A/N: The same rules apply – they aren't mine if you recognize them but the plot and any mistakes belong to me. Character thoughts are represented in italics. Thanks to Susan for editing this for me!

Chapter 4

Stephanie's POV

She was surrounded by swirling flashes of light and sound, followed by an intense jolt she swore went to her very soul. She felt torn apart and pushed back together an instant later. Even blinded by the intense light, she could see things in Technicolor. She tried to turn toward the rapid-firing flashes and snatches of sound, but it made her so dizzy she had to block them out.

She couldn't make out the words but without a doubt she recognized that she knew them, knew their familiarity. She could feel the words bobbing and weaving around her and through her. She knew them as if they were her own, recognizing them at a cellular level.

…"my love"…..

….."mine"…

….."my light"…

…."anything for you"….

…"It just can't happen"…

Overwhelmed by the cacophony of motion and sound, she did the only thing she knew to do to cope with it – she willed herself to sleep. As she drifted off into the quiet still blackness, she felt an unfamiliar knot of anxiety that was accompanied by Ranger's loud voice saying "This is going to fucking hurt."

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The fog thinned enough that Stephanie could hear the wailing of sirens. She became aware of hurting all over. As she tried to focus on this, she realized that her thigh was a source of intense pain. She felt a burning, tingly sensation over her chest. She tried desperately to see what was causing it, but couldn't will her eyes to open. She tried in vain to move her hands to what hurt, but they wouldn't cooperate either. She gradually became aware of a rhythmic thumping. She smiled in her mind as she recognized this familiar sound. Ranger's heartbeat…..always makes me feel better….. gonna be alright. She focused on the strong and steady beat and felt herself relax again and drift off toward the sound she so craved. Oh, Batman. I need you to be okay…

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While the emergency room staff rushed around frantically working on Ranger and Stephanie to stabilize them, Tank and Lester arrived to the department's front desk. Tank paused just inside the waiting room and turned to Lester. "Les, you need to call Bobby and clue him in on what's going on, man. Get ahold of Steph's parents too. I'm gonna go and start the paperwork, then see if we have any news." Lester gave a nod of understanding and went back outside to make his phone calls.

Tank went to the admitting desk and leaned down towards the front desk attendant. "I need to speak with the charge nurse on duty."

A woman in her late thirties came over to talk to Tank. "I'm the charge nurse on duty, sir. How can I help you?"

Tank pulled her to the side to speak privately. He pulled out two documents, and with the most serious 'don't mess with me' look he could make, said "I'm the acting CEO of Rangeman Security, and two employees were brought into your facility by ambulance. I have paperwork that needs to be filed on both and specific security measures that need to be implemented as soon as possible."

The charge nurse raised both eyebrows at Tank while staring at him for a few seconds, then lowered her eyes to the offered documents. She took them from him and read over them.

Tank offered to her "These are legal documents that appoints the acting CEO or designated representative of the company to make any medical decisions for any employee of Rangeman should they be unable to make those decisions themselves."

The nurse nodded after verifying that the documents were legal. "I'll make sure these are placed on their charts." She paused for a second. "Is there anyone besides you that is allowed to have access to either Ms. Plum's or Mr. Manoso's medical information?"

Tank didn't miss a beat with his reply. "Our company medic, Robert Brown and another partner, Lester Santos. Any other inquiries by anyone else needs to be deferred to one of us three. Also, due to the nature of the work our company is involved with, we feel that the risk for potential retribution while both of our employees are in such a vulnerable state requires that they have a guard detail where ever they are located while in your hospital. This includes where you have them now, so expect a couple of guards to be in place outside your triage rooms. This is nonnegotiable. Please let your staff be aware of this."

The charge nurse recognized the seriousness Tank tried to convey to her. "I will pass on the word. As soon as I know anything, I'll make sure you are updated." They shook hands, then Tank went back out to the waiting area and began counting down the moments before shit hit the fan.

While Tank was inside, Lester notified Bobby of what happened. His next phone call was the call he dreaded more than anything. He punched in the numbers and drew in a deep breath.

"Morelli here. Is this Marie? I wondered if you'd call me after last night."

Lester shook his head in disgust. Stupid dick. "Morelli, Lester Santos. There's been an accident."

Morelli's voice was silent for a few beats. "And?"

"Stephanie is in the ER at St. Francis and I need you to go get her parents. She was hit by lightning. It looks pretty serious, man."

"Shit, Santos. How the fuck did she manage that?! She's gonna kill me is what she's gonna do! This is just what I needed."

"Can it, you ass hat! It's not about you. Just get her parents here and look for Tank." Lester clicked his phone off, then went back inside to look for Tank.

Tank was sitting with his head in his hands, elbows propped on his knees, so Lester opted to pace the waiting room. About ten minutes had passed when one of the ER physicians came out and asked for the family of Ms. Plum. Both men came forward and introduced themselves, eager to hear any updates about Stephanie's condition.

The doctor motioned for them to all sit down, and pulled out Stephanie's chart. "Stephanie has suffered some very serious injuries." The doctor paused and cleared his throat. "The fall from the tree by itself caused a serious concussion and several deep abrasions. To make matters worse, she was impaled by a piece of tree branch in her right outer thigh. The branch was about an inch in diameter at its widest point; there is significant muscle damage there and will require surgery once she's stable. Luckily, no nerves or major vessels were damaged by that. We are also concerned that Ms. Plum and Mr. Manoso's leg wounds may have bled significantly into each other, so we are watching for any signs that she may experience what's called an acute hemolytic reaction—meaning Mr. Manoso's blood may start trying to break down Ms. Plum's. We are not seeing anything that indicates it has started to happen, but we will continue to monitor for this."

Both Tank and Les both nodded and appeared to relax a little.

The doctor held his hand up. "I'm not done, gentlemen. To compound this situation, it looks like Stephanie was the victim of a lightning strike. The good news is that it doesn't appear to have struck her directly; we believe it hit the tree first which deflected it to her. This reduced the amount of voltage that passed through her body. However, it was enough that we are very concerned about her heart and her brain. The fact that she came in breathing on her own is promising – many lightning strike victims go into full arrest. We are seeing some alterations in her heart rhythm that need to be evaluated. Of most concern is that Stephanie has not shown signs yet of regaining consciousness. We are concerned that the electrical voltage may have caused some brain cell death. When you add in the concussion from the fall…." the doctor's voice trailed off as he made direct eye contact with both Tank and Lester to convey just how serious Stephanie's condition was.

Tank spoke first. "She may or may not wake up. We're talking about possible brain damage from this." Tank scrubbed his face with his hands. "Shit."

The doctor nodded. "Agreed. We have her stabilized for the time being and are still running tests to see exactly what the extent of her injuries are. Only time will tell us what the long term effects will be."

Lester stood up and put his hands on his hips. "Any word on Manoso?"

The doctor's pager went off. He checked it, stood and turned to Les. "I've not been in his triage room, but I will stop in and see if I can get someone out to talk to you about him. I'm sorry to run, but I'm being paged. Gentlemen." He nodded at both, then went back through the door.

This time, Lester sat down with his head in his hands, while Tank paced the waiting room, waiting to hear about Ranger.

-tbc-

A/N: Thanks for hanging in there with me as I write this! Although I have googled most of the information about lightning strikes and victims of lightning strikes, I am taking some creative licensure with this story's content. Next up, we will see what's going on with our man of mystery.