Misunderstandings and Heartbreak

Chapter 12 – The Man Who Can't Be Moved

Thanks for the reviews everyone. Let's see what Bobby has in store for Ranger. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks go to Jenrar for everything. Also Jennifer I know Steph is driving you crazy in this one. I promise it will get better. LOL!

Please listen to The Man That Can't Be Moved by the Script. It fits Ranger's state of mind almost perfectly.

Ranger's POV

I knew I shouldn't have chuckled earlier when Steph didn't want to wake up. I needed sleep. My control was slipping. She was always a bear to wake up, and even having the ability to hear her moan and groan about being woken up made me so happy that the chuckle slipped out before I could stop it. Add one more item to the list of screw-ups in this never ending nightmare of a night.

I figured that Steph had finally fallen back asleep, so I cracked the door open to peek inside. Bobby was lying in the bed, holding Steph while she slept. I took a breath to keep myself calm, reminding myself that it was my own fuck-up currently preventing me from being the one holding her in my arms right now.

Bobby held a finger to his lips as he started gingerly maneuvering his way out of the bed. Once he made his way out of the room, he motioned for me to follow him a little bit down the hall to the waiting area.

"I'm going to say some things right now that you're not going to like and it's going to piss you off, but you need to know what she knows and how things are going to probably need to be for the next little bit."

I took a breath then nodded for him to continue.

"She's going with me to Rangeman tomorrow, to stay on Four in the open medical apartment. I know it would be extremely easy for you to do one of two things in the next couple days. Your first instinct here is going to be to press. To force her into forgiving you. Your second instinct is going to be to start blaming yourself when you start to examine this situation closely, and you're going to try to convince yourself to walk away. That her life would be better off without you. I'm going to go ahead and tell you that you have to give her time. She'll hate you if you don't. If you try walking away for her own good, I'll kick your ass. She's been through enough emotional trauma already without dealing with your 'my life is too dangerous' bullshit."

He was right, and we both knew it.

"You need to know that, when I closed the door to her room earlier, I had a very pointed conversation with her. She knows the odds Ram gave you about the vest."

My blood boiled. "Why the fuck did you tell her that shit? She didn't need to know that. Living with the countdown was bad enough."

"She also knows that you were about 60 seconds away from sending Ram out of the building without you both."

I literally saw red, and it was all I could do to not beat the shit out of my friend standing in front of me.

"I've also told her that if she keeps pushing you away that you'll convince yourself that you are too dangerous to a part of her life. She doesn't blame you for Auric, and I'm begging you as your friend…as your brother, give her time. She doesn't want you to blame yourself for Auric, and she doesn't want you to leave. She just needs a little bit of space, a little time to recover both physically and mentally. She'll be at Rangeman for at least two weeks. You don't have to fix everything immediately. She is closer to the edge than I've ever seen her. She isn't trained mentally to endure all the shit that happens to her in a normal day, much less the shit that has happened to her since your fight and getting taken by Auric."

He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

"You can't just expect her to bounce back. Set some realistic expectations and gently worm your way back in instead of storming in guns blazing."

I hung my head in defeat. "What do I need to do?"

"She's asked you and told you to leave multiple times since she woke up a bit ago. If you want her to trust you, that might be a good place to start. I'm here, and nothing will happen to her. While she's sleeping and grumpy from getting woken up every two hours, go home! Take a shower, eat something and sleep if you can manage it. Send someone over to transport us to Rangeman tomorrow, and start giving her space."

I felt like walking away from her now was dooming me to lose her forever. But staying here and pissing her off royally wasn't getting me any closer to my goals either.

"Once I get her settled on Four, then we can figure out the next step in the make Steph forgive you plan."

"Fine. I don't like it. In fact, I'm ninety-nine percent sure it's a horrible idea, but pissing her off isn't going to help me. Let me check on her one more time, and then I'll leave."

We walked back towards her room, and I crept quietly to her bed. I reached out and gently brushed the curls out of her face, whispering. "I love you, Babe. Somehow…some way, I'll prove it."

I turned on my heel and walked from the room. Leaving her alone at the hospital went against every instinct I had, but the things Bobby had said made sense.

I made my way to the parking lot and called Tank. "I need a ride."

"You're not staying at the hospital? I-"

I cut him off. "I'm doing what is best for her right now."

"Be there in ten."

I sat on a bench outside the entrance and contemplated what to do next while I waited for Tank.

He pulled up exactly nine minutes later, and I went straight to the passenger side door and slid inside.

He made it about halfway back to Rangeman before he asked. "So?"

I cut my gaze over to him and debated what to say. "Steph is under the impression that we are no longer friends-or anything for that matter. She keeps telling me to leave, and my being there seems to be upsetting her, so I left…reluctantly."

Tank's laughter echoed throughout the car.

"What's so damn funny?"

"It's just typical. You two are like the worst star-crossed lovers on the planet. Either she's got her head in the sand or you've got your head up your ass. So what's your plan to fix this mess?"

"Right now? Go home, take a shower, eat, get the space set up for her on four. Then I'm going to come sleep in the parking lot. Me being outside her room might be upsetting her, but I have to be here if she needs me. The rest I'll figure out as we go."

Tank nodded and let the subject drop.

I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes, catching just a couple minutes rest before we pulled into the underground garage at Rangeman.

As soon as Tank put the SUV in park, I hopped out and headed towards the elevators, punching the number 6 to take me to Ella and Luis's apartment. As soon as the doors to the elevator opened Ella, was standing at her door with a robe on over her nightgown. I glanced down at my watch and quietly cursed myself.

"I'm so sorry to bother you so late, tia."

"It's okay, mi sobrino. What's wrong?"

"I need your help tomorrow. We need to get the medical apartment on Four set up for Steph."

"Four?"

I raised my eyebrow trying to intimidate her so she wouldn't question me.

"Don't raise that eyebrow at me. I know you had a disagreement a month ago. Your uncle and I spent a week cleaning up the mess you made upstairs, by the way. But I know you came back and rescued her from that lunatic. Why is she not staying with you upstairs?"

I ran my hand down my face before answering. "Stephanie is having a hard time with everything that happened. Her being on Four is what she wants right now, not what I want. So please do everything you can to make her comfortable there."

"I'll take care of everything. Get some rest, sobrino. You look like mierda."

"Thanks a lot," I muttered as I turned back towards the elevator.

I took the stairs up to Seven and made quick work of my shower and fixing a sandwich before heading back out towards the elevator. I took the Turbo and drove quickly back to St. Francis.

I pulled into a parking space right near the entrance and called Bobby.

"Report," I stated as he answered the phone.

"She's fine. We woke her up about ten minutes ago."

"Let me know if anything changes. I'm outside if you need me."

I heard Bobby start to say something as I hit the end button on the call. I was unsurprised to hear my phone chirp with a message a few seconds later

'You were supposed to go to sleep.'

I responded back.

Sleep is for the weak.

TBC…

A/N: So Bobby is kinda my Hero right now. More coming soon. Please review.