EYES WIDE OPEN

Ranger POV

Chapter 2

oOoOo

For a moment there was stunned confusion. The two Morrisville cops looked at each other. Morelli's sharp retort surprised them. However, when Morelli tried to show his badge, they drew their weapons. He was firmly told to kneel, hands behind his head, before being told to lie down with his arms splayed wide. Oh, this was priceless. They cuffed him, removing his service weapon from his back and frisking him for other weapons. He had really fucked up there. They didn't give a damn that he was claiming to be a Trenton detective. In fact, they laughed when he said detective.

"Yeah. That's a good one. Some detective you are. You idiot! This woman is a hero."

My Babe? A hero? I smiled broadly. Tank nudged me with a shit-eating grin as did Lester. Bobby nodded his head beaming. Pride in our girl was unanimous.

How intriguing that this time all the camera phones were recording Morelli's arrest, leaving Stephanie in peace for a change.

Morelli was still complaining bitterly. They pulled him up to a standing position quite roughly, telling him to shut up. But he wouldn't listen. No surprise there.

"She destroyed another car! Can't you see that? Another burning wreck. Two! Two burning wrecks at the same time!"

"I crashed my car into the bridge.I don't care what you think. On purpose, Morelli. Did you hear that? I slammed my car into the bridge deliberately. I love it.I did it to save someone's life. You idiot. Two lives. That was more important."

Her sarcasm was scathing. He was confused. Obviously, he only heard what he wanted to hear. He only saw what he wanted to see. Yeah, for a detective that was surprising. I get it. Defensive driving. Proud of you, Babe.

"She's my girlfriend," he yelled.

What the fuck? What the hell has that got to do with this?

"No. I am not." Stephanie retorted flatly.

"I was just going to take her home."

"Not like that you weren't. That clearly comes under domestic violence and abuse."

Evidently, there might be some rivalry with the PA Morrisville PD and Trenton NJ PD. Their dislike of Morelli's arrogance and hubris was very clear. His attitude did not win any favours.

"We're engaged!"

What the fuck?! He was starting to sound quite frantic, yet still unconvincing. They looked at him weirdly, one looking over his aviator sunglasses as he tipped them down.

"No. We are not engaged." Stephanie firmly replied without emotion, turning her head and rolling her eyes. I could see she was getting weary of his antics.

"We're engaged to be engaged!" he shouted, sounding more desperate now, and, to be honest, quite pathetic.

"Really? That old chestnut, Joe? Seriously?! You bought a pool table instead! See. No ring."

She flashed her hands to prove her point but there was no evidence of disappointment in her tone, nor in her body language. Her good hand, her right hand, was on her hip in that assertive pose that women use. Dios. I love this woman. I can't hold back my smile.

"For real?" asked the first officer, looking in disbelief at Stephanie for confirmation. "A pool table?"

She nodded. The two cops looked at each other, stunned and aghast, before they burst out laughing.

"So, you're the idiot dickhead that bought his alleged fiancée a pool table instead of a ring?" They were laughing so hard. "We thought that was an urban myth from across the border." More laughter, even from the crowd still observing. "Man. What a fuckwit you are!" They chuckled, shaking their heads at his stupidity, looking at Stephanie and back at the fuckwit. Morelli did not enjoy their mockery and derision one bit, especially with a captive audience. How does that feel asshole?

I took that as my cue to step inside the cordoned off area, under the tape, walking over to Stephanie. Her smile was radiant.

This charade had gone far enough. I sighed with concern opening my arms wide. "Babe."

I nodded to the police officers and introduced myself, handing my business card to them, while holding her good hand, squeezing her gently to my side. They looked at me and how Stephanie reacted and nodded in approval. Thankfully, in the meantime, Morelli was carted off to the police cruiser on the other side, past all the spectators, still in cuffs, still complaining and ranting.

"You're in my jurisdiction. This is Trenton, New Jersey," he emphasised, "and you're from across the bridge. Morrisville is in PA. You have no right to arrest me. Wait until the Chief of Police finds out."

They just ignored his angry invectives. Besides, he was on repeat now. But just to piss him off, we laughed when we heard their cutting response.

"We know our geography, detective. We don't like asshole men who disrespect and harm women. Our involvement was sanctioned by your despatchers. We had it under control until you interfered with your prejudiced opinion."

I grinned. Touché. Tank indicated to the other two officers that he would arrange a flatbed to remove her car, once they had cleared it to be removed. A tow truck had already arrived, reversing all the way along the bridge from the Morrisville side, to tow away the other vehicle and clear the road. Stephanie's car suffered greater damage, what remained of it. It was a complete write-off. The other officers were directing traffic past the debris which remained from melted tyres and the sawdust and foam from the fire brigade in containing the burning vehicles and the nearby scrub.

"Are you okay?" I made sure to use actual words while tucking some singed wispy curls behind her ear. She smiled, leaning her face in to my hand.

"I am now. I knew he was going to go apeshit. I thought it would be fun to let him make an ass of himself. Wait until he gets home. Cheating asshole."

She grinned with a wicked glint in her eyes.

"I know there's a story in that."

"Hm-mm. Oh yes. You have no idea."

"Let's get you out of here."

"Yes please."

In the meantime, Lester had called in to Rangeman to see if anyone was in our vicinity. He correctly figured the long walk all the way back to our vehicles would be too much for her. Fortunately, we were able to get a lift from Woody and Junior back to our vehicles. They'd been on surveillance and reconnaissance in PA.

Bobby was concerned as he watched Stephanie's movements.

He asked, "Bomber? Do you think it might be wise to go to the hospital after all?"

She hesitated but then reluctantly admitted, "My head is feeling sore now. My neck too. Okay. To be honest, I'm also starting to feel a bit nauseous and dizzy."

"That's settled then, especially seeing you did slam into that bridge truss to avoid hitting the other car."

"And the deer."

"And the deer. That was some good defensive driving."

"He'd already bounced off the bridge truss then suddenly stopped in the middle of the road at an angle. The single lane was blocked. I could tell he had collapsed and then another couple of deer came out of nowhere … and, well, I had no choice. I just did it on instinct to avoid any more danger to them."

Well, that explains some of it.

"You know what's weird?"

We all looked at her expectantly while she considered her words carefully as she worried her bottom lip.

"It all seemed to happen in slow motion. That car dodging the deer, then colliding and bouncing off the bridge truss. I could see him collapse forward. I braked so hard trying to miss his car and then another deer dashed in front and over my car. I aimed for the truss for the better option."

She paused and we waited her out, knowing this was harder to admit for her.

"It's strange, you know, really peculiar, how it all happened in a matter of seconds but in that weird bubble, time seemed to stop as my life flashed before my eyes. So many thoughts and memories flashed before me, because I thought … this might be … I don't know … the end of me. I wondered if people would cry, if anyone would miss me, if my life was important to anyone, if my mother would finally say something positive about me. But there were lots of happy memories like Point Pleasant and Halloween and other happy places. I worried about my nieces and … you guys. It made me sad, especially thinking of you Ranger, what could have been … and I had regrets."

Tears were welling in her eyes.

"Babe," I gently kissed her nose. "No regrets. We'll make up for those. Let's get you sorted out first. We are so proud of you."

Bobby explained, "That is what happens when you have a near death experience or trauma. It's a natural phenomenon, Bomber. We've all experienced those and you're right, it is weird how much your brain flashes, like reels of your life, in a matter of seconds. But you survived. That you dragged that couple to safety from the burning vehicles, even while you were injured, was truly remarkable. That was adrenaline. That was heroic."

Lester and Tank agreed. "Very brave, Little Girl. You are amazing."

"Uh … No. I changed my mind. I can't afford it. I don't have any medical cover."

"Stephanie. You need serious medical assessment, and attention. You are in pain." Bobby spoke gently.

"Besides, Little Girl," Tank added, "since you have worked part-time for us, you are already covered by Rangeman Health Benefits, like all staff. Let's get you taken care of."

I squeezed her hand and looked at her imploringly. She yielded with a relieved sigh and nodded.

We took a detour so that Stephanie could be assessed for any other injuries at the hospital. After blood tests, x-rays, a CT scan and an ultrasound, it was confirmed that she had a low grade concussion, a sprained wrist and a dislocated collar bone. Her nose was not broken, just bumped and bruised, like her eyes. The doctor confirmed it was likely from her head hitting the steering wheel. Thankfully, there was no dental or cheekbone damage. Her ribs and the sternum were bruised but no other damage there. The only abrasion was on her forehead. They suspected that she had suffered whiplash due to the impact. At least her seatbelt held her, with the significant bruise across her chest there as proof. I was impressed with her when they manipulated and reset her collarbone while Bobby and I talked her through it. It was a painful procedure but quick as we heard it literally pop back into position. At least it was more comfortable now. Another scan confirmed no ligament or tendon damage. That's a relief thus avoiding the need for surgery. The doctor said that the effect of the whiplash might not be felt for a day or two, along with other aches and pains.

I sent Tank down to get a spare t-shirt from the SUV. Because of the sling, wearing a bra was going to be awkward and uncomfortable for her. Delicately removing the bra was instant relief for her. I suggested we swap her tighter t-shirt for one of my looser and larger ones. She agreed. When I removed my t-shirt, her eyes glazed over. "Nice distraction, Batman." With the help of the nurse, we gently pulled it over her head. Stephanie smiled, sniffing it and approved with a sigh. I wore the spare one. I tied a simple knot at the front so it wasn't too long on her. She sighed with a nod of appreciation. Damn, she looked sexy in my t-shirt.

She's a tough cookie. Seeing her the first time when I arrived at the scene, and assessing her, I did not see her favouring that shoulder. Sitting with the blanket wrapped around her with her shoulders hunched, was deceiving, as it disguised her posture. It must have been the adrenaline. Or the distraction of the schmuck raving on since it appeared to amuse her this time, masked as boredom.

Lester drove the Porsche back to Rangeman, while Tank drove the SUV with us sitting in the back seat together. Bobby kept checking on her from the front passenger seat. She was tired, and sore. All the pains were coming at her after her adrenaline crash. They had put a soft cervical collar around her neck as a necessary precaution for whiplash. Bobby already had the prescriptions filled for the pain medication and anti-inflammatories. He'd given her the first dose already. She's going to feel so much more pain tomorrow.

"Um. I … er … have nowhere to go, since my apartment is still pending insurance assessment before they can do repairs. You know, after that last fire bombing. I really don't want to go to my parents' house, not after this. No way! I need some peace and quiet. That's not going to happen at my parents' place, too chaotic. There's no way in Hell that I am going to Morelli's! I no longer live there!"

Hm. Now that is interesting. That bit of news hung there suspended as we wondered what had gone down, especially after her earlier comment. The vehemence with which she spoke those last words brooked no argument.

"Oh. Crap. I only have my phone and what I am wearing. All my clothes and stuff, my laptop, my purse, … everything was in my car. This sucks." Her breath hitched and a small sob escaped.

"Would you be alright being at Rangeman? Bobby can monitor your recovery and we can protect you from any Burg repercussions and interference. Peace and quiet come under our security protection umbrella."

She smiled at the subtle suggestion, muttering, "Ranger humour," with a smile. I gifted her one of my hundred watt special smiles that I seem to reserve for her exclusively.

She blushed and her look of gratitude was very apparent. She was relieved to have an alternative.

"We have an apartment on the fourth floor, or you can stay with me on seven. There's also the option of a safe house, but it would be more difficult to monitor your immediate recovery, especially with your concussion, the whiplash, your sprained wrist, and your no longer dislocated collarbone. Besides, we have some clothes there for you and your toiletries. Ella can get anything you need. And, we have Ella food."

She sighed and leaned into me.

"See. That's the difference, you give me options. I think Rangeman is the best option. I appreciate that so much. You're absolutely right, I would feel safer, especially after what I did this morning. Besides, you had me at Ella food. Being on my own like this is not a good idea, not after today." Then under her breath she muttered, "But really, you already had me at seven," followed by a huge yawn.

I gave her a questioning look as she was chewing her bottom lip. But then another teary yawn escaped. She snuggled into my side and was asleep. Tank's eyes caught mine, raising an eyebrow. I wonder what happened this morning? Not a good idea, not after today? Did she mean the accident? Tank just shrugged his shoulder reflecting my confusion.

oOoOo

TBC