Thank you to all who have read and reviewed. Well, it sounds like I've muddied the waters but it will begin to clear soon. All mistakes are mine but I do thank Janet Evanovich for providing us such interesting characters to play with.
Chapter 8
Stephanie was sitting in her cubicle when Hector materialized behind her.
The men of RangeMan all moved silently but Hector, well, Hector was the quietest of them all. Spinning her chair around, she saw that he was holding a thumb drive in his hand.
He passed it to her, put his hand on her shoulder squeezing gently, and then left.
Taking a deep breath, she slid the thumb drive in her laptop and moused the arrow to play.
She watched the different clips, then played it again, gently brushing her fingers on the silhouette of her birth mother.
She felt a tear sliding down her cheek and wiped it away with the palm of her hand.
Michelle looked so young, and happy, and scared. Being a mother at such a young age must have been very hard and with no apparent support system, well….
Her cell phone rang and she reached over to the side of the desk to answer it. On the phone was her mom.
"Stephanie, I was contacted by the retirement home. Your grandmother was taken to St. Francis by ambulance."
Stephanie stood up, pushing back her chair.
"What happened to Grandma, Mom? Is she OK?"
Helen shook her head before answering.
"As I understand it, she fell on the way to breakfast and they think she has broken her hip. Frank and I just arrived at the ER and have spoken with a doctor. They are continuing their assessment but the wheels are already in motion to admit her."
Stephanie grabbed her purse and was heading to the elevator with her phone to her ear. She didn't see either Les or Bobby waving at her for some information on where she was going so fast without an explanation or an escort.
"I'm on my way, Mom. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Helen nodded her head and hung up.
Stephanie was pulling her seatbelt around her having already turned on her vehicle when the stairway door opened and Ranger ran out.
He was waving his arms and shouting, 'Babe, wait', as she prepared to back out of her parking space. She stopped and rolled down her window.
He ran up to the driver's door. "The guys on five saw you run to the elevator and phoned me. I was down in the gun range."
Stephanie had her foot on the brake and she was slowly inching it off.
"I just got a call from mom. My grandma fell and she's at St. Francis. They say she's probably broken her hip. I'm heading there now."
Ranger put his hand through the open window and on her arm.
"Babe, you promised not to leave without back-up. Wait a minute and I'll come too. I have to move some things around and see if Tank can take my meeting with a client."
Stephanie looked slightly embarrassed. In her haste, she had completely forgotten about her promise to allow a shadow to be with her if she left the building.
She put the truck in park and waited as Ranger backed away and paced back and forth beside the vehicle.
He put his phone away and strode back to the driver's door and opened it.
"Babe, come with me and we'll take the Turbo. I'll drive and you can keep your hands free in case your mom phones again."
Stephanie turned off the vehicle and got out leaving the keys in the ignition. Someone would come by and move it back into place and put her keys on her desk.
She climbed into the passenger seat of the Porsche and buckled in.
Ranger had already jumped in and was putting his own seatbelt on as he started the vehicle. He backed up, manoeuvering around the now abandoned SUV and headed for the gate.
Her phone rang and she looked at Ranger as he smirked. He was always thinking ahead.
Opening it up, she spoke, "Hi Mom."
Mrs. Plum spoke. "Are you driving because if you are, pull over to talk. I don't need you involved in an accident or getting a ticket for distracted driving."
Stephanie sighed. "Mom, I'm ok to talk. Ranger's driving me in case you did phone while we drove there."
Helen nodded her head. She just knew that Stephanie would have jumped into a vehicle and sped to the hospital without thinking about phone calls. Stephanie never thought of her own safety. She shook her head sadly. She had always been the type to jump into something without thinking about the consequences first. No word of a lie, if Stephanie's head wasn't attached, she might just forget it somewhere. She'd done this all her life and it aggravated Helen no end that she had not learned this, this late in life.
She stilled her thoughts and spoke.
"They are still assessing her but they are taking blood, and consulting with each other. It sure looks to me like they are concerned about something."
Stephanie looked out the window and saw that Ranger had just turned onto the hospital grounds.
"We're just pulling into the parking lot and I'll be there as fast as I can. Where do we go to?"
Helen spoke.
"Head to the elevator beside Emergency. Take it up to five. Turn right and there is a nursing station just in front of you. She's in the holding area by the desk."
Stephanie nodded and took off her seat belt as Ranger braked to a stop.
"I'll be there really soon, Mom."
Stephanie was out the door and walking rapidly to the elevators with Ranger right beside her. An elevator was open and they jumped in, pressing the floor button. The elevator door slid shut and they shot up without stopping before the door opened on 5.
Stephanie tried not to race out and headed to the gurney beside the nursing station.
Edna was lying on a gurney under a white hospital blanket.
Helen was standing by the bed, and Frank hovered nearby.
Stephanie stopped by the side looking at her grandmother and put her hand over Ednas' hand laying on the top of the blanket.
"Grandma, I came as fast as I could."
Edna was looking a little woozy from the pain medication, but she smiled that special smile for her granddaughter.
"Stephanie dear, I'm so glad you came. I wasn't watching where I was stepping and slipped on some water or something."
She stopped, then started again. "I was wearing my hot pink panties today and I wonder if anybody saw them when I went ass over teakettle."
Stephanie smiled in spite of her concern.
"Grandma, if they did, you will be the topic of some pretty interesting conversations for a few days. Everyone's going to wonder what's going on."
Edna smiled in spite of her discomfort.
"That'll keep their tongues wagging looking at the old men there wondering who got lucky!"
Just then a porter came to the gurney, unlocked the wheels and prepared to move her.
"There's a waiting room just down the hall. We'll let you know what's going on as soon as we can."
She pushed the gurney down the hallway and into a waiting elevator. The doors closed and they were standing in the hallway looking at each other.
Ranger pointed to the room and they headed to the chairs, sitting down and settled in waiting for news.
Ranger was holding Stephanie's hand as they sat down.
He ran his thumb soothingly up and down the top of her hand and spoke.
"Babe, she's getting the best care."
She nodded her head wanting to believe.
"Did you use your Ranger magic and make the elevator stay open waiting for us and heading us right up to the floor without stopping?"
Ranger smiled his 200 watt smile but didn't say anything.
Frank stood up and walked out the door. He came back with a tray of drinks, coffee and dainties from the coffee shop.
Stephanie looked at her mom. "How much insurance does Grandma have?
Ranger looked at Helen as she shook her head.
"I don't know, Stephanie, but we'll look at it after she gets out. She wouldn't tell me what she had changed."
Ranger's phone rang and he put Stephanie's hand down before getting up and walking out of the room. If he was getting a call, it must be important.
Speaking into the phone he barked, "Report."
Tank was on the phone.
"I suspect that Edna has the minimum insurance so there was going to be a financial hit when she's released. I took the liberty and called our insurance agent and had her family added as a ryder. When Stephanie came on as an employee, I made sure that they were able to be added if need be. Things that are not always Little Girls' fault seem to happen and they do impact the family. We pay the top amount anyway so it's not going to cost more. They'll be fine as far as the charges are concerned."
Ranger grunted. His second was on the ball and had already done what Ranger was planning on doing. Little things like that made his friend and number two so valuable.
"Thanks Tank. They are concerned for her well-being right now but the bill when she is released would have been a shock."
Tank hung up.
They sat in the waiting room, waiting for news.
Frank, then Helen stood up and paced back and forth. Stephanie would have joined them too but her hand was securely locked in by Ranger and she stayed in the chair, trying not to fidget.
A shadow by the doorway and they all looked up, expecting to see someone from the nursing station coming to give them an update.
Instead, four RangeMan employees stepped in; Bobby, and Les took chairs with views of the doorway and hallway outside. They nodded at Ranger and he nodded back. Probably Tank had scheduled back-up and these men were tasked with keeping everyone safe as they waited.
Ranger and the other two, Ted and Hank headed to the nursing station and he explained that the men behind him were to be a security force wherever Edna was. The nurse looked at the board behind her and stated, "right now she's in radiology. I can phone them to hold her and that you will be heading down."
Ranger nodded his head, thanked her and looked at the men.
"Where she goes, so do you."
Ted and Hank nodded and headed down to the elevator to radiology.
Ranger stepped back in the waiting room and once again sat down by Stephanie, taking her hand in his.
Magazines or phones made an appearance and there was the sound of buttons being pressed.
Ranger looked at Les as he chortled at the sound of an explosion.
"Santos, are you playing that stupid game again?"
Les looked up as another explosion rocked. He flipped his phone around and it was a bright red color.
"See Ranger, I have my own phone. I'm off-duty and offered to come here to stay for a while."
He guffawed as another explosion erupted. Then, Bobby's phone came alive with the same sounds. He looked a bit guilty as Ranger glared at him.
"And I suppose you're on the same game?"
Bobby turned his phone around to show that his was enclosed in a green case.
"I'm off duty too, Ranger and it's a great place to play it here. No interruptions like the break-room."
He looked embarrassed but added. "It's kind of addictive."
Ranger shook his head. He was thinking that it was time to book some extra training if his men were resorting to playing games to 'keep in shape'.
Footsteps were heard coming down the hall and instantly everyone's eyes were on the doorway. Les and Bobby put their phones away and were standing in a protective stance.
A doctor in surgical scrubs stepped in and looked around at the full waiting room.
"I'm looking for the family of Edna Mazur."
Frank, Helen and Stephanie stepped forward.
The doctor looked at the men in black, alert and ready to hear what he said. He made a humming noise out loud and spoke.
"Mrs. Mazur apparently fell and was brought in with a suspected fractured hip. Upon examination and x-rays it was determined that it was indeed a fracture. After consultation we believe that it would be safer for her to receive a new hip. I am not confident of a successful procedure to repair the fracture due to bone loss and general condition at the site. Unfortunately she has an electrolyte imbalance that we need to address before any surgery, so we are looking at keeping her comfortable and medically adjusting some of the numbers until we can be certain of a positive outcome."
He looked at Ranger who was standing back.
"We received instructions that she be in a private room with security personnel in attendance."
Frank looked at Ranger after the doctor left. He walked over and stood close to him and spoke softly.
"She's not covered for this. Is there something I need to know?"
Ranger shrugged and spoke so softly to Frank that Helen couldn't hear.
"Stephanie has had some communication that she might be in danger and since you are family, I am ensuing that everyone is being kept safe. How better to get to Stephanie here in the hospital than to catch her as she is concentrating on her beloved grandma."
Frank thought about it and nodded.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough for providing the protection that you have extended over the years to my pumpkin, but I do appreciate your efforts. I know that her staying safe weighs heavily on my mind."
Frank reached out and Ranger shook his hand.
They moved apart, one heading back to Helen and one heading to Stephanie.
A nurse came to the door and looked in.
"Mrs. Mazur is now in her room with two of your very scary men outside. We allow two family members at a time in the room but she is very sleepy from the pain medication."
Frank looked at both Helen and Stephanie.
"You two go and I'll go in after."
Stephanie and Helen walked to the room and opened the door.
Stephanie could only say, "Oh grandma."
()()()()
Authors Note – Thanks Michelle
Myrna
