Danny may have been emotionally and physically drained but he stubbornly refused to take a lie down. Instead he took a shower to wash and scrub until the skin became pink and then obsessively lather up again to make sure he was germ free.
He donned a surgical gown and cap, slipped on gloves and fitted a mask over his nose before approaching Steve's bed. He took on the gaunt appearance of his partner, his dear friend, his brother, sucking a deep shuddering breath as he heavily sunk into an armchair, hissing at the tenderness in his lower back. There he sat, transfixed with fear at the grating wheezing down Steve's throat.
Chin and Kono sat on the opposite side of the bed with their eyes shifting from Steve to Danny. Neither man budged as though they were both been held by a thin thread that the slightest movement would sever. Danny could feel Steve slipping away with every raspy sound he made. The doctors had done everything humanly possible to prevent Steve from slipping further, but it was now up to him to thwart this new assault on his already weakened body.
The pitiful sight of Danny struggling to keep awake gnawed at both cousins. Finally Chin spoke up, "Danny, really brah, you should get some sleep. You can barely keep your eyes open."
And Danny to retort, "I'll sleep when I know he's through the worst. Right now he's far from it and I don't want him to be alone."
"He's not alone, Danny. We're here. Your parents will be back shortly. We're keeping an eye on him at all times."
Danny stood and hovered over the bed. He laid his gloved hand on top of Steve's forearm, giving it a light squeeze. "I know you are, Chin. I know you are but understand that I can't close my eyes until he -" Danny lowered his head to conceal the errant tears from the two cousins. "I just can't," he choked out.
"Chin and me will go and get some coffee and a light snack," she said, hinting Chin to follow her lead. "You want some?"
"Thanks, I'm fine."
They stood and rounded the bed to Danny's side. Chin placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We'll be back."
Danny gave a weak nod without lifting his eyes off Steve. Once Kono and Chin were out of the room, he peeled off his gloves and went over to the washroom sink to scrub his hands thoroughly so that he could use his bare hands to touch his partner. He needed that close contact to convey positive vibes and energy.
No sooner had he folded his hand over Steve's that he noticed a twitch. Excited at the prospect that the patient was rousing, he leaned closer and coaxed softly, "Steve? Steve can you hear me? It's me, Danny. Look at me." His mouth broke into a wide grin at the fluttering underneath the eyelids. "Come on, look at me," he urged, squeezing Steve's hand. Finally he was rewarded with two vacuous eyes peering at him. "Hey you, welcome back," Danny choked with glee. However his elation quickly shifted gear at the hunted look in his partner's eyes. "What's the matter?"
"Breat – breathe," Steve wheezed out.
"Go easy. Breathe deeply and slowly. You have a lung infection but it will pass. Don't worry." Danny put on his best attempt at sounding encouraging, but the tremor in his voice betrayed him.
"Dy – dying?"
"Of course you're not dying. This is merely a slight setback from the transplant. The doctors have given you strong meds to help you fight this."
Steve closed his tear-filled eyes and shook his head. "Can't any – anymore."
"What are you talking about? Of course you can and you will." Danny's tone bordered on anger.
"So weaaaak." Danny ran a hand on Steve's feverish brow and smoothed out the lines of pain with a tenderest touch. "Letmeee goooo," he pleaded with his last ounce of strength, much to Danny's surprise. Looking into his vacant eyes, you could tell the cancer-stricken man had given up hope.
"NO I WILL NOT!" Danny roared while giving a hard squeeze on his partner's hand. "I will not let you give up. You hear me?" Burning tears of fury sprung to his eyes as he spat through gritted teeth, "We've come too far together to let you forfeit the fight. That's not like you to give up that easily. You're scared and that's understandable but giving up is NOT an option. Feel this?" he asked by raising their joined hands. "This is here to stay. I won't let you break it."
Steve took a ragged deep breath and pleaded, "I can't, Dannnnny. I just -"
"NO! Don't you dare utter those words around me! You just sleep and let your body heal." He pulled his mask higher before leaning closer to Steve's face and with a threatening look, "You WILL beat this! If not for you then for me, for Grace, for your Ohana. Don't let us down. I beg of you, Steve. Fight!"
Steve's lips curled into a weak smile before sleep dragged him under. Danny was an emotional mess. He broke down in tears while wringing Steve's hand with all of his might, trying to convey some of his strength.
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The next nightmarish forty-eight hours took a toll of Danny's health. He was prescribed a strong sedative to help sleep but the anguished detective conceitedly refused to take it, insisting that he needed to stay awake until his partner got through the worst. Chin, Kono and his parents offered to keep a vigil on Steve with a promise to wake him should there be the slightest change in his condition but Danny would not relent.
H50H50H50H50H50H50H50H50H50
To their grief, Chin and Kono had been ordered back to Hawaii by the governor. Cases were piling up and HPD could no longer handle the load. They hated to leave while Steve was still fighting for his life, but since his condition had shown some improvement over the last few hours they reluctantly packed their bags and booked a flight out early next morning. They stayed at the hospital for the remainder of the day hoping that they would get to say goodbye to Steve, but right now the odds were against his regaining consciousness sometime soon; his body struggling against the lung infection that thankfully hadn't gained ground, but still had a strong grip despite his being pumped up full of drugs.
Another hellish few hours elapsed and on this late afternoon, Danny was hunched over by Steve's bed with his head resting on the mattress next to his friend. Edward and Clara were in the sitting area, resting when suddenly two bleary eyes fluttered open. They roamed the room in search of a familiar face but none came into view. Steve felt a weight on his arm and shifted his gaze toward the hindrance. His lips shaped into a small smile at the sight of Danny's tuft of messy hair sticking out from underneath his surgical cap.
Drawing a deep breath, he cringed at the soreness in his chest. He swallowed dryly down his parched throat and licked his lips in an attempt to form the words, but to no avail. He felt drained and could hardly lift a finger, much less move his arm to rouse Sleeping Beauty.
Danny's head snapped up, his eyes blinking rapidly. He rubbed the remnant of haze out of his eyes and yawned. As he began to stretch his arms, he noticed the goofy look on his partner's face.
"Steve? You're awake!" Danny practically leaped over the patient in excitement but quickly reined in his fervor and adjusted the mask over his nose before leaning close to his friend. "Welcome back, babe! How you feeling?"
"Like – like someone drained me of all my blood," Steve croaked out, his breath itching. "How – how long was I out?"
"Nearly three days. You put the fear of God into me and I'm an atheist."
"Sorry."
Steve moistening his lips prompted Danny to pour a glass of water and dunked a straw in it.
"It's a bit tepid but it will wet that parched throat." He raised the head bed and held the straw to Steve's lips. A few sips later, the patient nodded and sank his head back into the pillow. The slightest effort made him weaker than a newborn kitten.
"Why – why does my chest hurt so?"
"You had a lung infection following the transplant, don't you remember?"
Steve searched his memory bank. "Oh yeah."
"You had it rough for awhile there. It was - " Danny's choked on his words as emotions threatened to engulf him once more. He bit his quivering lip and suppressed the tears raring to spurt out. "It was hell. I thought-" he hung his head and took a deep breath to fence off the anguish of the last few hours creeping up on him. He risked a glance up at the heart monitor. His face lit up at the new number of 99.7. He pushed out the loudest sigh of relief and held his hand to his eyes brimming up with unshed tears.
"Danno?" Steve's own eyes filled up with tears at the sight of his partner's obvious distress.
Danny couldn't hold the choking sob that escaped his lips. Neither partner spoke as they both drown in their tears, Steve being too weak to hold back his own. Moments later Clara stepped up to the bed.
"Steven, sweetheart, you're awake!" she frowned with concern at the blood-shot eyes staring at her. "What's the matter?" Her attention shifted to her son. "Daniel?"
"I'm sorry," Danny sobbed, sniffing back his tears. "He's -"
"I'll get the doctor." She hurried out of the room in a tizzy just as Edward slowly rose from his sleep.
"Dan? Something wrong?" he asked concerned as he walked over to the bed, heedful to adjust the mask over his nose.
"No, dad," Danny hiccupped. "Look who's awake? And his fever broke."
"Steve! Hey, don't cry. You're through the worst. You've made it."
"Then," Steve sniffed weakly, "then why is Da – Danny crying?"
"Those are tears of joy, son." Ed smiled broadly while squeezing Danny's shoulder.
"Oh." Steve's tears swiftly turned into a soft chuckle. Soon Danny joined in the laughter.
"I hear laughter in here. It's a good sound." Doctor Granger stated happily upon entering with Clara in tow.
"Doctor, his fever broke. That means the transplant was a success, right?"
"Unfortunately it doesn't," Granger said, his reality dampening the ecstasy of joy. "Granted his body was able to fight off the bacterial infection with the aid of medication, and I'd say a great part was due to your fighting alongside him. However we're still in the first stage of the recovery process, which is waiting for the stem cells to reach your bone marrow and start producing new blood cells and that usually occurs fifteen to thirty days following infusion."
"I see." Danny was doleful once again.
"You will require regular blood work and transfusions. We'll check your blood counts every day to track your progress. How are you feeling now, Commander?"
"As I told Danny here, feels as though I don't have a drop of blood left in me."
The doctor smiled. "That's not surprising. Any aches and pains?"
"Yeah. Head is pounding and my chest hurts."
"We'll get you something to fix all that."
"So going home tomorrow is out of the question, uh?" Steve ribbed.
Granger laughed. "I'm afraid so. You'll stay in the oncology unit until your immune system recovers and that we're sure that your transplant was successful. We'll watch for side effects from chemotherapy, graft-versus-host disease, graft failure and other possible infections. If your blood counts are satisfactory, then we'll discuss your release and home care."
"Thank you, Doctor," Clara said.
"When you feel a bit better we'll start you on some high-protein fluids. We'll take it from there and proceed one step at the time."
Steve nodded and blinked heavily.
"You should get some rest now. I'll have the nurse bring you something for the pain."
"Thanks."
"Are there any questions?" All look at each other and shook their heads. "I'll be back later to check on you."
"I'll be right back." Eddie kissed his wife on the cheek before following the doctor out of the room.
"Babe, we'll let your rest now." Danny started to walk away when he felt a weak tug on his arm. "Stay?"
"We're not going anywhere, hence the family room," Danny reassured and jutted his head to the adjacent bed. "My bed's right here and my folks are sleeping in the sitting area."
"We've been right here since you returned from the transplant. My husband and I occasionally leave for an hour or two to go fetch a change of clothes, that's all," Clara added. "We're here for you, Steven. That's what family does."
There was that word again that set his heart aflutter. At the moment he wondered if his chest pains were due to his burning lungs or the unconditional love overwhelming him.