Nothing Ever Goes As Planned- Chapter 10

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Bobby's POV

We all waited outside the OR for word about Steph's condition. I know that the others had the same feelings I did. Blood boiling anger at Monroe for daring to kidnap, touch, and rape her. Rage that the fucker died so quickly from Steph's bullet to the head instead of slowly, and painfully by my hand. Hurt and anger at Steph for not listening to us when we tried to warn her. Disbelief that the fucking cops were actually going to try to pursue this as a murder case. Good luck proving anything, assholes, when all of us guys confessed to killing Monroe. We had all confessed to murder to protect her. That was the kind of effect she had on us.

Mostly, I was worried and uncertain. I don't like feeling uncertain, it scares me. I was uncertain because I wasn't sure about how to deal with Steph. She had a lot of serious physical injuries. But I was a medic, those I knew what to do with. Bleeding, trauma, heart attack, those were things I could deal with. Taking care of physical injuries was very straightforward.

I was uncertain what to do about the other injury, the emotional injury from being raped. That was something I had no idea how to help. I looked around at the other guys with their blank faces on. I could tell from the looks in their eyes that they felt the same way. We were guys , big , fucking powerful kickass guys. Some of us had been tortured, sure, but we'd been trained to withstand that. We had never been violated to the extent Steph had. What the fuck did we know about how a woman felt after being raped. We all wanted to help and be there for her, but I was pretty sure that a bunch of big clumsy males hovering was not what a woman who had been raped wanted, no matter how much we cared about her. I sighed and went back into the OR to see what I could find out.

Ranger's POV

I had to think about what to do next, except that I couldn't think. My mind, usually so calm and controlled, was filled with nothing but rage. Instead of waiting in this damn waiting room, I wanted to be pounding the shit out of Monroe , except that the bastard was already dead. I was disappointed that I hadn't been the one to kill the fucker, but part of me was glad that Steph had. That gave her victory over him. He had tried to destroy her, instead she had destroyed him. She was still alive, he wasn't. End of story. I couldn't even look at the other guys, but I could feel their anger smoldering in the air.

Bobby came out of the OR, followed by a doctor and nurse. " Ms. Plum is stable. She lost a considerable amount of blood from numerous injuries including a fractured femur, broken ribs, collapsed lung, and some abdominal bleeding. She is breathing on her own now. She also had a head injury, but that appears to be relatively minor. The PD came in and photographed the injuries for their investigation."

I blanched at that, and wanted to yell at the docs for letting them anywhere near her, but Tank came up behind me and touched my arm. The doctor sighed, as if unsure he wanted to say what he was going to say next in front of several heavily armed, pissed off guys. " We did a rape kit on Ms. Plum. It came back positive for penetration, but we didn't find any semen. She was raped."

We all thought she had been, but hearing the doctor confirm it made us all rigid with anger. I knew we were all scowling at the doctor. Finally, Bobby broke the tension and asked, " When can Ranger see her?"

" Well, she is stabilized in ICU, so she can have one visitor at a time. She hasn't regained consciousness yet. I know the PD will want to talk to her when she does." The doctor seemed relieved to be able to take a step away from us. " The nurse will take you when you are ready."

After the doctor left, all my men huddled around so we could plan our strategy. I would go in to see Steph, and possibly Bobby, so he could interpret the medical-ese for me. Ram and Lester would stand guard outside her room. There was no fucking way Newman or any other cops were getting near her. We could handle them. We knew all the tricks.

Bobby and I entered Steph's room, and I had to stop and take a few deep breaths to calm the rage that threatened to overflow when I saw the damage that had been done to her. It was worse than I had remembered. Her cheeks were bruised black and she had a bandage on top of her head covering some of her curls. Her leg was elongated and casted, her torso swathed tightly in bandages. She was attached to the standard heart monitor and IVs. Her face was covered with an oxygen mask. It angered me that the PD had been taking pictures of her when she was helpless and unconscious, court case or not. Bobby stood outside, talking to the nurse, Lester and Ram took up sentry positions outside the room, and I stood next to the bed and gripped her hand.

I gripped Steph's hand and put my lips gently to the one spot on her face that was not bruised or bloody. "its ok, Babe, you are safe now." Damn. I was proud of her. She had killed that bastard Monroe. My eyes skimmed down her body, stopping at the area between her legs, now covered with blankets. I remembered how bad she had looked when we found her and imagined that asshole Monroe raping her. I had to force myself not to clench the hand that held Steph's as the rage coursed through me.

Bobby came in to see me with an update from the nurse, and he had made arrangements for a female therapist to see her when she woke up. I sat for over an hour, just holding her hand, watching her breathe, relieved that we had found her. In the quiet peacefulness of the room, I went into my zone.

I was pulled from my zone by the speeding up of the beeping of the monitors, and looked down to see Steph thrashing against the bed, trying to pull her hand from mine. Her eyelids were fluttering and it seemed as though she was in a nightmare. She didn't have much strength, but she was thrashing around with what she did have. I gripped her hand more firmly, and gently stroked her face. " steph, its ok. Don't be afraid. You are safe." I had to repeat myself over and over, just whispering, "its ok, you're safe" until she calmed down again. I hated to think that her unconscious had been reliving that real life nightmare she'd suffered with Monroe.

After another hour, her eyes fluttered and finally opened to that beautiful blue that I was afraid I would never see again. I squeezed her hand gently, " hey, babe," She smiled faintly at me. She knew she was safe and that I would make everything ok again.

I am standing in the corner of Steph's room, watching intently as the doctor examines her, her blue eyes now alert and open. She is in a lot of pain, and I know they are giving her pain meds that make her drowsy. The hospital staff have called the cops, letting them know that Steph is awake, but I don't want her to answer questions right now. Not ever, if I can help it. I just want her to rest and I will do what it takes to heal her. But I can already hear a commotion outside the room. I can imagine it is Newman, trying to get past my guys.

Ram's POV

I don't know who the fuck called Newman, but he isn't getting in to see Steph. He and some other pot bellied detective are flashing their badges to whoever will look at them. Newman approached the door and flashed his badge at us. " I am sure you men remember me, Detective Newman, and this is my partner Detective DuPree. We were told that Ms. Plum has regained consciousness and we need to interview her." No fucking way was that happening.

Lester stood directly in front of the door, glaring at Nemwan.

I stepped in front of Newman. " But I already told you that I killed Monore, so you have no reason to need to speak with her."

" I need to speak with her about the events leading up to you arriving , and, um, killing Monroe."

In other words, he wanted Steph to tell him every terrible detail of what had happened to her, so he could make it an official part of the investigation, which was not going to happen. " I don't know why you need to talk to her, I told you how I shot Monroe with MY gun. I doubt Steph remembers anything."

Lester looked at Newman menacingly. Lester spoke in a low, lethal voice. " You would have to wait anyway. The doctor is examining Stephanie now. You cannot go in." Newman stood right in front of Lester, his arms folded stubbornly, and I could tell he wasn't going to go away. Geezus fucking Christ, we had all fucking confessed to killing Monroe, what the fuck did he need to talk to Steph about. There was no way any of us were going to make her talk to some stranger about all the terrible things she went through. That wasn't going to happen.

Lester was right in Newman's face, his hands clenched, and I could tell that Lester was going to lose it soon and possibly haul off and hit Newman. Getting arrested for hitting a cop would be bad, but what the hell, why would Lester care? He had already confessed to murder. Lester was in Newman's face. " Ms. Plum will speak with you when she is strong enough and only under the advice of her lawyer."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Bobby whip out his cell phone and talk quietly into it. I had no idea what he was saying, only that he had called Woody in the control room at Rangeman.

Woody's POV

I got the call from Bobby at the hospital. Steph was conscious, but really not up to talking to any fucking cops. And the cops were insistent on getting in to talk to her. I fucking hate cops that are assholes. She just wakes up from the most horrible incident of her life and they expect her to start talking to a total stranger about it?

Bobby said that the cop was being an ass and that Lester was about to pound the shit out of him, so we needed a diversion. I got on the outside line and dialed the police station.

" Newark PD," the harried female voice on the phone said. I tried to make my voice sound scared and uncertain. Not that I have ever fucking been scared and uncertain, but I make others scared so I know what it sounds like."

" Um, yes, I am calling because I have some information about that shooting that happened at a warehouse last night with that bounty hunter, I have some eyewitness information. But it has to stay anonymous. Yes, I can come there to talk to the detectives investigating the case. Yes, I can be there in 20 minutes, thanks. "

I put down the phone and grinned. THAT should get that asshole cop away from Steph, at least for awhile.

Ram's POV

Lester and Newman were locked in a stare off, and I could tell Lester was working hard not to punch Newman. The stare-off was broken by the sound of Newman's phone going off. He reluctantly broke his gaze from Lester and fished it out of his pocket. " Newman." Pause. " What? Now. Ok, I'll be there in 20." Newman broke off the call and gave L ester a final glare. He gestured to his partner. "Come on DuPree, just got a call about an anonymous tip from an eyewitness at the shooting." He gave Lester a smug look.

"Guess we don't need these thugs to cooperate in order to solve the case." Newman and DuPree took off down the hall.

I just looked at Bobby and we both started to crack up laughing.

At least Steph was safe from those assholes for awhile.