Again, thanks to JE for your characters we love to slaughter in this story. Manipulate and make our own in most!

I'm so excited that you guys wanted to have some fun with me! Thanks for busting my bubble Barb4psu, I wanted to be the first to do interactive stories, dang it! (Temper tantrum, kicking stuff, yelp. Whoops, sorry Willy. LOL)

Absolutely fantastic feedback. You guys were really thinking. We'll go with the areas that were pretty unanimous for sure. Ranger says he still has love for Stephanie. So, the majority wants him to prove it, meaning no seducing Sylvia. Most are still hoping for an HEA. Most every one wants Ranger and Stephanie to adopt little Angel. Many want Angel to somehow carry Ranger's blood line.

Other thoughts: If Steph doesn't wake up then Ranger can go on a boinking adventure of Miami, but he gets cootie bugs, venereal warts or herpes. Darth Lester will not die, but maybe we'll just laser his space balls. No more deaths.

Steph has a tumor or other illness was popular. Bobby coming to her in a dream was as well. Bobby running into that mess that day on purpose. Babe993 made a point about the day Bobby was killed, and about it appearing like it was really an accident and not planned. I agree. He and Les may have been miffed at Ranger for changing some plans, but I didn't think of them in terms of planning anything against Ranger or setting Steph up.

Avid Reader 59 - Go ahead girl and go find you a good Les fix for now, then me and my girl Proudofyoubabe will hook you up with a good Lester story. We'll even make him super endowed or give him a Gene Simmons tongue to make up for what I did here. She's upset because she's a Les fan and I've been mean to him before. LOL

Elkniw73 - That was a beautiful sentiment about in fiction anything is possible, and it's a wonderful escape from real life indeed.

Now I'm sitting here scratching my head because I have to try and think of something you haven't if we want another twist and you guys thought of EVERYTHING.

Weather has been weird here. Had migraines the last two days. Sorry this is late, and hope you like it.

Alix33 depending on you to come up behind me and clean up my punctuation. Thanks girl!

Chapter 10

Had it been that far down? She didn't realize how far until she'd felt the impact of hitting the water. It had stunned her, leaving her dizzy and her vision blurred as she just floated down into the depths. The further she went, the more peaceful it became and she relaxed. Dying wasn't so bad after all. She could let go now.

Her eyes were still open and she began to see the shape of a face coming closer. She recognized it and pain gripped her. It wasn't a physical pain, it was the pain of the guilt she'd carried with her for so long. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was, and she couldn't say the words. She couldn't speak.

He smiled at her and said, "I can hear you, Sweetheart. I know the burden you've carried."

"You do?"

"Yes. It was an accident. One that may have released me and the ones that I cared about from months of agony. Steph, Les was not just my work partner. He was my partner, and my lover. No matter how it ended, he would have been hurt and angry. That's what I loved about him, his passion."

"But, the women..."

"Yes, for Les, not for me."

"Oh."

"Stephanie, you have special gifts and talents. Ranger saw them in you. We didn't see what he saw in you, too many of us discounted you. We all could have, should have, encouraged you more to develop them."

She did a slow eye roll. "I don't have any gifts..."

He smiled. "Yeah, you do. You just haven't developed them. You stay like you are because you're afraid. If you improve Stephanie, Chambersburg will absorb you like a Stepford wife? You let them believe you're not worthy of that life. Is that close to the truth?"

He looked amused. "You know, Bobby Brown, you're really bugging me right now. Just like you used to."

He chuckled. "You worry too much about what other people think. Did that or suppressing your talents ever work for you? Stand, give 'em the finger, and live the life you want. You're a fucking Jersey girl, remember?"

She smiled. "I always admired Connie. She never took any shit off anybody."

Snickering he said, "Connie is connected too. Giving her shit is suicide. Speaking of, do you really want to die?"

"Yes. You haven't been around for a while. My life sucks ass in a bad way, Bobby."

"Right. A hooker? You would have made more money as a pole dancer in a strip club, by the way…"

"Shut up. I have a problem being the only naked person in a room. Had nightmares about that as a teenager."

He Snorted then looked at her intently. "If your life sucks then change it. My death happened because it was my time and my destiny. Let me show you death, your way..."

His face began to disappear. She reached for him. "Don't go, Bobby."

She heard his voice one last time. "Tell Les that if we had taken that contract, we would all be dust by now. I love him, get over it all and be happy."

What? What does that mean?

She saw a shape coming toward her. Another face. Oh, thank goodness. He wasn't going to leave her to die alone.

The face got closer. She could just make out that the face was grinning. Suddenly, she saw it clearly as the spasms began to take her as all the air left her body. Horror gripped her as she faded away, and the thing's teeth came clearly into view. Oh Jesus, please. Not like this…

Ranger was outside Stephanie's ICU room in the hallway talking quietly with Tank and Lula when what sounded like a scream of terror gave him chills, and made the hair stand up on his arms. He ran in the room and Stephanie's eyes were open. She was screaming and thrashing in the bed.

He sat on the bed, grabbing her and looked at her face. Her eyes were as wild as her curly hair. She was terrified. "Babe, look at my face. You're safe, you must have had a bad dream."

"I saw it...coming for me. Evil face. The devil."

Ranger knew what she must be talking about. As scared as he might have been himself, he saw some amusement in that she saw it as the devil coming for her. He was happy that she was awake, so he smiled.

"Babe, it wasn't the devil. You pitched yourself off that bridge like a gourmet meal as an opportunistic shark was swimming by. A big one."

Her eyes focused on him then. She blinked a few times and stuck a finger in his face. "Not unlike yourself, right Ranger? You've been known to nibble on me now and then. Where am I? Did that thing bite me?"

She looked at both arms, patted her body and threw the sheet aside. Looking down she said, "Son of devil spawn, it did bite me? Did I lose anything? Am I going to have a gimp leg, have to wear a hook?" She looked up at Ranger who was grinning.

"Why are you sitting there grinning like an idiot? Look at this mess," she grumbled.

Ranger just said, "Welcome back, Babe. I'm going to have a nurse call for your doctor. I'll send Lula in to keep you company."

Stephanie had pulled the dressing aside and was looking at her leg when Lula walked in. Lula said, "Hey...um...hey, girl. How you feeling?"

Stephanie looked up and made a fart sound with her mouth. "Pissed. How am I supposed to put a razor to this mess." She pulled the dressing back further for Lula to see it.

Lula jumped back and made a yuck face, "Them stitches looks like railroad tracks on your leg, white girl. I'd be pissed too."

Stephanie made a face. "What if it doesn't heal and always looks like this. Dammit, I'll have to wear pants all the time."

"Hmm, well. You could get it tattooed. Somethin' really cool, like a snake windin' round your leg."

Stephanie shivered. "I hate snakes." She looked down at her leg again. "And I hate sharks. I'm another statistic now." She shook her head. "Shark bite and cars blown up."

Lula put her finger up. "No, I'm pretty sure you're in the book of world records for most cars destroyed..."

Stephanie made a face at her. "Shut up..." She sat there blinking a minute. Those words reminded her of something, and she was trying to remember what it was. She felt like it might be important.

"I'm glad you awake and gonna be okay now. Me and Tank gotta go home. I'm sorry I said what I did to you. I didn't really mean it. It just hurt my feelin's that you didn't think you could come to me 'bout somethin' like that. I been there," Lula said.

Stephanie was surprised by her words and a little confused. "Lula, I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. What do you mean go home. Wait, the shark. We must be in Point Pleasant or the shore. Why did I jump off a bridge? Were we chasing somebody?"

"Uh-oh, Houston we got us a problem, girlfriend. I be right back."

Stephanie sat there looking around. She then noticed that her leg wasn't the only thing sore. Her chest was really tender and her throat was sore. For some reason she couldn't quite remember how she ended up as shark bait, but she was going to stun the guy responsible for getting her leg chewed up an extra time or two before she turned him in to the TPD. The jerk.

A man in a white coat she guessed was a doctor came into the room followed by Ranger. She noticed that Ranger looked different now getting another look at him. His hair was short compared to how he used to wear it. He ran his hand through it and a piece fell over his eye. He was still sexy, but his face and eyes were different. There were new lines there like he had aged or matured. His body was the same. Ooh, how she loved his body. She licked her lips thinking how perfect it was, and how much she liked running her hand down his… "Babe?"

Ranger was grinning and so was the doctor. "What?"

"You were thinking out loud."

"Heh, heh, heh. It's a good thing then I didn't make it all the way down to your… Never mind."

Ranger burst out laughing and the doctor put his fist over his mouth. Then he put his hand out and said, "Hello Stephanie, I'm Dr. Newland. How do you feel?"

She shook his hand. "I'm pretty sore. When can I get out of here. I'm not crazy about hospitals."

"We'll talk about that maybe tomorrow. We need to keep you for at least another 24 hours. We gave you a powerful drug that thins your blood, and right now if you just pulled a couple of stitches out of your leg and began bleeding, it could be a problem. Do you remember jumping from the bridge or anything that happened that day?"

She thought again for minute about that and shook her head. "I really can't. If I jumped from a bridge, I must have been chasing somebody." She looked at Ranger. "Who was it?"

Ranger didn't speak. The doctor asked, "Where do you think you are, Stephanie?"

She shrugged. "I figure Point Pleasant or the Shore. Maybe Atlantic City. Where are we?"

Dr. Newland said, "You're in Miami, Florida."

She was confused and looked at Ranger. "Did I come here with you?"

"Yes, Babe. You're living at my house right now."

"But, why… I don't understand."

Dr. Newland said, "Stephanie, it's obvious that you've suffered some memory loss. That could be from multiple reasons. I think you'll make a full recovery along with your memories, you just may need a little help. From here, you'll go to a short-term psychiatric facility for a minimum of three days, unless your doctor there thinks you should stay longer."

Stephanie was really confused now and not very happy. There was no way she was going to stay three days in a nut house. "No way, doc. I'm not nuts. I already told you that I don't like hospitals. They make me itch."

He said, "That's out of my hands and yours. Your jump from a bridge was a suicide attempt. I can't legally let you go until you're evaluated by a doctor in a psychiatric facility."

Her eyes moved from Dr. Newland's to Ranger's. "I want to go home."

He shook his head. "You can't, Babe."

Her eyes were now watering. "Why? You can't keep me here against my will, Ranger."

"Steph, you don't have a home to go back to..."

A sob escaped her. "I don't understand..."

Dr. Newland put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to have the nurse give you a light sedative. Sleep is good for healing your body and mind. I'll be back in the morning to see you."

The doctor turned to leave the room and Ranger looked at Stephanie. He didn't know whether this turn was a good thing or a bad thing under the circumstances. She seemed more like the old Stephanie since she woke, but what would happen when this two years of bad was dropped on her again? What about Angel? She hadn't asked about her. There was a good chance she didn't remember her either.

He moved to sit on the side of the bed and wrapped his arms around her as she cried. She whispered, "I don't have a home. Do I have a job?"

"No. You quit your job with Vinnie. You've had a rough time and I brought you down here with me to help you get straightened out."

"Oh. That's so nice of you to do that, Ranger. I'm a big pain in your butt, huh? Speaking of butts… Are we uh...you know?"

His chest was shaking. "Are we what?"

She smacked his back. "You know what I'm asking. Are we sleeping in the same bed?"

"Sometimes, you like my bed."

She thought she definitely liked what was in it. He chuckled. Dammit. "Did I…?"

"Yeah, Babe. You did." He took her head in his hands and tilted her head back. Then gave her a smile and gently kissed her. She closed her eyes and moaned. He hugged her to him again. This was his Stephanie, the woman he fell in love with. Would he be damned if he didn't tell her the whole truth about the last two years? What would be the consequences when she remembered, if he did keep it from her for some time with the woman he once loved?

TBC -

I know, I've done this before. In this case, thought it would be the best way for all of them to get some mending done.