Bobby never did break his code no matter how hard I tried to persuade him or reason with him. Over the next few days he never relented no matter how I told him that I knew and had seen something off with Steph.

Stephanie however was back to her old self which confused the hell out of me, she also appointed herself as my new best friend. Ever since she was roughed up a little bit by one of her skips, she has stayed with me in bed most of her day. When I asked her why she was spending all her time with the likes of me, her eyes softened and told me that it was because I was all alone and bedridden. I just wonder if it was just that or was there something more to having my new bed mate?

Today she was camped out in her usual spot next to me propped up by pillows under her back. I looked over and was suddenly struck at how beautiful she actually was. My eyes landed on her feet which were bare and her toenails which were currently painted red. I moved my eyes up her legs and peeked at the thighs that were not covered by her shorts. When I looked up I was mesmerized by her face as she sat by me chewing on the eraser end of a pencil she had brought in with her so that we could do the crossword in today's paper.

"Cal" Steph said looking at me the curls in her pony tail swaying with her head. She was staring at me with a confused look on her face.

"Sorry, what?" I asked

"You ok?" she questioned "you aren't in any pain are you?"

"No Bomber I'm fine" I told her, in fact my ribs were starting to feel better and I was able to move small amounts now.

"I read the next clue and you didn't say anything. I thought you were thinking on it, but when I looked over you were staring at me" she said. Damn I had been busted thinking of her.

"Sorry, what was the clue?" I asked. Steph looked at me for a moment then picked up the folded newspaper in her lap.

"A six letter word for a fruit that's also a color" she read

"Orange?" I asked

"Yea it fits" she said writing the word down into the puzzle "you are really good at this" she said smiling over at me her blue eyes going wide and sparkling. No where to be found was the scared, sad Stephanie that I had seen the last couple of days.

"I like puzzles"

"Well that's good considering you have to figure a lot of them with the kind of work you do for a living"

"I've not been doing a lot of that lately" I said. I haven't been able to get up out of bed and be a productive member of RangeMan. I watch as Steph laid the paper down in her lap.

"Cal" she said placing a hand on my cheek demanding me with out saying so to look at her "you are alive and very lucky to be. I don't know what we would have done if we we'd lost you" she said water pooling in her eyes.

"Come here" I said patting my chest. Steph scooted down in bed and laid her head on my chest "I didn't mean to upset you Bomber. It's just hard to lay here day in and day out and watch all the guys go and come knowing that they could use you and need you and you can't do anything. And it's hard as hell to not be able to make the people pay who did this to you"

"Ranger and the guys are on it" she said her faith in them and loyalty to us never wavering

"Yea" I said dejectedly "They're on it"

Steph and I laid there for a while in silence, each in our own thoughts. It felt so nice to lay here and hold her in my arm. I like the rest of the guys loved Steph and let my mind go to places it shouldn't. With my mind wandering, I felt Stephs fingers drawing random patterns across my chest as she hummed. I laid there and just listened to her sweet voice hum a tune to an unknown song that was now very familiar to me and obviously to her.

"What are you humming?" I asked, my voice breaking the silence. Stephs hand stopped moving and so did the song.

"What?" she asked lifting her head and looking at me

"That song what is it?" I asked "I heard you humming it while I was in the coma and now a few times later" I told her and Stephs cheeks went bright pink as she looked down.

"Steph?" I asked placing a finger under her chin raising her head

"You heard it?"

"Yes at first I found it strange hearing it from you because I never heard you do it before, but later I grew to like hearing it"

"My mom hated it because when I was younger I would hum while I ate. It sorta was a habit" she said

"Really? I have never heard you do it before and we have worked together a lot of times"

"I don't do it much now; I broke myself of doing it. The only times I do it is if I'm really stressed or really nervous"

When Steph told me that she only hummed when she was nervous or stressed, I found it odd. In her line of work you would assume that she would be nervous a lot, but she never hummed from what I could tell. I could see her doing it while I was in the coma because they didn't know when I'd wake up or how I'd be, but cleaning my kitchen and now here with me I didn't understand.

"Steph do I make you nervous?" I asked thinking that was why she did it just now

"No not at all" she said "I feel very safe with you and all of the guys here"

"You hummed while laying with me" I said and watched as the meaning hit her

"OHHH GOD CAL NO, I guess I do it as a comfort thing too. Something to calm me, you know like a calming affect" she said her eyes worried and darting all over my face.

"Ok" I said hopefully calming her down

"I could never be afraid of you" she said and I smiled. She might not be afraid of me, but I know the first time she saw me she was a little uneasy.

"I can be scary especially with my tattoo" I teased, but not really. If it came down to it I could make grown men piss their pants and be proud of it, Steph knew this.

I watched as Steph rose up and came face to face with me, she smiled "I love your tattoo" she said kissing my forehead. When she pulled back and came back down to me we were very close. I don't know why I did it, I guess chalk it up to a moment of insanity, but I lifted my casted arm and touched her cheek with my fingers. Stephs eyes closed and her breathing changed from normal to more ragged, I could feel her heart thumping against me. I don't know which one of us leaned in, but when I closed my eyes I was millimeters from her mouth. Just as I was about to kiss her loud knocks came to my bedroom door causing Steph to jump, look at me with wide surprised eyes, and she jumped off the bed.

"DINNER" Brown called out walking in with a tray "I intercepted Ella on her way in and told her I'd deliver to the patient" he said noticing Stephs swift movements

"Everything ok?" he asked the both of us

"Yes" I said disappointed, but unsure what was fixing to happen between us. I knew what was going to happen, but what I didn't know was what would it do to us or mean.

"Steph?" he asked and I glanced over at her and she looked like she had just been caught making out by her father.

"Fine" she said running her hand in her hair. Steph looked over at me and all I could do was smile a tight lipped smile at her.

"Uhh I'm going to go and let you guys visit" she said going to the door

"Your dinners here as well" Bobby told her

"Save it or let Cal have it for a snack before bed" she said and Bobby looked at me with his eyebrow raised. Stephanie giving up food was unheard of.

"Cal I'll uhh see you sometime tomorrow" she said grabbing her shoes and leaving

"Don't look at me" I told Bobby when he turned back around from watching Steph, he crossed his arms over his chest, and gave me a look.