told her of the incident with Chin earlier, adding "He's only had a couple of dreams. I thought he was doing so well…God I'm sorry…..he didn't know what he was doing Cath"
"I know that Danny. I've been with him when he's had nightmares before and I've been able to control him, and to wake him. He's NEVER, NEVER gotten physical with me…..he wasn't himself"

"It's the drugs Catherine. How much do you know about Meth and the withdrawal symptoms?"
She sobbed softly, "Not much….only what you've told me"
"It's common for addicts…"
She interrupted him, "Danny….please, please don't call him that"
"I'm sorry. It's common to have anxiety, paranoia, mood disturbances, depression….he's experienced all of that. There can also be psychotic episodes and violent behavior. He's now in what's called the 'hangover' phase which could last up to fourteen days. Then the actual withdrawal phase could last up to ninety days. According to Doctor Kam, he has a large amount of meth in his bloodstream. Cath, he's refusing outside help….I don't know what to do for him" Danny was now crying as well, "It hurts bad to watch him go through this"

"You're doing everything that can be done. Thank you Danny…..thank you for loving him and for taking such good care of him" She hugged him and then added, "I need to look at your head now"
"I'm alright"
"Yeah, sure….you sound a lot like someone else I know"
Danny grinned, "He tends to rub off on you after a while you know"
"Tell me about it….Danny, thank you"
"I'm so glad I was here Catherine"
She responded softly, "Me too"

After peaking in on Steve the two retreated to the bathroom for better lighting.
Pulling the towel from his head, the wound again bled freely, "Danny, you need stitches here"
He looked in the mirror, "Yeah, maybe…..I'm not leaving though, how are your nursing skills?"
"I could do it"
Breaking the tension, Danny asked "You won't mess up my pretty face now will you?"
She grinned back at him "I'll try my best not to"
"That's good enough for me"

After he was stitched and washed up he went downstairs to grab a clean shirt from his bag while Cath cleaned up her lip. Both of them then sat at Steve's side talking quietly as the man slept.

Danny was amazed at how tough Catherine was. Steve was right though, this could have been an absolute disaster. If he hadn't been there to pull him off her, Catherine would be dead. Now hours later he was convinced that she would be okay, but he wasn't sure if his partner would be….

******* Much More to come in Steve's recovery…I hope you're enjoying and I'd love to hear your thoughts *******