Sometimes I pretend to own Ranger, but we all know that that's only a fantasy. Sadly, he belongs to JE and of course Steph (even if he refuses to admit it!)

Steph POV

My head hurt. It really really hurt. Did I get drunk last night? I squinched one eye open and immediately slammed it shut again. Shit. Hospital. What the hell had just happened? I opened my eyes to look for clues. Machines, ugly pictures, Ranger, closed door.

I turned my head sharply. Ranger. So, apparently something bad had happened. But, he was sleeping, so I knew that no one was out to get me . I noticed then that he was holding one of my hands. I was tempted to move the other one and stroke his hair, but that would wake him.

Still, my hand twitched. Apparently that was enough to register on the Bat-radar because he opened up his eyes and almost smiled. "Yo" I managed to croak. Ugh! Was that my voice? I felt like something had died in my throat. Ranger offered me some water and I thanked god for ESP.

After I had enough to drink to speak properly I asked "what happened" Something flickered in Ranger's eyes

"What do you remember?"

"Well I was at the police station with you and then I got into the car with Abby…"

"A man in the lane next to your right lost control of his car and crashed into you."

All of the sudden, I couldn't breathe. "What happened to Abby?"

Ranger shook his head "Ten minutes ago, she was still in surgery."

If I hadn't already been reclining, I would have fallen back down. Abby, that bright and sarcastic, amazing baker, in surgery. I couldn't even picture her standing still. The whole time she was in my car she had been tapping her foot or dancing in her seat. This was all my fault. If I had been paying attention to the road instead of changing the radio station, we might have avoided this whole thing.

Ranger, who always knew what I was thinking shook his head and cupped my head with both his hands, gently, but with enough strength to force me to look at him. He was thisclose to my lips and he whispered "Not your fault Babe." Funny, usually I was the one defending me. But suddenly, it dawned on me how close we really were. If I could just lean up and teensy weensy bit we would be kissing. Ranger must have had the same thought because all of the sudden the eye contact between us intensified. I would have to be the one to close that last gap.

For the first time, I did. I leaned up just that last millimeter and pressed my lips to his. Ranger must have been shocked, I was never the aggressor in our relationship. But soon, I couldn't think because Ranger's shock faded and he took control of the kiss. When my heart rate monitor started bleeping much higher rate, we broke apart.

"Steph" Ranger started and then shook his head.

I already knew what he was going to say. Something along the lines of 'my life doesn't lend itself to relationships' or 'I love you in my own way.' I didn't want to deal with that.

But then, Ranger did something that surprised me. He stroked a stray piece of hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ear. He kissed me again lightly then laid me back against the pillows. He grabbed my hand in both of his and pressed a kiss to my fingers. We sat like that until I drifted back to sleep.