Thanks for the great response to the previous chapter. Loved all the insight heavy reviews.
I went back to work today and returned to a heavy/difficult workload in the office after being out sick most of last week. I even dreaded opening my work email, lol.
Here's the next update. Let's see if any of you figured out the twist at the end (no one brought it up last chappie). I think this story has one to two chaps left. Also for those of you wondering why Steph had left her weapons in the SUV, in the previous chapter she mentions that it's because she gets teased by the TPD gossipers. Steph was choosing which battles to fight.
Disclaimer: Plum universe belongs to JE. Typos are mine.
Hal's POV
I didn't like that the intake area was busier than normal at this time of day. Most of the time I don't mind the wait, but today Bomber is outside talking to Detective Asshole. She clearly noted that something was up as soon as she bumped into him, going as far as to take a quick step back from him.
I sat our FTA on the bench and secured him to it so that he wouldn't go anywhere. While awaiting our turn, I kept my gaze locked on the doors.
A few minutes went by and something told me that I needed to check on Bomber. And as if the universe wanted to confirm my suspicions, I caught sight of a uniformed female officer headed for the entrance. Except she never made it, instead being knocked over when Bomber slammed into her head on. As they both tumbled to the ground, I just knew that something had to be going down. Something big.
"I'll be right back." I pointed to the FTA I left shackled on the bench and waited until I got an acknowledgement from the Sergeant manning the intake desk.
I turned just in time to see that Stephanie was gone and Morelli was easily flinging off the female officer.
I sprinted down the hall to reach the glass doors and heard that at least one other person was barreling right behind me. Guess I wasn't the only one who witnessed that.
"What happened?" I asked as I helped her into a sitting position against the wall. She'd been slammed right against the glass doors. There were broken shards of glass all around her. Her hazel eyes were glassy as she wheezed.
"Morelli." She bit out, gasping as she tried to reach for her radio.
"Stephanie?" I asked, satisfied that the officer was at least breathing and one other person was here already.
"Ran." She jabbed a thumb in the direction Bomber went.
I hauled ass, sprinting past the fleet SUV as I called in the alert to the surrounding patrols.
I was several yards behind the action, yet still saw as Bomber climbed onto the hood of a police cruiser. She kept moving, climbing over the top. Not even the lights slowed her down, sliding herself off the back to keep moving.
"Steph!" I yelled as I saw her run out just as the gate began closing, with Morelli hot on her heels. She didn't even acknowledge me, leading me to believe that she may not have heard me.
By the time I reached the mechanical gate, Eddie Gazarra had already abandoned his cruiser and gone after them on foot.
I saw Officer Gazarra round the corner on my left, so I followed. I'd just reached the main street when I caught sight of Morelli grabbing a fistful of Bomber's curly hair. He promptly tackled her into the bushes that line the front perimeter of the station. Eddie would get there before me since he was halfway down the long block. I was practically just starting it, but I kept myself moving even as I notified the control room that Morelli had just attacked Stephanie at the TPD of all places.
By the time I rounded the corner, Eddie was cuffing Joe while he called after Stephanie. She didn't slow down, and kept herself moving until she collapsed on the top step of the front entrance.
"I got him." Gazarra assured me as I chanced a peak at Morelli. Anger flared through me just looking at the sick bastard. His face was covered in mud, blood and snot. Looks like Bomber got some hits in. Good!
As I took the steps two at a time, I cataloged Stephanie's sprawled body. Her backside was covered in mud. There was a smear of blood on her right forearm. The gash on her forehead above her right eyebrow was bleeding profusely, blood trickling down the side of her face. Her T-shirt was untucked. It rode up on her left side, exposing a chunk of her fair skin. That's when I noted the partial bruise already forming below her ribcage. That had to be from Morelli's rough hands, the asshole. Her middle was covered in spider webs, but I guess she didn't care. She was concentrating on sucking in raged breath after breath.
"Stephanie?" I asked as I knelt beside her. I felt the rush of bodies exit the TPD, but I ignored the onlookers. "Talk to me." I urged, dialing for an ambulance since that mortherfucker tackled her onto the ground with extensive force and she's not currently moving.
"Ughn." Was as much as Bomber could grunt for the time being.
"You're safe now." I soothed, trying to comfort her as best as I could.
S&R
Ranger's POV
I strolled into St. Francis with a frantic need to see Stephanie for myself. Because of the medical directives she signed at Rangeman, I was quickly ushered to her bed in the ER department.
"Babe." I said as I got a good look at her. She looked rough, but it was the far away look in her eyes that worried me.
I had to resort to staying on the sidelines as the wound on her forehead was stitched up. After a head scan and other exams, it was deemed that she didn't have a concussion. All in all, Babe got roughed up and would be able to go home.
Before she could be discharged, however, two officers came to take a statement from her.
"You said that he was drunk?" Officer Constanza asked. Instead of being partnered with his usual partner, Big Dog, he was sent with a female, Officer Grant. Guess the TPD is trying to cover their bases after their major fuck up. How did no one notice that he was drunk?! The asshole is currently sleeping off his bender in a holding cell while Babe's in the hospital.
"Yeah." Babe croaked out, her voice raw after the pressure that son of a bitch exerted on her throat. I could already see the bruise that formed on her neck. I know there's more on her torso.
"How did you know?" Officer Grant asked.
Babe frowned, clearly annoyed. I reached for her right hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"Because I could smell the alcohol on his breath." Babe replied matter of factly. Hal said that Babe had been wary of Morelli since he burst out of the TPD. I'm sure she knows a tell or two of what he's like when he's under the influence.
The officers asked more questions and Babe recounted what happened. My blood boiled when she said that Morelli threatened to rape her as he pinned her to the building's side wall. He will pay. I'll make sure of it.
"Why didn't you run inside of the station?" Officer Grant inquired, pointing out that Babe could have easily gone inside.
Babe rolled her eyes and I knew why. She didn't go in there because deep down she worried that no one would believe her. The Burg tends to side with the male, despite extensive evidence of abuse. Add in the fact that the TPD is Morelli's domain and the history they've shared… It made sense to me. I understood her need to get away.
"I didn't think to do that." Babe replied flatly, which could have been a half truth.
"You could have also stayed with the cruiser. Why didn't you?" It was my turn to frown at this line of questioning even if I understood that the officers were just doing their job.
"My instincts told me to keep running." Babe said that she could feel Morelli hot on her heels and knew that Gazarra wouldn't be out of his vehicle in time. "I'd just seen Morelli fling off an officer minutes before, so…" Stephanie's shrug may seem nonchalant to those that don't know her as well as I do, but I know that she's currently beating herself up for the way things turned out today.
The officers asked more questions and Babe answered succinctly. I could tell that by the time they were done, Stephanie was completely drained.
"I'll be back with your discharge paperwork." The nurse came back in after the officers left to move on to get a statement from the female officer Morelli pushed out of his way.
"Do you have any questions?" The nurse asked after she told Stephanie that the doctor had prescribed her something for the pain. I was surprised when Babe admitted she was still in hurting, not because I doubted it. No, it was because Babe hates hospitals and taking medication. She'd rather tough it out than go see a doctor. She must really feel the ache if she was willing to be truthful about her real level of pain.
"Ready to go?" I asked Stephanie as soon as we were free to do so.
"Yeah." She croaked out as she gingerly swung her legs off the side of the rolling hospital bed.
As I drove us back to Rangeman, I stole glances at the passenger seat every chance I got. It's very unusual to be in a vehicle with Babe and not have some sort of chatter from her. She likes to joke that I'm always in my driving zone, yet despite that she still talks to me during our drives.
By the time I turned onto Haywood, I was finally feeling a sense of calm wash over me. Once Babe's back inside the building, we can work on her healing. Both physically and mentally.
And once she drifts off to sleep, because she will fall asleep despite the bright sunshine, I'll make the necessary calls to ensure that Morelli is held on no bond. It'll be easy to accomplish. He's already proven to be a flight risk.
On the elevator ride up to our penthouse, Babe leaned against my shoulder while she gave a very weak finger wave to the camera.
Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I squeezed her gently as I led the way out of the elevator car on seven.
S&R
Stephanie's POV
When I came back into the building, the first thing I wanted was a shower. And I wanted to be alone to do so. Thankfully, an emergency kept Ranger busy while I got myself cleaned up. He brought me a fresh change of clothes to wear on the ride home from St. Francis, but despite that I still feel dirty.
It's not that I was happy that he absolutely had something to tend to, but I needed a little time just to myself to be able to process the day's events.
I showered with scalding hot water, careful not to wet my face wound. Washing the mud out my hair was difficult, but I managed it. And yes, I avoided looking at the many bruises scattered on my torso too closely. That's one reason why I wanted to shower alone. Ranger's going to go ballistic when he sees that I have other bruises aside from the one I can't hide on my throat.
Neck, left breast and two more hand-shape bruises on my abdomen and sides left me looking quite different than I did when I woke up this morning. Staring at myself in the mirror, I couldn't help but shake my head. I didn't even want to see myself naked right now.
So stupid! I was so naive in thinking that I would be safe on police grounds. Yes, I could have darted into the precinct instead of running away. I could have stayed with Eddie, true. But those options would have had one ending in the Burg: the whole thing would have been played down to favor Joe. Morelli would have walked off without much more than a slap on the wrist like he's always gotten away with. Why? Because the Burg has proven time and time again that they'll side with him instead of me. At the time of the attack and chase, all I was thinking about was getting away. Guess my subconscious was making me do things differently this time around so that the results would change in my favor for once. He can't argue when there's several eye witnesses.
By the time I'd shimmied into comfortable cotton boyshort panties, Ranger's oversized sweatpants and sweatshirt, I felt exhausted. My whole body was achy, sore and just... felt weird. I flopped onto our bed on my front, spreading my arms and legs across as much of the mattress as I could. I figured this variation of my thinking position would be good. So, I placed the left side of my face on Ranger's pillow and closed my eyes.
I must have dozed off at some point, only to awake suddenly. My whole body hurt. A lot. It was almost indescribable. When I tried to move, I couldn't contain the choked whimper that escaped.
"Babe." Ranger's hands on my waist helped me turn onto my back with minimal participaton from me. I groaned in pain. As I opened my eyes, I noted that the bedroom was dark. I was out cold for several hours. Great.
I worked on regulating my breathing, but the pain was just too much. I didn't want to be a little bitch, yet I knew that I was going to have to break.
S&R
Ranger's POV
When I returned to seven after dealing with a very inopportune emergency, I found Babe fast asleep.
I worked in our bedroom, keeping an eye on her. She didn't stir, not even when I slipped into bed with her. So when she awoke after six hours, I was secretly hoping that she'd be hungry. Imagine my surprise when instead Babe admitted that she was in pain. That was huge for Stephanie.
"Where does it hurt, Babe?" I asked as I helped her turn onto her back.
"Everywhere." She whispered as I moved to reach the nearest bedside lamp. Soft light illuminated our bedroom and I gasped when I noticed that she was covered in sweat. Her eyelids also looked somewhat puffy.
I helped her change out of my sweater and sweats, draping one of my T-shirts over her head. Adjusting the temperature in the room would have her feeling cooler in no time.
"Okay." Babe croaked out without protest as I gave her something to relieve her pain after coaxing her into having a few bites of food.
"You need anything else, Babe?" I asked, to which she gave me a small head shake as a response.
Monitoring Babe closely gave me the heads up that she wasn't improving. In fact, she was getting worse by the minute.
"How's your pain, Babe?" I asked as I smoothed back her sweat soaked curls from her forehead, being extra careful with her stitched wound.
"Ten." Babe rasped out.
My chest felt like it was in a vice. Even in the times that she's been at her worst, Babe's never rated her pain level a ten out of ten. If Stephanie's telling me that she's having the worst pain of her life, then this situation is serious.
I called Bobby, hoping that he was already on his way back from his patrol shift.
"Yo." Bobby greeted, answering on the first ring. "How's Steph?" He asked automatically.
Without wasting a beat, I gave him the rundown of Babe's symptoms.
"You said full body ache?" Bobby went on to regurgitate what I'd just told him, as he was deep in thought. "I'm seven minutes out." Bobby said, asking us if we could wait for him.
"Babe…" I didn't get to say more, because Babe groaned. She barely managed to roll over haphazardly to hang her head over my side of the bed before she began vomiting violently.
"Oh no." Babe groaned, apologizing for getting sick as I held her hair out of the way.
"Babe, I don't care about the carpet or sheets." I reminded Stephanie that all I care about is her.
"Did you get bit by a bug, Stephanie?" Bobby asked, his voice floating out of speaker mode.
"Dunno." Babe groaned just before she retched again.
When Bobby asked me if I could see any bites on her body, I wracked my brain. I didn't see any when I helped Babe dress after she was discharged from the hospital. Earlier when I got her out of my sweater and sweats, all I saw were the bruises on her alabaster skin.
Glancing back, I realized that the only place I haven't seen on her body has been covered by her panties all along. Shit.
All it took was a small tug of the waistband for me to find what Bobby suspected near her left hip.
"I'm three minutes out." Bobby gave me his updated ETA, moving on to ask me to describe the affected area. I did and then sent him a photo. "Oh shit." Bobby muttered.
"You're thinking spider bite?" I asked him while simultaneously helping Babe right herself.
"Yeah. Hal reported that she had spiderwebs clinging to her uniform when he found her." I nodded even though he couldn't see me. Babe's recount to the police included her having to squeeze herself through a small opening under the bushes. "The pic looks like it could be from a black widow." The females bite if they're disturbed, especially if when protecting their eggs. Oh shit is right.
My heart thundered in my chest as realization hit. Babe's having a severe reaction to the venom. Fuck.
As I carried Babe out of our apartment and down to the underground garage to meet Bobby, I mentally made the promise that Morelli would die a slow, painful death. He deserves nothing less.
Fun fact: If you bite it and you get sick, then it's poisonous. If it bites you and you get sick, it's venomous.