Chapter 34 "About Becca"

A/N: (21 December 2016) Wow, you are all so kind! I'm truly thankful for every read, review, follow, and favorite! I want to respond to reviews, but time is very short for me, so I can either respond or write more chapters. I do appreciate your words so much, so I write chapters, and thank you all here.

Technically yesterday I began writing on the story, which is the day IN the story that Danny was taken. Time is catching up, so now I have to keep up with it! Things got hairy with illness and my sis's surgery (she's fine now), and I lost time, but am back on track, just behind! Grrrr! Me and the calendar are having a race.

The usual caveat: CBS owns Hawaii Five-0.

Chapter 34 "About Becca"

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(Saturday, 24 December 2016, noon)

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Before Danny had been wheeled into the elevator and taken down to the ER, Steve had watched as Danny once more hugged Gracie, Becca, to whom he had relinquished his beloved kitten, Angel, and then gotten a hug from the man who was his partner, friend, colleague, and brother in all the ways that matter the most. He had almost lost him, and now there was the joy of knowing he was found and would be there during their Christmas celebration, all the more moving because their lost member had been found.

Of course, Danny had also thanked his rescuers, again, with what little energy he still had left. It's what he did. He thought of others first.

"We'll be waiting for you when Doc Cornett finishes all that ER stuff."

Danny had nodded, eyes smiling with fatigue, and had waved his left hand, as his right hand was in a weird splint that kept his gashed, burned and infecting thumb elevated and still. That and the pneumonia would be the first things on Dr. Cornett's list of things to mend.

Steve knew there was a lot more on that list. And since Grace had let it slip who it was who had tried to kill Danny, there was a long emotional list as well. Steve had not intended to tell Danny anything about the case until he asked, because that would be the signal that he was ready to hear the details. Even then, he still had not had a chance to talk to the psychologist about the most delicate things.

Just as the doors of the elevator were closing, Steve had seen that subtle moment when his friend's façade of "it's all good", worn for his daughter, slipped and the emotional pain showed for a second. Then the doors were fully closed and the elevator went on its way.

Steve turned to Gracie, Becca, and Angel. They formed a tight-knit group. In five minutes, Becca had suddenly become a member of it, holding Danny's kitten, and comforting his daughter. Steve studied Becca. She wore a Fair Isle sweater with a red poinsettia and white snowflake pattern against a subdued green background, and green jeans that fit … nicely. Her hair was curling, short, and reminded him a little of a brunette version of Nellie Forbush, the young nurse in the old musical, "South Pacific", which was fairly often playing on one channel or other since it was set in World War II Hawaii. If you lived in Hawaii, you knew all the songs by heart. Becca had that naturally warm, comforting, caring personality. She was a tiny, athletic woman, several inches shorter than Danny, and pretty rather than beautiful, although after five minutes she seemed more beautiful than pretty. It was her personality. He liked her. He had seen the look pass between Becca and Danny, that double-take Danny had done, and that hug, just after Gracie had spilled the beans about Rachel and Stan.

Becca was aware that Steve was sizing her up, but she didn't seem to mind. "Happy Christmas Eve," she said in her warm voice, and stumbled over what to call him. "Commander seems so formal, but Steve might be too familiar. What should I call you?"

"Please, call me Steve. May I call you Becca? And may I give you a hug? A handshake, under the circumstances, would be insufficient."

And so they sealed their approval of one another with a hug, and Steve gave one to Gracie, who was obviously aware that something good had happened, besides the rescue of her Dad. She had fallen head over heels for Angel, too.

Gracie asked how long until she could again see her dad. Becca, cat wrangling a very curious kitten, while Gracie kept petting the active little thing, pursed her lips and answered, keeping in mind that Gracie didn't need to know all the difficulties her father would face in the ER. "At least three hours, maybe more, which, young lady, gives us time to take Angel to the vet. Would you like to come with me? It won't take us nearly that long."

Steve watched them, and smiled to himself. They got along so well already. When Danny's daughter turned to him for permission, he felt like a proud daddy, or uncle, or whatever he was. She was like family to him, like Danny was. "You may certainly go. Angel is going to be a big part of your life now, so you need to get to know her. She obviously adores you already. You and Becca."

"She likes you too, Uncle Steve."

Steve grinned. "But she loves Danny and you two, so I'll get to know her later on, since she wasn't sure about me at first. She doesn't love me yet."

"It's the super-SEAL vibe," stated Gracie, who then asked, showing her growing maturity level, "did I make a mistake by telling Danno about Mom and Step-Stan? I thought you had told him. I didn't think maybe he didn't know yet, that maybe he wasn't ready to know yet. I blew it, didn't I?"

Gracie was enveloped in two hugs, three if you counted Angel's contribution. "I hadn't told him," answered Steve. "But no one told you not to tell him, so hearing it from you was probably easier on him than hearing it from me. He loves you. And ever since we found him, he asked when he could see you."

Becca added, "It would have been difficult for him to hear, no matter when. Steve is right: better from you than anyone else."

Gracie finally nodded. "I still feel bad, but not as. Is he hurt badly? I noticed his hand. He'll be okay, right?"

Steve let Becca field that one. "My Dad will take the best care of him, so don't you worry at all. He'll fix him right up. Now, let's get this little lady to the vet, so we can be here when Danny is taken up to a room. You want to hold her? I do have a cat carrier in the car."

That distracted Grace. "I even know this kitten, a little bit. One of our neighbors, the Bartletts, has a cat who had kittens, and this one looks just like one of those. They found homes for all of them, so I never got a chance to ask Danno if we could adopt one. I mean, it all happened around when all this other stuff happened. So, how did Danno end up with one of them?"

"A mystery to be solved when I've had a chance to take Stan's statement," said Steve, looking at his watch. "Off you two go to the vet. Gracie, do you know the Bartlett's phone number?"

Grace surrendered Angel to him while she wrote the number down. She calmed down a little and once again took refuge in his sling. She sniffed him, and gave his hand a little lick, and began her soft purr.

Becca was smiling her radiant smile. "She's buttering you up, Steve. I think you are well on the way to being in the 'love' category with her. What will you do while we are at the vet?"

"Meet with my team, and wait for Danny. They flew in by another chopper, so are probably down in the ER waiting room now. And … cafeteria lunch. Have you two eaten?"

"We had a snack, but I always carry fruit in my car. We'll be fine, Steve. Go catch up with your team, and … let me know if you hear anything about Danny? I mean, Grace and me."

"You bet. Besides, you have an in with Danny's doctor."

"I do!" Her bright smile was back, but softer. "I'm so glad you found him. If you see Danny before we get back, will you give him my, uh, our, uh … give him Grace's love and tell him I said hi, and we will see him soon?"

As they once more confiscated Angel, Steve watched them leave in the visitor's elevator, and nodded his head. "Danny and Becca. Sounds good! She'll be good for him."

He took the next elevator down and found Chin, Kono and Abby in the waiting room as he expected. There was no news yet, so they left word to be called with anything, and headed quickly to their respective homes to shower and change, getting rid of all that Danny had not seen since they had worn gowns. Time to wash off the paint pellet blood. They would meet back at Tripler and get lunch in the cafeteria.

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H50 H50 H50

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Danny kept his eyes away from everyone, for he was not just riding down with his doctor. There were two orderlies and two nurses as well, all paying close attention to everything he did, which included blinking or not, shifting to the right or left, even down to what or who he was looking at. Or not at. Right now, Danny was steeling himself for another session in the ER, knowing it would not go down on anywhere on his list of Fun Times.

He let them do their job, and rested as much as he could. There was so much now that he had to react to, emotionally and physically. He was worried about his knee, more worried about his thumb and lungs, not really worried about himself otherwise. Physically he knew he was not in the best way. He should be hungry, but he wasn't. He wondered why he wasn't thirsty, and decided it was that saline drip, which was re-hydrating, while the electrolyte bag was taking care of his lack of hunger.

The truth was, he didn't really care how he was doing physically, since that was fixable. He assumed. It was his emotions he was trying to either ignore or place in order of Need To Deal With.

But if he tried to think about Rachel and Stan, and what they had done to him, his emotions shut down, so he decided he would wait until he had more energy. Or was alone. Dealing with them was something he would definitely need to be alone to do. This hit way too close to the betrayal he had felt from his dead brother, Matty. The crook, who had lied to him and used him and gotten himself killed, and forced Danny to … he stopped himself. Matty was still not a subject he thought about unless he was alone. Occasionally he and Steve talked about it, but he didn't share it with anyone else until he had told Kono, when they were patching things up between themselves after the rough patch when Steve had gotten shot so bad he needed half Danny's liver to survive.

Dr. Cornett's caring voice snuck into his thoughts. "Your breathing is shallowing. Can you give me a few nice, deep breaths?"

Danny concentrated on his breathing. He was acutely aware, through the fatigue and fog of depressing he did not want to deal with, that Stan and Rachel might not even be the worst news waiting for him. There was the possibility of being intubated if the pneumonia was nasty, and he had no idea what might happen with his thumb. Adrenaline hit his system, and his blood pressure reacted. Suddenly, the elevator was too small, and too box-like. And Angel was … where? His antidote to panic.

"Where is my kitten?" he asked, finally searching for his doc's hazel eyes.

"Relax, Danny." The readings were picking up the panic, so Cornett stroked his left hand. "Becca is taking her to the vet. Just for a precaution. We'll smuggle her back in to be with you as soon as we can."

"Okay. Okay, doc. Thanks."

Cornett finally asked what had happened to his thumb, so Danny told him everything about that, how he had been trying to scrape through the link, and it kept heating up, and he slashed his thumb when it was already almost burned, and he had tried to cauterize the injury to get it to stop bleeding.

"When did that red vein appear, do you remember?"

"Today. I slept a long time, not feeling well, and when I woke up, I saw it like that. I know that's not good. How not good is it?"

Dr. Cornett was good at being evasive when it was in the best interest of his patient. "We are culturing the infection now. How long, best estimate, did your thumb feel like it was burning after you used the hot link to cauterize it?"

Danny had to think hard. "I kept a notebook in the box. I wrote stuff down. Uh, time was hard to tell, but I'd say a good 24 hours. Maybe longer. The cold night finally leached the heat out of it, but I know it got infected during that time. How bad? You know I'll ask until you tell me, Doc."

Cornett smiled. "I'll tell you after you tell me when you are going to ask my daughter to go on a date, or whatever people do these days. I saw how you two were looking at each other. I know my daughter, and I can tell she's interested. I may possibly have been indiscreet by saying that."

"Really?" Danny had been successfully distracted. "You think if I ask her out, then, that she will say yes?"

"Well, if you take a few more deep breaths … good. I'd say she will say yes, but it's up to her. But I know that look she gave you. Or, rather, I don't. It's a new one. You mean something special to her."

"You think so?" pressed Danny. "You know Melissa and I broke up quite awhile back. I wouldn't want you to think I would show interest if I was not over Melissa."

Claustrophobia was not a problem now that they were in the ER, having had this conversation while Danny was wheeled down corridors and into the X-ray room. "I knew you two had broken up before you met Becca. You are honorable, Danny. I know you will treat my daughter well." He smiled again, crinkling the edges of his hazel eyes, and Danny responded by relaxing and wondering why he was feeling less anxious rather than more.

"Okay, chest and right thumb X-ray time. I want a full set of each."

"Oh goodie," mumbled Danny, thinking about how much he had liked Becca's warmth, her caring, her sweater and jeans, and that short curly hair, and her hug, and her heart, how much she and Grace already had a connection. Grace now wanted to be a pediatric nurse, which was all due to Becca's friendship with her, how they had bonded during talks over X-rays of Grace's broken arm. Funny how some of the worst things in hospitals led to some of the best things. Like saving Steve's life over a liver transplant, and … wait, Cornett had ordered thumb X-rays, too? "Slippery bastard," he muttered.

"I heard that," said Cornett, and Danny blushed.

"Sorry! I sent you a Christmas card! I only do that if I like you."

"I put the card up in my office. I only do that if I like you."

They both chuckled, except that for Danny it turned into a coughing fit.

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H50 H50 H50

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It was nearing 3 o'clock, so said the clock on the wall in Danny's room in the ER. The chain on his ankle had been removed after the X-rays were run, and he had been subjected to a full bath, a multitude of tests, had used the incentive spirometer twice, and had been started on IV antibiotics for both the pneumonia and his infected thumb. His ankle was bandaged, and his fever was down to 99.8 degrees, which pleased Dr. Cornett. The oxygen mask had been exchanged for a nasal cannula.

Danny was exhausted and very sleepy. It vaguely amazed him that he had gotten used to his reverse schedule while in the box for only 3 days. It was now "night" to him, and he was having trouble keeping his eyelids up.

Dr. Cornett was looking over test results, and pulled a stool over by Danny's bed. "Well, we did a rush culture, and it looks like the pneumonia is caused by the Streptococcus pnuemoniea bacteria, very common, should respond quickly to the antibiotics. We have done an arterial blood gas test, rapid urine test, sputum culture, and I am satisfied with the results. We caught this early."

"Yay, now I really want to know about my thumb."

"Amputation."

"WHAT?" Monitor levels rose, and Dr. Cornett felt guilty.

"I was kidding! No, it's not that serious, for all it would have become so in another day or two. Breathe, breathe …."

"Don't do that to a potential son-in-law," complained Danny, already back in almost-sleep mode after a very brief stay in panic-land. He didn't even realize that he had let slip just how serious he was thinking about Becca.

Dr. Cornett caught it and kept his happy thoughts to himself. "That was for the 'slippery bastard' from before. All is forgiven now! As for your thumb, you are showing the very first stages of sepsis, but it is not resistant, so we can treat that quickly. There is no spread to lymph nodes, so your organs are not affected, which is excellent. It really is a good thing that we caught this early. Your hand is not in danger, your thumb only needs a surgical debridement, which we can do under local anesthesia. You will have a scar, because burns don't like to heal neatly. If you like, we can give you a mild sedative to give you some sleep while we do the debridement, use a local and clean up the damage done to your knee so it will scar less, and you will wake up in your room, in time for a few visitors and a mild, small dinner later tonight. You get to skip the ICU. Becca likes white daisies, pink roses, never drinks anything stronger than wine, and she likes it red, thinks sushi is food poisoning on a plate. If you want to impress her, take her to a nice Italian place or a mom and pop place with napkins and tablecloths. Fancy places don't impress her, but picnics do. On the radio, avoid heavy metal or heavy rock. She loves to dance, so you better know how to lead. Should we bring in the sedative and local anesthesia and get to work?"

Danny blinked. "Thanks! I know how to lead." He grinned. "I'm starting to get the idea you want me to date Becca."

"I do. So how about the sedative and … unless you need more information?"

"Does she like jewelry?"

"I meant information about your condition. You can learn everything else you need to know about Becca from Becca. I wanted to give you a head start, but I can't tell you everything."

Still smiling, still fighting sleep, anxious to see if he would dream about Becca, he nodded. "Bring on the sedative and whatever it was you added to that."

Danny fell asleep before the sedative was even administered. Skillfully, Dr. Cornett had made him forget for the time being about Rachel and Stan, and other unpleasant things.