"Now remember, if you begin to get tired or need pain relief, you are to…"
"Tell the nurse and return to my room." Steve completed the surgeon's instructions distractedly as he stared at Danny in the bed as the surgeon wheeled him into the ICU room and across to the side of the bed.
Dr Mullins nodded aware that the Commander was only giving him lip service, there was no way that McGarrett was going to leave his partner. Placing on the brakes of the wheelchair, he shook his head in a combination of frustration and quiet admiration of the strong bond that was obviously shared between these two men as he helped Steve stand before he gently eased Steve down on the chair close to the bed. "Now remember" he began to reiterate softly again as he looked at Steve's anxious face. "you have just undergone major surgery yourself.
"I know." Steve murmured as his eyes wandered over the various machines and tubes connected to Danny before he looked back at Danny's pale face.
With a soft sigh, Mullins glanced up at the heart monitor, quickly reading the figures displayed on the screen, before he cast a final glance at Steve, vowing to keep a close eye on the Commander as he turned and left the room.
Hearing the surgeons receding footsteps, Steve grabbed the bed rail and carefully pulled himself up onto his feet, wincing as his stomach protested at the strain it placed on his surgical wound. Reaching down, Steve gently grabbed Danny's hand and gave it a light squeeze, "Hey, Danny, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, I'm going to be right here with you when you open your eyes, Buddy, I promise"
Danny's eyelids fluttered but did not open as his fingers weakly curled around Steve's hand and a tear slowly emerged from beneath his closed eyelid and trickled down the side of his face.
Swallowing hard, in an attempt to remove the lump that had formed in his throat, Steve wiped away the tear with his thumb as he blinked away his own tears. Squeezing Danny's hand a little harder, he whispered, "I love you, partner."
"Oh my God, Danny!"
Hearing the softly gasp behind him, Steve released Danny's hand before he slowly and gingerly turned towards the door to find himself staring at a young, slim, blonde haired woman as she entered the room. The resemblance between her and his partner was undeniable and he instantly knew that the young woman had to be one of Danny's sisters, either Bridget or Stella, as she slowly walked towards the bed, her eyes never leaving her brother.
"Danny's a fighter, he's not going to give up without a fight." Steve tried to reassure her before he began to introduce himself, "Hi, I'm Steve…"
"Steve McGarrett?" The young woman gave a weak smile, "Danny's partner."
Steve nodded, gritting his teeth and grabbing the bed rail as his stomach muscles began to cramp as Bridget reached the side of the bed.
"I've heard a lot about you." She frowned as she grabbed Steve's arm and helped him to sit back down on the chair beside the bed as she asked, "Should you even be out of bed yet? I mean, you just underwent a liver transplant."
"I'm fine." Steve forced a small smile as he looked up at Danny's sister, "So, you're Danny's sister…"
"Oh sorry, I should have introduced myself, I'm Bridget, Danny's…"
"Danny's little sister." Steve nodded as he looked back over his shoulder at the door expectantly before he returned his attention back to Bridgett in confusion, "I'm sorry but I thought you and your family were arriving in Honolulu this evening."
Bridget nodded, "Mum, dad and Stella are arriving tonight but I was already in Honolulu this morning when I got a text message from them telling me that I needed to come to Hawaii, that Danny was in ICU and the doctors were asking for all the family to come." She paused and chewed on her bottom lip as she turned back and looked at Danny. Reaching down, she gently brushed back Danny's hair with her fingers as she admitted softly, "They didn't know I was here, I told them I was on a business trip in San Francisco." Her voice hitched, as a tear rolled down her face, as she continued to run her fingers over Danny's hair, "I wanted to talk to Danny, alone, I wanted to find out what was going on with him, especially after Mom told me that he had reapplied for his old job in Homicide in Jersey but I didn't fly into Honolulu until late yesterday evening, I was planning to surprise him."
Steve looked up at her in surprise, "Did you say Danny reapplied for his old job back in Homicide in Jersey? When? Why?"
"Mom said he told her it was because he wanted to be closer after dad had his heart attack but I know there is something more going on." Bridget answered distractedly as she choked on a sob and turned to look at Steve, "But I don't understand what happened, I called the hospital last night to check on Danny's condition, the doctor I spoke to said he was stable, that he was looking good to be discharged in a few days and then this morning I got the text from mom saying that we needed to get to Honolulu immediately, that Danny's in the ICU and they don't think he's…Oh God, I don't want to lose Danny as well, not after we lost Matt!" she sobbed and turned back towards the bed.
Shaking her head, guiltily, she gently picked up Danny's hand as she continued softly, "I knew the last time he came home that something was wrong. He didn't talk about you or Five 0 or Hawaii like he usually does, in fact the only thing he would talk about was Grace and Charlie. I knew then that something was very wrong, especially after mom told me he had applied for his old job back, I should have got him to talk to me." Biting her bottom lip to stop it from trembling as she struggled to control the tears, she murmured to herself. "I should have got him to talk to me…"