Disclaimer: I do not own JE's characters, I just like playing with them. Thanks for reading.

It was day three of Batman Watch and I was comfortable in my armchair right next to the bed of the man himself. I have a laptop, an overnight bag and a bed on the side of his that the guys commandeered when I told them that I was not leaving. Lester and Cal are on the door right now and later they switch with Hal and Zero. Tank is running Rangeman and is talking to the other managers about rotating workers.

I gave him the idea. I said they would need extra guys and that maybe some of the guys here would like to switch places. Of course we can blame the Showdown in the waiting room for that decision. The guys want to leave so they do not shoot Morelli. I cannot believe he acted like that, then again, yes I can.

I look over at Ranger. He is sleeping and he has not woke up yet from his surgery, but Bobby translated the medical speak for me. Apparently that is normal. Whatever. I am not leaving.

My mother could not make me leave when she had asked me to talk with her in the waiting room. I had left her there with a serious case of the why mes. Oh well. You can't please everybody. I am so glad I finally understand that. I feel no guilt whatsoever for not doing what my mother wants.

The night Ranger was brought here, I sat in the waiting room with Julie and I called Ella. I told her the deal and begged for clothes for me and Julie and food. She said she would be happy to help. Manny arrived with my stuff and I asked if he and Zip would pack up my clothes for me and give Dillon a note for me. They hugged me and agreed.

They told me that Ella was cooking some easy to reheat meals for when Ranger came home. I had loved her faith that he would be alright. I conned the nurses into letting me and Julie shower and change. I threw out our old clothes and we returned to the waiting room, which had grown more people.

I met Ranger's mother who hugged Julie until she protested and sat on my lap again. We talked about superheroes and cartoons until she fell asleep. When I needed the restroom and left her with Tank, I came back to find her hysterical. I hugged her and told her I was in the bathroom. We now take those breaks together.

There were so many men in black in the waiting room that I wondered who was on monitors. Tank said he called in contract workers and that he left Hal and Hector in charge. I just smiled and nodded. We waited for hours until Morelli showed up just as the doctors called my name. I stood up and took Julie with me.

I was informed that I had Ranger's medical proxy and that there were papers I needed to sign and they wanted to talk about his surgery. Joe had thrown a fit, yelling that there was no way his girlfriend was having anything to do with that thug. The same thug that took bullets for me, but whatever.

I looked at him and told him his girlfriend was not here and that maybe he should take a hike and find her. I told him he was an inconsiderate asshole to call a decorated soldier a thug and especially to insult that same brave man in front of his child and his mother.

He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me away from Julie and every guy in the room pulled their guns on him. I looked at his hand on my arm and he let it go.

I told him that if he did not leave quietly, I would have him removed. He tried to bluster about being a cop and I told him that he was not assigned to the case and that I had no comments until I spoke with my attorney. Tank had nodded at me when I said that. Good.

He yelled that I was a disgrace and that the next time Ranger and his goons were going to get me killed. I smiled and said that at least he would be safe, since he could just hide somewhere until Ranger and his guys made sure things were safe again, right?

I turned my back on him and followed the doctor with Tank and Julie accompanying me. I found out that Ranger had pulled through the surgery and that he was in a medically induced coma while his body healed. So I talked to Tank and he talked to the guys and now here I am playing scrabble on a laptop that Hector sent me. I also did some searches to combat the boredom.

Julie was asleep. Her mother had arrived and had seen the way she was clinging to me and agreed that Julie could stay here during the days, but at night she was to go to her grandmother's house. That did not work too well. Julie had nightmares and she was brought back here to sleep with me. We both fell asleep to the sounds of the machines in Ranger's room.

There was a cough and I looked up to see Ranger looking at me. He had a chest tube in, so he could not talk. I smiled at him. "Are you ready to be Batman again instead of Sleeping Beauty?" His eyes smiled at me.

I pushed the button for the nurse and woke Julie up. She was excited and now she believed that he would not die. The doctors did their measuring and all while I sat with Julie on my lap. They tried to make us leave and the machines went berserk. Batman wanted us to stay, it seemed.

The doctors finally left and I helped Ranger to drink some water from a cup. He continued to smile at me with his eyes. I wonder what he is thinking about. The guys came in to see him and to give us our daily supply of Ella food. Julie kisses her dad and told him she loved him before she left. She said she would not have a nightmare tonight because she knows he is alive. I told her to call me. We were alone again and I held Ranger's hand.

"So I did not dream it." I look at him. What?

"What are you talking about?" He squeezes my hand.

I squeeze his in return. He takes a slow breath. "You came with me. You were here the whole time." I smiled at him.

"Of course, Batman. This is where I belong. Now you work on getting better. Maybe think about getting a force field or something." He smiles.

I give in to temptation and kiss him gently. "Go back to sleep. I am not going anywhere." He smiles a tiny smile at me then and goes right to sleep. I stare at him, and then I get back to work on the searches. I still had nightmares and I needed to make myself sleepy. Tomorrow is another day and I look forward to it even more now. Batman was going to be alright.

A/N: Please read and review. Does it feel finished now?