(Tanks Pov)
Today was the day; the day Santos and Stephanie came back. Looking at the clock on my wall, I grabbed my keys, placed my sunglasses on my face, and began to walk to the stairs, as I was going down Bobby was coming up.
"Going to pick them up?" he asked and I nodded my head
"Ill go with" he said turning around walking with me back to the garage. I didn't say anything even though I was very capable of picking them up, but I knew Bobby was close to them as well and he had a need to see them too.
Pulling up against the airports curb, I gave a tight closed lipped smile over to my partner before getting out of the truck to stand and wait for them to come out. Bobby joined me with his arms across his chest and a set of sunglasses across his eyes that mirrored my own.
"You think she will be ok?" he asked me as we waited
"I hope so. Santos said she has came along way since they been gone"
"Man when they left I didn't know if she would come back to us or not" he said and I just nodded. I had and have been wondering that myself. Santos said that it was her idea to come home but I don't think she realizes that what she left behind is still here when they return.
"I hate this waiting crap" I said pushing off the truck and making my way inside
When we went inside I saw a lot of people gathered around the carousel waiting for their bags to come off the plane. Bobby walked up to one of the passengers waiting and asked where they had just come from. Seeing him nod his head he came over to me and told me that Steph and Les should be here because that was the plane from Tennessee. Once the bags began to come down the shoot and everyone began to grab their bags, it was easier to spot Santos when the heard thinned. Santos grinned when he spotted us and walked over with his bag slung over his shoulder and what I assumed were Steph's bags dragging behind him.
"Where's Stephanie?" I asked feeling a little alarmed when she wasn't around when we saw each other
"I'm fine the flight was good" he said and I knew the old Santos was back, I really had no doubt about him, I knew some R and R was all he needed. He was being bombarded with family members calling for info and then the promise he made to Ranger to keep Steph ok was dragging him down. It was Steph we were all afraid for, she was our light in the dark and she was only holding on by a string when we last saw her.
"Santos" I barked
"All right don't get your panties in a bunch she's in the bathroom" he told us and I relaxed a little. I wouldn't totally relax until I saw her.
We all talked a little bit about what went on during their trip down south. Les told us about how hard the first few days to a week were to Steph and my heart and I know Bobby's was hurting thinking of the pain she had gone through. As he was telling us how they began going out and doing things and how it seemed to help her, Steph came around the corner and stopped next to Les's side.
"BOMBER GOD ITS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN" Bobby said picking Steph up and spinning her around when he saw her
"You sure do look a lot better then the last time I saw you two" I told them when Bobby placed Steph back on her feet. When she returned back to Lester's side I watched as his hand sought hers and her hand instantly gravitated to his.
"Well how about we get you guys home?" I told them helping with the bags they had. As I walked I knew something had happened between Les and Steph. At first I began to worry that this wasn't a good idea and then I got pissed because I had hoped Les hadn't pushed himself on her since being alone with her, but then Ranger popped into my head.
"That son of a bitch he had set this whole thing up. This is why he specifically asked Santos to watch after her. I'll be damned" I thought as we got the bags into the back and got everyone settled into the truck.
"So Bomber how was the South? I have never been there" Bobby asked from the passenger side seat
"Good" she said and I looked back at them in the rearview mirror and saw she had her head on Santos's shoulder. Bobby looked over at me giving me a raised eyebrow, I quickly gave a shake of my head letting him know to leave it be for now.
We drove a little ways from Newark to Trenton mostly in silence everyone trying to think of what to say to each other. We should be talking and going on about what Les and Steph had done while they were away, we hadn't seen our friends in three weeks and knew they had went out and explored their surroundings, but that wasn't happening.
Steph you hungry?" I asked looking at my dashboard clock and saw it was only ten thirty "Steph?" I asked again when I got no reply, Bobby moved around in his seat to look back at the two in the back seat.
"She's asleep" he said
"Well she was up at two in the morning cleaning like a mad woman" Les said to us
"Santos is she really all right?" I asked him as we came to a red light
"She was until last night. When I got up to wake her so that we could drive to the airport I found her inside the fridge cleaning it out. She then told me she woke up, couldn't sleep, and started doing odd jobs around the house before we left"
"Sound like she was nervous" Bobby said turning back in his seat
"Yea, but she probably is hungry I gave her a large coffee and a muffin at the airport in Knoxville and she only had a little under a half of them" he told us
We continued on our way back to Trenton in silence. When we had gotten back into our area I turned the truck into Pinos parking lot and parked. I heard Lester in the back softly talking to Steph as he tried to wake her.
"Beautiful wake up" he said but she never stirred
"Beautiful are you hungry we are at Pinos?" he asked combing his fingers through her hair on her forehead
"Stephanie" he said a little more forcefully
"Hmmmmmm?" she said finally making a sound
(Stephanie's Pov)
I was so tired why couldn't they leave me alone and let me sleep? When I got into the truck with the guys to take me home, I began to feel really sleepy it was all I could do was to answer the questions they asked me about being in Tennessee. The more Tank drove the sleepier I got, I felt like a wet noodle everything in my body felt heavy and I just couldn't hold my eyes open. Laying my head onto Lester my eyes slid closed and I don't remember anything else.
"Stephanie" I heard Lester hollering at me through the sweet darkness I was in
"Hmmmm?" I finally groaned out
"Come on Beautiful wake up we are at Pino's" he said and I opened my eyes to look out the window. My eyes felt like two big sand bags and they so wanted to remain closed.
"Why here?" I asked my brain was so foggy that I couldn't make out a complete sentence
"We figured you were hungry since you been up since two and you really didn't eat any of the muffin I got for you in the airport" he said to me as I laid my head back on the seat
"Come on Steph lets grab some food, my treat" Tank said as he slid out of the truck followed by Bobby
I really wanted to say no and go back to sleep that's all I wanted to do was sleep. I couldn't understand why I was so sleepy. I know I was up at two a.m which is not like me, but this sleepiness was much more powerful than the regular tiredness you feel when you don't sleep well. Mustering up all the energy I had in me, which wasn't much I slid out of the truck and went inside.
"Steph" I heard and then felt someone shaking me
"Yea?" I asked looking over into the concerned eyes of Lester. I looked across the table and Tank and Bobby were wearing the same worried looks that Les was sporting.
"What's wrong?" I asked
"Steph are you ok?" Bobby asked getting up and crouching down next to me
"Yea" I said looking down at him confused
"Steph, Les has had to wake you up a few times since we got here and started eating" he said
"No he hasn't" I said looking back at him
"Yes Beautiful I have, you haven't even taken a bite of your sub. You pick it up and start nodding off"
"Steph did you take something?" Bobby asked me and I just looked at him
"You said I could" I said and felt the energy of the men around me ratchet up a notch
"Stephanie what did you take?" Bobby asked in a very calm but serious tone
"The pills you gave me when we left"
"Ok how many did you take?"
"Two, one at the cabin and then one when we landed here in Newark"
"Two hours" Les said next to me
"No wonder" Bobby said running his hand down his face "she is so relaxed she can't keep awake. Steph Honey those are powerful anxiety drugs not like the ones that take six to eight weeks to get in your system they're not meant to be taken that close together. One would have been great for you" he said
"I did but I still felt nervous on the plane, I thought since they were a lose dose another one wouldn't hurt"
"Is she gonna be ok? What do we need to do?" Tank asked
"She will be ok after she sleeps it off. She is gonna be out of it for a while though and have one hell of a hangover when she wakes up"
After Bobby explained what was happening to me everyone got in gear and all our food was boxed up and I was whisked out to the truck. Once I was back inside of the truck with Les, I looked up at him before my eyes closed again and saw the worry etched on his face and in his eyes.
"Don't worry Les, I'll be ok, I promise" I said getting a kiss to my forehead
"I'm holding you too that Beautiful" he said as the truck began to move