Always There
Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, but am grateful to JE for inventing them for us to play with. Unlike JE, I am not making any money from them
A/N: Thank you all again for all the wonderful reviews and PMs, especially to you Guests. Apologies for being bad about replying to you all again – work throws things at me in fits and starts so life has been busy there. Add to that the family commitments and all this lack of time makes! Lol! Even though I can't always get back to you all please know your reviews and messages are incredibly appreciated and really make me keep the momentum going.
This one is for those of you, including the lovely Margaret, who wanted to see a bit of Val. This may not be what you expected but hey…. all's good in the world of FF right?
Shock
"Granny! Auntie Steph! You're back! Mom! Grandma! Granny and auntie Steph are back!" squealed Lisa as she came barreling down the garden.
"So I see," smiled Helen.
Lester helped Edna from the SUV escorted her up to the house, Steph close behind, as Ranger and Bobby emptied the vehicle of the bags.
Helen noticed the change in her mother, but also that she looked happy and somehow peaceful, as though the time away had made the stress of the situation she found herself in that bit easier.
As soon as Steph entered the kitchen and saw Val sitting at the table she felt the tension in the air. She knew that look. That was her 'St Valerie' look. Exactly why she was wearing that look, Steph didn't know, but usually it meant nothing good.
"Hey Val," chimed Steph, keeping her tone deliberately light. Best to avoid whatever had Val in a miff.
Val didn't answer but looked behind her sister to where MA, Angie and Lisa were hugging their great grandmother as the little presents she had bought them were being given out. Her expression soured when she saw Bobby approach and say something quietly to Edna who smiled and patted him on the cheek. She could hold her tongue no longer.
"So, you decided to come back eventually. Good of you!"
Steph looked at her sister in surprise. She had never heard Val sound quite so harsh.
"Honestly Stephanie, you've gone too far this time," she continued. "What were thinking taking our sick grandmother on some silly road trip just when she needed to be here with us, her family, where she would be safe and looked after?"
Steph shook her head a little just to make sure she was actually hearing this right. She felt rather than heard Ranger's attention from down the hall.
"She was safe and looked after," answered Steph, determined to keep as calm as possible. How dare Val suggest that Steph would not look after Edna. "Bobby's a trained and experienced medic and .."
"Oh please! He's hardly a doctor is he? And looking after gunshot wounds hardly counts as qualified to look after my sick grandmother!"
"Val! What the hell's got into you? What's all this about?" Steph was beginning to lose it with her sister now.
"Well that's just typical. You even have to ask. Ok Stephanie, I'll tell you what this is about. It's about you. Because it's always about you. The Bombshell Bount Hunter. Stephanie Plum kicking against everything she's been brought up to do. Well it's bad enough you have to embarrass this family but dragging grandma into it was going too far!"
Val was on a total roll now.
"She should be in hospital or here with her family, her grandchildren and great grandchildren, but no you and those….those….men.. suddenly take her away to Atlantic City! We saw the pictures she sent Stephanie. Dressed up and going to casinos. Really? Oh no, but that wasn't enough was it? No, you had to go and make her look totally ridiculous by taking that dangerous motorcycle ride with a gang of Hell's Angels. And you have the nerve to tell me she was safe? She's in her seventies Stephanie and is sick. How is any of that alright? But because YOU thought it was a good idea and planned it all, off she went. You know she'd do anything for you so you took advantage of that and took her away from us and now everyone thinks that we're not looking after her. And that Stephanie, is unforgiveable!"
Steph was stunned. Sure she and Val had had their arguments growing up, but nothing as vitriolic as this. God, was she right? Had she influenced Edna? She was still wrestling with the thoughts when her neck tingled and a soothing presence came over her.
"Everything alright here Babe?"
Steph looked up at Ranger. She then looked at Bobby and Lester speaking to her parents in the hallway. Suddenly she got a bit more perspective on the world. She smiled up at Ranger, squeezed his hand and turned slowly towards her sister.
"Everything's fine. If you wouldn't mind Ranger, Val and I were just having a discussion and I'd like to continue it."
Ranger stared at Steph for a couple of beats and then eyed Val.
"Sure Babe. I'll just be in out here with the guys when you're done." He kissed her lightly and left her to it.
Steph turned to Val keeping her voice low.
"What is unforgiveable Val is you wanting to play the dutiful Burg Princess, being seen to look after her ailing grandmother, supporting her mother whilst still being the perfect wife and mom and having dinner on the table and six every night. About me? This is about you! At least get your facts straight. I had nothing to do with this trip. The guys thought it would nice for grandma to have some fun in her final days, some new memories.."
"Her family are her memories, this is where she should be!" interrupted Val crossly.
"She has years of those memories but they wanted her to have new experiences while she still could. And they asked HER and SHE said yes. And they planned it beautifully and Ranger paid for it – all of it – five star all the way. And God Val when did you become so damned judgemental? So what if she dressed up and went to a casino? She looked beautiful and beat the house! And the bike? She was the first one wanting to get on it and go – and she had the time of her life! As for Hell's Angels, you couldn't have been more wrong, but I'm not even going to dignify you with a comment on that! You said you'd seen the pictures? Well then you'd know. Did she look like she was uncomfortable or being forced to do anything she didn't want to? No."
It was Val's turn to be stunned in to silence. Stephanie was in rhino mode now, something Val hadn't seen in her adult life.
"And as for Bobby, don't you ever let me hear you say anything bad about him, ever again. He's a caring, compassionate and skilled man who took amazing care of grandma; better care than either you or I could offer, so you really need to leave that one alone Val. As for where she SHOULD be? Well that's up to her don't you think? And anyway who are you to make that decision for her? She supported you when you married that ass Steve, when he left you with the girls, when you sat round eating everything that wasn't nailed down when you were pregnant, when you were planning the wedding from hell and then when you eloped. Not very Burg Val –so let's just remember who defended you at those times shall we? Just shows how much you know about her. Grandma's always been there for us and now it's our turn to be there for her and if you don't like that, you know exactly what you can do with it!"
Val sucked in a shocked breath. Steph turned to go out the door, then suddenly turned back.
"Oh and Val? She's OUR grandmother not just yours!"
"Stop it, the pair of you." Helen's voice took both girls back twenty-five years and stopped them both in their tracks. "Your grandmother has gone for a rest and doesn't need to hear you two bickering and saying hurtful things."
"But mom, I know you agree with me on this," stammered Val, still reeling and embarrassed from Steph's outburst of truth.
"Actually Valerie, you know no such thing. Mother told me what the men had proposed and was more than keen to go. Of course I was worried but when Dr Olsen said it would be fine and do her some good and that he was very comfortable with Bobby looking after her, I had to back down. The more I thought about it the more I thought he was right. Oh Val, you know your grandmother has always been her own person. Why shouldn't she do something she wanted to do? Especially now?"
"But…" started Val.
"No. Leave it now please Valerie."
The silence in the kitchen was deafening. Steph was having a moment of total confusion. What the heck had happened in the last ten minutes? Val had turned all viper on her, she'd gone into full rhino mode and then her mother of all people had sided with her. Ok so she made it not sound that blunt but in reality that's what it was. And yet all she could think about with any clarity was how hungry she was.
"Now how about some coffee and cake?" said Helen breezily as though nothing had happened.
Val still looked in total shock and responded on autopilot, immediately getting up and going to get a fresh pot of coffee started. The door burst open and MA, Angie and Lisa all came flying through asking for cake. In a flash everything seemed completely normal once again in the Plum household.
"Ranger, would you, Lester and Bobby like to stay for coffee and cake?" asked Helen over Steph's shoulder.
"Thank you ma'am but we need to get back. Another time maybe?"
Helen smiled pleasantly and pottered around her kitchen finding plates and cake forks.
Ranger turned to Steph.
"Are you coming with us or staying here a while Babe?" he asked, him giving her a means of escape clear in his voice.
Steph shook her head to clear it.
"Um, staying for a little while. I'll call later."
Ranger nodded then leaned in and kissed her on the top of her head. He whispered in her ear as he pulled away.
"Proud of you Babe."
ooOoo
The next week went by quickly. The row with Val was never mentioned and although the sisters were not as easy around each other as they had been, generally things were back to how they usually were.
Steph saw Ranger every day for either lunch or dinner and to pay parental visits to Rex who was still living in his 'holiday home' super aquarium at RangeMan. It turned out that as Ranger had been away too, Vince had offered to look after the little guy having had a variety of rodents as pets as a kid. By the time they got back from their trip Vince had decided that Rex had needed his digs upgrading, although Steph was happy to see that her furry friend still slept in his soup can. She tried to push away the feeling that he too had felt a change in the air where a certain Man in Black was concerned.
Grandma was doing ok for the most part and they had enjoyed some great family time together having had various dinners, a picnic and watched loads of movies together, mostly all the girls. On one occasion Steph, Val, Edna and Helen had actually all gone out for a meal together and had a good time.
On the whole though, most of Steph's time was spent with Edna and taking her to and from appointments. She was grateful on one hand that Vinnie wasn't too busy – it seemed that even criminals took vacations – but she had her regulars and the odd search at RangeMan that gave her something else to think about.
Today she didn't have a full inbox, but a couple of specific searches that Tank had given her for very high bond skips. These guys couldn't have been more different, one an armed robber who shot people anyway, the other one involved in a huge bank fraud. How these two were even walking the streets was beyond Steph but hey, stupid decisions and greased palms were how bounty hunters made their money.
She was in the break room having had an early start, trying to figure out how Ella got a divine chocolate brownie past the RangeMan Food Police when she saw Zip get up quickly form his desk and all but run towards Ranger's office. Her curiosity was interrupted by her cell phone vibrating. She felt her world stop as she read the text.
YOUR GRANDMA COLLAPSED AT HOME. CALLED 911. ON WAY TO ST FRANCIS NOW. MOM X
Steph threw the brownie on the table, bolted back to her cubicle to grab her keys and pocket book and ran for the elevator ignoring the calls of the men behind her. Punching the call button repeatedly she bounced anxiously, relieved when the doors opened almost immediately.
Running to her car she began to fumble with the keys and let out and expletive when she dropped them.
Large hands clamped firmly but gently down on her shoulders and turned her around.
"Babe, calm down."
She tried to shrug him off.
"I need my keys Ranger. It's grandma, she's….. I need to go."
"Shh, Babe I know. But let me take you. She needs you there in one piece Babe."
She felt the pressure of his hands on her shoulders once again and felt immediately centred. She nodded.
Ranger led her over to his Porsche and helped her in to the back and then with the seat belt. Only once they were underway did she realise that Bobby was driving whilst Ranger was with her in the back.
Once they arrived at the hospital Bobby dropped them off and then went to park. They found Frank and Helen waiting for them and instinctively Steph hugged her parents.
"We've only just gotten her ourselves. They're with her now. We don't know anything yet," reported Frank.
"But what happened?" asked Steph. "She seemed fine when I spoke to her last night."
Helen began to tell her what had occurred. It was clear that she was in shock over the whole thing.
"She hadn't felt well during the night and I'd stayed with her and tried to get her comfortable. You know that Dr Olsen said that her meds might need to be changed to make her more comfortable? Well, he's had to alter the dose a couple of times in the last couple of days so we thought she was just getting use to the changes. She settled down and then got up just fine. She didn't eat much breakfast though and said she really felt unwell and wanted to go and lay down."
Helen's voice began to strain with emotion, so Frank took over.
"Luckily I decided it would be best to follow her as she looked weak - and well she got up two steps and then just crumpled and fell backwards on to me. We called 911 and they worked on her a little while before deciding that it couldn't wait and they needed to get her here as soon as possible."
"That's when I text you," added Helen.
Steph saw Bobby walk towards them but Ranger nodded his head slightly in the direction of the treatment area and Bobby changed course. Ten long minutes later, he came back with his blank face firmly in tact.
"She's holding her own," he said gently giving them all time to absorb that important information before continuing, "but Dr Olsen has asked that I take you to the Family Room so he can talk to you. Is that ok?"
They sat in the little room a few minutes before Dr Olsen came in, a look of definite concern on his face. Ranger attempted to leave to give the family some privacy but Steph held on to him in a death grip that meant he was going nowhere.
With great tact and professionalism Dr Olsen began to explain what was wrong with Edna.
"Edna has developed a condition called Ascites which is basically far too much fluid in the abdomen. We have put in a tube to help drain the fluid off and she's much more comfortable now."
"In the abdomen?" said Helen. "But how? Mother has lung cancer."
Dr Olsen leaned in slightly.
"I'm very sorry to say that the cancer has spread and Edna's liver has now been affected too and this led to her current condition."
He gave them a little time and then continued knowing that loved ones often liked to know as much as possible even if doing so changed nothing.
"Has Edna been feeling more tired than usual, maybe not eating so well, had indigestion or felt nausea?"
Helen, Frank and Steph all nodded.
"That was probably due to her abdomen filling up with the fluid – it would also account for her low blood sugar reading. However, she's stable for now but of course she needs to be admitted."
"When can we see her?" asked Steph.
"Well, let me go and check on her and then I'll come back for you, but I'm sure it will be soon." Dr Olsen looked at each of them and took a breath. "However, before I leave you Edna has asked me to let you know about a decision she made at the start of her treatment. She was adamant about it but didn't want you to know until we felt it may be necessary."
Steph felt her gut twist. Ranger rubbed her back.
"Edna decided to make a 'living will'. This means that she has made some decisions about her treatment in front of me as her witness that cannot be over ridden by anyone else, family or medical personnel."
"What decisions?" asked Helen, her voice weak.
"Edna has decided that should the event occur she does not want heroic measures taken. In effect she has forbidden us to resuscitate her."
"But what you just did…." started Steph.
"Was not considered a heroic measure under the terms that your grandmother and I discussed. This was a procedure that, whilst life saving, was relatively simple and one that she was willing to go through. Edna was very specific." interrupted Dr Olsen.
The whole family sat in shock. Steph looked at the doctor wide eyed. Do Not Resuscitate. Spread to the liver. No heroic measures.
This really was the beginning of the end.
A/N 2: HUGE thank you to Jaz Mitch for being a great sounding board of ideas xx
