Danny slowly become aware of the gentle hand that brushed back his hair from his forehead and the soft comforting voice that he knew so well. Struggling to open his heavy eyes, he found himself staring up into the blurry face of a woman, a woman whom he knew instantly, "Ma…" he croaked weakly as he tried to reach for her hand.

"Yes, Sweetheart, I'm here...I'm here…" Clara smiled, blinking back the tears of relief, as she grabbed his hand and lovingly cupped the side of his face with her other hand. "And so is Stephen.

Steve grabbed the bedrail and stood up as quickly as he could, ignoring the pain as the movement stretched his newly restitched wound as he placed his hand on Danny's leg and gave it a soft squeeze as he smiled, "Hey."

Danny frowned as he blinked and tried to bring his mother's and Steve's blurry figures into focus, his rising panic evident in his eyes as the soft beeps of the heart monitor began to race across the screen. Weakly reaching up for the oxygen mask that covered his half of his face as his eyes began to dart around the room in fear.

Quickly grabbing Danny's hand, Steve gently lowered it back down onto the bed, holding it tightly as his thumb gently caressed the warm skin. "Hey Babe, you need to leave that where it is, it's just an oxygen mask, the docs are giving you a little oxygen just to help a little with your breathing." He smiled when Danny looked back at him, the fear in Danny's eyes fading a little as Danny's fingers tightened feebly around his own.

"Wh…where?" Danny breathed softly, confused he was no longer in the room he had been sharing with Steve, wincing as he tried to speak, his throat felt like it was lined with sharp razor blades.

Squeezing Danny's hand, a little tighter, Steve told him, "You're in the ICU, Buddy, you began to bleed into your tummy and they had to operate again. They found you were hurt more than what you told us in the plane crash and you had quite an infection brewing in there. You gave us quite a scare."

"But you're going to be okay, Honey, I promise you, you are going to be fine, everything's going to be alright." Clara promised him as she continued to stroke his hair and the side of his face, still unable to believe that he was really awake. Swallowing hard, she smiled through her tears as she whispered, "I've to let the nurses and your dad and sisters know that you're awake, I will be right back, I promise, Danny." Clara smiled grew as she leaned down and gently kissed his forehead as an errant tear trickled down her face as she squeezed his hand and whispered in his ear, "I love you, Sweetheart."

Straightening up she released his hand before she turned to Steve and gave him a light encouraging nudge in the ribs to move closer to top of the bed so Danny could see him more easily as she whispered softly in his ear, "Go on, Stephen, now's your chance while it's just the two of you. Talk to him, tell him how you really feel! He needs to know that you want him to stay."

Steve blushed as he turned and watched Clara leave the room before he looked back at Danny who was silently watching him through tired, glazed eyes.

"Hey, Buddy," he began nervously again as he stared down at his closest friend, running his hand over his head and leaving it resting on the back of his head, ignoring the strain that standing was having on his still tender stomach muscles as the things he wanted to say fled, leaving him uncertain of how to apologize for all that had happened between them and to tell Danny he didn't want him to leave. He had screwed up so badly and he wasn't sure if he had pushed Danny away.

Danny blinked as he tried to think through the fogginess and remember what had happened. The last solid memory he had was sharing Steve's room after they had both been transferred from ICU after the liver transplant operation and Steve telling him that he hated him and that Charlie would hate him as well. A tear trickled down the side of his face as he looked up at the man whom he loved as that last memory replayed over and over in his mind, Steve's words echoing in his head. "I promise you Danny, give Charlie time and he is going to grow up and hate you just as much as I do."

Steve hated him!

His heart broke and he weakly pulled his hand free from Steve's comforting hold, uncertain of why Steve was even there as he turned his head and closed his eyes as another tear fell.