Chapter 3

Bobby showed up with a frozen tray of veggie lasagna and a big tossed salad. The lasagna smelled heavenly and I was willing to suffer through the salad to get to the good stuff.

After we ate, he checked my cuts and sent me off to shower. He'd redress the wounds once I was squeaky clean to try to fight infection. He said that one of the deeper scratches was a little pinker than he'd like, but there was no obvious sign of infection, so I'd probably be good with the oral antibiotics and the antibiotic ointment.

After he applied some foul smelling goop, he rewrapped everything. He'd stop by again tomorrow to check it out, but he figured I'd be good with one more night of keeping it covered.

We watched action movies for the next hour or two until I was starting to get sleepy. I fell asleep leaning against Bobby's broad chest as he chuckled at the antics of Vin Diesel on the screen.

He shook me awake some undetermined length of time later. "Steph? Wake up, Bomber."

"Hmm?"

"I just got paged, I have to head to the hospital," Bobby said.

"Huh?"

Bobby repeated himself. "Ram got shot during a take down gone bad. I'm heading to the hospital."

"Ram! Ohmigod, is he okay?" I asked as I sat up, moving away from my sleeping spot, his chest.

"No word yet. So I need to get there."

"Can you give me two minutes to change? I want to come with you."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Even if Ranger's being an ass, you guys are still my friends," I insisted. "Two minutes, I promise."

Then I jumped up and ran for the bedroom, jerking off my tank top as I ran to save time. I heard Bobby gasp and realized I'd just given him a free show, but he was a medic and a playboy, I'm sure he'd seen a boob or two before.

In less than two minutes, I was back in the living room dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. Bobby already had my purse and was standing by the door. I grabbed a pair of sneakers and headed out. I'd put them on in the car.

Fifteen minutes later, we were at the hospital. There were already a number of men in black there, and we made a beeline for Les standing in the corner.

"How is he?" I demanded as soon as we were in hearing range.

Les shrugged and looked grim. "No word yet. Tank's on his way with the paperwork, but he was delayed with an alarm call, and with all of us here, he and Ranger had to go cover it. It'll be another thirty minutes or more and they won't share anything except with next of kin until they see the forms."

"What's Ram's real name?" I asked after a moment's thought.

"Michael Ramsey. Why?" Bobby asked.

"Is he involved with anybody?" I asked instead.

Les shook his head. "Now's not really the time to be asking him for a date, Beautiful," he replied, his eyes still full of worry.

I rolled my eyes. "No, but if he's seeing someone, I don't want to go play the frantic wife if a real frantic girlfriend might show up. That's a little too Jerry Springer for me."

I saw understanding light up their eyes. "As far as I know, he's single," Bobby said.

I pulled my cell phone and car keys out of my purse and handed the bag to Les. He looked at it like it was a highly venomous snake but finally accepted it.

"Back in a minute."

I rushed to the information desk, not having to fake being upset. I didn't know Ram well, but I liked him a lot, and the other Merry Men were pretty upset not knowing what was happening with their comrade.

"Can I help you?" a friendly nurse, who thankfully I didn't know, asked.

"You brought in my husband, Michael Ramsey. How is he?" I demanded.

She blinked at me for a second. "Let me check. I'll be with you in just a minute."

I nodded and she vanished. I turned back to nod at Bobby and Lester.

After a very anxious five minutes, she finally returned. "He lost a lot of blood but he's doing okay now. They've already stitched him up and he's getting some fluids right now. Someone will be out in just a minute to take you back to him."

I nodded and rushed over to Bobby and Les. I repeated what the nurse had said. They both let out relieved smiles and flashed thumbs up to the rest of the guys. All the other men in black congregated by our sides and I went through the report.

I was almost done with a door opened and a man in scrubs stepped out. "Mrs. Ramsey?"

Bobby poked me in the side surreptitiously and I realized he was asking for me. I clamped down on Bobby's hand and dragged him with me over to the door. "Yes?"

"Are you Mrs. Ramsey?" he asked.

I nodded. It wasn't really a lie if I didn't say yes out loud, right?

"I'm Rich, one of his nurses. I'll take you back to him," he said.

"Can Bobby come too? He's the company medic and a friend."

Rich shrugged. "That's up to you, you're his wife."

Bobby and I followed Rich through the ER into a private room. I gasped when I saw Ram lying still on the bed. I was used to him having such a commanding presence that it really freaked me out to see him lying completely still.

I rushed to his side while Bobby started peppering the nurse with questions. I don't speak medical, so I tuned them out and simply sat down in the plastic chair by the bed. "Hey, Ram," I whispered as I held his hand. "You're safe now. It's Stephanie, and Bobby's here to take good care of you, okay?"

His eyes slid open slightly. "Steph?" he asked in a low, rumbly voice.

"Yeah," I replied and then Bobby was standing over my shoulder.

"Hey man, it's all good. It was a through and through, you'll be back at the range in no time," Bobby said in what I call his medic voice. It's low and soothing.

Ram squeezed my hand and I squeezed it back. I looked around and saw that the nurse had left us alone. "For the record, we're married now. That's the only reason they let us back here. I'll stay with you until they release you, okay?"

"You don't have to do that," Ram tried to protest.

"I know I don't have to, but I want to. It sucks to be left alone in the hospital, and I'm not leaving you alone. And right now, you're in no condition to fight me on it, so deal with it, honey buns."

Ram grinned a bit at me and then closed his eyes. "How'd I get such a pushy wife?"

"Karma," I replied. I'd leave the good or bad up for interpretation. Ram grinned a bit wider and seemed to fall back into a light sleep.

Bobby just shook his head at me. "Any man would be lucky to have you as a wife," he said. "Now I'm going to go fill the others in on your honey buns."

"Bring my purse back with you," I instructed.

"Why didn't you bring it in the first place?" Bobby asked as he paused at the door.

"In case they asked for ID, I could lie and say I just grabbed my keys and ran for the door. But they didn't ask, and I want my stuff," I explained.

"Damn, you're good," Bobby said admiringly. Damn skippy.

I waved him off and settled in to focus on Ram. He'd been shot in the stomach and I could only thank God that it hadn't hit anything vital. They said he'd be back at work soon, but I figured getting a bullet to the belly wasn't a good thing.

It looked like they'd done a haphazard job of cleaning him up, probably being more preoccupied with, you know, saving his life. There were still streaks of red on his chest that I could see above the oh-so-flattering hospital gown, and a few flecks of red on his face.

I knew I hated waking up covered in blood, so I figured I'd try to clean him up as best I could.

"Ram," I said softly. "I'm going to try to clean you up a little. Okay?"

He didn't say anything but he nodded a little. So I poked around in the cabinets until I found a washcloth and a plastic basin. I filled the basin with warm, soapy water and sat it down gently on the rolling bedside table. I unsnapped the hospital gown and pulled it down to pool in Ram's lap.

It only took me a few minutes to get all of the blood I could see washed away, carefully avoiding going anywhere near his wound. Then I dried him with the towel I found and was trying to get him wrestled back into the hospital gown when his hand caught mine.

"Leave it off," he murmured, his bright blue eyes staring into mine. "It's damn uncomfortable."

I nodded and stopped fighting with the recalcitrant gown. I just pulled up the sheet to cover his yummy broad chest instead.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Fine."

"Okay, let's try it again but with the truth this time," I said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

His lips twitched slightly. "Like shit."

"That sounds more honest," I told him. "Do you want me to call a nurse?"

"No. It just hurts. But getting shot hurts, that's why we try to avoid it."

"What happened?"

"I don't know, exactly. Skip pulled a gun when the new guy tripped. I don't know what happened with the vest, it should have stopped the bullet. Guess he managed to get me at the edge or something," I said.

"So the new guy fell, alerting the skip?" I asked to clarify.

"Yeah," Ram said with a tired sigh. "Tripping was bad enough, but then he started cussing and the skip took a pot shot. Then new guy freaked out when he saw me bleeding and the skip got away."

"Wow, this new guy sounds even worse than me," I said with a laugh.

Ram opened his eyes and grimaced. "I'd much rather you have my back than him."

I smiled. Good to know.

I sat with him while he dozed for what seemed like hours but was probably less than half of an hour. It sounded like it was getting harder for him to breath and when I looked closely, his lips were starting to turn slightly blue. I may not be a doctor, but I know that humans aren't supposed to look like Smurfs.

So I hit the call button and called Bobby to get back here right away.

A nurse had just walked in when Bobby appeared out of nowhere. "Steph, what's wrong?"

"His breathing is getting raspy and his lips are turning blue," I told then both.

Bobby stepped around the nurse and examined Ram. Then Bobby pulled the stethoscope from around the nurse's neck and listened to his breathing.

"She's right, it's definitely raspy. And his lips and nail beds are blue. He's not getting enough oxygen. Get the doctor," Bobby ordered.

The nurse took one look Ram and vanished.

"Ram?" Bobby said as he shook Ram by the shoulder. "Wake up, man."

Nothing.

"Ram!" Bobby all but shouted in his ear.

No response.

Bobby rubbed his knuckles hard over Ram's chest and Ram barely flinched. It looked freaking painful, so I imagined that something had to be wrong for Ram not to respond to that.

The doctor walked in a second later and Bobby started barking out orders. I backed up and shoved myself into the corner where I'd be out of the way but still able to see what was happening. Ram was turning bluer and his breathing was getting raspier.

The doctor yelled something and then the room was full of people. A nurse pushed in what I recognized as a crash cart from my addiction to George Clooney on 'ER' and the doctor yanked a needle and vial of drugs out of the drawer and injected it into the IV port feeding into Ram's wrist. Then he pulled another vial out and again injected it.

Several very freaking long minutes later, Ram's breathing seemed to get a little better, but that could also be the oxygen tube that they'd stuck up Ram's nose. He looked less Smurf like, which could have also been the oxygen.

His eyes opened slowly and he blinked in confusion several minutes later.

"Ram, you had a bad reaction to one of the drugs," Bobby said. "Steph caught the early signs of it and we've got it settled down now. You'll be fine in a few hours."

He just blinked a few times before looking around the room. When they locked on me, I stepped forward to hold his hand. "Just so you know, you don't look good as a Smurf."

He tried to smile but it seemed to take too much energy and he closed his eyes again.

The room cleared out except for me and Bobby, but this time, the steady beeping of a heart monitor kept us company.

"Good catch, Bomber," Bobby said as he pulled me into a hug. "I'm glad you were back here, they didn't have him on a heart monitor so who knows how long it would have taken for them to notice this."

I let out a breath. "People aren't supposed to be blue. Blue is not normal."

Bobby chuckled. "No, blue is not normal. Good job."

I nodded. "After all that excitement, I have to go to the bathroom, but now I'm scared to leave him! Can you stay with him for a minute or two?"

"Sure," Bobby said as he pulled out his cell. "I'm just going to update Ranger and Tank."

I nodded and went to find the bathroom. I'd spent so much time in the hospital that I definitely knew where the bathrooms were located, so it didn't take me long. I was surprised by how pale and shaky I was when I looked in the mirror, but nearly watching a friend die is probably going to do that.

I stuck my head back in the door and told Bobby I was going to grab a Coke to help settle my stomach. He just nodded.

I went into the waiting room and was surrounded by men in black. "How is he?" Cal demanded.

"He's fine now. He had an allergic reaction, but they gave him drugs to counteract the drugs that made him sick in the first place. I'm just going to grab us a couple of Cokes. I know my blood sugar is in the toilet after that, and Bobby was looking a little shaky too. Bobby will be out to talk to you guys once he knows more, but he said it would be a few hours before Ram would be released."

By the time I finished answering questions, Hal handed me two Cokes and two TastyCakes. I grinned at him and he grinned shyly back. He was finally starting to get over the whole being stunned by his own stun gun thing.

I saw Ranger heading my way and I quickly pulled up my blank face and nodded at him.

"What's going on?" he asked as he got closer.

"Ram got shot. Apparently the new guy he was with tripped and then cursed about it, spooking the skip, who then shot at Ram. It must have hit at the edge of the vest because it actually caught him. It was a through and through and he's been stitched up from that. But one of the drugs had a bad reaction and now Bobby's with him until I get back," I reported in the most neutral voice I could manage.

"Why are you here?" Ranger pressed.

"Bobby was at my place when he got the page. I asked him if I could come, I wanted to make sure Ram was okay. So for the moment, I'm Mrs. Ram so I can be back with him while he's recuperating. Bobby can give you the details in a few minutes," I replied.

Then I nodded at Hal and turned and walked back into the secure part of the ER.

I handed Bobby a Coke as soon as I walked in and then flopped down on the chair. He raised his eyebrow at me.

"You're looking a little shaky too, doc," I told him. "So drink up."

Bobby grinned, shook his head and then popped the top and took a long swallow. I followed suit.

"How's he doing?" I asked once I'd finished most of my sugary, carbonated drink.

"Same. Hasn't woken up again yet, probably won't be long though," he said.

"Ranger got in just as I was heading back," I told him. "So you probably need to go fill him in on the situation."

"You doing okay?" Bobby asked softly.

I shrugged. "Don't know why he's being an ass, but he's being an ass. So I'm trying to ignore him as much as possible. I gave the guys the bare details, you can give them all the medical stuff that I don't know."

Bobby nodded, ruffled my curls and then walked out.

I stayed with Ram until he woke up looking somewhat confused. "Hey, honey buns," I said. His eyes fixed on me for a second before he grinned slightly.

"Hey, hot stuff," he replied. "What the hell happened?"

I squeezed his hands. "You had an allergic reaction to one of the drugs they'd given you. But I noticed you morphing into a Smurf and they were able to give you something to fix it before it got too bad. They said you'd be fine in a couple of hours, and that was an hour ago."

He grimaced and tried to sit up. I jumped up and helped him raise the head of the bed. "You need anything?" I asked anxiously.

"Water?" he asked.

I hit the call button, and the nurse, Rich, popped in a minute later. "Can he have some water?" I asked. Rich nodded and vanished, hopefully to go get some water.

He was back a minute later with a cup of water, which I lifted to Ram's lips. "Easy now," I warned. "You don't want to drink too much and screw with your stomach." Like I said, I've spent a lot of time in the ER getting patched up before.

"Thanks," Ram said after he drank what he wanted.

I sat on the side of the bed and brushed Ram's hair away from his face so I could check his temperature with the back of my hand. He shot me a confused look.

"Hey, watching you turn blue was kind of scary, so I'm just making sure you're not about to start running a terrible fever and pass out," I told him with a grin. He just shook his head slightly and relaxed against the bed.

"No one's checked my temp like that since I was a kid," he admitted.

"Me either, but it's how my mom always tried to tell if I was really sick or trying to bullshit my way out of going to school," I told him. "And it was usually pretty accurate."

He smiled at me, a full on smile and my breath hitched in my chest. I don't think he'd ever really smiled at me like that before, but he had dimples. Damn, it's not right. The man is already hot as blazes but he has dimples too? He was as muscular and toned as Ranger and his face looked like it should be on the cover of GQ with his short black hair and bright blue eyes, but he has a smile from a toothpaste commercial too? So not fair.

"You have dimples," I told him in awe. He just grinned wider, which made the dimples even deeper. "That's not fair. I always wanted dimples," I complained.

He chuckled slightly. "I'd give them to you if I could. They aren't particularly manly."

"Is that why you never seem to smile?" I asked.

He nodded slightly. "At work, yeah. I don't want the guys to pick on me for being girly. And our lives don't always have a whole lot to smile about."

"Well, regardless of what the guys say, I think it's cute," I declared.

He groaned. "This is why I don't smile much. Badasses don't do cute."

"Girls like cute," I argued.

"Most girls are scared of guys like me, so whether my smile is cute or not is a moot point," he said.

"Smile like that more often and girls might be so caught up in your cute smile that they don't notice the mercenary thing until it's too late and they're madly in love with the dimples already," I tried with my own smile.

He just shook his head, but he was still smiling and the dimples were still flashing.

I ran my hand experimentally through his Brutus-style hair and his eyes closed. I'd have sworn that he moaned slightly. I had to smile. "Big scary badass likes to be petted?" I asked.

"If I could purr, I would," he told me in a rumbly voice. So I kept running my hands through his hair, enjoying the feel of the silky hair under my fingers.

I rubbed his hair until I felt like my arm was made of rubber and I couldn't lift it anymore. He smiled when I finally let my hand fall. "That felt good, thanks," he told me.

"No problem. You're a good kitty," I replied. He just snorted slightly and smiled again.

I stayed with him for another hour until the doctor finally released him into Bobby's care. We didn't talk much but we'd occasionally exchange a bit of small talk.

I helped Ram get out to the SUV waiting to take him back to Haywood. I leaned in to kiss his cheek as he settled in the seat. "Bye, honey buns," I whispered. "It's been fun being married to you."

He grinned tiredly at me. "You too, hot stuff. Best wife I ever had." Then I closed the door.

"Bomber, Lester's going to take you home now," Bobby said as he came up to me and kissed my forehead. "I need to go back to get Ram settled."

"Sure. Go save the world, doc," I told him.

Les slung one arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. "Maybe I'll get to take you to bed alone this time, Beautiful," he whispered in a sexy rumble directly into my ear.

I rolled my eyes. "Since we're already at the hospital, you want to go ahead and get your head examined? 'Cause you're clearly delusional," I teased.

Les laughed and pulled me to his waiting car. I could see Ranger watching us from the corner of my eye, but he didn't say anything, so neither did I.

Les got me back to my apartment and made sure there were no killer dust bunnies waiting on me. He gave me a big smacking kiss on the lips, which I immediately brushed away.

He shot me a sad look. "You don't like my kisses anymore?"

"I just don't know where those lips have been tonight," I teased, and Les got a cocky grin.

"There's still time for them to be somewhere fun, Beautiful," he said with an eyebrow wiggle.

"Oh poor baby, guess it's just you and Mr. Righty tonight, huh?" I said as I closed the door in his face. He laughed and promised to get me back for that but I just stuck my tongue out at the closed door and made sure all the locks were engaged before I collapsed on the bed. It had been a long night and I was still feeling pretty damn sore from my own run in with Jabba the Skip.

Author's note: As always, please let me know what you think. Reviews make me more giddy than a kid hyped up on sugar watching Saturday morning cartoons.

Thanks for reviewing!