40Just a one-shot that popped into my mind. :)
No way was I getting sick, I thought as I pulled the last tissue from the Kleenex box and blew my nose. Yuck. A cough followed, leaving me bending over and gasping for air. Damn colds. It was all Lula's fault too.
A few months ago I went to work at Rangeman full time. Mainly I did skip tracing, but every once in awhile Ranger would ask me to help with a distraction or even look over floor plans and point out things a woman would be concerned about. Things were going great until Lula called me to help with a skip. She had started picking up the low-bond FTA's.
"Help!" She screamed into the phone. It was Monday at 4pm and I was just leaving Rangeman. She sounded panicked but this was Lula, when Cluck-in-a-Bucket burned down she sounded the same way.
"Where are you?" I asked on a sigh. It had been a long day and all I wanted to do was go home, grab a corona, and watch Ghostbusters.
"Trenton City Pool! I'm drowning Help!" Rolling my eyes I hung up. If she was drowning she wouldn't be able to call me so I wasn't in a hurry to see what trouble she had gotten into this time.
Her red Firebird was in the parking lot but Lula was nowhere to be seen. I glanced around and felt the first drop of rain hit. Summer had been over for a few weeks and the cold rainy season was slowly making its way in. I thought I heard a small 'help' towards the outdoor pool so I made my way over to the fence to peer in. Sure enough, Lula was floating on an inner tube in the middle of the pool.
"Lula!" I yelled to get her attention. She flailed wildly trying to turn the tube so she could face me.
"White girl! Get your ass over here and help me outta the pool!" I took a step back to check for the entrance, finding it chained and locked. Lula's figure was slowly circling back around and when she saw me staring at the chain, she continued, "You have to climb the fence."
Right. She was so paying for this, I thought as I stuck my shoe in one of the links and starting pulling myself up. Really it wasn't hard, I had spent most of my life climbing up and down the lattice from the second story bathroom at my parents house. I jumped down on the other side just as a steady flow of rain started.
"Why don't you just get out of the tube and swim in?" I yelled.
Her mouth dropped and a look of horror crossed her face. "What the hell would I do that for?" She screamed. "Do you know how much it costs to get my hair to look like this? If I get it wet then it'll be ruined! And what about my cell phone?" She held up the phone that had been resting on her stomach.
"Well then I guess it's already ruined seeing as how it's pouring down rain!" I turned to find something to throw out and drag her back in with but everything was locked up in the shed. I made a mental note to ask her where she got the inner tube from later. Seeing as there was nothing to pull her in with I walked back to the pool.
"Sorry Lula, there's nothing to throw out to you. You're going to just have to get your hair wet." Or wetter than it already was, I added in my head. "You can toss me your phone first." I added.
"But I can't swim!" I was shivering from the rain already and figured we could fight about her swimming for the next hour, or I could just jump in and pull her over to the edge. Seeing as how she now had her arms crossed over her chest I figured my best bet was the later.
Quickly I toed off my sneakers and socks, pulled my shirt over my head, and shimmied out of my jeans. They were already wet but I didn't want to get them soaked. Besides, I had just bought a new Toyota 4 runner and didn't want to ruin the seats. There was a blanket in the back I could wrap up in for the drive home.
"You are so going to pay me back for this" I stated as I jumped into the pool. The water was freezing and I sucked in a breath at the sudden bite. Lula had floated her way over to the 10ft section and as I grabbed onto the tube I pulled her over to the ledge.
Once I was standing on the side, I reached out and took her hands in mine. "Okay, put your feet here," I indicated the spot between my legs on the edge, "and I'll pull." Using all my strength I bent my knees and pulled back, nothing. Taking a deep breath I did it again "Come on Lula! You have to try to pull yourself up here!"
"What, do you think I enjoy sitting in this here inner tube getting rained on?" Glaring at her I tried one more time, closing my eyes and pulling on her arms with all my strength. I felt her lift out of the pool but our hands and arms were wet from the rain and I could feel her sliding out of my grasp. She was slowly falling back into the pool and at the last minute she clung to my arm and pulled me in with her.
Falling onto of Lula, we bounced and the tube flipped over, dumping a 250 pound Lula on top of me. He arms were flailing as she tried to stay above the water and I could hear her cries for help. We were only a foot away from the edge and I tried to reach out so I could pull us back in. In her panicked state Lula grabbed me around the neck and started to pull me under. I fought until I reached the edge and attempted to pull myself up so I could get some air.
Grabbing Lula's flailing arms I pulled her in and made her hold onto the side of the pool, gasping for air as I came up. Glaring at her I splashed water at her, "You idiot! You could have killed me!" I yelled.
"You were the one who fell on me!" She yelled back, flicking water in my direction.
"I only fell on you because you pulled me in with you!" This lead to a water fight, both of us hitting water in the others direction until we heard someone clear their throat.
Freezing, we both looked wide eyed into the smiling faces of Ranger, Tank, Lester, and Bobby. "Ladies," Ranger said nodding at us, offering a hand to help us out.
Needless to say the guys have been giving me shit about it all week. Now it was Friday, thank God, and I was doing my best to get ready for work. This was a difficult process as I hadn't slept all night due to the coughing and nose blowing, and now I was working on puking up the toast I had just eaten for breakfast. Oh my god, I so did not want to have the flu.
By the time I got myself semi put together I was 30 minutes late to work. A cough wracked through me as I reached the elevator and held onto the wall to keep from falling over. The cough had started late on Monday night and has progressively has gotten worse over the days. And let me tell you, this was no ordinary cough. They were so powerful that my ribs were hurting and my lungs burned with every breath I took.
When I reached 5 I had regained most of my composure. Usually I greet each of the guys and chat with them for a minute about life but today I just plastered a smile on my face and headed right to my cubicle. I found that the less I talked, the less I coughed. It was cold in the office today and I realized I had forgotten to put on my black Rangeman sweatshirt before I left the house, mental head slap!
The familiar tingle started on my neck seconds before Ranger placed his warm hand there. "Babe." He sounded concerned. "You're burning up, are you still sick?"
I just nodded, not wanting to cough all over Batman. He was wearing a black Rangeman jacket and easily slipped it off, placing it around my shoulders. "Do you want to take a bath up on 7? It might make you feel better."
I closed my eyes at the thought of taking a bath in Rangers apartment. He had a Jacuzzi tub that could easily fit 4 of his Merry Men. The image of Ranger, Tank, Lester, and Bobby all sitting in his bathtub made me giggle, quickly followed by a deep cough that made my eyes tear up.
Suddenly the toast was making another appearance and I clutched my stomach. I had two choices, run to the only bathroom on this floor, strictly for men, or puke in front of batman in my garbage can. Jumping out of my chair I sprinted towards the bathroom, barely making it in time to dry heave over the toilet.
Tears silently fell down my cheeks and all I wanted was to crawl back into bed. I hated being sick! I heard Ranger as he entered into the bathroom followed by Bobby, the company medic.
"Steph, Bobby's going to take your temperature, and then I'm taking you home." I just nodded, no energy to even respond. I felt Bobby tug at my ear and then heard a soft beep. "102.5 Babe. Let's get some Tylenol in you and put you back to bed."
Ranger helped pull me to my feet and we gathered my purse and keys. The drive back to my apartment was quiet, Ranger in his zone, and I trying to breath. My lungs were burning more today than they had yesterday and I had to concentrate on each breath to keep from wincing.
Once inside my apartment I stripped out of my work clothes and threw on my sweatpants and Rangeman sweatshirt. "Babe, come out where when you are ready" he called to me from the kitchen.
There was a mug of hot liquid and three Tylenol sitting on my kitchen counter. "What's this?" I asked indicating the mug, voice hoarse.
"Lemon tea with honey."
"I have that?" He just smirked.
"Drink, take the pills, get some rest." Kissing me on the forehead he headed toward the door, "call if you need anything."
Curling up on the couch I fell asleep instantly.
RPOV
It had been a long day and I was worried about Stephanie. It was 6:15 and I was just finished with my notes on a new security system we would be installing at a local jewelry store. I asked Ella to make up some soup and was in my truck to take it to Stephanie when Tank called.
"Yo." I answered pulling onto Hayward towards Stephs apartment.
"Got a problem." Tank answered. "Zero took one in the leg. We're headed to the ER."
"I'll meet you there." Hanging up I glanced at the soup. The ER was in the opposite direction as Stephanie's apartment. I knew Tank could handle things at the ER I quickly drove to her place, ran up the stairs, and let myself in.
She was curled up on the couch sound asleep. Putting the soup in the fridge I grabbed a pen and paper to leave her a note. Her hair was all over the place and I ran my hand over here forehead, noting she was still warm. I placed a bottle of water, more Tylenol, and my note on the coffee table before slipping out.
SPOV
I was in the water with Lula again. It was freezing and the cold kept me from moving my arms, unable to swim to the surface. I tried to open my mouth for some air but only sucked in water. I felt Rangers hand reach down and grab me and came up to the surface coughing and spitting up water.
I woke clutching my chest, coughing, trying to take a breath. Sitting up I noticed a bottle of water on the coffee table and wrenched the top off. Trying to soothe my sore throat I chugged the water, only to cough most of it back up. I had never been this sick before. Leaning my head back on the couch I slowed the cough and noticed there was a very audible wheeze whenever I breathed.
I drank down the rest of the water when I saw a note with Rangers handwriting next to a bottle of Tylenol.
Babe –
Brought you some soup. Check the fridge. You still have a fever, take some more pills and keep hydrated. Call if you need me.
-R
Despite the protest my body was making, I slowly made my way into the kitchen. I was out of breath by the time I opened my fridge and felt my lungs seize up causing a coughing fit. That's it, I thought, and grabbed my keys and purse to head to the hospital. There was no way I was going to suffer through another night of this chest cold.
It took twice as long to get down to my car due to the fact that every couple of feet I had to stop to catch my breath. Finally I reached the hospital, parked, and headed in through the ER.
Luckily I knew the girl working the desk, Sarah and I had gone to high school together, because I could feel another attack coming on, "Hi, I…" cough, cough, "need.." cough, cough.
"Oh Steph… you poor thing." She said waving a nurse over. I was clutching my chest, having difficulty breathing when the nurse arrived. Jessica, the nurse, and I grew up on the same street so introductions weren't needed.
"Follow me Steph. You sound like you have pneumonia." I turned around, glancing at the waiting room for the first time and froze. Most of the merry men were occupying seats, all of them staring at me. My first thought was that Ranger had been hurt and I felt tears pool in my eyes.
Reading my mind Tank said "He's okay beautiful. Zero was hurt on a job and we're just here for support." Oh thank god. That's when I felt it, the tingle up my spine settling on the back of my neck.
"Babe." Ranger pulled me to him wrapping me in his arms. I hadn't noticed how cold I was until his warmth surrounded me. I was lost in his smell when Jessica cleared her throat.
"Steph, we need to get a chest x-ray on you." I nodded and reluctantly pulled away from Ranger. Surprising me, he grabbed my hand and raised an eyebrow asking if he could come with. Squeezing his in return we followed Jessica back to an exam room.
"Take your shirt and bra off. Put on this gown and I'll be back to take you to x-ray" Pulling the privacy curtain she left.
Wait, I was supposed to take my shirt off in front of Batman? Sure, we had seen each other naked before, but that was only one time and it was a few years ago. Seeing the panic in my eyes Ranger chuckled "I've seen it all before babe."
"Yeah but.." cough, gasp, cough "that was a…" cough, cough. He frowned at me, stepping closer and tugged my shirt over my head. I hadn't bothered to put on a bra so instinctively I pulled my arms up to cover my chest. Ranger pulled me arms down, still looking me in the eye and helped me into the gown. Even when he was being a perfect gentleman he turned me on and I felt a southern part of my body grow warm. Embarrassed I looked away hoping Jessica would return soon.
"Come here" Ranger had hopped onto the exam table and patted the spot between his legs. His arms wrapped around me and he nuzzled my neck. Sighing I melted into him relishing the comfort he gave me. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew I was being carried down the hall. I squirmed, not wanting to be such a burden but he tightened his grip on me. "Let me take care of you Steph."
Once we got to x-ray Ranger set me down and stepped behind the wall. It only took a couple of minutes and we were on our way back to the room. I wouldn't let Ranger carry me this time so he wrapped his arm around my waist and I leaned on him for support.
Resuming our position on the exam table I once again fell asleep waking when the doctor finally came in. "Mrs. Plum, it looks like you indeed have pneumonia." Great. "I'm going to write you a prescription for antibiotics, and send you home with an inhaler. Have you used one before?" Nodding he continued, "Good. I want you to use it every 4 hours or when you start to feel like you can't breathe. You will also need to take the next week off to rest." Oh no, no way could I be out of work for a week. Not only could I not afford it, but Ranger wouldn't have anyone to do skip tracing.
Doing his ESP thing again Ranger answered the doctor, "That won't be a problem, Stephanie works for me. I'll make sure she take the next week off and gets some rest." The doctor nodded, handed me some papers and left.
I re-dressed and reached for my purse and keys but Ranger beat me, grabbing both. "I'll drive you home." It suddenly hit me, I hadn't even asked about Zero. "He's fine babe." How does he do that?
Tank and Lester were the only Merry Men left in the waiting room. "Hey Bomber, you doing okay?" Lester asked ruffling my hair.
Nodding I answered "Yeah, I have" cough… "pneumonia"
Tank and Lester both pulled me in for a hug. "You want me to follow you to her place boss?" Tank asked.
"I'll call you in the morning if I need a ride." Um… that means he's planning on staying the night. Well at least if I can't sleep I'll have something nice to look at. I smiled at the thought.
It was 2 in the morning by the time we got back to my apartment. Ranger stopped at a 24 hour pharmacy to fill my prescription and picked up some Vick's Vapor Rub.
"When's the last time you ate?" He asked looking at the unopened soup in the fridge. Weird, I only had a piece of toast this morning, which I threw up, and hadn't eaten since.
"This morning" I think we were both shocked. I usually can't go an hour without wanting something to eat.
"Why don't you take a hot shower, the steam will help you breathe, and I'll heat us up some soup."
The shower felt amazing. The hot water helped my sore muscles relax and Ranger was right, the steam seemed to clear up my lungs and nose a bit. I threw on one of Ranger's Rangeman shirts that I liked to sleep in and a pair of boxers. Using the inhaler I felt my airways open and thanked God for this miraculous medicine.
We ate the soup quietly, Ranger cleaning up the dishes "Go get in bed Babe."
Already feeling my eyes heavy I climbed into bed, snuggling down into my warm sheets. I felt the bed dip and Ranger climbed in beside me. "Lay on your back Steph." He was kneeling over me with the vapor rub in his hand. Turning over he pulled my shirt up exposing my breasts. I felt my cheeks turn red and he smiled down at me. "You're cute when you blush."
He began rubbing the medicine on my chest, starting at my collarbone and working his way down. It felt so good that I couldn't help the moan I let out when he skimmed my breasts. He chuckled, "Save that thought for another time babe. You need to rest." He adjusted my shirt and curled up next to me, pulling me close.
Light was streaming through the window when I woke up and Ranger's arm was still snug around my waist. It surprised me to realize I had slept throug the night. I turned over to stare at the man who always took care of me. Running my finger down his cheek and over his jaw I took in his soft features that get lost when he is being Business Ranger. Without opening his eyes he pulled me closer and whispered "playing with fire babe". His breath tickled my ear as I nuzzled into his neck, placing a kiss on his pulse point.
I felt him grow hard and I continued to lick and nip at his ear and neck. Too many nights I had shared a bed with this man, for once I was tired of the sexual tension between us and decided to take matters into my own hands, literally. I reached down and rubbed him through his boxers, eliciting a low groan. "Steph, if you don't stop I won't be held accountable for my actions."
I moved my hand and felt him sigh in relief. Did he really not want to do this? He always told me that if Joe was gone from my bed for too long then he would fill it. Well, Joe had been gone for 6 months now and Ranger had yet to push the issue. He was placing soft kissed along my jaw and neck and I decided I didn't want to wait for him any longer. I reached into his boxers, pulling him free and gently squeezed. "Shit."
Still lying on our sides Ranger jerked my boxers off and pulled my leg over his. He slid his hand down my arm, pulling my hand off his cock. I felt his fingers dip into my folds and he slowly traced a circle around my clit eliciting a moan from me. Shifting his hips I felt his tip at my entrance. His lips crashed on mine as he continued to torture me with his finger sending me dangerously close to the edge. "Ranger I'm so close," I whimpered as he sped up his fingers. I could feel my walls tightening and bucked my hips to try and get him inside me. I squeezed my eyes shut as my body exploded and screamed as he entered me, mid orgasm. "Fuck! Oh my god!" It was ruined when my lungs seized up and I went into another coughing fit.
Ranger stilled himself inside of me, rubbing my back until I could catch my breath. Once my breathing was back to normal I felt him start to pull out. "Please, no." I begged him. Damn pneumonia was ruining my first chance at a real orgasm in years. Sure Joe and I had had sex, but Ranger wasn't lying when he said he would ruin me for all men.
"Babe, you need to rest. We shouldn't do this now." He didn't hide the pained expression on his face. Probably because he was aching for release, while another part was pissed he had lost control for a moment.
"I need this Ranger. Please." His brown eyes pierced mine as I silently begged him to keep going.
He placed a soft kiss on my lips before rolling us so he was hovered over me, "We do this my way. Soft and slow. I don't need you to die on me in the middle of sex." He laughed and kissed me again, slowly sliding back into me. It felt so good, and more than just physical pleasure, emotionally I felt a sense of peace.
"You are so beautiful Quierda." He whispered to me as he placed tender kisses down my neck, taking his time to lick and suck at the spot behind my ear.
We languidly made-love for what seemed like hours, gently caressing each other. The sensations were amazing and I could feel the slow burn of an orgasm building. I wanted him to go faster, harder, but knew it was pointless to ask. Every time he slid in and out of me he was letting me see a softer side, a side that I ached to spend the rest of my life with. I saw his neck strain and felt him lose a little of the control he was maintaining.
I knew we were both close and the buildup was almost painful, "Faster" I demanded. Gone was the gentleness as his thrusts became faster and harder, just like I wanted. Pulling his mouth close to mine I whispered "It feels so good Ranger." He growled before closing the distance pressing his lips to mine, pounding into me.
My walls clenched around him before releasing electric sensations through my entire body. Rangers release came with mine and his bark of pleasure sent another wave of ecstasy through me.
We were still breathing heavy as he pulled out of me and rolled us so I was lying across his chest. "You okay?" he asked rubbing soothing circles on my back.
"Yeah."
"Good cause I'm only going to give you enough time to take your meds and use your inhaler before doing it again." He kissed my lips, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. His wolf grin was replaced with compassion. "I'm sorry it took me so long to come back to your bed babe. I needed to work a few things out first."
"And now that they are worked out?" I was anxious to ask, thinking maybe he had decided it was a mistake to say he would be warming my bed.
"You'll never be able to get rid of me, even if you wanted to." Squeezing me he smiled his 200-watt smile.
What better medicine, I thought running into the kitchen to take my pills, than to spend the day in bed with Batman.