Wānana Pū – Recollect

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.

A/N: The story is set somewhere in season 7. I apologize in advance for any mistakes... Thank you for the kind reviews, the favs and follows. You guys rock! Also the guests who are reviewing, thank you for your kind words! Mahalo for your support.

I hope you'll enjoy reading it! Love to hear what you think of it!

Chapter Five

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Steve brought Grace back to Rachel's house. She asked a bunch of questions and Steve had tried to answer them truthfully, but he left out his own concerns. After dropping her off he had rushed back to the hospital. He wanted to be there when Danny came out of surgery. The team had been sitting in the waiting area. Jerry had come along too. There wasn't much they could do about the case, since it was all most midnight. It had to wait until tomorrow morning.

Steve sat down for over thirty minutes. He was done waiting; so he went to get some coffee and stretch his legs. The team continued to wait while they discussed some details of the case. When Steve hadn't returned within twenty minutes Lou went to look for him. He didn't have to search that hard. Steve was standing in the hallway. He leaned against the coffee machine with his right hand, arm stretched, his head down and eyes closed. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand. The coffee was poring automatically and slowly into the plastic cup.

"There's no one to blame except the bomber and you know that, right?" Lou interfered Steve's thoughts as he walked up to the machine. He could figuratively see the heavy weight leaning on Steve's shoulders.

"Yeah, I know that." Steve looked up at Lou and acted like there was nothing bothering him.

"Then why are you standing like you are blaming yourself for it?" Lou leaned against the wall with his arms across his chest.

"I don't know. I should've acted differently, could've made different decisions." Steve shrugged his shoulder and looked down again.

"This isn't on you, man." Lou confirmed once more with a high-pitched voice.

"What if it will affect his speech, or worse? What if he's not able to work again?" Steve could feel the guilt eating on the inside. It had hit him like a sledgehammer. "Would it still not be on me?" Steve looked remorseful at Lou, daring him not to disagree with him.

"He's my goddamn partner, Lou!" Steve's voice toughened. "I made him my partner! I made him have my back!" Rage rushed through his body, like a flame that got exposed to a pool of fuel. Not that he was angry with Lou or Danny. Steve was angry with himself.

"Come on man, you ain't thinking straight right now." Lou got in front of Steve. He ignored Steve's burst. He knew he wasn't talking to him. There was no anger in his eyes, all there was, was guilt.

"Am I not?" Steve asked ashamed and filled with regret about his fall out to Lou. His eyes burned as everything that happened the past hours struck him. He blinked the burning tears away before they could roll down.

"No. Danny easily could've gone back to HPD, but he didn't. He stayed. He stayed because he wanted to. He wanted to be your partner and man let me tell you. I've worked with a lot of people, but never ever have I met partners that worked so well together. You ain't much with out each other and you both know that." Lou looked with raised brows at Steve. He meant every word he said.

"Even if he did wanted to stay, I shouldn't have argued with him outside that office, I should've listened to him." Steve clenched his jaw to fight back some more tears. He didn't want to show his weakness, it wasn't something he did. But once in a while, it all could become too much and he would let his guard down.

"It's your damn job. You couldn't have known that there would be a second bomb. I know, the man can get under your skin, the both of you can. You both have, well lets say, a unique manner of communication and you both have strong opinions. And if there comes a day that you guys will ever agree on something, I'll quit my job, cause that should never happen," Lou protested. He made himself very clear with his Chicago attitude. "Right now Danny's kicking some ass in that OR and he's expecting from you to do the same." He pointed his finger towards Steve. He wasn't done with his speech though.

"The minute he'll get the stink of that you have been blaming yourself about it, he'll tell you other wise and believe me that is going to be the last thing he wants to do." Lou finished. The hallway hadn't been crowded, but the two of them arguing had drawn some attention from some nurses.

Steve had gone quiet. He was thinking about what Lou just told him. Deep down he knew he was right. "You're right."

"I know that I'm right, now are you just going to stand there or are you going to ask me how I want my coffee?" Lou mocked as he sarcastically frowned.

"You want a cup?" Steve couldn't help himself other than to grin. Lou was a good friend and Steve was glad he was around. He took the plastic cup out of the machine. It had already been filled. Steve offered it to Lou.

"I thought you were never going to ask me, man." Lou patted Steve on his shoulder as he accepted the cup of coffee.

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FRIDAY 11:40 PM - WAITING AREA KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - DOWNTOWN HONOLULU.

Lou and Steve had returned with coffee for the rest of the team. The hospital had gone quiet. All people that had been waiting in the waiting area had been updated or picked up by doctors. The waiting room was dreary. End tables stacked with outdated and tattered magazines. You could feel the tension in the room. It was the room where people would sit after they received terrible news or had to sit with the uncertainty if their loved one would be okay. On this night there was no one else waiting, except for the members of Five-0.

Kono had fallen asleep. She leaned with her head on her cousin's shoulder. Chin sat slumped in the chair, trying not to move and wake up Kono. Jerry had allowed himself access to the hospital's network and continued to dig into the case, trying to find any clue on the bomber. Lou had been flipping through the same golf magazine the entire time. Not that he actually had been reading one single article. Steve had been standing and pacing back and forth compulsively through the room. After an hour or so he finally sat down.

The procedure shouldn't take that long. Every time a white lab coat entered the room Steve had jumped up, but each time it wasn't Doctor Reid. He kept checking his phone in case Grace had texted or called him. Not that he could've missed it, but just in case. He was about to go to the bathroom to refresh himself as Dr. Reid finally walked into the waiting area.

"Commander, Detective Williams is out of surgery. I'm happy to say that there were no complications during the surgery." She didn't need to ask Steve aside; because there was nobody in the room that wasn't like family to her patient.

Steve sighed relieved, as did everybody else. For a tiny moment he just thought it was going to be okay. Then he remembered that it all just started. "What about the brain damage?"

"We don't know yet. Every brain is different, so we'll have to wait till he wakes up to see if there's any permanent brain damage." She could tell that Steve wasn't very comfortable with the whole wait and see thing.

"I've prescribed anti-seizure medication to treat or prevent another seizure. Just because he had one before the surgery doesn't necessarily mean that the seizures will become permanent, but it's a possible complication of head injuries. With the medication we'll be able to control it." The doctor continued. It still didn't reassure Steve though.

"Commander, I can tell you don't like to wait, but patience is the key to coping with brain injuries. Adults will experience the majority of their recovery during the first six months and it may continue to smaller, more gradual improvements for up to two years after the hematoma. There's a good chance that he'll recover." She was slightly optimistic about Danny's condition and that was probably what they needed to hear as well.

"We'll be there for him no matter what." Kono said out loud what everyone else was thinking.

"Let me bring you to him." Doctor Reid could've asked a nurse to do so, but she wanted to check on her patient once more. They weren't supposed to go up there, that late or with this amount of people, but they needed to see their friend with their own eyes. Everyone stood up and followed her to the elevator. Steve quickly sent Grace a text to say Danny was out of surgery. He didn't want to wake her up by calling her in the middle of the night. He wasn't about to pick her up though, not until he had seen Danny awake for himself.

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FRIDAY 11:49 PM - ICU KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - DOWNTOWN HONOLULU.

The moment Doctor Reid had asked to come with her Steve had felt relieved. They were finally allowed to see him and the doctor sounded optimistic about Danny's condition. It was like he finally could breathe again. But that was just upon they entered Danny's room. The room was a muted color, simply washed out tones of gray. There was nothing lively to it.

The bed that Danny was lying on stood near the window. The bed head was raised a bit. Just as the room, there was nothing lively about him either. The most colorful thing in the whole room was the blue hospital gown he was wearing. It was just depressing to look at him. The top of his head was completely wrapped with white bandages. Steve had made fun of Danny's haircut plenty of times, but now that it was covered up he didn't even look like his friend.

Danny looked exhausted and pale. His skin tone matched the white bandage around his head. His cheeks seemed to have collapsed. He had dark circles beneath his eyes and a nasal cannula was strapped under his nose. A dark stained bruise peeked just from underneath the bandage on the left side. It must be from the nasty cut on his forehead.

Multiple lines and wires were attached to Danny. An IV line was inserted in the crook of his right arm. Another tube was coming from underneath the bandages; it was the drain that the doctor had told Steve about. A couple of wires were attached to Danny's chest and connected with the heart monitor, standing on the right side of his bed. It was beeping steadily.

"I don't think you guys are leaving any time soon, but Detective Williams will need his rest, so why don't you take shifts. One of you can sit here while the others are getting some proper rest." Reid suggested. Danny was stable and they all looked like they could use some rest. Nobody responded. She knew it looked serious, but there was nothing other than to wait. She tried to enlighten the mood. "Plus let me tell you those chairs are awful." She gave them her best smile she had under such circumstances.

"Thanks doc, when do you think he'll wake up?" Steve appreciated her concerns, but he was going nowhere. He grabbed a chair and pulled it next to the bed.

"Not for at least another hour." The doc informed him and since nobody was going to listen to her suggestion she left them alone with their friend.

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SATURDAY 01:28 AM - ICU KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - HONOLULU.

As the minutes passed with no sign of Danny waking, everyone had fallen asleep in this little nook right outside the ICU, which faced Danny's room. They were sloughed in their chairs in impossible positions. Except for Steve, he was still awake and inside Danny's room. He leaned against the wall, arms folded. He hadn't taken his eyes of Danny since he had walked into the room. Almost two hours had past since, but Danny still hadn't woken up. Doctor Reid entered the room quietly. She got a bit spooked by Steve standing there all by himself against the wall.

"Why hasn't he woken up yet?" Steve whispered impatiently not to disturb the silence. The doctor walked over to Danny.

"Lets see what I can do about it," she took a small light out of her lab coat.

"Detective, can you hear me?" The doctor asked while she lifted up Danny's eyelids one by one and shed shortly the light into his eyes. Steve was surprised by her sudden examination, so he walked up to the bed as well and leaned on the end of it. Locking his eyes on his partner. Kono, Lou and Chin had woken up by all the movement and were standing in the room, looking impatiently for Danny to wake up.

Danny inhaled deeply and let out a small grunt. "Can you blink if you can understand me?" The doctor stimulated, as it might be hard for him to answer.

Danny coughed and clenched his left side. He swallowed and licked his lips. "I'd rather just answer, if-if that's okay?" He mumbled weak. As his voice filled the room, Steve sighed and a relieved grin appeared on his face. He crossed his arm in front of his chest, while he looked satisfied at his friend.

"That would work for me," Doctor Reid couldn't help herself other than to smile as well. The relief was visible with every single one of them. "Do you know what happened?" She asked optimistic.

"I'm guessing it involved a N-Neanderthal animal somehow?" Danny grimaced as his head continued to pound. He was still a bit drowsy, but other than that his speech was just fine.

"I'm sorry a what-" The doc looked up from her patient to the rest of the team. It didn't make any sense to her, but she hoped it did to them.

"He's s-standing with crossed arms... having aneurysm face." Danny tried to open his eyes to see if he was right or not, but the bright light kept him from doing so. He could tell Steve was somewhere around even without looking.

"That would be me and you're right, I should've listen to you." Steve stared down to Danny's feet under the covers.

"That's definitely a first one." Danny winced while he forced himself to open his eyes this time. He looked around and his brow furrowed. The doctor noticed his confusion.

"Detective you're in the hospital. You two were in an explosion together. Do you remember?" She tried to feed him a little information, but not too much. She wanted to know if he remembered or not.

"Did they harvest another organ for you or what?" Danny let out a small moan as he carefully shifted. He wrapped his hand around his chest. His ribs were on fire. With every breath a sharp pain rushed through his chest.

"No, I didn't need one this time. I'm fine, thanks for asking." Steve rolled his eyes. Danny was back to being himself.

"All right gentlemen, lets take it easy for now." The doc interrupted the men. "Detective the explosion caused a small bleed in your brain. We drained it. Dr. Kalani will be in charge of your post-op care. I'll be back in an hour to give you another neuro check." She explained quickly before Danny would doze off again.

"Sounds like f-fun to me." Danny stammered as his eyes fluttered and closed.

"All you have to do for now is rest and please, try to do so." Doctor Reid looked warningly from Danny to Steve. Not that Danny noticed because he already drifted back to sleep.

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They all were very comforted by Danny's reaction when he had woken up hours ago. He seemed to be doing okay, considering what Steve had prepared himself for. Steve had finally allowed himself to sleep for a couple of hours. He had just woken up himself as two baby blue eyes scanned the room around him.

"Hey, buddy." Steve reached for Danny's right arm. Danny's eyes peered shortly at Steve. He let his hand rest on Danny's forearm.

"Hey." Danny groaned softly. His hand went up to his nose to the point between his eyebrows. He grimaced with his eyes closed. The headache was clearly there.

"Kono and Chin just left. Lou is getting some coffee, he'll be back in a few minutes." Steve said in case Danny wondered. He didn't respond to Steve, but Steve continued anyway. He rather saw Danny awake than asleep, so he made some more small talk. "I called your parents and sisters, I thought they had the right to know."

"What about my brother?" Danny asked weak and without opening his eyes.

"What?" Steve's heart skipped a beat as he took his hand off Danny in his reflex. He leaned in. He hadn't heard that right did he?

"Matty, you called my brother?" Danny slowly opened his eyes as his brow furrowed confused. He blinked a few times and his breathing quickened. He winced, as the brightness of the room was too much to handle. His head felt like someone was banging on it. He let out a painful grunt.

"Hey, why won't you just rest okay? Just rest." Steve placed his hand back on Danny's arm, while Danny closed his eyes again and drifted off.

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A/N: I know, a little cliffhanger, but chapter six will be uploaded in a few days.