Disclaimer: I do not own the characters created by Janet Evanovich. I just really really wish I did!! I am just using them in this story.
I almost couldn't myself to look around. I heard the car go screeching out of the lot. I didn't even think to try and get the registration. Every sound seemed muted. I eventually opened my eyes and all the sound came back. I could hear a girl screaming and knew instantly that it was Carmella.
"Daddy please, open your eyes. This isn't fucking fair! Please just open your eyes. Talk to me, say something. Anything. Don't you dare fucking die on me!" she shrieked. I looked down and saw her sat on the floor with blood and tears pouring down her face and holding Ranger in her arms. I felt tears pooling in my own eyes as I watched the helpless teenager and thanked God that I'd never been in that situation. I ran to her side and she looked up at me. Her eyes were filled with fear and sadness.
"Call an ambulance, please. I don't think he's breathing properly." She sobbed. I nodded wordlessly and grabbed my cell phone out of my purse. I started to type in the number, but my hands were shaking uncontrollably and my vision was blurred by tears. I looked up and saw the parking lot wasn't empty as I'd assumed, but there were about twenty people looking at the scene in horror.
"I've already called an ambulance and the police my dear, I'm sure everything will be ok." A woman about my age told Carmella, who shot her a look of disbelief.
"Ok? How the fuck is everything going to be ok? My dad has just been hit by a fucking car and is now unconscious. This is the first time I've seen him in six years and now there's a chance that he will die because of me. So explain to me how you can fucking think that everything will be ok because I am really struggling to see it." She screamed. The woman took a step back. I looked up at the woman.
"She doesn't mean that, she's just in…in shock." I explained. I didn't know why I said that because I personally thought that Carmella had a point. The sound of sirens filled the air and an ambulance came speeding into the lot, followed by two police cars and finally Joe in his POS cop car. The paramedics had clustered around Ranger and two cops had pulled Carmella away so the paramedics could do their job. Joe ran over to my side and wrapped his arms around me.
"How did you know I'd be here?" I whispered. He kissed me lightly on the head.
"I didn't, I just happened to be called out on this one. How are you?" I was shaking and scared for Ranger's life. I shrugged.
"I've been better." I looked over and saw Ranger lying motionless on a stretcher with an oxygen mask strapped over his mouth. Carmella clambered into the ambulance, the doors were slammed shut and they sped away. I pulled myself out of Joe's embrace.
"I need to go the hospital. Carmella's going to be all alone and I need to see if-" Joe nodded and pulled me to his car. We clambered in and Joe stuck the light on top. We roared out of the lot and followed the ambulance to the hospital.
I found Carmella in the waiting area out side of Ranger's room. She was shaking and had silent tears rolling down her face. I sat next to her in silence. I had no idea what I could say, because no words could make this better. Joe was downstairs, talking to his colleagues. They doubtlessly needed to talk to Carmella and I about what had happened, but if one of them came anywhere near us before we found out how Ranger was, I would personally castrate them. I had already told Joe this and he was probably passing the warning on. Danger, emotionally unstable females; handle with care.
"This is all my fault." Carmella whispered. I took her hand in mine.
"No it isn't sweetie. None of this is your fault. It's that fucking lunatic behind the wheel of the car's fault." She shook her head and the tears splashed onto her skirt.
"No, it's my fault. If I hadn't fallen over then he'd never have had to run out to try and save me. It should be me in there, not him." She sobbed. I threw an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to me.
"You can't blame yourself. If you keep blaming yourself you'll go crazy with guilt. You need to be strong, for Ranger's sake if nothing else." I felt her nod. I looked up and saw Joe walking down the corridor towards us, followed by Tank and Lester. Tank saw Carmella and ran over to her. He pulled her out of my grasp and embraced her. Lester placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and smiled softly at me, then walked over to Carmella who had burst into fresh tears. Joe pulled me to one side and kissed me lightly on the cheek.
"How are you holding up?" he asked. I didn't know what I could say.
"Better then Carmella." I finally answered. Joe glanced over at her.
"It can't be easy for her. Try not to get stressed. Stress isn't good for the bambino." He smiled kindly. I nodded and rested my head against him. It had never even crossed my mind that Ranger might…die. I always saw him as immortal. I'd seen him get shot at, threatened and hit but he always recovered almost instantly. Always. But now, now there was someone who really needed him; there was the chance he might not pull through. Maybe it's love that makes us mortal. A nurse walked out of Ranger's room and looked at us. She had a professional smile that didn't give anything away.
"Mrs Mañoso?" she asked me. I shook my head.
"I'm Miss Mañoso, Ricardo's daughter. How is he?" Carmella asked, her face paling. Tank had her hand grasped in his reassuringly. The nurse smiled.
"Would you like to go somewhere private?" she asked. Carmella shook her head. "No, I want to know how he is now." The nurse nodded.
"Mr Mañoso was very lucky. There is no lasting damage that we can detect and he is due to make a full recovery. Just a concussion and a broken arm. Apparently you cushioned his fall." The nurse smiled. Carmella blushed slightly. "We are going to be keeping him in for overnight surveillance but if all goes well, he should be able to leave tomorrow." Carmella smiled and ran over to me. She threw her arms around me and laughed.
"He's going to be ok Stephie!" she whispered with tears still rolling down her face. I nodded and smiled. Carmela stepped back and looked from me to the nurse. "Cam we go in and see him?" she asked. The nurse nodded and opened the door, glancing nervously at the three men. It was understandable; they were pretty nerve-wrecking guys. Tank and Lester sat down, trying to look less intimidating. Joe smiled and looked at his watch. "I have to go and tell the guys downstairs. I'll see you later." He kissed me quickly and walked back down the corridor. I followed Carmella into the room. Ranger was lying on the bed with a load of wires connecting him to machines. Carmella and I sat down in one of the chairs next to his bed. He smiled weakly.
"You scared the shit out of me." Carmella whispered.
"I've told you, I don't like you swearing. Please don't." he mock-scolded. Carmella rolled her eyes and grinned.
"Broken arm, huh?" she asked. He looked from her to me.
"I've had worse." He assured us. Carmella laughed nervously.
"Thank you." She said suddenly. He looked at her in surprise.
"What for?" He asked. Carmella shifted uncomfortably.
"For saving me, when that car-"
"Sweetheart, of course I'd save you. You're my daughter, you're the most important thing in the world to me." he smiled. I was feeling severely left out and emotional. I wondered if I'd ever have such a strong relationship with my child. I hoped so.
After about twenty minutes, Carmella went to get us a coffee. Ranger looked at me and gave me a half-smile.
"Thanks for staying with her." He said softly. I nodded.
"She's a great kid and she needed someone. I'm glad you're ok." I blurted out. He smiled at me. I noticed he'd been smiling a lot more since Carmella had showed up. It was…nice.
"Well…I guess I'll be going when Carmella gets back. Joe's going to want to see me. Tank and Lester are here, did you know?" Ranger's eyes darkened for a few seconds.
"I didn't know. I guess I'll need to talk to them." I nodded.
"Are you ok? You look a bit…" angry, livid…homicidal "pained." I settled on. Ranger stared at me for a few beats, apparently trying to search for an answer. "Do you think that Carmella and Tank are…closer then is normal?" I stared. "Well, what do you mean close? I think they get on well. I guess he's a bit like a…an uncle to her."
"Or a surrogate father." Ranger muttered darkly. I stroked his hand and smiled.
"That's stupid. You're her father, not Tank. She knows that. When you were unconscious in the lot, she was inconsolable. You are her father and she loves you dearly." Ranger nodded and smiled at me.
"Thank you." I smiled back. The door swung open and Carmella walked in, with a mug of coffee in each hand. She handed me one and sat down. Ranger stared at the steaming cup of coffee.
"Where's mine?" he asked, sounding extremely let down and like a stroppy teen. "You don't get any, doctor's orders. When you get out you can drink as much coffee as you like, but not until then." Ranger glared at her. Carmella glared back. It was funny how similar they looked. I stood up and looked down at them. "Well, I think I'd better be going. I need to report to the police station on the way home. I don't suppose either of you got the car's registration?" I asked. They both shook their heads.
"Sorry, all I remember is that it was red. A Buick LeSabre I think." Carmela said. I nodded, I'd got red as well. I told Ranger to get better soon and that I was going to sign his cast to which he replied 'Over my dead body'. I walked out and bid farewell to Tank and Lester, who both promptly went into the room. I called Morelli once I was outside the hospital and told him that I needed picking up, since my car was still at the office. Ten minutes later, Morelli pulled up in front of me. I opened the door and climbed in.
"Hey cupcake, how is he?" he asked, probably more out of courtesy then actual concern. I don't think Joe would be too cut up if Ranger came to an untimely end. He'd just be a bit put out to find me adequate protection when I did something outrageously stupid and ended up with a deranged killer after me. Joe dropped me off outside the office and I went to get my car. As soon as Connie and Lula saw me through the window, they beckoned for me to come in. I sighed and pushed the door open.
"Omigod, is Ranger dead? It would be a sad loss for womankind if Ranger was dead. Whose ass would we talk about?" Lula gabbled. I sat down on the couch. "Ranger's not dead. He's got a broken arm and concussion. He got hit by a car. He was trying to get Carmella out of the way. They're both fine and he should be out of hospital tomorrow." They both stared at me, mouths open in amazement. "When the police came, I thought he was dead. They just said that he'd been hit by a speeding car and was taken to hospital to be treated. Vinnie almost had a heart attack at the thought of his numero uno bounty hunter being dead. " Connie announced. I nodded and got up.
"I'll call in tomorrow, now I've got and make a statement."
Making the statement was pretty much routine. Yes I'd been there, no I hadn't seen the car hit Ranger, no I didn't get the registration. After they were sure they had checked every little detail eight times, they let me go. I drove home and processed the day's events. It was almost unbelievable how close the three of us had been to death. I wondered whether the driver had been deliberately trying to knock us down. They hadn't stopped to see if we were ok, and they'd been driving much to fast. It was confusing. I wasn't sure why anyone would want to kill any of us. I hadn't infuriated any crazed killers lately to my knowledge. Maybe Ranger had pissed someone off majorly. I just didn't know.
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He picked up the phone on the first ring.
"What?" he asked.
"Guess what you fucking genius, they're not dead." The voice shouted.
"What the fuck? That's bullshit, I hit them."
"Mañoso has a broken leg and a concussion and the girl has grazed face and elbow. That's it."
"Fuck." He ground his teeth, this was not good. Failure was not an option. "Well, I tried man." He heard a snarl at the other end of the phone line. "Guess what? You're going to have to try a bit harder. I don't care how long it takes, but if it's not done then you'll be joining your fucking good for nothing wife and daughter." And before he could reply the line was dead.
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Again, merci beacoup for all the fantastic reviews, they are always welcome and appreciated. BTW, I'm spelling Carmella with a double l now since I have been informed that is the proper way of spelling it!! Oops! I'll try 2 update soon, thanks to everyone for reading and please review if you like it!