Nope, not mine, no money! Here we go, chapter 11... are you still enjoying? are you bored yet? Let me know what you think! Thanks to everyone who has left a review... you don't know how much I appreciate them!
My New Life
Gangs and Men, Oh My!
SapphireJ
Hal and I had been in charge for about 10 weeks now. We had brought in some new clients, upgraded a few existing clients and managed to bring in 14 FTA's. All in all, Hal and I kicked ass. With the FTA's, we netted RangeMan over $4.5 million; a few of those FTA's were very high bond.
RangeMan was running smoothly. The paperwork had been kept up, the searches were done by Zip and Junior, and stakeouts were done by everyone. Binkie was even helping Lula bring in some of her FTA's that were a problem.
Everyone was happy; except for me. I missed my husband. We had been married less than 24 hours when he shipped out. I knew this was part of who he is, but still, I wanted time with my husband.
Going to bed was tough; I'd gotten use to having Lester's arms around me all night and waking up to his kisses. Looking at the calendar, I noticed that today was the seventy-third day the guys had been gone. On the way to work, I wondered how many more until they all come back.
Hal and I were heading into gang territory. We had a lead on a high bond FTA and we were going to go talk to his mother. We had just stepped out of the SUV when I heard the gang members going at it; two seconds later, I heard the gun shots. Then it all went dark.
I woke up to the beeping of the monitors and knew I was in the hospital. I opened my eyes and saw Vince sitting next to me.
"Hey, Steph. It's about time you woke up." Vince looked exhausted and worried.
Groaning, I looked around and saw the blasted beeping machine. "How long?"
"You've been out for about 16 hours. You had surgery, bullet nicked your shoulder, and one nicked your neck. Hal just has a flesh wound. He'll be released in a few hours. You, however, will be here over night."
Standing up, Vince grabbed the water cup and offered the straw to me. When I began sipping it, I realized just how thirsty I was and how much it hurt to move.
I sighed. I really hate hospitals. "How did you guys find out we needed help? We didn't get a chance to call it in."
"One of the neighbors called it in. We heard it over the police scanner that two people were down. We checked the GPS on the SUV, saw it was in the area of the shooting, and knew it had to be you guys." Vince took a deep breath. "When we got here, you were heading into surgery. They couldn't wait for us to get here, not with the wound to your neck. Christ, Steph, we were all so worried."
"Hey, I'm here. I'm fine. I'll be out of here in no time." I'd never seen any of the guys looking so lost or worried before. It rather frightened me to see him like that, but then again; it just reminded me he was human.
Sitting back down in his chair and scrubbing his face with his hand, Vince finally asked, "What the hell happened out there?"
"Hal and I had a lead on Roberts. We were going to go talk to his mother. When we opened the doors, I heard the verbal gang fight. We stepped out I heard a gunshot and that was all I remember." I tried to hide my yawn, but it didn't work. I wanted to ask what else happened, but I couldn't get the words out.
"I'm going to go check on Hal and see about his discharge and then I'll be back to check on you. Binkie and Zero are outside your door if you need anything." He leaned down and kissed me on the head. I tried not to show my shock. It wasn't that it bothered me to be touched anymore, but more the fact that none of the guys ever really touched me before unless they had to.
I watched as Vince walked out and then I drifted off to sleep. The next time I woke up, I noticed a weight on my chest. I slowly opened my eyes and saw an arm across my chest. Knowing no one was supposed to be in my bed, I yelled, "What the fuck?" I saw the arm move and heard a few stifled laughs. I opened my eyes further and saw a wall of black.
Once my eyes focused, I noticed I was looking at Ranger, Tank, and Bobby. I followed the arm up to a shoulder and finally a face; my husband's face. Once the shock was gone, I smiled and brushed Lester's hair out of his eyes.
"When did you guys get back?" I tried being quiet as to not wake Lester. He looked exhausted even while sleeping.
Bobby stepped forward and kissed my forehead. "We got back about 3 or 4 hours ago. How are you?"
"I'm sore, but I'll live. How did you know I was here? Was Hal released?" I tried to sit up, but couldn't without waking Lester, so I stayed still.
Ranger nodded, "He was released last night."
Tank came over and squeezed my hand. "As soon as our GPS popped back on the screen, Cal called and told us that you and Hal were shot." He took a deep breath. "When Lester heard that you were injured, he raced here. I don't think the speedometer fell below 135 the whole way here."
I felt the arm around my waist get tighter. Lester kissed my shoulder and sat up a little. "I was so worried. I was afraid I wouldn't get to see my wife again. All I heard was Vince say you had been shot, I tuned everything else out." He laced his fingers with mine and kissed my shoulder again.
I closed my eyes, relishing in the fact that my husband was with me once again when I realized what was said. "Wait, you said Hal was released last night; how long have I been out?"
"You've been out for about 15 hours. Hector and Manny have been outside your door; they said you have been out since before Hal was released. Vince said you woke up once yesterday and talked to him, but fell back asleep." Lester looked up at me before continuing, "When we got here, I needed to be near you, so I crawled in with you. Once I felt your heart beating and could hear you breathing, I fell asleep with you."
Ranger shook his head and did a slight laugh. "You should have seen him when the nurse came in a little bit ago. She looked at him and started to tell him he couldn't be in your bed. He glared at her and gave her a "try to stop me" look and she backed out of the room. She had to send in a male nurse."
Tank was smirking again. "Yeah, that wasn't much better." Tank took a minute to stop laughing before continuing. "The male nurse wanted to check your wounds and I thought Les was going to break the guys hands for touching you. Les stayed right there and made sure the hands didn't slip during their examination."
Lester looked up at me and smiled. "What can I say; no one touches my wife but me. And I have a lot of time to make up for, so expect a lot of touching when you're released." He was wagging his eyebrows and had his wolf grin.
Oh God, do we have to wait until I'm released? I unknowingly licked my lips; or at least I think I did. The next thing I knew, Lester's mouth was on mine. Our hands had minds of their own until I heard throats being cleared. It was then that I remembered we weren't alone. Damn, what my husband can do to me!
Bobby stepped forward and kissed my forehead again. "I'm glad you are going to be okay, One Shot. I think the three of us are going to head home and get some sleep. Lester has already told everyone in the hospital that he is staying until his wife is released. You have two guards outside; let them know if you need anything."
Ranger, Tank, and Bobby shook Lester's hand and nodded at me as they left. "Finally, I get my wife to myself." Lester turned on his side and pulled me into him being careful of my wounds. I still hadn't found out what exactly happened, but that could wait. I needed to sleep next to my husband.
"I love you, Les. I'm glad you're home." I laid my head back and listened to my husband breathing. I could tell he was drifting off, as was I. The last thing I heard made me smile.
"I love you, too, Baby. Now we sleep."