Wānana Pū – Recollect

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

A/N: Hi everyone,I really enjoy writing this story, so I hope you'll enjoy it as well while reading it! Anyway enjoy this new chapter.

The story is set somewhere in season 7. If there are some grammar of spellings issues left, they're all mine. I really enjoy working together with Julieb716, but life went crazy (on both sides) and that's why this chapter hasn't been corrected or anything. I did my best, but hey I'm human and I make mistakes (probably a lot of them).

Chapter Nineteen

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WEDNESDAY – 5:42 PM – RECOVERY WARD KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - HONOLULU.

"Steve," Danny sounded weak and anxious. "Get my kids out of here."

"What? Why?" Steve asked confused. He didn't understand why Danny would ask him such thing.

"I can't make it." Danny confessed. Biting his bottom lip as he clutched his abdomen with his right arm. He held tight onto the IV pole with his other hand, showing white knuckles.

"All right, we can go back, that's fine." Steve nodded, already trying to turn around.

"Just listen to me, for once!" Danny snapped as he was barely holding himself up. The pain was lingering on his face. He was sweating like a pig and he started panting.

"Okay," Steve agreed. "Gracie! Charlie!" Steve shouted through the corridor. The kids turned around and walked back to the two men. "Why won't you wait in the car, I'll be right there, okay?" Steve forced a smile on his face and handed Grace his car keys.

"Danno?" Grace exclaimed a little worried as she looked at her father.

Danny's legs were trembling and somehow not able to hold his own weight any longer. Despite the fact that he didn't want them to leave, he really didn't want to collapse in front of them. He quickly comforted his daughter. "It's okay, monkey. Listen to Uncle Steve. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay. I love you." Grace carefully hugged her dad.

Danny was gritting his teeth trying not to groan in pain. "Love you both," he placed a kiss on her cheek and squeezed Charlie his shoulder. Grace and Charlie went up to the elevator. Danny waited until the doors closed before he allowed himself to give in. His knees buckled and he sagged.

Steve tightened his grip. "Little bit too much for the day, huh?" He wrapped his arm around Danny's back to lend him more support.

"I'm just tired, all right?"

"You're doing great, buddy." Steve smiled sympathetic.

"Here you go, Danny." The nurse, who was earlier in Danny's room, stood behind them with a wheelchair. It was fine that Steve took her patient for a walk, but she didn't lose him out of her sight. She noticed that he was getting slower, so she better interfere before her patient would crash onto the floor. Which was every thing but the intention of the exercise.

"Don't be stubborn, just sit down in the thing." Steve could see Danny thinking about refusing the help, but he really shouldn't. He wouldn't make it back to the room, not even with Steve's support. Danny allowed Steve to help him ease in the wheelchair. He grunted and winced as he sat down. He was glad he didn't have to stand any longer.

The nurse wheeled him back to his room and Steve walked next to them with the IV pole. They carefully pulled Danny out of the wheelchair and took the robe off. Danny sank exhausted back in the bed, still clenching his abdomen. The nurse adjusted his blanket and lowered the headrest of the bed. He was too tired and in too much pain to help.

"Ai!" Danny hissed as his torso stretched and his stitches extracted on his stomach. He scrunched up his face in pain. He grasped his sheets with a death grip to ride through the flaring pain in his abdomen. His hand was shaking from overextension.

The nurse stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry," she apologized, placing her hand soothingly on his shoulder. She connected him back onto the heart monitor, as she wanted to see some statistics. His heart rate was up and Danny was still short of breath. "Does it hurt to breathe?" The nurse asked as she slipped the nasal cannula back into place. Danny nodded he was too tired to even say something. Steve watched his friend as he leaned on the end of the bed.

"I'll page Doctor Lewis. Just get some rest in the meantime." She checked his IV once more and left the room.

"Steve, don't leave my kids alone." Danny mumbled while he tried to keep his eyes open until he was certain Steve would go.

"You got it, buddy. I'll bring them home, okay? Be back in twenty." Steve touched Danny's foot and took off. He'd rather stay, but Danny was right. Grace and Charlie were waiting in the car, so he better go and bring them home.

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WEDNESDAY – 6:15 PM – RECOVERY WARD KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - HONOLULU.

Steve brought Grace and Charlie to Danny's house. He had called Rachel, but she wasn't able to get back until the end of the week. So the team had to figure out how to take care of them, since Danny wasn't able to do it himself. Steve arranged with Jerry that he would stay with them after school and Kono would take it over in the evening and during the night. Lou would take shifts with Kono. Chin offered to help, but they all agreed he should be home with Sara. Steve wouldn't mind taking care of them, he actually loved spending time with them, but he wanted someone by Danny's bedside.

After twenty minutes Steve walked back into the hospital. He took the elevator up to the 4th floor. Just as he hoped, Doctor Lewis was standing at the nurse's station. He chatted with the nurse and typed some things on the tablet he was holding. Steve hoped to get an update on Danny. He wasn't satisfied with leaving his friend behind like that, but he had no other choice.

Steve went up to the doctor. "Excuse me, Doctor. How's Danny doing?"

"Ah Commander, well Detective Williams has some discomfort. Which is to be expected. He has pain in the right side of his chest as well as the surgical incision is bothering him. His right side is bruised from the blow and impact, which causes him to be in pain every time he coughs, sneezes or even breathes. His oxygen levels are lower than they should be, so I recommend he will keep the oxygen mask on until tomorrow morning." Doctor Lewis informed.

"Anything we can do about it? He did go for a walk earlier. Was it too soon?" Steve asked concerned, hands on his hips and leaning forward. They didn't push him, right?

"We'll do some deep breathing and coughing exercises, they will help keep his lungs active throughout the recovery process and prevent complications such as pneumonia," Lewis explained patiently. "Nurse Rebecca will teach him to splint his incision. This will reduce the movement of his stomach muscles and decrease pain while he does the coughing exercises. Walking will help prevent blood clots in his legs and it also decreases the risk of having other complications, so no, it wasn't too soon. We'll try again tomorrow, because he's too tired right now." He handed the tablet back at the nurse behind the desk.

"It's normal to be this tired, right?" Steve remembered being tired himself after the transplant, but he wanted to be sure it wasn't something else.

"Feeling tired is the most common complaint. It is an expected side effect," the doc pointed with his head towards Danny's room. "He's in bed right now, resting and trying to get his oxygen levels back up. Tomorrow he has to come out of bed, as much as possible though. We don't want any setbacks."

Steve nodded. "Is it okay if I go in? Sit with him?"

"Sure, no problem," The Doctor approved. "Just keep the talking to a minimum, so he can rest."

"Okay, thank you Doctor Lewis." Steve shook the man's hand. They both turned around to go their own way, but before Steve went in, the doctor suddenly added. "Oh, Commander, Doctor Reid will stop by shortly."

Steve stopped abruptly and walked back up to the doctor. "Something wrong with his head?"

"No. No, it's just that Detective Williams was prescribed an anti-seizure drug, for his brain injury. Only that type of drug induces liver injuries and is frequently listed in causes of drug induced acute liver failure. I consulted with Doctor Reid and we both agreed he should no longer take that medicine. Just so it can't do any damage to his liver." Lewis explained.

"He's off his meds? Isn't that dangerous?" Steve wondered out loud, concern etching on his face.

Doctor Lewis pager went off, so he ended the conversation quickly. "Doctor Reid will explain it to you in further detail."

"All right, thanks Doc." Steve forced a smile on his face and went up to Danny's room. Doctor Reid better come by soon, because Steve was very uncomfortable with Danny being off his meds. He opened the door quietly, so he wouldn't wake him. Danny was lying on his left side and eyes closed. He was holding a pillow onto his stomach, hugging it tight. It was a trick to decrease the pain at his incision. His breathing was steadily with the help of the oxygen mask. Steve dropped in the chair next to the bed.

Steve listened to the steadily beeping heart monitor. He was too restless. He went from leaning forward, to slumping back into the chair. Eventually he sat with his hands in his neck and elbows resting on his knees. He didn't know why, but he was still worried about Danny. He had been through enough and still he was lying in that damn hospital bed. Maybe he should take it easier once he got discharged. Take some time off to heal, instead of rushing back to work. It would only work in his disadvantage if he wouldn't. Steve would bring it up tomorrow; let Danny sleep for the moment. He could use it.

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THURSDAY – 2:48 AM – RECOVERY WARD KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - HONOLULU.

Steve stayed for the rest of the evening and the night too. In the mean time, Steve had contacted Chin to discuss the case while he did some work himself on his tablet. They had been running background checks on every person on the list of Eden and Lauren's year. Nothing strange had come up yet, but they wouldn't give up until they would find something. Danny was asleep the whole time. The nurse had to wake him to draw some blood, but he had immediately dozed off again as soon as the nurse was done. Steve had been on the hallway, making a phone call with Max, so he missed the little wake up.

Doctor Reid had stopped by briefly. She had explained it at Steve and he shouldn't worry about it. They started Danny on different medication and on a lower dose. It wouldn't affect his liver as much as the previous medication could. The moment she was about to check on Danny, she got paged to an emergency surgery, so she had to go. She would come by after she was done.

Steve watched Danny as he slept for the rest of the evening. He had shifted a few times in his sleep, but that was about it. He hadn't let go of the pillow, still hugging it tight. Around midnight Steve decided it was enough for the day and he had closed his tablet, kicked off his shoes and lifted his feet on the bed. He had made himself comfortable, arms crossing his chest. Shortly after that he fell asleep too.

At 2:48 am Steve woke up as something touched his feet. He looked up, finding Danny gazing at him with his baby blue eyes. Danny moved the oxygen mask out of his way. "Steve, go home."

"No, I'm not going home. Put that back on, your oxygen levels are a too low." Steve disagreed and gently grabbed Danny's hand and tried to place the mask back on.

Only Danny resisted and gently slapped his hand away. "I'm okay," he assured as he pulled the mask off and dropped it somewhere next to his pillow.

"How's your head by the way?" Steve asked curious as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He hadn't heard Danny about it, but that didn't mean he might have a headache or any discomfort. Especially now that he was on different meds and a lower dose.

Danny scratched his eyebrow. "Head's fine, it hasn't been like this in weeks." He was actually surprised about the fact that for the first time in weeks his head didn't bother him anymore.

"That's great," Steve smiled and patted Danny on his arm. He waited a moment before he shared his other concerns. "Hey, I-I was thinking, maybe your should take some time off after you get discharged." He focused on Danny, waiting for him to react.

"Stop thinking in that case," Danny grunted as he shifted. "And like you would do, huh? After my noble sacrifice, you went straight back to jumping off rooftops, dodging bullets, getting stabbed in the back and you almost got drowned." He rolled back on his left side, facing Steve and placed his arm underneath his head.

"I had no choice. Besides, you went back to work too." Steve objected while his forehead creased.

Danny sighed annoyed. "Yeah, because I didn't get shot in the liver and I got discharged a week before you did."

Steve held up his hands. They had this argument before and it didn't need to happen again. "All I'm saying is just slow down a notch, that's all."

"You talking to yourself? Maybe you should follow your own advice the next time." Danny mocked and rolled his eyes.

"All right," Steve leaned forward. "How about another wheelchair race? Winner gets to decide whether you take it easy or not." He looked daring towards his friend.

"No, I'm not going to do another wheelchair race," Danny waved his suggestion away.

"You scared?" Steve grinned and raised one eyebrow.

"I'm not scared," Danny started to get pissed off. He didn't want to waste his energy on arguing about such thing, so he tried to shut Steve up. "I'm protecting you of potential bodily harm and I don't want to embarrass you in front of our friends again. Besides I don't lose. Period." He gloated over his last win.

"I give up," Steve slumped back in the chair. He paused a moment as he noticed the lingering pain on his friends face. Danny was being stubborn about this and Steve didn't need him to do so. "I just don't want you to get hurt again anytime soon. We've had enough of that already." He finally shared.

"You don't have to worry about me, Steve. Just take care of yourself and I'll take care of me." Danny shot an irritated look at Steve. He wasn't in the mood to notice Steve's vulnerability.

Steve stared at his hands and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "That's not what happened when you donated half your liver to me."

Danny dropped his hand on the bed out of astonishment. "That was a completely different circumstance," He exclaimed with a high-pitched voice. "You weren't able to take care of yourself! You were dying! So I jumped in, saved your ass so you could take care of yourself again." He grimaced as his rant took more out of him than he expected.

"That's my point, okay? I can't save your ass, so I'm asking to take it slow. That's all I can do." Steve locked eyes with Danny. Saying he was serious about his request.

"What are you talking about?" Danny eyes widened as a line appeared between his eyebrows.

"Your liver is what I'm talking about. They didn't know if they could repair it or not and in that case you would've needed a transplant," Steve jumped out of the chair and paced through the room with his hands on his hips. He avoided Danny's look for the moment. He could feel the insecurity from earlier boil inside of him again. "I couldn't exactly give you mine, right? I couldn't save you, okay?"

"What's the matter with you? Did you get in hit on the head or something?" Danny raised his voice. "I didn't ask you to save my life," He eyes almost popped out of his head. He was perplexed. Danny babbled on. "I don't need you to. That's not what we do. I rather have a best friend than a lifesaver. I mean I appreciate the gesture that you were willing to give it to me, but I would never blame you for not saving my life? This is not on you. It's not your fault someone decided to T-bone my car, right?" He stared daring at Steve.

"No, it was not." Steve admitted as he shot a look over at Danny.

"Just forget about it, okay? We're going to be fine," Danny paused a moment to allow the deep throb from his protesting abdomen to ease. This conversation wasted all his energy, but he didn't want Steve to feel guilty about this too.

"Cleary the universe doesn't want me to enjoy my peaceful after life yet, but you better jump in front of me the next time someone tries to shoot me." Danny smirked. Steve couldn't keep his face straight as Danny revered to the conversation they had before. He had to grin and they both snorted.

Danny grimaced and hissed as a sharp pain rushed through his stomach. He tried to inhale deep, but that resulted into a coughing fit. Danny pressed the pillow on his suture line to get some support, ease the pain and control his breathing again. He was certain it didn't hurt like this the first time they had opened him up. Steve was instantly near him. The digital beeps from the heart monitor spiked and Danny was breathing rapidly, avoiding to have to take some deep breaths. Somehow Danny had reached for Steve's hand and was holding onto it with a death grip. Steve squeezed back and waited for his partner to calm.

As soon as Danny's eyes started to flutter, Steve strapped the oxygen mask back on, placing the elastic band over his head. He noticed the two scars on top of Danny's head. It made his stomach twist. He had never seen them before; they weren't visible if he did his hair like he always did. It brought back some more uncomfortable feelings from months ago. The uncertainty, the guilt, the anger. Not that the scar on Danny's forehead didn't remember him, but somehow he got used to that scar already. Steve sat down again while he rested his hand on Danny's arm. He watched as Danny's eyes slowly closed.

"You got it, Buddy."

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A/N: Thanks to everyone that has read, faved, followed or reviewed this story.

For the people who gave their review as a guest, I did read them and I honestly am grateful for them, so thank you for your kind words. (Hi back to the one who left a review and said hi from Paris.) As always THANK YOU for reading! Next chapter will be up in a few days.

Mahalo for your support and I always love to hear what you think of it...