Standard Disclaimer: All characters belong to Janet Evanovich.

From Chapter 9

Tank hit a button on his phone and waited for the person to pick up, "Mr. Plum. This is Pierre . . . well your daughter calls me Tank. I work for Rangeman. Yes Sir. I hate to tell you this but Stephanie's in surgery now at St. Francis. She has a ruptured appendix. Yes sir. Fourth floor. See you then."

That was an easy call. Now he had to call Ranger.

Chapter 10: Someone had better be dead!

In the middle of their presentation Ranger's phone vibrated in his pocket. He ignored it. Then it started to vibrate again. He politely excused himself to the side of the room. Someone had better be dead! He said to himself.

"Report!" he said quietly but firmly.

"Stephanie is in surgery. St. Francis. Ruptured appendix. Get here!" was all Tank needed to say.

Ranger interrupted his way back into Lester's presentation. "Excuse me. One of my employees is in surgery. I have to leave. I apologize for any inconvenience."

"Who?" asked Bobby. "Why?"

"Stephanie. Ruptured appendix." He said as looked at his watch. "Damn, traffic is going to be . . ."

"We can fly you there. St. Francis has a helipad. I can have a pilot here in 5 minutes," said Marshall as he got on his phone.

Ten minutes later Mr. Marshall, Bobby and Lester stood on the tarmac and watched as the helicopter took off.

"Do you have a lot of female employees?" asked Marshall.

"Just two. And they are very special to us." explained Bobby. "We really appreciate your assistance. If you would like, we can continue our presentation."

"Are you sure you don't want to get on the road?" Marshall empathized. "I can just go over your written bid and get back to you. I know you are anxious to get back."

"Of course we are," Bobby said adding, "but Stephanie would have a fit if she found out that we didn't get this job because of her."

"Seems like a very special employee."

"She is." Both Lester and Bobby said at the same time. Then all three returned to the board room.

-RSRSRS-

Someone had better be dead! Ranger had said to himself over and over again. How could he be so damned insensitive to say such a selfish thing all because he was interrupted? He was angry with himself.

"ETA?" Ranger asked the pilot.

"Thirty-five tops."

Ranger texted Tank. "ETA 35 min."

Tank didn't question Ranger's ability to get here in half the time. The elevator opened and Edna Mazur, and Helen and Frank Plum stepped out. Tank walked up to them and told them everything he knew . . . which wasn't much. He then escorted them to the surgery waiting room and returned to his place by the window and waited.

Later when Ranger stepped off the elevator, he approached Tank at the window. "Any news?" asked Ranger.

"Not yet."

Then he went into the sitting area to check in with Stephanie's family. "Mr. and Mrs. Plum. Mrs. Mazur. I'm told there is no news as of yet. I apologize for taking so long to arrive, I was . . ."

"You left her on her own. I knew something like this would happen the minute she moved in with you," said Helen Plum. "How can you let that happen? Huh, how can you leave her alone?"

Before Ranger could answer Edna spoke up, "Excuse my daughter. She – is - an - ass. We all know how much you and your men love Stephanie."

"Mr. Manoso please" said Frank Plum as he pulled Ranger away from the women. Once they were out of range he claimed, "One day I'm going to stop apologizing for my wife."

"I knew she wasn't feeling well, but I didn't think it was her appendix. I thought it . . ." Ranger hesitated. He really didn't want to talk about his Babe's period with her father and he was glad when Frank interrupted him.

"I always thought it was hard to diagnose an appendicitis, but thank God your man did. The nurse told us that if Tank hadn't brought her in when he did she would have died. Plain and simple. Despite what my wife says, thank you." Frank shook his hand and returned to his wife and mother-in-law.

Ranger went and stood next to Tank who was still looking out of the window. "Anything I should know?"

They both stood in silence, just looking out of the window.

Ranger started talking again. "I knew she was having bad cramps but . . ."

"It was Paul. He told me to Stay Alert. I don't know how, and I've been standing here trying not to freak out about the whole thing, but to answer your question. It was Paul." Tank said, never making eye contact with anyone.

They stood silently.

When he thought he could continue talking about it Tank said, "Last night in the shower and while I was asleep I distinctly heard 'Stay Alert.' Then today at the office, after she ran to the bathroom I heard it again but this time, I recognized the voice. It was Paul."

Still looking out of the window he continued but this time with almost a nervous laugh, "And this is the kicker. In the car on the way over here Stephanie told me twice to 'Put the pedal to the metal.' Can you believe it?"

Ranger looked at Tank and he could see the stress on his face. He had no words.

About thirty minutes later a doctor came into the waiting area.

"Stephanie Plum family?"

"Yes, we're here." said Helen as she, Frank and Edna stood. Tank and Ranger also gathered around.

"I'm Dr. Kyle Smith. She got here just in the nick of time. Her appendix ruptured and started to spill into her abdominal cavity, but we feel that we removed all of the discharge and puss and cleaned up the area. She's going to have to stay here under close observation while we check for any possible infections, but if none, she should be good to go home in four to five days. Right now, she's in recovery and then we will send her to a private room." He paused and looked at the concern of the people around him. "That could take another hour or two so if you want to maybe go grab some lunch downstairs we can have a more definite time when you return."

"Thank you doctor," was said by many and hands were shaken.

Frank, his wife and mother-in-law took the doctor's advice and went to the cafeteria. Ranger and Tank finally sat down. Tank texted Bobby and Lester, and Ranger called his parents.

About 45 minutes later a recovery room nurse entered the waiting area and asked, "Is there by any chance a 'Tank' and a 'Ranger' here?"

"Yes ma'am." They both said in tandem as they stood at attention.

The nurse was surprised. She looked at the 6 foot plus man standing there "Wow! I guess there really is a man named Tank." Then she looked at Ranger. "Well, uhm, Miss Plum is requesting to see both of you. We don't usually let two people at a time in recovery but she's being very adamant. Please follow me."

"Wait! I'm her mother." Helen said as she stood up. "I think that I should be able to see my daughter first."

"Helen," Frank Plum said as he got up and grabbed he wife's arm. "That man saved out daughter's life today. If she wants to see him, we will just wait."

"Thank you!" mouthed the nurse to Frank Plum and she gestured for the two men in black to follow her. When they walked through the double doors she told them what to expect.

"She's coming down from the anesthesia and she's going to look and talk a little shaky. Don't let the scare you. It's normal. And we really can't let you stay for too long okay."

They both thanked her as she led them directly to Stephanie's bed.

Stephanie had her eyes closed until she heard them walk up. She was, as the nurse warned, shaking. Not violently but both men were concerned. Ranger took her left hand and Tank took her right.

"Hi." She smiled.

"How are you feeling?" Ranger said as her bent down to kiss her on the cheek.

"I'm hap-py." Then she turned her head to look at a Tank. She squeezed his hand and talked directly to him.

"He he he was so hap-py Tank. He was smile-ling. And and and Tank he was so proud of you!" Stephanie said slowly as she struggled to get the words out.

Then she turned to Ranger and repeated the same thing. "He was so hap-py. He, he, he was so hap-py."

She turned her head and looked at Tank again and smiled. "He was so prou- oud of you. He was smile-ling and and and he was so hap-py."

Ranger stroked her arm in an effort to keep her from shaking so much. "Babe, who are you talking about?"

Stephanie didn't look at either of them, she just looked straight up at the ceiling and simply said, "Paul."

She looked at Tank, and this time she started crying but smiling at the same time. "He is so proud of you!" She squeezed his hand. "He is so hap-py."

Then she stopped talking for a few seconds.

She looked to her left. "Carlos, will you sta sta stay with me to-night?"

"I wouldn't be anywhere else." He answered as he continued to hold her shaking hand.

"O-kay. I'm going back to sleep now. O-kay?"

She squeezed Tank's hand again and just smiled as if she were looking at someone else. Within 30 seconds she was asleep again.

Tank and Ranger stood there looking at each other. Then Tank left the room.

The nurse came back in and said that Stephanie would be asleep for a while but, they were getting ready to bring her to her hospital room so Ranger would have to leave. He bent down and kissed Stephanie again.

Ranger nodded and went out to find Tank. Another nurse at the counter pointed to the end of the hall. Ranger took that as a sign that that is where he would find his friend.

As he approached the end of the quiet hallway, he saw Tank. He was sitting in a chair with his elbows on his knees and his head bent down.

Quietly Tank said. "I don't know what to say. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to believe."

Ranger just put his palm on Tank's back and just stood there quietly supporting his friend.

-RSRSRS-

Eventually, Stephanie was moved to a room and Helen took over. She sent Frank away and she and her mother were going to stay with her daughter until visiting hours were over.

Edna reassured Ranger, "We'll take good care of her. I promise."

Although he wanted to stay by his Babe's side, Ranger agreed to leave the women in charge. He wanted to check up on Tank anyway. Before he left, he kissed his sleeping beauty once more and said that he would be back around 8:00 that night.

Helen wasn't happy about it but she agreed.