Author: Esentrik
Challenge: 59-Anticipation
Rating: Pg-13

I wasn't too sure what to expect when I accepted this file. There is no good way to arrest a fortuneteller. I looked down at the address and then back up at the house in front of me. A neon sign read 'Madame Destiny's house of fortune'. What a nut job.

I could have backed out. I should have backed out. As a bounty hunter, you learn what skips to take, and which ones to shove aside for Ranger. Ranger never worried about image. He also didn't have a Burg background. And besides, it was too late. Lula was already halfway to the door of house.

"Lula, it doesn't look like anyone's home. Maybe we should come back later." I whined.

"Chicken. You just don't like fortune tellers." She shot back and stopped. "What are you waiting for?"

"Fortunetellers are weird. They're creepy." I said and got out of the car.

"I used to be a fortune teller." Lula said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Liar." I said and jogged to catch up.

"I could' a been." She said and squeezed her plus sized hand into a fist and raised it to the door.

She was right. Most fortunetellers I've met were large, black women with flashy costumes. Lula's hair was a shade off orange and her cleavage was stuffed into a constricting lemon-slice yellow top.

Lula knocked first, and then took a step off the stoop and unzipped her purse. "No guns." I hissed and turned back to the door as it swung open.

"'Lo?" A raspy voice asked.

"Linda Carter?" I asked, squinting. The face didn't match the picture at all, except for the frizzy hair.

"Who's asking, kid?" She shot back.

"Stephanie Plum..." I started, but she held her hand out and stopped me.

"Plum... plum...where have I heard that name before. Oh tarter sauce. I forgot my court date. Damn. I was hoping for that hunky Cuban guy, but you'll do." The woman stepped off onto the porch, locking the door behind her.

She ambled over to my car and stood patiently by the passenger door. "That's my seat." Lula whispered.

"She'd cooperating. You'll have to sit in the back. Sorry." Lula made a rude noise in response and I beeped the car open.

"Nice car. Looks like one of the ones that Cuban guy drives. He usually picks me up, ya know?" She ran her hand over the dashboard.

"Ranger?" I was a little surprised. Ranger usually took the half million dollar bonds.

"Yeah, that one. That man's on fire." She said. I shivered. This woman must have been like, sixty.

"I hear ya." Lula said from the back seat.

"HEY!" Linda suddenly yelled. "How 'bout a free fortune?"

"Sure!" Lula said excitedly.

Then the car was quiet. I turned my head, and both women were looking at me. "What?" I held my hands out in front of me.

"Want one?"

"Oh hell. Sure, why not."

"Don't mind her. I think she's got...you know... PMS. She's been like that all day." I heard Lula whisper, and I just ground my teeth against one another. It wasn't the time of the month. It was Morelli. Bastard.

"Honey, hand me your hand." Linda said and held her hand out to me.

One hand left the steering wheel and Linda took it, massaging all the different points. "Honey, is there a man in your life?" She asked.

"Yes." There were two, but she didn't need to know that.

"When were you born?"

"March 9th of 1970."

"Ahh, very good." I glanced over, and Linda had my hand in one of hers, her free hand pressed against her forehead. Her eyes were tightly closed.

"What?"

"This man in your life, you rely on him, don't you?" Her eyes fluttered open.

"Yes, a lot."

"You could say you owe him your life?"

"You could say that, yes." Get to the point, I was thinking.

"You will be destined to the man to whom you owe your life. And in turn, he will owe you his. You may anticipate and long lasting marriage and many children from this man." She suddenly started laughing. "You like children, dear?"

"They're ok. I like the idea of having kids, I guess, just not actually HAVING them." Labor didn't sound very appealing. Twenty or more hours of pushing and panting and screaming and sweating. Yuck.

I pulled up behind the station in record time. Linda was sent through the system, and I was handed a nice check. Big amount for credit card fraud.

"So Stephanie, many children eh?" Lula taunted, now sitting in the passenger seat.

"It was just a stupid fortune. How many times are they actually right?"

I dropped Lula off at the office as Connie was closing up. I was hoping to turn in my body receipt and go shopping, but I couldn't be picky. I made an illegal u-turn and headed to my apartment to change and fall asleep to the afternoon news.

My handset rang in my pocket. I flipped it open out of habit before checking my Caller ID. "Yo."

"Miss Plum?" Asked a very business voice.

I swallowed. "Speaking."

"This is doctor Leery from Saint Francis hospital. I'm very sorry, but there was an accident and we need you down here as soon as possible."

My mouth was suddenly dry. "What happened? Who's hurt?"

"I'll explain everything when you get here. Head straight to the ER." There was yelling and beeping in the background, and then the connection was severed.

I ran through the double doors of the ER and looked around. Was it Joe? Valerie? My Dad or Grandma? I failed to notice Tank until he wrapped me in a huge hug. I was on the edge of crazy. "Tank?" I asked.

Tank pulled away. "It's Ranger."

I swallowed again and suddenly felt dizzy. Tank helped me into a chair near where he was standing. "How...how is he?"

"I'm not going to lie to you. I don't know for sure." Tank sat down next to me and held onto my hand.

"Not dead?" My voice was an octave matching Minnie Mouse.

"Not dead." Said a deeper voice above my head.

A man stood in a green scrub suit. Blood stained the top, and I had to look down at my feet. "Stephanie, are you going to be ok?"

I tucked my head between my knees and nodded. "I have something I need to ask you." The doctor stooped to my level. "Ranger was hit by a truck earlier this evening. Most of his lower body is squashed. His liver isn't working like it should, and were waiting for tests to come back, but we believe his only kidney has gone into failure."

"We need to find someone that matches." I looked up at Tank. Why was I being told all this.

"I didn't match bomber."

"We've tested everyone, but you. Accepting a kidney from anyone but a direct donor would take time we haven't got." The doctor held out a needle. "Can we run a few tests?"

All I could do was nod. 'And he will owe you his'. I felt a prick in my finger, but didn't look up. The sting stopped and the doctor pulled the needle away. He rushed it to the nearest nurse, and with urgency told her to hurry and get it tested. The nurse scuttled up the stairs.

"Would you like to see him?" The doctor asked quietly and I lifted my head and met his eyes. I felt Tank's hand on my back, guiding me up and out of the chair. "He needs you, Steph."

Tears welled in my eyes, but I followed the doctor into the next room. Ranger laid on the bed, helpless and weak. Sides I'd never seen before. His eyes were closed, and there was an incision on his bare stomach that revealed muscle and intestines. I swallowed vomit and moved my view quickly. I reached for his hand, glad to feel the warmth still to it. Ranger's face was pale, and I reached out and rubbed the backside of my hand against it. He flinched. "Ric." I whispered and he responded with a squeeze.

That boosted my spirits a little. He was responsive. Only, now I didn't know what to say. "It'll be okay," was all I could muster. The corners of Ranger's mouth tipped up, but his eyes shut tighter in pain. I stroked his face again with my hand.

"Miss Plum, can we see you outside?" The nurse asked, signaling the doctor and I outside.

I leaned over and kissed Ranger on the forehead and followed them outside.

"As if a miracle from God, you match. His body can accept your kidney." The doctor smiled. "If, you're willing to accept the danger."

"Danger?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"The surgery might put the baby in harms way. We can still do it, but we need your consent." The doctor looked down at the lab results.

"Baby?" A tear managed to roll down my cheek.

"I assumed you knew... you're almost three months pregnant." For a second, I swore the doctor blushed.

My hand found it's way over my stomach. There was only one person who could have fathered a baby. Morelli hadn't been near my bed in almost five months. "You have my permission." I said weakly.

"There is a slight chance you could loose the baby." The doctor added.

"There's a chance we could loose him too." I motioned towards the door.

"You should drink a lot of water for the next hour or so. We'll get a room preped and ready to go. We don't usually do this, but under the circumstances..." The nurse informed as the doctor left to check on Ranger.

"Can I... go see him again?" I smiled slightly, "And tell him about the baby?

"Certainly." The nurse managed an easy smile and held the door open for me.

I hadn't noticed, but Tank was beside me again. He had been the entire time. I forced myself to look at him, and he leaned over and gave me a friendly kiss on the top of the head. I took Ranger's hand again, instinctively. I opened my mouth, but couldn't find the words. And even if I had, how would he take them? I envisioned Morelli in this position, suddenly surprised by a pregnancy. I winced inwardly. Ranger was no Joe, and Joe was certainly not Ranger by any means. More tears formed behind my eyes, and I could feel them trail down my face.

I was happy. I could help him, and I was carrying his baby. I had mixed feelings. Could I be the mother the baby needed? Do I have the right atmosphere to raise a child? "I'm pregnant," Came out as a surprise whisper.

Ranger squeezed my hand again, and lifted it a few inches off the bed. I was looking down at my feet, and I raised my eyes to meet his face. His eyes were opened, tired and happy at the same time. A dried blood trial ran down his cheek from a split in the skin above his eyebrow, and his eye was bruised, but he looked happy.

He closed his eyes after a few minutes and let out a sigh. Tank slipped out of the room, leaving just the two of us for a very long time.

There was a light rap on the door. "Miss Plum, were ready for you."

Ranger's chest rose and fell in a slow, sleepy pace and I gently let his hand fall back to his side. This would all be over, I repeated in my head.

I was layed down on the bed. "We should usually keep you awake during the surgery, but for the baby's sake, were going to put you under a light anesthetic." A mask was slipped over my head. "Count backwards from 100 for me, okay?"

I nodded, and counted. 100...99...98...97...96...95...94...93...92...91...90.

Tank sat in the family room. He cared for Ranger as a brother, and Stephanie as a little sister. So the family room felt like the right place to be. The doctor slid into the room, three hours after they had taken Stephanie. The doctor smiled.

"Stephanie's in recovery. They should be stitching Ranger up. Baby came out unharmed." The doctor rested a hand on Tank's shoulder. "You should go get something to drink son. You look really pale."

Tank nodded and left the room following the doctor. What he needed to do was get out of here. He hated hospitals, from his tenth birthday, when he had lost his mother. But he owed it to Ric and Steph to be there.

Ranger was the first to wake up. Every angle of his body ached and bled and bruised. Nobody had told him anything, but he felt better. He was a little shaken from what Stephanie had told him. He wanted to see her, but his mouth was swollen shut. Saying anything would have been an act of God.

Somewhere across the hall, I stirred in my bed, coming back to the real world. I blinked in the darkness and heard a faint beeping. The only light was emitted from a heart monitor pushed against the wall behind my bed. My stomach was sore, and my hand rubbed against it absent-mindedly. My thoughts drifted to the baby and Ranger. I swung my feet over the edge of the bed. I needed to make sure Ranger was alright.

The door was opened, and a big figure filled the door. "Where do you think you're going?" The voice asked, followed by deep, booming laughter.

"I was going to go see Ranger." I said indignantly as Tank switched the lights back on.

"Funny. I think he wanted to see you too. He's doing fine, but he can't talk yet." Tank came over to the bed and picked up my feet.

He put them back on the bed. "The doctor was going to bring you a wheelchair and he wanted to give you some of the news. I'll go find him."

Tank left, and he was soon replaced by a balding doctor. It wasn't the same one I had been dealing with. He stuck out his hand. "'Evening, Stephanie. I'm Dr. Scott."

"Hi." I said weakly.

"The surgery went well for all three of you." He said with a smile. "You're going to have to be careful with the stitches though. It's going to hurt worse if you pull them loose and they have to redo them."

He must have sensed my impatience. "No walking unless necessary for a few days. No more than ten steps at a time. You will need to use a wheel chair for a week or two. Keep them as dry as possible. You'd have to be nuts to go swimming in this weather, but no more showers than you need to. I've written you a prescription, and a doctors note for work. If you need anything, you'll know where to find me."

He helped me into the wheel chair, which I wasn't happy about but at least I could see Ranger.

Ranger was smiling, his eyes closed. He looked better. He was cleaned up, his chest still bare showing off a X made in stitches. I hadn't examined mine, but they probably matched.

My stomach growled and Ranger's smile widened. "I was going to eat dinner with my parents you know." I said jokingly.

Ranger opened his eyes in response. "How are you feeling?" I asked before I realized he probably wouldn't answer.

"Thank you." He said, sounding strangled and tired.

"I captured a fortune teller today." I said and wheeled my chair next to Ranger and rolled my head onto his shoulder. "I got a free fortune too."

"Hmm?" He grunted as a question.

"She said, that there was a single man to whom I owed my life, and in turn he would owe me his. And from this man, I will find prospering love and many children."

Ranger let out a weak laugh. The laugh of a man in very much pain and not enough medication.

"Baby?" He asked in his choked voice.

"Doing fine." I said and stroked my hand down his arm and then laced my fingers in his.

"I love you." He said, the first time he had said those words, and only those words and nothing else.

I found a knot in my trout, but managed to say it back. I did love him, and fortune was told that we would love each other for eternity.

This one is probably my most sappiest (is that a word?) fic. It's been floating around in my head for a long time. The closest I've come to a kidney transplant was from ER anyway, and since the realm of fiction is free to the author, I probably made up some facts and streatched in a few places.