Chapter 21

The light in the sky had faded and come back before the doctor had come out to speak to the men, and the room had been filled to more than its capacity by then. Halfway through the night Joe had walked in silently and stood in the far corner, not one of the men from Rangeman would speak to him or give him any information. At some point Tank had called Stephanie's family; her mother, father and grandmother each sat across from Ranger.

Ranger had not moved though; he had sat as still as a statue for hours. Some of the men believed that he was praying silently, others believed that he was meditating to keep calm. The only time he showed any indications that he was aware of his surroundings was when someone came into the room. Rangers eyes would glance up to see who it was and then go back to staring at the floor when it was not the Doctor.

When the Doctor finally did walk into the waiting area the room stood in a collect moment of stilled quiet. The Doctor's scrubs were splattered with blood and it only caused more fear to run through the group, the silence as the Doctor looked around the room was palpable.

Finally, the Doctor cleared his throat and said, "I am looking for Carlos."

Ranger stood and walked over to stand directly in front of the Doctor but before he could speak Stephanie's mother stood up and walked over, "I am her mother, you should speak to me."

The Doctor looked down at the files in his hand, "I am sorry it says her that Carlos Manso is in charge of her care and should be the only one given information."

Stephanie's mother turned a bright shade of red, "No I am her mother, she is not married so I am her medical proxy."

The Doctor looked frustrated when he said firmly, "According to her records all information and decisions are to be made by a Carlos Manso, SO if that is not you please back up."

Ranger stepped forward, "I am Carlos." He watched as Bobby walked in behind the doctor in identical scrubs, "Can we take it out into the hallway." He didn't wait for a response but went in the hallway with Bobby and waited for the Doctor to come out.

When the 3 men gathered outside the waiting room the Doctor took a deep breath and looked at Ranger with a little fear in his eyes. Ranger was huge and clearly on edge and the doctor was not ready to give any bad news to this man.

Bobby saw the Doctor's response and decided to let Ranger know what was going on. "Ranger, she is going to be ok." He watched Ranger to see the tension slowly dissipate, "She had some pretty bad cuts and bruises on her back where she was hit by the explosion. She needed a few stiches in a couple of places. The extreme cold was both good and bad, it helped the blood clot up and the bruises and scrapes minimize. However, it was also pretty rough on her body, the extreme amount of time in the freezing temperature caused her body temp to lower severely. The circulation to her extremities caused some issues; her fingers should be fine but we are watching her toes and feet. Right now it looks like there should be no lasting damage but we won't know for sure for a few hours. It also looks like she had several bites and scratches from the rats, we were concerned about infections and diseases so we gave her several shots of antibiotics plus she will be on 10-day course of oral pills."

Ranger nodded, "What took so long back there."

Bobby gave a small smile, "Ranger she was freezing, we literally spent hours trying to slowly raise her body temp, if we tried to do it to quickly it could have had lasting damage to her heart and other organs."

Ranger looked directly at Bobby, "But she is going to be ok."

Bobby gave a full grin, "She is going to be just fine. She is sleeping now and will probably sleep for most of the day and night. She has been through a lot but she just needs rest."

Ranger closed his eyes and took a deep breath, after a moment he looked up at Bobby, "I need to see her."

This time the Doctor spoke up, "I can take you to her, we want to keep visitors to one at a time. Perhaps Bobby can talk to the rest of the family while we go?"

Ranger gave Bobby a quick nod, "I want two men outside her door at all times. Let the guys make up their own schedule, I have a feeling there will be fighting to figure out whose turn it will be." Ranger turned to the Doctor, "She will be allowed two visitors at a time, I won't leave the room and each of her family members will be given a few minutes to see her and then leave."

The Doctor looked confused, he wasn't sure who was making the rules up anymore but it wasn't him. Bobby saw the confusion and decided to give the Doctor a break. "The is Carlos Mason, owner and operator of Rangeman. That would be the biggest Donator to the hospital for the last 5 years, so the hospital board tends to give him a little leeway on things he requests."

The Doctor turned to look at Ranger, "Your donations got us the three new x-ray machines and MRI machines."

Ranger gave a small smile, "My men tend to need those a lot each year, so it's a good investment."

The Doctors eyes got bigger and he just gave a slight nod. "If you will follow me, I will take you to Miss. Plum's room."

Ranger held up a finger, "Bobby can you grab Tank and Lester, they will do the first rotation. After you talk to the rest of the men let me know the schedule," He turned back to the doctor, "Let's go." He nodded down the hall.

Ranger followed the Doctor down the hall and with each step his fear came back, until he saw her safe and ok he believed nothing.

As they rounded the corner he saw the nurses leaving a room with windows across the front, he could feel it in his soul, she was in that room. He walked passed the Doctor to look through window, and she was laying still as stone. Her face was a vivid pale white, with slashes of blue and purple across her forehead, eye and cheek bone. He listened to the slow beeps and watched her chest rise and fall. He stood outside watching her, not wanting to go in quite yet.

The Doctor came up next to him and studied his face for a moment, he could see the tension and worry. After a moment the Doctor took a breath and said, "She is going to be ok, I promise you. She will be fine once she gets some rest and heels up a little." He watched as Ranger nodded, "The best thing you can do is go in and talk to her. Let her know you are there and she will wake up for you." He patted Rangers back gently knowing now that deep inside Ranger was just terrified for his woman. "Go inside and hold her hand, talk to her." He said again as he turned to walk away.

Ranger stood for a moment looking through the glass, until he felt Lester and Tank walk up next to him to also look through the window. He could hear them draw quick breaths in when they saw her laying there. Lester looked over at Ranger, "Go in and be with her, we will watch both your backs."

Ranger looked over and nodded, then turned to go into the room. He walked over slowly to Stephanie, he brushed his hand down her cheek then leaned down to press a kiss to her lips.

"Stephanie… can you hear me Babe, I need you to tell me you are ok." He said as he leaned his forehead gently on hers, "Please Babe."

He felt her breath brush against his lips gently, then her lips curled into a small smile, "Ranger" She gently breathed out. "I love you."

Ranger felt his heart constrict and his eyes burn when he heard her voice, "Babe," he said, "I love you, too."

He took a deep breath, his hand softly grasped hers and gave a gentle squeeze. "I love you so much."

He pulled his head back slightly to look down at her, "Open your eyes for me, I need to see your beautiful blue eyes." He watched as she gave another small smile and her eyes move back and forth under her lids. "Just for a second Babe, just let me see your eyes for a second."

Slowly her eyes gently blinked open, unfocused and lightly glazed. "Ranger…...Carlos?" she said carefully.

Ranger brushed his hand down her cheek, stopping to slowly brush his thumb back and forth over battered cheek bone. "Babe, I am right here."

"Ranger." She whispered eyes finally focusing on his face, she gave one final smile at him before she closed her eyes again, "I am so tired, can I go back to sleep?"

Ranger gave one last small smile and another kiss, "Yes, Babe go back to sleep."

Ranger slowly sat down on the seat next to the bed still holding her hand. He looked across the room and out the windows to see the men standing firm in front of the door letting no one by. He knew in that moment he was safe, Stephanie was safe, and for the first time in days he closed his eyes to rest.

-/-

Stephanie woke up to the light sound of beeping and dark lights in the mostly white room and her first thought was, "Another hospital, I should get a free night for every 5 stays."

She slowly blinked trying to bring the room into a better focus, at least it was warm this time she thought. Slowly she could see the windows across the room, outside the door it looked like Cal and Hector watching over her. She smiled gently at her protectors, she knew that they would wrap her up in a bubble and lock her on seven now that they had her back. She looked over to the man sitting at her bedside.

She turned her head to get a better look at him, Ranger looked exhausted, his eyes sunken in surrounded with dark circles. His breath was coming out so gently that his chest barely looked like it was moving. But it was his hand snuggly fitted into hers that gave her the most comfort. She brushed her thumb back and forth over the top of his hand not willing to wake him up when he so desperately needed sleep.

She closed her eyes trying to get a little more sleep, but she heard the door gently open and turned to see Bobby walk in. "Hay." She whispered softly her voice rough from lack of use and not wanting to be too loud.

"Hay." Bobby whispered back. "How are you feeling."

"Amazing, I have never felt so good." She said with a grin.

Bobby raised his eyebrow and grinned down at her. "Oh, yea?"

"Yep I feel amazing; I am ready to go home right now!"

"Nice try lady, I think you are going to here at least one more day. The doctor will be in here in a few hours with more information." Bobby said as he began to look at the machines hooked up to her.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Fine, Spoil sport."

He looked down at her, "I know you don't want to be here but you were really need a little more monitoring before you go home." He wrote some stuff down on her chart before gently pushing on her bruised cheek.

Her hiss of pain woke Ranger up, "Babe are you ok?" He asked anxiously.

"Yes, except Bobby poking at my bruises." Stephanie said with a scowl pushing Bobby away.

Ranger looked up at Bobby with a dark look, Bobby raised his hands and took a step back.

"I was checking to see how they were; we were worried about the cheek bone being bruised not just the skin." He watched as Ranger glanced over at Stephanie "It looks like it will be ok as long as she has no more injury's soon."

Stephanie looked over at Ranger and saw that he was on the edge, "I am ok Ranger, it is just sore. I actually feel really, really good in spite of everything. I was just trying to get Bobby to let me go home but he said I have to wait another day." She said with a small pout.

She watched as he slowly relaxed as he looked at her, she felt like she was under inspection the way he was staring at her. She squeezed her hand over his, she could feel the bandages over the bites and scratches tightening and rubbing. "When was the last time you slept…" she watched as he was about to speak, "…and I mean in a bed."

"It doesn't matter." Ranger said as he stood up and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "I will sleep in a bed tomorrow…. with you."

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "That is not what I asked." She said with a frown.

"No but that is your answer." He said standing all the way up, "Bobby stay with her. I am going to talk to the guys."

Stephanie went on alert, she wanted to know what they knew and she wanted to know if they had any leads on Timmy. "Can I talk to Hector?" She asked.

Ranger raised his eyebrow at her, "That's who I was going to talk to."

Stephanie pushed the button to get her bed to sit up and just barely held in her grimaced from the pain, "OK then call him in here. I am sure Bobby can take his place for a minuet if you have to have two guys out there."

Ranger just looked at her with suspicion.

"What," she demanded, "I was the one taken, I have the right to hear what's going on. Plus, I want to talk to Hector. I know he was worried and I want to tell him I am ok."

Bobby looked back and forth and decided making Stephanie happy was the most important thing said, "I will wait outside and send Hector in."

Neither Stephanie or Ranger watched Bobby leave the room because they were both too busy having a staring contest that broke when Stephanie looked over at Hector when he walked up to her bed. She grinned at Hector, "Hermano!" she exclaimed.

Hector looked down at her, "Hermana." He smiled and leaned down to gently kiss her cheek.

Ranger crossed his arms over his chest looking less then please at the kiss and spoke rapid fire Spanish to Hector.

Stephanie tried to keep up to the words, listening for any terms she would understand, and when she heard Mikel's name she demanded, "Wait what about Mikel…. Did you find him?"

Ranger looked down at her for a moment then spoke gruffly, "No we are still trying to find leads on him. I know Hector and Lester really want to ask you some questions to see if you know anything that can help."

Stephanie shifted nervously in her bed which had Ranger's eyes narrowing at her. "Do you know something?" He demanded.

Stephanie took a moment to tell the truth but not gave anything away yet, "I don't know where he went." She finally replied; she could tell Ranger was suspicious of her.

She watched from the corner of her eye as Hector also looked down at her with pointed eyes, maybe calling them in was not a good ideal. She gave a small smile then said snarky, "Well I was sleeping most of the time I was on vacation so I didn't really ask him his plan of escape." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

The men scowled down at her, "Not funny." Ranger growled. Hector said nothing at her but narrowed his eyes. She attempted to hold a staring contest but within seconds lost to Ranger. She rolled her eyes again and scowled. 'What? I answered your questions can I ask some now." After a moment Ranger gave one quick nod.

Stephanie gave a small smile, "Did you find out why he took me?" She questioned wanting to see how much they knew.

Ranger gave a small shake of his head no.

She tilted her head to the side, "Do you have any leads on where he went or where he is?"

Again Ranger shook his head.

Stephanie gave a small frown, "I know it's frustrating to not know what's going on, but it's going to be ok. I can feel it, everything is over, he's not coming back."

Ranger looked at her, studied her, making her wiggle in the hospital bed uncomfortably. "What?"

Finally, Ranger asked, "Stephanie do you know something I don't?"

She gave a small smile, "What could I know that you couldn't. You are Batman after all."

He looked at her for another moment, she could see him trying to decide if he was going to let it go or not, so she gave a small yawn and gently rubbed her eyes. She could actually see it in his eyes when he decided to let it go. She needed to figure out how to let the guys know what was going on without stressing them too much… or making them completely angry. They were not going to be happy when she told them how she encouraged Timmy to run. Maybe it was a conversation best left for a meeting so she could say it all at once to all of them at the same time.

"I am going to go talk to Bobby, I see the Doctor outside." Ranger said. "Hector can stay with you."

Stephanie watched as Ranger walked out the door and begin to talk to Bobby and the Doctor. She waited until the door closed all the way before she turned to talk to Hector, "How are you doing?" She asked right away.

He looked down with worry in his eyes, "I should be asking you how you are, but I have a feeling that you are just fine." He said the last part with a small smile.

She grinned up at him, "I am resilient, buddy. I can handle anything but I was still counting on you…. and you came for me." She said as she grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"No, I tried and tried but I couldn't get through. I couldn't find you." He said as he looked deep into her eyes, "Forgive me." Stephanie could see the sadness and distressed in his eyes. "I failed you."

She sat up slowly looking him right in the eye, she leaned forward until she couldn't go any farther. Frustrated she scrunched her eyes up and said, "Come closer." She watched as he leaned forward, until she could grab his face.

She lifted both hands until she cupped his cheeks, and looked into his eyes. "This was not your fault, none of this was any of your faults. And you… YOU scared the breezes out of him, he let me go because of you. You kept getting closer and closer to finding us and it scared him that he couldn't hide. So he decided to let me go, he decided to run before you could get to him." She pulled him closer and kissed him on his tear drops, "You saved me…. your fighting and your looking is why I am sitting right here right now. SO, Thank you my brother, my family."

Hector took a moment to really look at her, "I love you, I will be quicker next time." He said finally.

She grinned at him, "You better be! It was darn cold on that floor and I do NOT like rats!"

"I am sorry; I will never let it happen again." He said with a small grin. The he questioned her with narrowed eyes. "Do you know more then you are telling us?"

"Of course I do, but I always know more then I think that I do. Right now I am trying to remember everything but I think I need to go through it all in my head again later after I have had more rest." She slowly leaned back into her pillows.

"So what happened while I was gone." She said settling in the bed like she was royalty.

He shook his head at her, "Well I am sure you know what happened at the building while you were gone. Crazy screaming, crazy fighting and guns drawn. The usual. No, what is interesting is what happened when you were brought in. First Joe walked in… no one would talk to him because everyone blames him."

Stephanie gave a small frown, "You guys can't blame him. It was no one's fault." She watched as Hector gave a small frown back.

"Sure Chica, you believe no one should blame him. Let me know how that works out for you." He said with a smirk. "Then your mom went crazy in the waiting room after Ranger was called as your power of attorney and she wasn't."

Stephanie gave a small shout of laughter causing the guys in the hallway to look up at her through the window. She waved her hand at them still grinning, she waited for them to turn away again before she asked, "So what did my mom say?"

He sat back in the chair crossing one ankle over the other before grinning back at her, "She yelled that you were unmarried and that made her your power of attorney by default."

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "Of course she would bring up my marital status when I am dying."

Hector frowned at her, "You were not dying…. anyway she went into hysterics when Ranger had the doctor went into the hall to talk about what happened to you and she couldn't hear it."

Stephanie grinned bigger, "What happened after Daddy got her calmed down?"

Hector tilted his head to the side, "How do you know he calmed her down?"

She grinned, "He is the only one who can, so either he calmed her down or she lost it and started drinking in the hospital waiting room."

Hector grinned back, "After he calmed her down Bobby came in to talk to all of us. He basically said that you were going to be ok. That you had some things that need to be monitored but overall you would be fine. You know for most of us that was enough, just knowing that you were ok. But your mother started all over with the yelling... she said she had to know what was going on so she could help you."

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "How did she think she could help?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows but Bobby walked over and stuck a sedative in her ass and your dad had to have Joe help carry her to the car."

Stephanie roared with laughter this time causing Ranger and Bobby to come running in looking around.

Stephanie was still giggling when she looked at Bobby and asked, "Did you have to give my mom a sedative? Do you guys have any pictures of it, I really, really want to see."

Bobby stopped at started at her, "How did you know?"

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders gently, "Hector told me, Yo hablo espanol"

Both Ranger and Bobby looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"Bullshit." Bobby said crossing his arms. "Si habla espanol? Que digo?" (So you know Spanish? What am I saying?)

Stephanie grinned, "Que su un dolor en el culo." (That you're a pain in my ass)

Ranger's face broke into a grin and the vision made Stephanie's heart warm. She knew that the stress of the last few days was killing him and seeing that smile made her day. Stephanie looked over at Bobby who looked offended so she said, "Oh, no sea un bebe, que ere una broma." (Oh don't be a baby, it was a joke.)

"You're so funny." Bobby mumbled.

Hector grinned down at Stephanie, "Adios Chica." Then leaned down to give her a quick kiss before walking out to the hallway to stand guard again.

She looked over at Bobby, "I was going to tell you that the doctor said you could leave in a few hours but maybe I will tell him you need an extra day for your mental attitude." He said with a smirk.

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him, "Fine, remember what happened the last time you made me mad? The boob incident? I am sure you wouldn't want another repeat of that would you."

Bobby gave her a dirty look, "That was a lie!"

She gave him a grin as she brushed a tiny piece of lint off her blanket, "So is me having to stay here another day."

Bobby rolled his eyes, "You are a real piece of work, you know that?"

She blinked her eyes up at him, "I sure do try."

"Fine you get to leave in a few hours after you get a couple of tests done. But you will be on bed rest with lots of sleeping and relaxing for at least 24 hours." Bobby said as he started writing stuff in her chart.

She looked over at Ranger, "Hear that Babe, we get to go home and sleep in a real bed!" She said as she reached for his hand.

"That sounds like a plan I can get with… BABE." He said as he rubbed his thumb over her palm. "Why don't you rest until the first test."

She gave a small yawn, "I think I can do that." She watched as Ranger lowered her bed until she was flat. She closed her eyes for a few seconds but when she felt Ranger pulling his hand away she grasped it tighter. She gently opened her eyes to look up at him, "Don't leave me please."

Ranger looked down, "I will never leave you Babe, never." He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. "I love you Babe."

"I love you too." She whispered.

Ranger sat down in the chair and watched as Bobby nodded at him, then silently walked to the door and turned the lights down before standing guard next to Hector. Ranger looked down at Stephanie and felt his world settle into place; he closed his eyes for a little rest until it was time to go.