Acceptance- Chapter 21
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Steph's POV
For several minutes, the room was completely silent except for the beeping of the monitors and the swishing of the respirator. I held Vince's hand tightly, taking comfort in the steady rise and fall of his chest . I stroked his limp hand and focused on him, trying to ignore the other person in the room. That's me, queen of denial. If I don't acknowledge it, it doesn't exist.
Ranger stood to the side , also watching Vince for a few moments. Then he walked up to the side of the bed, right next to me. " How is he, babe?" I bristled and the anger and frustration that had been welling up inside of me exploded out of me, an unstoppable force. ." Don't call me babe. I am not your babe. I was never your babe and I will never be your babe. And, as for Vince, he's alive, and he'll be fine." I squeezed his hand slightly when I said that, as if making sure that I imparted my will into him.
There were several more minutes of silence, during which I tried to calm myself. If it hadn't been that the man that I love was being kept alive by machines in this room, it would have been quite peaceful. I ignored Ranger, hoping he would take the hint and go away. Instead, I stroked Vince's face. I had been so terrified of losing him, now all I wanted to do was touch him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ranger watching my every movement with a scowl on his face.
Ranger had effectively trapped me between him and Vince's bed. Now he leaned over me. " Why do you want him? You can have me?" I didn't want Ranger, and I didn't want Vince to think that I did. I wasn't sure if Vince could hear me or not. I didn't want him to think I was dumping him. I wanted him to know I was here and I wanted him. I didn't want his unconscious mind to overhear Ranger and draw the wrong conclusion.
"Ram? Zip? I called, partly because I felt trapped by Ranger. Both of them came rushing in, saw where Ranger was standing, and gave him warning looks. " Is everything ok in here, Steph?" Zip looked around , puzzled. " Yes, but I need to talk to Ranger out in the hall. I don't want Vince to be alone. Can one of you stay with him?" Zip looked from me to Ranger and back again. " Um, sure, Steph, I'll sit with him if you want. Are you going to be ok?" he looked back and forth between Ranger and I. I loved the guys. They were so protective of me. I knew this was hard on them. They all cared about Vince and wanted to take care of me, but at the same time Ranger had been their friend and boss for years. Although none of them was feeling particularly friendly towards Ranger right now.
I went out into the hallway, just outside Vince's room. Ranger followed me outside, saying nothing. I noticed that Ram also left the room, keeping fairly close to Ranger and I, trying to give us privacy, but not wanting to leave me alone with him. Ranger took my arm and I allowed myself to be led a little way down the hallway.
" Why do you want to be with Vince when you can have me?", Ranger asked. " You know how good I am in bed. I always took care of you. How much do you know about Vince?," he asked. " I know he's a loving, caring guy." Ranger looked me straight in the eye. He doesn't really want you. He only wants the boss' woman. You are a conquest to him. He wants to get inside your pants."
"Oh, that is rich, coming from you. You spent five years wanting nothing but in my pants. I am not going to discuss my relationship with Vince with you. It is none of your business. I don't know what happened with Miami and why you are suddenly back here, and I don't care. I don't want to be involved with you anymore. If it means I have to quit Rangeman in order to be with Vince, then I will." I knew my face had reddened and my voice had gotten louder with anger as I spoke. He smiled a bit. He moved to within a couple of inches of my face, and I saw Ram, waiting at the end of the hallway, stiffen.
Ranger backed up until I was against the wall. " Oh, you don't have to quit Rangeman. The guys all like you and I like knowing where I can find you." His face was just an inch or so from mine. Ram had moved closer to us, watching me for a sign that I wanted him to intervene. I tried to give him a reassuring look. I didn't want any trouble, I just wanted to get back to Vince. And I was fairly sure Ranger would never physically force me to do anything, especially not with Ram there. Ranger's lips descended upon mine, briefly, a quick but familiar type of kiss. I just stood there, not returning the kiss, not responding at all to it. Ranger broke away, fixed Ram with a stare, and walked down the hallway.
Ranger's POV
What the fuck was going on here? When I left, the guys were protective of Steph, and that was good. But their response since my return had been ridiculous. They were trying to keep me away from her, like I was the bad guy. Didn't I tell tehm to take care of her? Didn't I continue letting her work at Rangeman, even pay for her duplex? Didn't I continue to let Vince work for rangeman , even though he was fucking Stephanie?
I came back because I had gotten tired of Diane and I'd heard about Steph and Vince. What can I say? I guess I didn't really want Steph until I heard about her and Vince. I still didn't want anything other than sex from her. I still don't want a relationship. But I don't want Vince or anyone else fucking her either. I didn't want anyone touching what was mine. I knew it was irrational, but I didn't care.
Vince was out of commission, at least for awhile. The timing was perfect. That gave me a chance to take back what was mine.
Lester's POV
The harder Tank, and I pushed to get details of Vince's accident, the harder we got stonewalled. True, it had been a Black Ops mission, not even officially existing, so there would be few if any written details. And what details there were would be classified Top Secret- Need to Know Only.
Tank and I stretched and Tank rubbed his bad head in frustration. Neither one of us usually needed to know details of something like this. We were both long term military. "Hurt on a mission" meant hurt on a mission No other information was needed. But for some reason, "hurt on the mission" just didn't cut it for this one. In the military, you follow your gut instincts or you may get killed. Bobby was suspicious, too. He was at the hospital, talking to the doctors to see if he could get any details about what had happened to Vince from them. He had called twice to give us medical updates, but no real information on what the hell had happened.
I had called on a few former acquaintances of mine, who might be able to get a hold of information that was supposed to be under the radar. So far, neither of them had come up with anything.
I was just about to head to the gym to work out some of this damn frustration, when my cell rang. I didn't recognize the number, so I picked it up cautiously. " Santos here." "Santos!" It was a former buddy of mine, Henry " Spider" Frikas. I hadn't seen him in years, but we kept in touch, mostly when one of us needed a favor from the other. He knew people who knew Black Ops. I had asked him to see what he could find out about Vince's accident.
Henry's deep voice interrupted my thoughts, " I got something on that Sonterra guy getting shot. I can't find out where it happened, but my source tells me that they were originally going to use another sniper on the mission, then suddenly they took out the team's regular sniper for no reason and added Sonterra. No word as to why. My guy was pissed because it delayed the mission three days to switch snipers. Plus, guys don't like going on dangerous missions with guys they don't know well."
Ok, well that was something. Apparently Vince had been a last minute replacement for another sniper on this mission. It wasn't much but it was something.
" Hey, thanks, man. I owe you, Spider."
" Damn straight you do. I'll be collecting."
I found Tank and Woody and told them what I had just found out. The more information we got, the weirder it got. The team had been planning this mission when suddenly they switch snipers with no explanation. Vince comes in and happens to get shot on the mission.
Woody said, " I don't like the way I'm thinking. But this switchout occurs on a mission Vince is called upon just a week before Ranger returns unexpectedly?"
The three of us just stared at each other. None of us liked what we were thinking, but we had to think it.
Tank bristled. " There is no way Vince's getting shot had anything to do with Ranger." We knew that logically, ut something wasn't quite right.
Steph's POV
" Thanks , Zip, for staying with him for me", I said as I entered Vince's room. " I know its probably silly, since he's unconscious and all, but I don't want him to ever think he's alone." I felt myself tearing up as I said this, and I was annoyed with myself for being so damn emotional. Zip saw my tears and hugged me tightly to his chest. Have I mentioned how good the guys feel when you are in their arms? Vince's arms feel the best to me, but all the guys have huge chests and powerful arms, and when they hold you , it feels like everything will be ok. It was amazing how much these bad ass guys hugged me and comforted me. I loved them all. Even Zip, who was four years younger than me, was protective as hell.
"No problem, honey, " Zip said, giving me a squeeze. "Remember, Vince is my friend , too. He saved my ass once when I almost got shot. We all want him to be ok." He looked over my shoulder at the doorway, " Did everything go ok with Ranger?" I just nodded. I didn't want to go into it.
Zip had just released me when the doctor came in again. We watched silently as he took Vince's vitals again. " His vitals are stable. We will probably try to take him off the respirator in a few hours and see how he does on his own." The doctor left. Zip tried to get mee to go take a break for awhile, but I didn't' want to.
When Zip finally left, I grasped Vince's hand again. His face was so pale. I stroked his hair and whispered, " Its ok. Ranger said hi. Don' t worry, Everything's fine. Just rest." I squeezed his hand, and it might have been my imagination, but for the first time, I thought I felt a tiny squeeze back.
"Um, Steph?" I heard the voice and I bolted upright. I had dozed off again. Apparently the guys had switched shifts and it was now Hal and Junior guarding the room. Hal came in now, followed by a fairly attractive middle aged man and a pretty woman. Both looked drawn and tired. " These are Vince's parents. Mr and Mrs. Sonterra , this is Stephanie Plum, she is Vince's girlfriend." Hal introduced us and left the room.
The woman walked up to me. " I am glad to meet you, Stephanie. Vince told us he was seeing someone new, but , well, you know how men are. They never get into details. I am glad he has had you with him."
I stood up shakily , and extended my hand. "Its good to meet you, Mr. And Mrs. Sonterra. Vince is doing better. They will take him off the respirator in a few hours."
Vince's mom walked to his bedside. "Please, call us Tony and Emily. "
I reluctantly left Vince's side and allowed his parents to have some time alone with him.