Snagged by the physician heading up Steve's case, Danny stood in the hall, leaning on his crutches and seriously wishing he could just sit down for a few seconds. It was by pure resolve that he was standing at all. He needed to see his partner.

And people kept getting in his way.

Taking a deep breath, he only half focused on what the doctor was saying, and he was happy Chin was there beside him to catch the things he might have missed. He did his best to keep up with the rest of the conversation through his blaring boom box of a headache.

"Right now, we're pushing fluids and meds to prevent clots and to manage any discomfort. We may have to put him on a ventilator. But if we do that, he may never come off of it." The doctor stopped to let Danny process the information. "Commander McGarrett is suffering from acute respiratory distress. This can be brought on by any number of things. A weakened immune system. Aspirating food or vomit. Exposure to toxins. Sometimes smoke inhalation can be enough on its own. I suspect there's more at work here. We need to identify the toxin to know best how to treat your friend. Otherwise, we can only make him comfortable."

Comfortable was hospital code for dying. And this pissed him off to no end. You made someone comfortable because there was nothing else you could do. There was no way he'd let himself even come close to believing Steve might die from this. Blinking back what he knew to be tears, Danny refused to be anything other than hopeful. Crazy hope. The kind that made you blind with optimism and terrified at the same time.

No way was Danny ready for this.

He'd just escaped a madman. But he wouldn't call it a victory. It felt like he'd simply been let out of his cage. Tortured for sport so time could tick by and totally fuck his partner's chances of surviving.

It took Danny a few seconds to realize the physician was speaking again. "We're waiting on the lab results from your ME Bergman. Hopefully they will help us better identify a course of treatment."

And there it was. A course of treatment. Danny's hope. No more talk of this making Steve comfortable crap. He knew everyone was going above and beyond in the name of saving Steve McGarrett, fearless leader and crazy Neanderthal Animal.

What Joey Franklin hadn't realized was that Steve had one hell of an ohana backing him up.

/././

Steve was sleeping when Danny entered the room. He didn't trust what he was seeing. Multiple IV lines and monitors. Oxygen. This was not supposed to happen. Not like this. He'd always expected his best friend to go out in a hail of bullets or jumping off a building. Wasting away was not on the list.

And then someone squeezed his hand. Kono.

"It's okay, Danny."

He wanted to tell her it most assuredly was not okay, but he couldn't even open his mouth. If he did, he knew he'd only say one thing.

Steve.

Chin and Kono stood in the corner, giving Danny some space. They'd already spent some time with Steve and the shock had worn off most of the way.

"I'll go and check in with Max." Kono dabbed her eyes. "I need to get outta here a minute, cuz."

"I got ya. Go ahead." Chin smiled. "I'll stay with Danny and Steve."

Danny took the spot closest to his best friend, easing himself gingerly into the chair. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Shaking a little from exhaustion and pain, he leaned forward, resting his head on the bedrail.

It was just enough movement to wake their sleeping beauty.

"Danny." Steve gave him a lazy smile. "You look terrible."

"Thanks, but coming from someone who looks like they died half an hour ago." He didn't finish his sentence. Because it was true. Steve looked like a corpse. "I'm fine, Steve. Really. Just happy to see you, babe."

"Any news?" Ever the leader, Steve wanted a situation report. "I'm kinda in the dark here."

Danny wanted to smack his friend, but he understood his need to know.

"No news."

"You. Got. Away." Steve wheezed through the sentence and a coughing fit took over.

"Hey, hey, calm down." He reached out and squeezed his friend's arm. "We've got this, babe. Just rest."

The word ventilator flashed in Danny's mind. He realized the doctor was right in that respect. Steve was struggling.

A nurse appeared, probably brought there by the change in the many monitors above the bed. Injecting something into one of the IV lines, she gave them all a smile and then disappeared again.

Danny watched as Steve's eyes slid closed again. Part of him wanted to shake him awake. To see the light in his friend's eyes.

/././

"You're not going anywhere, brah." Chin increased his hold on his colleague. "Look at you. You're barely on your feet."

Balancing himself on one crutch, Danny tensed, gritting his teeth. If it was anyone other than Chin, he might have slugged him right then and there.

"Kono is handling things with Max and HPD. Duke has teams scouring the neighborhood where Joey took you." Chin made sure he held eye contact. "Danny, you need to stay here. You're too close to this case. Right now, you're a liability. And you're injured."

"I don't care about that, Chin. I need to do something. Anything." He shifted positions, breathing through the discomfort.

"You're doing it, my friend." Chin motioned toward Steve's room. "He needs you to be strong."

"He needs me to figure out what poisoned him."

"Max and Charlie Fong are doing just that. Your meddling would only slow things down. We've been all over this ever since I found Steve at his house. You have to trust us, okay?"

Trust. He did trust them. But the anxious, helpless feelings coursing through his veins right then trusted no one. They wanted to strangle Joey within an inch of his life so he'd give up the name of the poison. But first they had to find the son of a bitch. And sitting around here practicing for Steve's viewing was not Danny's idea of helping.

Chin seemed to sense Danny's hesitation. "Hey, you trust me, right?"

Danny lowered his head. "Yea, I do, Chin. I do."

"Then go back in there. Steve needs to see you when he wakes up."

/././

"Come on, Danny. Say it." Steve spoke out of nowhere.

The two men holding vigil at his bedside turned at the sound of his voice.

Danny closed his eyes and took a measured breath. He couldn't hide the hitch in it as the utter weight of the moment rolled over him. Part of him knew this might actually be the last night he spent with his partner. The last time he heard his voice.

But he wasn't buying into it – not yet. This was his best friend laying there, the Super Neanderthal Navy Seal Ninja Animal. He couldn't die. Danny wouldn't let him.

"What do you want me to say, Steven?" He couldn't help but have an edge in his voice. Otherwise, he would lose it, and tears weren't what he wanted to share with his friend. "Do you want me to say I love you? You're my best friend. And I did not come to this god forsaken rock to lose another partner. No. It's not over. You are still alive."

"It's not a bad way to die, you know. I'm just really tired, weak." Steve almost smiled but didn't seem to have the energy to even do that much.

It was evident to both Chin and Danny how difficult it was for Steve to speak, even to breathe. Chin remained a rock for Danny, squeezing his shoulder when he saw his colleague tremble ever so much. But he too was torn apart inside just the same.

Danny did not intend to take this so serenely.

"Stop it. Stop it right now. It's the poison talking. The Steve I know would not give up this easily." Danny jumped up, ignoring his screaming knee and shook his partner. "Snap out of it!"

"Danny." Chin was right there. He grabbed Danny and held him at bay. "Come on, brah." His voice pleading.

"No way, Chin. I am not giving up. Max is still working on this. He'll find something. No, I refuse to accept this." Danny shook all over. He slumped back into his chair. Steve was unmoved by the whole thing. He barely acknowledged anything. Just stared at them both with an eerie look of calm on his face.

"You may not have a choice." Chin stood behind Danny, both hands on his shoulders now, anchoring him in place. "None of us have a choice in this."

"Well, I'm not gonna sit around here and waste time. Maybe I can retrace my steps today. Find something Joey left behind." Danny reached out and took Steve's hand. Startled by how cold it was in his own. He squeezed his eyes shut against the reality of the moment. "No. Not giving up."

"You may not have to-" Kono appeared in the doorway, her face lit with something so out of place in that room – a huge smile. "They ID'd the toxin."

It took Danny a few seconds to even register his colleague her there.

Kono grabbed Danny's hand and squeezed hard. "Per Max's suggestion, the contents of that burned skillet were examined."

Danny remembered that skillet. The thought had crossed his mind to hit Steve over the head with it when they'd argued about dinner.

"Burned skillet? Dinner. That's right. Hamburgers." Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "So what does this mean? Is there an antidote?"

"Yea cuz, quit with the suspense already." Chin motioned for her to continue.

She nodded, barely able to contain her excitement. "There's a treatment. The doctor is preparing it as we speak."

"So there's a chance?" Danny was almost afraid to feel even the tiniest trickle of relief.

A chance. Steve had a chance.

"There's more than a chance, Danny." Kono pulled both men into a hug.