This story contains characters that belong to Janet Evanovich.

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Scent of a Woman

Chapter 24

"Lester…I'm so scared."

"What are you scared of, Beautiful?"

"Not knowing. Not remembering."

"Let's try something, okay?" Lester stood up from his chair and picked up a bag that was sitting on the small love seat in the corner of the room. He returned, but this time he gently scooted Stephanie over to the side, pushed the buttons to raise the head of the bed and climbed in next to her, carefully shifting her medical lines and wires out of the way. "I got this notebook and pen downstairs in the hospital gift shop. Since you're wounded, I'll write." He winked at her in jest.

Stephanie gave him a quizzical grin in return. "What are you going to write?"

"I want you to tell me everything you remember about yourself. Names, dates, places, objects, whatever pops into your mind. I'll write it down, and then we'll work on the holes."

"Okay, but it's not much. Everything is kind of fuzzy. It's like my mind is wearing glasses that are the wrong prescription. Faces and events come in and out of focus so quickly, I can't quite get a grip on them…and I'm so tired."

"Well let's start with something easy then. You know me right?"

"Yes." She pushed out in a weak giggle. "You're Lester, and you're my brother."

"How do you know that?"

"Because when I look at you I feel loved and safe. You help me and you take good care of Carlos. He loves you. We both do. You're just…well you're Lester, that's how I know."

"Do you have any memories of us doing anything together?

"I remember your car. It's a really beautiful red Mustang." She slyly grinned at him. "You drive it way too fast." She turned inward again. "I remember…being at the movies. You threw popcorn at me…and…and you were teasing me."

"What was I teasing you about?"

"I…can't remember." Lester could see her eyes shifting back and forth as she struggled with her thoughts. "Wait…a man. You were teasing me about talking to a man." She gave up. "That's all I've got."

"Do you have any memories of me actually being with Carlos? Can you think of any time that the three of us were together?"

Stephanie looked deep in thought. "No." She finally replied.

"That's okay." Lester wrote a few things in the notebook.

"What about you and Carlos? Can you think of any instance where you spent time with him?"

"I know he's beautiful. I can picture his face. His eyes are like chocolate, they make me melt when I look into them." Her voice got soft and wispy and she smiled sweetly.

"Do you remember holding him? Tucking him into bed? Buckling him into his car seat?

"His room is decorated in a fireman theme. The wallpaper border is covered with fire trucks and Dalmatian dogs wearing hats." Stephanie was starting to worry that she couldn't answer his questions.

Lester persisted. "Honey, do you remember ever changing his diaper or drying his tears when he cried?

Tears of her own started running down her face as she struggled. "No. No, I don't. What kind of a mother doesn't remember holding her son?" Stephanie looked at Lester like she was lost. It broke his heart. "Why can't I remember anything more about my son, Lester?"

Lester took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His voice was soft and consoling. "Because, Sweetie, you don't have a son."

Stephanie's head snapped up. "Of course I have a son. Why would you say that to me?"

"Because, it's true."

Stephanie put a quivering hand to her shocked face. "Lester, don't say that. You're scaring me. I have a son. I remember his name…I can see his face. He's my son. I'm responsible for him. Ric left him to me...he...he…" Her eyes widened with the sudden realization of the new memory. "Oh my god, Ric." Her voice was getting panicked again and she started sobbing.

"Sh, sh, sh. Listen to me." He wrapped his arm carefully around her waist, pulled her as close as her injuries would allow and gently rocked her back and forth. "Your head injury is causing you some trouble. It's creating memories that are not completely true. I want you to know the truth. Honey, you need to know the truth."

Stephanie's tears and painful moans of denial slowly turned into whimpers and she eventually stilled. Lester looked down at her face. Exhausted, she had fallen asleep in his arms.

Lester delicately got out of the bed and lowered Stephanie's head back onto the pillow.

Thirty seconds later, Ranger came through the door. He went straight to Stephanie and touched her face, wiping the still wet tears with his thumb.

Lester stood looking out the window. "What do you think?"

"She's really confused." Ranger spoke softly. "When she wakes up she may not even remember the conversation you just had. This could be tougher than we thought, but what you said to her was good. She can't keep on believing she has a child."

"Bobby gave me the idea of writing things down. He says that it will give her another sense to work with. She won't just be hearing the words; she'll also be able to see them. And she can add to the list on her own so she can start processing the information."

"Good, keep it up. When she wakes up again, Megan wants her to start eating some solid foods. Ella is bringing in a few of her favorites. See if you can get her to eat."

Lester nodded, but kept his gaze focused outside. "Do you think we're doing the right thing with her, Ranger?"

"Yes."

"You do understand that, bit by bit, I'm taking away from her everything she believes to be true. Her world is being erased before her eyes." He shook his head. "What are we leaving her with other than confusion and sheer terror?"

"It's time to start filling her in on the truth. Give her facts to focus on and think about. Give her reality to try to remember."

"Do you want me to tell her about you?"

"Not yet. Just give her the information about the Giordano job. Tell her what her role was and how her she helped RangeMan capture him."

Lester heaved a heavy sigh. "You're the boss."

"Do you need a break? I'll stay until she starts to wake up again."

"Yeah, I'm going to take a short walk. I won't be gone long or far."

Lester left the room and Ranger stayed by Stephanie's side, vigilantly watchful for any sign of her stirring. He gently kissed her cheek and a single tear dropped from his face onto hers. "Dios, I'm so sorry, Babe. I'm sorry that this is going to be so painful for you. I'm sorry that I can't be here to hold you; to let you know that everything is going to be okay, because I love you." He kissed her lips. "I've told you before that you're the strongest person I know. You can do this. You can beat this. Te amo mi amada. Mantente fuerte para nosotros mi amor." (I love you my darling. Stay strong for us, my love.) He stayed with her a long time, holding her hand, stroking her cheek, touching her in the only way safe from her knowledge - while she slept. He broke contact with her only when his phone vibrated on his hip.

"Yo." He stepped across the room and spoke softly.

"Ranger, Ella's here. Do you want me to bring in the food?"

"Thanks, Bobby. Call Lester, have him pick it up on his way in. I'll leave when he comes back."

"Roger."

Ranger closed his phone and returned to relish a few more stolen moments with the woman who owned his heart but didn't remember. Shortly after, Lester reappeared with a tray of covered dishes. Ranger gave her one last kiss and headed back into his self-imposed exile.

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Stephanie slowly woke this time with a nagging feeling of utter sadness. She felt as if she had lost something important, but couldn't remember what it was. She lay on her side slowly processing what had happened with Lester earlier. She was angry with him, for some reason, but couldn't remember why that was either.

"You hungry, Beautiful? I have some of your favorites here." Lester cheerfully lifted the lid off the bowl and the smell of chicken soup wafted toward her nose.

"That smells wonderful. Just like Ella's." She struggled to a semi-sitting position. "Do you think I'll be able to see Carlos soon?" She touched the bandages on her head. "I don't want him to be scared of me."

Lester once again lifted the head of her bed and helped Stephanie get situated with some pillows tucked behind her. He totally ignored her last statement. "You know, if you start eating, I have it on good authority from that gorgeous nurse of yours that some of this survival paraphernalia will come off."

"Are you flirting with my nurses?"

"Just one. Megan. She's damn hot. That woman has legs that go on forever!" He gave her a playful grin. "I was thinking of developing some symptoms of a terrible disease just so she could come in and take my temperature."

Stephanie slowly shook her head at his plan and carefully lifted a spoonful of soup to her mouth. It felt wonderful on her sore throat. But after eating two or three bites, she put the spoon down and sighed. "I can't eat anymore, Lester. It is good soup, but I just feel full."

"Come on, Sweetie, just a little more." He picked up the spoon and fed her another bite. "See you can do it. Besides…," he lifted another lid, "there's dessert! This little piece of heaven didn't pass the inspection of Nurse Sexy out there. Technically it's contraband, but I know how much you love dessert, so I slipped it back on the tray after she left. If you finish the soup and eat one bite of this homemade bread, I'll let you eat a bit of this!" Not being above blackmail, Lester lifted the plate to wave the beautiful slice of cheesecake in front of Stephanie's nose.

Stephanie got a whiff and immediately her face took on a distant gaze. "Andrew." She mumbled.

Lester put the cake back on the tray. "What did you say, Honey?"

"Andrew." She repeated more clearly. "I made a cheesecake for him. It was his house." She became quite animated. "Oh, Lester, I remember the house. The picture of the little girl. Andrew…he's special to me. I was there. His daughter..." Stephanie felt a sense of liberation as the images running through her head were spotty, but seemed to have such a positive energy to them. "We…kissed." She touched her fingers to her lips and blushed. "I remember being with Andrew. He said my name…Mari...Maria." She broke her concentration and gave Lester a look of shear relief. "My name is Maria. I made a chocolate cheesecake and took it to Andrew at his house…he...he cares about me." Stephanie returned to the rapid recall of images flooding her mind. "I've been to his house before. I brought lunch. We ate in the kitchen. It was like a picnic. We danced at a club. The music was loud. Lester it's like someone turned on the lights. I can see so many details now." Her voice was gaining strength as her enthusiasm for the sudden breakthrough continued. "I went to the outdoor symphony with him. Lester, what's his last name? I know him."

"Sullivan." He answered. "And, Honey, Andrew is not who you think he is."

Stephanie was stopped short in her musings. "What do you mean?" She said defensively.

"I mean that, yes you know Andrew Sullivan, but not because he's special to you."

"What do you mean? I kissed him. He kissed me. A lot." She grinned with slight embarrassment.

Lester put the tray of food on the bedside table. He wiped his hand with a napkin in order to delay the inevitable. He gathered his thoughts and turned back to Stephanie. "Honey, it's time to fill in some of those holes."

Stephanie sat eerily still as she listened to Lester recount, what he claimed to be, her real life. He began with her identity as Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter, and continued with the basic facts of how she became involved at RangeMan. He left out any direct mention of Ranger, by name. Lester revealed that he was not her brother, but a co-worker and good friend, and that Ella was the housekeeper at the company's headquarters. He explained that the identity she remembered as Maria Granger was one she herself designed for the Giordano mission. He described the specifics about the fabricated life of Maria, including her imaginary son, deceased husband, and helpful mother-in-law. Finally he went into great detail about her time with Andrew Sullivan and how the entire relationship was devised to lure Giordano out of hiding. He stopped short of giving her details about the events leading up to her injury.

When he finished, Stephanie looked tired and bewildered. "I don't remember any of these things you're telling me Lester. I don't know these people you are talking about." She defiantly clung to the memory that gave her the best chance for sanctuary against his words. "I remember Andrew. I want to see Andrew. Will you get him for me?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Steph."

Stephanie shot him a bitter look at the use of the name that she could make no connection to.

"Why not. He's real isn't he?"

"Yes, he is real, but..."

"Then I want to see him. I want to hear the words from him. Are you afraid he'll tell me that you're lying to me?"

"No, Steph, I wouldn't lie to you. I…."

She cut him off with a spiteful retort. "I don't trust you right now. Hell, I can't even trust my own thoughts if I am to believe you. I WANT TO SEE ANDREW!"

Her forceful demand worried Lester. "Okay, Beautiful, calm down. It's not good for you to get upset like this." He conceded. "I'll do what I can. I'll see if he'll come."

Just then Megan came through the door. "It's time for your medication. How are you feeling?" She handed Stephanie two pills and then a glass of water.

Stephanie never answered. She just maintained a menacing scowl at Lester in a fruitless attempt to intimidate him. She swallowed the medication.

"You're blood pressure is up again." She gave Lester an exasperated glare when she noticed the cheesecake on the tray. "Curtis has a standing order for something to calm you down when this happens." She injected a syringe directly into her IV line. "Why don't you try to relax a little bit? I'm sure Mr. Santos wouldn't want to be responsible for having you backslide on us now." She looked pointedly at Lester making sure he got her point. "Would he?" She turned to Stephanie and gave her a warm, caring expression. "I see you ate some soup. That's good. Is there anything else you need right now?"

"No, thank you." She curtly answered.

"Okay, just push the call button if you change your mind." Megan picked up the cheesecake and left the room.

Stephanie turned her back to Lester and relaxed into her pillow. It wasn't long before the combination of drugs and lack of conversation drew her back into a deep sleep. A few minutes later, Bobby came into the room.

"Ranger wants to see you."

"I'll just bet he does." Lester said sarcastically.

"It's okay, man. You did good."

"Right." Lester left the room and headed down the hall.

Ranger was sitting in a chair, totally focused on one of the monitors, when Lester entered the room.

"We need to call Sullivan." There was no emotion in Ranger's voice whatsoever. It was just stated as pure fact.

"You know he could say anything to her. He could get angry. Upset her. Make all of this worse." Lester warned.

Ranger looked up from the monitor. "You said he cared about her."

"Yeah, I think he does."

"Then he won't want to hurt her."

"Maybe. I don't want to hurt her either, but you see what a bang up job I'm doing in there." Lester's frustration was evident in his self-deprecating response.

"Get him in here. I want to see him first, though. Bring him directly to me."

"Do you want me to tell him…"

Ranger stopped him mid-sentence. "Just tell him she wants to see him. Nothing else."

Lester pulled out his phone and dialed.

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When Andrew Sullivan was led into the temporary monitoring room, he wasn't expecting to see Ranger. There was an immediate flash of anger that welled up, and he had to stop himself from acting on it.

"What the hell's going on here?" He spit out. "I was told Maria wanted to see me."

"Sit down, Mr. Sullivan." Ranger's tone was hard and bitter.

"Why?"

"We need to talk." Ranger pulled up a chair and aggressively offered it to Andrew. "My name is Carlos Manoso. I run RangeMan."

Andrew stood firm. "I came to see Maria." He looked around the room for the first time, noticing the monitors and the images they projected. His voice softened as he nodded toward one of the screens. "Is that her?"

"What's left of her, after your little stunt." Ranger was finding it hard to maintain his professional distance from the emotions that surrounded him. His words were biting, cold and accusing.

Andrew became contrite. "I'm…sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. I never wanted her to be hurt."

"Save it." He snapped. "We need you to help her now."

Andrew turned red in anger. "Listen, you and your men dragged me into your little game of espionage. You dropped Maria into my life, who turned it upside down with her highly elaborate web of lies, effectively annihilating my attempts to deal with my own grief privately; and now you want my help! You must be insane."

Ranger's anger retreated slightly. "It was unfortunate, but necessary, that you had to be part of this." He continued. "Stephanie was…distressed…by the lies she was submitting you to."

"Stephanie? Is that her real name?"

"Yes. Maria was her cover identity." Ranger offered the chair once again, and, this time, Andrew took it and sat down. Ranger pulled up another and straddled it backwards, facing Sullivan. "Mr. Sullivan, Stephanie is very important to me. I will do anything to help and protect her." Ranger's eyes intensely bore directly into Andrew's, flawlessly conveying the sincerity and deeper meaning of his statement. "I know that Santos has given you most of the facts about how you ended up as part of this mission, and I also know that he has been giving you regular updates about her recovery. What you don't know is that when Stephanie finally came out of her coma, we discovered that her memory has been affected by the injury."

"What?" He said with astonishment. "Do you mean that she has amnesia and doesn't remember anything?"

"Not exactly." Ranger shifted uncomfortably. "She only has memory of her identity as Maria Granger. She has no memory of her real life, or of her part in the mission."

"So she remembers me, but not the fact that she was conning me? Is this permanent? Will she recover?"

"Her doctor believes it should only be temporary, and, that if her recovery goes well and the swelling recedes, she should slowly recapture her real memories."

"That's good, isn't it? She just needs time to recover? That's all?"

"When she started asking for her son, she became extremely agitated when she couldn't see him. Obviously since he doesn't exist, we could not produce him. Her response endangered her recovery. Since she believes that Lester is her brother and he's familiar to her, we have limited her contact to no one but her medical staff and him. He has been carefully trying to explain to her that her belief in her identity as Maria Granger, and all that goes with it, is false."

"Why am I here then? Why do you need me?"

"Stephanie believes that you two have a real relationship. She remembers your more...intimate moments together. Lester has told her the truth, but she doesn't believe him, and she wants to see you. She's hoping that you will tell her something different. She's desperate to hear that her memories are real."

"You want me to go in there and support what Lester has told her. Break her heart? Why should I do that? Why should I put myself through the anguish of seeing her again under those circumstances?"

"Because, I'm asking you to. Because, you gave her that bracelet. Because, you cared about her at one time. Because, it's the right thing to do. Take your pick." Ranger stood up from the chair and walked over to observe the monitor; his back to Andrew. Groveling was a foreign experience for him, and it was taking its toll on his patience. "I know I have no right to expect you to help. But I am asking you to do this for Stephanie. She's in a tremendous amount of pain, and her constant state of confusion is only making it worse."

Andrew could hear the underlying grief and frustration in Ranger's words. He understood men like Ranger. Men who are used to being in charge and getting their way, finding themselves in a situation where they are powerless to act; powerless to change what has happened. It strips them of their self-worth and eats away at their soul. He felt the same way when he lost Marissa and Madison. "You're in love with her, aren't you?"

"I am."

"Does she know?"

"She did until last Friday night."

Andrew closed his eyes and sighed. There was pain in the knowledge that she had loved another man, while she was with him. "I understand. She's a wonderful woman. She may have been playing me, but she did help me. I think she was sincere about her concerns for my grief. She helped me process some of the guilt I was feeling about my wife and daughter's death."

"Stephanie is a very compassionate woman. We had several discussions concerning how she felt about your situation. It bothered her, a great deal, that you were going to be hurt in the end."

"The irony is, that she was hurt even more so..., and you and I both are responsible for that to a certain degree." Andrew stood. "I will help you, Mr. Manoso. I'll talk to her. I can't promise that it will do any good, but I'll try, for Stephanie."

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Andrew entered the room and paused at the door. He looked at the beautiful face of the woman who, in his head, he knew he should resent but, in his heart, he knew he cherished. He never took his eyes from her face, and when he approached her bed, she smiled so warmly and with such expectation that he nearly shed tears as his body was inundated with conflicting emotions.

"Andrew, you came!" She took in his agonized appearance. "What's wrong?" Stephanie self-consciously touched the bandages on her head.

He caressed her face with is hands. "Your eyes…they're blue!"

"Yes, evidently they are." She said sourly.

Andrew leaned over and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." She said quietly. Stephanie desperately captured his hand, effectively keeping him from moving away.

He gave her the look of a parent catching a child in an obvious lie. "You don't look okay. You had brain surgery for God's sake. Tell me the truth."

"All right. I feel terrible. I have a constant headache, I'm dizzy and tired all the time, I'm stuck in this bed wearing this most unflattering gown, I have more tubes and machines hooked up to me than I should think would be humanly possible, and my world is being turned upside down. My mind isn't…right. Lester tells me everything I remember is a lie." She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Tell me it's not true, Andrew." Her eyes filled with unshed tears. "Tell me my son is real. Tell me…you and I are real." Stephanie tightened her grip on his hand like it was the last lifeline on a sinking ship.

"Lester told you the truth." He pulled away from their connection and walked to the window. "You know, your distraction worked perfectly. When I first met you, all I could see was Marissa. Spending time with you made me believe I had her back again. I wanted so desperately to have a second chance with her. It's really not hard to believe how easily Victor was affected by you as well." He glanced at her briefly. "Do you remember our night at the symphony?"

Stephanie nodded. "I think I remember most of it. Lester told me some."

"It wasn't until I returned you home that evening that I started to really see you as Maria. When you asked me that night about Marissa's death, and I told you about her plan to leave me, I realized just how pathetic I had been. That's when I took off my wedding ring." Andrew touched his ring finger absentmindedly.

"Oh god, Andrew. I don't understand how I could have done those terrible things to you. I don't understand why. I know what Lester told me, but I don't remember that. I remember what I had with you…what you had with me."

"I never had you, Sweetheart. Everything between us was subterfuge. Your deceptions and my self-guided delusions were all there ever was between us."

"I don't believe that. I have…memories…of more."

"You have broken memories, Stephanie."

"Don't call me that!" She replied sharply. "I don't know me as Stephanie. I know me as Maria. I know me with you. I may not recall all of it, but I remember how we touched. I remember how you looked at me. I remember the kisses and how they made me feel."

"But when you're well, and you remember your intentions behind our time together, you'll feel differently."

"I don't think my heart is forgetting anything. It remembers everything about our time together."

"You can't depend on what your heart tells you right now. It's trying to fool you." He returned to the bedside. "I was unfair to you. I used you, too. You have to believe that I truly cared about you, but it became twisted. That night, I realized that you were not Marissa, and that I wanted you because of who you were. But I had already given you the bracelet. I had set a whole series of events into motion that damn near killed you. You may have lied to me, but I put you in danger." He took her chin in his hand, lifting it to look her straight in the eye. "We're not good for each other."

"You're leaving me, aren't you?" Stephanie dropped her head away from his gaze and focused on her hands, nervously rolling the bed sheet as the tears she had been holding back began to flow.

"Sweetheart, there's a man out there that loves you very much. And even though you are confused right now, you will heal, and you will remember him and how much you mean to each other. I have suffered two great losses already. I can't bear another. I have to leave, because if I stay...I'll fall hopelessly in love with you."

Andrew kissed her on the cheek, once again, and walked out of the room.

Stephanie's tears ran unrestrained. The fear of him leaving was so devastating that she barely comprehended his words. Now the room was quiet. He was gone. She felt lost and alone, confused and empty. And she was tired; so very tired.

When Lester returned to the room, he found her rolled up in a fetal position sobbing uncontrollably. He climbed into the bed, pulled her into his arms and tenderly stroked her face.

Stephanie was only slightly soothed by his actions. "He left me, Lester. He doesn't want me. I don't understand. I ruined everything. I lied to him and hurt him, and he's gone. Carlos is gone. Ric is gone. My brother is gone. I'm alone now. I have no real memories of anyone loving me. I'm a terrible person. I must be a terrible person. I'm so pathetic I had to invent imaginary people to love me." She closed her eyes. "Lester, I'm so tired of it all."

Down the hall, Bobby barely moved in time to avoid being hit as Ranger's chair hurled passed him and crashed violently into the wall.

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