***AN: I'm not her and she's not me. She's making the dough and I'm having the fun.
*****This story is the third in a trilogy. The first part in the series is 'On the Run' and the second is 'Just You and Me, Babe'. This is a Babe story and is a HEA. I hope that you've enjoyed the ride as much as I have. I want to thank my beta, Angie. She helped put the idea of writing this story into my head as we talked about unfinished stories one night. Then she held my hand all the way through JYAMB, even when I took a break to deal with RL. She hasn't held back when she thought I needed to make changes and for that – I am very grateful…..I really hope you enjoy and if you don't….hit the back button.
Epilogue to JYAMB/Prologue to After the Darkness
It's so dark. Where am I? Every fiber of my body hurts. That noise. Would somebody please turn off whatever is making that noise? Where am I? I need…what the hell do I need? Ranger. I need Ranger. He'll make the hurt go away. Why can't I open my damn eyes? Ranger, where are you? I need you. The darkness is too much and I feel it pulling me under again.
In another room across the hall.
Dark and cold. That's all I know. Where the fuck am I? There's the tale-tell beep, beep of machinery. Hospital. Why am I in the hospital? I need….what the hell do I need? All I can remember is …..Connie . She called me. Then, all I can remember is a…..sea of blue. Blue? I need blue? That can't be right. Who the fuck needs blue? I keep trying to remember, but it makes my head hurt. The darkness is trying to pull me under again. I can't go until I remember. Blue, blue, blue…..eyes? Holy hell. I'm going insane. I need blue eyes? Shit, here comes the damn darkness again. I can't fight it…just going to let it….take me.
"After the Darkness"
Chapter One
"Waking Up"
Fighting the darkness, Stephanie woke up to the hum of machinery and knew immediately that she was in the hospital. As the darkness was stripped away, she groggily looked around the room. In the shadows, she could make out the solid form of Lester.
"Hey, beautiful." Lester stepped forward, took her hand and squeezed gently. "I'm gonna press the call button for the nurse, so she can check you out, okay?" While they waited for the nurse, Lester brought the straw of a cup to her lips for her to drink. As she drank deeply, his hand ghosted down the side of her head and brushed her hair back from her face.
"You scared the living daylights out of us. How are you feeling?"
Stephanie shrugged. With a raspy voice, she answered, "I've felt better. I hurt all over. What about Ranger? Is he okay? Where is he?" She was starting to panic. What if he'd been hurt badly? She knew she'd never survive if…..no, Lester's face didn't look like that had happened.
"Relax, beautiful. He's in the next room. He hasn't regained consciousness yet."
The nurse and doctor came in at the same time. "Mrs. Manoso, it's good to see you awake. Mr. Santos, would you mind waiting outside while I examine Mrs. Manoso?"
Lester squeezed her hand, told her he'd be right outside, and then left out of the room.
"Mrs. Manoso, I'm Dr. Hadley. I took care of you when you came to the emergency room. Mrs. Manoso, you received a few minor abrasions, a concussion, and you'll probably be very sore for a couple of days at least. I'm sorry, but the impact of your fall caused you to miscarry the baby."
Stephanie didn't hear much after that. There was something about bleeding, being anemic, and no reason she couldn't try again. When the tears started, she couldn't concentrate on the words. She turned on her side, away from the doctor, and let her tears flow unchecked down her cheeks. She never heard the doctor leave or Lester return. She just lay in the hospital bed and cried. Her pain was too much to bear. The ache in her heart engulfed her, until she let it drag her back into the dark world of sleep.
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Lester's concern for Stephanie went into over-drive when he came back into the hospital room and she didn't even acknowledge him. He figured, she'd be having a fit to go see Ranger, for him to go find her some comfort food, or screaming about being released. Instead, she'd lay still, silent tears flowing down her face until she fell asleep.
When the nurse came back in, she refused to tell Lester what had been said or what the extent of Stephanie's injuries were. The nurse told him snootily that Stephanie's injuries were confidential and that he'd have to ask her himself if he wanted to know. He discreetly checked her body for injuries and found nothing that wasn't expected. Ugly bruises, some deep cuts and a few burns, but nothing that would cause her to be so sad.
When Bobby and Tank had come to check on her, they'd been tight lipped. All they would tell Lester is that Stephanie would tell him when she was ready. As he watched his friend sleep, all he could think was screw this. He wanted to know what the hell was wrong and he wanted to know now. He was responsible for Stephanie in Ranger's stead and he needed to know what he was up against.
When Stephanie woke up the second time, she brushed him off and just said it was the stress and not being able to see Ranger. She finally asked him if she could have something to eat other than hospital food. Lester flipped open his phone and told Woody to pick her up something on his way to take his shift as guard.
About an hour later, Stephanie had showered, with the help of the nurse, changed into the clothes Ella had brought and eaten only half of her quarter pounder and a few fries. That is when the real Stephanie Manoso showed up.
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"Lester, I want to go see Ranger, now." She set her jaw, waiting for him to deny her request.
"Now, beautiful, he's not even awake yet. You can go see him when you're released in the morning. I promise that Tank will come and tell us if there's a change in his condition."
Just then, the door swung open and Joe Morelli stepped into the hospital room, past the menacing looks of Hal and Woody. Lester's arm shot out and restrained Joe as he warned, "Upset her and you'll have to deal with me."
Lester's voice was low and threatening. Stephanie knew if it'd been directed at her, she would have pissed her pants. Lester was usually lighthearted and fun-loving. She'd never seen his caveman routine, but it was definitely effective.
"Hey, Cupcake. How are you feeling?" Joe's eyes roamed over her looking for signs of her recent brush with death and then scowled deeply when his eyes quickly skirted over the area between her legs. Stephanie saw the pitying look in Joe's eyes and knew that he was privy to the news of her miscarriage. She gave him a meaningful look that stated clearly that she wasn't talking about it with him. "I'm fine, Joe. In fact, Lester was just about to take me to see my husband."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lester cross his arms over his chest and glare at her. She locked eyes with him and competed in a visual showdown, before turning her attention back to Joe. "I know you're here about the accident, but I don't know anything. I have no idea who'd want to kill Ranger or me. We'll go through our files when we're released. It's the best I can do for you right now.
Lester gave Joe a wicked 'take that' smile. Stephanie just rolled her eyes at him. Didn't he know by now that she could hold her own with Joe?
Joe ran his hand through his hair. "I really came to see how you were. Tank's already told me that you guys would let me know what you find in RangeMan's files. I'm going to go, but I wanted you to know that if you needed anything to give me a call."
Stephanie looked at his haggard expression and had a moment of feeling sorry for Joe. Then again, screw that. First opportunity, he'd be all over her about her life being a mess and then she'd be pissed again. Better to keep him at a distance. "Thanks for the offer, Joe, but I'm sure whatever I need, will be taken care of by my family." Her comment was punctuated by a soft look at Lester. She smiled slightly when Lester puffed out his chest.
The door clicked softly behind Joe and the tender look of sisterly love disappeared from Stephanie's face. She sat with her arms folded across her chest, glaring at Lester.
She nearly laughed when he tried to glare back at her. She knew that the Merry Men had difficulty denying her anything that was really important to her. And this….was more than important, it was her lifeline.
As he released the rails, he snippily told her, "If I get in trouble for this, you're gonna pay. I don't know how, but you'll pay. If Ranger thinks for one minute that I put your health at risk, he'll have me sent to a third world country, on a one-way-ticket. If that happens…I'll find a way to come back and get even. And I swear Stephanie, if I think you're glossing over how you're feeling, I'll have you back in this room and in restraints before you can blink one mascara coated eye-lash."
After his tirade ended, he scooped her up from the bed. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Les."
When Lester had her in the chair beside Ranger's bed, he stepped back towards the door to give her some privacy.
Her eyes stung with the tears that she refused to shed. He was alive. That was all that mattered. He'd wake up and everything would be alright. She needed him to wake up and look at her with his dark eyes of love and say 'Babe'.'
For an hour, she sat beside him, stroking his arm and talking to him about everything under the sun. When she started getting stiff from sitting at an awkward angle, she stood and stretched, noticing for the first time that their wedding rings were missing.
"Lester, where are our rings?"
"Tank has them. I'll send him a text to bring them to Ranger's room. He's on his way and I can tell you he's not happy about you being out of bed." Resigned, Lester thought, but not happy.
Stephanie turned when the door swung open, expecting Tank, but instead her doctor came in with an attitude.
"Mrs. Manoso, I haven't released you yet and you need to be in bed. You're anemic and need rest to recover." His pissy attitude didn't even faze the beautiful, curly brunette standing before him.
"Doctor, I'm not leaving. My husband needs me and you can just go ahead and sign those release papers. I'll be right here when you have them typed up." Take that, she thought. She wasn't about to leave Ranger's side. If truth be told, she didn't have the ability. Her control was sliding and if anybody else tried to remove her from his room, her psyche was going to snap.
"Fine, but for God's sake, get that prescription filled and….." he swung towards Lester. "You! Make sure she gets plenty of iron filled food. I'll not have her back in here in a few days because her wounds aren't healing. There's a whole list of iron deficiency symptoms and I expect you to bring her back if she experiences a single one of them."
Both Tank and Bobby had come in during the middle of the doctor's speech and Bobby took over the situation.
"Doctor, I'm Bobby, the medic for RangeMan. I understand completely the risks of iron deficiency. I promise you that'll I'll make certain that Stephanie takes care of herself. We have a housekeeper that will cook iron fortified meals for her and I will personally make sure she takes her iron pills."
The doctor seemed satisfied with Bobby's explanation and left to fill out Stephanie's release papers.
With a sigh, Tank gently led Stephanie back to the chair and guided her to sit down. She was white as a ghost, but there was steel in her spine and she was going to give them all a run for their money. "Lester, go to her room and pack up her things. She can stay here for a while longer, but then she needs to go back to the apartment and rest until morning." Tank gave her a stern look that broached no argument. "Steph, after you've eaten a good breakfast, Lester will bring you back. If Ranger wakes, I'll be here and explain why you're not here. He'll understand. In fact, we'll all be lucky to have a hide left when he wakes up and finds out we let you stay this long."
Stephanie caved and nodded her acquiesce. "Do you have our rings?"
Tank took a Ziploc baggy from one of his many cargo pockets and handed it to her as Lester and Bobby left the room.
She put her rings on first and then Ranger's. She kissed his hand and then entwined their fingers. Tank eased out of the room as she started talking to him about the baby.
In Stephanie's hospital room, Lester gathered up her clothes and then went to the bathroom to retrieve her toiletries. Efficiently he packed her cosmetics, shampoo and toothbrush. That's when his eyes caught the sanitary napkins beside the toilet. Holy Cow! They were so huge that they looked like diapers. This couldn't be right, since Stephanie used tampons. He knew this because one night Ranger had made him go to the store and buy them for Stephanie. It had been his punishment for shooting his mouth off about her PMSing. The light bulb was slow in coming, but now he was pretty sure of the reason why Stephanie was anemic and…..sad.
Slowly, he sat down on the side of the bathtub. The pieces fit. That was the reason they were in Walgreens and the reason they were alive, but the baby wasn't. Lester scrubbed his face, refusing to let loose on the desire to cry. Ranger had told him about wanting to have a baby with Stephanie.
This was going to cause some trouble between them when Ranger regained consciousness. He knew Ranger, and was certain that he'd blame himself, as much as Stephanie was blaming herself right now. Knowing Ranger, he'd use it as a reason not to try getting her pregnant again. Well hell, not if he had anything to do with it. He'd recruit Tank and Bobby if he had to. They weren't going to let Ranger use this as a reason to distance himself from Stephanie again. The man in black had been happier than he'd ever seen him before and Lester would be damned before he let Ranger screw it up.
Stephanie. Dammit. She was going to be a mess for a while about this. He knew she didn't want to talk about it right now, but when she was ready, he'd be there for her.
When he'd gotten control of his emotions, he finished packing and made his way back to Ranger's room.
Finding Stephanie, with her head on the bed wasn't surprising. Her voice was hoarse as she whispered words of love and stroked his arm. Lester took the seat next to the window and watched for a while. He'd been on guard since they came in last night and the exhaustion was creeping in. He'd let her stay a little bit longer, but then, he was taking her home. They both needed the rest.
Lester watched and waited. She could barely hold her eyes open, but she kept talking. He blushed at some of the things she said to Ranger, personal things about their hopes and dreams together. He looked away, thinking what a lucky man Ranger was when she talked of their night in Paris. Her voice was so low; she probably didn't think he could hear what she was saying. Little did she know, his ears were so good, he could hear a pin drop at twenty yards. He hadn't intended to listen, but it was too hard not to indulge in her tender voice as she comforted the man she loved. He lived vicariously through their relationship because it gave him hope. Hope that one day, he'd find just a fraction of what Ranger and Stephanie had together.
Lester looked back just in time to see Stephanie sliding from the chair. He jumped up and caught her before she hit the floor.
"Okay, that's it beautiful, time to go home and get some rest." She didn't object because she was down for the count, sound asleep in his arms. For some reason, he paused and told Ranger he was taking Stephanie to their apartment and that he'd look after her through the night. They'd be back first thing in the morning. With that said, he turned and carried his bundle out of the room.
*****Drop me a line and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you and what you think. Next up Ranger wakes up. Babe_Squad – get those fingers a typing – I have chapters waiting!!!!!!