Disclaimer: We're just borrowing some of the Plum characters from Janet for fun and added some new ones to spice things up a bit. We're not out to make any money and we'll return Ranger when we're finished (if we have to).
Illusions
Chapter 10
Time...we're running out of time, Tiina thought to herself as her mind raced through the options open to her to try to save Ranger before it was too late.
Gentry had radioed ahead and alerted the staff of the Ryder Trauma Center in Miami that they would be arriving shortly. Tiina had provided them with details of Ranger's injuries so they knew what preparations to make. She had advised them about his condition and what she had been able to do for him thus far. The crack team of specialists was impatiently waiting on the rooftop helipad as the chopper landed on the pad.
Before the helicopter touched down, Rae and Tank yanked the door open. Even before the rotors began to slow, the resuscitation team reached for Ranger. Making their swift descent to the Center, they shot rapid fire questions to Tiina about what had happened.
As Gentry revved the copter and took off again, Rae and Tank ran behind them trying to understand what was being said. When they reached the trauma center, Ranger was whisked away for a more in-depth assessment of his injuries. Blood tests, x-rays, ultrasound and other scans were utilized to provide information and formulate a treatment plan.
The doctors and nurses moved as if in a choreographed dance. Their movements were quick and efficient as they began to monitor various body functions and evaluate the damage Ranger's body had sustained.
Rae and Tank stood in the center of the hallway and looked around helplessly as they anxiously wondered what to do next, aside from waiting. The unusual peacefulness of the night had been broken by Gentry's transmission notifying the hospital of their impending arrival. An empty, sterile waiting area yawned before them.
Moments later, Tiina stumbled out of the door that sealed off the trauma center from the corridor. Through the tears that streamed down her face, she gazed helplessly at them and began to sob.
"Nooooo," Rae moaned as she looked at Tiina, unconsciously taking a step back.
"Wha..." Tank had to clear his throat and begin again.
"What's happening?" he asked as he gathered Tiina into his arms and held her close.
"He…he just coded," she gasped. "They made me leave."
"Tank, help him," she pleaded as she gazed helplessly up at him.
Tank swallowed around the lump in his throat as a single tear slowly slid down his cheek. He held out his other arm and scooped Rae close to him.
The three of them stood in the empty corridor clinging to each other, knowing that Ranger was currently engaged in his fiercest fight ever. Tank had stood by his side countless times as they fought together in the heat of battle. They had risked their lives for each other. They had been wounded together.
But this time, Ranger would have to fight alone. This time, Tank was unable to stand beside him and do his best to protect him. This time, he wasn't able to take the bullet in his place; he could only stand and watch, powerless with his inability to take action.
Lifting his face heavenward, Tank closed his eyes and sent his prayer spiraling up from his heart, begging for the life of his friend, his brother.
"Yeah, I'll meet you in Miami," he said. "I'll leave immediately for the airport."
And then, just because he finally realized that life was really too short and the ones you truly loved could be snatched from you in an instant, Rhys softly added, "I love you, Kim. I always have."
Rhys made it to the airport without a second to spare. As the plane winged its way southward, memories washed over him. Sharing a womb with someone creates a connection, a special bond that only exists between the two affected.
It was as if they shared one mind, split in two. After years of knowing what the other was thinking and of completing each other's sentences, Rhys had missed Ric in an indescribable way when they became estranged. The loss of his twin had impacted him in many ways.
They were two hearts that pulsed in time with each other. One would beat and the other would answer. After the night Rhys had stormed away from Ranger and Kim, there was no answering thud. There was only a vacant space after each beat of his heart that echoed expectantly for the counter riposte.
The emptiness threatened to consume him over the years. With only anger and hurt to keep him company, the time had passed slowly and bitterly.
In the darkened interior of the plane, Rhys gazed into the dark void beyond the wing. As the first tear slipped down his cheek, he felt the icy grip of hatred around his heart warm and loosen further. Each tear cleansed him as it fell, allowing him to begin the process of healing. As he felt his hatred slip into the night, borne away by the jet stream as it flowed past, his heart began to pick up a familiar echo. It stuttered at first, long pauses between each beat before it settled once again into a strong and steady rhythm.
So much had happened between the brothers. Rhys thought that their bond had been severed. As he winged his way across the sky to his brother's side, he discovered that it had only been stretched to the limits of its endurance. Their connection was tenuous but still intact.
Scrubbing at the tears on his face, he urged the plane faster and faster through the night.
"Answer me, Hal. Is he going to be okay?" Stephanie asked again.
"They're not sure. He might not survive the flight."
"Nooooo," Stephanie moaned as the gun dropped from her nerveless fingers to the floor.
I can't lose him now, she thought. I've loved him for so long. I can't lose him before I have a chance to tell him. Please God, she fervently prayed as she turned to get dressed.
Woody picked up Kim. They met Hal and Stephanie at the airport. Introductions were hurriedly made as they wound their way through security. Hal spoke to Gentry on the phone as they made their way through the concourse.
"Ranger's at the Ryder Trauma Center in Miami," he told Stephanie and Kim when he finished his conversation.
"Gentry doesn't have any details. All he could tell me is that Ranger was still alive when he dropped them off at the helipad on the roof.
"Tank's not answering his phone. I assume he has it turned off while he's inside the hospital. We'll know more once we land on the ground in Miami."
Stephanie and Kim nodded as they prepared to board the plane. Woody and Hal took their carryon luggage and stowed it in the overhead compartments.
Settling into their seats, Stephanie stole a couple of side glances at Kim. She was beautiful, no doubt about it. Her sleek blonde beauty would make a perfect foil to the darkness of Ranger's features. Why Ranger would want her when he could have Kim just didn't make any sense to her.
Sighing dejectedly as she sat down and fastened her seat belt, Stephanie looked up at Kim's amused chuckle.
Kim sat down in the seat beside her and then said, "Ric loves you, Stephanie. And yes, I'm sure. I'm sure of it because he told me."
As the plane slowly began to taxi out to the runway, Stephanie stared at Kim and thought to herself, well, this is going to be an interesting flight.
The plane engines revved as it began rolling down the runway gathering speed as it went. Climbing into the night sky, Stephanie looked out the tiny window and watched as the lights of the city fell away beneath them.
Everyone on the plane settled in for the flight. As the lights dimmed in the cabin, books were opened, hushed murmurs of conversation quietly buzzed and soft snores filled the air. Stephanie looked back and saw that Hal was settled in for a quick nap. Woody was flirting with the cute girl across the aisle from him.
Sitting back in her seat, she found Kim watching her with a steady gaze. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Okay, tell me everything."
Kim smiled and with a faraway look in her eyes, she began to tell Stephanie about her life with Ric.
"I've always been in love with Rhys. Sometimes I think I was born in love with him. I have no memory of a time before Rhys.
"Our families lived on the same street. Rhys and Ric were a couple of years older than me. I can remember standing in my yard, watching them ride their bikes down the street, too old and way too cool to notice me. But, even then I knew in my heart he was the one, the only one for me.
"I worshipped him from a distance. I watched them play tricks on people as they pretended to be each other. But I always knew. I always knew which one was Rhys. He wasn't able to fool me.
"Rhys and Ranger both treated me like their little sister. They tormented me and protected me. I trailed after them everywhere that they'd allow it.
"Eventually, I grew up, developed boobs, got out of braces and learned how to flirt. I asked Rhys to be my date to a school dance. He finally agreed to do it after some pressure from Ric.
"I still remember the look in his eyes the night he showed up at my door to take me to the dance. It's like he was looking at me for the first time in his life. He was so handsome in his sports coat and tie.
"He kissed me for the first time after the dance. I can still feel the magic as it sparked and tingled in the air around us. After that night, we were inseparable as a couple.
"Rhys and Ric finished high school and went off to college. They were two hours away. Rhys came home every weekend to see me. The separation was almost unbearable. It was as if a piece of my soul was missing when we were apart.
"It was the end of my senior year in high school. I went to visit my friend Terri. She attended the same college as Rhys and Ric. Rhys was out of town on a school trip. He told me he would see me the next day."
Kim's voice trailed off into a whisper. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes as she gazed unseeingly at the darkness beyond the window behind me. Emotions chased across her face as the pain of this memory was laid bare for me to see. After a moment, she shook herself from her reverie, flicked her eyes to me and then resumed talking.
"Ric, Terri and I decided to unwind that night, really blow off some steam. We went out drinking and dancing. Ric was drinking heavily that night. He became quite enthralled with a curly headed, blue-eyed girl he spied across the room. He just kept staring at her while he ignored Terri.
"Terri got pissed at him, so we left the bar and went back to Rhys' apartment. Once we got there, Terri just wouldn't let it go. She kept on and on at Ric until he finally blew up at her. They had a huge fight and Terri stormed out of the apartment, leaving Ric behind.
"He wasn't in any shape to drive, so I insisted that he stay at the apartment with me. I told him he could sleep on the sofa.
"It had been a long, grueling week for me filled with exams and I was exhausted. I took a shower and went to bed. When I woke up late the next morning, Rhys was standing over me with a rage in his eyes that I had never seen before. As he stood there, he began to shout. He said things to me, called me names I never thought to hear cross his lips. I had no idea what was going on.
"When I tried to sit up in the bed, that's when I noticed Ric. He had stumbled in sometime during the night and crawled in bed with me. He had his arm wrapped around my waist and was snuggled up to me as if we were lovers.
"Ric was so drunk he didn't know what he was doing. He had continued to drink after Terri left and I went to bed. Hours later, there in the harsh light of day he was still dead to the world.
"I begged Rhys to listen to me. But he wouldn't do it. He screamed, he shouted. He told me he knew that I had always wanted Ric instead of him. He said Ric was in love with me, that we had played him for a fool for the last time.
"I was crying, trying to get him to listen to me. Ric was still passed out on the bed and wasn't any help. Rhys shoved me and then stormed out of the apartment leaving me on the floor as I pleaded with him to believe me.
"When Ric finally sobered up, he didn't believe me when I told him how upset Rhys was at finding us together. He laughed and told me that Rhys knew both of us better than that, that he'd be back once he calmed down.
"A week passed and Rhys still hadn't returned. Ric began to search for him but couldn't find a lead on him. His parents were worried sick. They hired detectives, even filed a missing persons report. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air.
"About a month later, I discovered I was barely 18, pregnant and Rhys was still gone. I was devastated and had no idea what I was going to do. My parents weren't the type to be very understanding about a situation like this.
"In a fit of hysterics, I confided in Ric. He convinced me that the best thing for me to do was to marry him. At this point, we didn't know if Rhys was even alive. Marrying Ric would make my parents happy and give my child the Manoso name she deserved. It would be a marriage in name only. We agreed that if either of us ever fell in love with someone, we would get a divorce to allow that one to pursue a relationship.
"I knew I would never be the one to ask for a divorce. The only man I would ever love was Rhys. He had left me and took my heart with him.
"I agreed to Ric's plan and we were married shortly after that. The same day we spoke our wedding vows, Ric told me he had enlisted in the army. He left for basic training the next day. Since he now had a family to support, he took his responsibilities seriously.
"Four months later, Rhys blew back into town. He took one look at my round belly and saw the ring on my finger. Drawing his own conclusions, he called me a whore and said he didn't have a brother any more. He said if he ever saw Ric again, he would kill him and my child would be fatherless. Then he turned and walked away from me without a backward glance. Unable to speak, I watched him as he walked away…from me, from our child and from our future.
"Depression and devastation swirled so thick around me I was unable to move for days afterward. I continued to stay with my parents. Ric barely made it back in time for Cici's birth. Cici knows who her father is and that Ric is her uncle.
"Several years later, we found out that Rhys was in prison. Ric and I got permission to visit him. I begged Rhys once again to believe me, to listen to me. I took him pictures of Cici. But the venom was still there. I could see the hatred in his eyes as he looked at both of us. After that, he refused to see us. So, eventually we quit going.
"Ric and I have a comfortable friendship between us. He was there in my time of need and stood by me when I had no one else to turn to. I've hoped over the years that Ric would find someone he could love as much as I loved Rhys. I wanted that happiness for him. I wanted him to know the magic of true love.
"But love always seemed to elude him. Oh, there were women over the years. I knew about them. I also knew none of them meant anything to him. They were just a convenience, a way to soothe a need."
Kim halted her story and took a sip of her drink before looking directly at me and continuing.
"Love always seemed to elude Ric, until a few months ago. He came to visit Cici and me one weekend. Just before he left to return to Trenton, he told me he wanted a divorce. I was shocked but I was elated for him, Stephanie.
"Ric told me he was in love. He sounded like a giddy teenager as he told me he had finally found the mate to his soul. He said that she had always wanted to fly and that he was going to help her do just that. He told me that she accepted him for who he is, that she was able to slip past the barriers he kept up.
"The joy that colored his voice and the light that shone from his face told me everything I needed to know. For the first time in his life, Ric was truly, madly, deeply in love. He loves you Stephanie like he's never loved before."
I felt the breath leave my lungs in a whoosh and black dots began to dance before my eyes. I felt Kim's hand on the back of my neck, urging my head down between my knees and her voice telling me to breathe as I struggled for air.
Ranger loves me, I thought. This is what he meant when he told me there were things I didn't know about him.
He loves me. He loves me. The words cart-wheeled through my head and filled me with joy and anticipation.
As I felt the plane begin to make its descent, I was jolted back to my present reality. Looking out the window, I saw the lights of Miami glimmering in the distance like a jewel set on black velvet.
Please God, let him be alright. I silently prayed as I watched the lights of Miami draw closer and closer. Please don't take him away from me now.