A HUGE thank you goes out to Amy (Stephfan6511). I don't think I can thank you enough for your help on this.

Stephanie explained what happened outside the hospital. Ranger told Woody that Binkie was, once again, drunk. He called the cops and had Binkie arrested and would be going to speak to him. Woody wasn't happy that he'd not been there to protect Stephanie, but was glad that Lester was.

"Thanks, man. I appreciate you helping Steph out," Woody said with a knuckle bump.

"Would have been easier had we known she was your girlfriend," Les teased him. "But I understand, you were keeping her all to yourself."

"That and I didn't want her being teased," Woody said as he reached for Stephanie's hand. "She's had a hard time already and she doesn't need more shit from you guys."

Lester looked at Woody and nodded, knowing that he needed to apologize to Woody for all he'd said earlier that night. Ranger and Lester left a little while later. Les needed to get back to the office while Ranger went to the police station.

Stephanie sat on the bed next to Woody and couldn't help the tears that were slowly flowing down her face. Reaching up to wipe them away, Woody asked, "Andeo, what's wrong? Please, tell me."

"Nothing," she whispered as she sat on the edge of the bed and played with the hem of her shirt.

Woody, noticing what she was doing, reached up with his hand and tipped her chin so she was looking at him, "Don't shut me out. Please. Tell me what's bothering you."

"Well," she began, "if you have to worry about what your friends are going to say, then maybe it's for the best if I'm gone. Then you won't have to worry about fighting them off. They'll never know you're seeing someone with a child. You can tell them whatever you want and they can have their fantasies about the stripper."

Woody fought to sit up and pulled her to him, "Listen to me and listen well. I am not worried about them knowing we're dating. It was stupid of me to keep that from them, but it was for selfish reasons; NOT because I was ashamed of you. I want to shout it from the rooftop that I've found the perfect woman for me."

Woody leaned in and kissed her. What started out as a gentle kiss quickly turned into something more heated as their tongues fought for control and arms wrapped around each other.

Just as Woody's hand began to slide up Stephanie's shirt, the door opened and Zero walked in. "Dude, get your hand out of her shirt before someone else walks in here."

Woody's hand stilled and Stephanie stiffened up. Looking over at Zero, Woody laughed, "Shit man, you scared the crap outta us."

"I just wanted to give you a hard time. Although," Zero said as he pointed, "looks like she already took care of that."

Stephanie followed where Zero was pointing and immediately felt her face flush, "Shit, I'm sorry," she said as she saw Woody living up to his name.

"Get out of here, Zero," Woody demanded as he pulled Stephanie to him. After Zero walked out of the room, Woody looked in Steph's eyes. "Darlin, this is nothing new. Do you know how many times I've been hard around you?"

Stephanie, unable to look away from the tent in his hospital gown, "That bad?" she asked.

Woody laughed which made Stephanie smile. "Andeo, I've had a hard-on since the day I met you. While it isn't always this, noticeable, I've been in some state of arousal every day."

Stephanie was surprised to hear Woody talking like that, but she figured he was at least being honest. "Doesn't it hurt to be like that all the time?"

Shrugging, Woody decided to be totally honest and hope he didn't scare her off. "I won't lie, it gets uncomfortable sometimes. To the point that I have to do something to alleviate the discomfort." When she figured out what he meant, she blushed and looked away. Turning her chin back to him, Woody told her, "Darlin', there's nothing to be embarrassed about. We all do it from time to time."

Quietly, Stephanie whispered, "I've never."

Before Woody could ask what she meant, the door opened and Darlene walked in, "There's my boy. How are you feeling?" she asked as she rushed to his bedside. "I've tried giving you all the privacy I could, but I can't stand it any longer."

Stephanie felt bad for monopolizing all his time, but before she could apologize, Woody pulled her closer to him, "I'm fine, Ma. Stephanie has been talking with me and making sure I don't do something stupid."

Darlene smiled at Stephanie and nodded, "I knew she'd take care of you. Now, how's your pain on a scale of one to ten? And don't pull that macho bullshit where you say you can handle the pain. Are you drinking liquids?"

"Ma, I'm fine. The nurses have it covered. Relax, okay?"

"Relax? My son gets shot and I'm told to relax. Oh please! When you have kids of your own, you'll understand that a parent never relaxes when their child is hurt. You just wait. You'll have a son one of these days and he'll be just like you."

Stephanie stifled a laugh as she thought about her own son. He hadn't tried to jump off the roof, but he did like to jump off her bed, the couch, the kitchen chair, anything that was high up for him. Looking at Woody, she smiled, "She's right, you know."

After visiting with Woody a little longer, Stephanie sighed, "I need to get back home. Tank's watching J.T. and they will be getting up soon. I don't want J.T. to get upset when I'm not there."

"I understand. Be sure to tell him I said hi." Woody pulled her in for a hug and kiss, "Thank you for being here."

"I'm just glad you're okay. Don't get shot again, okay? I don't know if I could handle this a second time." Stephanie waved bye to the Rangeman guys as she left the hospital. She didn't know them, but they were Woody's friends and co-workers, so she felt she should acknowledge them as she left.

After Stephanie left his room, Woody looked at his mother, "How bad was it with Binkie?"

Darlene pulled a chair up to his bed, "If Binkie is the person that followed her outside, it was bad. I guess he'd been watching her in the lobby and making her feel uncomfortable, but seeing as she didn't know the men out there, she didn't say anything. Just stepped outside for some fresh air. I could tell something was making her uneasy, I asked if she wanted company outside, but she refused."

"When she went outside, I told that Lester fellow that something wasn't right. He stepped outside with her. I don't know what happened, but when I turned back around, that Binkie kid was gone. A little time later, she came running in."

Woody clenched his fists. He wished he wasn't restricted to the bed; he wanted to get his hands on Binkie, but that would have to wait. As his eyes began to drift shut, he mumbled, "Take care of her, Ma."

OOO

Ranger walked into the police station and found Captain Paine. Shaking hands, Ranger told him, "I'm here to see one of my men."

Surprised, the Captain told him, "I wasn't aware we had one of your men here. I'll have him released."

"No," Ranger replied. "He's in the drunk tank and that's where he needs to be. I just need to have a few words with him."

Captain Paine walked Ranger to the holding cells and they found Binkie. The Captain left Ranger to speak to his employee in private.

"What the hell were you thinking?" demanded Ranger in a calm, quiet voice.

Binkie, being as drunk as he was, didn't catch how pissed Ranger was. "What? That stripper? She's just a piece of ass that Woody was banging. Hell, she'd probably bang any of us if we asked."

Ranger clenched his fists, trying to control his temper. Looking at Binkie, he made sure the punk was listening, "You are suspended. You need to sober up. I've let this slide for far too long. You will get your ass in AA and attend the meetings. When you've finished, then we'll discuss your return to work. This is your last chance. If you don't attend, you will be fired. Are we clear?"

"What the fuck man? You're suspending me because of some piece of ass?"

"NO!" Ranger roared. "I'm suspending you because you've fucked up for the last time. I will not tolerate you disrespecting woman, let alone the woman of a co-worker."

"She's not his woman. She's his skank of the week," Binkie went on.

Ranger, not willing to fight with him, turned and walked away from Binkie. Before he left the room, Ranger looked back at Binkie, "AA or you're done." As Ranger walked out he heard a yell that he could only assume came from Binkie.

Walking into the Captain's office, Ranger took a seat and waited. "What do you want done?" asked Captain Paine.

"I told him he's suspended until he completes AA. He's to go straight from here to detox. I want a restraining order against him for one of my employee's girlfriend."

Captain Paine looked at Ranger, "I can do the detox, but the restraining order has to come from her; you should know that."

Nodding, Ranger continued, "I know, but I doubt she'll put one in. Is there any way around it?"

The captain ran his fingers through his hair, "I'll see what I can do, but don't count on it."

"Then count on my men keeping an eye on him," Ranger said as he stood up and left the office.

OOO

Stephanie walked in her place to the smell of coffee, bacon, and eggs. Quietly walking through the house, she snuck into the kitchen and grabbed J.T. out of his seat. "Mommy," he squealed as she hugged him tight.

"Morning. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up."

"It otay. Mr. T telled me you was done."

Stephanie kissed J.T.'s head and sat him back in his chair. "Thanks, Tank," she said as she smiled at him.

"How'd it go?" Tank asked carefully. J.T. didn't know why he was there and he wasn't sure what Steph wanted to tell him.

"It went okay." Stephanie looked at J.T. and tried to figure out how to tell Tank what happened without scaring her son.

J.T. finished his food and hopped off the chair. Running down the hall, he yelled out, "Dotta do poddy."

Tank laughed as he gathered up the dishes and Stephanie began to tell him what happened. "Woody was shot in the chest last night. Bullet nicked his heart, but he'll be okay. Doc said he'll be sore for a while, but should make a full recovery."

Tank pulled Stephanie to him when he saw her chin quiver, "It's okay, Little Girl. I've seen him, he's in perfect health. He'll heal from this; it just might take some time."

"I know," she whispered as she fought the tears, "it just scared me. I talked to him before I came home and he seemed to be doing okay." Afraid he'd become even more overprotective, Stephanie made sure not to mention Binkie.

"Mommy, wut wong?" she heard J.T. ask from behind her.

Turning around, she picked J.T. up and walked to the living room with him. When she sat down, J.T. settled on her lap and looked up at her. "Sweetie, you know our friend, Mr. Branson?"

"Worm man?" J.T. asked with a smile.

Laughing at his name for Woody, Stephanie nodded, "Yes, sweetie. Well, he was hurt really bad last night, so I went to the hospital to be there for him."

"He be otay?"

"Yes. He'll be sore for a while, but he'll be okay. I just didn't want you to worry if you saw me crying. I'm just sad that he's hurt, okay?"

J.T. nodded and jumped off her lap, "Me draw him piture," he told her as he ran to his room.

Stephanie looked up to see Tank standing in the doorway looking at her, "Be careful, Angel. If he's been shot, you don't know what kind of people he hangs around. I don't want you or the little one to be hurt."

Just as Tank was about to leave, there was a knock at the door. Stephanie opened it and stepped back, smirking the entire time. Tank looked over at the door and his eyes bulged out…