Disclaimer: Dont own them. Not making any money.

A/N: *smiles* I really am rocking this story out fast. I hope to keep at it.
Please R&R!
Cyn

Shattered Dreams and Broken Hearts
Chapter Two

Crying.

Someone's crying slowly dragged me up from the darkness of sleep. They were quiet. Trying to be quiet anyways. The woman's voice carried through the whole room. Who did they belong to?

I mentally sighed. She's back with me. My Babe is here. No, no, no! Why is she crying? Please stop mi amor. I'm safe now. No more tears. I'm right here so please no more crying.

My eyes wouldn't open. It felt like they were made of cement. The darkness tried to pull me back under but I fought. I'm strong enough to fight it now. How long was I out for this time?

"Ric? Ric can you hear me? Please come back to me baby. Open your eyes for me. Tell me you'll be ok." The crying got louder.

Something wasn't right but I couldn't place it. The crying. . . Babe please stop crying! I fought and fought to open my eyes. I could feel my eyelashes flutter against the tops of my cheeks but that was it. Open dammit! Open your fucking eyes Manoso!

A hand touched mine, capturing it in a tight grip. "Please baby, please open your eyes for me."

Wrong, wrong, wrong! My body was rejecting the hand. Babe what's going on?

Another hand touched the side of my face gently. "I think he's waking up," the woman hiccupped.

Damn straight I am! Come on Manoso!

Lips lightly brushed mine and my eyes flung open like a broken blind. The light burned my eyes and I let out a low groan.

"Oh Ric! I knew you would wake up for me!" Lips touched mine again, pressing down harder for just a brief moment. They felt dead to me. No electricity. No thunder. No tingling on the back of my neck.

I opened my eyes slowly. The world swam before me. God I hate drugs. I focused on a crack in the ceiling and controlled my breathing.

"Why is he not saying anything?" the woman's voice grew higher in pitch.

"Just give him a minute." Tank. This is good. Tank will know why everything feels so wrong. "Drugs make things hard to adjust," he continued.

My world realigned slowly. As long as I made no sudden movements I think I was going to be ok. Achingly slowly I turned my head to the right where the voices were coming from. Tanks solid presence was reassuring. The crying woman was next to him.

She must have been only an inch or so shorter than me since Tank didn't loom over her. Thin with cosmetic curves I would bet money on. At least a small D. it was easy to see with her extra-scoop neck purple shirt that barely covered her stomach. Tight jeans encased her shapely legs but her heels definitely helped. Fuck me pumps at their best. Everything was designer.

My eyes moved back up her body to her face. Extra pouty lips, nose straighter than an arrow, chin subtly defined. Her eyes were hazel and surrounded by puffy redness. Her platinum blonde hair hung straight, halfway down her back. She could easily break out into the modeling world if she hadn't already.

But she was wrong.

She was all wrong.

Who the fuck is she and where the hell is my woman?

I glanced around the room fast not even caring about the side effects of the drugs anymore. They were the only two people here.

I cleared my throat as I turned back to them. "Out." My voice was still scruffy.

Tank nodded and turned to leave. "No," I nearly shouted. Well as much as I was able to. "You stay. She goes."

The smile that had been plastered onto her face when she thought we would have alone time dropped fast. "What's wrong Ric?" she asked, already on the verge of more tears.

I ignored her and repeated to Tank, "Out. Now."

Tank had a confused expression on his face as he watched tears flow down her cheeks unguarded as she ran out the door. I couldn't careless as long as she got the hell out of my room.

"You can't honestly be mad, Rangeman. You know she already blames herself. If she hadn't made you go out-"

I had enough of this. "Where is she?"

He honestly looked taken back. "How the fuck should I know? You just sent her out crying!"

"Not the blonde," I said between clenched teeth. "Where is she? Where is Babe? Where is Stephanie?"

Instantly he became as still as stone. "Rangeman." Tank paused. "She . . . you. . ." the longer he thought of what to say the more pissed off I was getting.

"Tell me where my woman is Tank! Is she with Morelli? Is he keeping her away from me now? Again?"

"I'm going to get the doctor," he said abruptly and walked out.

A low growl broke free from my throat. The vibrations made me ache.

Minutes later when Dr. Davis and Tank came back in, Tank had his "blank face" on. He was giving nothing away. For anyone else it would have worked but his eyes gave way to worry.

"Mr. Manoso," the Doc started, "I hear you are having some trouble with some things."

"No trouble at all Doc," I ground out. "I just want to know where Stephanie is."

He got my chart out of its holder and flipped to a certain page. "After you got out of surgery I sent for a CAT scan and an x-ray of your head. Nothing came up wrong with either. I'm going to reschedule the tests and run some blood work."

"That's fucking great Doc but what the hell does this have to do with Stephanie?" If someone didn't give me an answer soon I was going to cause some serious damage to someone.

"Mr. Manoso can you please humor me with a question? What month and year is this?"

It was a struggle not to roll my eyes. "It's a week before Valentine's day 2006."

He nodded and smiled sympathetically. "I'm afraid Mr. Manoso, you have a rather peculiar case of amnesia."

I just stared at him. That was impossible and I told him so.

"I would not joke about something like this Manoso. It seems you have no brain damage and there was no concussion. Your mind is trying to heal just like your body right now. There is no medically relevant advice I can give but I do suggest being around places and people who have been a major presence in these last few years."

My eyebrows rose on their own accord. Years. "And what year do you think it is Doc?"

He noted a couple things in my chart before putting it back. "It's February 9th, 2010. A nurse will be in shortly," he said and promptly walked back out.

Tank hadn't moved once inch when I focused my full attention back on him. "If this is some kind of sick joke I swear to fucking God Tank I will fire your ass. Yours and whoever else even had even an idea that this was going on. If you want to live tell me the truth right now."

His masked dropped completely and his shoulders sagged. "I wish I could say he was lying Carlos."

I tried to process that information but I kept circling back to one thing. One person. "Where is Stephanie?"

Tank avoided my eyes. "Last I heard she was living in Delaware and engaged."

A sharp pain tore through my heart. "Morelli?" My voice was even rougher, clogged with emotion.

"No. No, she and Morelli have been done for a long time. Morelli is dating some nurse from another city."

Was it good that she and Morelli split, or bad that my Babe is engaged to another man? My insides were in a tug of war to decide.

I locked up those feelings in a box and pushed them far into the back of my mind. They can be dealt with later.

"Who was the blonde Barbie?"

Tank flinched. "She's. . . That's Serena. . . She's. . . Ranger she's your wife."

A/N: Whoa! Oh no he didn't! Ranger? Married? And not to Stephanie? What is going on here? Who the hell is Stephanie engaged to and why the is she living in Delaware?? Please review!