Sitting higher in his bed, Steve glanced across at Danny who was sound asleep in the other bed. Although Danny had woken several more times during the day, after Kono's and Lou's visit, he had not been quite coherent enough to have any real type of conversation and he had fallen again asleep again within minutes of waking.
Sighing, Steve turned back and picked up the TV remote and began to flick through the channels, pausing only long enough to see what the show was before deciding the show or movie did not interest him, before flicking onto another channel. Not finding any show to his liking, he stabbed the off button and dropped the remote back down onto the bed beside him.
"Finally!" Danny's weak, annoyed huff surprised him and he turned to find Danny glaring tiredly at him.
Steve could not stop the relieved grin that settled on his face at the sight of Danny not only being awake but awake and coherent and as cantankerous as ever. "Danny, you're awake!"
"I … wouldn't be if you…Neanderthal animal...if you hadn't woken me …up with flicking through every damn channel on…the TV!" Danny growled as he reached up and tugged the oxygen mask from his face as he added, "Haven't you ever…heard of a thing…called sleep?"
"You didn't really mean what you said about moving back to Jersey, did you?" Steve asked, ignoring Danny's weak rant, desperately needing an answer to his question, "I already know that you are thinking about leaving Hawaii and going back to the mainland. I also know about you applying for your old job back at the Newark P.D. I don't understand, Danny," he swallowed hard before he asked, barely above a whisper, the question that scared him the most to ask, "what about us?"
"Us?... There is no… us," Danny sighed as he tiredly laid his head back down against the pillow and closed his eyes, "Not anymore. There…there hasn't been an … us in a long time, Steve. "
Steve sat up and turned to stare at Danny in surprise, "What do you mean there is no us? Of course, there's an us, Danny… we're partners - "
"No, that's ... where you ...are wrong," Danny shook his head tiredly, "We were partners... but ... in the last few months, you have preferred ... Lou being your partner... and as for me… " Danny swallowed hard , "I'm…I'm…" he shrugged, not even sure where he even belonged in the team anymore or if he was even a part of the Five 0 ohana.
"I prefer Lou being my partner?" Steve felt a sharp pang of guilt twist his guts as he forced himself to ask the question that he already had been told the answer to, but aware if he wanted to make things right between the two of them again, as painful as it was to hear, he knew he had to let Danny talk. Swallowing hard as he saw Danny look away, he pushed softly, unable to keep the hurt that he felt that Danny could or would ever think that someone else could replace him as his partner from leeching into his voice, "Why would you even think that, Danny? I chose you to be my partner, Buddy, you, not Lou. And there's no one else I trust more to have my back."
"Do you…Steve?" Danny breathed, opening his eyes as he stared up at the tiled white ceiling.
"Of course, I do, Buddy!" Steve answered emphatically, "There's no one else who I trust more to watch my back than you! You're more than just my partner, Buddy, you're-"
"Don't…Steve…" Danny breathed, too tired to argue as he rolled over onto his side. With his back to McGarrett, he sighed and closed his eyes, "Please… don't tell … me that …I'm ohana!"