Ranger POV

If there's one thing I don't have time for, it's getting sick. I eat well and take care of my body to ensure I stay healthy. And it works. I can't remember the last time I was under the weather.

The last thing I expected when going to Steph's house last week was to be stuck in bed with the flu. In bed for other things, sure. But not the flu.

I was coming off a takedown that had almost gone catastrophically wrong. We had been hired to bring in a federal fugitive who had holed up in Trenton, and he got off a lucky shot in the apprehension. If that bullet's trajectory had been just one inch to the left, Ram would have died. As it was, he had a burn on the side of his head from the graze wound. Our fugitive became clumsy after that, and we handed him off to my FBI contact with a few bumps and bruises.

Afterward, I went to Steph's house. Knowing she was safe in her bed and watching her sleep helped me calm and center myself. I knew she was aware of my presence sometimes, with that same sort of awareness I had of her, but she'd never woken up and told me to come to bed before.

After feeling the heat radiating from her body, though, I realized she must be ill. I didn't want just to leave her to fend for herself in her underequipped apartment, so I was thankful when she didn't argue about my taking her back to my apartment where I could take care of her, along with Ella.

For the rest of the week, I took care of her. I made sure she had sustenance to help her fight off the virus that invaded her body. I watched her while she slept and cooled her with washcloths when her fever spiked. I kept her company when she was awake and held her at night. It felt nice. It felt right.

She and the cop had been broken up for several months now. I'd been waiting on tenterhooks for the news that she'd gone back to him, but as time went on, rumours had started that Morelli was seen around town with several other women. I tried not to listen to rumours but saw Morelli and a cute little redhead fogging up his off-duty SUV's windows one day, so I finally became confident that Steph was available for me to make my move.

The night I went to her apartment, I planned on asking her for a date. If she had been awake, that was the plan. My plan was derailed, but having her share my space this past week was almost better. I tried to open up to her and tell her about my childhood, even when my training had my mind warring on revealing any sort of personal information. We were enjoying each other's company.

So, when I saw her packing up her duffel bag to return to her apartment, including the pilfered bottle of my shower gel I pretended not to notice, it hit me like a gut punch. And I realized I didn't want her to go home. Not now, not ever.

When I told her I loved her and asked her to stay, I was ecstatic when she agreed. I was relieved that it didn't take as much convincing as expected.

We spent all day in bed yesterday, celebrating our newfound cohabitation status. We went to sleep in the early hours; Steph was wrapped in my arms, and everything was right in my world.

When I woke up at five to head down to the gym to work out, my head was pounding, and my mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls. Fuck. I'm sick.

I wasn't in any condition to work out, so I tightened my hold on Steph and fell back asleep. Hopefully, it was only fatigue caused by staying up too late making love to my woman.

Some time later, I could feel Steph's eyes on me, and her hand on the back of my forehead. "Ranger?" I heard her whisper.

I opened my eyes and looked up at her worried face. "Good morning, Babe."

She frowned. "You're sick. I don't think I've ever seen you sick."

"First time for everything, Babe."

"Well, don't worry. I'll take care of you just like you took care of me. Don't worry about anything."

And she did. She stayed by my side for nearly a week from that initial call to Tank to tell him I was offline for the next few days to sponging off my overheated body with cool towels. She had a laptop brought upstairs and performed searches for Rangeman while I slept, and when I was awake, she made me as comfortable as she could. She had Ella bring me bowls of broth and whole-grain toast and even changed the sheets when I got out of bed to shower.

By the end of the week, I was feeling much better. With one more good night's sleep, I was sure I'd be back to normal. And I was supremely thankful for that. I felt like my muscles were atrophying by the moment with so much downtime, and I was pumped to get back in the gym.

I woke up the next morning with Steph draped over my chest. I kissed her forehead and gently extricated myself from beneath her gorgeous body. I felt good. Not one hundred percent, but good enough to start getting back into my daily routine again.

I left Steph sleeping in bed and quickly put on my workout clothes before taking the stairs to the third floor. The gym was quiet when I entered, with only a few people present this early Saturday morning. Tank was in the free weight area, and I nodded to him before I started my warmup.

An hour later, I had a good sweat and was punching the heavy bag. I paused when Tank came to stand beside me on his way out of the gym. "You gonna live, then?" he asked.

I nodded but didn't elaborate.

"Steph seems to have taken good care of you."

Now, he was fishing. But it occurred to me that I hadn't had a chance to apprise him of Steph's newly-decided change of address. "She's moving in. It would have happened last week, but circumstances interfered."

His face split into a slow grin. "Congratulations on finally getting your head out of your ass. It's about damned time."

I lifted my eyebrow. Just because the man was the closest friend I had, next to Steph, didn't mean I wouldn't kick his ass on the mats. He started chuckling and strolled out of the gym.

After my workout, I went back to the penthouse. Steph was still sleeping when I passed the bed, so I walked into the bathroom to shower quickly. Afterward, I dried off and slid into bed beside Steph to wake her up. I kissed her exposed arm, trailing my lips across her collarbone and neck to the warm spot behind her ear. She moaned but kept her eyes closed even though she was waking.

She turned her head, exposing her neck more, and I grinned at her invitation. I planted tiny kisses all along her jawline before capturing her lips in a searing kiss, slipping my tongue inside when she opened her mouth. After several moments, we broke off, and she opened her gorgeous blue eyes and smiled at me. "You must be feeling better," she said.

"I feel great," I said. "I'm getting over this flu, and the love of my life is moving in. What's to feel bad about?"

She laughed. "True. When you put it like that, your life is pretty rad." I laughed and started tickling her side. She laughed and pushed my hands away, protesting, "No!" Tickling turned to kissing, which turned to other things, and we didn't get out of bed until nearly two hours later.

"Babe? When do you want to move in?" I asked her later that morning. Today was Sunday, and as part of my resolve to make my life more conducive to a relationship, I had reorganized Rangeman a little so I'd have time off on Saturday afternoons and Sundays each week.

"Do you want to come help me pack up my stuff today? I really only want to keep my clothes, shoes, and bathroom stuff. You have better versions of literally everything else," she said.

"What do you want to do with the other stuff you don't want to keep?"

"My lease still has a month and a half on it. Why don't I just bring the stuff I want to keep, and when I have some spare time, I'll go to the apartment to sort everything else for donation?" she suggested.

"We can do whatever you want, Babe," I assured her.

We drove to her soon-to-be-former apartment in my F150 and started packing her belongings. I gathered a whole stack of hanging clothes, tied them together & covered them with a split garbage bag, then carted them down to my truck. An hour later, she declared we had everything she planned to keep, and we were done, and all her stuff was mingling with mine in our closet.

I took her into my arms, hugging her close, relishing in the feel of her body on mine. I never expected to find someone I'd want to spend the rest of my life with, and I had no idea what to expect, but I was positive that whatever life threw our way, we'd get through it together.

The End.