Thank you so much for all of your "likes" and reviews. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Please let me know what you think! I'm trying to decide whether to let this rest now...or continue on until we can see Catherine go back home. It might be fun to see Steve taking care of her, but we'll see. Let me know you're thoughts. :)

ENJOY!

As the paramedics left to go back down for the gurney, Steve was leaning down by Catherine's side once again.

"Why didn't you call me earlier? Or at least let Gracie call?" Steve asked her.

"I didn't want to worry you." Catherine answered softly. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to finally be resting.

"Cath….."

Catherine's eyes fluttered open to meet his and she felt her heart clench at the love she saw there.

"I'm always here if you need me…..No matter what is going on. You know that, right?"

She gave him a soft smile and nodded, "I know."

Then, he let out a frustrated sigh before taking her face into his hands and leaning down to kiss her, "Don't ever do this again. Don't think twice about calling me when you need me. You scared the hell out of me."

Within minutes, the paramedics returned to load Catherine onto the gurney and make their way downstairs with her. Once she was in the ambulance they started an IV with pain medications to make the trip a little easier for her. Steve insisted on riding along with her, so the rest of the team followed behind. Catherine tried to talk them all into going to dinner without her, but none of them would even entertain the thought. She was part of the family so they were going to be there by her side…..Or at least by Steve's side if she did end up needing surgery that night.

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At the hospital…

Steve went with Catherine as they wheeled her into an Emergency Room and the rest of the team settled in the Waiting Area. An ultrasound revealed that Catherine did indeed have a large cyst on one of her ovaries. Once her OB/GYN arrived and looked over the results, he met her in the ER room where Steve was by her side. Catherine made introductions as Dr. Melrose and Steve exchanged handshakes. Catherine realized how worried Steve looked and the concern she saw on his face made her heart ache. She watched the uncertain smile he gave Dr. Melrose as if he knew they weren't going to get good news.

Turning back towards her doctor, she couldn't escape the grim look on his face. "So I hear you gave everyone a scare today," he started.

Catherine smiled at him weakly, "Yeah. I didn't think it was a big deal because I've had them before and they always went away. I was kinda hoping this one would too…..but something tells me that's not going to happen. Am I right? "

"No. Unfortunately, this one isn't going away on its own. I need to take you into surgery to remove it."

Surgery. That was the last thing Catherine wanted, but she had a feeling she didn't have a choice. "Okay, so when do we need to schedule it?"

"It's already scheduled. We're taking care of it tonight."

Catherine sat up straighter and looked at Steve uncertainly before turning back to her doctor. "Are you serious?"

"Catherine, the size of this cyst and its location concern me. If it were to burst, we would have a much bigger problem on our hands. I don't think we can wait, so I want to get it out as soon as possible."

He paused for a second and took a deep breath before continuing, "I also need to let you know that there is a chance I may have to remove the entire ovary. I'm hoping that won't be the case, but there is always the risk."

Catherine swallowed and tried to fight against the tears that were threatening to fill her eyes. Steve stepped over and took her hand and gave it a supportive squeeze.

"Do what you need to do, doc." Steve said.

Dr. Melrose gave a quick nod. "They'll be coming to prep you for surgery soon. I'll come in once more before we take you in. Okay?"

Catherine still couldn't speak, so she just nodded her head in agreement.

As soon as he walked out of the room, Steve could see that she was struggling to keep her tears at bay. He got up on the bed beside her and pulled her to him. His strong, brave Catherine. He knew she was trying not to cry, but also knew she needed to get it out. Her body was tense as she fought to control the emotions under the surface.

He kissed the top of her head as it rested against his shoulder, "You don't have to be strong for me, babe."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, she let go and the tears began to fall. He rubbed her back and gave her all the support he could by holding her close. "It's going to be okay. You're going to be fine." He whispered.

"But what if the 'worst case scenario' happens?"

"What do you mean?" Steve asked her.

Catherine sniffed, "What if he has to remove my ovary? I mean, I know this timing sucks but….."

He felt her body shaking silently with tears and hugged her a little tighter, "But what?"

Catherine took a deep breath, "Well, we don't ever talk much about the future, but I always thought I'd be having your babies."

Steve smiled in spite of himself as he continued to stroke his hand up and down her back, "You can still have my babies. Our babies. Even if he does have to take one ovary, you'll still have another, right?"

"But it will make it harder for me to get pregnant! I just wasn't expecting this." She hated that she sounded so desperate, but at the moment, she was scared to death and didn't care.

She felt Steve's soft chuckle vibrate against her cheek as it rested on his chest, "Okay, so we get to practice more until it happens. What's so bad about that?"

Catherine couldn't help it. She actually giggled. As she did, she felt some of the fear leaving her and began to relax in Steve's arms.

He put a hand on her cheek, "Hey….."

She raised her head to look at him.

"I love you," he finished. His voice was low, full of emotion, and sexy as hell giving her goosebumps all over despite the fact they were laying in a hospital bed together.

"I love you too." She scooted up so she could kiss him.

He reluctantly broke away, "Lemme go out and let everyone know what's going on and I'll be back. Okay?"

As Steve started to walk out into the ER waiting room, one of the nurses stopped him. "I know you have friends out there, Commander. It'll probably be 30 minutes or so before we start getting Miss Rollins ready for surgery. You can bring them back to see her, if you like."

Steve gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks."

Danny, Grace, Grover, Chin, and Kono all soon gathered in Catherine's small room with Steve waiting on the doctor to return. Grace was the first to approach her.

"I hope you're going to be okay, Aunt Cath." Her voice choked.

Catherine hugged her back, "I'm going to be fine, Gracie. They're going to take good care of me."

Danny took a step forward, "Okay, so I'm sure Steve has told you this already…..but don't ever scare us like this again. Do you understand? If you need us, you call us. I don't care if it's for a toothache."

Catherine offered him a wry smile, "Yes, Danny. Steve has told me this ad nauseum. I promise it won't happen again."

After everyone had given her their best wishes and told her they would be staying until they knew she was out of surgery. A nurse walked into the ER exam room to inform everyone that they needed to get Catherine ready for surgery. Hugs were passed all around as everyone exited, except for Steve. He was there for the duration and wasn't about to leave until they wheeled her back for surgery.

Once she was prepped for surgery, Dr. Melrose came in. He smiled down at Catherine as he took her hand. "Ready to do this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess." She answered nervously.

He patted her arm and gave her an encouraging smile, "Everything's going to be fine."

Then he looked at Steve. "I'll take care of her, Commander. If you want to wait with your friends, I'll come find you as soon as we're finished. Surgery should take a couple of hours at most."

Not caring that the doctor was watching their every move, Steve leaned down to kiss her again. "I'll be waiting for you, Lieutenant."

"I'll count on it, Commander."

They came in to wheel her out and Steve leaned down to whisper, "I love you."

She smiled up at him groggily as the sedatives they'd given her started to take effect, "I love you too."

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Steve was practically wearing a hole in the floor with his pacing. It had been almost two hours and he was starting to get anxious for word on Catherine. Oh who was he kidding? He'd been anxious since they wheeled her to the operating room. The team had all tried to keep him in their conversations, but he kept zoning out and glancing towards the door as if he could will it to open. Danny eventually offered to go with him to get coffee but he'd refused that as well. He didn't want to be away when the doctor finally came back.

Steve felt arms going around him and looked down to see Grace giving him a hug. "What's that for?" he grinned at her.

She looked up at him and smiled, "You just looked like you could use a hug, Uncle Steve."

Steve hugged her back, "Thanks, kiddo. Your hugs always make me feel better."

Just then the doors opened and Dr. Melrose came walking into the waiting area. Since the Five-0 team were the only ones in the room at the time, he decided to brief them there.

"Everything went great'" he began and smiled warmly at them. "I was able to remove the cyst without harming the ovary. She's going to be fine."

Steve let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as relief rolled over him. "When can I see her?"

"She is in Recovery now. As soon as she wakes, we'll get her into a room and you all can see her. She's going to be pretty groggy, but you can at least go in to say 'hi'. She's probably going to sleep for the rest of the night."

Steve reached out to shake his hand, "Thanks, Doc. I really appreciate what you did."

"No problem. I'm assuming you'll be staying her with her tonight, Commander?" he asked.

Steve shook his head in acknowledgment.

"Okay, well, I'll be in to check on her tomorrow morning so I'll see you then. I'm going to go ahead and tell you what I'll be telling her tomorrow, though. She's going to need to rest for the next two weeks. I'll give her some pain medicine to get her through the next several days, but I don't want her up walking much or driving or anything like that. After that, she'll still need to take it easy for several more weeks. Nothing too strenuous."

"I'll make sure of it." Steve answered. By the look in his eyes, the doctor had no doubt he meant what he said. If Catherine tried to push herself too hard, Steve would stop it. "Thanks again."

"You're welcome." Dr. Melrose said and then walked out of the room.

Now that he knew she was okay, Steve was finally able to sit down and rest. He was looking forward to seeing her, but felt much better now that he knew she was out of surgery and everything was fine.