The warehouse was dark, only the light was from the windows in the front office she was in. "I know you are in here, come on out. She opened the door to go into the warehouse itself when it all hell broke loose.

She flew through the window and hit the hard ground fast. She barely heard Lester calling for help and talking to control. He watched her flat line on the way to the hospital twice. She was whisked to surgery as soon as she arrived.

They were all there waiting when the doctor came out 9 hours later. He addressed them as a whole. "I've done all I can. She is alive but barely and is very critical. You may go in to see her by twos in an hour." He turned and walked back the way he came.

Tank picked up his phone calling a familiar number left a message."Come home now, she needs you." He hung up and went to take his shift with Bobby by her door.

Her dad came in daily with Grandma. Connie and Lula came when they could and Joe came daily for a while but he stopped after about week. She laid there not making the slightest movement. She was dreaming, or reliving all her memories of him. Somewhere they mixed in with her dreams and became her past and present and nothing else mattered.

She breathed one word. "Carlos." Only two people heard her. One stepped back as his heart constricted the other bent closer to whisper in her ear "He will come soon. We promise."

*1 week later*

He was checking his messages on the drive home. All he wanted to go see her and then home to bed. The first was about business and nothing that couldn't wait for morning.

The second was from her, the tingles from hearing her voice went straight through to his heart. "Ranger, Call me when you get in just need to talk. "

The Third made his heart stop. "Boss, it's Stephanie. Oh God! In the background he heard. "She's flat-lining again." The message ended there.

The fourth was from Tank. The "come home now was barely heard as he threw his phone into the seat beside him and raced to the hospital.

They seen him as he came down the hall. "Report." Tank filled him in on the the accident and then on her condition was. "She is in a coma. Has been since the surgery. Tank walked him to the door of her room, but stopped him from going in. "She said something once, right after surgery. Joe and myself was the only ones in the room." Ranger just turned and waited, his mask firmly in place.

Tank faced him fully. She said "Carlos." The mask fell for one second and if Tank hadn't known him he would have missed it. The look of shock and love all rolled into one. He walked into her room, gently took her hand with a soft kiss on the back.

"Babe." He sank into the side of the bed.

They heard a small sigh escape. Ranger stroked her hair back from her face and talked softly to her. As he talked to her it was like a switch was turned on and she started to move a little at a time. Her eyes finally opened and she smiled.

He had Tank give him a cup to give her a sip of water, as he knew that she would be very thirsty. She looked up at Ranger and said the last thing he ever expected her to say.

"What is my beautiful husband doing here? I'm still so sleepy still. You have a good run?" She drifted immediately back to sleep and missed the look that passed on her "husband's" face.

Ranger looked from her to Tank and then back to her. Tank walked over to Ranger. "Something I don't know yet, Bossman?"

Ranger at a loss of words and had no clue what to name the feelings running around him. "No, I don't know what that is about. You say Joe was here before?"

Tank was processing it all in his head. "Yeah, come to think about it. He left and never really came back to her room, just called to get updates on her progress." He rubbed his bald head as he let Ranger know more about her in him time away. "They had broke up about a week before the bomb. She told him it was forever. We went with her to help get her stuff. She's been working the bonds office in the mornings and with us on afternoons and nights. What you going to do?"

Ranger just nodded. "Get her doctor now. I need to talk to him yesterday!" He watched as Tank left with the phone to his ear. Ranger slowly paced the room. He still had no idea when the doctor came in shortly after.

"Sir, I am Dr. Kell. This man just filled me in on the circumstances when my patient woke up. She may have some memory loss or is confused due to the accident. We will not know the extent until she wakes up. If it is the memory loss it could be temporary or permanent. Either way go along with it, you could do more damage if you force her to remember or contradict her."

They turned to her as she opened her eyes moaning a little. Ranger went to her holding her hand as the doctor went to the other side of her bed. "Would you step outside as I check on her?

Ranger was about to leave as she hung onto his hand. "Stay. It's not like you haven't seen me before. Doctor my husband can stay." She was looking at the doctor and missed the expression on his face. I t was gone before she looked back at him. "You know I hate hospitals. Don't leave me, please."

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended**