Danny shifted restlessly in the bed as he tossed his head restlessly, a soft moan escaping his lips as he found himself standing on the beach with Steve standing behind him, watching him walk away.
"You… love … me!"
He turned and glared at Steve before turning and walking away again as he muttered over his shoulder. "Well, you have a funny way of showing it. You know, Steven , you remind me of Rachel. She always claims she loves me too, whenever she wants to be forgiven."
"I know she does, Danny, but the difference between Rachel and me is I really mean it."
He continued walking as he heard as he heard Steve's soft whispered admission from somewhere behind him. "I love you, Danny and I don't want to lose you, not now, not ever!"
He stopped and turned around to look at Steve, "What if ... I don't love you?"
His question echoed through his head as the dream faded away, replaced by soft murmuring of voices somewhere beyond his room. Slowly opening his eyes, he blinked as his eyes adjusted to the soft nightlight that was shining above his bed. Frowning in confusion, he slowly reached up and lightly touching the annoying tubing that sat just above his top lip as he realized that someone had replaced the claustrophobic-inducing oxygen mask with a set of uncomfortable oxygen prongs in his nose, and he found himself staring up at three bags of IV fluids instead of the four that he thought had been hanging above his bed when he had fallen asleep. Turning his head, he stared for a few brief moments at the pile of cards that sat next to his heart monitor before he looked across at Steve asleep in the bed next to his as his own question directed at Steve on that beach in the dream echoed in his head. "What if ... I don't love you?"
Danny sighed as he thought that he remembered the conversation that he might have had with Steve just a few short hours ago, or was it a few days ago, that he thought that his dream was based on. Although he had woken up feeling a little better and a little more alert than the other times he had woken up, his memories of the last few days were extremely blurry and almost dreamlike, making it hard for him to know if they were real or just dreams. Staring at Steve, he felt his heart begin to race as more of the filmy memory returned. Steve had handed him his resignation, a resignation letter that the governor now had. Steve had told him that he loved him, that he was sorry he had taken him for granted and that he was not going to let him walk out of his life without a fight, and if that meant leaving Five 0 and Hawaii , then that was what he was willing to do. The crazy Neanderthal animal had even bought four plane tickets to join him, Grace and Charlie when they moved back to New Jersey to prove just how serious he was!
"What if ... I don't love you?" His question repeated in his mind
"We both know that would be a lie, you love me," Steve had smiled before asking anxiously, "You do love me, don't you?"
"Of course, I do, you Neanderthal animal." He had answered. "Of course, I do!" he finally admitted softly to himself just how deep the love he felt for Steve really ran.
He turned his head and stared back up at the pile of cards that Eric had given him before he had fallen asleep. Swallowing hard, he realized as angry and upset as he felt about how his friends had treated him, especially Steve, from the limited memories of their heartfelt apologies, he wasn't sure if he was as ready as he thought to turn and walk away from his Hawaiian ohana and the tropical island that, as much as he hated to admit it, had become his, Gracie's and Charlie's home. He sighed as he turned his head and stared up at the white ceiling, and more importantly as much as he had tried to tell himself during the last few months that what he and Steve shared between them was over, he knew deep in his heart that he really didn't want to totally give up on Steve, not yet.
A small smile tugged at his lips as he turned his head to look at Steve again, but that also didn't mean that he was just going to take their apologies at face value, words were cheap. He was going to make them work to show him just how honest they were with their apologies before he would let any of them, especially Steve, off the hook.