Chapter Twelve

Steve returned to Danny's ICU room, coffee in hand, and smiled at Dawn and another nurse who were exiting the room. Dawn, a good friend of the team, as she so often ended up taking care of them, had started her shift early that morning and been upset to find out what had happened to Danny, and Dr. Pearce, as the two women were good friends. She had immediately declared herself Danny's nurse for the day and set about making sure he was comfortable, and clean. Steve had stepped out of the room to allow them to take care of his friend's hygiene needs, and taken the opportunity to grab a coffee and a cereal bar from the canteen.

Sitting down in the chair he had spent the night in, Steve was grateful that Danny looked peaceful. Well as peaceful as one could when they had a tube shoved down their throat, and wires, tubes, and IV's connected to practically every part of their body. Dawn and her colleague had propped Danny up on to his left side using pillows to relieve the pressure on his broken ribs. A fresh gown covered the bruises on his chest. Dr. Yokes had reviewed Danny once the others had left the night before wanting to make sure his patient was stable before heading off to rest in the on-call room. This had allowed Steve a quick look at the vast amount of black, blue and purple bruising that covered the majority of his friend's chest.

Given the amount of bruising on the outside, if Danny's lungs were much the same on the inside, he could understand why he would need help with his breathing. The gown however couldn't hide the bruising that had developed around Danny's neck from the attempted strangulation. Anger boiled inside Steve every time he looked at the purple marks. A distinct finger pattern emerging as the bruising developed.

Steve had played the whole situation over and over in his mind throughout the night. If only he hadn't have left Danny's side, if only he had asked to see a picture of Roberto Abello when Chin and Lou filled him in on the case. If he had he would have recognised the danger approaching his friend. None of that could be changed now though, what had happened had happened, and Danny was still here and fighting hard.

Both Danny's doctors were due in soon to review him and Steve hoped that they would be able to start the weaning process, eager to have his friend awake again.

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Chin entered the Williams household and found Kono and Grace sat eating breakfast.

"Uncle Chin!" Grace squealed with delight and jumped up to greet him.

"Morning, Keiki." Wrapping Grace in a hug, Chin's heart ached that he was about to deliver bad news.

"What's wrong?" Kono knew her cousin well and could see he was tense. Grace instantly pulled away from her uncle and stared up at him waiting for him to deliver the news he had obviously come to give. Her heart was beating a mile a minute inside her chest.

"There was an incident at the hospital last night. A man came to the hospital and tried to hurt your dad."

"Roberto Abello?" Kono gasped.

Chin nodded. "He's in custody now and no longer poses a threat to your dad."

"Is Danno ok?" Grace could tell there was more news to come.

"The man tried to hurt Dr. Pearce and your dad was really brave. He managed to get the gun away, and Dr. Pearce knocked the man out."

Smiles spread across both girls faces. "Girl power." Kono cheered.

Chin gave a small smile and Kono's face fell when she realised that all was not well.

"Grace, your dad made his injuries worse in the fight. He had to have surgery last night on his stomach, and his lungs aren't strong enough to breathe for him at the moment."

Graces eyes were like saucers absorbing the information she was being fed. "I want to see him."

"I'm sorry, Keiki, they won't let you in to see him yet. But I promise you Uncle Steve's right by his side." Chin saw the young girls face fall.

"I need to be near him too. What...what if he...dies?" Tears filled her eyes and Kono wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

"You're dad isn't going to die, Grace. He just needs to rest for a little bit and let the machines help him breathe. I promise, as soon as the hospital will let you see him we will get you in there." Chin reassured.

"I want to go to the hospital. I'll wait in the waiting room, but I want to be there. Please."

"Ok, but they won't let you in, Grace." Chin wanted to make sure she understood that.

"I know. I just want to be close. Danno will know that I'm there. I know he will, and it will give him the strength to get better."

"I'm sure he will know you are there, too." Kono was amazed at how resilient Grace was.

"Uncle Chin, was Dr. Pearce hurt, is she ok?" Of course Grace would be concerned for everyone involved, just like her father. The doctor was great with Grace, bending the rules wherever she could to allow Grace and Danny to be together whenever possible, and Grace was very fond of her, trusting her to always get her dad back on his feet.

"She'll be fine. She was hurt a little, she got shot in the shoulder, but it would have been much worse if your dad hadn't have stepped in. There is no permanent damage, but she won't be able to operate for a few weeks."

"But she'll be ok?"

"Yes, she will be fine. Now how about we finish breakfast and then we will head to the hospital. Kono and I will keep you company in the waiting room."

Grace nodded and returned to the table. Her appetite deflated, she only nibbled on the remains of her breakfast, eager to be at the hospital where she could at least get regular updates on her father's condition.

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Steve stood out of the way as Dr. Yokes listened to Danny's chest using his stethoscope, while Dr. Pearce observed a fresh X-Ray of Danny's lungs. After a short confer the doctors looked over to Steve, who stepped closer to hear what they had to say.

"The steroids have improved his chest greatly. The inflammation is receding, and we would like to try and start weaning him off the vent." Dr. Yokes announced.

"That's great." Steve's smile lit up the room.

"We are going to have to lighten his sedation to encourage him to start breathing for himself. It will be a balancing act to keep him sedated enough so that he will tolerate the tube, but not too sedated so that he won't breathe for himself." Dr. Pearce explained.

"We're going to gradually wean him using a pressure support system. Danny will have to initiate each breath, but the ventilator will deliver a set amount of pressure to help him breathe. As his breathing improves we will gradually lower the amount of support we provide him with until he is ready for us to remove the tube and wake him up fully." Dr. Yokes continued explaining the procedure.

"How long will all that take?" Steve hoped it wouldn't take long.

"That will depend on Danny. There is still substantial damage to his lung, and the bones in his chest. It could take a day or so, or he could be off by the end of the day. We will just have to play it hour by hour. Dawn will closely monitor his oxygen levels and titration the support accordingly." Dr. Yokes stated.

"Steve, don't get your hopes up too much, I really don't expect him to be off the vent today. It should hopefully be sometime tomorrow though." Dr. Pearce knew how anxious Steve would be and wanted to set him a realistic target."

"Ok. I get it. It's going to take time. But this is good news, right? He's doing better?"

"Yes, he's doing much better." Dr. Pearce agreed and joined Steve in smiling at the detective's improvement.

TBC