Note: Time to bring this one to an end. Thank you to everyone for the support and to wenwalke for all the help she gives me.

Chapter Ten

Danny lay snuggled on his own couch, his head resting on Grace's pink, fluffy, pillow, a blanket pulled up to his chin. He'd just woken from a mid afternoon nap, but was reluctant to move from his comfy position. He'd been released from the hospital 24 hours ago, and was feeling much better now he was home, despite a poor nights sleep.

Thankfully his kidneys had continued to improve. So much that he had ended up back on an IV for the last 48 hrs of his stay, to make sure he didn't get dehydrated again, and hinder his recovery.

Dr. Pearce had finally agreed to discharge him as long as he promised to drink plenty, and agreed to her coming to the house each day to take bloods to check they were still improving. Danny was pretty sure most patients would have to go back to the hospital each day. But he knew Andrea considered him a friend. She knew how anxious he was about the hospital, and was still processing all that had happened to him. So she'd spared him all that by going out of her way each day to come to his house, for which Danny was extremely grateful.

Looking at the clock on the wall, Danny saw that it was almost 3pm and Andrea was due any minute, so he pushed back the blanket and forced himself to sit up. He smiled to himself when he saw a jug of water, with ice and a few slices of lemon floating in it, along with a glass and a note from Steve. His partner must have called to check on him while he was sleeping and attempted, not so subtly, to remind Danny of his need to drink. The detective was amazed at his partner's ninja moves, as he had slept straight through the visit.

He poured himself a glass and enjoyed the refreshing cool water, before making a much needed trip to the bathroom. On the way back there was a knock at the door and Danny's opened it to a smiling Dr. Pearce.

"Hey, Danny, how are you today?"

"Not bad, I just woke up actually." Danny ran a hand over his face, wiping away the last of the sleep from his eyes.

"That's not a bad thing, it will do you good." Dr. Pearce set her bag down on the table and started setting up her things to draw blood.

"You want a drink?" Danny asked his friend.

"That water looks pretty good." Dr. Pearce was pleased to see Danny drinking well.

Danny went into the kitchen and grabbed a second glass then sat back down on the couch and rested his arm on Grace's pillow. Dr. Pearce wrapped a rubber tourniquet around his arm and expertly slid the needle into the vein. Danny watched in fascination as the tube filled with his blood.

"Yesterday's bloods were good." Dr. Pearce informed him. "Hopefully these will be even better. A few more days and we should be in the clear."

"Does that mean I can relax the diet a bit? I don't have much of an appetite at the moment, but I do fancy a good slice."

"Let's see what these bloods show, and if they're good, I'll bring pizza with me tomorrow."

Danny beamed, and his mouth watered at the thought of melted cheese. Dr. Pearce cleared her things away then poured herself a glass of water, just as the front door opened and Steve returned. He was carrying a grocery bag which he dropped off in the kitchen and returned to join the doctor and her patient.

"Hey, doc, how's our sleeping beauty doing?" Danny scowled at his friend, but Steve ignored it.

"Improving nicely. At this rate you should be able to have him back at work by next week."

"Really? That's great." Steve was excited to have his partner back.

"Perhaps just desk work at first though, you'll need to regain your strength, Danny." The doctor advised.

"Oh, great, lots of paperwork to keep me occupied." Danny complained, but really he was glad to be able to get back to work. He wanted to move on from the whole experience, and while he was sat around at home he had plenty of time to think about his time trapped in the trunk, which unfortunately had lead to more nightmares.

"Just make sure you don't fall asleep while doing it, Danno. But then again, you did look pretty cute cuddled up with Grace's pillow. She says thanks for keeping it warm for her, by the way." Steve grinned and flashed his phone at Danny, revealing a picture of the sleeping detective.

"I hate you." Danny cursed. "Did you send that to her?"

"Sure did. She was worried about you." Steve smiled innocently. "I figured I'd leave you sleeping when I called in earlier, so I went and got some groceries. The guys are coming around later and I'm gonna prepare us something to eat. You want to stay doc?"

"That would be lovely Steve, but please call me Andrea. I just need to drop this off at the hospital and I'll be right back." Dr. Pearce waved the blood sample, bid the two men farewell, and left to drop the sample off.

Steve made himself busy in the kitchen while Danny flicked the TV on and started to watch an old film. Before he knew it his eyes were drooping again, he hadn't slept much the night before, between nightmares, and trips to the bathroom, and his body was craving the rest. He closed his eyes for a second with the intent of just resting them, instead he nodded off to sleep, head tilted back, and snoring softly.

Steve entered the room to check on his partner and smiled to himself, before pulling out his phone and taking another snapshot to send off to Grace.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

"Help!" Danny screamed. "Steve, help me."

He was back in the trunk again, and the air felt like it was being sucked out of his small prison. Smashing the tail light he stared at his hand as blood trickled down his arm, and he started to panic.

Breaths coming fast, and shallow, he banged his fists on the roof and screamed for help again.

"Steve. Help me, get me out of here."

"Danny, I'm here. It's ok. You're safe. Danny, wake up." Steve returned to his partner's side when he heard his name being called out, and he found him in the throws of another nightmare.

Danny thrashed his arms out, and Steve caught him by the wrists. "Danny calm down, wake up for me. Danno come on, wake up."

There was a knock at the door. Dr. Pearce entered and ran to Steve's side. "I heard him shouting from outside, what happened?"

"He was sleeping again. It's another nightmare but I can't wake him up."

Danny was tossing his head back and forth, muttering under his breath. His hair was soaked with sweat, and his skin was almost translucent.

"Danny, wake up." Steve gave his friend a shake. Danny finally opened his eyes and looked around the room, confused by his surroundings.

Dr. Pearce carefully took hold of one of Danny's wrists and checked his pulse, frowning as it raced under her fingertips. "Danny, you just had a nightmare. I need you to take some deep breaths for me.

Danny followed his friend's orders, and gradually managed to get his breathing back under control. Steve released Danny's other wrist and moved to sit at Danny's side, he deliberately sat close to ground his friend.

Fingers still on the pulse, but happy at the now steady rhythm, Dr. Pearce spoke. "Danny, how often are you having these nightmares?"

"Not that often." Danny lied.

"Try that again, Danno." Steve ordered, he could tell by the bags under his friend's eyes that Danny hadn't slept well in a while.

"Ok, I've had a few." Danny replied, still not admitting to the extent of the dreams. "I'm ok. Sorry."

"Danny, I can prescribe you something to help you sleep. The more tired you are, the more likely you are to dream."

"No." Danny replied adamantly, "no thanks. I don't want any drugs. I'll be ok. I just need a bit more time."

"Are you sure Danny?" Steve asked concerned.

"Yeah," Danny felt self conscious under his friend's scrutiny. "I think I've just had more time to think about what happened now I'm not worried sick about my kidneys. Look guys, I promise if they don't settle I'll reconsider."

"And consider talking to someone, a professional?" Dr. Pearce added.

"Jeez, Andrea, I already spend enough mandatory time with the shrink in couples counselling with Steve."

"Couples, counselling?" Dr. Pearce asked confused.

Steve laughed, "It's what the rest of the team call it when Danny and I have to see a shrink over our partnership. The Governor was concerned about the amount of arguing we do and made it mandatory."

"He just doesn't understand it's what we do. It's our thing. Brothers fight." Danny explained.

"They sure do, brother." Steve smiled and patted his friend on the back. "Don't worry Andrea, if the nightmares continue I'll drag him to the shrink myself."

Dr. Pearce smiled, satisfied that Danny was now ok from this latest episode, and Steve, as always, had his friend's back.

"Is something burning?" She asked, changing the subject, much to Danny's relief.

"Oh, crap." Steve cried out, running to the kitchen to attempt to salvage their dinner.

"Did you get my blood results?" Danny asked.

"Sure did. They are all within normal limits now. I still want to monitor them daily for a few more days though." She announced proudly.

"That's great news." Danny said relieved. "Especially because I think I'll be getting that pizza tonight. No way is Steve salvaging those steaks."

Dr. Pearce laughed as the shrill of the smoke alarm broke through the air, and Steve continued to curse from the kitchen.

THE END