Once again thanks for all the reviews.
Chapter 7
Stephanie made her way carefully out of the elevator. There was a shift change going on and the men were still milling around. Manny was the first one to see her and shouted, "Bombers here!" The men looked around and spied her. They looked like they were going to rush her en mass but Tank stopped them with a bellow.
"Little Girl, you are not even cleared for light duty, let alone being on the floor. You have only been out of the hospital for a less than a week." Tank quickly stepped over to her and prevented the men from engulfing her in hugs and kisses. Unfortunately she was not even steady enough on her feet yet to take any kind of handling, unless it was a gentle cuddle from her husband.
Stephanie frowned. "I had to get out of the apartment, Tank. The walls were closing in on me. Please, I will be good, but can I stay down here for awhile? I promise not to get in anybody's way. I can do some searches or man a monitor for a bit and give the guys a break. Please?" Her voice took on a pleading tone.
Tank could see the desperation in her eyes. She did not do well with inactivity and three weeks was going to weigh very heavily on her. He growled, then assisted her to her cubicle. He motioned for some files from Maurice and placed them on the desk. "You are on the clock, little one. One hour and then I kick your sweet little ass back upstairs if I have to carry you myself!" With that, he stomped off to his office. Stephanie saw him set his watch with a grimace.
She pulled the first file close to her and set to work. When Tank said one hour, he meant it. She was just finishing up her third file when a very large, dark shadow came into view. Stephanie hit print just a few moments before Tank reached around her and closed down the search file. He stepped back and stood with his arms crossed. His watch continued to beep. She sighed and cleaned up her desk. She stood up and with a pile of folders in her hands, walked to Maurice's desk. She handed them to him and nodded at the printer. He smiled and jerked his thumb toward the elevator.
Stephanie walked to the elevator with Tank following her. Jeez, she was going after all. Where could she hide? The elevator was already open and waiting for her. She contemplated stopping on six and seeing if Ella was there. The door closed and unbidden the button for seven lit up. She guessed she was going back to the apartment!
Stephanie walked into the living room. Ella had visited and had left a snack on the kitchen counter. It was a selection of fruits and vegetables with a yogurt dip. Stephanie's tummy growled and she looked down at it in disgust. What a traitor it was some days. She sat down and munched away. Having eaten all she wanted she wandered into the bedroom with the idea of a short nap. She pulled back the covers and sank down gratefully on the edge of the bed. Unfortunately she became fuzzy after that and did not remember sliding the rest of the way into bed or covering herself up.
Stephanie woke up slowly. She was laying on a strong shoulder and felt nice and toasty warm. In spite of herself she groaned. Instantly her Cuban sex-god furnace tensed and spoke. "What hurts, Babe? Do I need to call Bobby?" His cell phone was in his hand with his thumb ready to press the button.
Stephanie shook her head. She snuggled deeper into his chest and sighed. "How long did I sleep?"
Ranger chuckled. "I came in just after you came upstairs, Babe. I saw you had a snack and came to find you. You were laying half in bed with your legs still over the side. I finished getting you into bed and saw you looking so cute, so I climbed in with you. You snuggled into me and that's how we have been for the past two hours. I think you overdid the excursion downstairs earlier."
Stephanie groaned. If Tank found out, he would never let her back onto the floor until she was completely cleared by the doctor. "Please don't tell Tank, Ranger. I was going crazy up here and got a few searches done. "
Ranger circled his arms around her. He kissed her lightly on the nose. "That will be up for negotiation, Babe. I might be convinced not to rat you out." Stephanie sighed and relaxed. She would work on this negotiation thing later.
Ranger moved slightly as he dislodged Stephanie. He climbed out of bed and put on his boots and t-shirt. He looked at her. She was getting stronger by the day and wanting to stay awake more. He suspected that she would be sneaking downstairs more and more. He would have to talk to Tank about that.
Ranger helped her out of bed and moved out of the way as she made her way to the bathroom. After doing her business, she joined him in the kitchen. There were more covered plates on the counter. Curiosity made her lift the covers. Ella had done her magic once again and the aromas coming from under the covers smelled delicious. There were the obligatory vegetables and grilled meats, but they were tastefully prepared. Once again, there was a covered dish and upon lifting the cover, there was a chocolate brownie with sauce dribbled over it. Stephanie's mouth watered at the sight.
Ranger firmly pushed the plate to the other end of the counter with one hand and taking the cover away from her put it over the delectable piece of heaven. He had a strict rule about no dessert before eating the main meal. They sat down and began eating. Ranger told her what had happened during the past few days and the new accounts that were almost ready for installation. Hector and Cesar would be busy. Business was certainly picking up.
~~~o0o~~~
Ranger and Tank had discussed hiring more employees or moving up some of the contract workers. Stephanie knew a few of the contract workers and most had been very polite to her. A couple she had had a bad feeling about and had talked to Ranger about them some time ago. He had taken her concerns to heart and had started to observe them more closely.
Two of them had been eventually let go. Stephanie's spidey sense had picked up something and when they had an even deeper check made had found out some discrepancies from otherwise reliable sources. They had been unceremoniously let go with the unfortunate side effect of an ugly scene or two. In one instance, Terry Gandolf had made some threatening remarks and gestures and it had snowballed to Tank stepping away from the door and physically manhandling Terry out the door and out of Rangeman. He had not even been allowed to voluntarily hand over his keys or weapons but had been physically relieved of them. Lenny Mappins had just shrugged his shoulders when relieved of his duties and job and had left quietly.
~~~o0o~~~
Time marched slowly for Stephanie and a number of times Tank had demanded that she leave the floor and head upstairs for a rest. Twice he had threatened that Bobby was on his way with a hypo unless she move but only once had she resorted to heading to Ranger's office for support.
Unfortunately for Stephanie, he was letting Tank take the lead on this one and she found herself being escorted up to seven by both Tank and Bobby. Feeling rather childish she had stuck her tongue out at them both as the elevator door opened on seven and Ella was waiting at the apartment door.
Tank had obviously decided that enough was enough and the next morning when she called for the elevator, it did not respond. She pressed the call button again with the same result. She stomped back into the apartment and heard the house phone ringing. Picking it up, she heard Tank's deep voice saying that her punishment for yesterday was enforced restriction to the apartment for 24 hours and if she wanted to go against his orders again, it would be doubled each time. Stephanie was too weak to take the stairs and slumped down on the couch in frustration. Not even Ella's wonderful food and tasty desserts could temper her evil mood that day.
Ranger wisely stayed downstairs until supper time. He peeked around the corner as he walked in the door. Stephanie was curled up on the couch watching another movie. Her eyes had that caged wild animal look and she was spoiling for a fight. Ranger picked her up and put her on his lap. He stroked her back and whispered in her ear. Eventually she calmed down and sighed. One week more and she hopefully would be released for light duty. Everybody was counting the days.
Ranger escorted her to the doctor. Dr. Evans checked her leg and her ribs. He had the lab draw some blood for anemia. He proceeded to give her her new restrictions for the next week. She was to start her physical fitness regime slowly and build herself up. No long distance running, and no hand to hand combat yet. Bobby had already had a sheet of information faxed to him by the office but the doctor was only confirming what he had ordered. Stephanie promised to abide by the relaxed rules and practically danced out the door. She looked at Ranger like he was lunch. Ranger grinned. He suspected that he was going to be off-line all evening. Stephanie had not been the only one counting the days.
They arrived back at Rangeman. Swiftly the elevator took them to seven. Tacked on the door was Stephanie's new work schedule. She too was off line until tomorrow. At the bottom of the page was a large happy face. Stephanie wondered who the happy face might be; herself, Ranger, Tank, Ella, or Bobby?
