This wasn't the chapter I was expecting to write and I'm not sure where it came from so instead of thinking of it as being short (which it is) could you think of it as being a bonus? Thought this was going to be the last chapter but, no, it's not.

I wouldn't even care if I made money if Ranger could be mine, but he's not and never will be. He and the rest belong to JE.

Cupcakes best beware. Still language.

Back In The ER Again

by

SueB

Chapter 4

"Mr. Manoso, I cannot, in good conscience, release you from my care and allow you to be discharged from the hospital."

The doctor was a trim, tidy little man thirty years my senior whose posture more than made up for the fact that he was only five foot three. A fleeting image of him standing on a box to reach the operating table flashed through my mind. He peered out over the top of half glasses, his gaze shifting back and forth between me and the chart in his hand.

I was sitting on the side of the bed already dressed in the jeans and loose grey T-shirt Junior had brought me when he dropped off my cell phone. He mistakenly thought he was going to be my driver. The keys to the Cayenne were in my pocket, a fact I didn't share with my physician.

"Doctor, I fully understand your concern," I responded. "However," I paused, fixing him with the stare I used on my men when discussion wasn't an option, "I'm not asking for your permission. I'm telling you, as a courtesy, that I'm leaving here within the hour. I'll be more than happy to sign documentation acknowledging your reluctance and relieving you of all responsibility."

Apparently my stare, like my blank face, was another weapon from my personal arsenal that was out of sync. It didn't work on the doctor.

"Mr. Manoso, I don't believe you appreciate the seriousness of the injury you sustai………"

My cell rang. I held up my hand to stop him as I checked the number. Tank. "Sorry," I said, "Have to answer this."

His mouth gaped open in surprise. He began bouncing on the balls of his feet and checking his watch. Busy man. Not used to being interrupted.

"Talk."

She's not here, Rangeman. There's no sign of her.

"What do you mean, no sign?"

I mean it's like she was never here. No clothes, no toiletries, no..

"No Rex?"

No. No Rex.

Shit! Where the hell was she? "Morelli have anything else to say?"

Morelli's not talking.

"Why is that?"

Passed out.

"Passed out?"

Yeah, might have hit his head.

"On a fist?"

Could be.

Hal and Manny dealing out a little justice.

"I want his story -- sober."

Based on the empties I'm seein' – could be a while.

"Check the airport, the bus station. Trains. Rental cars."

Already on it, Rangeman.

"I have to find her, Tank."

We will, Rangeman, we will.

As I disconnected, I realized that somewhere in the middle of my conversation the doctor had stopped fidgeting and started listening. Now he was scribbling on his clipboard.

"Did that call have to do with the woman who came in with you?" he asked, his head still buried in whatever he was writing.

When I didn't immediately answer, he looked up, eyebrows raised in an expression that said 'Well?' He elaborated, in case I didn't know who he was talking about. "The one I've been tripping over for eight days – blue eyes, brown curly hair?"

I nodded, suddenly not trusting my voice. I couldn't bring myself to call her 'missing'. Clearing my throat, I finally said, "She's…….out of touch."

"But, this woman is important enough to you that you are willing to jeopardize all my handiwork, not to mention your health, to find her. Is that right?"

His eyes, a steely blue-grey, drilled into me -- the intense scrutiny unnerving.

Yeah, guy. Okay, you nailed it. So right. I nodded again.

"Mr. Manoso," he began, "are you aware…………"

Fuck the preachy bastard. He was still going to argue. I was wasting time and, frankly, I didn't have the energy.

I slid off of the bed ready to protest but, this time, he did the interrupting.

"Hear me out," he said. "Did you know your heart stopped in the ER?"

What?

I had no idea. I didn't remember an out of body experience, no long white tunnel. Thankfully, no fires of hell either. His statement completely compromised my admittedly limited conversational skills. Again, I shook my head.

"That woman."

"Stephanie," I supplied.

"Okay, Stephanie. Stephanie, refused to let you die. There were three nurses and two doctors in that room but you were unresponsive until she got in your face. She yelled, Don't you dare die on me, Ranger. We have unfinished business. You know what happened then?

I was finding it difficult to breathe. "No."

"You didn't die. Your heart started beating, you opened your eyes and you said. Okay, Babe, I won't. Just like that."

Why wasn't I surprised? I dropped my head into my hands. "So where is this going?" I asked softly.

"Here's where it's going," he replied. "I can't explain it but, sometimes, unfinished business -- especially the kind I sense between you and this Stephanie – trumps any medicine I can practice.

He held out a prescription slip he'd been preparing. "For the pain."

"No," I said, "I don't want.........."

"Stop with the macho bullshit," he ordered. "It's mild. It will take the edge off without fogging your brain if that's what you're worried about. Trust me, you're going to need it."

I accepted the paper.

"Thank you, doctor," I said as he turned to leave.

"Find her," he threw back at me. "She's a feisty one. You want my opinion; she's a keeper. But be careful damn it. I did good work on you. Don't screw it up. Now get the hell out of here."

A keeper. I knew that. Why had I tried so hard to give her away? But, to keep her, I had to find her.

TBC