Okay, so here's the next chapter! Tomorrow and part of Friday, I will be gone, so I won't get to start the new chapter till at least Saturday/ Sunday. That means it might be a while before the next chapter's up, but I'll try to get it out as soon as I think of it and write it.

So, I'm not a doctor, I don't pretend to be. The only medical information I know is what I look up, what my friend who was going to be a nurse tells me and what I or any other family member has...oh and Grey's Anatomy/ House. So if any one of you that knows that this is not possible, please try to remember that this is fiction, I pulled it out of thin air/ my brain and try to keep the cringing to a minimum.

Also, I don't live in Trenton, and I'm guessing on my roads right now. Please also keep that in mind.

Sorry this author's note is so long. Please enjoy, review, and remember that the characters are not mine. I don't own anything except the crazy ideas that pop into my head so that I can produce something that resembles a story.


Stephanie's POV

I was in the middle of Ghostbusters when there was a knock on my door.

"Hey Cupcake," Joe said, bringing in a pizza from Pino's and beer. He set dinner down and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

I pointed at the pizza. "Is that the works?"

"What no hi for me?"

I looked at him. "Hi. Is it the works?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes."

"No reason to get all huffy." I said, grabbing a slice and a beer.

"I haven't seen you in a few days and you go straight for the pizza."

Pardon me because I haven't eaten all day. I shrugged my shoulders. "Go figure."

"Look, we need to talk."

I took a bite. "About…?"

"Our wedding."

Christ. I paled. "What about it?"

"Don't you think we should at least set a date? My mother has been on my ass for a month!"

"So? We should set a date when we're ready. Not because your mother is pressuring you."

"I'm ready. Are you?"

I didn't answer. I had no idea what I was.

"Christ Stephanie, do you even want to marry me?"

"Yes!" No…Maybe…I don't know. I sighed internally. This was royally screwed up.

"Then let's set a date!"

"But I like being engaged. It's nice. Can't we just stay like this for a little longer?"

"We've been engaged for three months. It's time to start planning. I'm ready to be married to you. I think we should do it soon."

"How soon?" I asked warily.

"In three months."

"What, are you pregnant?"

He rolled his eyes. "No." He paused. "What, are you?" He asked hopefully.

"No!" It was scary. The thought of Morelli and me procreating was terrifying.

However, the thought of little mocha latte babies scared me less. In fact, picturing me holding a small little boy melted my heart.

Go figure that one out.

Joe shut off the tv. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you didn't want to marry me."

"I do!"

"Do you really? Because you want to stay engaged and the thought of children gives you hives."

Not all children, just yours. Mental head slap.

Before I could respond, my phone rang.

Saved by the bell!

"Hello?" I asked.

"Stephanie? It's Tank."

"What's up?"

"Ranger's been in an accident. When he didn't arrive at Haywood, we turned on the emergency tracker. He's three miles outside of Trenton on Route one and the bus is taking him to St. Francis."

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can." I replied, hanging up.

Joe looked at me curiously.

"I need to go." I said, grabbing my purse.

"Why?"

"Because…because Lula's in the hospital." It would be the half truth. Lula would be there, but I wouldn't be there to see her.

"Fine. We'll finish this later." He paused. "Stay away from Route one."

I stopped. "Why?"

He shrugged. "There's some big accident. Nice care got totaled."

I looked at him. His cop face was in place.

He knew. He knew that Ranger had been in an accident.

And he wasn't going to tell me.

Son…of…a…BITCH!

I resisted the urge to strangle him and left. This was why we couldn't get married. We couldn't trust each other.

I arrived shortly after Ranger's ambulance had rolled in. The entire waiting room was filled with black-clad figures. Lester spotted me and walked over.

"I hope we didn't pull you away from anything important."

I shook my head. As far as I was concerned, Morelli was scum. And scum isn't important. "How is he?"

"The doctor and Tank are back there with him." He shrugged. "Too early to tell."

I nodded, not knowing what I should be asking or doing. I think I was going to throw up.

"Hey, it's going to be okay." He said, hugging me to his chest.

I nodded again, unable to speak.

Lester continued to hold me until Tank and the doctor came out.

"Ms. Plum?" The doctor asked.

"That's me." I said. "How is he?"

"Right now, he's in critical condition. He's got a right broken ankle, broken left arm, sprained right wrist, broken clavicle and a mild concussion with a possible brain bleed."

"Oh my god…" I said, feeling my knees buckle. Lester tightened his grip.

"Now I know that all sounds scary, but we're getting him into surgery now to fix all the problems. As long as he wakes up within the next few days, everything should be okay. We won't know for sure until then, but considering he's in great shape, we're very hopeful."

I nodded. "Can I see him?"

"As soon as he's out of surgery."

"Thank you."

He nodded once, and then went off to save other lives. Lester took me over to the chairs and sat me down.

"Do you need anything, Bombshell?"

I shook my head. I wanted Ranger to tell me everything was going to be okay, but he couldn't do that right now.

I didn't realize I was starting to hyperventilate until Lester put my head between my knees.

"Breathe, Stephanie." He turned his head to the guys. "I need a TastyKake! STAT!" He yelled.

Ten different arms shot out with different treats in their hands. I laughed and sobbed as I took a few. "Thanks guys." I said, wiping the tears away. Boy, do they know how to calm a girl down, or what?

A few hours later, Ranger was out of surgery and I was ushered back to his room. The nurses all turned the other way, after seeing my mental breakdown and let me go in after hours, figuring I needed to see him as soon as possible. I stood at his door for a minute to admire him. He was pale, his arms and leg in different casts and slings and he had his head bandaged. I wonder how much hair they had to remove for the surgery. Even though I loved his long, black hair, I knew he could rock the bald look until it grew back.

I sat down next to his bed and took his right hand. "I'm here, Ranger. Please come back to me." I whispered, giving his knuckles a kiss. "Please."

Ranger's POV

I sighed. We both knew which one I'd rather have. There was no one else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with than Stephanie. I stared at Diesel.

"Well?" He asked.

I sighed again. "Of course I want to be with Stephanie."

"Thank God," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Diesel said quickly. "Look, I know you want to get back to Stephanie in your real time, but you need to hold onto your panties."

"Why's that?"

"Well…" he paused. "We're not exactly sure how to get you back yet."

I stared at him for a minute. "What?" I asked slowly.

"You see, we thought we could just reverse it, but it seems a little more complicated than that."

"How so?"

"We're not sure how you were sent here, so we don't know how to reverse it."

Can you feel a tumor grow? "Doesn't sound so complicated."

"Yeah, well, we're not sure of anything right now, so you're stuck here."

Big sacrifice there. At least here, Stephanie was mine.

"The complicated part is that I'm going to be your new best friend."

Great.

"How is that complicated? You just stay in the shadows and it'll be fine."

"Hey, I had plans tonight. BIG plans, if you know what I mean."

I think I just got herpes from that sentence. I rolled my eyes. "Not my problem. You're the ones that screwed up, not me."

Diesel sighed. "Next time they come up with the bright idea to do something nice for you, I'm saying no."

"Fine."

"Fine."

We stared at each other like a couple of schoolgirls. Arms crossed and everything.

"Ranger? Are you ready?" Stephanie called from the hallway.

"One minute." I called back. I then took Diesel by the shirt. "Look, no one's especially happy about the screw up, so here's the deal. You do your job and stick by me, but in the shadows. Stephanie sees you for a second and you'll be put in the ground. Here and back there. Got it?"

"Sure."

"Good." I sat down on the bed and grabbed my boots. I laced them, then went out to meet my Babe. She smiled at me.

"Couldn't leave the black at home for one day?"

"Babe."

She rolled her eyes and walked to the hall closet. "Come get your coat! We're leaving now!"

The small boy ran to his mother and stood as she wrapped him in the coat, scarf, hat and gloves she'd produced from the closet. My heart clenched as I saw her motherly instinct take over. I knew that she was going to make a great mother, no matter what time she came from.

"Ready to go?" She asked, holding out her hand.

I took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "More than you will ever know." I replied.