Ranger
I am reading over some documents when Tank opens my office door. I raise an eyebrow at him
"Gabriella is in the hospital, she went into antiphallic shook"
what?
"olives babe loves them but she knew"
Tank nodded.
I shot up from my desk
"I'm driving" said Tank as we both go down to the garage
"I will drive"
he puts his hand on my shoulder
"I got this"
I see Lester and Hal following after us. I let Tank drive, probably for the best.
"what did the report say?" I ask him
"she ate some olives on pizza, they managed to clear her air way and she is doing better now"
I am tapping my finger on my knee and stay silent for the drive. I feel horrible, and worried. I know babe is going to blame herself but this is on me. She stepped away to take my call. If I did not call her, Gabriella would not have eaten that olive. I rub my forehead. I should have just left it alone. I know she is done with him. I lean my head against the window
"boss she is going to be okay, Steph is going to be okay"
I nod but do not say anything. We get to the hospital. I go into the waiting room and see Morelli sitting there
"they took her in to see Gabriella"
I nod and sit down across from him. Tank stands next to me
"you didn't know?" I ask him
"she didn't tell me"
"she is four years old"
"I meant Stephanie and you know that"
I glance at him but say nothing.
"where is my baby!"
I hear Lester yell, here come the dramatics
"Stephanie is with her" I say to him and Hal.
Lester just glares at Morelli, its not his fault. If it was his fault, he would not be sitting in this waiting room.
"Ranger?" I hear babe say.
I stand up and walk over to her. She runs and hugs me
"its not your fault" I say to her
"yes, it is" she starts to cry
"is she okay?" asked Lester walking over to us
"she fine now, they are going to keep her overnight but I can't bring her home tomorrow" she says.
Lester looks as relived as I feel
"can we see her?" I say.
She nods
"she will be happy to see you" she says to me.
I follow her. We go into a room; the little angel is reading a book and smiles happily at us
"Ranger!"
I go to her bed and give her a hug.
"how are you feeling?"
she smiles
"good, mommy said she is going to get me a new teddy tomorrow"
I smile
"you can have whatever you want" said Lester
"I will buy you whatever toy you want"
he pushes me away to give her a hug. I allow it. I can feel the guilt dripping off of babe. I nod at Tank and guide Stephanie out of the room
"you slipped an insurance card in my purse for both Gabriella and I"
I nod
"better safe than sorry"
she starts to pace
"why are you so good at this and I'm horrible"
"babe"
"no! I almost got her killed, I should have had an EpiPen incase this happened, I should have told joe she has a food allergy but I didn't even think it, why am I so selfish"
she starts to cry. I walk towards her
"babe"
she pushes me in the chest
"no!"
she backs away
"you are going to tell me that I am doing well, that I am a good mother, take one day at a time"
she pushes me again
"I almost killed my baby"
I pull her into my chest while she cries. After about 15 minutes she stops crying
"why am I so bad at this"
I rub her back "I know you do not want to hear this but you did nothing wrong, you did nothing right"
she nods
"I failed her"
"go fail again"
I rub her back
"I admire that about you, I gave up on my daughter because it was easy, I let her in and now we are better then ever. I will fail her but that's life"
she nods
"we will just have to be more careful in the future"
she looks up at me. I clear the tears from her face
"Morelli is going to ask me to marry him"
I pause my hands
"he was going to ask me twice but was cut off both times. I do not want to marry him"
"he cant force you, just say no"
she leans back into me
"he is still in the waiting room isn't he?" she asks
"go, I will deal with him"
she gives me a look
"Gabriella is number one, you need to focus on her, I will take of everything else"
she gives me a small smile
"are you going to hurt him?"
I keep my face blank
"promise me you won't physically hurt him and you will be back in 15 minutes"
I nod
"I'm staying the night with you two"
I take her hands
"if you will have me"
she smiles
"thank you"
I kiss her forehead.
"I will be back"
I walk away from her. She needs to focus on Gabriella, she should not have to worry about Morelli or me.
"we need to talk" I say to him.
He just nods and follows me out
"I think this conversation is overdue" he said.
I nod
"I am going to make this extremely clear to you. She doesn't want to marry you" I say as we are outside of the hospital
"you don't care about Gabriella"
he looks angry
"you don't know anything"
"if you cared you would have asked her what she wanted to eat and then she would have told you she's allergic to olives, you have made no effort to get to know her at all so why do you want to be her father so badly"
"I do not have to answer you"
"no if you keep asking her to marry you, she will ask you the same question"
"this is none of your business"
that's it
"you are going to leave them alone, Stephanie has more then enough on her plate, you are not helping you are hurting"
"and what about you? Your forcing yourself on her and her kid. She will pull away from you"
I know that. All I want is to help her and Gabriella
"I love her" he says to me.
I almost snort at him
"you did not commit to her when you had a chance, move on"
he glares at me
"if you cared about her, you would be in her room, reading Gabriella stories and threating to buy as many stuffed animals as possible. Gabriella needs a stable house and you will never be able to give her that. Stephanie ended it with you, respect it"
I go back in the hospital with that. Time will tell if the message gets through his head. I head back in Gabriella's room and see her and Gabriella cuddled up listening to Lester. Babe gives me a small smile and I nod at her. I sit down on the other side of Gabriella. She tuns and cuddles me. I run my hand through her head and kiss the top on her head.