Chapter 9

She was discharged from the hospital four days later under some conditions. First she had to have a nurse with her 24/7 for the first week, physical therapy for 4 weeks, and limited mobility for 2 weeks. Well, 'stick me in the nut house and throw the key away' she though. Confinement wasn't her thing, but at least she was in her apartment.

Her mother brought her food daily and Ella stopped by twice a week to clean (Ranger's orders). She had daily visits from Eddie, Carl and Mary Lou. Lula and Connie stopped by a few times and so did Tank and some of the merry men. Ranger on the other hand practically spent every free moment with her. It was nice. He didn't have to be there daily, and sometimes he would spend the night on her couch, because he kept saying that he didn't want her to be alone too much.

The one person who she hadn't heard from or seen was Joe.

She had asked Ranger and her father a couple of times but both just changed the subject. She could never forgive him for cheating on her, but the accident wasn't his fault. It did hurt to think he didn't care enough to come visit her.

Marylou said that no one had heard from him and Eddie said that Joe had put in for a leave of absence. Either way, she wished he'd stopped by.

It was now one month and a half after her discharge. She was starting to grow roots into the floor. She need to get out, this was ridiculous. So… she put on a pair of jeans, and white t-shirt… she couldn't put her socks or shoes on because she couldn't bend down without feeling pain. She did her hair as well as she could and put on a full face of makeup. Then she plopped on the couch and waited for batman, she knew he was going to give her a hard time about going out.

She heard the lock and the door swung open. He looked tired, but he stopped on his track when he saw her dressed and on the couch. She'd been wearing pajamas and sweats since she left the hospital.

"Babe." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "All dressed up and now where to go?" He gave her a half smile.

"Well I'm glad you asked… I was thinking that maybe its time for me to go out."

"You know you're not ready, you're still in a lot of pain." He started to walk towards the kitchen and she quickly got up to follow him. Wincing at the pain in her abdomen.

"Ranger, I'm bored out of her mind. I need fresh air. PLEASE!"

"Ok then I'll open the window… all the fresh air you want. But I don't know if you should go out yet Babe, I don't want you to get hurt." He said with puppy eyes.

She had to admit, he was taking excellent care for her. Her mother was even in awe at the way he helped her walk and sit or the way he tried to feed her even when she could do it all on her own.

She had been feeling a lot closer to Ranger since her accident. When somebody was around he put up his blank face and tough image, but when they were alone, he smiled a lot… laughed out loud often and snuggled sweetly as they watched movies. This Ranger she was beginning to like a lot!

She walked up to him standing really close. "Pretty please, I want to go out, please?" She batted her eyelashes, leaned up and gave a kiss on the cheek.

"That's not fair Babe, your playing with fire." He put his arms around her waist and rocked me from side to side.

"Listen I'll be out with you, I know nothing is going to happen. You can take me anywhere YOU want, but I just want to get out." she pressed hard onto his chest. She can play hard too.

"Ok, we'll go out, but just for a couple hours. I don't want you to go to bed so late." He let go of me and led me to her bedroom. "But first I think you need shoes."

She laughed and sat on the bed. "I was thinking the same thing but this pain doesn't let me bend down that far yet. Maybe you could help me."

"Of course Babe, anything for my princess."

Princess? She had never heard him say that before. Uhmmm interesting.

"Grab the sandals with the long strings... The heels are not that high on those." she giggled at the thought of big bad Ranger digging through her shoes trying to find the right ones. He opened her shoe closet door and looked at me.

"Babe, why on earth do you need so many pairs of shoes? How many do you have?" His hands were on his hips surveying the neatly colored coded array of shoes in front of him.

"Hey a girl needs to accessorize, and shoes are the major accessory. One can never have too many shoes!"

"How many?"

"All together, or by season?" She asked in a sheepish tone.

"Babe."

"Fine 47 pairs… Ok." Well, it wasn't that bad… she could go insane and buy a pair for every outfit. She was sure rich people and celebrities had thousands of pairs of shoes. What are 47?

He shook his head, and handed her the sandals she had asked for as he kneeled in front of her. She handed him the first and he lifted her foot. Boy was it getting hot in here or what? He caressed her foot and placed it in the sandal tying it around her ankles. He moved to the other foot and performed the same movements ever so slowly.

"You have beautiful feet." He said in a low husky voice.

"Thanks. Let me get my purse and let's get out of here." She got up as quickly as she could. Ranger always knew too well how to play hard. And she was sure he loved 'applying pressure.'

"Where do you want to go? Dinner?" He asked from the bedroom. She was in her foyer digging through her purse. Well she certainly didn't need any of these things. So she started to pull the out. Pepper spray, gun, bullet, handcuffs. All done, boy her purse felt 10 pounds lighter.

"Dinner sounds good I haven't had any yet." He reached me and arched an eyebrow.

"You sound witty, like a kid during Christmas." He said as he grabbed her keys and turned the lights out.

"Ranger I haven't been outside in almost two months.! Witty is not the word." her voice was almost a squeak. She was a little strung out.

"Let's go. No sudden movements and walk slow." He instructed as he held out his arm for her, and opened the door with his other.

"AAAAAHHHH, Trenton here I come!" she yelled as she hopped out of her apartment.

"Take it easy there tiger!" He smiled the full 500 hundred watt one. "This is going to be a disaster, I just know it."

"Aww Ranger, lighten up… I'm happy about going out."

"You could say that again Babe." He said as we walked down the hall.