We Have To Tell You Something (Old)

Chapter 1

Steve was sitting up straight, head facing rigidly ahead; he reread the poster on the wall in front of him. It was an infographic of the heart. It talked about the different parts of it and how to keep it healthy. This was his 8th time rereading it. He knew it by heart at this point, he smirked at his own silent pun, but he needed something to distract him, distract him from the holes Danny's eyes were burning into him.

Danny was sitting to his left, his goofball behavior from the last time they were in a hospital room was gone.

Steve had pointed at the otoscope when the doctor had left the room five minutes ago. " Vant to check for brain?" He had said with a smirk, "znothing...zere..." the smirk faded at Danny's look of concern and anguish.

Since then, no matter how many times Steve would ask Danny to cheer up, tell him that he would be fine, Danny still stared at Steve with his big sad eyes. Danny's memory had also flashed back to the last time they had gone to the hospital together, but not to the play doctor fun they had. He was thinking about how the last time they were in a hospital together, he had specifically asked the doctor if Steve had radiation poisoning. The answer had been no. Danny knew that certain tests had to be run to look for it, that it had to be looked for in the first place, they hadn't been looking for it that one time. This is what he kept telling himself. He tried to shut up the part in his brain that was asking him, telling him, he should have asked them to look for it specifically, maybe if they had found out sooner, Steve wouldn't be in this mess. Why hadn't he asked for Steve to get checked for it sooner?

Finally the door opened and Danny's attention diverted to the doctor walking in.

"So?" Danny broke the silence first, coming to his feet, his voice low, itchy and dry in his throat.

"Well, you do have radiation poisoning Mr. McGarrett."

"Commander." Danny corrected quietly, without realizing. His voice lower than he ever thought possible.

"Yeah, I know I do." Steve nodded, his shoulders were pulled back, his face taut. He was in military mode, Danny noted, repressing his emotions.

"The reason we wanted you to do the tests, doc, was to get a second opinion from a different doctor." Danny forced down a ragged breath as he looked up at the doctor, "different opinion on the outcome. How..." he waved his hand, not being able to vocalize the dark thoughts clouding his mind.

"How long he has." The doctor nodded. The way he said it was a little too nonchalantly for Danny's liking. It made him want to punch the doctor in the face. "Well, what did your doctor tell you?" He looked at Steve.

Danny's worried eyes turned back to Steve. Ever since finding out, he'd been trying to get Steve to tell him the specific words the doctor had said, but Steve just kept repeating what he had said when they'd been standing outside the bathroom.

"Alright, ten different opinions," Danny had told him that night, once he was able to recompose himself enough to follow Steve into the kitchen. "Let's go get the second opinion tomorrow."

"What?" Steve asked, staring up at him from the seat he had taken, he looked so pale and unlike himself, it was making Danny's head dizzy with fears.

"Yeah, tomorrow morning, we go see a different doctor. Have em run some tests, get their opinion." Danny said. Steve knew Danny wouldn't let him say no so he decided to agree and avoid the argument.

There they were, nearly a week later, called back in for the test results. Steve was still trying to figure out how to answer the question the doctor had asked him.

"It-" he glanced at Danny, his face rearranged itself for a split second, too fast for Danny to classify it, before going stoic again, "it doesn't matter what the other doctor said." Then, at Danny's upset face, "just that there might... will most likely be some complications down the line."