Chapter 9

Stephanie's POV

A really handsome blond man in a doctor's white coat had just walked in and asked about family for Mandy.

Carlos went to him and introduced himself. He said, "I'm Carlos Manoso and this is Stephanie Plum. Amanda has no family in Trenton. She's employed by my company and we'll be a contact until we can reach family. My company will be taking care of anything hospital related. Whatever her needs, we'll sign."

He said, "I recognize you both from the award banquet. I recall you both made quite an impression on the dance floor that evening."

He offered his hand, "I'm Dr. Casper Visser and I regret meeting you under these circumstances."

"Mr. Manoso, Ms. Smith has sustained very serious injuries and she may not make it through the night still. She lost about 40 percent of her blood, about the limit a human can lose. We're still pumping it back into her. She had two gunshot wounds, eight knife wounds, broken bones, and more. She has been sexually assaulted as well.

I felt and heard Ranger's face mask come clashing down.

"Her extraordinary will to live is under the circumstances a miracle.

Do you know who did this and why?"

Carlos growled, "Yes, a dead man…and because she was asked to do a job and did it well!"...

Carlos turned and walked out of the ER and I knew that I couldn't help right now or stop him. He called over his shoulder, "I'm going to check on Santos."

Dr. Visser smiled at me, "We can put her back together physically but she may never be the same, Ms. Plum."

"You know, I met her twice by chance and was very intrigued by her Southern charm and warmth. We'll give her the best care possible."

"We appreciate that, Dr. Visser. Carlos, myself and our team at our company care about her very much. We're all like a big family."

He said, "She's lucky, then, and call me Cas."

I said, "Okay then, Call me Stephanie."

"Then Stephanie, I'll be back when we have more news after her surgeries." Then Dr. Visser took my hand and put his other on top and gave me a warm smile.

As he was walking away, I caught myself thinking, I wish he wasn't wearing that stupid coat thing so I could check out his butt…Then I looked around to see if anybody I knew was watching me.

Like Mandy says, "I'm not friggin' blind."

Wow, why didn't I ever get a Dr. Dreamy when I was in the hospital.

Lester's POV

I slowly woke up and realized that I was in a cell at Rangeman.

What the hell is this? I thought.

Oh man, then I remembered Mandy.

Oh my God, I put my head in my hands and I sobbed like a baby.

I had found this special girl for a minute and then she was just gone.

My heart ached so bad for her. All the bullet holes and broken bones in

the world didn't compare to this kind of pain.

..I just sobbed..

I had turned my head and just let that bastard come and take her and God only knows what she went through before she died.

Rage filled me up and I wanted to hunt. I wanted to hunt that fucker Cullen down like the animal he was and gut him and string him up and watch him suffer and scream for mercy until his soul shipped straight to hell!

I grabbed the bars of the cell and began yelling for someone to let me the hell out so I could find the fucker.

Carlos, walked out of the shadows up to the bars. I glared at him…"LET ME OUT!"

"Lester, I need to talk to you. She is alive…for now", Ranger said.

I was stunned. "Why did you lock me up in here when I could be with her?

We never kept you from Stephanie!"

"Lester, you can't see her anyway.

She was barely alive when we arrived and they were doing everything they could until they got her to RWJ trauma center. It took them two hours just to stabilize her and find all of her injuries. She's in surgery now and will be for the rest of the day and night."

I still glared at him…

"Lester…please trust me, you did not want to see it….not the way I saw it."

I squatted down to the floor, hung my head and took some long breaths.

Carlos said, "If I let you out, you can't go off on a manhunt alone. You'll get yourself killed. We'll hunt him and we'll do what is necessary but, we do it as a team."

"I will have no more of my family's blood shed today."

There is more at work here than meets the eye and we have to find out who's backing Cullen and then we move.

I will let you out but you have to shut it down Lester…."

I sat down on the mattress and Carlos unlocked the door and sat down beside me.

"How bad?"..."Bad"…

"Tell me"…

"Two gunshot wounds, multiple knife wounds, broken bones, internal injuries, serious blood loss."

"Oh Jesus…My girl fought like hell, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did. She should be dead right now."

Ranger, "he said he was going to rape her?"...Ranger nodded

…"I have hope that she doesn't remember it because of all the other injuries."

I closed my eyes and took another deep breath.

"Come on, Santos, you need to clean up, try to eat a meal and then we'll go to the hospital and wait"…Then Carlos put his arm around my shoulder and gave me the Carlos version of a hug..before he slapped me on the back of my head.

"Damn…Boss"…

Stephanie's POV

It was 7:30PM and it had been hours since we had heard more news about Mandy. Ordinarily, there would have been a sea of black Rangeman uniforms in the waiting area but every available man was tearing apart Trenton looking for Cullen.

I looked up just as Ranger, Lester and Ella came into the ER waiting room. Ranger looked weary with the weight of all the people at Rangeman on his shoulders. Ranger always made everything alright, he always brought home his family and they trusted him but this time, he had lost trust in himself.

Ella's eyes were bloodshot, rimmed in red. She and Luis had never been able to have children and they both took care of all of us like loving parents. Today one of Ella's children had almost died and one had almost died of a broken heart.

Lester looked haunted. There were just no words to describe what I saw on his sweet face.

It made me flinch to think of that face on Ranger those times he had pushed himself to the limit trying to find me and save my life before something like this could happen.

I held my hand out to Lester and he took it, sat down next to me and just held it to his heart for comfort. "Lester," I said softly, "it's been about 8 hours and she's still fighting. We have only spoken to a doctor one time and no one can see her yet while they're busy trying to save her life. Don't be too upset with Carlos. He loves you and was trying to protect you."

He said, "I know, Steph…We worked it out."

"How much do you know?"

"Carlos told me most of it."

Tears started rolling down my face. I tried not to but I couldn't stop them.

"Lester, Cullen can run but he can't hide from this. He…will..be found.

Mandy is going to need you focused and strong for her. Her recovery will be slow and probably painful."

Ella said, "Stephanie, I brought some food. I have fed the men and you can go eat and take a break and I'll sit with Lester."

Lester wouldn't let go of my hand. "Lester, I gotta' pee too and Carlos is not gonna' let you follow me in there." He looked up and gave me a little grin. I kissed his hand and told them I would be back in a few minutes.

I shouldn't be able to eat but, my stomach was grumbling and I was nervous and felt like I could put ketchup on a bear and eat it right now.

Ranger's POV

My phone rang. I looked down at it, "Morrelli?".. "Ranger, A patrol car found Amanda's burned out car off Stark a few blocks from the apartment building.

The bullet we pulled from the wall came from a Glock-38.

Amanda's blood wasn't the only blood in that room. I think you already had a hunch about that"… "Yes."

"We have his blood from the crime scene and his DNA from her. If he's found he won't be getting out again and with the evidence and crime scene photos she may not even have to show up in court to get him put away.

While he is still at large though keep an eye on her." "Already covered"…

"Most everyone at the station has heard this story now and seen these pictures. I just wanted to let you know that nobody is going to be watching any house cleaning on the streets of Trenton right now.

I'll call you back with any more news."

"Appreciate that"…

"I called earlier and got a report on Amanda's injuries. Any news lately?" Morelli asked.

…"No…Still in surgery".

"Okay..be in touch"..

Just then Dr. Visser came walking into the waiting room. We all stood to hear his report.

"Mr. Manoso?"

I stepped back and pushed Lester forward. "Dr. Visser, this is Lester Santos, Amanda's boyfriend. Anything you say should be shared with both of us."

"Of course", Dr. Visser said…

Stephanie's POV

I thought I caught just a hint of a dark flash in Visser's eyes right before he smiled and presented his hand to Lester, "Casper Visser, Mr. Santos, I am one of the ER trauma team doctors here and was on duty when Ms. Smith came in this morning.

You're a lucky man, I had the pleasure of meeting her and liked her very much."

"Have you been informed of her injuries so far?"..."Some yes", Lester said softly…

"The general surgeon just finished repairing the internal injuries. Her spleen was punctured and had to be removed, One of the gunshots went through her left ovary and it was too damaged to save. There were several internal bleeds that were repaired including tears in her rectum and vagina. (I saw Lester flinch)

She has two cracked ribs but luckily neither punctured any vital organs. A portion of one kidney was damaged due to one of the knife wounds. Some of her knife wounds were deep but no major internal damage and they have been sutured now.

It is likely that she will have to undergo several more surgeries. There is one problem that we are very concerned about. She sustained a massive head injury and her skull has a hairline fracture. The second bullet did not pierce her skull but dealt a concussion above her left temple. Her brain is swelling and it's probable that we may have to relieve the pressure to prevent permanent brain damage."

Ranger's POV

Dr. Visser continued, "I'll be setting some of her broken bones tonight. She has a broken ankle (Lester turned a knowing look to me), two broken toes, a broken arm, 2 broken fingers and a broken cheekbone.

Her injuries are so severe that if she were to wake, the pain would be almost unbearable and send her into shock, we are in agreement that she should be placed in a medically induced coma after we deal with her head trauma tonight. It will also speed up the healing process. She sustained a small spinal injury and we won't know how it will affect her until she wakes up. However, it was not severe and could have been much worse and may likely heal over time. She will definitely need physical therapy in her future."

Lester was white faced and looked ready to pass out. I was relieved when Visser just fucking stopped talking. Dr. Visser asked if we had any questions.

Lester looked at him. "Yeah…will she remember what awful thing happened to her?...Can she still have children?...How will this awful fucked up shit change her?"...

I felt like shit as I looked over and saw a tear run down my boy's face.

Dr. Visser said, "Mr. Santos, there is so much that we just won't know for a while. Many patients who suffer trauma lose a fragment of memory right around the episode. As far as children, if her womb was not injured, many women conceive with just one ovary. The rest will just have to be dealt with when she wakes up. I have to go now she should be coming out of surgery soon."

I looked behind us and Stephanie and Ella were holding hands and softly crying. Evidently Hal and Bobby had walked into the waiting room while Visser was talking.

Both men were staring with unshed tears in their eyes. I had known Bobby most of my life and been through the shit with him and only one other time did I ever see an unshed tear in his eye and that is when Stephanie was hurt. Hal looked at me with sad eyes and just turned and walked away.

How the hell was I going to fix all that was broken here?...

TBC