AN: I still don't own any of the recognizable characters and I'm still not making any money.

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. Please keep them coming.

Thanks to Heather (litlhulc), my wonderful Beta, who has made this story so much easier to read!

Chapter 4

Waking up

Steph's POV- 3 days later

I began to wake up but I couldn't open my eyes. My head was throbbing and I felt like I had been a punching bag. I knew by the smell and the constant beeping I was in the hospital. I wanted so bad to open my eyes but they just wouldn't cooperate.

I kept trying to figure out why I was in the hospital and I couldn't come up with anything. I remembered going to the club, dancing my heart out and then walking outside to call Rangeman. That's all I've got for memories. Was I in a wreck? Did a car blow up? I just couldn't figure it out.

I heard the heart monitor speed up and I was trying to figure out what was going on. Maybe it was someone else's heart monitorgoing off. I heard feet shuffling around my bed and I still couldn't get my eyes open to see who was in the room with me.

I heard talking but didn't recognize the voice. "It looks like she is beginning to wake up. I would say within the next few hours she will likely open her eyes. All her vitals look good, sowhen she wakes up be sure to let the nurse know and the nurse and I will come in and check her over." Well that must be my doctor.

"Thanks, Dr. Matthews." I heard Hal's voice say. I began to wonder how long he'd been here.

I felt him pick up my hand and lean down and kiss my forehead. I smelledhis cologne mixed with hisdistinct Hal scent. I recognized the cologne as Hal's normal'Boss' by Hugo Boss,and he smelled amazing. I relaxed as he held my hand and felt myself falling asleep.

I awoke again but had no way of telling how long I had been asleep, howevermy eyes didn't feel as heavy and I felt as if I might be able to open them. After a couple oftries they finally obeyed me and opened. I blinked at the bright lights and tried to take a deep breath which only hurt.

Hal looked over at me and I tried to speak his name but the dry throat I had prevented anything from coming out other that a squeak. Hal held up a glass of water and told me to take slow sips. The water felt so good on my parched throat.

"Thank You." I said once I was finally able to speak.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"Confused and like I was used as a punching bag. What Happened? I remember going out with the girls and then nothing."He nodded.

"Let's get the doctor in here and then he can give you more information, Okay?" I nodded.

Hal looked like he hadn't had much sleep and his clothes were rumpled, making me wonder how long I had been here and in turn how long he had been here. I recognized where I was and wondered where my family was.

A few minutes later the doctor walked in and introduced himself, "Miss Plum, it's nice to see you awake. I'm Dr. Matthews."

"Please call me Stephanie or Steph." He nodded and began to check my vitals.

Once he was done he grabbed a rolling stool that was in the corner of my room and rolled it up to my bed.

"Stephanie, I'm guessing you don't remember much."

"I remember going out with a couple of friends and then nothing." He nodded and appeared to be thinking.

"Well, Stephanie, I don't know that you will ever remember what happened. I know you had quite a few drinks at the club, is that correct?" I nodded but was still wondering what happened after the club.

Dr. Matthews looked at Hal and Hal nodded for him to continue.

"You were attacked Stephanie. During the attack you sustained a concussion, busted lip, broken nose, two cracked ribs, a broken rib which also punctured a lung and you were sexually assaulted."

"When you say sexually assaulted, you mean I was raped?" I asked.

"Yes, Stephanie you were raped." He replied grimly.

"Do we know who did this to me?" I asked looking over at Hal, who nodded.

Dr. Matthews stood upand said, "Everything looks good and I suspect we can take the chest tube out tomorrow. Get some rest today, which maybe hard because you have had quite a number of visitors since you have been here." I nodded as he got up and walked out of my room.

I looked over at Hal, "How long have I been here?" I questioned.

"Three days." He answered.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Three days." was his answer.

"Can you tell me more about what happened?" I couldn't wrap my head around all of it and since I couldn't remember any of it, it just didn't seem real.

"Do you remember Connie and Lula leaving the club?" He questioned, I nodded.

"You told Connie you were going to call Rangeman for a ride. We watched security tapes from the club and you were attacked as you walked out the door of the club. You were pulled into an alley and that is where the actually attack took place." I nodded again.

"Junior and I had been on a stakeout when we passed by the clubs alley and noticed someone laying in it. We pulled over and approached only to notice it was you and that you had been attacked. You had been injected with GHD or the date rape drug. You were brought here and on arrival you were checked over and then taken to surgery for the punctured lung, where they also they also performed a rape kit. We know who did this to you and both Rangeman and the Trenton Police Department are looking for him."

"Who did this to me?" I questioned.

"His name is Marcus Androes. He's a former slayer."

"Do you think that's why he attacked me?"

Hal nodded, "I do."

"Did he use any type of protection?" I asked.

"No Steph, he didn't."

"Was I given anything here to prevent pregnancy?"

"No, we felt that was a decision only you could make." I nodded, as I thought about how I could end up pregnant.

"Your parents should be here soon; they usually come twice a day, once mid morning and then after dinner. I'm sure they'll be happy you're finally awake."

Right after saying that the door opened, "Hal, has there been any change." Were the first words I heard out of my mom's mouth.

"There has, Helen, she's awake." I heard her hurried footsteps and looked over to see her coming towards me.

As soon as she got close enough she leaned down and gave me hug, "I'm so glad you're awake, your daddy and I have been so worried. He will be up in a minute he had to park the car."

"How do you feel? Do you need anything? I will bring you some dinner tomorrow night. Does potato soup sound okay? That should be easy on your stomach."

"I feel a little worse for the wear but I'll be okay. Potato soup sounds good, will you bring dessert?" I asked.

"I'll bring you some homemade pudding." I nodded with a slight smile.

A few seconds later dad walked in, "Hey daddy," I said as soon as I saw him.

He came rushing to me and gave me a kiss on the forehead, "Glad to see you're awake, Pumpkin."

My parents stayed for an hour and caught me up on Burg gossip and grandma's escapades. All in all it was a good visit. Hal left to go shower while my parents were there and just as they decided to leave, Tank, Lester and Bobby strolled in to see me.

"Hey guys," I said when they walked in. I was rewarded with three Merry Man smiles, two kisses to the forehead and a big smacking kiss to the lips from Lester.

I laughed; it was good to be awake. The guys stayed and visited with me for a while telling me about the Rangeman gossip and what everyone had been up to. None of them mentioned my attack and when I started dozing off I heard them begin to whisper but was too tired to fight it and listen to what they were saying.

The next time I woke up Hal was back by my side holding my hand. He had shaved at least and appeared to have showered. I was hoping they'd let me shower soon, as I was almost positive I didn't smell all that fresh.

"Hal," I squeaked outandhe gave me a drink of water and smiled at me.

"How come you have been the one to stay with me the entire time I was here, and how did you get on a first name basis with my mother?" I asked him.

"I wanted to stay with you and your mom and I spent a lot of time together here, as did your dad and I." I nodded.

"Why would you want to stay with me?" I questioned and noticed him begin to blush.

"I like you." He answered like that it explained it all.

"Okay, you like me but why would you want to spend three days with me while I'm unconscious?" I wasn't understanding why, his blush got even worse when I asked this question.

He just shook his head without answering. "Do you need me to get you anything?" He asked.

"No, I'm okay, right now. Have they found Marcus yet?" He shook his head.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't think so Steph. You need to rest." He told me.

"Can I at least see the search results on him and maybe I can help you locate him?" I really wanted in on this.

Hal made a call on his phone but stepped away while he talked. After his call he came back to the bed, "Cal is going to bring the search results." I nodded.

"Why does it seem like all of this happened to someone else and not me?"

"I don't know Steph, maybe because you can't remember it." I nodded, maybe that was why.

It felt like I was working a case on someone else and not myself. I didn't like that, I knew I should be feeling anger or something but I felt nothing.

Cal brought the search results and told me where they had checked at already. He also told me they had teams monitoring his house as well as teams finding out what word on the street was.

After going through all the reports, I told Hal to call Tank for me. Once Tank was on the phone I grabbed it from Hal.

"I know where you need to look Big Guy." I told him.

"Alright Little Girl, just tell me where we need to go."

"He has a sister that works at Cocoa's and lives off Stark St. Hemight be staying with her and if not I would guarantee he watches over her at work."

"We'll check it out little girl." I hung up the phone after saying bye and laid back down already feeling exhausted.