Chapter 8

"Hey Babe…." He said giving her the full 200 watt smile.

"Hey" She said in a shaky voice that barely came out as a whisper.

"Are you hungry?" As if he didn't know the answer to that.

"Not really, but I guess I should eat huh?"

"Yeah, babe, you should eat. But, the doctor has you on a strict diet until tomorrow."

"Ok." She looked around the room and took in her surroundings, and wondered where everyone was.

"Maybe I should call your parents and let them know you're awake, I'm sure they'll come over right away." Darn ESP she thought.

"Well maybe in a few minutes… let me adjust first."

"Sure thing, babe." He picked up the phone and ordered her a meal from the hospital kitchen. "Food will be here in half hour."

"Thanks." She stared at him. Before the accident he wasn't even in town. She wondered why he had come back. "When did you get back?"

"About six days after your accident, I would of being here sooner but it was practically impossible for me to leave the job I was working on without attracting too much attention."

"I see. Thanks for being here, I really appreciate it."

"I know, babe. I'm sorry any of this had to happen to you. But I want you to know that I'll be here to help with anything you need."

"Thank you." Her heart ached because she realized that Joe wasn't there. Then she thought about the night of the accident and how she had caught him with Terri. Her expression changed and her eyes narrowed.

"Where's Joe?" She asked with and angry voice.

"He stopped coming by a day before I showed up. No one has seen him or heard from him since. I'm sorry babe."

She sighed and her eyes filled with tears. "He was cheating on me… he has been cheating on me for a while, I know it. What did I do…"

"Babe… listen do not blame yourself for this. It was his choice to sleep with her… his mistake not yours. He's a fool for not realizing that he could loose you by doing it."

"God I'm so stupid, I should have seen it months… no years ago. He always left the house late at night 'working' or he would disappear weeks at a time supposedly working too."

"Hey… its ok now… don't worry about it."

"I don't want him back in my life… maybe someday I'll forgive him enough to be his friend but not right now." She sobbed. "The pain is just too much. I never really wanted to marry him, but after I found out about the baby, I convinced myself that it was the best thing… I was going to tell him over dinner but he took off right in the middle of it to meet Terri." She viciously wiped away her tears with her hands.

"It's ok to cry, it's probably good to get it out of your system." He cooed.

"Oh God, listen to me… I'm carrying on about all this stuff to you. Sorry, I didn't …"

"Hey, hey what are friends for? I'm here to listen and help anyway I can. Now… Let me call your parents and let them know, its only fair for them to know your up, they've been really worried."

"Okay… thanks again." She said with a half smile. He walked to the table where the phone was just as her meal arrived. The attendant placed the tray on the rolling table and swiveled it towards her. Eeewwww. Hospital food. She must have made an awful face because Ranger turned towards her and gave her sideways nod. He hung up the phone and walked towards her.

"Here I'll feed you; you're too weak to lift yourself yet."

"Ranger! No! I can manage." She tried to prop herself up on her elbows, but the pain was too much and she sank back down.

"Babe… Stay still, you can hurt yourself!"

"Ok, Ok. Maybe your right." She said with a strained voice.

"You see… Now let me feed you." He began to spoon some of the mashed potatoes and feed them to her. He would gently wipe her mouth with the napkin after every bite.

Oh brother… He really can be the best man possible. All muscle, fierce, but a big teddy bear.

"All done. Now let me brush your hair; don't want your family to see the mane out of control." And just like that he picked up her brush and started combing her hair being as gentle as he could.

The door opened and a whole herd of people bounced in. Ellen, Frank, Grandma Mazur along with her new boyfriend Ted, Valerie and her kids, Albert, Eddie, Carl, Lula, Connie, and of course Mary Lou.

Does anyone doubt that the grapevine method of communications fails in the burg? With all the noise going on in the room her head started spinning and bells were ringing in her ears. Ranger caught sight of this and crossed the room and sat next to her.

"Let me know when all this commotion is too much for you." He whispered in her ear. She nodded and kept up with all the questions as much as she could without crying.

Twenty minutes later everybody was clearing out. Carl stood in the corner staring at me.

"What's up Carl? You look a little lost."

"Just thinking… listen Steph I wasn't going to mention this." He sighed, looked at Ranger, and swallowed hard. "Joe called me a couple days ago and asked how you were doing." He looked to see if her expression had changed. All he saw was her blank face. "I told him you weren't up yet and he hung up."

"Thanks Carl."

"No problem… I'll see you tomorrow." He stated walking towards the door and Ranger got up with him. He reached him by the door and they spoke in hush voices.

"I'm trying to get a hold of him Carl, if he calls you again let him know he can reach me at my cell phone." Ranger said in a whisper, he didn't want Steph to know he was looking for Joe.

"I'll let him know. Later."

Ranger kept the door opened and motion to the nurse. When she walked up to him he asked her to give Steph a sponge bath. He waited outside of the room while she did.

"All done. I'll let your husband know he can come in now." She said. "You know he hasn't left your side since he got here."

"He's not my husband… but he is a great friend."

"Well I say friends can't get any better than that." She wiggled her eyebrows.

"I'll tell your friend he can come in now."

"When can I go home?"

"Well since you were out and not moving your fractures have heeled rapidly, if everything keeps going the same, I would think in a couple of days." She said walking towards the doors.