Misunderstandings & Heartbreaks

Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you are enjoying the story…

I really struggled to find a song for this chapter. I finally decided to go with "Rescue Me" by Thirty Seconds to Mars. It still isn't a perfect match but it fits Ranger because Steph is the only one who can rescue him from what happened.

Previously:

We reached the outer door with fifteen seconds left to spare. We continued to run as fast as our legs could go. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…

Boom…

The blast threw us forward. I cradled Steph's body as best I could to try to cushion as much of the impact as possible as we fell to the ground. Steph cried out in pain as her poor battered body hit the ground. I covered her body with mine as the debris rained down around us. She lost consciousness, but I could feel that she was breathing, so I hoped that it was due more to an adrenaline crash than her injuries. I tried saying her name. "Babe? Steph? Can you open your eyes, mi amour?"

Once the noise of falling debris quieted, I looked up to see several people running in our direction. It took a second for me to get my bearings as I sat up, taking my weight off Stephanie. I reached down and touched her face. "Babe! Please wake up!"

Bobby slid to a stop beside us before opening a bag of medical supplies. "Was she out before the blast, or did the fall knock her out?"

"She cried out in pain as we hit the ground. I cradled her as much as I could when we hit." I could hear sirens wailing in the background. Trenton Police, Fire, and EMS would be here in moments.

Bobby took a small flashlight out of his pocket and pulled up her eyelids, checking her pupils before breaking open an ammonia capsule under her nose.

Steph grabbed her head and tried to sit up, but Bobby and I had our hands on her, holding her down.

"Steph, it's okay. We've got you," Bobby muttered. "Just sit still for a few minutes. EMS is on their way. I don't want to move you."

She tried to speak. "My head hurts. I…" Her eyes drifted closed again.

"Bomber, open your eyes. You can't go to sleep right now."

Her eyes fluttered open for a few seconds before drifting closed again. I looked over at Bobby and raised an eyebrow.

He answered my unasked question. "Probably a concussion. We'll let them take her to St. Francis just to be safe. I could stitch up her neck, but I'd rather a plastic surgeon come in. Less chance of a scar."

"Bomber, keep those baby blues open for us," he said to her.

"So…t-tired."

"Babe, try to stay awake for me. Please," I begged before leaning over and brushing a kiss on her forehead.

There was total chaos all around us. The fire trucks had started working on putting out the fire. Trenton PD were starting to interview my men. When Lester directed the ambulance over to us, the EMTs hopped out of the truck and quickly rushed over.

Bobby started talking to them as soon as they reached us. "Four-inch laceration across her throat, multiple lacerations on her arms, contusions on her torso. Possible concussion. She was unconscious for approximately two minutes. She was abducted a little over fifty-eight hours ago."

One of the EMTs, a guy I'd never seen before, tried to muscle me out of the way. "I'm sorry, sir, but I need you to let her go so we can get her ready to transport."

I shot him a glare. "You guys have plenty of space to work around me, so start working. I'm not leaving her side."

His gaze shot to Bobby, who shrugged. "You're better off appeasing him. The argument will just waste more time."

After a few more seconds of internal debate, they started getting ready to load her onto the backboard.

"Ms. Plum, my name is Chris, and this is my buddy Alex. We're going to move you just a little to slide this backboard under you."

They managed to get her onto the stretcher without causing her any discomfort, but as soon as they went to strap her down onto the board, she started screaming.

"Leave me alone. Let me go! No! No! Get those off me." Her voice was filled with terror as she fought against the straps.

"Babe, it's okay. You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you. I promise. I'm right here."

As she locked gazes with me, her screams quieted, but her body trembled so hard I was worried she would hurt herself.

I shot Bobby a look of concern before he started barking orders to quickly get her to the hospital. The ride to St. Francis was quick, and the next few hours were filled with lots of tests, stitches, scans, and an IV with saline and various medications to treat her pain and keep her calm.

They were finally letting her sleep a little, with a plan of waking her every two hours until they got back all the text results and labs.

The doctor walked in, greeting Bobby and me before starting to talk. "Ms. Plum has a concussion, but all the other results came back clean. No internal bleeding. The cut on her throat was relatively minor with little internal damage, but our best guy in Plastics stitched up her neck, so she shouldn't have much of a scar. The bruises and other cuts are mainly superficial that will heal with a little time. We'll want to keep her for observation overnight, and you'll be able to take her home tomorrow afternoon. I know you told us she was abducted. Is there any chance she was raped?"

I growled in frustration as Bobby answered. "I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I don't think so. Based on the evidence we have, he only cut her and hit her."

The doctor continued. "I do have to say I'm a little concerned about her mental health. Having a bomb strapped to you and thinking you were going to die can leave you with some pretty severe PTSD. I'd like to have her talk to someone. I would be surprised if they didn't recommend some counseling. According to the EMTs, she had a mild flashback to being kidnapped when they tried to strap her to the stretcher."

Bobby sighed. "Steph is not one who willingly seeks help to deal with her emotions. She tends to bottle everything up and swears she's fine."

I spoke up finally. "I'll make sure she gets any help she needs. She typically listens to me, especially if I say please."

Steph mumbled, "I'm not talking to a shrink… I don't…care how much you say please."

The three of us couldn't help but chuckle at her indignant tone.

I stood up from beside her bed before leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Babe, we don't have to talk about this now. We need to get you feeling better physically before we worry about anything else."

The doctor walked over and introduced himself. "Ms. Plum, my name is Dr. Rogers. You took quite the hit to the head. We're going to keep you at least until tomorrow afternoon, but after that you should be able to go home if you have someone who can stay with you."

"I guess I can go to my parents," she said with a frown.

Bobby chimed in, "She can go with us to RangeMan. Then I'll be able to keep an eye on her."

Steph shook her head slightly before grabbing it. "Ouch! No, I can't go to RangeMan. Ranger, I know you came to save me, but you hate me."

I looked at Bobby and then the doctor. "Is there any way you two can give us a minute?"

The doctor nodded. "I've only got one more question to ask her, and then she's all yours." He turned back to Stephanie, and his voice softened. "Ms. Plum, they told me what happened to you, so I have a pretty good idea of what you've been through. But I need to know if we need to run a rape kit."

She vehemently said, "No! He was only interested in hurting me enough to try to get Ranger to come to my rescue. I was just the pawn to draw him out."

He shook his head, acknowledging what she'd said. "I'll leave you two to talk," he stated before turning to leave the room.

Bobby kissed Steph's forehead. "I'll be back in a bit to check on you, Bombshell."

He followed the doctor out, leaving me alone with Stephanie.

TBC…

A/N: So what do you think he's going to say?