When I spoke with Casey and Ella about Stephanie Ella decided to take the soup up to Steph herself. "Not that she'd do it on purpose, but she might get snippy with Casey," Ella said. "She won't with me."
"How will you handle the food and your crutches?" I asked.
"I'll get Louis to help me," she replied. "Don't you worry. I'll take care of our girl."
"Well…okay," I said. "Call me if you have any issues at all."
"I won't, but if for some reason I do, then I will," Ella replied.
I was still wired as I returned to the control room floor. Bobby was already there, filling in the guys on what we learned.
"How's Beautiful?" I asked.
"Cranky," he replied. "I tried to talk her into coming down to the infirmary for a quick look over, but she wasn't having it," he said. "She told me she was getting a damn shower and going to bed and that if she felt worse in the morning, she'd let me know."
This was one of those moments when I was wishing Ranger was back. He's the only one who can get her to see reason when it comes to her health. "Well," I blew out a long breath. "I guess we're just going to have to be hyper-vigilant for the next few days."
Later that night, when I crawled into bed with Casey, my mind was still on Stephanie. Stretched out behind Casey and pulled her back against me so we were spooning. "Did Stephanie really save a baby's life today?" she asked as she snuggled back against me.
I slid my arm around her waist and settled so my nose was in her hair. God, I love the smell of her shampoo. There's something about the coconut and apricot combination which soothes me. "According to Manny she did," I said.
"She's so amazing," Casey murmured.
"So are you," I replied.
"Not like Stephanie," she argued. "I haven't saved anyone's life or helped to get bad guys off the street."
"Maybe not, but you've survived experiences that would break most people and even after everything you've been through, you're still able to see the good in people."
"I suppose," she murmured. "I'm just so happy I've had the opportunity to get to know Stephanie, and everyone else here. You all have no idea how much you've changed my life."
"For the good, I hope," I said before taking a long inhale.
She shifted, then turned in my arms so she was facing me. "This is the happiest I think I've ever been in my life," she said as she stroked a finger along my jaw. "And I have you to thank for it."
That statement had me taking her in a kiss that led to us spending the next few hours showing each other just how thankful we were for each other's love.
When my alarm went off at five, I did something I rarely do. I shut it off and went back to sleep. After a long night of making love, I decided that this morning I needed the extra sleep more than the exercise. Unfortunately, when my backup alarm went off an hour later, we were both scrambling from the bed.
Nothing like starting the day running behind. It was a little after seven when I stepped onto the control room floor with a large cup of coffee in my hand. Ram took a long assessing perusal of me then grinned. "Someone got lucky last night."
"I've been lucky since the day I found Casey on that bridge," I replied as I headed for my office.
"Bro," he said as he followed me. "What in the hell did you do with my partner because that might be the gushiest, most saccharine-sweet thing, I think I've ever heard you utter."
I rolled my eyes as I dropped into my chair. "What is it with all you guys being so dramatic lately? I swear you're all acting like a bunch of women."
He plopped down into the guest chair and then settled in by crossing one ankle over the opposite knee. "We're not the one who's been domesticated." He shook his head. "I swear, I'm not sure what's happening around here. "Ranger is married, Hal's engaged, Bobby's gonna be a father and you've taken yourself off the market. We're falling like dominos. Honestly, it's freaking me out a little."
Before I could formulate a pithy reply, Cal stuck his head in the doorway. "Um…Steph just came down to work."
"And?" I asked as I glanced at the time on the computer and frowned. It was a bit early for her to be down already.
"And she doesn't look so good."
His reply had Ram and I both popping up from our seats and heading for her office. I reached her doorway and took a moment to assess her before she noticed me. She still looked tired, pale, and maybe even a bit shell-shocked. "Beautiful," I said as I knocked on the doorframe, catching her attention. "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Tired," she replied, and I noticed the change in her voice.
"Is, your cold getting worse?"
"Maybe a little," she replied. "I'm sure being wet and cold yesterday didn't help it any, but I took some cold medicine, so I should be good until lunchtime."
"Maybe you should let Bobby look at you," I suggested.
She scowled. "It's a cold, Lester. Even you know that there isn't anything he can do for a virus. It just has to run its course."
"Still," I pushed knowing I risked pissing her off. "I think we'd all feel better if you did."
"I'm not going to bother Bobby with a damn cold," she argued. "Not when he'd dealing with so much other more important stuff. Besides," she paused and looked up at me. "He's off today. He was taking Celeste to her doctor's appointment. He pulled some strings and managed to get her an early ultrasound."
To be honest, I'd forgotten about his day off and the ultrasound. Now that she'd mentioned it, I remembered Bobby saying he wanted the ultrasound just for his piece of mind.
"Then I think he was going to take her to do some shopping for baby stuff and maternity clothes," she added. "So, he's not here anyway."
"Bones is here," I said, not willing to let her off the hook so easily. "He could check you over."
"No," she replied, her tone carrying a certain amount of finality with it.
I hate to tell her, but I can be just as stubborn as she is and I'm not going to let this go without a fight. "Well, if you won't let Bones look at you, will you at least take the day off and rest?"
She shot me a withering look. "We're already two people down, with Ranger and Tank still gone. While Zero might be back, now you're on restricted duty. So, I'm not going to go lay in bed when there's work to do."
"How about we compromise," I suggested. "Maybe you could take your laptop up to Seven and work from your bed. That way you could feel like you're still getting stuff done, but you'd be off your feet."
"I'm off my feet now," she replied.
Damn, she was in full-on stubborn Jersey Girl mode. She must really not feel good, because it had been a while since she'd been this difficult. "You know what I mean," I said.
"Yeah, I did and I'm not going to shirk on my responsibilities when we're shorthanded."
I crossed to where she sat and planted my ass on the corner of her desk. "Look, I'm not trying to be difficult here, but I'm worried about you, Beautiful and I think you need to rest today."
"How about this," she said as she leaned back in her chair. "How about I work a half day and rest this afternoon? Would that make you happy?"
I'd be happier if she'd just turn off her office light and go back upstairs to bed, but knowing how stubborn she could be, I'd take the compromise she was offering. "Better than nothing," I replied. "But I want to see your office light off by one p.m." I stuck my hand out for her to shake. "Deal?"
She eyed my hand, then took it in hers. "Deal."
Throughout the day, Bones and I took turns keeping an eye on Beautiful. She was cranky and miserable but refused to allow us to pry her from her duties. However, when one o'clock rolled around, she shut down her computer and headed up to Seven. With Hector's help, we made sure to lock her out of the system, so she wouldn't try to work from their home office in the penthouse. When she didn't call down or come banging on my or Hector's doors, I was confident she'd done as she promised and gone offline for the rest of the day.
The next morning, I was up at five and was making my way through my morning routine. I'd exercised for an hour, showered, ate breakfast, and then headed down to the control room. I glanced over at Steph's office to find it dark. Maybe she was still resting. If she didn't come down in the next hour or so, I'd go up and check on her.
I settled into my office and got to work. It was nearing ten when I realized the time, closed out of the program I was in, and pushed away from my desk. I meant to check on Steph two hours ago, but work got away from me. Surly she'd be up by now. Especially since we had a scheduled meeting at ten.
I stepped out of my office, glanced over at hers, and froze. It was still dark. What the hell?
"Has anyone seen Steph today?" I asked.
We were supposed to meet at ten to start weeding our way through the pile of resumes we'd accumulated in our search for a couple of new employees. With Ranger and Tank being 'In the Wind', we were already down two men. After Zero's takedown the other day, Bobby allowed him to return to full duty. So, there was that, but then Albertson and Jamison from the night shift decided to transfer for the open positions in Boston and Miami respectively. The next day Tex from swing informed us he was resigning to return home to take care of his ailing parents. Just like that, we went from being temporarily down two men to being permanently down three. Two for the overnight shift and one for the swing.
The men on the control room floor all shook their heads at me as they looked at each other. My shoulders tensed at their answers. Steph was never much of an early riser, but she was always on the floor by eight and she wasn't one to be so irresponsible as to miss a meeting without so much as a word.
I pulled out my cell and called her phone. It rang and eventually went to voicemail.
Hal stepped out of his cubicle and frowned at the darkness trailing from Steph's office. "Still no Bomber?"
I shook my head. "I just tried calling her and it went to voicemail." I glanced over my shoulder at her dark office. "I don't like this. My gut is telling me something isn't right."
In five steps Hal was standing behind Woody, seated at the monitors. "Bring up all of Steph's trackers," he ordered.
A couple of keystrokes later the screen lit with Steph's trackers. Every single one of them placed her here at Haywood. "She's still here," he murmured. "She wasn't feeling well yesterday. Maybe she just overslept."
I shook my head. "I know Ranger isn't around to haul her ass out of bed, but she long ago stopped shirking the rules, even ones she doesn't like. I'm telling you, Hal, something is very wrong here."
He heaved out a sigh. "Fine. Let's go up to Seven and check on her, but if she's okay, you're taking the heat."
I gave his threat a nod. "Fine. Let's go." It wasn't like I hadn't been in Steph's crosshairs before.
We took the stairs to Seven where Hal knocked on the door. After a couple of minutes, I tried again. "Steph. It's Lester. Open the door." When after several minutes she didn't answer, I arched a brow at him.
"Maybe she's in the shower and can't hear us knock?" he suggested.
"Open. The. Door." I said as my nerves sparked with agitation.
"Steph's gonna kill us," he mumbled as he used Tank's fob to unlock the door. I pushed in front of him and forced it open then walked inside. The breakfast plate of pancakes and sausage Casey brought up at seven this morning sat on the breakfast bar, untouched.
I glanced over my shoulder at Hal and watched as his eyes grew dark with concern. "Steph?" he called out.
Silence met his greeting. Instinct had us pulling our weapons as we began a sweep of the apartment. No way could anyone breach our security and make it to the penthouse, but logic and instinct didn't always talk to each other.
I'd just made it to the bedroom door when I swore my heart stopped. "Steph?"
She lay in bed, her body facing away from the door. "Stephanie?" Hal called out from behind me.
She didn't even flinch at the sound of his voice.
I holstered my weapon and moved slowly to the bed. Please let her be sleeping and not anything worse.
I rounded the bed, reached out, and brushed the curls away from her face. I let out a relieved breath as the warmth of her skin registered in my brain. Alive. Thank God. Wait! My brow was knit as my hand shifted back to her forehead, then her cheek, then her neck. "She's burning up."
"What?" Hal asked as he holstered his gun and joined me. "Stephanie?"
She still didn't move.
Gently, I rolled her onto her back and for the first time, we got a good look. She was pale, sweating profusely, and incredibly hot to the touch. I placed two fingers against her neck and checked her pulse. One ten. "Call Bobby," I said as I placed a hand on her chest to measure her breathing.
"Yo," Hal said into his phone. "Bomber is sick. We need you on Seven, now." He ended the call and turned to look back at me. "Bad?"
I nodded. "I think so. Pulse is one ten and her respirations are thirty. She has a fever and by the way she's sweating, I'm betting it's pretty high."
"I knew we shouldn't have left her alone after the way she was acting yesterday," he grumbled.
"She said she was fine," I replied as I looked from her to Hal and back.
"She never admits when she's sick though." He was right. She wasn't one to ever admit anything was wrong.
Bobby barreled into the bedroom a moment later. He slid to a stop next to the bed, looked down at her, and cursed. "Bomber. Oh hell." He climbed onto the bed, turned, and pulled a stethoscope from his bag. "Pulse?" he asked.
"One ten," I replied. "Respirations are thirty."
"Grab the temple thermometer out of my bag." He put the stethoscope to his ears, then turned and ran a hand up under her t-shirt to listen to her chest.
Hal rummaged in the bag and found the thermometer, then handed it to me. I pointed it at her forehead and pulled the trigger. The screen lit red a moment later, revealing a number that scared the shit out of me.
"Temp," Bobby asked.
"One hundred and four point four," I said as I met his gaze.
He picked up her hands, and looked them over, taking time to check her fingers. "Mild cyanosis. I need her in the infirmary, now." He shifted off the bed, rooted into his pocket, and pulled out his cell. "Kris. We're heading down with Stephanie. I need you to set up a bed for an IV of normal saline, and oxygen administration and I'll want a complete blood count. Also, get the portable x-ray ready."
"That bad?" Hal asked when Bobby hung up.
Bobby nodded. "She's got fluid in her left lung and mild cyanosis, and we have to get that fever down."
"Pneumonia?" I asked as I glanced from him to Beautiful and back.
He nodded. "I'm afraid so." He raked a hand through his hair. "I'm just not sure exactly how bad it is yet."
I scooped Beautiful into my arms and headed out of the penthouse. She didn't move and my fear grew.
The elevator seemed to take forever to arrive and then to deliver us to the third-floor infirmary. The door opened to reveal Manny, Bones, and Ram all standing outside the infirmary door. They made way for us to pass, then followed us into the room.
The moment I placed her on the bed, all hell seemed to break loose as Bobby began calling out orders. "Kristina, get that IV started. We need to work on getting that fever down. Let's start with a dose of Ibuprofen and rotate every four hours with acetaminophen. Les, get that oxygen mask on her. Hal and Ram, get me several bags of ice and wrap them in towels. Bones, get that machine ready for a chest x-ray. Shit." He paused and looked up at us.
"What?"
"I suppose none of you know when her last period was?"
Everyone's attention immediately dropped to the white tile floor. None of us knew Bomber that well.
"Man, I wish we could call Ranger. He's probably the only one who knows for sure, and I need that information before I can take the chest x-ray."
"What do you need the x-ray for anyway? I asked even as I moved to place the oxygen mask over Beautiful's face.
"To confirm what I believe is left lower lobe pneumonia. I hear the fluid, but I need the x-ray to see how bad it is." He prepped Steph's opposite arm for a blood draw, slid the needle into her arm, and filled a tube. Steph barely flinched but didn't bother to open her eyes.
"And the bloodwork?" I asked.
"To see if we can pinpoint what type of pneumonia she has."
"What do you mean what type?" Hal asked.
"Bacterial or viral," Bobby replied as he handed the tube of blood to Kristina. "How I'd treat a bacterial-based pneumonia is different than how I'd treat a viral-based pneumonia."
Kristina finished with Steph's IV and then turned to Bobby. "What next?"
"Pulse oximeter and we'll need to get a pregnancy test on her before we can get an x-ray. In the meantime, let's get her hooked up to a heart monitor and keep an eye on her blood pressure."
"A blood pregnancy test will take a couple of days," Kristina said.
Bobby nodded. "You're right." He looked at me. "Ranger's been gone about five weeks, right?"
I nodded. "Which means if she was, she'd be at the very least five weeks, more than likely it would have happened on their honeymoon, so probably six to ten weeks."
He nodded again and I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. "That would be enough time.," he murmured. "Okay, all of you out. Ranger will kill me if I allow any of you to be here for what we have to do next."
As everyone headed out, I stopped next to Bobby. "What are you going to do?"
"I need a pregnancy test and she's too sick to even lift her head, let alone get up to go to the bathroom. Besides, we'll need to keep an eye on her kidney function anyway."
I shuddered as I realized what he meant. "Are you doing it or is Kristina?"
"Steph and Ranger will both be happier if I have Kristina do it. As soon as we get Steph settled, I'll let you come back in."
I angled a thumb toward the door. "I'll go check on Casey and fill her in on what's going on. She and Steph have gotten kinda close over the last few weeks."
"I'll text you when we're done."
