The characters belong to JE. I receive nothing from this, but it sure is fun.

Chapter 16

Joe's POV

I woke to the annoying sound of a heart monitor beeping. I looked at my watch, and saw that it was just before midnight. I have been sitting in this chair for hours. Stephanie was sitting across the room with her chair pulled up next to Manoso's bed. She hasn't said a word since we arrived at the hospital.

By the time I arrived at the hospital, Manoso was already in surgery. I wished that I could say that I was shocked when the doctor came out and asked to speak to the person that held the power of attorney. Bobby had to help her stand up and walk over to the doctor. I'm not sure what the doctor told her, but she nodded and the doctor headed back to the operating room. That was the most anyone has got out of her since. One of the Manoso's men, the one with the tattoo on his forehead, offered to go to Pino's and pick up a meatball sub for her. She didn't even acknowledge that she spoke to her. That was hours ago.

"You fell asleep." Cupcake said. "That's very un-Ranger like. People are going to catch on if you're not aware of your surroundings."

"I didn't mean to doze off. How's he doing?" I asked from the chair I was using in the corner of the room. I looked over to my sleeping form in the hospital bed. Ranger had been shot by a female member of the motorcycle gang. She had been posing as a bank customer so that she could back up the guys if anything went wrong during the robbery.

"Doctor said that he expected Ranger to make a full recovery. Did you notice that he was shot in the same spot as when Scrog shot him?" She asked.

Manoso had almost died when he was shot by that lunatic that kidnapped his daughter. I remember that night well…too well. That night was the first time the Stephanie had ever said the she loved me. It was also the night that I realized that her relationship with Manoso extended beyond friendship. In all the years I've known Stephanie, I had never seen her as upset as she was that night. She had been inconsolable. No matter how many times I tried to get her to leave the hospital that night, she refused until she knew that he would be okay. Even then, Bobby had to threaten to sedate her so she could get some rest. As upset as she was that night, it doesn't come close to how upset she is now.

To everyone at the scene, Stephanie looked like the distraught ex-girlfriend of a Trenton Police Detective. To me she was the woman scared of losing the only man she ever truly loved.

And that man was not me.

Over the years, I have done everything possible to deny the connection between them. But now, sitting in this hospital room, I can't deny it any longer.

I reached up and felt the scar on my neck, or should I say Ranger's neck. "I guess it's a good thing that he was in my body. It can't be good to be shot in the same place twice."

"Probably not." She paused. "He woke up about a half hour ago. The nurse was checking his monitors. All he had time was to whisper 'Babe' before she injected a sedative into his I.V. She said that he needed to rest."

"That's probably a good thing. He needs to rest so that my body can heal." I agreed.

"Close the door." Stephanie ordered.

I stood up and walked over to the hospital room door and closed it.

"Joe, we need to talk." She said.

"It can wait." I told her. I had a feeling that I knew what she wanted to say and while I knew it was true, I still wasn't ready to hear it.

"No, Joe. It can't." She said, as she continued to sit by his side and hold his hand. "I love him, Joe. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. It doesn't even matter if he loves me back or not. I love him and it's not fair to you if I try to deny it any longer."

I probably shouldn't, but I decided to make one last ditch effort to get her to change her mind. "He can't give you a normal life, Cupcake."

"Since when is my life normal? I'm not interested in having a normal life, at least not by 'Burg standards." She signed. "There's no doubt in my mind that I would go crazy if I tried to be normal."

""But Cupcake…" I began.

"Joe," she interrupted. "You want a wife with 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. That's your idea of happiness, not mine."

"I wanted those things with you." I said. I could feel my heart breaking and it was killing me inside.

"Joe, if I gave in and married you, we would both end up miserable. We would end up resenting each other before our first anniversary and divorced before our second. We both deserve a chance of happiness." Stephanie explained.

"Are you planning on telling him that you love him?" I asked.

Stephanie laughed quietly. "I will, if I don't chicken out. I sort of skirted around the issue this morning when I thought I was talking to you. I should probably wait until we can get Diesel to switch the two of you back. I would feel kind of awkward telling Ranger how I feel about him while he's still in your body."

"Speaking of Diesel…do you know how to get in contact with him?" I asked.

"He came by my apartment yesterday. He's in New York for a couple of days, chasing one of his skips. He said that he would come back by Trenton as soon as he catches the guy." She told me.

"I got to be honest, Cupcake. As much as I'm looking forward to getting my own body back, I'm not looking forward to the physical therapy. Manoso gets shot and becomes the superhero, and I'm going to get to endure the physical therapy." I laugh at my lame attempt of a joke.

Stephanie looked at me and smiled. "You're a superhero too, Joe. You're Super Cop. I'm just more of a Batman kind of girl."

"You know, I've heard you and the girls at the Bond's office call him Batman countless times. I'm beginning to think that you're right with that comparison." I said, sitting back down in the chair. "I need to confess something to you, Cupcake."

"You do?" She asked.

"Yeah, I do." I signed as I ran my hand thru my hair. "Ever since the switch, I've been looking for any evidence that I could use against Manoso. I wanted something that I could use to turn you against him. Do you know what I found? Nothing…absolutely nothing. I haven't been able to find anything on him, or any of his men. I'm starting to think that you're right about them. They really are stand up guys."

"I've been telling you that for years." Stephanie said with a small smile.

"Yeah, I know. I just didn't want to listen. You're not the only one that likes to live in denial." I grinned. "Every single one of them is very protective of you."

"Yes they are. I heard that you were called to the mats." She laughed. "I also heard that you didn't last too long."

"I know those guys don't like me, but do you think that Manoso would let me use the Rangeman gym. I hate to admit it, but I think that I could learn a few things."

Stephanie stood up, walked over and hugged me. "You really have learned something from this experience, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I have." I nodded as I returned the hug.

"Babe?" Ranger said, groggily.

"You're awake." Stephanie said as she rushed over to his side.

"Why don't you run down to the nurse's station and get you some coffee. I need to speak to Joe for a moment." He asked.

"But I…" She started.

"Please, Babe? I only need a few minutes." He told her.

"Alright. Do you want some medicine for the pain? I could bring a nurse back with me." She asked.

"No, not right now." He answered.

"How about you, Joe?" She asked. "Need some coffee?"

"That would be great, Cupcake."

Stephanie walked towards the hospital room door. She hesitated and glanced back before walking out of the room. I can't really blame her for her hesitation, Manoso and I don't have the best history of being able to see eye to eye.

"So, exactly how long have you been awake?" I asked.

"Since she asked you to close the door." Manoso said with a half grin.

"I'm not usually one to apologize but since it's my fault you were shot, I'm sorry. You told me to secure the weapons but I didn't do a thorough job of securing them. I just kicked them out of the way." I explained.

"You had no way of knowing that they had someone inside." Manoso grimaced as he attempted to shrug. "Besides, it's your body that took the bullet. This whole body switch thing has both of us off balanced."

"Yeah, but it could have got you killed. No offense Manoso, but I want my own life back." I told him.

"Understandable." He agreed.

"Listen, since I know that I've already lost her, I'm going to step aside gracefully. But if you hurt her, I'll be waiting to pick up the pieces." I warned him.

"I have no intention of messing this up. I've already done that and I don't plan on doing that again." Manoso said. "Truce?"

"Truce." I agreed.

We heard a quiet knocked, followed by Stephanie asking, "Is it safe to come back in? I've had more than enough excitement for one day."

"It's safe." I said, taking a cup of coffee from her. "I think that I'll head home for the night. You two probably want to talk and I don't need to be a third wheel."

Manoso nodded.

"Listen, just to give the two of you a heads up. Most of the nurses on duty live in the 'Burg." I warned.

"Yeah, Susie Siletti was pumping me for information at the nurse's station." Stephanie laughed.

"I'll come back in the morning." I promised, giving Cupcake a kiss on the cheek before I walked out the door.

I never thought I'd say this, but I really hope that I wake up in a hospital bed in the morning.