Note: Well this is the last chapter, but it's a bit longer than some of the others. Thank you all for the reviews. I should be posting my next one soon as it's finished, just needs to be beta'd.

Many thanks as always to wenwalke.

Chapter Six.

Steve sat waiting outside Danny's ICU room, nervously tapping his foot. He'd been made to leave while they removed the drain and pressure monitor from Danny's skull, and he was anxious to hear how it had gone. Both Dr. Pearce and Dr. Archer had reviewed Danny earlier that morning and were extremely pleased with his progress.

The previous day had been spent resting, with Danny sleeping on and off throughout the day. Steve had been a constant by Danny's side, while Chin and Kono had gone home for a few hours then come back to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with Danny. When they returned they had found Danny sleeping and Steve looking fed up. He explained that Danny had been less than pleased to have to accept help from the nurses to have a wash, and when lunch had come and Danny had struggled with his left hand, Steve had offered to cut up the food for him. Danny had got angry, more at the situation than Steve, and the nurses had been forces to administer a mild sedative to calm him down.

Despite that episode, Danny had made steady progress throughout the day. The movement on his left side had improved a little, and the pressure in Danny's head had remained stable. Although still weak and tired, the doctors had decided to go ahead and remove the drain to continue with Danny's rehabilitation.

Steve looked up as the door slid open and Dr. Pearce, and Danny's day nurse Heather, left the room.

"All done, you can go in now." Dr. Pearce said seeing how anxious Steve was. "He did fine and I've stitched up the hole. We'll do another scan in an hour, under light sedation, to make sure there has been no further bleeding. All being well, we can move him to a normal room after that. I'm hopeful I will be able to discharge him later this week, once his strength is better on the left side. Physio will see him this afternoon."

"Another scan? Does Danny know about that?"

"He does, and he's fine with it as I'm going to sedate him." She reassured.

Steve entered the room and was relieved to see Danny looking the best he had in 48 hours. The big bandage was gone and Danny's hair was a ruffled mess, but he was sat up in bed and smiling. "It's really not that bad, is it?" Danny said turning his head so Steve could see the shaven area to the right side of his head.

"I don't know." Steve said eyeing up the bald patch that now sported three neat stitches. "Maybe you should just shave it all off."

"Yeah, I think not. I'm not gonna take hair advise from someone who styles his hair after Sinead O'Connor."

Steve laughed and dropped down in the chair next to the bed. "How're you feeling?"

"Better now that bulky bandage and drain are gone. Bit of a headache, but Dr. Pearce said that's to be expected. Heather is getting me some pain meds for it." Danny said rubbing his brow. "I just want to get out of here now."

"Dr. Pearce said she was gonna move you to a normal room after the scan, then you have the pleasure of PT this afternoon. Bet it will feel good to get out of bed."

"Yeah it will, but honestly I'm exhausted just thinking about it." Danny sighed.

"Get some rest then, it won't be long before they're here to take you for your scan." Steve replied.

"Don't remind me." Danny groaned lowering the bed down so he could sleep more comfortably. Heather returned to the room, injected some pain relief into Danny's IV and he was soon asleep.

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Dr. Pearce had returned not long after, administered the sedative and accompanied Danny for the scan. There was no further evidence of any bleeding, so Danny was moved to a private room to sleep off the sedative. Steve had taken the opportunity to nip home, shower, shave and change clothes. He returned to the hospital to find Danny awake and eating a light lunch. Most of the monitoring equipment had been removed along with the catheter and an IV, leaving only one cannula in the back of Danny's right hand to administer prophylactic antibiotics and fluids.

"Looking good, buddy." Steve grinned entering the room and setting a bag of Danny's things down on the floor. "I called at your house on the way back and picked up some clothes and things."

"Thanks." Danny said pushing the food tray away. "Any chance of a hand getting dressed? The Physiotherapist is coming in half an hour, and I'd rather not flash the whole nursing staff as I get out of bed."

"Why not? Would probably be the highlight of their day." Steve joked grabbing the bag and pulling out a t-shirt and sweats.

A few minutes later Steve had successfully managed to help Danny into the sweat pants and remove the gown. He was now trying to figure out how to get the t-shirt on with the IV running.

"I can help with that." A familiar voice said entering the room.

"Hey Dawn." Both men replied.

"I think you need to start paying rent." She said pointing at Danny then removing the IV line from the pump, feeding the bag through the t-shirt, and helping Danny with the rest of it before replacing the line back in the pump.

"Short straw again, huh?" Danny smiled.

"Yep. I think I must have been really bad in a previous life." She joked, but in all honesty she didn't mind looking after the team. She liked how they all cared so much for each other and supported each other no matter what. She stood back and looked at Danny. "Good to be back in your own clothes, eh?"

"Yeah." Danny sighed then ran his hand through his hair, self conscious of the fact that it was a mess and kept falling into his face.

"Here." Steve said tossing Danny a tub of hair product. "Shit sorry." He apologised as the tub hit Danny in the chest, his reflexes still a little slow.

"You're forgiven, seeing as you remembered this." Danny said waving the tub then struggling to open it with his weakens left hand.

"Let me?" Dawn said taking the tub, opening it and then passing it back to Danny. She moved to the cupboard at the side and pulled out a mirror so Danny could style his hair. It wasn't up to his usual smart slicked back standard, but it at least looked tidier now.

"Thanks guys." Danny said taking one last look at the bald patch at the side of his head.

"No problem." Dawn replied, "Sam, the Physiotherapist, will be in in a minute to get you out of bed. Behave and I'll slip you an extra pudding." She said leaving the room.

"You know, I swear she sometimes thinks we're one of her kids." Danny joked.

"That's because you both have a tendency to behave like them." Dawn called from outside the room.

"And you say I have ninja hearing." Steve whispered.

There was a knock at the door and both men looked up half expecting to see Dawn about to tell them off again, but instead saw a young Hawaiian man with curly black hair.

"Aloha, I'm Sam your Physiotherapist. I'm here to give you a hand getting up and about. How does that sound?"

"Good." Danny replied, "I'm sick of laying here."

"Great." Sam said entering the room. "Well then let's see how you're doing. Your notes say you're experiencing some left sided weakness. Can you raise and hold both your arms out in front of you?"

Danny did as he was asked, his left hand noticeably shakier, but Sam was happy with the movement. After assessing Danny's leg strength, Sam made sure the chair was in a good position for Danny to sit in. He then nipped out of the room and returned seconds later with a walking frame.

Danny's eyes bulged at the sight if it. "No. No way am I using that thing." He said, his voice raised.

"This will help steady you Danny. Your movement is actually really good, but you are going to need a little support for a day or so. Once you're sat out we can go through some exercises to improve your arm and leg. I expect you to be walking out of here unaided in a few days."

"I'm not a frail old man, I don't need that." Danny said eyeing up the metal frame with disgust.

"Danny, just use the frame, please." Steve asked, "Nobody is going to think any less of you for it. You just had a serious head injury. Please, use the damn frame."

Danny considered it for a second, then nodded, "ok, if I have to." He sighed.

"Ok Danny, this will go a lot easier if two of us help you. Are you ok if your friend...?"

"Steve." Steve replied seeing Sam's questioning look.

"Is it ok for Steve to lend a hand?"

"Sure." Danny replied, knowing there was no way Steve would sit back and just watch.

"Steve, if you can support his right side, I'll take his left." Sam instructed.

Steve moved to the head of the bed so he would be in the right position, as Sam threw back the bedding and helped Danny move his legs closer to the edge. Danny then push himself up into a sitting position. As Danny righted himself and let his feet dangle over the side of the bed he suddenly felt a flush of heat hit his whole body, and he could hear his own heart beat. Spots of light danced in the periphery of his vision and he suddenly felt nauseous.

He closed his eyes and tried taking deep breaths, hoping to dial back the urge to vomit, as he felt Steve and Sam instantly by his side. Steve had placed his hand on Danny's shoulder to reassure his friend he was there. Sam had moved in to support Danny as he listed slightly to his left. "That's it Danny. Nice steady breaths, it will pass." He reassured.

After a minute the dizziness receded and Danny slowly opened his eyes. "Better?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm good now. Let's do this." Danny said keen to get it over with.

Sam placed the frame in front of Danny so he could take hold of it and instructed, "once your stood, we're gonna wait for a minute before moving. You might feel a bit dizzy again, ok?" Danny nodded, then slowly with Sam and Steve's support he stood. Sam was right he did feel dizzy again, but not as bad as before. Arms shaking, as he supported his weight through the frame, Danny nodded that he was ok and gradually moved around. Again with help, he lower himself down into the chair. Steve moved the frame away as Sam moved in to show Danny the exercises he needed to be doing to strengthen his left side. Once finished, Sam bid them good bye and left.

Steve looked at Danny, sat out in the chair. The only remaining evidence of how ill he had been was the bald spot, stitches, and the one IV that remained. Now Danny was up and about it was only a matter of time before he was discharged. Steve knew his best friend would be desperate to get back to his own house, but there was no way he would be up to looking after himself. Knowing his partner was a proud man, and didn't like to accept help, he worried that the next conversation could go horribly wrong. Seeing that Danny was again slightly listing to the left, he grabbed the pillow off the bed and wedged it between his partner and the chair. "Better?" He asked.

"Yeah, thanks. I hate this. I feel so useless." Danny replied while picking at the dressing holding his IV in place.

"So, no different to your usual self, then?" Steve joked trying to lighten Danny's mood.

Danny looked up at Steve and scowled, "I hate you."

"No you don't, you love me." Steve retorted and Danny cracked a smile.

Steve decided to take a chance, "listen, when you get out of here, in a few days. Will you please come and stay with me until you're properly back on your feet? You can have the downstairs room, so no stairs."' He added trying to sweeten the deal.

Danny took a second to think about it then replied. "Thanks, that would be good."

"What? You agreed that easily. I expected a fight. Are you feeling ok?" Steve asked shocked that Danny had agreed.

"Honestly, no I don't feel great. I'm exhausted just from getting out of bed, so I'm guessing it's gonna take me a while to be back to full speed, so having someone around makes sense." Danny replied.

Steve smiled and sat down on the chair near Danny. That had gone so much better than he feared and he was grateful Danny was willing to accept the help he needed.

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Three days later Danny steadily made his way through the front door. Steve hovering close by in case his best friend needed any support. Danny had worked hard with the Physiotherapist and his strength and movement was almost back to normal on his left side. But he found himself easily tired. Chin followed behind them carrying Danny's bag over his shoulder, the over hand carried a bag full of pills. Danny had been discharged with antibiotics to take, anti inflammatories, pain killers, and antiemetics, as he was still suffering from migraines, but had been reassured they would settle in time.

Kono came out of Steve's kitchen to welcome them. She had been preparing dinner for them all, and gave Danny a hug. "Good to have you out of there, brah."

"It's good to be out." Danny said making his way to the couch.

"That certainly was a hard lesson in not running off on your own." Chin said.

"Trust me, I learnt my lesson. In the future I leave all that stuff to SuperSEAL." Danny sighed.

"How about none of us go off on our own." Kono said, knowing anyone of them would have done the same thing as Danny.

"Deal!" All three men replied together, to the satisfaction of their youngest member.

The End.