Dsclaimer:JE owns he characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while. I still make nothing from my works.
Chapter 9
A sea of black clad mercenaries flooded the waiting room at St. Francis Hospital. Ranger was busy talking to a couple of detectives from TPD while I sat in Evans lap staring at the wall. It had been four hours since Les was brought in and more than three since he went into surgery. Finally after what seemed like forever, the surgeon emerged. "Family for Mr. Santos?" We all stood up and nodded. He stepped back amazed at all the people who had responded. "Um, okay. I'm Dr. Crocker. Mr. Santos is out of surgery. He did really well. The bullet did no significant damage. There was some blood loss, some muscle damage but nothing that he won't recover from. Because he was in such fit condition, it will aid in his recovery. It will be significantly faster than the average person. He's still in recovery, but I can allow two people in at a time."
"Dr. Crocker. Carlos Manoso." Ranger shook the doctor's hand. "Lester is my cousin." And motioning to me, "This is his best friend. We will be the first in." Ranger held my hand and led me back into recovery. I almost cried seeing all the tubes and wires hooked connected to Les. I reached out to touch his hand stopping short, afraid to touch him. "It's okay Babe. He would want you to touch him. He needs to know you're here, talk to him."
I gingerly wrapped my hand around his. It felt cold and limp in mine. "Hey Les. It's me, Beautiful. I need you to wake up and get better. I need to you, Les." I broke down, dropped to my knees and placed my head on his hand. I sobbed for what seemed like hours before a gentle squeeze on my hand stopped me instantly. My head jerked up, and I looked at Les. His half open eyes, looked down at me. "Les." I whispered. I stood and kissed him gently. "Hey, you're awake."
He tried talking, but with a dry mouth it was difficult. Ranger appeared with a cup of ice chips and a spoon. Handing it off to me, I placed a few chips on his tongue. After they had melted, he smiled weakly. "Beautiful," he croaked. "You said not to leave you."
"Shhh... don't talk handsome. Save your strength. I'm going to need you to get better soon. I need a man of honor for my wedding." I smiled and kissed his cheek.
He laughed lightly, before wincing with pain. "Man of honor? Now I've heard of everything." He lifting his head he turned it towards Ranger. "Any word of who did this?"
"TPD positively ID'd the DOA as Larry Sterling, a banger from Stark Street. The other four turned up at a clinic, about two hours ago. All in custody. They're in interrogation now. I have a feeling they'll crack at anytime." Les nodded and slumped his head onto his pillow.
"Rest Les. I'm going to go now, but I'll be back later." I kissed him on the lips again gently.
Walking back into the waiting room, all eyes were on me. "He's ok. He just woke up, but he's really tired." I shuffled over to Evan and curled up into his lap. He ran his hands over my back and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. When I woke, I noticed I wasn't in Evan's arms.
"Babygirl. You're awake." I snuggled deeper into Tank's chest, sighing.
"Where's Evan?" I murmured.
"He's in with Santos right now. Ranger's down at TPD, and most of the guys are back at Haywood. Are you going to stay here for a while or are you going to come back with Ram and I?"
"I want to stay with Les. I can't leave him."
"I know Babygirl. I know."
Thirty minutes later, Evan and Cal emerged from the recovery room and into the waiting room. "Look Sleeping Beauty is awake." Cal hugged me.
I smiled, "Yeah, I guess I was more tired than I thought." I slid into Evan's arms and melted into him. "I want to stay with Les."
"Angel, let's get something to eat and I'll bring you back."
"Okay Ev." He led me out of the hospital and to his truck. We drove to a nearby deli, and settled down on the tailgate to eat our sandwiches. I handed him my pickle, and he picked off his green peppers giving them to me. "Funny thing." I stated staring at my sandwich.
"Hmmm? What's funny?"
"We don't even ask each other for the pickle or green peppers anymore."
"We've been teamed up enough to know each other. What's so wierd about it?"
"I never really thought about it before." I took a bite of sandwich. "I know Lester hates mustard, Zip likes extra jalapenos, Zero hates whole wheat bread, Ranger only will eat a vegi sanwich no condiments, Tank likes extra roast beef, Hal eats two sandwiches, Cal prefers honey roasted turkey over plain roasted turkey, Woody likes extra olives, Manny hates ham, Binkie likes anything you put in front of him, and you hate green peppers. And that's just deli sandwiches. Don't even get me started with pizza from Pino's."
"Hm. I never thought about it either. I guess you're right, we do develop close relationships with those we work with."
"That's my point. I love you. But I want to let you know that all the guys at Rangeman are my family. They are all my boys. And when one gets hurt I am the one to stay with them until they're released. But you know that don't know?"
"Yes, Angel. Remember when you stayed with me for six days when took the three bullets to my back?" Evan set his sandwich down and hugged me close
"Yeah, that was hard. I had to be tranqilized by Bobby to be made to leave your side." I smiled. "I still am plotting to get even for that."
"Steph, I understand your loyalty to us. Any time we were hurt, we knew we could count on you being there for us. It made getting hurt not so bad. We always knew you'd step up and be there to care for us. Bobby calls you our 'unofficial nurse'. I will never hold it against you. It's part of your unofficial duties. It's only one of the reasons why I love you." He leaned in and kissed me. His tongue traced my lower lip asking for entrance. I opened my lips and touched his tongue with mine. Mintues later when we pulled apart, we both were drawing ragged breaths eyes hooded. "Come on, let's finish our lunch and head back to St. Francis." He whispered.
A few days later, Les was released into Bobby's care. Bobby, Tank and I brought Lester back home to Haywood to recouperate in his own place. Les allowed me to stay by his side no matter the time for day or night. Evan had been supportive and helped not only Les but me as well. Because of my dedication to Les, Evan became my last tie to the outside world. It wasn't until lunch on Saturday, a day after Les came home, that Evan pulled me away for dinner.
"I have dinner ready for you at my place Angel. Ready?" I nodded and patted Lester on his hand.
"Stay put Les. I'll be back later. If you need anything... Binkie is here, just ask."
"Okay Beautiful. Anything for you."
I pulled his bedroom door shut and held Ev's hand. He led me out of Les's place down the hall to his. Pulling out a scrap of fabric he covered my eyes before opening the door. "It's just for a moment Angel."
I stood still as he covered my eyes, tying the blindfold firm but not tight. He led me through the door, and I could smell the aroma of roses and chocolate and... "Arroz con pollo?" I pulled the blindfold off to reveal the most romantic table set for two. The room was covered with flickering candles, vases of longstem red roses on nearly every surface, and an intimate table set for two including a bottle of champagne chilling off to one side. "Evan it's beautiful!" I whispered, nearly coming to tears. He hugged me from behind, kissing my neck.
"Happy Birthday Angel." I spun around, and kissed him passionately.
"I can't believe you remembered. With everything that has happened, you still remembered." I stood in awe of such a beautiful room. And such a wonderful man. "I love you Evan Michael. No wonder I'm marrying you." I pulled his face downward and kissed the tip of his nose.
"I couldn't forget. Ranger kept asking me everyday if I had anything planned for you yet." I smiled. "Are you hungry?"
"Famished."
"For you my lady," He pulled out my chair and seated me before assuming his place across the table. With a flourish he removed the silver domes off the plates to reveal Arroz con pollo, steamed baby carrots in a cream sauce and stuffed squash blossoms.
I gasped, "It's almost too pretty to eat." He gave me a lopsided grin.
"I had Ella help me cook this meal. But she was the one to make dessert." I delivered the first bite of food into my mouth and almost cried. It was delicious!
"Evan, This is so good!" I moaned. "Sooooooo good!" We ate in silence except the occasional moan of pleasure from me. When I had finished, my plate was clean. "I can't believe it."
"What Angel?"
"I ate vegi's!" He threw his head back laughing. It felt so good to hear his laugh, after the last four days, it warmed my heart."What's next Cassanova?"
He gave me an evil smile, and replying in the worst Itallian accent ever, "Why Senorita, dessert of course!" He rose and waltzed into the kitchen only to return moments later with a covered dish and two spoons. He set them on the coffee table and retrieved the champagne. "Would like to join me for dessert on the couch Angel?"
"I'd love to." I snuggled into his giant comfy couch watching his every move. He lowered himself next to me, handed me a glass of champagne and a spoon. He then carefully balanced his glass of champagne, his spoon and the covered dish as he sat back next to me. He set the dish between us and lifted the cover. The most heavenly aroma wafted into my face. Chocolate! A chocolate souffle swimming in fudge sauce awaited me. Evan allowed me the first bite. "Mmmm... God I think I just died and went to heaven!" My eyes rolled into the back of my head, my senses swimming in all things chocolate.
He grabbed his glass lifting it, "A toast, to you Angel and another year. Happy Birthday."
I lifted mine, "To another year." As I raised my glass I noticed something in the bottom of my glass. I stopped and looked at it closer. A spent shell casing sat at the bottom of my glass. I stopped to look again my eyes never leaving the glass. I was puzzled. "Evan. Why is there a spent shell casing in the bottom of my glass of champagne?"
"So you wouldn't see me pull out the ring."
"Ring?" I turned to see him on his knee again, holding a small black velvet box on this hand.
"Stephanie, I know I already asked you to marry me. But I wanted it to be official. Stephanie Michelle Plum, will you do me the extrordinary pleasure of becoming Mrs. Evan Ramsey?" He opened the box to reveal a giant brilliant cut diamond encircled with midnight blue sapphires encased in a platinum band. He gently slid the ring out of the box and onto my ring finger.
"Oh, Evan! Yes! YES! YES!" He lowered his lips to mine, when they touched, my toes curled and I felt like I exploded. I lost all control, I pulled his clothes off as fast as he pulled mine off. We made sweet love on the couch by candlelight, surrounded by the heady scent of roses. Our cries of release were the only sounds to be heard from Evan's apartment for hours and hours.
The next five days were a blur. I was able to resume my job researching for Rangeman for most of the day while tending to Lester in the evenings for a few hours. He taught me to be a better poker player and I was able to get him hooked on my favorite tv show, NCIS. He'd never admit it to the guys, but he really got into the whole drama of the show. To tell you the truth, I think he thought Abby and Ziva were hot.
Wednesday night rolled around before I knew it and I realized I had to pack for the trip to Montana. I freaked a little, knowing I was going to meet my future in-laws. I called Evan on his phone.
His authoritative no nonsense voice answered, "Ram."
"Hi Baby."
He softened, "Hi Angel. What's up?"
"I don't know what to pack." I pouted.
"You need some help?"
"Please. I don't want to look like a bum when I meet your parents."
"You could go naked and my parents would love you."
"EVAN!"
"It's the truth Angel. They'll love you like I do. I can be there in 20. Zip and I are on our way back right now. Oaky?"
"Yes. The door's open."
"See you in 20."
Exactly 20 minutes later he strolled into my place and breathed out a slow breath when he entered my bedroom. I was sitting crosslegged on the floor with all my clothes spread out around me. "Looks like a tornado hit here."
I grimmaced, "Yeah, I know. But what do I take?"
"Jeans for sure, some comfortable shirts, a pair of pj's and a few pairs of shorts. And a dress for the reunion." He smiled, "And a bikini of you got one."
"It burned." I frowned.
"We'll buy you a new one after we get there. Freddie's store always keeps a bunch on hand for the town girls. He'll have one in your size."
Smiling I got up and started piling clothed into the black Rangeman dufflebag Ranger gave me a few hours ago. I pulled out the silver dress Bobby had picked out for me and placed it into a garment back along with a pair of matching silver 4-inch FMP's. A pair of my tennies, my black work boots and the black pair of pinup style 5-inch FMP's were shoved into the duffle. I smiled at Evan who was now sitting on my bed watching me pack. "What about your make up and hair stuff?"
"I've got a seperate bag for that." He shook his head.
"Thank God I cut my hair, I don't think I could deal with what do have to do every day. Hair, make up, and clothing choices. It's a nightmare!"
"If you only knew!" I agreed. I dumped the last of my travel sized make up into a small overnight case Ella had lent me. It was nearly full. I then stuffed and squeezed all of my hair things in as well. Evan held it closed as I snapped it shut, and locked it. "There. I'm done packing. What time do we leave here in the morning?"
"Around 0700. It will take us about 20 inutes to get to the airport. Did Ranger give you your security travel pass?" I held up my new pass. It allowed me to pass through security with my weapon, and I wouldn't get searched. God, I love working for Rangeman! Since 9-11, things became a little hairy at the airports. So Ranger and his employees were granted special permission by some mucky-muck at the Pentagon to carry their weapons and skirt security when any of us traveled. "We're flying first class. I can't fit into any of the coach seats, I'm too tall." I guess being 6'5" has both it's advantages and disadvantages.
"I've only flown first class to Hawaii."
"I heard how that went. Don't worry, this time you're engaged for real." He smiled and winked at me.
A/N: Steph's getting married? I know, I never thought she'd get married again, either. My muse thought it was time she dropped her baggage from "the dick" and reconsider her stand on marriage. I know if Ram asked me to marry him, I'd say yes at the drop of a hat. (Sorry, hubby!) -Tiff
