"I don't understand it, Steve, Danny must have been in pain after the plane accident. Why didn't he say something when they were examining him?" Lou frowned as he stood up and began to pace the room, "I mean I knew he was sore but I thought it was just because of the broken rib but he never said a word about being hurt anywhere else. All he wanted to do was get out of here and get the guys responsible. Hell, he didn't say a word about being more seriously hurt when he offered to donate you half his liver. Damn it, he should have said something! He should have told us he was hurting! We should have noticed something more was wrong with him. I should have insisted that he remained in hospital and be fully examined after the plane crash." Lou stopped pacing and turned back to the injured man in the bed, as he softly added, "But I didn't. I thought that we were going to lose both of you when we heard Danny's mayday call but somehow he managed to get the plane down, and then it looked like we were going to lose you…" Lou shook his head, "I didn't even think that Danny might be more seriously injured. Damn it, I knew the man had just been involved in a plane crash that could have killed you both, I should have insisted that he stayed … "
"We all should have." Chin told Lou as he re-entered the room with Kono close behind.
"Did you reach Danny's parents?" Steve asked, grimacing as he sat higher up in the bed, his face damp with perspiration as he tried to ignore the pain.
"They're trying to catch the next flight available here." Chin answered, casting a surreptitious glance across at his cousin before he looked back at the other two men in the room. "Any word on Danny?"
"He's settled in the ICU." The nurse announced as she pushed a wheelchair into the room and across to Steve's bed. "And Dr Mullins has asked me to take you up to see him." She told Steve as she disconnected the heart monitor and placed the drip onto the drip stand connected to the chair before she gently helped him from the bed onto the wheel chair as she continued, "But Dr Mullins also asked me to remind you that you have just undergone a major operation, yourself. He is allowing you a five-minute visit with Detective Williams but after that, you are to return back to this room, take your pain medication and rest."
Steve nodded, biting the inside of his lip, trying not to moan as he gingerly settled onto the chair before he was wheeled out of the room with Chin, Kono and Lou following closely behind.
H50 H50 H50
Adjusting one of the drips that hung above Danny's bed, the nurse glanced at Steve as he was wheeled into the room, followed closely behind by the other three members of the Five 0 task force.
"How is he?" Steve asked anxiously as he reached the side of the bed and gingerly stood up, holding onto the railing on the side of the bed.
Glancing up the heart monitor before looking across at Steve she answered, "He's holding his own at the moment." Carefully inserting the oxygen mask over Danny's face, she turned and turned up the oxygen flow before she looked back at the patient's four visitors and reminding them. "You have five minutes, guys, he needs to rest," Looking across at Steve, she added pointedly, "And so do you, Commander, you have just undergone major surgery yourself. You are lucky that Dr. Mullins has even allowed you out of bed."
"Five minutes." Steve agreed distractedly, as he lightly placed his hand on Danny's arm as the nurse nodded and left the room to give them some privacy. Steve felt his heart sink as he glanced around the bed, three drips hung above the bed, two of the clear bags IV lines snaked down to disappear beneath a dressing at the junction of Danny's neck and shoulder, a third IV containing blood was inserted into the crock of Danny's left arm and a heart monitor beeped softly beside the bed, its small green raced across the screen.
Looking back down at Danny he felt his heart drop. He had never seen Danny so still. The crisp white sheets that were folded back across just below Danny's chest accentuated Danny's gray complexion, dark bruises that Steve had not noticed earlier covered his swollen cheekbone, and the left side of his chest, while thick white dressings peeked out from under the sheets.
"Hey, I'm here, you're going to be fine." Steve whispered as he swallowed hard and lightly squeezed to too warm arm beneath his hand, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall, "Why didn't you tell someone that you were hurt, Danny? Your life is far more important to us than revenge against Dae Won." Steve shook his head as Danny's face blurred because of the tears that stung his eyes as he softly continued, "You were right when we argued last night. I never thanked you for giving me half your liver or for saving my life. So, thank you for not only giving me half your liver, which by the way I do know I am going to be hearing about it for the rest of my life, and thank you for saving my life ,not only by giving me part of your liver but for landing that plane, and for keeping me alive after I was shot." Steve squeezed Danny's arm a little tighter as a tear dripped onto the white sheet, "I heard you telling me that I was not allowed to die. You're the reason why I am still here, Buddy, you're the reason why I didn't give up. But you were also wrong last night, if things were reversed and you needed part of my liver, I would cut it out myself and give it to you in a heartbeat."
Steve paused, his heart beating painfully in his chest as he stared down into Danny's still face. Wiping his hand over his own damp face, he grimaced as he felt a sharp pain lance through his midriff as he swayed unsteadily and grabbed the bed rail again, determined to continue, "But I was also wrong, Danny, Charlie will never grow up and hate you. I was joking, I …I was doing our thing… I never meant a word of it. He's going to grow up loving you just as much as I do. I love you, man, so don't you dare give up on me…on Charlie and Gracie, they need their dad…on us, we need you, buddy, more than I think you know." Swallowing hard, Steve cleared his throat and blinked away the tears as he tried to force a small smile as he grabbed Danny's hand and gave it a tight squeeze, "The doc is only giving us five minutes so you can rest and get your strength back, but I promise, I will be back soon. I love you, buddy." Giving Danny's hand another tight squeeze, Steve turned and eased himself down onto the wheel chair behind him as he felt his legs begin to give way beneath.
Stepping closer to the edge of the bed, Kono leaned over, gently kissing Danny's cheek. Straightening up, she forced a small smile as she whispered, "Hey Bruddah, what do you think you are doing giving us a scare? That's McGarrett's job, not yours. You're the sensible one of us. We need you, I need you, Danny, you are the big brother I have never had." Kono whispered, her voice catching as she reached up and removed the small necklace she wore from around her neck. Momentarily looking down at it, she lightly traced the etching with her finger as she remembered the day Danny had given it to her.
It had been her graduation day and she had missed out on her graduation from HPD because of a Five 0 case, so Steve, Danny, and Chin had held their own graduation for her, themselves.
Carefully placing the small silver medallion into the palm of Danny's limp hand, she gently wrapped his fingers around it as she told him. "I want you to keep this until you are well enough to give it back to me yourself, it's the medallion that you gave me for my graduation. You told me the St Michael was the patron saint of cops, I want him to watch over you and keep you safe, Danny." she whispered close to his ear before lightly kissing him on the cheek. Straightening back up, she wiped away a tear before she brushed a stray hair back that cling to his damp forehead as she whispered, "Just rest, concentrate on getting well, I will be back later."
Leaning across the railing, Lou lightly squeezed Danny's leg as he gently scolded him, "You know Danny, that McGarrett is the one we all expect to go all Super SEAL on us and ignore his injuries, not you Bruddah. You're the one who is supposed to keep McGarrett in check, you're not supposed to pull a McGarrett on us and end up in the ICU. When you wake up, you and I are going to have a long chat about what you did," Lou shook his head as he added, "and I am also going to thank you, something we should have done yesterday." Glancing back over his shoulder at the nurse who appeared in the doorway, he turned back and looked Danny, "Looks like our time's up, Danny, looks like we're about to get chased out of here but I will be back as soon as they let me. Until then I want you to rest and get your strength back, you have two beautiful kids who want and need their dad."
Stepping closer to the bed as he heard the nurse clear her throat, Chin turned to face the nurse , glancing at his three colleagues before he looked defiantly back at the nurse, "You guys go. I'm going to stay here with Danny. He needs one of us, one of his ohana to stay with him so he's not alone, even if he knows we're here or not."