Helping Steve out of the wheelchair, Lou growled in annoyance as the phone in his pocket began to vibrate and ring.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" Steve frowned as Lou carefully helped him sit down on the edge of the bed.
Lou sighed loudly as he removed the phone from his pocket and glanced at the caller ID. Stabbing the accept button, he turned and walked out of the room as he snapped, "Grover." He returned less than a minute later, just as Steve carefully swung his legs up onto the bed and Kono covered them with the sheet. "That was the Governor's office, they said Chin isn't answering his phone." He told them as Steve and Kono turned and looked expectantly towards him.
"He probably has it on mute or turned off while he is in the ICU with Danny." Steve said as the nurse adjusted the pillows behind his back.
Lou nodded distractedly as he glanced at Kono. "The governor wants you, me and Chin in his office now."
"Did they say why?" Kono frowned as she looked up at Lou.
Lou shook his head, "No, all that his secretary said was he wanted to see the three of us now." Looking back at Steve, he frowned, "Will you be okay?"
Steve nodded as he settled tentatively back against the pillows and tried, unsuccessfully, to smother a moan as his stomach protested at the movement, "Yeah, go! I'm fine."
Kono eyed him skeptically, "You're going to stay in bed and rest, aren't you, Boss?"
Allowing a small smile to grace his lips, Steve nodded as he looked at Kono and lied, "Oh course I will."
"Yeah, right!" Lou muttered as he turned and hurried out of the door with Kono reluctantly following behind.
H50 H50 H50
"Grace," Chin released his light hold on Danny's arm as he slowly stood up and placed his hand on Grace's shoulder, ignoring the hurt he felt when she angrily shrugged his hand away as he tried to reassure her softly, "that's not true. Danno, Charlie and you are some of the most important people in my life. The three of you are just as much my ohana as Kono, Steve and Lou are and your dad is one of my closest friends."
"It is true!" Grace turned away from him as she spun back towards the bed, clutching the bed rail tightly as she stared down at her father as she asked quietly. "Why are you even here, anyway? Why aren't you with Uncle Steve?"
"I'm here because I want to be here. I know at the moment you don't believe it, but your dad is ohana and I didn't want him to be alone."
"Chin!" Lou waited until Chin turned towards where he stood at the door. by the look on Chin's face, he knew that he had just interrupted something as he glanced at Grace's back before he said softly, "The governor wants to see us in his office now."
"All of us?" Chin frowned, "Why?"
"Maybe he has a case for us or something." Lou shrugged, "The only thing I do know is he wants you, Kono and me in his office now."
Nodding at Lou, Chin looked back at Grace, "I'll be back as soon as I can."
If Grace heard him, she completely ignored him as she continued to stare, white-faced, at her father.
Chin hesitated a moment, uncertain if he should leave.
"Hey Chin, we have to go. Governor's waiting."
"I'll be back as soon as I can, Brah." Chin promised his unconscious friend, lightly touching his arm before he turned and hurried towards the door.
Duane grabbed Chin's arm as the upset man past him, momentarily stopping his egress from the room as he tried to reassure the obviously upset man, "She's scared and upset, Chin, she's just lashing out"
Chin nodded as he looked back at Grace who was still holding on tightly to the bedrail as she stared down at her father, before he turned back at Duane and sighed, "I know. But she's right, Duane, we haven't been good friends to Danny, we have taken him for granted, I just hope we get the chance to say sorry and make it up to him, to all three of them."
Standing at the door, Duane watched as Chin turned and followed Lou down the corridor towards doors to the unit. Turning back, he crossed to the bed and carefully lowered the bed rail before he picked up Charlie and sat him on the side of the bed next to Danny. "You can hold his hand. I think your dad would like that." He told Grace quietly as he watched Charlie closely to ensure that he did not accidentally touch or pull any of the IV's tubes or medical equipment attached to Danny.
Grace swallowed hard as she nervously reached for Danny's hand and carefully slipped her own hand into his. "Do you think he knows we're here?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
"Yeah, I think he does."
"Do you think he can hear us as well?" Grace asked looking back up at Duane.
"Why don't you talk to him just in case he can."
Looking back at Danny, Grace squeezed his hand as several tears ran down her face and dripped onto the bed, leaving a trail of small wet stains on the white sheet as leaned down and kissed Danny on the cheek, "I love you, Danno."
"Love you, Danno." Charlie parroted, twisting around on the bed to watch his sister before climbing onto his knees and kissing his father.
Standing up straight again, Grace stood silently staring down at Danny, her tears now falling free as she whimpered, "I…I don't want you to die."
Placing his hand lightly on Grace's back, Duane felt his heart break just a little more for both kids as he found himself blinking back his own tears. "You know Grace, I haven't known your dad for long but what I do know after meeting and getting to know him a little and after seeing the type of man he is, I know your dad is a fighter. I also know your dad loves you and Charlie with all his heart and he is not going to give up without a fight. And you shouldn't give up on him either. Your dad has a big heart, one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen and no matter what does happen, you should be proud of him. He's a hero, not only for landing that plane and saving both his and Steve's lives but also for donating part of his liver to Steve when Steve needed it. Not many people would do that, even for a friend."
"They're not his friends. Not real friends." Grace whispered through her tears.
Deliberately keeping his attention focussed on Charlie and Danny, Duane asked softly, "Don't you think you're being just a little bit hard on them?"
Grace shook her head.
Duane frowned, glancing at her as he quietly continued, "I know what they did was wrong, I'm not saying it wasn't, but have you ever had a really, really, good friend who you know will always be there for you? Who will always have your back, no matter what? Even when sometimes you forget to ask them to go to the mall with you or even when you don't always go over their place to just hang out?"
Grace nodded silently.
"And have you ever realized that sometimes you forget to say thank you when they do things for you without you having to ask them to? Or sometimes you forget to tell them how much you love them and how important they are to you because you think they already know."
Swallowing hard, Grace nodded slowly again.
"But that doesn't mean you love them any less or you are not their friend, does it?" Duane asked, turning to look at Grace.
"I…I guess not."
"It means that you have started taking all the things they do for you for granted, and although that makes you a bad friend, it doesn't mean that you don't care about them or love them any less, does it?"
Grace swallowed hard as she looked back down at her father and reluctantly nodded.
"Did you know that Chin came straight away when Steve called him at three o'clock this morning to tell him about your dad being rushed back into surgery? Both Lou and Kono came as soon as Chin called them and the three of them have been here with Steve, waiting for updates on your dad, ever since. In fact, Chin told the doctors he was staying with your dad so he wouldn't be alone, even after he was told they were only allowed to visit your dad for just five minutes. And I know Steve would also remain by your dad's side if the doctors would let him, although, I would not be surprised if he tries to pull some sort of a Navy SEAL move and escape from his room to come back here as soon as he can. Now does that sound like they aren't your dad's friends or like they don't love your dad like ohana?"
Chewing her bottom lip, Grace slowly shook her head, her grip on Danny's hand grew a little tighter.
"I know how they treated your dad last night was wrong but I don't think they did it deliberately. I don't think they really thought at all. I think it was more just a case that they had thought that Steve was going to die and then they were just so relieved that he was going to be alright." Duane explained quietly as he looked back at Danny, "I don't think anyone, even the doctors, and your dad himself, realized how seriously hurt your dad was after the accident, and I also don't think that Chin, Kono, Lou or any of your dad's other friends really realized the risks your dad was taking by donating part of his liver. I don't think your dad wanted them or you to worry. That's just the kind of man your dad is, thinking about others first rather than himself."
"Your dad is definitely a very special type of man." The nurse said as she entered the room and moved to the side of the bed, glancing up at the readings on the heart machine before she looked down at Danny and then looked back up at Grace. "And you should feel very proud of him. Not many people would do what your dad did for his partner." she continued as she took his temperature. Glancing at the reading on the thermometer, she frowned as she slipped the BP cuff around Danny's limp arm and took his blood pressure. Her frown deepened as she released the pressure in the cuff and read the reading before re-inflating it again and retaking it. Forcing a small smile when she had finished, she looked back up at Grace, Duane and Charlie, she added, "But your dad needs to rest so I'm afraid that your visit is over for now."
Seeing the concern on the nurse's face as she walked around the end of the bed and quickly jotted down the results on the chart that hung at the end of the bed, Duane nodded as he looked back at Grace and Charlie as the nurse turned and hurried out of the room. "It's time to go, guys, Danno needs to rest. We'll come back a little later, I promise." He told them as he lifted Charlie up to kiss his father before he placed the small boy back onto the ground. Quickly pulling the bed rail back up, he turned and gently grabbed Charlie's hand before he led him out of the room.
"I love you, Danno." Grace whispered as she kissed Danny's face before she reluctantly turned and followed Duane out of the room.