Chapter, Holy Crap, 50!

OK, Margaret, we're going to hear from Ranger….just give me a bit, I'll get to it!

6/28 - something popped into my head this morning so there is a minor change to the end.

Ranger let the hospital room close softly behind him. He closed his eyes and let his head drop back against it. He drew in a deep breath, opened his eyes and faced his cousin and his best friend.

He groaned and held up his hands, shaking his head, "Don't. Don't say a word." He quickly strode past them and disappeared down the hall.

"I gotta sit down," Tank said, sighing heavily.

Lester followed him to a small grouping of chairs off to the side and plopped down. Neither of them said anything. Tank looked up as Bobby walked over to them and sat down.

"I was driving Gina crazy. She sent me back up here. Saw Ranger leave. What did I miss?"

"Not sure," Lester said. "He went in and we could hear him arguing with Hector. We were about ready to go in when Hector threw him out."

Bobby let out a laugh, "Damn. I wish I could have seen that! Was Stephanie awake? I checked her chart and it looks like she's been sleeping most of the time. The nurse said Hector has been keeping her comfortable and watching her pain level."

"I don't think she was awake. Pretty sure we would have heard her yelling at them if she was," Tank said. "One thing about little girl, she lets it fly when she's mad."

Bobby and Lester nodded their agreement and chuckled.

After a few minutes, Bobby said, "I asked Gina to marry me."

Lester snorted, "Again? Good luck with that."

"She said yes."

"No shit? Congratulations, man!" Lester said and gave Bobby a fist bump. The two partners grinned at each other. Lester wagged his eyebrows, "We can have one hell of a bachelor party!"

Tank groaned and shook his head.

Lester looked over at Stephanie's room and said, "I wonder if they will get married."

Tank followed Lester's gaze and replied, "Probably. I can see it. They are good together. She's happy with him."

"She was sort of happy with Morelli. Some of the time. And she was happy with Ranger, wasn't she?" Lester asked.

Tank looked at him and shrugged. "Not like this. Whenever she was upset or hurt about something, she always went to Hector. How many times has he stayed with her when she was freaking out about something? And when they work together, it's like they don't need to talk. They are both relaxed with each other."

"That's true," Bobby said. "Joe was always yelling at her and she was always trying to live up to what she thought Ranger wanted. She's different now. I'm going to check on her. Be right back.

Bobby quietly opened the door to Stephanie's room. He smiled at the sight in front of him. Hector was sitting on the edge of her bed, carefully cradling her in his arms. He was stroking Stephanie's head and whispering to her in Spanish.

Hector looked up at Bobby and nodded. Bobby gave him a thumb's up and backed out of the door.

"How is she?" Lester asked when Bobby came back and sat down.

"In good hands," Bobby replied softly. "In very good hands."

"I don't know about you two, but I could use a beer," Tank said.

"Do we need anyone to come up?" Lester asked as they stood up.

Bobby shook his head. "No, I think she'll be fine. She has everything she needs. Her vitals are good and nobody is trying to kill her now."

########

An hour, two pitchers of beer and a large pizza later, the three men were seated in the back of Shorty's discussing the future of RangeMan.

"When all this shit is over, we need to seriously talk about buying out Ranger," Tank said. "There is no reason for him to ever come to Trenton again. If I have to put up with his shit again, I may have to kill him."

"Something isn't right with him," Lester said. "Do we just ask him or should we go through the lawyers?"

"I'll try to talk to him. I don't think getting the lawyers involved would be good right now. The less disruption, the better. The company is changing. Hell, you guys are wussing out and getting married. Woody is having a kid. Before you know it, we'll have to put in a day care!" Tank said.

"You know, Ella would love a day care in the building," Bobby said, nodding his head wisely.

"Oh, don't go there, man!" Lester exclaimed. "That won't happen for a long time! I never thought I'd be getting married! Don't bring up that baby shit!"

Laughter rumbled through Tank as his cell phone buzzed and he dug it out of his pocket.

"Fuck," he said, reading the text message.

Lester eyed the phone in Tank's hand. "What?"

Tank let out a sigh. "Morelli." He held the phone out for Bobby and Lester to read.

'Batman is getting shitfaced at Petey's. Come get him.'

"Oh, geez, this day is just getting better and better," Tank groaned. "Come on. Let's go get him."

Lester tossed some bills on the table and the three men went outside.

"Shotgun!" Lester yelled.

Tank groaned again, "Oh, for the love of God! Just get in!"

Lester happily climbed into the passenger seat of Tank's SUV while Bobby got in the back seat. "We haven't been to Petey's for years. What the hell is he doing there?" Lester asked.

Tank glared at him and said evenly, "According to Morelli, he's getting shitfaced."

The rest of the ten-minute trip was made in silence. Tank pulled into the lot and headed for the door with Bobby and Lester right behind him.

Once inside, Tank quickly saw Ranger sitting in a booth off to the side. Not the back booth with his back to the wall. Interesting. Joe was sitting opposite him and they both had a beer. Tank walked toward the booth and Ranger looked up. He grinned and called out, "Tank! Hey, come over here and have a beer with us! Oh, hey, it's Bobby and Lester, too!"

Tank groaned. Yup, Ranger was shitfaced. Back in the day, when they were getting RangeMan off the ground, the guys had frequented Petey's and had spent many a day after with a splitting headache. Déjà vu all over again.

Joe stood up and gave Tank a little nod to the side. Bobby and Lester sat down in his place. Tank stepped away with Joe.

"How long has he been here?" Tank asked.

"Couple of hours. Petey called me. He was making some of the regulars nervous but he didn't want him leaving and trying to drive. How is Stephanie?"

Tank nodded, "Thanks for calling me. We'll take care of him. Steph is good. She's been sleeping since the surgery. You talk to her mom?"

"Yeah," Joe replied. "Her mom was upset as expected. I told her Steph was fine and she would call her tomorrow. You know it's better if she doesn't know the truth. What's up with Ranger?"

"Why?" Tank asked.

Joe ran his hand through his hair. "He's been talking my leg off. Talking about Stephanie. Talking about shit you guys did on missions. He's not revealing state secrets or anything but it's not like Ranger at all. I don't know a lot about PTSD, but my guess is he's having some serious problems. I thought he moved to Miami?"

"He did. Surprised us all when he came back for the Hernandez take down. Then Stephanie got hurt," Tank shook his head. "After you left he came up and made an ass out of himself. Looks like he isn't done yet."

"Well, good luck. I need to get home. I honestly hope he gets his head back on straight. I don't like him but I respect him, in spite of everything," Joe said.

Tank grunted and headed back to the booth where Bobby and Lester were now engaged in an animated conversation with Ranger. They had also managed to garner mugs of beer. Tank rolled his eyes and shook his head. The day care wasn't really that far off. It's just that the kids were all 30 years old.

He crossed his arms and glared at Ranger. "Hey, man, how about we head back to RangeMan?"

"You juss got here!" Ranger said. "Sit down an' have a beer!"

"I don't think so, Ric. Come on. Let's go home," Tank said.

Ranger shook his head vigorously. Then his eyes glazed over and he started listing to the side. Tank reached out and pulled the now passed out Ranger out of the booth and tossed him over his shoulder.

Tank growled at Bobby and Lester, "Let's go. Pay his tab and give Petey a big tip." He strode out the door to his SUV. He none too gently dumped Ranger into the back seat. Bobby climbed in beside him and Lester hopped into the front seat.

Back at the RangeMan garage, Tank hauled Ranger out of the SUV and threw him over his shoulder again. The group stopped on the fourth floor and Lester opened the door to the empty apartment Ranger had been using. Ironically, it was Hector's old apartment.

Ranger was starting to come around as Tank let him slump down on the bed. Tank removed Ranger's utility belt and closed the door. He dropped into a chair facing the bed and watched his brother in arms carefully. Ranger was staring at the floor, absently turning the band on his left hand. Without warning, Ranger began to sob. He raised his head and Tank could see tears running down his face.

"I fucked up, Tank," Ranger whispered. "I fucked up everything with her. I miss her so much. I miss her smile, her laugh, her stubbornness and those damn curls. I love her and there's nothing I can do. It's too late."

Tank ran his hand over his head and sighed. "You don't love her, Ric. You just don't want anyone else to have her," he growled. "You hurt her more than anyone has ever hurt her before. What you did with Rachel is inexcusable. Little girl is happy now and you need to leave her alone. If you weren't my best friend, I'd kick your sorry ass all the way back to Miami."

Tank stood and opened the door. He stopped in the doorway, without turning his head, and said, "I am assuming you will be gone in the morning."