Pushing the now cold and slightly greasy looking bacon and eggs that the nurse had saved for him from the breakfast trolley, aimlessly around on his plate, Steve sighed as he looked up at the clock on the wall - !0 am. The nurses must have slipped him some more sedation with his tablets last night after Chin had left and he had only woken up less than half an hour before.

Glancing anxiously towards the door, desperately wishing that Dr Mullins or a nurse would enter and update him on Danny's condition. The last update he had managed to wrangle from the harassed night nurse before he had fallen asleep last night was Danny's condition was critical but stable. His wish was answered as Dr Mullins entered the room and he put his fork down and pushed the breakfast tray away as he asked, "How is Danny, Doc?"

"Resting," the surgeon smiled as he glanced down at the medical chart he held in his hand, quickly perusing it before he looked back up at his anxious patient in the bed, "Just like I am pleased to see you did yesterday and last night." Placing the chart down on the bedside table next to the untouched breakfast tray, Mullins stepped closer to the bed and carefully peeled back the bandage covering Steve's newly repaired sutures as he continued to talk, "But I guess you don't want to hear about how incredibly pleased I am that you actually followed my medical orders, even if to get you to do so, I had to sedate you, you would rather hear that Detective Williams's condition has improved overnight. I have just been upstairs and examined him, and I am happy to tell you that the antibiotics seem to be working."

"Thank God." Steve murmured, wincing slightly as the surgeon gently palpated his stomach.

"Detective Williams's condition has improved enough overnight that we were able to remove him from the ventilator earlier this morning and I lowered his sedation to allow him to wake up." Satisfied there was no infection developing with the new sutures, Mullins carefully taped down the wound dressing before he glanced down at his watch and then looked back up at Steve, "He should be waking up soon, I guess you would like to be with him when he does?"

"Yes please, Doc." Steve nodded, sitting up higher in the bed, ignoring his protesting newly healing stomach muscles as he threw the sheet back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

"I thought so," the surgeon smiled as the nurse wheeled a wheelchair into the room and he helped Steve stand before gently guiding him onto the chair as he added, "but today no staying with Detective Williams until you collapse, today you will be returning to your room when the nurse decides it's time for you to return and you are to rest for a minimum of two hours before you will be allowed to return to Detective Williams's ICU room, is that understood?"

"Understood." Steve readily agreed as the nurse began to wheel him from his room.

H50 H50 H50

Holding Danny's hand as she stood beside his bed, Clara gently brushed his hair back from his forehead with her hand as she murmured softly to him, just like she used to do when he was small and ill in bed. Beth and Dog had taken Grace and Charlie home with them after both kids fell asleep and she sent Eddie, Stella, and Bridget back to the hotel late last night after it was decided that it was probably best if we took turns so there would always be at one of the family with Danny all the time. She had volunteered to stay with him during the night, arguing that she was not tired but the real reason she had wanted to stay the night alone was that she had wanted to spend some time with Danny by herself.

Hearing someone enter the room she turned and gasped in surprise. "Steven! What are you doing out of bed?"

"I wanted to see how Danny is doing. I hope I am not intruding." Steve answered as the nurse rolled the wheelchair closer to the bed and stopped it beside her.

Clara answered warmly at Steve as she moved aside, still holding Danny's hand, "Of course you're not, I think Daniel would like you to be here with him."

Locking the wheelchair's brakes, the nurse leaned forward and softly reminded Steve that she would return to take him back to his room.

He nodded and looked over his shoulder as he quietly thanked the nurse, promising that he would follow the doctor' orders before she turned and left the room. Turning back towards the bed, he unsteadily pulled himself up out of the chair and clutched the bed rail as he stared down at Danny, relieved to see that the ventilated had been removed just as Mullins had told him, "How is he?"

Returning her attention back to Danny as she again gently brushed back his hair with her hand, Clara smiled. "The doctors say he is getting better, they were able to take him off the ventilator this morning and they are expecting him to wake up soon." Swallowing hard as she tried hard not to let any more tears fall, she shook her head as she looked back at Steve and whispered, "The surgeon told us we almost lost him yesterday, it was touch and go for several hours. They weren't even sure that we would make it in time to say goodbye." Biting her lip as she turned back to Danny, she placed her hand gently against his cheek as she quietly admitted, "I don't know what I would do if we lost Daniel too, not after losing Matty."

Placing his arm around Clara's shoulders, Steve pulled Clara closer and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder as he looked down at his partner and weakly smiled, "If Danny can survive being my partner, there was no way he was going to let a little infection beat him." Steve's smile grew with pride as he placed his hand on Danny's arm and gave it an affectionate squeeze, "Danny's a fighter…"

"I know…" Clara nodded before she sighed. "Do you know that Daniel is thinking about leaving? He has applied back to Newark Police Department to get his old job back and they have accepted his application to return to the Homicide department."

Steve nodded, unable to speak as he tasted the hot bile that rose into the back of his throat at the thought of losing Danny as Clara continued, uncertain if she should. Taking a deep breath, she glanced back at Danny as her heart told her that she was doing the right thing, although Danny refused to tell her why he wanted to return to Jersey, she knew that deep down Danny wanted to stay in Hawaii. Whatever had happened, it had to have been some kind of misunderstanding between Steve and him. As much as she desperately wanted Danny to return to Jersey, she knew that he would be miserable, his heart was here. Swallowing hard as she looked up at Steve, she gently admonished him, "I'm not sure what has happened between you and Daniel or between Daniel and the rest of the team but what I do know is when Daniel is well enough, the two of you really need to talk about whatever has happened and sort it out, if you want Daniel to stay."