~Alternate Ending 2~
Night 15: Breaking Dawn
Stephanie Plum drops off her bed with a thump to the floor and scares herself awake. She is soaked in cold sweat, and can't stop shaking. For a moment she doesn't know where she is, and is about to go into panic mode when she realizes she's inside her small bedroom. It is early afternoon. The sun is bright. The wind is soft. She can hear one of her neighbor's TV. And somewhere inside the building, a phone just stops ringing. She clutches her thin blanket to her chest and curls into a small ball. She doesn't have enough strength to climb back onto her bed. Her heart is widely pounding in her ears. Hot tears are falling down her cheeks. She just had the most horrible nightmare of her life, and she feels like her whole being is torn apart and shattered. She wants to scream out her fear. She wants to puke out her disgust. But she just can't move. Not even a finger. She stays on the floor and closes her tearful eyes, and finally calms down by breathing deeply and slowly. Like Ranger once taught her.
Ranger. Stephanie opens her eyes as she thinks of him, and struggles to stand up. The dream was trying to tell her something. And now she understand the message. With a trembling hand she fishes her keys out of her fake Chanel shoulder bag, staggers out of her apartment door and heads downstairs to the parking lot. She gets in her faded red Volkswagen, and drives forward with only one clear thought in her mind. Minutes later, she pulls into the underground garage and tumbles out of her crappy car, and immediately throws herself into Ranger as he and several of his men step out of the stairwell and walk toward her.
"I love you." Stephanie wraps her arms tightly around an ever so slightly stunned Ranger, not unlike Sid the Sloth clinging to one of Manny's tusks, and not aware of the existence of the world around her and the Man of Mystery. "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me." Again and again she repeats her pleading as if praying. She knows it was but a dream, a worst nightmare, but somehow she simply can't bare the thought of her betraying Ranger's love and trust and crawling back to Morelli. For a freaking pizza and half a dozen beer. She feels ashamed of herself for being a selfish, brainless bitch. She feels enraged at her sick and screwed-up relationship. She feels frightened and unsure of Ranger's reaction. And she feels happy and totally relieved when two muscular Mocha Latte arms tighten around her and the familiar warm, perfect lips find hers without difficulty after gently whispering in her ear, "I love you too, babe".
~The End~