More moving things along. Don't worry.. I'll get there eventually. Enjoy!

Stephanie's POV

I woke up three times during the night. The first time, I was a bit disorientated and as soon as I realised I was in the hospital, I drifted back off a little later. The second time, I woke up a bit more and found that my leg was hurting. I tried to ignore it and managed to fall back asleep. The third time, I was unable to ignore the pain in my leg any longer. I pressed the call button and a nurse arrived a few minutes later to top up my pain meds.

I slept through the rest of the night without any problems and didn't wake up until the doctor came in to check on Ranger the next morning around 7AM. As soon as I saw the doctor I asked, "How's he doing?"

The doctor raised his eyebrow and said, "Well, Mr. Manoso seems to be doing a little better today. His breathing is better and I think we might be able to wean him off the drugs keeping him in a coma starting tomorrow. That is, unless something changes with his condition between then and now."

I thanked Ranger's doctor and he confirmed that my doctor would be in shortly to talk about my leg and what I needed to do to get out of here. I nodded and groaned when I saw the food that was waiting for me on the rolling table. I lifted the lid to the tray and saw some grey gloop in a bowl. I suspected that it might be porridge, but I couldn't be sure. All I knew was that it didn't look editable.

I was pushing the plate around when my doctor, Dr. Riley Hahn walked in the room. She smiled and said, "I'm surprised we don't get more complaints about our food. It truly is atrocious."

I simply nodded at her statement and she continued. "Today, we need to get you up and moving. We have three different options. You can use regular crutches that go under your armpits. Alternatively, you can use crutches that loop around your forearms. Lastly, you can use a walker. The last option isn't very sexy but it is far more stable when you're first starting out."

I thought for about a minute and then said, "I'd like to start with the second option. But keep the walker close by, just in case."

"OK, it's a deal. I will need you to do a loop around this floor twice now and then again later this afternoon. If you can do that tomorrow as well, I'll release you the following morning."

I looked at her and asked, "Will you help me?"

She grinned, winked and said, "No, Bobby will be by soon and he'll help you. To be honest, I'd take Bobby's help any day too."

"How do you know Bobby? He said that he requested you specifically, so I assumed that he knew you."

She smiled and said, "I only met him for the first time when I was called in. He worked with my brother when he was in the army, so that's probably how he knew about me. Now that I've met him, I wish my brother had introduced us years ago."

"Well, you'll be happy to know that Bobby is single. He's a great guy too."

Dr. Hahn was a beautiful Korean woman with warm brown eyes and flawless skin. I saw her blush when I mentioned that Bobby was single and it made me smile. The thought of another Merry Man falling in love made me happy. They are all good guys and they deserve to be as happy as the next man. It will just take spectacular women to accept the dangers and the dedication that their jobs entail.

Dr. Hahn sat down beside me and we started talking. "Riley is a very unique name, especially for a woman. Do you mind if I ask what the story is there?"

"Well, it's not all that interesting actually. My mother is British and my father is Korean. My mother's maiden name was O'Reilly and when she found out she was pregnant, they decided to call the baby Riley. My mother was positive I would be a boy, but when I was born, they decided to give me the name anyway."

"Wow, based on your accent, you've lived in England for a while."

She nodded and said, "I grew up in London. I went to school there and then came here for University. I stuck around when John's Hopkins and then Bethesda hired me."

"Then how did your brother end up in the Army here?"

"Oh he didn't. He was in the British SAS. They did some combined training and missions with the Rangers. That's how he and Bobby met."

I looked up and saw Bobby standing in the doorway. He was eavesdropping on Riley and me, but I didn't want to call him out on it. I decided to wait until Riley noticed him or he made his presence known.

I didn't have long to wait because moments later, Riley stood and said, "Well, as fun as this has been, I need to get back to my rounds."

Just then, Bobby knocked on the door and walked in. He greeted Dr. Hahn and when the shook hands, he lingered and held her hand a little longer than was normal. They had a short discussion about my requirements for the day and then she waved goodbye. She blushed and when she walked out of the room, she looked back and smiled at Bobby.

I laid there with the head of my bed propped up and waited for Bobby to remember he was here to see me. After about two minutes, he shook his head and turned back into the room. He smiled sheepishly at me and then went to read Ranger's chart. He looked up at me and said, "It appears that Ranger might wake up the day after tomorrow. Dr. Hahn also says that you might be able to get out of here that day as well."

I nodded and said, "Normally, I would be chomping at the bit to get out of here, but knowing that Ranger might be stuck here, I don't want him to wake up all alone."

Bobby smiled and said, "I will talk to Dr. Hahn and see if we can let you stay here for a few more days once Ranger is awake."

"Thanks Bobby, what do I have to do first?"

"Well Steph, we're going to get you up and on your feet with some crutches. You can practice a little bit and then we will have a bit of a race down the corridor. When we return, I will help you wrap up your cast and then you can have a shower. We should get a move on so you don't keep your visitors waiting when visiting hour start in 1 and a ½ hours."

My eyes opened wide and I looked at my watch. "How can I get out of bed, walk around the entire floor, shower and get ready all in 1 and a ½ hours?"

"I'm sure you can do it. The floor isn't that big. To begin, let's get you out of this traction contraption."

I sat there and patiently waited for Bobby to unhook all of the cables that were holding my leg in the air. When he lowered it, the change in position sent a sudden jolting pain that started from the tip of my toes to the top of my thigh. I must have cried out in pain because Bobby looked at me and said, "It should stop hurting momentarily. The change in position increased the blood pressure in your leg. If it doesn't stop hurting soon, we'll get you some more pain medication, but if we do that, then you won't get up on this leg today."

I gritted my teeth and waited a few minutes. True to Bobby's word, the pain subsided. I looked up at the concern on Bobby's face and said, "OK, that's better. What's next?"

Bobby reached behind the door and pulled out a pair of crutches. They had a hole for me to put my arms through and a bar for me to hold up my weight. He moved the crutches closer to the bed and then said, "Before we can get you on the crutches, we need to get your leg off the bed. Just like before, the change in position will be painful, but only for a few moments. Let me know when you are ready and I will help you swing your leg over the side of the bed."

I waved Bobby over and he helped me sit up. I didn't need his help to get my left leg off the bed, but Bobby made sure that my left leg was lowered slowly so the cast didn't drop to the floor. Again, the pain caused me to clamp my jaw shut, but it passed after a few more minutes. This time, the pain was much stronger and it took longer, but it did subside.

The next thing was the crutches. I have used crutches before, so I was pretty confident that I could stand up and move in that all-so-awkward way. I pulled the crutches towards me and got myself set up. I leaned forward on the bed and put all of my weight on my good leg. I then rested against the crutches and tried to move.

The swinging movement of my casted leg was extremely painful. I looked down at my leg and thought that I needed to take smaller steps to minimise the swaying of my leg. The weight of the cast was causing the leg to swing more than I wanted, and at this point in time, I had no control over that.

I tried smaller steps and even though it took a lot longer, I was better able to manage the pain in my leg. Bobby was encouraging and before I knew it, I was walking down the hallway with Bobby at my side. Normally, I would want to talk to Bobby as a way to distract me from an unpleasant task. This time however, I felt it was far more important for me to concentrate so I didn't end up on my ass. Falling would be extremely painful and if I didn't pay attention to my every move, I was sure to slip or trip or something.

We returned back to the room about 40 minutes later. My leg was throbbing from being upright, but it wasn't really painful. It was just uncomfortable. The cast itself was one of those old fashioned plaster casts. Dr. Hahn said that I needed the plaster cast because of the traction doo-hickey thing that I was connected to. She said that once I was up and moving, they would replace the cast with a more durable and lightweight cast. I was hoping that would be soon because moving around with this dead weight was hard.

I showered and felt the best I had since waking up in the hospital. I made it over to the bed and even managed to climb aboard without help from Bobby. He was really impressed and promised to talk to the doctor about getting my cast changed. He took his chance a little while later when Tank, Lula, Ron and the kids arrived for morning visiting hours.

The kids were very excited because they were going to the zoo that afternoon. Ron explained that he decided to take the RangeMan job and he wanted to get started straight away. Tank and Lula figured that a day away from the hospital would be good for the kids and it would give Ron time to get set up for his new job.

They didn't forget about me because Tank provided me with a brand new laptop, a bunch of DVDs, some earphones and a new cell phone that had WiFi hotspot capabilities. This meant that I could use the internet on the laptop as well as the phone. I was really pleased with their gifts, but that wasn't all.

Julie pulled out another bag and handed it to me. Inside were a bunch of fashion magazines, puzzle books, a pack of pencils and last but not least, my cosmetics bag from the plane. It was a little worse for wear, but it still contained all of my beauty essentials, including my hairbrush, of which I was in serious need.

Julie noticed my longing look at my hairbrush and said, "Would you mind if I brushed your hair Steph? I'm sure your bruised arms would get sore pretty quickly if you tried yourself."

I nodded and climbed off the bed and went to sit in a chair. This allowed Julie to stand behind me and attempt to brush my hair. I say 'attempt' because after about 5 minutes, Julie walked around in front of me and said, "I don't know how you deal with that every day. I can't seem to get the brush through even one little section."

I laughed at Julie's reaction to my hair. I felt bad that it was so tangled after the explosion and then two days of lying in a hospital bed so I told her that she was off the hook and took the brush from her and did the best I could. Julie was right about my arms though. After only 2 minutes, they were burning and I had to take a rest.

While Julie was struggling with my hair, Lula disappeared from the room. When she came back to see me struggling, she said, "Give that here White Girl. I just went down to the gift shop and managed to find something that will probably help. I bought some leave-in-conditioner detangler spray."

I sat there as Lula shook the small bottle and then sprayed it around my head. She then picked up the brush and successfully managed to brush my hair. I picked up the little bottle and took note of its name and the brand. I was definitely going to have to get more of this stuff. When she was finished, Lula asked, "Do you want me to do anything with your hair?"

I knew that if I let it air dry, my hair would be a frizzy mess, but I didn't have a blow dryer and I doubted that the hospital had any to lend. I thought for a moment and shrugged. "I don't want to let it air dry but I also have to sleep on it, so a pony tail isn't really ideal."

Lula nodded and said, I'll put it in French braids. I'll put one on each side so you can sleep flat on your back without your hair hurting. It should stay in overnight without any problems."

I agreed to this solution and sat patiently as Lula tugged and tamed my hair. In less than 10 minutes, Lula said, "There, all done."

I felt my head and was quite impressed with the speed and apparent neatness of the braids. I thanked Lula and we returned to talking about more pleasant things. Emma told us that the zoo had pandas and they might get to see a baby panda if they were lucky. She also exclaimed her delight at getting to see an elephant close up.

Diego was a little less excited about the larger animals. He was more interested in the reptiles and other creepy crawlies. I thought that was pretty typical for a little boy, but Lula also seemed interested in seeing the reptiles.

"Don't get me wrong," Lula said, "I don't like these sorts of things in the wild. I mean, if I ever run into a Tarantula or a snake in real life, I'll run as fast as my legs will carry me in the other direction. But in the zoo, they're all behind glass so you can look without fear that they will crawl or slither on you. I think that's pretty fascinating."

I could see Tank grimace at the thought so he said, "While these two are looking at creepy-crawlies, Julie, Emma and I will be visiting the pandas, lions, tigers, cheetahs, snow leopards and many other majestic animals."

Lula laughed and said, "We'll get around to them too, we just want to visit things like the alligators, tree frogs and snakes first."

They all had a great time teasing each other about their animal favourites. I was actually a little jealous that I'd be stuck here. I loved zoos. If I went to a new city and there was a zoo, I always went. At some point during our zoo discussion, Bobby returned. He joined in on the conversation and when his watch beeped, he looked down and announced that visiting hours for this morning would have to be cut short. I was getting a new cast put on my leg.

There was a round of quick hugs and then I was left alone with Bobby and Ron. Ron stayed behind to talk to me and Bobby said that we had about 10 minutes until the orderlies would be here to move me. Ron didn't have a lot of time, so he gave me the highlights. "Ranger wants to expand the RangeMan facilities in Trenton, but because some demolition needs to take place, we're going to get Boston started first. I was hoping that you might work with me to come up with some great ideas on the use of space."

I was overwhelmed by his request and said, "I'm not sure what I can provide Ron, but I'd be happy to look over anything you have. I'm no expert when it comes to buildings, but I do have a knack of knowing if something doesn't belong or feel right."

Ron grinned and said, "Great. I'll send you a copy of the documents I received this morning from Trenton. Ranger had a vision for a new Boston building, but since it wasn't really needed at the time, he just let them sit in a drawer. The old building was downtown and it was just offices. This new building will also have several apartments as well as more office space. It will be in a different area of town and it will allow the Boston office double its staff if needed."

I agreed to look over what Ron sent me and put any ideas into an email. Ron handed me a piece of paper that had all of his new RangeMan email addresses and Skype details. I tucked the paper into the pocked of my laptop bag and waved goodbye to Ron.

Seconds later, two men came into the room with a wheel chair and took me to a different floor where my plaster cast was cut off and it was replaced with a new fibreglass cast. They even gave me a choice of colour. I could choose between blue, purple, pink, red or black. I didn't even hesitate for a second when I selected black.

After returning to my room and eating the food they described as lunch, I decided to take a stroll around my floor. Bobby probably would have preferred me to wait for him, but I was bored and I wanted to test out my new cast. I was more than ½ ways around the floor when I ran into Dr. Hahn. She complimented me on my quick technique and walked me back to my room. She looked around the room and I was sure she was hoping Bobby would be there. I smiled at her and said, "Bobby will be back soon. He wants to be here when they turn off Ranger's medication."

Dr. Hahn, or Riley as she now insists to be called, decided to sit down and discuss my leg. "Does your leg hurt more or less than it did after you took your walk this morning."

I thought about it and said, "It's actually hurting more now, but that's because I skipped my lunchtime pain meds injection. I find that the painkillers dull my mind and I don't' like that. Perhaps there is something that can let me stay alert as well as dull the pain."

Riley nodded and said that she'd ask the nurse to bring me some extra-strength ibuprofen. I could keep taking that during the day unless the pain got to be too much. At night however, I'd still be given the usual pain killers because I didn't need to be quite so alert when I slept.

Riley and I talked for a while. She asked me a few questions about Bobby and I asked her a few questions about her love life. It turns out that Riley was divorced. Her ex-husband cheated on her in much the same way as the Dick did to me. Riley's husband however, ended up knocking up his little piece on the side and leaving Riley. That was 5 years ago and she hadn't really dated much since. I thought that she and Bobby might hit it off, but I could tell she was reluctant, probably because she lives in Baltimore and Bobby lives in Trenton.

Bobby's POV

Every time I walk into this hospital, I hope that I'll see Riley. I know she doesn't actually work here, but she has agreed to do the after patient care for Stephanie's leg. On a normal week, she splits her time between Bethesda and John's Hopkins. This week however, she's adding Providence Hospital to her roster. She must be running around like crazy driving between all three hospitals.

I wanted to be there when Ranger's doctor reduced or stopped his medication. I had a few questions for him and arrived about 20 minutes early. When I walked towards the door of Steph and Ranger's room, I could hear voices. I listened for a moment and realised that Steph was talking to Riley. I immediately thought that I should get in there and spend whatever time I could with her, but then I heard what they were talking about. Riley was telling Stephanie about her ex-husband and I thought that if I came in now, Riley would clamp up. Instead, I decided to go and look for Ranger's doctor.

I found Dr. Travis and asked the questions I wanted to ask. No, Ranger could not be transported, at least for another week or two. I also wanted to know if the doctor would wean Ranger off of the medication or just cut it off. Dr. Travis explained that he'd slowly wean Ranger by lowering the dosage slowly over the next 24 hours. He expects that Ranger might start to wake up in around 48 hours.

I approved of this timeline and walked with Dr. Travis to Ranger's room. When we arrived, the doctor explained what he was doing to Stephanie. She looked a bit confused to I explained to her that it would be much easier on Ranger to slowly lower the dosage of the drugs keeping him in a coma. It would mean that he might not regain consciousness for a few days, but the rest and lack of movement will help him heal much quicker.

Stephanie seemed happy with my explanation and then returned to her conversation with Riley as Dr. Travis went about his business of checking on Ranger's vitals and adjusting the machine that administered his drugs. I didn't want to interrupt the ladies but I didn't want to stand around looking like a fool either. Stephanie must have sensed my discomfort and involved me in the conversation.

"Hey Bobby. Why don't you take a seat and relax a bit?"

I walked over and took a seat in the chair beside Stephanie's bed. Riley was sitting on the end of her bed. I looked at both women and for a moment, we sat there in awkward silence. Finally, to relieve the tension I spoke. "How are you feeling Steph? Do you think you'll be up for a race this afternoon?"

Steph grimaced a little and said, "Well, I already did my afternoon rounds before you got here."

"You went out without me? Wow, I'm hurt. How else am I supposed to feel macho?"

We all laughed at that and then Stephanie said, "Why don't you feel macho by asking Riley to dinner."

Both Riley and my eyes went wide and we both blushed. Riley wasn't able to look me in the eye, so I glared at Steph and said, "Oh go on Steph, why don't you put me on the spot."

Stephanie laughed at me and Riley even smiled. She looked at me and smiled tentatively before saying, "Don't worry Bobby, I won't be offended if you don't want to go to dinner."

I spluttered and then managed to say, "I never said I didn't want to go. I'd be happy to take you to dinner. We could get to know each other and talk about our patient a little more."

I watched and laughed as Riley turned and grinned at Stephanie. It took a moment for Steph to realise what I meant. She got a hurt look on her face and said, "Whoa, you can't discuss me. Doesn't that go against doctor-patient confidentiality or something?"

I laughed and said, "Not when I hold your medical power of attorney and Riley is your doctor. But don't worry Steph, I was just teasing you. I'm sure Riley and I can find plenty of things to discuss."

I turned and looked at Riley and said, "What about Saturday? That gives you 4 days to arrange for cover if you're on call."

Riley thought for a moment and said, "I think I might be off that night, so it would work perfectly."

Riley stood and I followed her out the door to make arrangements for our date. When I returned to Steph's room, she was grinning like a fool and asking about the plans we made. I decided to keep things a secret and just said that we were going out for dinner. I hugged Steph and left her alone. The rest of the gang would be along shortly for their afternoon visit.

More to come.