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The doctors had finally stopped tormenting Steve with every test they could devise and he lay, sleeping restlessly, in his hospital bed. For the duration of that sleep, at least, he might be able to forget that he'd been blinded by the explosion.
Danny sat on a chair pulled close to the bed. He was unaware how hard and uncomfortable it was, uncaring that it was well past visiting hours, and unable to tear himself away to go home and catch some sleep himself.
He was bone-tired, too. He felt as if he'd spent a year hounding every shady character in the state of Hawaii who might have even the slightest reason to want Steve dead. It hadn't been a year, merely two days. And there were a lot of people who wanted Steve dead; he was too good at his job. Danny felt as if he was trying to dig his way through a mountain with a shovel. Naturally, he was using every trick Steve had ever used and taking to heart every piece of advice he had ever given him. He wasn't planning on letting anyone get away with trying to kill Steve, and he'd get no rest until he found whoever had planted that bomb in his boss'… his friend's car.
Steve moaned softly in his sleep, and Danny wondered whether he was worrying about his future even in his dreams. The doctors had said his vision might return, but only time would tell. So only time would tell whether Steve had a future as head of Hawaii Five-O.
Steve was many things, but he was not a patient man, least of all with himself. According to the hospital staff, he'd caused a certain amount of havoc trying to break out of the place, and they'd stood by and watched him do it, too, until he'd ended up on the floor of the cafeteria with a crowd of people staring at him. That's what it had taken to get him to face the fact that he couldn't simply ignore that he was blind and go back to work as if nothing had changed.
Danny sighed. 'We'll find him, Steve, I promise. All you need to worry about is getting well.'
Steve made a sound of discontent.
'Don't trust me to do your job for you, huh?' Danny said lightly, though he wasn't in a joking mood. He was under no illusion about being as good at his job as Steve was, even after tagging after him and imitating him to the best of his abilities since his first day at Five-O. He had something else on his side, though, when it came to solving this case in particular. Not that Steve knew, or could ever find out, what that was.
A nurse turned up to check on Steve. When she was done, she stood with her arms crossed and gave Danny a stern frown.
He withstood it with a neutral expression, daring her to send him away. With the mood he was in, he wasn't beyond threatening to have the police guard he'd relocated outside the door arrest her for obstructing police business. How he would explain that police business, in this case, meant sitting by his boss' bedside all night while he was not even in critical condition… well, he'd worry about that if it came up.
'You know, Mr Williams, you really can't—' she started.
'It was his birthday when he was brought in here,' Danny told her coldly.
Her face fell. 'Oh. The poor man.' She clutched her clipboard to herself and looked first at Steve, then at him, with more sympathy. 'I shouldn't let you stay, really, but it's no wonder you don't want to leave him on his own.' She sighed. 'I suppose it's all right, this once.' With that, she turned and walked to the door. With her hand on the door knob, she glanced back. 'Would you like me to bring you a cup of coffee? A sandwich, maybe?'
Danny managed a smile. 'No, thank you. I had something before I came back.' It was true, but God only knew how long ago that had been. It didn't matter.
She nodded and left, closing the door behind her gently.
'That was some birthday, huh?' Danny murmured, looking at Steve. 'Good thing we threw you that surprise party. At least something good happened.'
'It wasn't the only good thing.' The words came softly from Steve's lips, which were almost as pale as the surrounding skin.
It was odd, thought Danny, how a tan could just fade away in no time in a hospital. His heart thudded against his ribcage at the unexpected sound of Steve's voice. A very vivid memory of walking down the dark steps of the Iolani Palace with him came back into his mind — it hadn't actually ever left, he'd simply been keeping it tucked away like a secret treasure and tried hard not to think about it.
'What do you mean, Steve?' he asked, almost guiltily, as if Steve might be able to read his mind.
Steve turned his face towards him. He kept his eyes closed. After all, open or closed, he wouldn't be able to see Danny. 'The food, of course.' Steve's familiar, slightly crooked smile made an appearance for the first time since the explosion, but it was gone in a flash. 'And the drinks. I have a feeling I might have had one or two too many of those.'
Danny shifted awkwardly on his chair. He'd been telling himself that all along. He had to tell himself so he wouldn't keep making too much of what Steve had done on the palace stairs. 'I think we all did.'
Steve's tired, careworn face remained turned towards him. The laugh lines around his eyes looked pinched, despite the closed lids. Instead of his usual keen wit, they denoted pain and fear now. 'What time is it, Danno?'
Danny rested his palm over his watch. He didn't know who he was hiding it from. 'No idea. Evening, I guess.'
A hint of a dry laugh, more of a croak, came from Steve. 'I heard the nurse. She was going to send you packing.'
Danny smiled a little. 'You know what hospitals are like. Five p.m., and it's lights out.'
The corners of Steve's lips came down. 'Lights on or off, it makes no difference to me now.'
'Steve, I'm sorry!' Danny could have kicked himself. When Steve turned his head away again, he rose and moved forward, hand ending up on Steve's cheek as if to keep him from shutting him out. Then, realising what he was doing, he froze so completely, it didn't even occur to him to withdraw his hand. It lay against Steve's cheek exactly as Steve's had been on his, after the party.
Except Steve's touch had been strangely deliberate, utterly unexpected, palm cupping his cheek and resting there for several breaths, lips smiling and eyes looking into Danny's almost tenderly… almost as if he might lean in and...
Danny was annoyed. After telling himself countless times to forget about it, because it couldn't have meant a thing, he sure was thinking about that moment then.
Steve's hand came up, moving about searchingly. His fingertips found the side of Danny's hand, traced along it, then slowly slid across the back and covered it where it rested against his face.
Danny didn't dare to speak, barely to breathe.
Steve's palm was warm and dry against his skin, just like his cheek under Danny's palm. 'I did this to you,' he said softly.
'Steve?'
'When we left headquarters, just before I turned and went off to my car.' Steve's sightless gaze made him seem lost. 'I cupped your cheek.'
Danny smiled wryly. 'You had a few drinks at the party.'
'Maybe I did.' Steve swallowed visibly. 'That had nothing to do with it.'
'It didn't?'
'No.' Steve's grip tightened a little on Danny's hand. 'Maybe… I guess it was a little liquid courage.'
Danny's heart skipped a beat. 'When have you ever needed to get your courage out of a bottle?'
'When I've been working my way towards something for quite a while.'
'Steve, you can't mean…' Danny's voice cracked.
Steve quickly withdrew his hand, and a look of pain passed over his drawn features. 'I'm sorry, Danno. Even if everything hadn't changed with that explosion, I'd never expect you to feel the same way. Now that I'm like this—'
'Not everything's changed,' Danny interrupted. Before he could reason himself out of it, he cupped both hands around Steve's face and leaned down. In a whisper, he confided, 'I want this as much today as I did yesterday, the day before, last week, last month, and every moment I've been working under you. Whatever happens, you're stuck with me, if only you want to be.'
'Danno…' Steve's voice was brittle.
Deciding to assume that meant yes, Danny closed the last inch between them.
In not a single one of his dream scenarios, and there'd been plenty, of a first kiss between Steve and himself had Danny ever imagined taking the initiative, kissing Steve rather than the other way around, and having to work at convincing Steve that he meant it. And he worked — not holding back, in case Steve would assume he was unsure about this or, even worse, was kissing him out of pity. Danny kissed him hungrily, with his lips, his tongue, his breath, and his fingers sliding into Steve's hair as he cradled his head.
Finally, Steve responded in kind, half rising to a sitting position as he kissed him back with what could only be long built-up longing — something Danny recognised only too well.
Many minutes may have gone by before they parted to breathe.
'God, Danno!' One of Steve's hands moved shakily around the back of Danny's neck. 'What I wouldn't give to see you now. Those sparkling blue eyes…'
Smiling, knowing that Steve would at least hear the smile in his voice, Danny said, 'I guess they're sparkling more than ever. If you want to be sure, there's one thing you can do.'
'What's that?' Steve asked softly, thumb stroking up and down Danny's nape.
'Work hard at getting better. You know the doctors are hopeful. I'm hopeful too, but you and I will work out, whether or not everything else does.'
A frown of worry creased Steve's brow. 'You can't mean that. I'd be one hell of a burden.'
'Don't be ridiculous, Steve! You wouldn't know how to be a burden. You're far too pig-headed about doing things for yourself.'
Steve groaned softly. 'They told you about my escape attempt, didn't they?'
Danny grinned. 'They did, and I wasn't in the least surprised. For the record, I love your stubbornness as much as I love everything else about you.'
There was a pause after that during which Danny flushed and Steve's hand tightened on his nape. 'You do, huh?'
'I sure do,' Danny confessed.
'When did you get so determined?'
'Just another thing I learned from you.'
Actually managing a hint of a smile at that, Steve rested his forehead against Danny's. 'Let's hope I'm not yet done teaching you, sweetheart.'
'Not a chance,' Danny whispered.