Disclaimer: As usual, all character's are the property of JE. Unfortunately she won't even let me borrow Ranger for a day or two. I am making no money yada, yada, yada.

WARNING: This story is VERY Un-Morelli friendly. If you are a Joe fan then you will not in any way enjoy this even a little. Joe is a very bad in my story. It is a total Babe story. It's actually extremely unkind to Mrs. Plum too. There will be adult language, violence, and situations so don't even bother reading any more if this will offend you.

PREVIOUSLY:

After he left, I sat beside Steph and just talked to her. I told her about my family, about why I joined the Army. I just talked about anything I could think of. Hector had dropped off the things I requested, so after a few hours of rambling, I sat down and opened my laptop.

I started started coming up with a plan that would make it easier to have a relationship with Steph. My life still wouldn't really lend itself to relationships, but if I'm honest, neither does hers. If anyone could understand that, it would be my Babe. I worked until I felt my eyes get heavy, and finally let myself drift to sleep, holding Steph's hand.

I wasn't sure what woke me at first, but then I felt Steph squeeze my hand. I stood up and looked at her, and realized she was trying to open her eyes. Relief rushed through me.

"Come on, Babe, I need to see those beautiful blue eyes again. Open them up for me."

CHAPTER 10

SPOV

As I started to become aware, the first thing I noticed was that tingle up my spine that always means Ranger was near. I could hear him talking, but it seemed so far away. I felt him squeeze my hand.

"Come on, Babe, I need to see those beautiful blue eyes again. Open them up for me."

The worry in his voice made me want to comfort him, but first I had to open my eyes to see him. The closer his voice came, the more I heard. When I started to hear the beep beep beep that I know goes along with a heart monitor, I realized I was in the hospital once again. Crap. I hate hospitals.

"Please, Babe, I need you to come back to me. I want our someday, but it can't start until you open your eyes."

WHAT? What did he just say? Did he say he wanted our someday? I must be on some really good shit. I had to have imagined that. Ranger doesn't do relationships. Okay, I needed my damn eyes to open up. Maybe I was hallucinating, but on the off chance I wasn't, I needed to tell Ranger I wanted someday, too, before he had a chance to change his mind.

I ignored the pain in my head and the fogginess, and focused on Ranger's hand and voice. Slowly, my eyes opened, but I closed them when the bright lights above me sent sharp pains through my head. After taking a deep breath, I slowly tried to pry my eyes open again. This time, I kept them open, and the first thing I saw was Ranger's beautiful face smiling down at me. Hmmm, maybe I wasn't hallucinating.

"Yo!" I croaked out. Or tried to. Boy, was my throat dry.

"Yo yourself!" he replied, flashing me one of his 1000-watt smiles.

He held a glass of water with a straw for me to drink out of. That helped a little. Enough that I could ask some questions, anyway.

"What happened? Why am I in the hospital?"

As soon as the words left my mouth, his smile completely disappeared, but before he had a chance to answer me, the door opened and a doctor came in.

"Well, Ms. Plum, it's good to see you awake! My name is Dr. Bernard Genarro. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"My head hurts. A lot! When can I go home?"

He smiled and began to perform different tests on me while he talked. "I was warned you would want to leave as soon as you woke up, but unfortunately, you will probably be here at least a week, if not more."

"A week? I can't stay here a week! I need to work. I have bills to pay. I'm supposed to start my training. A week is way too long for me to be in the hospital."

I knew I sounded a tad hysterical, but there was no way I'm staying in the hospital for a freakin week. He'd obviously been smoking something if he thinks I would.

"Ms. Plum, the surgery we performed on your brain was very invasive. We have to monitor you closely for infection, stroke, and many other problems that could arise as a complication of your surgery."

"Brain surgery? What?" My hand reached up and touched my head, only to realize it was covered in gauze. What the hell?

"What's the last thing you remember, Ms. Plum?"

"Call me Steph, or Stephanie, please."

I thought back to the last thing I could remember. Chasing my skips with Lester, stopping at my parents' and having it out with my mother, and then going home and finding Joe... It all crashed down on me.

"Oh, God. I really turned him into his father!"

It's all I could think. Over and over. Tears started pouring down my face, and suddenly, Ranger was beside me, gripping my hand.

"Babe, this is not your fault. Morelli is the only person responsible for his actions."

His face looked so sad and sincere. I just nodded my head. I didn't agree with him, but my head hurt too badly to put up an argument.

"So what's the damage, doc?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

I remembered what Joe had started to do before I passed out, and I needed to know how far he had gotten.

"Most of the trauma was to your head. You have a few bumps and scrapes on your arms and legs, but all the serious injuries are to your head. I'm going to schedule some tests, and we should know more then. I'll be back later today to review the results." He smiled, then left the room.

I was relieved, but confused. Ranger must have sensed what I was thinking, because as usual, he answered my question without me having to ask it.

"I got there before he got that far, Babe."

I exhaled in relief. Then it dawned on me what Ranger had walked in on, and what he might have done for me. I was mortified. I was ashamed and terrified that Ranger might have gotten into trouble for saving me. I felt the tears start to build up, but before they started to fall, Ranger sat down on the bed and started rubbing circles on the back of my hand.

"No, he's not dead. Tank and Bobby stopped me before I could finish him off. It's still a completely viable option, though. Currently he's a few floors down with some broken bones and a punctured lung. I'm not in any trouble, so don't worry about me. You just focus on getting better," he said before he leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"I'm going to run out and call your father. I promised I'd call as soon as you woke up."

He was leaving. I started to panic. I didn't want him to leave. I felt better when he was here, and I still hadn't had time to figure out whether I had heard him correctly or if it was all in my head. Most of all, I didn't want to see my mother. I wasn't up for whatever argument this incident was going to cause.

"Babe, I'm just going outside. I'm not leaving this hospital until you do. Lester and Bobby are outside, and they've been waiting to see you. They'll stay in here until I get back. I doubt your mother will be coming with your father when he comes, so don't worry about having it out with her again. If he brings your Grandmother with him, though, I will have to give the men hazard pay," he told me with a smile.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, Babe." He leaned down and lightly kissed my lips.

After he walked out the door, the nurse came in and started doing something to my IVs. I was kind of zoning out until I heard her drop the bedpan that was on the table beside me. I followed her gaze and saw Lester and Bobby grinning at me from ear to ear. I gave her a smile as she left, letting her know I understood the effect the Merry Men had on women.

"Beautiful, it's about time you woke up. I told Ranger that maybe you were just playing at being Sleeping Beauty and you were waiting for your prince to kiss you and wake you up. I volunteered my services but he wasn't having it," Lester told me.

"You are such a goofball, Les," I smiled.

"How are you feeling, Bomber?" Bobby asked.

I involuntarily reached up to touch my head and felt the gauze. It finally hit me that if I had to have surgery on my brain, they would have had to cut my hair. I guess the look on my face had Bobby worried.

"Are you in pain? Do you want me to get the doctor?"

"MY HAIR! Did they cut my hair off?" Bobby and Lester exchanged worried looks. "Answer me! Did they cut off my hair?" I demanded.

"Well, Bomber, they had to be able to do the surgery, so um, yeah, they had to shave your head," Bobby told me.

It took a second to register that he'd said SHAVE my head.

"WHAT! They shaved my head? Are you saying I'm bald?"

I burst into tears. Ranger will never be able to look at me. Just as that thought came to mind, Ranger came into the room. He looked around the room, taking in me sobbing uncontrollably and the look of guilt on Bobby and Lester's faces. I wasn't sure why they were feeling guilty, but I figure it something to do with the fact that I started crying on their watch, and Ranger might possibly be shipping them off to a third world country now.

"What the hell did you two do?" Ranger asked in a rather menacing tone.

Bobby and Lester just stared at him in shock, then looked back at me.

"They shaved my head. I don't have hair anymore. You love my hair. Now I'm ugly, and you won't want to look at me," I told him in between sobs.

I finally got myself under control, which was a good thing since the crying was causing my head to throb. When I looked back up at him, he had relaxed, and it looked like he was thinking about smiling. He nodded at Bobby and Lester to leave. Bobby came and gave me a kiss on the cheek before he left. Lester, being Lester, came over and smacked a wet one right on my lips.

"Beautiful, even bald, you're the hottest woman I know. If Ranger doesn't like your new look, I'll be happy to show you how a real man treats a woman."

"SANTOS!" Ranger barked.

"Out! NOW!" Ranger pointed at the door.

Lester gave me a smile and a wink before he headed out the door behind Bobby. Ranger came over and climbed on the bed, careful not to catch on any of the numerous tubes running into my body, and wrapped his arms around me.

"Babe, I'll always think you're beautiful. Yes, I love your curls, but not as much as I love you. Your curls will grow back. As long as you're going to be okay, I'm happy. You can gain a hundred pounds and go bald, and I will still think you're beautiful and love you."

I looked up at him, waiting for him to add the conditions, but he didn't. I wanted to talk about this more, but I could feel the pain medicines kicking in, and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open.

"Go to sleep, Babe. I'll be here when you wake up," he assured me, so I drifted to sleep, feeling safe, content, and loved.

TBC...

Thanks Connie for your wonderful ideas and Jenny for your amazingly quick ability to edit. LOL