Chapter 10

I stepped off the elevator onto five and was met with a massive amount of activity, I had never seen so many men on this level once. I had also never seen this much activity, five was normally a place of calm and quiet working. I watched the guys run from room to room, cubicle to cubicle sharing papers and information. I walked slowly to my desk trying to see if there was anyone that I recognized. Finally, I saw Lester rushing out of the conference room.

"Lester" I called, "What's going on?"

He saw me and jogged over, "Beautiful there were 4 break-ins last night and we have had more than a dozen more alarms go off. Something is going on and I don't know what." He looked impatient to get moving again so I decided to be quick.

"Is there anything I can do to help." I asked anxiously.

"No we have it all covered, we called in some back up last night after the first few almas and brake-ins." He said already looking through the papers in his hands. He smiled at me briefly before turning to walk away, then he suddenly stopped and turned back to me, "Actually there is something, Hector was shot last night and is in the hospital. Can you go check on him and bring him back if he's ready."

My eyes grew wide, "What do you mean shot?" I cried.

Lester stopped to look at me, probably because of the tone I used. "Sorry Steph I didn't mean to scare you, he is fine, we checked after it happened. After he got the clear we had to leave because there are more incidents then men right now. He probably just needs to be picked up." He smiled gently at me, "I am positive he is fine. I was supposed to get him but we just had another call and I wanted to go to it ASAP."

"Ok" I said softly the worry going down just a bit, "Do you know were Ranger is?"

"What?" Lester said busily looking through his papers, "…...What, oh ya he left after the second break in. By the time he had fixed that one another had gone off. It's been like dominos the last 12 hours. He asked me to tell you to take a guy with you when you go to catch your skip but to be honest we are fresh out of the any of the core team. Can you wait until later this afternoon or tomorrow?"

I looked at him and he was already distracted and I didn't want to burden him for help, "I am going to go get Hector don't worry about my skip."

I watched as he absently nodded at me, "Thanks Beautiful, take the Car in slot 2. Ranger left it for you." Then he half walked half ran to the stairs and though the door. With the floor in chaos I decided that getting out of the way was the best option, besides I wanted to check on Hector right away.

As I walked to the elevator I tried to remember what happened last night, I remember going to sleep about 10pm and later being gently woke up. Ranger said he had to go but would be back as soon as he could, that had to have been around 1am. I glanced at my watch, 10 am. That means he's already been working for 9 hours after only sleeping about 3 hours. I was not going to ask anyone for help today. They had enough on their plates, besides I was a big girl. I could go get Hector bring him home, then go do some surveillance on my own. It was going to be easy I promised myself.

Hopping into the Cayenne I suddenly remembered that I didn't ask which hospital he was at, shit. I quickly dialed Lester.

"Memorial on Hampton." He said quickly into the phone as soon as he answered.

"Thanks," I grinned, "To easy."

"Be careful beautiful, Hector gets pissy after he's been shot."

"How many times has been shot for you to have this statistic." I asked curiously.

"More then all your fingers combined Beautiful more then all your fingers combined. See ya later" He hung up.

Ugh, phone manners I thought, they had none.

Also ok not what I was expecting but Hector was starting to scare me less and less, after all he did save my life the other day. He also has been making an effort to stop and talk to me when I was around. I could do this I thought with a smile, he probably just needed a hug.

Yea right a hug….

When I arrived at the hospital I walked up to see the nurse sitting at the desk was a girl I went to high school with. Great, just great, within the hour It would be all over the Burg that I was visiting a gunshot victim at the hospital. Oh well maybe I should make it good then I thought.

"Hay Shelly how are you," I asked as I slid up to the counter. She blinked at me in surprise, "Stephanie Plum is that you?" No I thought to myself it's the freaking tooth fairy. I haven't changed that much since high school. She's the one with blond hair instead of brown, new teeth a new nose and 30 extra pounds. If I can recognize her then she should be able to recognize me.

"Yep it's me." I said with a fake smile.

"What happened to your face," she said grimacing.

"I had a run in with a wall." I decided that lying would be the best option, the story was going to be embellished anyway, better to start it off simple. "I am actually here to visit…." I paused as I read the sign that said family only allowed in emergency rooms. "…My brother" I finished.

She looked at me with narrowed eyes, "Brother, hummmm…. I didn't know you had a brother. What is this brothers name?" she asked.

"Hector, he was shot last night at work. I am here to check on him and take him home."

"You mean the tall Hispanic male with the tear drop tattoo under his eye." She said twirling her pen in a circle.

I pasted a huge smile on my face with all teeth and exclaimed brightly, "Yep that is the one, he's my brother once removed and adopted."

"Sureeee" she said with a small smile and buzzed me in, "Go on back to room 3. Good luck because he is crabby as fuck and won't listen to anyone. Maybe since you are his sister you can get him to listen."

My eyes got huge at this statement, awesome I thought. A super crabby Hector is just what I wanted; said no one ever.

As I walked down the hall I decided to go for supper happy cheery, I sauntered into room three with a huge smile on my face. "Hector," I called out, "Are you ready to be sprung from this joint?"

I saw him sitting back on the table stone still with his hands folded under his head. He looked up slowly and narrowed his eyes. "Lester" he said.

"Nope, sorry! He's busy; but bonus you get me!" I said still smiling, I would not let him frighten me with his super chilling expression. He continued to look at me with is eyes narrowed so I made my smile bigger and waved my hands like I had "magic fingers". This got an eyebrow raise…seriously could every one do that but me.

I decided to make a change and go with a firm hard approach, "Look," I said firmly, "Lester is busy, they are all busy right now. So you get me, sorry if I was not your first choice but to bad." I crossed my arms and gave a little stomp with my foot. He continued to look at me so I narrowed my eyes and raised both of my eyebrows. Finally, I saw his lips twitch and I knew I had won.

Go Stephanie, you are so bad ass sometimes I thought as I tried to hide my grin but I was to slow and he saw it and the he rolled his eyes, "OMG HECTOR you rolled your eyes!" I nearly shouted while pointing my finger at him, "I am sooo telling Ranger…. ok I won't because he will say it's my fault and that I am a bad influence. But I saw you do it!" I clapped my hands in excitement right as the Doctor came in.

The Doctor looked back and forth at us, "Does he belong to you." The Doctor questioned me with a frown.

"Yep he is mine." I said with absolute convection and a smile, now that he rolled his eyes I knew that we were going to be friends forever.

"Good can you talk to him, I don't speak Spanish and the interrupter left after he said something to him." The doctor looked like he was ready shove us all out the door just to be rid of us. "I just need him to do a test then he can go. I also need him to listen when I tell him to put his arms down. He is pulling at the stiches."

My smile disappeared as the reality that he had been hurt came back "Where was he shot exactly," I questioned. "I just got here and haven't had the time to talk to him."

The doctor looked at Hector then at me, "Honesty he was shot in the back where no one should survive. The bullet missed every major artery and organ and passed through the front. He is a walking miracle and all I want him to do is put his arms down so he doesn't pull out the stiches and give us some blood to run to make sure there is no infection starting." As the Doctor finished you could feel the frustration rolling off the him.

"So you're sure he is completely fine, did all the tests to double check?" I asked. I guess the doctor could hear the worry in my voice because he looked at me and gave a gentle smiled, "Yes he is going to be fine as long as he does what we tell him."

"OK I can do that; all you need is blood then he can go?" I questioned.

"Yes and he needs to pick up these prescriptions." The doctor handed me a list of things to get. "How are you related again"

I looked up, "He's my brother, why?" I asked my eyes wide.

"I am just checking that you are related, it would not be good to give you all the paper work to sign if you aren't."

"Yep, he's my bother…. He's adopted," I said in my fake happy voice and smile.

"Ok I am going to send the nurse in for the blood draw again, I will let you know the results as soon as possible. I am sure he wants to leave." The doctor said with an equally fake smile, evidently Hector had worn out his welcome.

I watched as the doctor left and then turned back to Hector, "I know that you understand WAYYYY more then you pretend to and I know that you are purposely fucking with the Doctor. So I am going to keep this simple, you are going to let the nurse take your blood so we can leave. Got it? Comprender?" I said in the worst possible accent. I watched as his eyes got slightly bigger and he gave me a swift nod. "Now lower your arms before you pull the stiches and we need to get them redone!" He looked at me with narrowed eyes this time, so I pulled my phone out and looked up what I needed, "Ahora, Now!" I said in a firm voice. Hector looked at me for a moment before his face broke into a brilliant smile and he slowly lowered his arms. The nurse came in at that very moment and looked relived when she saw me and Hector smiling.

"I guess all he needed was his sister", she said, "Can I take your blood" she looked at him a little timidly. When Hector didn't answer I did, "Yes please. We really are ready to go home."

She walked over to Hector who was scowling at the nurse now, but he held out his arm for inspection. I watched as she put the band around his arm and set up and I could see Hector getting more and more anxious. And suddenly it came to me, he was afraid of needles, big bad Hector was afraid of needles! So I did what I always do, I surprised him. I walked over to the other side of the table opposite from the nurse and I slid my hand inside his empty one. His head snapped around and he looked up at me, so I smiled down at him and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. After a moment he squeezed it back then we both looked up in surprise as the nurse said, "All done, see that wasn't too bad."

I thanked the nurse as she was leaving then I went and sat in the chair and looked at Hector, I mean really look at him. He looked exhausted, and he probably was; if he was at the first break-in when this happened he had to be up for over 20 hours, and that was only if he slept at the night before. Then you add being shot and what little energy he had left was probably gone. "Go to sleep while we wait." I told him

He just looked at me, so I said it again, "Sleep" and I put my hands together and placed them on the side of my face with my eyes closed. "Sleep" I said again. I watched as he shook his head and nodded towards the door. So I took my phone out again and looked up a new phrase, "I protect usted." I am sure I pronounced it wrong so I said it again in both Spanish and English, "I protect you. - I protect usted" Pointing at myself first then at him. I walked over to the door and locked it. "Sleep- Dormir."

He looked at me for a few minutes before he nodded and closed his eyes. After about an hour I heard a knock on the door after someone tried to come in. I slowly got up and called Hector's name softly, I watched as his eyes popped open. I pointed towards the door where someone knocked again and called out that we were not allowed to lock the door. He slowly sat up and nodded to me, so I unlocked the door and the Doctor came in looking irritated.

"Sorry," I said. "I was trying to get him to rest and he didn't feel safe with the door unlocked." The Doctor looked back and forth then nodded, I think at this point he just wanted us to leave. "The results came back and his levels are slightly elevated, I changed his prescription to something a little higher for his antibiotics. He needs to get the stiches removed in 7-10 days and should have his blood drawn again in 4 just to double check. However, if he experiences any sharp pains, swelling in the area, bleeding, a smell, burning sensations or a high fever bring him back in immediately."

I nodded listening intently, "Is everything written down on the papers, all the instructions?" I asked, "We have a company medic that will take over his care and I want to make that I don't miss or forget anything."

The doctor looked up at me and smiled, the first real smile I saw. "Yes everything is written down right here, and here are the prescriptions he needs." He said as handed me another pile of small papers. "All the instructions are written down and you just need to pick them up."

I saw the doctor struggle like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to ask. Finally, he looked up at my face and said, "You know abuse is never ok, if you need help I know some groups."

"What" I asked completely confused.

The doctor pointed to my black and blue eye and temple, evidently my makeup skills were not enough to fool anyone today. I laughed out loud, "This not from a boyfriend or significant other." I saw the doctor glance at Hector, "Or a family member." I said exasperated now. "In fact if Hector or anyone else ever catches the guy he will be dead! I am a bounty hunter and I think a skip came up behind me and slammed a fist into my temple. Hector actually saved my life because he saw the guy and ran over to me, if he wasn't there I would probably be dead right now." I smiled at Hector as I finished. "Hector is pretty amazing, he's also a bounty hunter/security expert for a major company. He got shot while at work last night."

I could see the doctor look at Hector differently now, and I felt like my work was complete. "Are we free to leave your fine establishment." I said with a smile.

"Yes, yes" the Doctor stuttered this time, I watched as he struggled again trying to collect his thoughts. I smiled at him hoping it would help but instead it seemed to make him more nervous. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, "So I never do this, I mean it's not really professional but since you are not technically my patient, would you like to go out sometime?"

I looked up in surprise, I mean he wasn't bad looking. Actually he was kind of hot, I was surprised I had not noticed it before. Yet as I looked at the Doctor I knew I would never be able to see him in the same way I saw Ranger, I could never love him the way I love Ranger. Yet as I stood there I had a small epiphany… I might need to move on.

Ranger has always made it clear we were never going to be a couple and now that Joe and I were done for sure maybe I should date someone. It felt like a million different emotions passed through me at once, including confusion and frustration. Why did everything have to be so complicated, why can't people just say what they want and do what they mean.

So I took a deep breath and I decided to try. I mean the worst that was going to happen would be that the date sucked and we moved on…. or Ranger found out and killed him, but that would mean I was his and I didn't think I was so finally I mumbled, "Sure maybe that could work." I watched as the Doctor broke out into a huge grin as I wrote down my number on his note pad. "I work this weekend but maybe during the week?"

"Yes" he said excitedly, "I will call you later to set something up." I watched him walk out happy as a clam but all I felt was disappointment because I wanted someone else to be excited to go out with me but instead was left in a state of confusion. I really wanted to find out where Ranger and I stood but I was terrified of asking and have him shove me face first out the door. I loved Ranger with my whole heart, being honest sucks because I know now that he is the only one I would ever be truly happy with. But If I had to choose between living with loving him in silence, or him pushing me out of his life. I would live in silence forever.

I felt helpless as I turned to look at Hector, who seemed to be very disappointed in me if his glare had anything to say about it. "What" I demanded, "I am not in any relationship really. Everyone has made it very clear that I am not what they want." I said as my eyes stared to water, stupid dry air. "Let's get you home and to bed." I mumbled as I gathered up my stuff and his. I walked over to the wheel chair the nurse had brought in and pushed it over to him with my head lowered looking at the seat.

"Get in", I asked softly. I saw him look down at me and shake his head No with the corner of my eyes that were looking at the wall now instead of him.

"Please get in Hector." I whispered my voice threatening to break, His eyes narrowed and he shook his head again. So I looked at him right as two tears slid down my cheeks, "Please Hector get in, I just want to go home." I saw him move so quickly it was like a blur, or may it was a blur because my eyes were full of tears…. Then I was surrounded by his arms as he gently hugged me. I was startled at first but then my arms went around his waist and I gently hugged back trying to be careful of his wounds. He held me close for a few moments while I cried my frustration out. When I was able to finally take a deep breath and the tears slowed down to a gentle flow I looked up at Hector. "Thank you," I whispered to him, "I really needed a hug."

He leaned back down and whispered into my ear, "It will be ok."

And the first thought that came into my head burst out of my mouth, "You little liar, I knew you could understand English!"