All the credit for the Plum world below belongs to JE.
Jenny (JenRar) thank you for your support and hard work as the beta on this story.
Chapter 21 – Check Ups and Check Ins
There was a buzzing sound on the nightstand across from me. I decided to ignore it, but a few seconds later, it happened again. I reached out to smack whatever bug was making the racket and got a groan, followed by, "Ouch," instead.
Thinking it was odd that a bug would make a comment about being injured, my eyes jerked open, and I saw Marco holding a cell phone with sleepy bedroom eyes, looking at me.
We were in my bed, with me under the covers and him on top of them. He was wearing only his blue boxers, and I was temporarily distracted by the tan skin I was laying against. It was so delicious looking, a girl had to wonder how he'd taste. Before I could get any further into that train of thought, he pushed a few buttons on the phone and groaned.
"We're expected in the conference room in an hour for the debrief on last night," he said, turning the phone to show a long text that my eyes had no hope of focusing on this early.
"What time is it?" I mumbled, hoping he could understand me.
"A little after nine," he informed me, thankfully using normal language instead of speaking of time in terms of hours like all the military guys around here did.
"How's the hand?" he asked, refusing to let me go back to sleep.
"Fine," I replied out of habit.
"So the fact that your fingers are swollen isn't causing you any pain?" he pushed, not believing my first response.
Picking up on the hint that my rest time had been officially ruined, I scooted up and looked at the tips of my fingers poking out of the end of the brace. He was right; they were definitely swollen. Shit, this didn't bode well for me being able to shake off whatever harm had come from my escape last night.
I made a sound of displeasure instead of trying to form a sentence, and Marco laughed a little. "Can you handle getting ready, or do you need some help?"
"I'm good," I replied, thankful that he wasn't trying to force his help on me. I liked my independence and needed a little time to see exactly how my body felt without an audience.
He nodded and announced, "I'm going next door to shower and change. I'll come back when I'm done, and we can head up together, okay?"
I nodded, and he took that as my approval of his plan, so he stood up, grabbed some pants from off the floor, and covered up a body that seemed criminal to be hidden behind such drab clothes. Now that I'd seen him without the RangeMan uniform, I was focused on getting my next private viewing.
He caught me staring and stopped his efficient dressing to look at me. "What?" he asked with a smile, as though the knowledge that I was checking him out was amusing.
"Blue?" I blurted out without thinking. "I figured you were all black, all the time."
He looked down at the sliver of color still visible from his boxers, before he zipped his pants. "You should know by now that my public persona and who I am underneath are nowhere near the same."
After the week we'd spent together in Miami, I had to acknowledge the truth in that statement.
Forty minutes later, I had given up on making my hair do anything acceptable and threw on a regular RangeMan uniform, not feeling very creative. When I heard the door to my apartment open, I knew I was running out of time and growled my displeasure at the mirror.
Marco appeared in the doorway of my bedroom looking, very concerned. "Everything okay?"
"Fine," I huffed out.
"Let's do that again, and this time, try it without lying to my face," he said with a sharp tone. "Now, is everything okay?"
"If you already know the answer, why bother asking the question?" I snapped.
"To give you a chance to ask for some help, instead of barging in here, demanding you tell me what's going on," he calmly explained.
Damn him for being all considerate and logical. "My hair is having a horrible day."
"From the sound of it, what your hair started, the rest of you has caught onto," he replied, taking a few steps closer.
I decided to let him into the world of my thought process and see how he reacted. "Normally, I would just pull it back into a ponytail and forget trying to force it into submission, but the brace makes that hard, and the pain in my wrist is making it impossible. And I didn't pack any hats." I was just rambling out my complaints now.
"Sit," he barked out an order, pointing to the corner of my bed.
I complied, simply because I didn't have any other solutions. Marco came out of the bathroom with my wide toothed comb and an elastic hair band in his hand. He made easy work of pulling the comb through my hair and didn't even pull it. Then, he masterfully pulled it back and used the band to hold the ponytail in place.
When he was done, he didn't say a word. He just left to put the comb back in the bathroom.
"How did you know what to do?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.
"I had a little sister and busy parents," he offered as an explanation, his curt tone indicating that was all the information I was going to get.
"Ready?" he asked, reminding me we did have a meeting to attend.
An hour later, I was tired of reliving the night before. The cops had already contacted Raoul with their final determination that Red's death had been ruled defense of a third party and no charges would be pressed. They had discussed proper group guard protocol ad nauseam, and I was struggling to keep my eyes open.
I felt a piece of paper being slipped into my hand and jumped, before realizing Marco was passing me a note. I unfolded it, thrilled to have a distraction, and read, Why don't you go see Ronnie so he can check out your wrist? This will probably continue on for at least another hour. Now I remember why I dropped out of the whole team dynamic. My ass is asleep.
I covered my mouth with my hand to cover my laugh, but the raised eyebrow from Ranger told me I wasn't overly successful.
I folded up the piece of paper once more, drew a smiley face on the outside, and angled it so he could see my response, before getting up and walking out for a break.
Ronnie was busy stuffing first aid kits in the same way I'd seen Bobby do it over the years. He noticed my entrance and looked relieved to have a valid reason to stop what he was doing. "Hey, Stephanie, how's the wrist this morning?"
I shrugged, not wanting to lie to him, and went over to sit on the exam table I'd used last night.
He pointed to my neck and asked if he could look at it, before cutting away the gauze instead of unwrapping it. He touched it softly, and then grabbed some more of the greasy ointment to apply with a Q-tip. "It looks good, and it's closed up, so you can leave it open now."
That was one piece of good news, at least.
He sat on the rolling stool in front of me and carefully removed the brace, letting out a low whistle at the color and size of my hand.
"That's not a good sound," I commented, having learned from Bobby that a verbal reaction was usually only for bad news.
"Well…" Ronnie was searching for the right way to say whatever he needed to say.
Before he could get his thoughts together, a familiar voice said, "She prefers it if you just tell it like it is and hold nothing back."
"Hey, Ranger," I said, glad to have a friendly face, even if he was bottling up whatever he was feeling at the moment behind his blank mask.
"Babe," he replied with a nod of his head, before addressing Ronnie again. "What's the word?"
"I think she's definitely reinjured it, but I can't tell if she's just re-torn the ligaments that had begun to heal, or if the bone has broken where the pins had weakened it," he reported nervously.
"Call Celia, and get her in now," Ranger commanded, causing Ronnie to jump and leave us alone.
Ranger then turned to me to explain. "Celia's my sister and an orthopedic surgeon. She'll make time for you and can handle whatever is going on in there." He came around and sat on the stool in front of me to look at my wrist. A mild wince passed over his face before he controlled it.
"I figure there are probably better ways to go about it, but for once, I'm not the palest person in the room," I joked, looking at the dark colored bruises.
"It was hard to let you leave the garage without me last night," he confessed.
"You had plenty of other things to do besides babysit me," I pointed out, completely understanding why he hadn't stuck around longer.
"I've always been the one with you after a run in like that," he stated again.
"I had somebody with me, so I wasn't alone," I stated, wondering what he was getting at.
There was a beat of silence, before he switched subjects. "It's what I wanted for both of you," he confessed, looking up at me with the blank face I abhorred.
"You were playing matchmaker?" I asked, confused, thinking it was totally not what I expected from him.
"Not intentionally, but I wanted to see him find someone that could reach the guy he'd buried, and I wanted to see you find someone that could handle your life and help you to see the woman I knew was in there but had been locked up and held back. I didn't really see you coming together as a couple, but I hoped you could help each other get to a place where you'd both be better off," he explained in a roundabout way.
I felt like I should say something in response, but for once, words failed me.
Ranger spoke again, keeping the silence from drawing out too long. "Seeing you two together, though... It's a good idea; I wish I'd had it first."
"So you're okay with…" How did I finish that sentence? I still didn't exactly know what we were to each other, and I wasn't in a big hurry to slap a label on it.
"I think he can keep up with you, if he decides that's what he wants. And the guy is loyal as the day is long, so you wouldn't have any worries there. But most importantly, his life is his own, so he can be there for you anytime you need him," Ranger explained in a long winded speech by his standards.
"When you lay it out like that, even I can't come up with an argument against it," I replied with a smile.
He didn't have to be here, talking to me about a subject he clearly wasn't completely happy with, despite his words to the contrary. But once again, he was showing why he was the best friend I'd ever known.
Before I could come up with an appropriate way to thank him, Ronnie returned.
"Celia can see you in fifteen minutes, so we need to roll."
"I'll drive," Ranger announced, standing and offering his hand to help me down.
I grabbed my phone and slowly worked out a text to Marco. Ronnie and Ranger taking me to dr. Have to leave now to see Celia.
I got an immediate response before we hit the stairwell. Will meet you in the garage.
I couldn't stop the smile from coming over my face at his response. I hadn't asked him for anything, but he knew what I needed. Every day convinced me that my initial assessment was right – Marco was the perfect man.
Dr. Celia was everything you'd expect of Ranger's sister. She was beautiful, no nonsense, and exuded a confidence that made it impossible to doubt her opinion.
"The x-ray shows no breaks, and the MRI makes me think the beginning corrective growth in the torn ligaments has been reinjured, thus causing the swelling, but the alignment is still perfect for it to regenerate. Honestly, I don't know how you managed to keep from hurting anything else while ripping apart the new root growth," she explained.
"So what do we do?" I asked, wishing there was a way to make it look better.
"Ice, ibuprofen, and restricted use," she listed quickly, before clarifying, "Honestly, the less you try to use it the better, at this point. The brace will keep you from twisting it awkwardly, but it doesn't provide total support. If it were my hand, I'd put it in a sling to keep it completely immobilized, at least until the swelling goes down."
"How long should that take?" I wondered aloud.
Her head moved from side to side, like she was working out a complex math problem. "It depends, but I would think if you pushed the ice and meds and really gave it a break like I suggest, then in three or four days it should be back to normal."
I shut my eyes, trying to figure out how I'd function without my hand or arm at all. How would I carry my purse? I mean, I know I have another arm, but I've never been able to make my shoulder bags stay up on the right side; they always go to my left.
"Really, you were very lucky," Celia spoke a little softer. "This has probably taken you back to the same place you were a week or so ago when you initially injured it, but you haven't taken any steps back from there, which is amazing. So instead of losing the screws in five more weeks, you'll probably need to wait six. And with all these guys around, I'd assume there will be plenty of help to pick up the slack of you having to work one handed."
Then she turned around and looked at her brother, who had been silently leaning against the wall. "And since I know your boss pretty well, I'd say a few days off would be totally called for – hell... warranted, even – as a basic worker's compensation arrangement."
I knew she meant well, but I didn't want to be shut out and forced to stay closed up in my apartment all day while everyone else worked upstairs.
She handed out a few more instructions, and we began to file out. As a reflex, I went back to her and hugged her quickly, thanking her for not only seeing me, but for taking the time to explain everything in such a positive way.
She pulled back and smiled at me, leaving her hand on my arm, to say, "There's not much my family wouldn't do for the woman that helped rescue Julie for my brother. He thinks the world of you, and for a long time, we honestly expected to hear that you guys were dating, but when we thought about it, it makes more sense that you're not. He clearly respects and cares for you too much to pretend to have a relationship, knowing it couldn't be a complete commitment on his part. You guys are obviously comfortable with the way things are, which is great. He needs whatever it is you bring to his life."
I assured her I needed it, too, and then said goodbye to join the guys for the drive back.
Ranger proved why I considered him such a wise man when he asked, "So do you want a few days to rest and keep the arm out of commission? I'd give it to any of the guys if they were injured on the job."
"No, I'm good," I quickly replied, not wanting to feel useless so far away from home.
Ranger turned around at the stop light to look at me, but didn't push the issue any further.
When we arrived back at RangeMan, he told us since I was intent on working, he needed Rodriguez and me to type up our detailed reports of the activity the night before so that he had a complete file, and we also needed to go by the PD to sign our official statements so they could close out the case.
A quick turn of his head to Ronnie, and only the three of us remained in the garage. "After I get your reports, I'll consider your assignment of training to be complete. You have obviously taken the offices through the process of running searches, and you have set them up far beyond what we had in Trenton when we first started running distractions, so they have all the tools they need to develop that as a capture strategy, as well. You've completed everything in record time, despite the obstacles, so I am thanking you for your service and ordering you both to take a week of paid time off before returning to Trenton the following Monday."
My jaw fell open, but Marco took the command with no reaction. "Why are we being punished?" I asked, ready to argue the point.
Ranger shook his head and nearly smiled. "Babe, you aren't being punished. You're being rewarded for a job well done. Hell, I usually volunteer to defray part of the cost of the vacations my guys take after completing a special assignment like this one, but I figured you'd refuse, so I didn't even bring it up. I'm trying to thank you."
I realized I'd been about to unleash my inner rhino on him and had to quickly cage it back up. Ranger was being nice, but not out of pity – out of his typical boss man generosity. Deciding it would be fun to toy with him a little, I asked, "So if I said I wanted you to provide some air transportation and accommodations, you might be willing to negotiate?"
His eyebrows shot up, and Marco nearly gave himself whiplash from twisting his head around to look at me so quickly.
I couldn't help but smile. It was so much fun to play with the boys.
Ranger recovered first and said, "As long as you're picking a place that I feel reasonably comfortable you'd be secure, I'll make the call and set everything up for you."
Then I turned to Marco, who had an expression I couldn't pin point, and said, "All right. I got him to agree to pay; you can pick the place."
His eyes narrowed in confusion. "It's your vacation; you should decide that for yourself."
I realized he was upset because he thought I was going to leave town without him. Geez, it was hard work keeping up with his thought processes.
"I thought it was our vacation, and if you're going to be stuck with just me for a week with no work interruptions, I thought you might like to control where that would occur," I told him, covering my mouth so he wouldn't see my smile as the knowledge that I wanted to go away with him for a week dawned on him.
He opened his mouth, and then shut it.
I glanced at Ranger, who seemed to be struggling with his blank face, until he finally gave up the fight and just blatantly smiled. "Man, it's been so damn long since I saw you struggling to know what to say, instead of seeing you knowing what you should say and refusing to open your mouth. I have to say, this way's more fun."
With no warning, Rodriguez punched Ranger in the arm, and Ranger reacted so quickly, the sounds of the punches were like echoes of each other. They both laughed and backed up, bouncing slightly on their toes. A couple more tries to get a hit in were attempted, but they both seemed to be experts at deflecting, so they ended up doing some sort of fist bump and head nod combination, before Ranger said, "Glad you're back, man. We've missed the hell out of you."
For Ranger, that was quite a strong statement of emotion, and it wasn't lost on Rodriguez. "Don't get all choked-up on me, man. I don't know that I'm back, but I'm trying."
"Yeah, but with her riding your ass, I know you won't be able to slip back into your cave in Trenton," Ranger countered, possibly meaning it as a threat, but I took it as a compliment. "When you're back from wherever you two go, we need to discuss your role at work. It's time for you to use those skills you've been hiding."
Marco nodded at Ranger and said, "Don't say anything to the guys yet." I was a little disappointed that it sounded like he wanted to hide, until he added, "I can't wait to see the look on some of the new recruits' faces when I enter the sparring ring looking for a partner."
Ranger threw his head back and gave a full belly laugh at the visual of Rodriguez easily taking down the young guys who would underestimate his skills in the ring, since they all considered him a computer guy. "Deal, as long as you make your debut when I'm around to watch it."
"Maybe you could join me. It's been a while since we fought," Marco teased. "The last time, it was a draw, if I remember correctly."
"Draw, my ass," Ranger bit out. "I beat you."
"It doesn't count as a victory if you cheat," Marco countered, starting to bounce slightly as though he was gearing up for a rematch.
"Having Tank grab your arms wasn't cheating, because we hadn't set any rules and you said nothing was off limits," Ranger explained. "You're just being a sore loser."
"Give me a month or so to get back in shape, and we'll have a rematch," Marco said, ending the debate.
I was temporarily distracted by the idea that he considered himself out of shape. My Lord, if he could get any more definition out of his muscles, I didn't think I'd be able to control myself.
Both of them called my name, interrupting my little fantasy of watching Marco shirtless, lifting weights in the gym, with only me as an audience.
"What?" I asked, not appreciating the plug being pulled on my internal movie projector.
"You were looking a little wild eyed there, Babe," Ranger explained.
Marco seconded his opinion. "The look on your face was making me think I might need to take off running. Am I in any danger here?"
I couldn't help but laugh. "Not as long as you can keep up," I replied, walking past them both to hit the elevator call button.
While I waited, I heard Ranger say, "I always thought I'd have a problem seeing another guy with her, but after reading the files about her adventures the last couple of weeks, I'm starting to wonder if I could even keep up with her."
"Hell, man, so am I," Marco replied. I didn't even have to turn back to get that he had a big smile on his face as he admitted that to his friend.
As I stepped into the elevator, he added, "But I'm willing to die trying."