Title: All I Need
Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. This is purely for entertainment purposes.
Notes: This is a re-write of the same story I posted in 2001. Words in ' ' are thoughts. Please read and review. Thanks!
Angel Grove Lake
Saturday, July 1, 2000 3:47 p.m.
Angel Grove, CA
Tommy looked across the boat at his girlfriend who was rummaging through a large cooler looking for something to quench their thirst. Tommy had rented the boat for a fairly good price and the two had set sail for a day by themselves, a rare occurrence now it seemed. He had big plans for the evening, something that would change both of their lives forever. Tommy was going to ask Kim, the one and only love of his life, to marry him tonight after dating for eight years. He had always known that she was the one for him, and he was ready to take the next step in their relationship. Now, all he had to do was muster up the courage to ask her.
"Hey handsome, do you want a Coke or a Dr. Pepper," she asked holding the two cans up and shaking her head a little to move the bangs hanging in her eyes to the side.
"Dr. Pepper please," he answered as he got up from the driver's seat of the boat, set his drink aside and wrapped his strong arms around her.
She wrapped her own arms around his waist and snuggled her face into the crook of his neck. He jumped slightly as her cold hands made contact with his lower back. "Are my hands cold," she giggled and then lightly pinched his behind. "Mmm, your arms feel so good."
"Oh, yeah? You know what else is good Kim?"
"What," she questioned, looking up at him with wonder.
"The designer who made that bikini. If there wasn't other people out here with us I would lay you down right here and make love to you."
She smiled, "Well, I don't see anyone." She glanced around with a playful smirk and gestured to a small boat a good distance away. "Those are the only people I see and they're a good bit away from here and..."
She never finished her sentence as he lovingly tackled her to the deck.
Angel Grove Lake
Saturday, July 1, 2000 8:54 p.m.
Angel Grove, CA
"That was so much fun baby. Thank you for bringing me out here. We needed this day off from work and away from everything else in our crazy lives."
"It was fun Beautiful, but I have a little surprise waiting for you when we get back to the house." Her eyes squinted in question as she thought about what the surprise could be.
'I hope he proposes tonight. I've only been waiting for, what, eight years now? We're both twenty-three and we've been living together for two years now, so it wouldn't be out of the question.'
Her thoughts were interrupted as they pulled into the marina and Joe Gellar, the owner of Angel Grove Boat Rentals, came down the dock greeting them with a smile. They had decided to come back early because they were hungry and the sun was almost set behind the mountains in the distance. Tommy had secretly texted Jason and Trini thirty minutes prior and they were setting up the finishing touches of the candlelit dinner and romantic evening he had planned at home.
"Hi kids, did you have a good time out there?" Joe asked. He was an elderly gentleman in his late sixties.
"Yes sir, we did. The water was perfect, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun set was a perfect ending."
"That's why my wife and I moved out here six years ago to be on the water's edge. But, unfortunately, she died three years ago from breast cancer, God rest her soul."
Kim could sympathize, as she lost her grandmother from the same disease nine years ago. "I'm so sorry to hear that."
Joe nodded then looked to Tommy. "You have a couple papers you need to sign and then you two can be on your way."
"All right."
"I'll unload the boat Handsome, you go and get that done. It'll save us some time."
"Are you sure Beautiful? I don't want you to have to do it all by yourself." He pulled her into his arms as he had countless times before and gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose.
"I can do it. You go sigh the papers and then meet me at the truck." She reached up and gave him a peck on the lips.
"Okay, if you're sure. Love you Beautiful."
"I love you too, Tommy."
Joe looked at the two with growing amusement. How many times had he and his wife done that very same thing? With a smile he jokenly said, "Awe, young love."
Tommy and Kim blushed for forgetting that they weren't alone and parted, each going their separate ways.
After starting the truck to get the air conditioning blowing and lowering the tailgate for the cooler Kim checked her cell for any missed calls and then starting making her way back to the boat to unload. As she was heading back down the dock, still pondering what Tommy could be up to, she almost tripped on a wet life jacket that was left laying out.
"They really shouldn't leave stuff like this laying around," she muttered as she set the life preserver on the side of the boat. Without giving it another thought, she scooped up a couple bags and made her way back to Tommy's truck.
"Thank you Mr. Oliver, I just need you to sign these stating that the boat was returned undamaged and in one piece. You know the drill."
"That's not a problem Mr. Gellar, I completely understand," Tommy said as he signed. "And please, in the future, since we'll most likely be back, call me Tommy."
"And you can call me Joe." They both smiled. "So, is that your wife out there? If you don't mind me saying so, she's a looker."
"Thanks, and no. She's not my wife... yet. I'm actually going to propose tonight when we get home. I have something really special planned for her."
"That's great Tommy, I hope all goes well and that the two of you have a wonderful life together."
"Thanks. Well, I better get going, she's waiting for me."
"See you later son, and thanks for the business. Come back soon."
Tommy walked out the door and made his way toward his truck as Joe went to help another young couple.
'Damn, this is heavy," Kim thought as she struggled down the long stretch of dock with the cooler in her hands. 'I'll drain the water out when I get up there to the grass.'
All of a sudden, her feet came out from underneath her as she slipped on the water the life jacket had left in its wake. The cooler went crashing to the wooden surface, water bottles and sodas rolling every which way. Kim, however, hit her head on the side of a boat and fell into the cold, murky water. Her body floated face down in the water, still.
Tommy turned the corner of the building and looked to the well lit parking lot twenty feet in front of him. He saw that his truck was running and the tail gate was down, but there was no sign of Kimberly anywhere.
'She should be here already. I wonder what's keeping her? She's probably looking at the sunset or found something interesting along the way.'
Two minutes passed and Kim had still not made her way to where they were supposed to meet. Suddenly, Tommy felt like something was wrong, so he ran around to the back of the building and stopped at the hill leading down to where the marina was. He looked to where the boat they had been on was anchored and saw their bright red cooler, face down on the dock, water surrounding it, and cans and bottles littering the wooden surface. He took off running faster than he ever had before, not caring that he had lost his sandals at the top of the hill and that the sharp, jagged rocks layering the ground were digging and cutting into the tender soles of his feet. When he reached the dock, he ran straight for the boat, hoping she was in it somewhere. That's when he saw her...
Floating face down in the water. Not moving.
"Kim!" He jumped in the lake and swam quickly over to her. Turning her over, he swam back to shore with her small body clamped under one of his arms.
He pulled himself, then her, out of the water and up onto the muddy shore. He yelled out, "Joe! Joe!"
Joe came running out of the metal, screen door after hearing his pleading cry.
"Call 911! Kim's hurt! God, she isn't breathing..."
Panicked, Joe ran back inside and dialed the numbers no one likes to punch into the phone.
"...911, What's your emergency," a young lady's voice asked as she adjusted her headset.
"There's a young woman hurt and we need an ambulance right away. She's not breathing, I think she fell in the water..." he said in a hurry, glancing out the window at Tommy and Kim who laid motionless on the ground, Tommy hovering over her doing CPR.
"Okay, I need you to calm down. Can you give me the address?"
"847 Alston Road. We're at Angel Grove Boat Rentals, and she's near the docks. Please hurry..."
"An ambulance is on its way sir. I need you to go wait outside for them so they know where to go. Can you do that for me?"
"Okay." He hung up the phone with shaky hands and quickly made his way to the parking lot, impatiently waiting for help to arrive.
"Come on baby, please don't do this to me," Tommy cried out as he tried to resusitate her, but having no luck in reviving her lifeless body. Her face was pale white, except for the area around her mouth. Her lips were cold and blue, which scared Tommy more than he had ever been. He could hear sirens in the distance.
"Please Kim, we're going to get married. We're going to have babies together, you said so yourself. You said you would always be here for me, so you can't leave me. I can't live without you, please Beautiful... Please." He pushed on her chest, trying to get her heart to beat, but that was not happening. Lifting her chin, he leaned down and looked and listened to try to determine if she was breathing, but that wonderful sound was lost at the moment.
"Get back sir, please," a paramedic shouted as she pushed him away. She ripped Kim's swimsuit dress cover-up off her body and started CPR again. Another medic arrived with the defibrillator.
"Clear!" Kim's body shook with the voltage of the shock, but her heart just didn't want to work. For twenty more minutes, the paramedics tried to revive Kim, but at 9:31 p.m., she was pronounced dead. As they loaded her onto a stretcher, Tommy just sat on the shore with wide eyes, tears rolling in streams down his flushed cheeks, not wanting to believe that she was gone.
Angel's Gate Chapel
Monday, July 3, 2000 12:34 p.m.
Angel Grove, CA
Nobody smiled. Nobody laughed. A dark cloud hung over the large church where Kim's body rested in a white casket. All of the former rangers were there, mourning the death of a very dear and true friend and trying to comfort Tommy who was inconsolable. Kimberly's parents were there, as well as her brother and the rest of her family. The church was packed wall to wall with people who had loved Kimberly. They all looked like hell, but nobody looked worse than Tommy. He had not slept in two days, the other half of his soul was gone. Though his hair and clothes were neat, his eyes where puffy and red with dark circles under them and they lacked the sparkle that Kim had brought to them. He didn't hear the pastor or the words spoken about Kim from her friends and family. It seemed as if he didn't hear much of anything anymore. Nothing sounded the same, nothing tasted the same, or even felt the same without Kim there to enjoy it with him. He was going to stand up and say a few words, but he didn't want to talk to anyone. They all knew how he felt about her, and above all so did Kim.
After many people had spoken about Kim's great personality, her loving heart, and the good times she had shared with everyone, they rose to stand in line to say good-bye to her one last time before her body saw the light of day for the last time. As Tommy made his way to the front of the church, everyone's eyes were on him, not knowing what to expect from the distraught man. Everyone knew what they had been through, all the happiness and heartache, and they knew this was killing him.
'Kim, why did it have to be this way? Why aren't you here with me? You were my only reason to live and now I don't want to anymore. But I will. Not because I think I should, but because my family and friends need me here. Above all, I know you would be so angry if I ended my own life, taking the cowards way out. I'll see you soon baby, but I'll make sure it's not too soon.'
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box containing the engagement ring he had been planning on giving her the night her life faded away. Some onlookers sobbed harder as they realized what was in the box. Kimberly's mother, as well as many other people, had to leave the church, not able to stand the scene taking place in front of them. Why couldn't she have been alive for this moment? It just wasn't fair.
With unsteady hands he opened the box and pulled out the diamond ring. He took her left hand in his own, frowning at the lack of warmth, and he slid the ring on her finger.
"I love you Beautiful, now and forever."
Please read and review. Thanks!
