If you recognize them, they're not mine :)

Thank you Margaret for reading ahead as my beta and leading me down the right path for all our favorite characters.

Chapter 27—Heroic Measures

Hector's POV

I didn't know who was calling me. The ID said that this was Estefania's phone, but this wasn't Steph.

"Say that again," I told the caller, trying hard to decipher what she was saying.

"She had an accident. Hurry. Come quick. I don't know what to do."

"Is this Eula?"

"That's what I said. Come quick, she's bleeding. South Clinton, like the president."

And then nothing. If that really was Eula, I had to assume they were down by the train station. I called Rafe and asked him to meet me at the car and then I called Bobby, relaying the 'she's bleeding' Eula left me with.

Rafe and I were out of the building in under a minute and thank God the train station was close by. I turned left from the station onto South Clinton and I noticed a small gathering of mostly homeless people. Someone was lying on the ground. I stopped the car and we both jumped out. I saw it was Steph and there was a lot of blood. A homeless man was on his knees next to her turning a small tree branch that was attached to a scarf wrapped around her leg. At least someone knew how to make a tourniquet.

I saw Eula. She was pacing and wringing her hands.

"What happened?"

"Whittier cut her. It was meant for me. She saved my life."

"Who's Whittier?" I asked.

"He left, but he'll be back. He's been harassing me and Emelda since he first showed up here."

Two other cars came to a screeching hault. I assumed Bobby was in one, probably Ranger in the other.

I was wrong. Cal jumped from the first. Bobby and Lester from the second. Bobby had his bag in one hand and a phone in the other. He immediately assessed the situation and pressed a button on his phone. It seemed to me that Steph was drifting in and out of consciousness, and there was a lot of blood. I'd say Whittier probably severed an artery. Thankfully someone knew how to apply a tourniquet or she would have probably bled out by now.

I got as close as I dared. "Chica," I called softly so she would know I was there.

Bobby's POV

We all know how much Stephanie hates being the center of attention at the local hospitals here, so as of late we call Empire, a private ambulette, and bring her to a private clinic in Philly. The doctor that heads up the clinic is Ranger's brother-in-law Eric, Daria's husband. The clinic is for pediatric cardiology but his doors are always open to us.

I hoped he had type AB positive on hand. It looked like we'd be needing a number of pints.

Cal was talking to Eula, well as best as anyone can talk to Eula, when I heard the whine of a high-performance engine pull in. Ranger and Tank jumped out. Ranger pushed through the crowd until he got right up in front next to me. I had already cut the lower pant leg away and had taken over tourniquet duties.

"Stephanie, can you hear me?" he asked.

I shook my head, "She's in and out of consciousness. I called Empire and Eric knows she's on her way. The idiot severed her femoral artery. Quick thinking on someone's part has kept her alive so far, but she needs surgery and transfusions. Another thing in her favor is that she's AB, universal recipient. Let's see if we can get some donors over to the clinic so we won't have to use up their reserve. I'm going to set up an IV and get some fluids in her, we can replace that with blood when Empire gets here."

"Take mine," Ranger said, "I don't want her to use plasma unless it's absolutely necessary. I'm O positive."

"I know. And you'd work in an emergency, but Cal, Benny and Erik have AB positive. Cal," I called out, "AB?"

"Yes. Positive."

"Can we have a pint to get Steph started?"

"Of course," he said rolling up his sleeve as he walked over.

From my years as a medic in the field I knew the anastomosis technique for a human to human direct transfusion and just how long it would take for Cal to spare a pint since there was no way to measure and we didn't need him suffering the same fatigues that Steph was showing from loss of blood. Steph was already intubated; the Kimpton tube was ready and as soon as I had Cal set up I'd start the transfusion while we waited for Empire. At times like this I wished they were closer.

For as big as he was, Cal was squeamish. He was the one who passed out cold when hit by Val's amniotic fluid so I didn't want him to see the size of the incision I needed to make into his vein to prevent clotting. I had him turn his head while I inserted the cannula. I could see the blood start to flow, so I knew I'd been successful. Thank God for my seat of the pants training.

There'd been good blood flow going into Stephanie's vein for about five minutes when Empire showed up.

"I gave her a pint but until we get her into surgery and the artery reattached, that's not going to do much. Looks like she's lost a number already," I told the paramedic who seemed to be in charge.

Once I removed the cannula and tubing from Cal and made sure his wound had enough pressure on it to start clotting, I turned my attention back to the paramedics. They'd gotten Steph, along with my portable IV, onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. Ranger and I jumped in with her, much to the unhappy look of the paramedic who was assigned to the patient area. Ranger wasn't going to leave her side and since I knew her history and had already ministered emergency measures, I could care for her better than he could anyway.

Ranger was holding Stephanie's hand and talking softly to her as we drove over the bridge into Philly. Her pulse was still weak but I'm sure knowing he was there with her was doing wonders. I overheard on the radio that the operating room had been prepped and we were taking her right in. Good. I was going to scrub up and try my hardest to join them.

Lester's POV

I'd called Benny and Erik as soon as I heard Bobby say they had the same blood type as Steph and Erik was going to search our intranet for any other ABs before they headed out to the clinic in Philly. Ranger and Bobby seemed to not want to use up the blood reserves they had on hand for children's emergencies and I was pretty sure we could dig up a few more men with the same blood type if we did a little research.

I'd give her all of mine if it was the right type, but unfortunately it wasn't.

After I took care of that, I got the information from Eula that Cal had been trying to get before he was needed by Bobby. Eula did good by finding the man she called Compton. He was a homeless Vietnam vet who had some basic medical training and I knew Ranger would want to reward them both for their efforts. It would be nice if we could set Eula up in an apartment somewhere but she'd been on the street for so long, we'd have to clean her up before any potential landlord would even entertain the idea. And I knew the perfect person to help.

"Ella?"

"Oh my God, how is she?"

"Bobby got some blood into her and the ambulette is on the way. A homeless woman Steph has been picking up for years saved her life with some quick thinking."

"Thank God."

"I want to return the favor. Initially can we bring her to you so that you can give her a meal and a hot shower? I'm pretty sure Ranger would like to do more, but that's a start."

"Yes, I'm here. I was just getting ready to bring some sandwiches down to the break room. I can be back upstairs in fifteen minutes. Will she come here though...without Steph?"

"I'll see what I can do. I'll call you back."

Eula was still hanging around, even with all the Rangeman, and now police, activity. I walked back over to her.

"Eula can I take you for an early lunch?"

"Hmmpf. See what you know. No one's gonna let me into their fair establishment in this town."

"What if I took you to Ranger's housekeeper's apartment and after a nice hot shower, she'd make you anything you wanted to eat."

"Shower? You didn't mention shower before."

"She's got the best shower. Unending hot water, luxurious towels."

"And she'll make me anything I want for lunch?"

"As long as she has the ingredients. And if you tell me what you want right now, I'll make sure she has them on hand."

"Ok. I'd like a roast beef sandwich on rye, with a little mustard and a pickle."

"That's it? Ella's a fabulous cook. Even I can make you a roast beef sandwich."

"Would she make me Fettuccini Alfredo?"

"You bet. That's one of her specialities," I said guessing. I assumed Ella could make anything.

"Ok then. Let's go."

Ella's POV

I got another call from Lester saying that he and Eula were on their way. I assumed by her desire for a shower that she was feeling a little less than fresh. Perhaps her clothing hadn't been washed in a while either. I had some new cotton panties and a robe I could give her while I washed and dried what she was wearing; I just hoped she wouldn't take that the wrong way. If I knew her size I would have called one of my suppliers and had a few things sent over. I'd do that anyway once I figured out what she needed.

Lester said she wanted Fettuccini Alfredo so I put on a pot of water while I waited.

My door buzzed a few minutes later and I opened it to Lester and a star-struck middle-aged woman.

"Hi Eula, I'm Ella," I said extending my hand.

Eula was still looking around inside and outside of my apartment.

"Hi," she finally said, taking my hand for a shake. "Where's the shower?"

"Goodbye Lester," I replied, pushing him out the door before he got too comfortable. This was going to be a woman's-only gathering.

"Follow me dear," I told her, leading her down the hall. "While you have lunch, I'll wash and dry your clothes, if that's ok? I have some clean things for you to wear in the meantime," I added handing her the robe and panties I'd left out for her.

"Thank you, this is so soft," she muttered running her hand over the cotton robe.

I had a feeling she hadn't been treated very well in a while and I hoped to try to make some of that up to her in the next hour.

"Just leave your clothes outside the door and I'll wash them. I have commercial machines here so it shouldn't take too long."

She muttered something again. I showed her how to work my shower and then I left her alone.

Twenty-five minutes later she emerged. I had already sorted and spot-treated her clothes and put them into two machines. Both were now washed and drying. I got the heavy cream and butter out of the refrigerator; I'd already grated some nutmeg and zested and juiced a lemon. Now I just needed to prepare everything.

I mixed half the cream and the lemon juice together in a saucepan. I added the butter to the mixture until it started to melt and then under Eula's watchful eye I added the fettuccine which had been cooked al dente, the rest of the cream, the parmesean cheese and everything else, then dashed it with a little salt and freshly ground white pepper. I raised my gas slightly and let it thicken for about a minute.

I'd already made a small salad and put out my best dishes and crystal. As I plated the fettuccine, I motioned Eula to sit down.

"Bread?" she asked as she put the napkin on her lap.

I gathered she was really hungry so I brought out one of the whole grain baguettes I'd made that morning along with some butter. The meal was making my arteries close up just looking at it but I was 100% sure it would be filling.

I brought out a small bottled water and she just looked at it. "Got a coke?"

I didn't but if I asked downstairs one of the guys would go to the deli for me.

I explained that we didn't keep sugary, carbonated beverages on hand but if she really wanted one I could have one here in about five minutes.

"Naw. I'm ok. I was just testing you. Aren't you going to join me?"

"This is all for you Eula, I already had my lunch."

"Oh," she said and dug in again, sloshing the cream sauce as she gobbled. Obviously she was afraid she wouldn't be fed this well again for a while and was getting her fill.

I left her to eat in peace and my cell rang, it was Ranger.

"How's Stephanie?" I asked before he could say anything.

"She's out of surgery and they are giving her another pint of blood. Thank God it was a clean cut and the surgeon was able to close everything up successfully. She may need a little plastic surgery, she's a keloid former and it was a deep cut, but we'll have to wait for her to heal before they can do that. I understand you have Eula in your apartment. Thank you, I owe you."

"Nonsense, she helped Steph; we help her. That's the way it works."

"I wanted to thank you while I had the chance. I'm staying here with Steph until she's released, probably tomorrow or the next day. If you could send a change of clothes and my shaving kit over with one of the men, I'd really appreciate it. Oh and a pair of sweats for Steph. I don't think with the drain they have on her leg she'll be able to get into jeans."

"I'll pick up a few things for the both of you. I'll ask Lester to bring a bag to the hospital; he said he was going to take Eula back after lunch anyway. I wish there was more we could do for her."

"I'm working on it; I need to know what she did before she became homeless. Maybe she'll talk to you?"

"I'll ask."

I had an assignment and I take my assignments from Ranger very seriously. I went back into the kitchen to start a conversation with Eula.