A/N: Thank you all for your patience!
It's time to get things going…
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
ONE DAY AND TWENTY-FOUR HOURS LATER
BUS BENCH - OUTSIDE KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - O'AHU
Grace had left.
And Steve knew exactly where to look. Or so he hoped.
There were two elevators halfway down the corridor. Their indicator panels showed it to be on the sixth floor. Steve didn't press the call button, he figured Grace would be long gone by now. Instead, Steve flung open an adjacent door and hit the stairs. Ran all the way down till he reached the ground floor. He passed the long desk with administrators. Went through the lobby with the pink plastic chairs that were, this time around, almost all occupied. Steve left the hospital through the main entrance.
Exiting, Steve got blinded by the Hawaiian afternoon sunlight. He put his hand above his eyes to create some shade and keep looking. Only to find out that he was right. Grace was sitting on a bench at the bus stop. Steve figured she'd be there as it was her only choice of transportation back home. Steve slowed down and took a breath. Grace had been upset with him when she left and maybe she still was. Yet Steve had to straighten this out.
Approaching Grace, Steve said. "You're right,"
Grace turned her head at the sound of his voice and then flicked her gaze straight back ahead at the street. Obviously, she tried to ignore him. Steve sat down next to Grace on the concrete bus bench anyway. He leaned forward, put his elbows on his knees, and stared at his hands while figuring out what to say. For a whole minute they just sat there. In silence. Next to each other.
"You are right, Grace. As cops, we prefer to work together. We partner up like for when we need to arrest a suspect or if we need to search a location. That way we can have each other's back. It's a very important part of our job," Steve spoke calmly and then looked aside at Grace. "This however was a more complicated situation."
Grace stayed silent. She kept staring ahead but blinked rapidly like she was about to cry. Like she was ready for a big flood of tears. Like she was tragically disappointed, maybe with him, maybe with Danny, or maybe with herself.
Grace sighed, let her eyes down for a second, and asked. "Then what happened?" she looked up at Steve with tears in her eyes. "You can tell me the truth."
Steve wanted nothing more than, to tell the truth, explain it all and ease that girl's mind. He couldn't though. Steve inhaled, straightened in his seat, and let out the sigh he'd been holding. "That's really for Danno to share with you, Gracie," he said and turned so he could see eye to eye with Grace. "All I can tell you is that the minute we knew Danno was in trouble we did everything in our power to get to him."
In response Grace nodded, accepting the fact that she would never hear the truth. "I'm sorry I said it was your fault, Uncle Steve. I know it's not. I just got upset."
Steve took hold of Grace's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "It's all right, kiddo. I get it."
"Danno's just—" Grace her lower lip quivered and a tear rolled down her cheek. "He's really hurt."
Saddened by Grace's sorrow, Steve's heart burst into pieces. He could barely look her in the eyes. It was difficult to swallow the big lump in his throat. "I know. It's tough to see him like this. Come here," he said comforting, pulling Grace into a tight hug. After a few breathings, he added. "Gracie, you know I will always do everything I can to protect Danno, right?" Steve checked. While letting go of the hug he eyed Grace. "I will never hesitate to put my life on the line for your father— never."
Grace swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I know you do,"
"Good," Steve nodded once as it felt like the universe had aligned and things were settled. He wrapped his arm around Grace's shoulder for a side hug. "Now try not to worry so much about your old man, okay?"
"That's just the thing," Grace said as she rested her head on Steve's shoulder. "I know you will do anything to protect Danno. But I also know Danno would do the exact same for you. That's what worries me."
Grace was right.
And Steve knew there was nothing he could do about it.
DANNY'S ROOM - KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - O'AHU
On Danny's fourth day in the hospital, they transferred him to the General Care ward. Steve had spent the night at his home. Finally capable of catching a few decent hours of sleep only to start the day fresh by visiting his partner. Steve parked his car in the hospital's visitor lot. With a go-cup of coffee in his hand he walked to the main entrance. The door slid open and the main entrance gave on to the lobby. Steve went to the long desk with clerks behind it. This time he recognized the female administrator from the other day and greeted her with a good morning and she greeted him back. Steve asked for Danny's new floor and room number, she kindly provided him with the information and pointed him in the right direction.
Steve took the elevator up to the General Care ward and traced his way to Danny's room. Steve didn't need to check the room numbers as he walked down the hallway. He just walked up straight to the room with two HPD officers guarding the door, knowing he would find his partner inside that room. The oak wooden door stood open. Steve entered a yard-wide corridor created by a bathroom on the right side and a row of floor-to-ceiling pink closets on the left. It led to the rest of the room. As Steve stepped inside, a magazine flew passed his head.
"Oh— wow— hey!" he exclaimed and stopped dead in his tracks as he almost dropped his go-cup of coffee out of his hand. Gravity had forced the magazine to the floor, so Steve picked it up single-handedly and looked at its cover. Then to the left side of the room. At Danny. "Here's an interesting question, what did the 'Woman's Day' do to you?"
"Nothing." Danny snapped from the hospital bed that was positioned on the left of the room and had about the same depth as the bathroom. At the far end, a wide window gave sight of downtown Honolulu and at the right side of the room stood two chairs and a side table. The room felt familiar to Steve.
Then he remembered. The layout of the room was identical but completely mirrored as the room Danny had been in after he was shot months ago. Even the furniture matched entirely. Steve recalled the furniture as it looked tired and shabby and was also colored in a shade of pink, just like the floor-to-ceiling cabinets. Yet he was no interior designer, but he did have a great eye for detail. Speaking of detail, to Steve's relief the amount of medical equipment that had come along seemed cut back. But after careful consideration, Steve decided that it was an optical illusion.
The room was simply bigger and therefore the amount of equipment had stayed the same. This, in turn, made sense, because the thing Steve couldn't decide on, was whether or not Danny should've stayed in the Medium Care Unit or even in the Intensive Care Unit. Physically, his condition was still the same, he looked terribly the same, and usually, when they move a patient they cut back on some equipment. They really hadn't, the room was just not the same size.
Observing his partner Steve leaned with his shoulder against the wall nearest to the bed and sipped his coffee. Danny was sitting more upright. His left eye was still shut. He appeared frustrated but pale, and his tone when he said, nothing, had indicated there most certainly was something. Steve swallowed his sip of coffee and said. "It's not nothing."
Danny released a sigh and waved his left hand, weakly, as a dismissive little gesture. "Nothing means nothing, okay. I'm fine."
Steve shook his head. "Nothing doesn't mean nothing, because I may have a face, but you have a tone, my friend, and I know all about your tones, so it's not nothing," Steve stated as he tossed the, by the hospital-provided, magazine back on the bed. Then he asked calmly and sincerely. "What's going on?"
"I just wanna get out of here," Danny admitted and signaled at his head with his left hand. "I'm deteriorating into nothing but insanity."
"It's been four days," Steve remarked.
Danny winced as he shifted his position. "Yeah, it's not as comfortable as it looks."
"That's my point," Steve noted. "Nothing about your situation is comfortable. There's no quick fix. This is the most active and alert I've seen you. You should take it easy, buddy. You had to fight for your life, with already a collapsed lung. You had major thoracic surgery. Let's not forget some complications—" Danny cut him off.
"I know all that, and my point on all of this is that I just would like to sit on a chair for a change."
"O," Steve shrugged his shoulders. "That sounds like a reasonable request. Did you ask the nurse?"
"Did I ask the nurse?" Danny said rilled up. "Of course, I asked the nurse. She would ask doctor K. It's been a couple hours since." He rolled both his eyes and dropped his head back on the pillow.
Surprised, Steve shook his head. "I'm sorry, but am I seeing this right? Did you just open your left eye and roll it?"
"Yeah, it opens just a sliver. Everything's blurry, but it kinda opens up."
Steve pointed out, "That's something, right?"
Danny sighed. "I guess."
"Your shoulder still bothering you?" Steve stated. He couldn't help but notice the almost absent right-arm movement as Danny had preferred to use his left hand to signal and wave away the argument earlier.
"What'd you mean?" Danny asked with his face completely blank as far as his distorted face let him.
Confused, Steve stayed silent for some time. Just as he was about to ask for clarification, doctor Keller among a female doctor entered the room.
The surgeon greeted with, "Commander," and then, "Detective, how are you doing?"
"Believe me, you don't want to hear the answer to that question." Steve joked, took hold of the magazine, and sat down in the comfortable chair on the other side of the bed.
DANNY'S ROOM - KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - O'AHU
The female doctor entering with Dr. Keller turned out to be Dr. Damar, Orthopedics. She granted Danny's desire of getting out of the hospital bed but she needed to put a brace around his busted knee first.
While Dr. Keller made some adjustments to lessen the medical equipment attached to Danny, Dr. Damar put the brace around his knee. It looked similar to the brace he had to wear after he broke his elbow earlier this year. This one too consisted of an elastic sleeve, then wrapped by a carbon frame brace with solid metal support down the sides, but this time around it was designed to be hinged at the knee joint. The brace would cause restrictive motion of his knee Danny knew that and right now he wouldn't mind some stability. Dr. Damar tried to put the brace on gently, but there was a lot of movement involved like lifting his leg and slightly bending his knee, which put Danny in doubt if he even wanted to get out of bed.
The Orthopedics doctor secured and fastened the two straps closest to the knee first, then secured and fastened the remaining two straps. "How does that feel? Pressure feel okay?" she asked and Danny nodded in response, "Good. You think it's tight enough to give support?"
"I guess," Danny said as he tried to adapt to the pressure applied to his still minor swollen knee.
"One way to find out. You ready for it?" Dr. Damar smiled compassionately.
"I guess," Danny said again and struggled to sit up straight. Together with the help of the doctor, he lifted his legs over the edge of the bed and his feet down to the floor. Danny was glad she did because his legs were feeling like lead weights.
Sitting on the edge Dr. Damar handed Danny the IV stand. "Here, you can use the IV stand to balance your right side."
Danny whisked it away. "No, I'm good."
Dr. Keller sternly said. "No, you're not. You haven't been out of bed for days, you're gonna need to steady your right and take your time, all right? If you start to feel lightheaded or dizzy just sit back down."
Enforced, Danny left-handed grabbed the vertical stainless-steel bar with the spiral curl at the top where the IV bags slipped on. With his right hand, he tried to untangle the oxygen cannula from behind his ears, but doctor Keller stopped him from doing so.
"Let's keep the oxygen in place for now."
"No, it's fine," Danny argued. "I don't need it."
"Yes, you do," the doctor looped the tube back around Danny's ear. "I'd like to see you breathing comfortably."
Danny eyed the surgeon. "Are you this tough on all of your patients?"
"Just the ones that are stubborn."
"My breathing is fine, is it not?"
"Right now, sure. But you can use the assist. Your nose is clogged with dried blood because of— well, you know,—"
Danny interjected. "The fists that busted up my nose."
"Right," Dr. Keller awkwardly acknowledged.
Danny let the disagreement slide. He was already getting tired and he still had to get up and out of bed. The orthopedic doctor helped him stand up steadily and get off the bed. When his right foot touched the ground pain ripped through his leg. It burned along every nerve. Danny felt the blood drain from his face. He tightened his grip around the IV stand and so did Dr. Damar's grip around his bicep.
"Still good to go?" She checked with concern in her voice.
Danny was suddenly dizzy.
"Still good to go." He said but stayed put.
"You sure?" She double-checked.
He nodded. He was sure, but he felt faint and lightheaded.
Dr. Keller counseled. "You can sit back down if you want."
The room darkened a little and spun around. His blurred left eyesight made the dizziness actually worse as he had a hard time focusing.
Danny breathed out, "M'fine," and closed his eyes to block out the blurriness and dizziness.
Steve said his name from somewhere in the room. He sounded apprehensive but Danny didn't respond.
A few breaths later Danny felt like opening his eyes again. To his surprise, he stood still vertically. Dr. Keller's hand being wrapped tight around his other bicep might explain why. Danny had been held up straight by the two doctors or else he would've collapsed for sure.
"Take another deep breath." Dr. Keller instructed.
"I'm good," Danny said, and mean it. He then took a first step and Dr. Keller let him go. Danny took a second step and Dr. Damar let go but stayed close.
Four steps in Dr. Keller cleared up. "Now, walking around this room and maybe back and forth the hall, with someone by your side is all you will do today, got it?" He waited for Danny to nod before he went on. "Tomorrow we'll see if we can gradually work up to walking 1 mile, which, let me remind you is 14 laps around the unit."
"How about I get to a chair first," Danny said already getting breathless. He eyed Steve sitting in the chair on the other side of the bed. "Do you mind?"
With a tough-guy-nod, Steve signaled at the two chairs on the right side of the room. "Those two are unoccupied." He teased.
But Danny wasn't in the mood to argue. He felt his legs shaking and getting weaker by step. "I know, but this one's closer."
Steve probably noticed as well as he dropped the tough guy act and jumped up from his seat. "Copy that."
GENERAL WARD - KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - O'AHU
One day and twenty-four hours later it marked Danny's sixth day in the hospital. It also marked Steve's fifth day of going back and forth between the hospital, his house, and the Five-0 Headquarters. He had stopped counting every time he stepped through the main entrance and had taken the elevator up. Today was no exception. Steve headed for the elevator. Rode it to the fourth floor. Then he stepped out, went right, and followed the corridor.
Several steps in, Steve stopped dead as he spotted his partner walking down the hall. Surprised to see the improvement he greeted, "Ey, yo, look who's walking around like it's nothing,"
Danny gave a quick nod with his head as he shambled ahead with the aid of a cane while a nurse kindly pushed the IV stand forward.
"And almost with nothing," Steve pointed out as he noticed multiple changes in his partner's appearance. For instance, he wore jogging shorts with a T-shirt that probably said New Jersey PD except it had been washed so many times the writing was nearly illegible. His hair was freshly washed and combed. His face looked less bruised and swollen and his left eye made it almost all the way open. Also, the nasal cannula providing oxygen was no longer strapped behind his ears and plugged underneath his nose. There was no heart monitor attached to him or chest tubes inserted. Just the IV line running from the back of his hand to the bags of fluids hanging on the IV stand and the knee brace wrapped around his busted knee. Danny looked altogether sensationally better than a few days ago.
Steve went over to the nurse. "I got it." He said as he offered to take over pushing the IV stand forward.
"Thank you, Commander," the nurse handed over the vertical stainless-steel bar on wheels and focused on Danny. "I'll be back to check on you in ten minutes, is that all right?"
Danny didn't say anything, just gave another nod, agreeing. Steve guessed it took quite the energy to be walking around without much assistance. His guess got confirmed when Steve noticed Danny's strained breathing.
"You good?" Steve checked, a tiny bit worried.
He didn't get an answer. Not because Danny didn't say anything, but because they were interrupted by an enthusiastic little blonde guy storming right at Danny. Danny's eyes lit up at the sight of his son. Who was followed by Danny's ex-wife, Rachel.
"Danno!" Charlie exclaimed as he ran up to his father.
"Please, be gentle, sweetheart," Rachel warned, but a little too late. Charlie launched himself into Danny. Who in turn grunted and flinched and had to steady himself as Charlie wrapped his arms around Danny's waist.
"Hey, buddy." Danny hugged him one-armed and tickled the boy and got a squeal in exchange.
Charlie squirmed himself out of the tickle fight and Steve watched the boy's beaming face change to extreme panic. Charlie froze and hung back, shy and motionless, knuckles in his mouth as his eyes scanned Danny from head to toe and back. Then the extreme panic thawed out and slight curiosity tilted his head to the side.
"What happened with your face?" Charlie asked. "And your knee? Does it hurt? Are you going to be okay?"
"All right, slow down," Danny said and explained. "I got into a fight with a bad guy, that's all, all right. I'm fine, okay?"
"Did you lose?"
"Did I lose? You kidding me? Of course, I didn't lose. I might not look like a guy that won, but that's because you haven't seen the other guy." Danny winked.
In turn, Rachel gave Danny a quick hug too and she quietly said in his ear. "You scared us."
"Not my intention," Danny said back as Rachel let go.
Charlie pulled at Rachel's hand. "Mommy, I'm hungry."
"Really? Charlie, I asked you before we left the house. You didn't want anything, so you'll have to wait, okay?"
Steve pointed in the opposite direction of the hallway. "There's a vending machine at the end, around the corner. There are some excellent choices in there."
Charlie jumped up and down while begging. "Pleaseeeee?"
"Fine," Rachel sighed. "We'll be right back."
Steve watched Rachel and Charlie wander off, then he turned to Danny.
"He asks a lot of questions, doesn't he," Steve said and a smile transformed his face. "He's gonna be a detective someday, I'm telling you."
Danny let out a huff. "Good thing they downsized the accessories, otherwise there would've been a lot more questions."
"They really did, huh," Steve concurred. "I mean, no oxygen. They even took out the chest tube."
Danny started moving again. With some difficulty and leaning heavily to the left while relying on the support of the cane. "Yeah, they took the tube out an hour ago." He said as he moved gingerly as his knee clearly was causing him pain.
"An hour?" Steve's eyebrows hit his hairline. "You sure it's okay for you to be walking around?" He questioned and signaled at his own face. "You're looking a bit pasty, to be honest."
Danny shot a look at Steve. "That's my usual color, you putz."
"Even paler than usual, buddy. I mean, white paint has more color than your face right now," Steve joked, but it was the truth. "I'm serious," he said and got hold of Danny's bicep. "Why don't we all go back to your room anyway?"
Danny let out a quick breath. "Fine."
Danny turned clumsily around and limped back in the other direction through the hallway. He was leaning more on the cane and his hand was gripping it hard. Danny was panting and trembling a bit.
Steve took a step closer out of concern and followed, keeping to his pace. It seemed futile. "Didn't you already take a few rounds this morning?"
"I did," Danny said breathlessly.
Steve shrugged his shoulders. "Why push for a second set of rounds?" Danny didn't answer, but he didn't need to. Looking at his partner's troublesome movement, Steve said. "Third set?" Still, Danny didn't answer. Steve's eyebrows raised and asked. "Fourth?" That's when Danny looked aside. Steve rolled his eyes. "Danny, that's insane."
That's all Steve could comment, Charlie and Rachel had returned and stood in front of them.
Danny looked down at the candy bar Charlie was holding. "You would say that being in a hospital would help pick something healthier."
Steve squeezed the boy on his shoulder. "I think it's an excellent choice, buddy."
"It has nuts in it," Charlie said and took a bite, which earned Steve a dead stare from Danny.
Steve mouthed what? And a smile beamed on his face.
The four of them walked on, Charlie teamed up with Danny and Rachel walked up to Steve's side and quietly said. "Don't get me wrong or anything, but I thought you said he was doing better?"
"He is," Steve said resolutely.
Rachel swallowed and watched her ex-husband slowly move ahead. "You're saying he looked even worse than this?"
Steve scratched the back of his head. "A lot worse actually."
WILLIAMS' RESIDENCE - KĀHALA - O'AHU
Around noon on the eighth day of Danny being in the hospital, he signed his release papers. Being it hospital policies, an orderly wheeled him out the main entrance in a wheelchair and from there he was on his own. Not completely though, Steve stood ready to take over Danny's bags and give him a ride home in Danny's own Camaro. Which Steve had just picked up from the HPD evidence pound.
Eleven minutes later, Steve swung straight onto the driveway at Danny's house and parked the Camaro. Steve stepped out, went around the hood, and pulled the car door on Danny's side open. Danny was grateful because he didn't think he could push it open with his still injured chest and a barely functioning right shoulder. Danny unclipped his seat belt and slowly swiveled sideways. Then he paused and carefully lifted his right leg out of the car and placed his foot on the concrete of the driveway. Getting into the car had been a lot easier as gravity had worked to his advantage, but getting out and up required some thought. His shoulder wouldn't allow him to pull, he couldn't put much weight on his knee and his chest didn't have the upper strength that he used to have.
Steve had given up on patience and had gone to the trunk of the Camaro and popped it open. While rummaging in the truck he said. "By the time you get out of this car I'll have died of this heatwave," Danny put his head out of the car and tossed Steve a dead stare. He already knew he was slow and he hated it. Steve apparently caught the glare and added. "That was a joke. It was supposed to be funny."
Danny focused back on getting out by himself and mumbled. "You wouldn't laugh either with several broken ribs."
Steve slammed the truck shut and walked back to the passenger's door, one bag hanging over his shoulder, the other one he held in his hand. "You're right, I'm sorry," he said and dropped the bag he held on the driveway. "You need a hand?" He offered genuinely.
But Danny's stubbornness and pride got the better of him and he said. "No, I'm good."
"Sure you are," Steve pouted and grabbed the bag off the concrete. "I'm gonna put these inside then."
Eventually, Danny stood up, grunted and got out of the car. He grabbed the top of the door frame tight and stood still for a moment. He inhaled a few deep breaths and let the pain subside a little. Then he stared toward the house. He was glad to be home. It was the hug his soul had been longing for ever since he first had woken up in that hangar. Danny took another sharp inhale, took a sideways step, and eased the door shut behind him.
Steve shouted from the house, "Danny!" He sounded panicked and rushed.
And right when Danny was about to ask what was wrong, an explosion billowed outwards — shattering the living room window and it tore the front door right out of its frame. The shockwave blasted Danny sprawling against the closed car door.
— TBC / HAWAIIFIVE0 —
A/N: Still, I'm incredibly thankful for your continuing support, your patience and the kind and heartwarming reviews!
Definitely not abandoning this story, I put too much time in it to just leave it like this :)
I'll be back soon with a new chapter,
until the next one!