Outcast Villiage

"I won't let them get you next time," Ephraim mumbled against her mouth.

---

Ranger nodded and disappeared.

"Can we not talk about it now?"

"I can't just forget it. It really pissed me off that they took you and I couldn't do anything."

---

Ranger reappeared after about five minutes, rubbing his hands on his thighs to get some blood off of them.

"Baby it doesn't matter, all that matters is that we are here together right now and our baby is ok."
_____

"What happened?"

"I feel worthless though." Ephraim cringed.

---

"I just wanted to make sure they hadn't caught Citlali. Turns out they hadn't, but she was having a panic attack in the bathroom and split her head open on the sink."

She sighed. "Go and tell her that Alex is in the hospital wing."
____

"Trust me, you're not."

"Knocked her out so she wouldn't hurt herself." Ranger shook his head. "She'll be fine until she wakes up. It wasn't brought on by him being taken anyway."

---

Ephraim sighed.

"I know but seeing him might have made her feel less unsettled."
____

She kissed her forehead.

"Did you want me to move her from her bed into one next to his in the Infirmary then?"

---

Ephraim smiled weakly.

"Yes I did."
___

She smiled back.

"I'll be back in a moment again then." Ranger kissed her forehead before disappearing.

---

"What did you want to do then?"

She smiled at the kiss and watched him go.
______

"I don't know really, there isn't a lot that I can do at the moment..." She mused.

Ranger had gone to Citlali's room to gently scoop her up before he appeared in the Infirmary next to Alex's bed.

---

"Did you want to rest or something? I don't mind lying down with you."

Alex was lying unconscious on a hospital bed, attached to wires and Anjuli was cured up on the bed next to him.
_________

"Yes please....Want to come and watch a DVD?"

Ranger shifted Citlali's weight in his arms, realising he couldn't set her by Alex since Anjuli had that bed. He briefly wondered if he should just set her by Alex or just take away and glanced across the room to where the other beds were, further away.

---

"Watching a DVD sounds good."

Anjuli woke up after a few minutes and she shook Alex. "Daddy, come on daddy wake up." She whispered it but Ranger could have heard.
_____

Evelyn headed upstairs with him.

Ranger very nearly dropped Citlali and instead took a half step back and disappeared with her again.

---

Ephraim kept hold of her hand as they walked upstairs, determined not to let go.

Anjuli noticed as he disappeared.
_____

She gently squeezed his hand.

Ranger carefully dropped Citlali back onto her bed before pausing at hearing her phone go off. He gently dug it out of her pocket, looked at the caller ID and then froze.

---

Ephraim didn't respond, obviously unable to feel it now.

Anjuli soon walked to Citlali's room with Moira and she was holding Moira's hand.
______

Evelyn looked at their hands.

"How did you get this number?" Ranger asked tersely, hand gripping the phone tightly as he held it to his ear. "If it was you who panicked Citlali earlier on..."

---

Ephraim noticed where she was looking and cringed. "Did I miss something?"

"You can't feel me can you?"
______

Moira gently knocked on the door as she watched him.

"Sorry, no. I'm still getting a hang of this flipping it on and off thing..."

---

Ranger turned to face her before holding his hand up to say 'wait' as he muttered, "You'd better not call again, I - you do not have legal rights! For the past thirteen years of her life she thought you were dead, she isn't going anywhere with a mother who pushed into experimentation, you don't have any idea what they -!" Ranger cut himself off, grinding his teeth angrily before he ended the call and slammed the phone onto the bedside table, causing Citlali to flinch sleepily awake. Ranger winced and sat on the edge of the bed, running his hand through her hair and trying to soothe her back to sleep.

"It's ok."
_________

"Care to explain?"

Ephraim wrinkled his nose.

---

Ranger remained quiet, still trying to get Citlali to sleep again.