Disclaimer- Not mine, I swear.

A/N: This one shot is in Ranger's POV, as he waits for news on Steph after she is shot. As requested! Enjoy!

My heart, my soul, my life.

The combination of feeling her sag against me and seeing the red bloom over her shirt told me all I needed to know.

"BABE!" I heard a scream and it took me a moment to realise it came from me. I could scarcely care about how uncharacteristic it was of me; foremost on my mind was the horrifying reality that the woman I loved more than life was lying limp in my arms. I ran my arms over her body, blindly trying to locate the source of her bleeding. I vaguely registered Bobby skidding down next to us with his medical bag. I wanted to thank him, but a lump of terror and despair lodged itself deep in my throat and I couldn't get the words out. I felt my friend and medic move my hands and I realised he was pressing them down on to Babe's wound. I pressed down, grateful to have something to do, grateful to be trying to stop the flow of blood. I focussed on Bobby as he raked his eyes over her prone form, looking for any other injuries. I breathed a private sigh of relief and my tensed muscles relaxed some as I turned my focus to Babe. I was slightly calmer now, and I knew I had to concentrate on Steph. I kept my hand firmly over her injury as Bobby ran around trying to get an ambulance here.

"Babe," I breathed, inaudible to all the men. "Please open those beautiful eyes for me." My heart broke as she remained painfully still. I forced down my blank face as the paramedics came.

"Sir, please step aside," one of them asked timidly, seeming terrified at the sight of me. I stepped away from Babe, using all my willpower, only the knowledge that she needed medical attention giving me the strength to let her go. As they moved her, I followed, and at the door, the same guy turned around. I knew he was going to tell me I couldn't go with her, so I beat him to the punch.

"I'm not leaving her side," I growled menacingly. He flinched and cowered under my glare. "And the more time you spend arguing with me and not treating her increases your likelihood of dying a slow death today."

He gulped and visibly paled; with a jerky nod, I was allowed to accompany them. I was silent on the drive over; I kept praying that Steph would open those mesmerising blue eyes; those eyes that made me fall in love with her over and over, every time I looked into them. My eyes were riveted on her body, scanning desperately for any hint of movement. I felt numb, save for the agonising pain in my chest that told of my despair.

"Sir, you have to let her go, please…" The trembling request brought me out of my reverie. Looking down, I realised I had a deathly tight grip on Babe's hand. Somewhere during the ride I had reached out and grabbed hold and hadn't let go. I was vaguely surprised at how little thinking had to do with my action, before I let her go reluctantly and followed the gurney into the hospital. In a flurry of efficient movement, they had her loaded and were wheeling her to the emergency theatre. I noticed a handful of Rangeman uniforms storming in after us, but I ignored them all.

"Ranger, no," Bobby's firm voice came out of nowhere and he pushed me back slightly. I realised that I moved unconsciously again, this time almost following her into surgery. I nodded once in acceptance and stepped back to let the professionals do their job.

"Bullet through and through. That bullet may have nicked or punctured an artery. She's lost a lot of blood," Bobby debriefed the blond doctor tending to Babe, "and I'm worried she may go into hypovolemic shock. We need to get her a transfusion."

Hypovolemic shock? I had enough experience with it to know what it was. Why hadn't Bobby said something about her being in danger of that? My heart seized. If Bobby was right, there was a very real chance I could lose her…

I sat stoically, unwilling to move from the waiting room. It would seem the rest of my team agreed with my decision; there was no way they were going to leave. As we waited impatiently for word, I noticed more and more Rangemen uniforms finding their way to the hospital waiting room. When I saw the TPD uniform in my peripheral vision, I reacted, tensing my muscles and shifting into an attacking stance, only to be met with the sight of Eddie Gazarra, Carl Constanza and Big Dog. No Morelli. I hadn't expected him to be there, but with all that had happened, I had shifted into my paranoid protective mode with Babe. I clenched and unclenched my fists as the time dragged slowly on. I prayed to a God I didn't really believe in, hoping that she didn't go into hypovolemic shock. When the doctor came into view, I leaped up from where I sat and strode towards him, my men following suit.

"She's stable," he told us tiredly. All at once, relief flooded my insides. I felt weak at the rush and sheer power of the feeling. I noticed, as the doctor began to explain what had happened in surgery, Hector slipping out. I was the only one that saw him, and I knew he was sneaking off to see Babe. I could respect that; when Hector appointed himself someone's guardian and protector, he would do anything for them, and similarly, if they got hurt on his watch, it would kill him. I could relate, and I knew I had to give him a few minutes alone with her because once I got there, I wasn't leaving without her. I turned my attention back to the doctor.

"…lost a lot of blood, so we gave her some transfusions to avoid her going into hypovolemic shock. A few moments more and she may have lost too much blood, causing permanent damage and maybe even death. You were lucky to have gotten her here as fast as y'all did." he nodded at us and walked away.

Cold doused my body, almost as though someone had actually poured ice water down my body. I had almost lost her. Almost lost her because she tried to save my life. How do I tell her that my life was not worth living if she wasn't in it? Surviving that would have meant nothing if it meant losing her in the process. Suddenly, I felt the overwhelming urge to be close to her, to touch her, to reassure myself that she was still with me, still mine. I walked quickly to her room, knowing that the men would sort out the guard outside her door. I walked into the room in time to see Hector press tender kisses to her knuckles and forehead before tucking her in. I nodded once at him to show him I understood his actions, and he left. I lowered myself on to the chair next to her bed and gazed at the angel in front of me. What on earth had I ever done to deserve her?

That was easy to answer; I didn't deserve her. For some reason, though, she had chosen to stick with me all these years; had chosen to be my best friend, my lover, my Babe. I couldn't question why anymore; I just needed to try every day to make myself worthy of her. I took her hand in my own and squeezed it lightly. Leaning forward, I peppered kisses all over her face and neck, asking her silently with every kiss to wake up and show me that she would be alright.

"Babe?" I murmured. "Babe, you have to wake up. Please, Querida…tu erez mi corazon, y mi alma, y mi vida. Tu tener mi corazon por todo el tiempo. Por favour amor...por favour despertarse. Por favour…" I begged her prone form. (Darling…you are my heart and my soul and my life. You have my heart forever. Please, love…please wake up. Please…)

She lay, unmoving, and my heart broke a little more. I knew for a fact that if I had never pushed away, if my damned insistence not to let her into my life fully wasn't there after that stupid DeChooch deal, then none of this would be happening. She would be mine. I would be protecting her. There would have never been any reason for her to have anything to do with the cop and he would never be able to come close enough to touch her.

"I'm so sorry, Babe," I told her. "I know that this is my fault. You don't deserve this…you should never have to be hurt to stop me from getting hurt. I would gladly take a bullet to my heart a million times over to avoid seeing you in pain, mi amor. If I could change this, I would. I thought you would be safer without me and doesn't this prove my point? I know I'm being selfish, because I need you in my life Babe, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do to keep you safe…" I trailed off, anguished, pressing my forehead into her forearm. I heard someone come in behind me.

"Carlos?" instinctively, I knew that this was my long-time brother and friend, Les, speaking, not my brother in arms and employee, Santos.

"What do you want, Les?" I asked tiredly, not wanting to summon the energy to be snippy with him.

"Why won't you see that safe, for her, is with you, primo, not away from you?" he asked. "This happened because she loves you and because she has a heart made entirely of gold. Not because you were beginning to let her into your life."

"I can't see how keeping her in our line of work is supposed to keep her safe, Les," I replied frustrated. In a way, it felt weird to be talking to my cousin like this after so long; confiding instead of commanding; and it was a refreshing change. I had forgotten how close Les and I used to be and how nice it was to be cousins again in place of colleagues.

"She's already in our line of work, cuz," he pointed out gently. "I don't think you had anything to do with that. In fact, as far as I can recall, you were there to make sure she didn't get hurt going into it."

"This is different," I argued. "This was my enemy."

"And he aimed at you, not her," he countered calmly.

I didn't say anything. I knew my cousin made an excellent point, but I couldn't help but want to return to my old faithful defence mechanism…

"No-one is to talk to her and distress her about taking the bullet until she is fully healed, or until I have spoken to her first," I ordered, deciding to keep my focus on my babe for now. "Please relay that to the men."

"I will," he answered, "but Carlos, don't make the same mistake twice, man. You nearly lost her this time."

Somehow, I knew "this time", didn't mean her getting shot. It meant her almost giving into a marriage with Morelli.

As he left, I realised that our talk could wait no longer. Once she felt up to it, we were going to clear up what was going on with us. Once and for all.

It was time for Someday.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind before she began to stir. I took her hand and pressed circles into it while using the other hand to caress her face. she stirred more and I placed a feather light kiss to her face.

"Babe?"

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A/N: Well, there you have it; Ranger's POV as he had to wait for Steph to wake up! Hope y'all enjoyed! Watch this space for a one-shot of Terry and a one-shot of Helen, coming soon, courtesy of Margaret and Selene! Maybe even a Hector one soon, for Babe-love MM-love….

Te amo will be updated soon, worry not! Just trying to smooth it out ;)

Review please! -JazMitch