Burden of Gifts
Note: I do not own Power Rangers RPM and I do not make any money writing this story.
Timeline: After "Doctor K"
Genre: Drama/Romance/Angst
Rating: Teen (Minor Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence?)
Doctor K looked from her computer screens to glance at the time. 3AM. Exhaustion sang in her veins, she was used to that. Her stomach rolled and she felt like she was going to vomit. That was new, through the years she fought exhaustion and usually never gave in but she never felt that urge to heave due to it. With a groan, she stood and gave herself a moment; she had been sitting for too long. She heard someone enter and saw that it was Ranger Operator Series Green, as usual.
"Can I help you Ranger Operator Series Green?" she spat, as her stomach rolled again.
"…are you ok, Doctor K? You don't look so good,"
"This coming from the Ranger who thought I was a male?" she asked, as her vision blurred.
"Sorry! How was I to know? You hid behind a computer screen and computerized voice," Ziggy pointed out, K sighed and waved him off.
"Just go, Ranger Green, now!" she snapped, she saw his eyes grow larger and he scampered away. She sighed and continued to the bathroom and fell to her knees and threw up.
As she sat on the floor, stomach churning and her head was pounding. Then she heard the alarm and lurched forward, clawing at the floor, trying to get up. Nearly falling through the bathroom door, she raced as fast as she could to the lab. She found the Rangers, scrolling through her computers and tracking where the disturbance was. She sighed in relief, she was glad that they were learning and she saw that Rangers Red and Yellow were the two checking, that definitely made her feel better.
"What is it?" she asked, and as Yellow turned she saw the fellow female's face light up in alarm.
"Doctor K! You look so sick, what's wrong?" the girl asked as she came over to her and placed her hand to the shorter girl's forehead. Doctor K was surprised and stepped back from the other girl's touch.
"I'm fine, Ranger Yellow, my stomach is just being nuisance, I must have ingested something I shouldn't. The disturbance is coming from Sector 10," she informed them, causing them race off. She uttered her thanks and raced back into the bathroom.
When the Rangers returned, Doctor K was slumped in her chair, her head was resting on her hands and she was slowly swinging her feet back and forth. She sighed heavily, and looked to her Rangers.
"Good job on blowing up that mailbox Ranger Green. You need to practice your aim," she told him, staring at him with her eyebrows climbing up her forehead.
"Yes, Doctor K," Ziggy said, and exchanged looks with Summer, both wordlessly agreeing that she didn't look good.
"Doctor K, you should go to bed. You do not look so good." Summer told her gently.
"I'll be fine Ranger Yellow," Doctor K said, her voice was gentle for once, which the others found strangely comforting.
"Does this have anything to do with that procedure you went in for a few weeks ago?" Scott asked, then he felt all eyes on him. "What?" he asked.
"How could you possibly know…oh…you spoke to your Father didn't you?" Doctor K asked, as she added the facts up.
"Yeah…he mentioned you went in to get your stomach checked. Could it be complications?" his voice was full of concern since he didn't know the nature of what the procedure.
"No, it was…" she paused, knowing they would have no idea what she had said if she told them the technical terms. "I have ulcers, I'm under stress every second of my life and have been since I was 6, they were merely seeing how they were doing. Most of them have healed."
"Oh. Ok. Well then it probably was something bad in the fridge. I'll clean it out in the morning. Sorry if something that was left made you sick," Scott said, Doctor K was touched by his sincerity and concern about her health.
"It's fine Ranger Red-"
"Scott!" Doctor K rolled her eyes at Ranger Black.
"Ranger Red."
"Guy? Not the point? Now go get some rest, Lass, we'll keep an eye on things." The Blue Ranger spoke up, Doctor K looked to him and nodded.
"I have noticed that you are all are improving on the monitoring systems so I hope I can trust you tonight, but if I am needed, please contact me on the PA system." Doctor K instructed them as she slowly stood and headed out of the lab, watching her disappear behind a door they hadn't noticed before.
"Poor Doctor K…she's been working too hard lately," Summer said, looking to the boys.
"I know, I'm surprised that she went so peacefully, last time I told her she needed sleep she threw something at me and told me to get the hell out of the lab." Ziggy said, causing the others to laugh. "Keep laughing, I don't see you guys trying!"
"That's because we know better." Dillon stated shortly.
Meanwhile, Doctor K barely made it into her room, her head was swimming and the nausea came back. Lurching for her private bathroom, she barely made it to the toilet. After she was sure all the contents of her stomach plus a few ounces of bile were up and flushed away, she laid on the cool tile floor and before she knew it, fell asleep.