Morning After Decisions
Stephanie groaned.
She had the mother of all hangovers. Painfully peeling one eye open at a time, Stephanie shifted in bed. Looking over the edge of the bed she spied the bucket. Even drunk, Mary Lou was still looking after her best friend.
Stephanie slowly, very slowly, rolled out of bed. She grabbed the towels and pile of clothes that Mary Lou had placed on the dresser and treading carefully headed for the bathroom. She had spent enough time in the house she could navigate with her eyes closed. Feeling her way down the hall, Stephanie closed the door softly.
She had no idea what time it was. The sun was shining painfully through the windows. She realized that she had missed the morning meeting at Rangeman and her shift. She didn't know how she was going to explain this away.
The house was quiet.
Stephanie turned on the shower. She stepped in and proceeded to wash away last evening. Feeling much better, she turned off the water and stepped out. Mary Lou had provided a brand new toothbrush. Stephanie spent considerable time brushing her teeth, paying special attention to her tongue. Five minutes later she was dressed and heading downstairs.
Stephanie prayed silently. "Please God, let there be coffee!"
Mary Lou was in the kitchen. She was making soup. There was a mug by the coffee maker, complete with cream and sugar beside it. Beside the mug was an industrial size bottle of pain reliever. Mary Lou shopped at Costco.
Stephanie stepped to the coffee maker. She poured a cup, wincing at the noise as the coffee filled the mug. She poured the milk in watching it swirl in hypnotically lazy circles. She took the coffee to the table with the pill bottle and carefully put it on a place mat. She sat down on a chair grimacing as the chair squeaked under her weight. She put her forehead on the table and groaned.
Mary Lou looked at her friend. They had not tied one on like that since Stephanie had come to her house brandishing the final divorce decree paperwork from The Dick.
Lenny had been the savior that day, putting them both to bed with buckets by their heads.
Stephanie spoke with her eyes closed. "Mary Lou, I will give you my first born if I ever have children if you will please stop stirring what's in that pot!"
Mary Lou put down the spoon in the little holder on the stove. She too grimaced at the sound. Taking her cup, she re-filled it with coffee and sat down at the table across from Stephanie. Blessed silence filled the room. Each was lost in their own world, trying to recover.
Stephanie finally sighed. She had to get moving. She had to get home. Rex needed her. She had to phone Tank and apologize for her absence. She would need to apologize to Maurice. As his partner was not there, he would be assigned desk duty. Nobody liked desk duty. It was an unwritten punishment. Desk duty got all the shitty jobs. Everybody at Rangeman waited with glee for one of their own to be assigned desk duty.
Stephanie stood up. She gave a hug to Mary Lou. She walked to the door where her coat and purse were sitting on the back of the sofa.
Mary Lou followed her. "Don't be a stranger." Stephanie nodded. They were best friends. Everything would work out. They had each other's back.
That had been a turning point in Stephanie's world. She slowly snapped back. She started to laugh now and again at work. She even pulled a prank on Lester one day.
Stephanie made it up to Maurice. She offered to babysit his little son, Joel one evening so that Maurice and Naomi could go out for supper and have an evening alone. Joel was so cute. He had just turned four. They played cars, and video games. They watched a movie and had McDonalds for supper.
She and Joel had made a fort in the living room and he was sleeping in his daddy's sleeping bag when the happy parents returned. He was dressed in his combat jammies and had his child sized kit in the fort with him.
Stephanie put on her coat. Maurice was not just her partner. He was her friend. Stephanie and Naomi had gone shopping a few times. They had invited her over for supper numerous times. She had even taken them up on the invitation a time or two. She observed the love for each other in their eyes. Just the gentle touch helping with dishes, playing with their son or taking a walk hand in hand.
Stephanie had mentally wished that she and Carlos would wind up together like that. Life was so short and both of them were still dancing around each other.
Stephanie gave Naomi a hug. "I'm glad to make up for missing that shift, Maurice. I'll see you tomorrow. I call the driver's seat." With an impish grin, she walked out the door to her car.
Maurice smiled. He would let her have it tomorrow, but the shift after was his. He sensed she would be writing lots of reports. He had a long memory.
Ranger had now been away for five months.
Tank had delayed changing out Stephanie and Maurice as partners. He was good for her right now. He was calm and cool in situations. He was considerate and kind. He was contributing to bringing Stephanie back to the person they knew and loved before Ranger went away.
Stephanie had a new attitude. She was competent but kind. She once again started to go out with the guys on Friday night beer and pizza dates at Shorty's. She didn't stay long, but at least she came for awhile.
She had started a group who had interests in hill climbing. Once or twice a month they planned on heading somewhere to climb. Once she had mentioned it, men came out of the woodwork wanting to learn or wishing to freshen up their skills.
Maurice had been cajoled by Stephanie to go one time. He was still not comfortable with climbing. Unfortunately he now had a new nickname from their last encounter.
Maurice had taken a little too much time climbing up one hill.
Binkie was following behind. "Babies could scramble up faster, man. The beer's getting warm in the truck." Ever since that eventful day, Maurice was now called Scrambler.
It stuck. Tank was calling him that in the morning meeting. The control room called him that. His cell phone number was listed under Scrambler. His mail slot was renamed.
Maurice had mentioned to his wife his new moniker. Naomi had mentioned to Stephanie one day that she had accidently let it slip out one day at home. Joel's little ears had heard. Maurice had to listen to his son repeat it time after time until his mom sternly admonished him and reminded him that he was Dad.
Naomi had also casually mentioned to Stephanie that that evening she had babysat Joel had been eventful. Scrambler was feeling very playful the rest of the night.
She hadn't been feeling well lately. She had just peed on the stick. Nobody beside her husband and Stephanie knew yet. Tank would be advised.
As per Rangeman procedure, any expecting employee was taken out of the field until after the little one was born. Maurice and Stephanie would be re-assigned once the diagnosis was confirmed. Tank was working on a new rotation and Stephanie would be assigned a new partner.
Ranger had been gone six months.