Ranger received a call from Luis Guzman. He smiled as Luis announced the apartments on the fourth, sixth and seventh floors were furnished and ready for the men to move into the units. The Rangeman building was almost ready to open for business. It was the ideal time considering Stephanie got released from the doctor's care. The discharge paperwork was in the works.
"Where is my daughter?" a hysterical woman asked. Tank opened the door a few inches to peek inside. Ranger nodded before checking on Stephanie. She had a rough night with nightmares and was sleeping at the moment.
Tank watched the nurse at the counter across the hall roll her eyes. He stood beside Vince outside Stephanie's hospital room.
"Can you tell her to shut up?" Stephanie mumbled. "It took Mom longer to show up than I expected."
Ranger chuckled. "I thought she'd show up two days ago when you moved to this floor."
"Me too," Stephanie replied. She yawned and stretched, pulling on the tender abdominal incision. Ranger kissed Stephanie to wish her good morning before raising the head of the bed to a more comfortable angle.
"Where is my daughter?" Stephanie heard her mother yell again. It was annoying, but Stephanie couldn't complain. Her mother could have shown up days ago. Helen was frustrated because the nurses refused to say which room belonged to her daughter.
"You should tell the nurse I'm awake for her to take my morning vitals, then let Mom in," Stephanie said. "It would be best to rip off the bandaid. Or should I say, pull the pin from the grenade?" Ranger chuckled, then kissed Stephanie again before pressing the call button for the nurse.
Sally slid the door open only wide enough to slip inside the room. "Is everything okay, Mr. Manoso?" she asked. Sally carefully kept Helen from peeking inside the door by obscuring her view.
"Hey, Sally," Stephanie said, letting Sally know she was ready for the morning routine and checks. Carlos slipped from the room briefly to grab a breakfast tray from the cart outside the room.
"Your mother's here," Sally said after checking Stephanie's vitals. She ensured the curtain hid Stephanie from view before checking her abdominal incision.
"I heard her," Stephanie said. "You can send her in when you've done the checks."
"Everything looks good. You don't need to keep your abdominal incision dry, but no baths for another three weeks. Your mother needs to wait because I already paged the doctor," Sally said. "The other stitches should come out within a week. You can come back here or have the medic at Rangeman handle them."
"When did you page the doctor?" Stephanie asked, narrowing her eyes. The night nurse mentioned not calling the doctor for rounds until Stephanie woke. She'd scream if someone other than Carlos tried to awaken her. They had learned that the hard way when Carlos was in the washroom and a nurse arrived to remove the IV.
Sally pressed the button to speak to the head nurse at the counter outside the room. "Can you tell Dr. Burt her patient is ready to get discharged? Thank you," Sally said. She winked and grinned at Stephanie.
Ranger entered the room when Sally contacted the other nurse on duty. He offered Stephanie the jello from the breakfast tray. Stephanie rolled her eyes when she saw he had opened it for her. "See? I paged your doctor. Your husband's a keeper," Sally said.
Stephanie snorted, then grabbed her stomach. "How will I pay the bills if I can't work?" Stephanie asked. Sally remained quiet, knowing the question was for Ranger.
"You live with me," Ranger reminded her. Stephanie wasn't sure where they were going to live since Ranger's official address was an empty lot. She didn't want to return to her apartment. Living in denial land wasn't going to help her get past the trauma. Stephanie was confused, frustrated and ready to leave the unpleasantness of the hospital behind her. "We'll talk more after the doctor and your mother visit."
Sally smiled, listening to Stephanie and her husband, Ranger, talk. One would think they were married for months instead of days. How would Helen react when she learned Stephanie was married and couldn't have children? Sally grimaced as she realized Helen would blame Stephanie for her predicament.
"I'll be right back," Sally promised after hearing Helen raise her voice again. Ranger raised an eyebrow as Sally slipped through the door. It was time to stop Helen from yelling in the hallway.
"Sally, where's my daughter?" Helen asked. Helen got directions to the floor from the nurse at the information desk when she entered the hospital. She expected to find Stephanie in the ICU but learned she was only there for the first twelve hours.
"Mrs. Plum, please keep your voice down. Some of the patients are still sleeping. They need their rest," Sally replied. "Stephanie only woke up a few minutes ago. Dr. Burt needs to examine her before permitting you to visit." Sally refrained from mentioning that Stephanie was supposed to go home soon.
Helen deflated and sat on a chair. "Nobody will tell me what happened. I heard people say she was in the hospital dying. Is she going to live?" Helen asked. Frank said Stephanie was okay, that she'd live, but what mother wouldn't want to see their child in the hospital? Helen heard the rumours. Women in the Burg asked if she saw Stephanie. It embarrassed Helen to say she had not visited her daughter.
Sally sat on a chair near Helen. "As I said, Stephanie's awake for the day. I can't discuss her prognosis or injuries without her permission," Sally replied.
"I'm her mother," Helen needlessly reminded Sally.
"And I have protocols to follow, Mrs. Plum. Please excuse me for a minute. I need to see when the doctor expects to arrive," Sally kindly said. She left Helen brooding in the waiting area.
"Thank you. She was getting angry," Monica whispered. "I called Frank and Lester."
Dr. Burt appeared in the wing before Sally could lift the phone receiver to call. Frank, Lester and the other men arrived when the doctor entered Stephanie's room.
Monica noticed Lester's brow and frowned. She wondered who had hurt the attractive man. Lester gave Monica a sexy smile and winked, making her return to her duty of organizing the patient's vital checks.
"Helen, why are you here?" Frank asked.
"Visiting Stephanie," she snapped.
"I told you that I had it handled. Stephanie doesn't need your criticism right now," Frank warned. Helen huffed and sat back in the chair. Frank sat beside her. "Stephanie didn't get the filing job at Vinnie's bond office. She works as a fugitive apprehension agent." Frank figured it was best to start at the beginning.
Helen clutched her throat and gasped. "Are the rumours true? Was she trying to arrest Joseph Morelli?" Helen knew most of the gossip in the Burg was embellished. She prayed the ones about Stephanie were because she couldn't imagine her daughter being unable to bear children.
"Apprehend," Frank replied. "She was doing her job."
"That's no job for a proper lady," Helen scoffed. "What would the neighbours think?" Helen knew what the neighbours thought. They said Stephanie got involved with the wrong crowd and borrowed trouble.
"The neighbours can shove their opinions up their asses," Frank mumbled. He didn't repeat himself when Helen asked.
"Stephanie should be married and pregnant," Helen said. "It doesn't take a genius to understand this trauma could have been avoided if she stayed married to Dickie." Frank shook his head. That lifestyle was all Helen knew and one that would have slowly killed Stephanie.
"Helen, that's the lifestyle you chose. It's not for Stephanie," Frank explained. "I can't understand why you wanted Stephanie to remain married to an unfaithful man." Frank shook his head. He didn't understand Helen's view on the matter.
"Stephanie misunderstood what she saw," Helen said, defending her stance on Stephanie and Dickie's marriage. It embarrassed Helen to have her daughter divorce Dickie, a prominent man in the Burg with big political ambitions. Stephanie could have been a senator's wife. Maybe the president's wife someday, but Stephanie had to divorce her husband, making Helen's dream of becoming famous disappear. Frank felt exhausted.
"How exactly does one misinterpret watching their husband have sex with another woman?" Frank challenged. Helen huffed and refused to answer, knowing he had a valid point. She stared at the nurse's station and ignored Frank.
Lester, Tank, Bobby and Hector listened in horror. Speaking Spanish, Lester asked, "Did Helen seriously say Stephanie should have remained married to Dickie Orr after he slept with disease carrying Barnhardt?"
"That's how I heard it," Bobby replied in Spanish.
"It's seriously fucked up," Tank added. "Hector, you can't kill Stephanie's mother." Hector pushed his knife back into his boot. He leaned against the wall, watching Helen and ready to pounce if the woman hurt Stephanie.
"Why did Barnhardt choose Dickie of all people?" Lester asked. Helen couldn't understand the conversation between the men. It sounded like Spanish or Italian - one of those Latin-based languages which she didn't care to learn.
"Jealousy. Dickie was married to my daughter," Frank replied, speaking Spanish. "It's been like that since they started school. Pumpkin was friendly and outgoing. Barnhardt was selfish and mean. The boys paid attention to my daughter, and the girls wanted to be her friend. Nobody paid attention to Barnhardt. Pumpkin never cheated, but Barnhardt did."
"Frank, stop speaking Italian. Nobody understands you," Helen admonished.
"Spanish," Frank corrected. He sat up when Ranger approached. "How is she?"
"In pain, but that's to be expected from her surgery," Ranger replied. "She's awake. Dr. Burt's examining Stephanie before she gets discharged." Ranger assessed the woman sitting beside General Plum. The woman resembled Stephanie enough for Ranger to know it was Helen. "Hi, Mrs. Plum. I'm Ranger Manoso."
Helen looked at the handsome man and politely smiled. "How do you know my daughter?" she asked.
"We both work for Vinnie's bail bonds," Ranger replied. He wisely refused to elaborate, allowing Helen to draw her own conclusions.
Proving she knew more than anyone thought, Helen asked, "Did you kill Ramirez after he tortured my daughter?"
"No, Ma'am. I did," Tank replied.
"Her injuries? Are they as bad as they say?" Helen asked. She refused to leave without receiving an answer from Stephanie or the doctor.
"Excuse me, Ranger. Your wife is ready to go home," Dr. Burt said, interrupting the conversation.
"Thank you," Ranger replied.
Helen opened her mouth to speak. "Don't make a scene," Frank warned.
"I wasn't," Helen snapped. "Stephanie should come home with us."
"Mrs. Plum, with all due respect, I believe Stephanie would be more comfortable coming home with me. My home has an elevator for Stephanie to move between floors," Ranger replied. "She's restricted from using the stairs."
"Helen, our only bathroom is on the second floor. Let Ranger take care of his wife," Frank said.
"Stephanie wishes to see you, Mrs. Plum," Dr. Burt said before Helen could start a new rant.
Helen stood up and squared her shoulders. Ranger and Frank escorted Helen to the room containing Stephanie. She was sitting up in bed. Helen gasped when she saw Stephanie. "Sweetie, are you okay?" Helen cried. Helen raced to Stephanie's side, then surprised Stephanie by hugging her.
"I'll be okay in time, Mom," Stephanie replied. "Have Daddy and Carlos told you?"
"Carlos? Who's Carlos?" Helen asked.
Stephanie reached toward Ranger, then laced their fingers when their hands touched. "My husband," Stephanie answered. "We're not getting divorced, don't bother suggesting it."
"What's the prognosis?" Helen asked, getting back on track.
"My injuries were too severe to save my uterus. I can't have children," Stephanie whispered.
Helen fell into the chair Frank thoughtfully pushed behind her. "No grandchildren?" Helen cried. Stephanie shook her head. "How are you supposed to be a proper Burg wife if you can't have children?"
"Mom, I don't want to be a Burg wife. You know how I feel about children," Stephanie replied. "Mom, my time is limited. I'm not wasting it by living someone else's life and dreams. Carlos and I could adopt or hire a surrogate if we want kids. For now, we want to spend time together. I need to heal from my injuries before we decide to procreate."
"I'll take care of Stephanie, Mrs. Plum," Carlos said.
"Please, call me Helen," she replied. "Do you need help getting dressed, Stephanie?"
"Yes, but Sally and Monica are helping me," Stephanie replied.
"Carlos, I'll prepare some meals for Stephanie and have Frank drop them at your house." Helen stood up and rubbed her hands down her legs, removing the wrinkles from the skirt. She kissed Stephanie's forehead and whispered, "He's handsome. I'll make your favourite dessert and chocolate pudding."
"Thanks, Mom," Stephanie replied. She wiped a tear off her cheek.
Frank kissed Stephanie's curls and left Ranger in the room with Stephanie. He trusted Manoso to keep his youngest daughter safe. Helen thanked Sally and Monica for taking excellent care of Stephanie.
"Did you drive?" Frank asked when they walked toward the parking lot.
"No. I couldn't find the keys and walked," Helen replied, her voice hitched from the raw emotions. Frank had the keys in his pocket. He hoped it would deter Helen from visiting. "I refused to wait another day without ensuring our daughter was alive."
"You surprised me today."
"Really? How?" Helen wondered.
"You didn't tell Stephanie she was useless and a disappointment," Frank replied.
Helen laughed sardonically. "I think Joseph Morelli wears that crown." Frank chuckled. He couldn't agree more. "Honestly, what was Joseph thinking while he cuffed her? It's despicable," Helen said. "To think I wanted Stephanie to marry that… that… I can't bring myself to call him a man."
"Swine?" Frank asked, offering his suggestion. Helen giggled and agreed.
"Mother would have called him a horse's patoot. What do you know about Carlos?" Helen asked, wanting to know about her son-in-law.
Frank smiled and told Helen what was publicly known about their son-in-law. Helen smiled. Carlos Manoso sounded like a respectable and honourable man. "Manoso used to be in special forces. I trust our daughter with Ranger and his men. They will protect her with their lives."
Helen giggled. "From your lips to God's ears. Stephanie seems to stumble across the strangest things. I was worried her curiosity would get her killed one day. It seems I should have been more worried about Joseph Morelli putting her in danger," Helen said. "I hope Carlos knows who he married. Stephanie can be a handful."
"I believe Manoso is the perfect man for the job," Frank replied.
"If Carlos is anything like you, he is," Helen said. "I'm worried about Valerie."
"How so?" Frank asked.
Helen described her conversation with Valerie and her granddaughters. "Mary Alice said she caught Steve kissing the babysitter. Angie caught Steve and the babysitter in bed, kissing. Steve said they were sleeping. It confused Angie because they were naked," Helen explained.
"Where was Valerie?" Frank asked.
"At the gym," she replied. "That weekend, when Valerie went to purchase groceries, the cards got declined for insufficient funds. I don't know how that could happen. Steve makes good money at the law firm." Frank thought Helen had a reason to be concerned. He would hire Ranger and his men to look into the situation before Steve ran.