Prologue:
~With Kim~
Kimberly Anne Hart was finally on her way to college. Her father and stepmother were driving her to the campus, talking to each other excitedly about this new step in her life. Her stepsister, seven year-old Kira Natasha Ford, was sitting next to her in the backseat, playing with her doll that had a little toy guitar. "Kim? Do you want to play too?" Kira held the doll out to her.
"No thank you. I really need to go over my work schedule. I start work at the gym tomorrow." Kim pulled out her planner that she had written her new work schedule out in.
Kira pouted, before turning away to look out the window. "You're no fun."
"Kira…" Mrs. Hart looked sternly at her daughter, a frown crossing her face as she placed a hand on her husband's arm as she turned around to look at her.
"Sorry…" Kira lifted her doll up to look out the window.
~With Tommy~
Thomas James Oliver drummed his fingers on his steering wheel as he drove along the road, glad to put high school behind him and start a new life as a college student. A small frown flickered across his face as his mind drifted to his high school sweetheart…who must not have been his dream girl like he had thought. She had broken up with him through a letter, and with no warning. Shaking his head to clear it, he picked up his to-go cup filled with ice cold Dr. Pepper. Sipping it loudly through the straw, he turned his blinker on as he came to a stop next to a stop sign. His eyes flickered over the quite road for any sign of oncoming traffic. All he could see was a dark maroon SUV driving along in the direction he needed to go. As he settled back in his seat, he spotted something that wasn't quite right. An old truck was speeding down the road…on the wrong side. It was also swerving straight for him. Slamming his foot down on the gas, he swerved widely to avoid getting hit.
His teeth gritted together as he noticed the SUV and swerved again to avoid it…slamming the front of his old white truck into a lamppost….
~With Kim~
Kim groaned as she blinked her eyes open, pain flooding her entire body. Confusion flooded her as she struggled to remember what had happened…or anything for that matter. She appeared to be in a hospitable room of sorts, hooked up to machines that monitored her heartbeat and helped her breath in oxygen.
The door opened as a nurse came in and noticed her lying in the bed. Walking over to her, the nurse carefully removed the oxygen mask. "Do you remember anything Miss?"
"No. 'Fraid not. Do you…know what my name is?" Kim felt extremely foolish for not remembering that little detail…in fact the only thing she could remember was…no that didn't make any sense.
"Well, according to the identification we found, you are Kimberly Anne Hart, and are on your way to college." The nurse sat on a nearby chair, glancing down at the clipboard in her hand. "Ah… not sure how to tell you this, but you were in a car accident. A really bad one. Your parents are no longer with you. However you do have a little sister that needs someone to watch over, if you want us to find a foster home…"
"No! I mean… if I'm on my way to college then surely I can take her." Kim felt foolish for her outburst.
"Ok then… I'll go tell her that. Uh, do you remember anything at all?"
"Now that you mentioned it… does a giant floating head make any sense to you?"
~With Tommy~
Tommy groaned as he listened to the beeping of the machines surrounding him. He didn't remember anything…other than a giant floating head which didn't make any sense. Forcing his eyes open, he examined his surroundings. He was in a hospitable room, the machines that were beeping keeping track of his heartbeat and helping him breathe in oxygen. A nurse was whispering softly to a doctor, glancing over to look at him. Upon realizing that he was awake, she walked over and carefully pulled the oxygen mask off. "How are you feeling?"
"Like someone had their zord step on me." Tommy grumbled, though he had no idea what a zord was.
The doctor burst out in laughter, before placing a hand on his shoulder. "Glad to see that you still have a sense of humor Mr. Oliver."
"Is that my name?" Tommy frowned, wondering why it didn't sound familiar.
"Yes. You're name is Thomas James Oliver. You were on your way to college when you got in a car accident. There were three cars involved…and only three people survived." The doctor sucked in a deep breath, before continuing on. "You and a couple of sisters…one of them was another student that was headed to the same school as you."
Tommy felt his heart sink at that, tears forming in his eyes. "Where are they?"
"Down the hall. The younger sister is alright. Do you remember anything at all?" The Doctor picked his clipboard up.
Tommy shook his head, before speaking up. "Only that there was a giant floating head…"
~Three Weeks Later~
Kim pushed open her apartment door, biting her bottom lip. She apparently already had a roommate, and she wasn't sure what she would think about Kira. The young girl seemed pretty determined to make sure that she understood that they were just stepsisters. Kira dodged around her, dragging her beat up yellow suitcase into the small apartment.
"Let me help you there roomie." A cheery voice filled the air as a fellow college student appeared in the apartment.
"Hey…you must be Hayley." Kim held her hand out to shake hands with the young woman she was to live with for this semester.
"That I am. I heard about what happened. How about we get you and your little sis settled in?" Hayley smiled warmly at her as she grabbed a bag off of Kim's large load.
"Thank you. What are roomies for? Come on. There's a pizza parlor nearby that I'm sure someone will love."
Kira spun around gawking at the older girl. "Really!? Kim can we!?"
"Sure… once we get all of our stuff inside." Kim laughed, before turning to face Hayley. "Thank you. I wasn't entirely sure how you would react to having a kid living with us."
"No problem. Now come on. I'll show you your rooms." Turning to face Kira, Hayley smiled as she gestured to the hall behind her. "Yes, we have an extra bedroom for you to claim."
"Yes!"
….
Tommy shook his head at his roommate, Smitty, who was now folding his napkin into a paper airplane. "You are such a child Smitty."
"You need to learn to chillax Tommy. I mean come on. You're in college now! Think about all the ladies that we can date." Smitty crossed his arms as if that made perfect sense.
Before Tommy could say anything, Kim, Hayley, and Kira walked into the parlor, slipping quietly into the booth next to theirs. "Kim, I want a Hawaiian pizza."
"Ok… do you want that or something else Hayley?" Kim tried to ignore the fact that Tommy, whom the doctors had introduced her to was sitting in the booth next to them.
"That'll work. I mean personally I prefer the cowboy…"
"Then we'll do half and half. That's sounds fair." Kim glanced over at him.
Tommy nodded to her, before lifting his glass of Dr. Pepper up to her. "Cheers Kim, Kira."
"Hi Tommy!" Kira twisted around to peer at the only other survivor from that deadly accident.
"Hey…so I noticed that there is a movie theatre near campus. What do you guys think? My treat." Tommy wiped his hands on his napkin, ignoring the looks that their roommates were giving them.
Hayley knitted her fingers together, a grin crossing her face. "So anything you want to tell me?"
"Wha…no! Look, Tommy is the only other survivor of the crash. Obviously he just wants to make sure that Kira enjoys her stay here. There is nothing going on between us." Kim sat her menu down, rolling her eyes skyward.
"Both of them also have amnesia…they don't remember anything!" Kira oh so helpfully piped up, as she pulled her coloring page closer to her.
"Right…" Hayley and Smitty both arched their eyebrows upwards, not believing a word that they claimed.
A/N: Ok! So I used to have a story called Life with Dr. O, the World's Not-So Secret Batman…. In which Tommy was the only survivor in a horrible car accident and he discovers that the young couple that was killed in said accident had a young daughter and took her in as her foster parent. I posted one chapter then deleted it. Someone sent me a PM about it, asking if I was going to add any more to it or not. Figured I probably should get to work on that rewrite I was thinking about…one that as you can tell includes Kim… I like Tomberly. Um, yeah… tell me what you think!
Review!
SkyTalon