Chapter 8

RPOV

I was aware that Bobby had joined me and watched as he pressed a hypodermic needle into her arm. I watched Steph as her struggling calmed, as her eyes closed and continued to hold her to me. I looked over to Bobby as he lifted her T-shirt and saw for myself the bruises on her ribs and stomach.

"Bobby, her eyes?"

I watched as her lifted an eyelid and then very carefully using his other hand he used a finger to touch her eye. I was surprised when I saw a round black disc resting on his fingertip.

"Black contact lenses. I've heard of them being used instead of blindfolds or black out rooms. She wouldn't have been able to see a thing"

"Where do you suggest we take her?"

"I know just the place"

I lifted Steph very carefully from the ground and got into the back seat of the SUV. Santos was still driving, and Bobby was in the passenger seat giving directions to Santos for where to go. I honestly didn't take any notice of where we were driving, my eyes were rivetted on Steph's face. Even as I swept her hair from her face she was so still. The steady rise and fall of her chest the only indication that she was even still alive.

I wasn't overly surprised by Bobby's choice of hospital, being on the grounds of an army base it would certainly be secure, but how he'd managed to organize it alluded me for now. There was a team waiting for us when we arrived, and it wasn't long before I was watching the gurney carrying Steph disappear through the doors. Bobby was with her, but I had been stopped and told to enter through the main doors with my men and wait in the waiting area.

The quiet we were met with unnerved me and I couldn't settle, I was so worried about Steph and how she was. Had irreparable damage been done to her and what were her chances of surviving, crazy ideas flew through my head. As time went by though there grew an underlying feeling that she was safe and that she would make it through this.

It was three hours before Bobby came into the room, three hours where each of us had internalized our thoughts and each of us looked at him both dreading and wanting the news he had. Bobby sat down and had our full attention as he wiped his hands across his face, he looked tired and I caught that antiseptic smell drifting from him.

"She's in a room but we thought it best to keep her sedated for a while for her to stabilize and start the process of healing. I don't know what the hell happened to her or why. It looks as though she took a hell of a beating. A lot of deep bruising, cracked ribs and a crack on her cheek bone. She's had full X-rays and scans to make sure that there was no internal bleeding. Initially, we were both worried about her eyes, they seemed inflamed but as time's gone by that seems to have gone and I think it was due to having those lenses on her eyes. What was really strange was that she had some sort of wax pushed hard into both ears. I don't think she'd have been able to see or hear anything"

Whilst I was relieved that the injuries weren't serious the last part of what Bobby had described to me was worrying. Why would anyone do that?

"Is she going to make a full recovery?"

"Yes, physically she's young and generally healthy so that isn't the problem. I just don't how this will affect her psychologically, that's why we decided to keep her sedated for now"

"Can I be with her?"

"Yes Ranger, just be careful with her because when she wakes up, she could be totally disorientated"

I followed Bobby through the corridors until he opened the door to a private room. I stood still in the doorway internally pulling my emotions together before I entered. There resting quietly was my Babe. Her color was better than it had been, and someone had obviously cleaned her up and tied her hair loosely onto the top of her head. It made the bruises on her white skin stand out, emphasizing what she'd been through. She was so still though that if I hadn't been hearing the blips from the monitors I might have questioned if she were alive.

Pulling up a chair next to her bed, her hand was now in mine and I could see more bruises on her arm, she'd been through an awful experience and wondered if there were any other people out there that were responsible for what had happened to her. I wasn't too sure that I believed that a single man had worked alone, but if there were people involved then I would make it my mission to make sure that they payed dearly for what they'd done to her. I would do it because no one hurts my Babe and gets away with it.

I turned to Bobby, seeing him checking some of the machines, bringing me back to the here and now.

"Why here Bobby?"

"My older brother is a doctor here, he's good and he's used to dealing with things that man can do to each other"

"Army?"

"No, but he looks after men who have been taken and tortured, kidnap victims"

So he would have seen many atrocities through his work, and wouldn't question why Bobby had brought her here. I kept looking at Steph's face concerned with how long she would be kept sedated, in the end, Bobby's brother, Ellery, had decided that 24 hours should be long enough.

I didn't leave her side even though Bobby assured me she wouldn't wake up for a few hours, I needed to be with her, if not for her then for myself. Being with her confirmed for me that she was still alive. Now though, whilst I was so relieved at finding her, it made me realize that I couldn't lose her again and would do anything to make sure that she was safe.

I needed to think about what to do next, everyone in Trenton probably knew that Steph had disappeared. But one of the problems was knowing whether or not that man had been working on his own. If there was more than one would they want to know where she was, knowing that maybe she could probably identify them. Did I take her somewhere safe until she was healed, would she agree to that?

By morning I decided that I needed to talk with the men here and sent a message to my core team to meet with me in an office that Bobby had found to hash out the next steps. Steph was being seen to by a nurse and Ellery, so I'd been asked to leave anyway.

Once within the confines of the office I also needed to be brought up to date with any reports.

"The van?"

"Hector talked to everyone in Steph's building asking if they'd seen anything. One old guy said that he saw someone being wheeled out on a gurney into an old looking ambulance. He went to the street cams after that and checked the plates. False but it meant that he could follow where it went. He picked it up this morning, or at least his programs did, heading north"

"Anything else turn up?

"Yeah, but maybe you need to be back at Rangeman for that"

I looked to Tank not sure what the hell he was talking about and watched as he shook his head. "Not now" was all that he would say.

"Do we know where Steph had been held?"

"No. I'd say the van was used to move her, but we have no idea where it had been parked up"

"The man?"

"No idea. The police took over the scene and want to talk to Steph, but we made sure we got photos, finger prints and blood samples. The van was totally clean, nothing in it"

"Okay, ask . . ."

My sentence was interrupted by the sound of screams coming from down the hall, heart-wrenching screams and sobs that I knew could only be coming from Steph. She must have woken up sooner than they thought.

I ran down the hall and into her room to see the nurse and Ellery struggling to contain her. Machines were sounding their alarms and her IV had been pulled out, but it was her face that showed absolute terror on it. I ran to her and tried to hold her, talking to her, but she wasn't hearing me.

"Babe, it's okay, you're safe, you're safe"

Her screams continued and she was fighting like a wild animal until slowly she began to calm. As her body went limp in my arms, her eyes closed, and I turned to see Ellery injecting something into her arm, a sedative that would erase her ordeal from her mind.

"I'm sorry Ranger but she was going to hurt herself and to be honest her vitals were going off the scale"

"What do we do to help her?"

"I've seen a lot of people come around after horrendous experiences, but she was absolutely terrified"

"What do you suggest?"

"She needs to wake up somewhere that's familiar to her where she feels safe and with people she knows and trusts"

"Bobby what would she need?"

"The bag of antibiotics needs to empty first, I can keep a check on her vitals and the breaks"

The only place I knew that would meet the criteria that were being suggested was my apartment on seven. I knew she felt safe there and if need be, I could sleep on the couch or even the floor if that's what she wanted. Ella would be there to help her as well as the men. The problem would be her keeping a low profile, she hated to be on lockdown but maybe after she grew stronger, I could take her to one of the safe houses by the beach, yeah that would be something to talk to her about and I suppose any decisions made should include her.

"Bobby can you make sure you have all the information you need from here"

I looked out of the room to see Santos stood by the door and went out to him.

"How is she?"

"Terrified"

"What do we do to help her?"

"Take her home"

"Trenton?"

"Rangeman"

"Somewhere she feels safe?"

"Yeah, can you have the helicopter ready for a night flight?"

"No problem"

"Tank?"

He nodded down the hall to where Tank was slowly pacing up and down the corridor, I went and stood in his path forcing him to come to a halt. As he stopped in front of me, he wiped his hands down his face, his eyes betraying how he was feeling.

"Dear god she's hurting so much"

"I know Tank, we're taking her home"

"I'll head back and continue to look at what we have"

"I've asked Santos to fly us in on the helicopter"

"Good, the rooftop is easier to secure"

"Thanks, Tank, you know you're gonna have to talk to her"

"I know"

I watched as he walked down the corridor and out of sight, was he hurting as well? Probably, but Steph was the most forgiving person I had ever met, she'd make it right with him. I had to call Ella before we left which I wasn't looking forward to because she was sure to be annoyed that I'd up and left without telling her what was going on. Taking my phone from my pocket I hit the speed dial for Ella and was pleased when she answered straight away.

"Carlos is that you?"

"Yes Ella"

"Have you found her?"

"Yes. We're bringing her home tonight"

"Is she hurt?"

"Yeah. She has cracked ribs and a lot of bruises'

"She's going to be alright though?"

"I think so. We just don't what the hell happened to her"

"I'll be here, when will you bring her home?"

"Tonight. We're going to use the helicopter"

That done I went back into the room and sat with Steph, the monitoring had returned to its usual quiet sounds and Bobby had replaced the IV. Ellery and Bobby wanted the IV to finish before she left to ensure that she'd have a full dose of antibiotics and was hydrated. It was late evening when the job of preparing for the flight would begin.

All tubes and monitoring had been removed. Ellery assured us that she would remain unconscious long enough to return to Rangeman. I looked at her and immediately saw the hospital gown that she was wearing. That would need to go, and I knew exactly what she could wear. I took a clean T-shirt from my bag and smelt it and then on an impulse replaced it with the one I was wearing.

Steph had always said she loved the smell of my clothes, so I ensured the door was closed and slipping off the gown carefully put the T-shirt over her head and then pulled her arms through. I finished with a pair of silk shorts I had inside my bag.

By 2300 hrs. we were ready to leave, Bobby wanted Steph laid down on the basket to minimize the impact of movement on her, I just wanted to hold her but did as he asked, there would time enough, hopefully, for me to just hold her.

Santos flew the helicopter fast and smooth and it wasn't long before we were placing Steph in the bed of my apartment. I watched as people vacated my room until there was just Bobby left.

"Always have a soft light on and maybe some low music. I think losing the ability to see and hear will have frightened her. Ellery suggested not pushing her for what she remembers. He thinks that her reaction at the hospital was very extreme and that something we don't know about happened"

"Was she raped?"

I held my breath waiting for Bobby to reply. Having that happen to Steph would break her apart.

"No. Nothing like that. Steph's very good at denial, she's had to be with all of the shit that happens to her. That's her defense mechanism so there may be things that her brain chooses not to remember"

As he said that the words from that man came back to me. Was he working on his own or as part of a group and why the hell take Steph, it just didn't make any sense? My unease was also feeding off my experiences, especially that last mission that I'd just returned from.

"Ranger, you just got back from a mission that didn't go well. You need to destress as well"

I didn't answer him and turned to look at Steph sleeping. Having her here and safe had always been something that helped me to calm down.

"I know the effect that she has on you. Help each other"

I watched as Bobby left the room not sure if I was very pleased that he'd voiced my emotional state or that he knew of my visits to Steph's apartment or the reason for them. As I undressed, I watched her sleep just as I had so many times in the past. I wasn't sure if she was aware of me doing it or if she chose not to say anything.

After a quick shower I slipped under the covers thinking that this was what we'd done in the past. If she didn't want me here tomorrow then I would abide by that, but I really hoped that wasn't going to happen.