I'd felt like I'd been sitting there an eternity. I glanced at the clock and realized that it was only the afternoon. A knock on the door made me jump. I t was my mother-What the hell is she doing here? She looked a little nervous as she walked across the room to me.

"Mom?"

"How are you holding up?"

"How did you…"

"Joseph called and said you wouldn't be over."

"Over for…"

"Dinner. It's Friday." She opened the bag she'd brought. "I brought you some food, a book, and the newspaper with the job section open on top."

"I'm not switching jobs."

My mother sighed and glanced at Ranger, "How is he?"

"I don't really know, "I said and a tear escaped down my cheek.

"There's a bag of cookies in there too."

I looked at my mother and smiled.

"Mom, did Joseph say anything else?"

"No, he just said that your friend, Ranger, was hurt and that you'd want to be with him so to not expect either of you for dinner."

"Don't expect Joe again ever."

"What?" She pulled up the other chair and sat down next to me.

I sighed; this wasn't going to be fun.

"Don't you have to get home to Dad? Isn't it dangerous leaving him with Grandma?"

"Grandma is out. I'm picking her up later. I thought you might like some company."

What was going on with my mom? Crap. One of the nurses must've called her about my "talk" with Morelli.

"Thanks for sitting with me. Who called?"

My mother rolled her eyes, "Just about every nurse on the floor. Now tell me what happened."

I told my mom the story, never taking my hand from Ranger's. If my mom noticed, she didn't say anything.

"Stephanie," my mother started. I braced myself. "What Joseph did was wrong, you are right to be upset, but think of him, your behavior toward Joe is wrong too." I looked at her, shocked.

"Don't try to lie to me, Stephanie Plum. I know you spend an awful lot of time with this man," gesturing to Ranger. "You are at his beck and call and he is always there next to you, picking up the pieces when your life….gets…interesting. I hear people whispering about you both all the time. Look at you! You are here by his side crying over him." She took a breath and glanced at my face. I felt like my expression had been frozen in shock.

Her voice softened. "Stephanie, don't look at me that way. You know I'm right. However, I'm not criticizing you." Shocking. "I'm saying you need to pick one. Whether you believe me or not, I don't care which one you choose. Yes, I like Joe. He's part of the Burg, from a decent family, has a responsible job, and has been crazy about you since you were a kid." She looked at Ranger, "But he loves you too. He watches over you and keeps you safe." She took my face in her hands, "I might not always agree with you or understand you, but I know that you love this man, Ranger. He makes you happy. So long as you are safe and happy, that's all I really care about."

I smiled at my mother. She got up to leave and I let go of Ranger's hand so I could stand up and hug her. The hug was weird since we're not that kind of family, but somehow it seemed appropriate.

After my mother had left, I sat back down and opened the bag she'd brought. I needed happy food so I started with the cookies. As I was munching on the cookies, I thought about what my mother had said. She was right. Damn. I heard a noise and looked up as a nurse walked in. she hummed as she bustled about checking Ranger's vitals. I watched her write on his chart and then move on to another room. I wondered if the humming was a defense mechanism. I was still watching her when I felt a hand on mine. I almost jumped out of my skin until I realized it was Ranger. He was awake.

"Babe," he whispered.

"Sh, I'm here," I said as I smoothed back his hair. He looked at me and gave me a half grin. I kissed his forehead and went to get the doctor.

The doctor went in and shut the door. I sat outside for a few minutes then was called inside.

"Mr. Manoso wanted you here while I talk to him."

I nodded. I sat in my chair by his bed and went to reach for his hand, but realized he was awake and changed my mind.

"Babe," he whispered again, reading my mind and took my hand.

"Mr. Manoso, "the doctor began, "You were very lucky that you were wearing a vest. The vest prevented several slugs from piercing your body. However, the pain in your left side is from a cracked rib and bruised lung, as most of the rounds were focused on that area. There was a great deal of blood loss from the flesh wounds you received on your arms and legs, but we were able to replace what was lost with what the hospital had on supply and the donations from your men. There was one bullet that went in under your left arm. It missed your heart, but we had to do surgery to fix the damage it did to a few veins. We will need to keep you in the ICU till tomorrow and you should be out of the hospital within a week. You were in excellent physical health before this incident so we expect you to make a full recovery. Do you have any questions?"

Ranger looked at me then back at the doctor and shook his head. I couldn't believe it had been that bad. I was now even more enraged that Joe hadn't told me, especially since Ranger and I were the same blood type and I could've helped. The doctor was checking some of Ranger's injuries and left after making some notes on the chart. Once alone, I felt shy. Ranger didn't look very badass lying there in only a hospital gown, it wasn't even black. He looked at the door and then attempted to get up.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?"

"I'm just looking to see if any of my men left my laptop."

"No. No laptops, no phones, no nothing! You need to rest."

"Babe."

"Don't Babe me!" Sigh. "If you promise to behave, I'll call Rangeman and get someone to report to you. Ok?"

He glanced at me, probably considering his options; I gave him my Burg eye roll and picked up the phone. When I was off the phone, Lula and Tank came strolling in. Well Lula was strolling; Tank was in a wheelchair, looking pissed, and grumbling something about stupid hospital policies. I got out of my chair and went to hug him.

"Hey, Tank, how are you feeling?"

"Ok."

"Having fun?"

He shrugged. "Out of the ICU. Home in a day or two."

Tank tried to get up and go to Ranger's side.

"Nu uh, sit down!" Lula ordered.

Tank frowned, but let Lula wheel him closer.

"Whipped," said Ranger.

They did a complicated hand thing.

Lester walked in at that moment and leaned up against the wall across from Ranger's bed. Ranger sat the bed up more and nodded for Lester to start.

"We got 'em."

"All?"

"All."

"Any other injuries?"

"Not to the Merry Men," he said, winking at me.

"Who's in charge?"

"PD gave it to Morelli." My eyes bugged out of my head.

"I need coffee," I said. Sometimes I wish I could drink. Lula followed.

"We'll leave the men to do business. I need a donut."

We found the decent coffee in the cafeteria and were put off by the fact that there weren't any donuts. We settled for cookies and found a place to sit.

"How you holding up?" Lula asked.

"I might kill Morelli."

"I'll help. It was his case and he didn't tell you shit."

"I moved out."

"Goin back to your apartment?"

"I don't know what the guys did with my stuff; I suppose they took it to my apartment."

We finished our snack and went back to Ranger's room. The boys appeared to be behaving. Lula took Tank and made me promise to call if I wanted to go after Morelli. I shot a glance at Ranger and he raised his eyebrows a fraction of a centimeter at Lula's comment. Lester promised to come back the next day then left. I sat back down by Ranger's bed.

"What did Morelli do now?" he asked.

"He didn't tell me," I said staring at my feet.

"Tell you what?"

"About you," I said fighting back tears from remembering the moment I was let in on what had happened.

He reached for my hand, "The guys didn't contact you?"

"They thought Joe would tell me."

Ranger nodded.

"You don't understand," I said, "I was with Joe when he got the call. He didn't tell me."

Ranger looked at my eyes. I was sure he could see the tears threatening to fall.

"It's okay, Babe, don't cry."

It was too late. The tears fell freely and I put my head down on the bed. Ranger put his hand on my head and stroked my hair.