Author's note: I was going to write another chapter of Commencement, but then I got the news that my sister just gave birth to a healthy baby girl, so I wanted to write something a little more… happy, or something to that effect. This'll just be an oneshot.
Bump on the Noggin
Ron furiously punched every button he could see and reach. For some reason, Drakken hadn't included a large self-destruct button on the console this time. Well, he had, but that button only destroyed the button itself. An interesting effect, Ron had thought. Completely useless, yet incredibly comical.
Ron was only lucky he was standing at the console. It was probably the only place Drakken wasn't aiming at right now. The lair they were currently in had two levels. Ron, Rufus, Kim and Shego were on the lower one, while Drakken was above them. Shooting a giant laser at… well, Kim, Ron supposed, but Shego had yelled at him enough times to watch his aim a bit more. Ron frowned.
"Rufus! You're up!" He said, and his burrowing buddy popped out of Ron's pocket with an eager look on his face.
"Hnh hnh! Bite wires?" Rufus asked. Ron shook his head, and then caught himself.
"Well, you might have to, but right now, I need you to get up to that laser and distract Drakken. If Kim gets some space, maybe she can help me figure this thing out." Rufus nodded and gave a thumbs up.
"Gotcha!" He exclaimed cheerily, before making his way down to the floor. He began to cross it, narrowly avoiding getting hit by Drakken's laser or Shego's plasma. The lair they were in was an underground one, and it seemed half-finished at best. The walls were just natural rocks and so was the ceiling and parts of the floor. Rufus loved this type of lair. He loved feeling earth against his paws.
Ron rubbed his forehead. If only he could figure this thing out! Usually he could at least destroy the console if not the lair with a few taps of interestingly-looking buttons, but now…
"Kim, I'm seriously thinking you stole my mojo!" He yelled, in desperation. Kim threw a quick glance at him in frustration. Fighting Shego, getting shot at and talking to Ron at the same time could get tiresome at times.
"Ron, that is…" She paused to duck. "Simply… Not possible", Kim responded.
"Stole his mojo? Sounds dirty, Princess!" Shego cut in, grinning. Kim blushed a little, but managed not to get too riled up.
"Remember last week when you stole Felix' wheelchair and made a car out of it and then we used a wireless game controller to beat you?" Ron replied.
"Don't remind me. Ed tossed his cookies in the car because of that", Shego responded.
"At least you didn't get any on you!" Drakken yelled from up the platform. Shego chuckled a bit before ducking one of Kim's kicks.
"Well, that was all Kim, not me. And I'm the one who usually does the mindless button mashing that leads to victory for us. And now I can't seem to get my button mashing mojo back! She stole it!" Ron responded, slightly more distraught as his attempts still weren't working.
"So not the drama, Ron. You can do it, I know you can" Kim said as cheerfully as she could. She managed to throw a smile Ron's way, and that made him a little happier.
Meanwhile, Rufus had made his way up to the second level. Drakken didn't seem to be aware of him yet. Rufus pondered the situation. He needed to get Drakken away from the laser somehow… A good offence is the best defence, Rufus decided, and leapt onto Drakken's coat, and made his way up. He made it up to the neck of the blue megalomaniac without being noticed. He pondered whether or not do to what he had in mind. One the one hand, it would be a good distraction. On the other hand, it was one of those things both Ron and Kim had told him not to do since he was just a baby naked mole rat. Then again… they had only specifically mentioned it when it came to girls…
Rufus made up his mind and made a small jump, managing to grab Drakken's pony tail. He pulled it. Hard.
"Gaaaah!" Drakken yelled. "Not cool! Not cool! No pulling hair! Shego, help me!" He tried to reach back, but Rufus managed to evade Drakken's tiny hands.
On the level below, Shego sighed.
"Oh, for the love of… If you ever try pulling my hair…" She started, but Kim interrupted her.
"I know, I know. Your hair is oh so special to you", she said. Shego frowned.
"Damn right it is", she said, before disengaging from the fight to go help her employer.
Drakken, on his end, was jumping and twisting around, hoping to get rid of Rufus. It still wasn't working. Suddenly, his elbow connected with the laser gun, which began firing again. Thankfully, it wasn't aimed at either Ron or Kim. Unfortunately, it hit the wall just above Ron and the console, which made the rocks come loose.
Kim saw what was about to happen. She called out to Ron and began making her way over to tackle him to the ground.
Ron heard Kim's yell and looked up… And everything turned black.
Ron woke up coughing. It seemed he had breathed in a good lungful of dust, since his throat was very sore. Everything around him was dark, no light anywhere. For a second he started to panic, but realized that wouldn't make things any better.
Trying to get some sense of how his sitch was, he calmed down. Apart from his aching throat he could feel some places that would probably be bruised and a small headache, but neither was in comparison to the pain that suddenly shot through his left arm.
He hoped for a second that it wasn't broken, but it was worse than any of the small injuries he had ever had fighting alongside Kim.
Kim. Where was she? She had yelled at him, tried to warn him. Had she tried to reach him? The walls falling on top of him would have reached her unless she was near him.
"Kim?" He tried, softly. His voice sounded like he had strep or something. He tried again, a little louder. "Kim? Are you there?"
He heard something, not too far away. In fact, it was right beside him. Shallow breathing. Slowly, he reached out with his right hand. He felt his way over what must be small rocks, until he left… Something soft. And clothed.
"Kim! Is that you?" Whoever he was touching moved slowly. He heard a slight moan. He prayed and hoped it wasn't Shego lying in front of him.
"Ron?" The other spoke. Ron sighed of relief. It was Kim, he could tell. Even though she seemed to have breathed in a lungful of dust too, he heard it.
"Yeah, Kim, I'm here." He found her hand and held it for a moment. "Are you ok?" He asked when he felt her squeeze back.
"I... I hit my head, but... I don't know... I think I'm... mostly ok. How are you?" Kim said. Ron couldn't help but notice the pauses she made. He thought he could hear her swallow a few times when she did. Like she was holding back. Was she worse off than she let on?
"I'm mostly ok too", he half-lied. His arm hurt really bad. "A few bruises, a bad headache... Nothing serious. It'll take more than Drakken to get Ron Stoppable down!" He added a bit of bravado to his voice. It felt better that way.
"I... I guess", Kim replied. A few moments pass. "Drakken?" She asked suddenly.
"Uhh... What?" Ron asked back. He wasn't prepared for that reaction.
""I... I think I blacked out a little", Kim said. "I don't... I don't know if I remember everything. Was Drakken here?"
Ron felt worried now. Blacking out was one thing, forgetting that Drakken was there was another thing entirely. Ron had blacked out, but he still remembered what had happened.
"Yeah... he was", he said slowly. "But you were mostly fighting Shego, so maybe..." His voice petered out, not knowing what to say. Kim was silent.
"Was... there was... Was someone shooting a beam at us or something like that?" She asked. Ron breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Yeah, KP, that was Drakken. I don't know what kind, but it was some sort of laser or something. But Rufus... Oh man, I forgot about Rufus! He was taking out Drakken when the wall collapsed!" He must have sounded quite panicked, because he felt Kim grab his hand.
"I'm sure he's ok. If he was with Drakken, maybe he got away.", she said. Ron calmed down a little, but...
"You're right, KP. And even if he was trapped, he's better underground than we are."
"That's the spirit", Kim responded. Ron could tell she was trying to keep her mood up, but it didn't come out as reassuring as it normally did. They lay still for a while.
"Uhh... Kim? Aren't you gonna, you know... call Wade or something?" Ron asked, finally realizing that there was something they had forgotten to do.
"Oh! Right! Good old Wade!" Kim said, seemingly realizing the same thing. Ron could hear her patting the side of her leg, and then a pause. "I think the kimmunicator's busted. I'm pushing the button, but nothing's going on."
"Oh, man... Well, I'm sure Wade's on it anyway. He always knows what's going on, right?" Ron said, and Kim replied with a curt "Yeah."
Ron pondered the sitch now. There was something going on here. Kim was acting weird, there was no question about it. What was going on here? He tried to put it together.
The kimmunicator had taken damage, that's what she had said. But... she had the kimmunicator in her pocket. If the kimmunicator had been seriously damaged... She probably would have been as well. She was keeping him in the dark about her injuries.
But then again, so was he. He hadn't mentioned his left arm. And he was seemingly handling it better than she was. And Ron knew himself good enough to know that any time he handled stuff like that better than her... Something was seriously wrong.
He froze when he realized it. She had blacked out. She was having problems remembering what had happened. And she said that she had hit her head.
When Kim and Ron had started doing missions, her mom had forced them to take a course in first aid. One of the lessons was about head injuries, specifically concussions. Memory loss and blacking out were symptoms of that. Could Kim have a concussion without knowing? What was Ron supposed to do about it? Calling an ambulance wasn't an option right now. So was checking her for bumps and stuff. That left keeping her awake as best as he could. Things might get worse if she went unconscious. That meant that he couldn't black out either.
He winced. By now, the pain in his arm made him actually want to black out. But no, for Kim, he wouldn't.
"Hey, once we get out of here, do you think we could hit Bueno Nacho? I'm kinda feeling like a naco right now", he said. He could hear her moving a bit.
"Yeah... that... that sounds nice..." Her voice was getting weaker. Ron was starting to worry again.
"And I know you'll just want a salad, but seriously, KP, this time, you are getting a naco and that's final. I think Ned's getting a bit hurt that you never want to try his real masterpieces."
"Hey... Ned's ok with it... Don't worry", Kim replied, her voice a bit stronger. He was getting to her.
"And I know you don't want them around you, but I owe the tweebs for letting Rufus try out their radio-controlled car the other week, so maybe they can come too?" Ron figured that mentioning people she knew could be a good strategy.
"Unless Bonnie shows up", she mumbled.
"Oh, sure, if she's there you can say they're not with us or something", he replied.
"That sounds good", she said. "And.. and maybe we could bring Monique and... and Felicia", Kim said, stopping only to moan slightly.
"Felicia? Don't you mean Felix? You know?" Ron said, getting worried again.
"Yeah, that's what I said, right? Felix. Felix Renton." Kim replied. Her response didn't exactly ease Ron's mind. If she was forgetting people... This was very bad. He was just about to start engaging her in a new conversation when he realized that she had started to sniffle, almost inaudibly The sniffle suddenly turned into a sob. Not good. Kim never did that.
"Hey... Are... Are you ok?" He tried. She sobbed a little more.
"It hurts", she responded, sounding muffled. He took her hand again.
"I know, but... We're gonna get out of here, don't worry. I... If nothing else, I'll dig a way out." He actually would, even with his busted up arm.
"You would?" She asked. Her sobbing let up a bit.
"Yeah, sure I would!" He answered back, feeling... somewhat good about himself. He decided to reassure her a bit more. Maybe a hug would do. He edged towards her. Since he was lying on his left arm, every move hurt, but it had to be worth it. After inching his way closer, he finally stretched his right arm out and managed to embrace her. He felt her head leaning against his chest.
"It's gonna be ok, KP:" He whispered. However, instead of calming her down, she started to sob again. After a few moments, she regained her composure.
"It's just..." She said. "There's so much..." she trailed off. Oh, crap, Ron thought There's so much... she hadn't done, was the ending to that. She was thinking she was going to die. She was worse off than he thought..
"Hey, there's still stuff we can do in here", he tried, hopefully interrupting her train of thought.
"Like what?" She asked, still sounding somewhat scared.
"Like... Ok, normally I'd hate to admit it, but... Barkin's actually not such a bad teacher. See? I've never said that before. Now, your turn." Silence fell over them. Ron was hoping she'd say something soon, but instead, something else happened.
He felt her lips collide with his. It wasn't what he'd expected to say the least.
"Never done that before, have I?" She said, with a bit more strength in her voice. Ron couldn't respond. He was too shocked too.
Sure, he had thought about... something like this, but... No, it just wasn't gonna happen. Then he remembered. This wasn't really his Kim. This was a scared and confused Kim with a head injury.
"Uhhh...", he tried. "No, I can't say that you have..." The kiss had made him feel too light-headed to say anything too complicated. That, and his arm was really hurting now.
"I... I just", she started, but her voice faded again. Ron took a breath. He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. After all... there was going to be a day tomorrow. How the heck were they going to act after this? Maybe...
He didn't want to think about it, but there was a chance that she was going to forget all about this. He didn't want that to happen, really, but... Maybe he could act as it it didn't happen. If she forgot about it, it would be ok, and if she didn't she'd have the chance to pretend it didn't happen either. Things would stay normal Yeah, that would be for the best. He had made up his mind. He wouldn't mention this. Ever.
"..you know.. Ron?" Kim said. What? Ron had missed something.
"Uhh.. what? I didn't hear that, I.. I'm.. feeling.. kind of..." Oh damn, Ron thought. He was feeling woozy. Not good.
"Are you ok?" He heard Kim say, but her voice was fading in and out.
"Yeah...KP I'm.. I'm just fine... I just..." Don't black out, don't black out! Ron's mind was screaming at him. If he blacked out, Kim wouldn't have anyone to keep her up! Unfortunately, Ron couldn't help it. He passed out.
Ron woke up with a jerk. He wasn't in the lair any more, that much he could tell immediately, even though it was still dark. He was in a bed, which meant that he was either in a hospital or at home. Since he was still in some pain, he realized, he was probably in a hospital. A few things came back too him. He remembered being carried on a stretcher while someone was shining a light in his eyes. He remembered Mrs. Dr. P being there, looking worried. Was he back in Middleton?
He looked around. Yep. Hospital. Suddenly he saw a shape moving by the door.
"Ron? Are you awake?" The shape moved toward him. It reached out and turned on the light beside him. He had to shield his eyes, but when he had gotten used to the light, he saw Mrs. Dr. P sitting down beside him.
"Are you feeling ok?" She asked softly. She touched his right arm softly.
"Yeah... I think so..." Ron replied, still feeling a bit woozy.
"Your arm was pretty busted up, but they fixed it. And... you had a bit of a concussion as well", Mrs. Dr. P said. Ron scoffed.
"I had a concussion too? I think..." He paused. "How's Kim?" He said, sounding serious.
"Yeah... Ron... there's.. there's something we need to talk about."The older woman said.
"She... Is she alright?" Ron asked. Mrs. Dr. P. looked hesitant.
"She... Kim's alright, don't worry about her." Ron looked confused. He knew Kim had been injured, probably worse than him. Was she lying to him? "Rufus is ok too, in case you were wondering", she continued. Ron looked at her suspiciously. Mrs. Dr. P. took a breath.
"You see, Ron... I don't know how to tell you this, but... Things... weren't exactly what they seemed in all that rubble."
Ron pondered. What could that mean? He asked her just that. She squirmed.
"Well... I know you believed that you and Kim were stuck there together after-" She started, but Ron interrupted her.
"Wait... you're not going to tell me that..." He looked at her. "That... like... Kim really wasn't there at all and that I was just talking to myself?"
It fit, he realized. He did have a concussion. Kim hadn't acted like herself. Maybe he had just... made her up Given him something to fight for, to keep her awake, when in reality he was keeping himself awake. He smiled. Mrs. Dr. P, however, still looked concerned.
"No, Ron, Kim was there the whole time, but..." Ron's world fell again.
"But... in that case... She must have been injured." Mrs. Dr. P took his hand. Ron braced himself.
"No, Ron... I'm Kim."
Suffice to say, Ron didn't realize what had just happened.
"What?" He managed to say.
"I said... I'm Kim." He couldn't believe it. This had to be some weird joke. Of course she wasn't Kim.
"But... You're... I mean..." She smiled at him.
"I know I'm a bit older than you remember me, but... I really am... well, me." He looked at her closely as she spoke. She had green eyes. Kim's mom didn't have green eyes, did she? She had blue eyes.
"Wha... What... Have.. Have I been in a coma or something?" He tried.
"No, but... You got a serious case of amnesia because of the concussion. You really took a big hit there."
"But... wait... if we weren't in Drakken's lair..."
"We were caught in an earthquake. The house we were in collapsed. You took a brick to the head."
"I... am not sure about this", Ron said. This was a bit too much. Mrs. Dr... Kim leaned down and fiddled with her purse, She picked up a mirror and showed it to Ron. He was astounded.
He was older. His freckles were gone and he had more wrinkles and lines. He looked... somewhere around forty as best as he could tell.
"How... how old?" He managed to say.
"We're 46", Kim responded. Ron stared at her. 46? Last he remembered he was 16. he had lost 30 years of his life? Just like that? He couldn't speak. Kim took his hand again.
"I know you're scared, but don't worry. You're gonna remember everything just fine, don't worry about that. We got some spiffy machines that gives you back all of your lost memories."
"Why... why didn't you tell me?" Ron managed to ask. Kim looked a little ashamed.
"I'm sorry about that, I... I didn't really know how to handle that particular sitch. I figured... I figured maybe it was best to play along and see if it got better later on. I know I must've seemed... weird, but... It took some time to realize when you were from, so to speak. I had to improvise a little, though. I don't really have a kimmunicator on me nowadays, so when you asked me about that, I had to fake it."
Ron tried to take it all in. He looked around the room a bit.
"Where are we?" He asked, noticing a newspaper on the table beside him. "That looks like... Japanese letters or whatever it is they call them?"
"Ideograms. And you're right, it's Japanese. We're in Tokyo", Kim responded.
"Were we on a mission or something?" Ron asked. Kim smiled.
"They don't really let me do those any more. It interferes with my job", she responded. Ron looked at her and motioned for her to continue. "I'm the U.S ambassador to Japan", she said, which made Ron raise his eyebrows.
"Whoa! That's... that's so badical I can't even... Whoa!" Kim smiled at his reaction, but she froze when he continued. "But... ehh... what am I doing here, then?"
Kim squirmed. She really shouldn't have said anything about her job, that had been a mistake.
"Look... Ron... You're going to remember all of it in a couple of hours anyway, maybe we should just wait..." She tried.
"Would I go into shock or something if you tell me?" He asked
"Well, no, but... It's a lot of stuff and... " She sighed. "I... I don't know how you'll react to some of it." Ron eyed her suspiciously.
"Give me a chance?" He said, and launched into the all-powerful puppy dog pout. He couldn't help it. He wanted to know. Kim sighed at he watched him stick out his lower lip. She closed her eyes.
"Ron... look at your left hand." Ron frowned, but looked down. It was still there, thank God. What was she...
...
...
...
"Ah... a we- we- wedd-" He tried, but stuttered a bit to much. Kim opened her eyes.
"Yes, Ron. That's a wedding ring", she said. The smile was returning again. As were a few tears in the corners of her eyes.
"Wedding ring", Ron managed to say. He said I a few more times. "Wedding ring. Wedding ring." He looked at the newspaper again. "Japan. Wedding ring... Japan. I'm Japan... With a wedding ring..." He looked at Kim again. "Uh... Kim... I don't know how I'm supposed to say this, but... Am I perhaps married to a girl named Yori?"
Kim actually snorted with laughter.
"No, Ron, you're not. She's a good friend, but... no." She pulled up her own left hand as she spoke.
"Oh, sweet, you're married too?" Ron exclaimed as he noticed the ring on her finger.
"Yep. To you", Kim said. Her smile practically reached her ears. The tears were rolling down her cheeks now.
On his end, Ron paled. His world had, again, come to a complete stop. Kim leaned in and kissed him tenderly. Ron remained in shock.
"I know you weren't expecting that, and I know you have a lot of questions. Let's just say... We both opened our eyes and saw what was really there. We got married when we left college", Kim said, stroking Ron's cheek as she did.
"So... that kiss..." Ron managed to say. Kim blushed a little.
"When you started talking about Drakken I realized that you had lost your memory. Then when you talked about the tweebs letting Rufus use their RC-car, I knew what time you were remembering." She looked away for just a moment, then looked back. "I... I got a little selfish., but... If we had died there... I didn't want either us of us to go without you knowing what you mean to me. I'm sorry if I shocked you."
"It's ok", Ron said. "I mean... I've been through worse, you know?" He sat silent for a moment. "So.. I guess... uhhh... Kids?" We have any of those?" Kim nodded.
"Three, actually. Our oldest is J.D, he's 18 years old and about to start college", she started, but stopped when she noticed his look. "J.D stands for James Dean, if you were wondering.
"Cool!" Ron exclaimed. "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today", he sagely quoted the actor.
"Well, we really named him after our dads", Kim said, grinning at the mistake a lot of people had made in J. D's life. "He has had a rebellious streak or two, but... if you're smart, call him J.D." Ron made it a mental note.
"The other two?" he asked.
"Twin ten-year old girls named Monique and-"
"Felicia", Ron interrupted her. He grinned as he realized it. Kim did as well.
"Man, I almost screwed up there", she said, laughing a little. "And yes, we named them after Monique and Felix. We sort of had to." Ron raised his eyebrows at her words.
"Did we lose a bet or something?" He asked, still smiling. Kim laughed again.
"No, nothing like that. The girls were a little eager to get out, and we didn't make it to the hospital in time. I ended up giving birth by the side of the road. Monique had to be the midwife while you relayed the orders from the hospital", Kim said.
"And Felix?" Ron interjected.
"We were in his car. And since he had to get the entire back seat reupholstered because of it... It seemed only fair."
"Reupholstered?" Ron asked, a little confused. Kim grinned.
"Giving birth can be... very messy. And I sort of ripped up the other half. Sharp nails, pain and leather don't go that well together", Kim responded.
"Are.. are they here?" Ron asked, not sure if he wanted to meet them or not. Sure, he wanted to meet them, but... Despite what Kim was saying, he was still a sixteen year old boy right now. He wasn't really ready for the kind of responsibility having a kid, let alone three, meant. He was relieved, yet still a little sad when she shook her head.
"J.D is on his way down from Yamanouchi, Monique and Felicia is at home with Rufus. Like I said... I wasn't... sure how you'd handle it. I mean, I know you wouldn't go crazy or anything, but... When they start asking questions and you don't know which one's Mon and which one's 'Licia..." She said.
"They look that much alike?" Ron asked.
"They make the tweebs look like they weren't even related", Kim said, chuckling. She went for her purse again. "I do have pictures if you want to see?" Ron smiled and nodded. Kim pulled them out.
Ron couldn't tear his eyes away. J.D looked almost just like Ron, albeit with green eyes and slightly reddish hair. Monique and Felicia looked so much like Kim when she was ten it was scary. She had been right, he couldn't tell them apart. He did find it interesting, that Kim looked just like her mom, and the twins looked just like Kim.
"Wow..." was the only thing he managed to say. Kim told him more about them and Ron listened to everything. He actually started to wish that they had been there so he could have met them, but, alas, it wasn't to be. After about fifteen minutes, there was a knock at the door and a Japanese man in a white robe stepped in.
"Madame Ambassador, we have calibrated the memory device, do you think it will be a good time to... perform the procedure?" He asked.
Kim looked at Ron, who nodded. He wanted this now. He wanted to remember everything. A team of doctors came in with a device that looked like an oversized helmet.
"Since the damage to his memory was so extensive, it will probably knock him out for a few moments. We'll be needing this room for other injured, so we'll move him to a more private room down the hall while we're at it", the doctor told Kim while Ron was strapped in. Kim turned to Ron and leaned in.
"Just so you know..." She said, smiling, "I love the man you are now and the man you'll remember. Don't forget that." She leaned in further and kissed him. Ron was a little more active this time, to Kim's surprise.
"Thanks, KP. And... I... I don't know if... I don't think I really realized this until now... much less say it, but... I.. I love you too." Kim practically assaulted him with a second kiss when he said that.
"You don't know how much that means to me that you said that", she managed to say when she leaned out. "But you will." With that, she nodded at one of the doctors, who flipped a switched on the helmet thing... And Ron felt the familiar sensation of fainting.
He wondered how it would feel like to remember everything. Would it be like watching a movie at fast forward with a lot of images flashing by? Or would it be like suddenly remembering where he'd left his school books?
Suddenly he was shook from his thoughts. He saw Kim standing at the foot of his bed. He was in a new room, like they had said. But something was wrong.
"Oh... Oh God... Kim, I... I can't remember!" He exclaimed. It was true. There was no new memories popping up. Kim looked straight at him with a concerned look.
"Ron? What are you saying?" She said.
"I... I can't remember anything!" Ron responded. Kim was at his side in an instant, looking even more worried.
"This... This can't be", she said. She picked up Ron's chart, which she held in her hand. "The damage shouldn't be this extensive."
"I'm telling you, Kim, it didn't work!" Ron sounded more desperate now. Kim stared at him.
"Ron... Why did you call me Kim?"
Ron fell silent. Tried to get a grip again.
"Because... Because you are Kim?" he tried.
"If you're trying to tell me I look young, I appreciate it, but... You know I'm not Kim, right?"
What the...
"You.. aren't?" he mustered.
"No... I'm Kim's mom, remember? Mrs. Dr. Anne Possible?" She said. "Now, what don't you remember?"
"What... I'm not in Japan?" Ron tried.
"Middleton, same as always", Anne replied, looking at Ron's chart again.
"And... me and Kim were injured fighting Drakken in an underground lair?" He said, slowly getting a handle on the sitch. Anne nodded.
"And you thought you had a memory problem? You both had concussions, Kim a little worse, but you weren't far behind. Thank God Rufus managed to call up Wade on Drakken's communications systems or I don't know what could have happened."
"Is Kim ok?" Ron asked, rubbing his forehead. He had a bandage on it.
"Yeah, she's alright and already up and running. Well, rolling, her leg's a bit busted up. Nothing like your arm though", Anne said, nodding to Ron's arm, which was in a sling. "It'll be fine in a few days, don't worry."
Ron lay back on the bed. He drew a breath. It had all been a... dream? Delusion? His thoughts were interrupted when Kim suddenly burst through the door. It was the Kim he remembered. The teenage Kim, that is. She had a bandage on her head, just like he did, and she was sitting in a wheelchair like Anne had said.
"Oh great, you're awake", she said, as she wheeled her way in and made her way to Ron's side. "Are you ok?" She asked. Ron nodded.
"Just... just peachy, KP", Ron said as she stood up, then leaned in and hugged him. Anne smiled and walked out of the room giving them some privacy.
"That was a close one", Kim said, smiling. "But we made it out in the end."
"Yeah... I guess", Ron said. He cleared his throat. "So, uhh... Do you remember anything from when we where under all that rubble?" Kim shook her head.
"Not really. I mean... I remember that it was dark and I was scared and hurt and really really loopy, but I don't remember much else. Do you?" Ron blushed a little at the memory of Kim kissing him.
"Yeah... You were a bit loopy... You said some weird things in there."
"Like what?" Kim asked, blushing a bit.
"Well, you thought Felix was named Felicia, for one", Ron said, smiling. Kim paled.
"Ok, never tell him that! Seriously!" She exclaimed. "Did I do anything else?" she managed to say, biting her lip.
"...No, that was the worst of it", Ron said, remembering his decision earlier. Kim smiled.
"Thank God for that", she said, sitting down in her chair again. "So... were you scared?"
"Yeah... I was", Ron said. " I mean... I knew something was wrong with you but I couldn't do anything. I just... tried to keep you awake and then I fainted before you did", he continued, feeling ashamed. It had been better in his dream or whatever it was, when Kim wasn't really injured. Kim took his hand.
"Thanks for trying. And they said that if I had been out for much longer, I could have been really damaged. You probably saved my life. No... I know you did. Thanks." Kim leaned in again and kissed him on the cheek. Ron blushed.
"Kim... where do you think we'll be in 30 years?" He asked suddenly. Kim raised an eyebrow.
"Well... I don't know... I haven't really thought about what job I want or anything... Or what college I'll go to... And I have no idea what you're gonna do... But I hope we'll be married and happy, I guess." Ron's eyes flew wide open.
"Ma... Married?" He said.
"Yeah, I'm sure we'll both meet someone that's right for us. Respectively, of course", Kim said. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh... nothing", Ron said. "Just had a weird... dream."
"Really? About the future?" Kim asked, looking interested.
"No, mostly nacos. But they were future nacos", Ron improvised. Kim laughed a little at this.
"Ok, now I know you're really ok. I bet you can't wait until we get out of here and you can get to Bueno Nacho."
"Actually, you promised me we'd go, so, yeah, we're both going. And, what's more, you're having a naco this time." Kim rolled her eyes at him.
"Alright. We'll both go as soon as they release us."
Just then, Anne popped back in and said that Ron was going to be visited by a couple of doctors who were going to check him out a bit more thoroughly, and he needed to get some more rest before that. Kim wanted to stay with him, but Anne insisted that Kim left the room. In the end, Kim relented. She started to wheel herself to the door.
"I'll see you in a couple of hours, I guess", she said.
"Kim?" Ron said just as she reached the door. "Do.. Do you think we'll still hang out in 30 years?"
"Sure we will!" Kim said."But you know... Don't worry about all that future stuff. Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today, you know." With that, she left the room, leaving Ron alone. He smiled.
"James Dean Stoppable... That does sound really cool", he said, before he fell asleep. He dreamed of Japan and future nacos.