Picking Up the Pieces (of a Broken Heart)

by PRfan4ever

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, except for characters I added in my story, for effect. Don't sue me. No copyright infringement intended.

Author's Notes: Tommy lost Kimberly once, thanks to the letter. Now, he must lose her again. A big part of the story are flashbacks. Be warned! This is a sad Tommy/Kim fic. Bring the tissues!

Tommy Oliver sat in the waiting room of Angel Grove Memorial Medical Center. His face was buried in the crook of his folded arms. His best friend Jason put a hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away. Everyone was crying. Not just him. Everyone was crying, as they waited for the surgeon's news. None of them wanted to hear it. But they needed to. They were hoping against all hope that Kimberly would make it out of the operating room alive. Especially Tommy. He had a lot to make up for. That was a slim chance.

The door finally burst open, and the surgeon came out. He had a sullen expression written on his face. Tommy, Rocky, and Billy were on their feet, in an instant.

"Doc? What happened? Is she alright? Did she make it?" Tommy asked, in nervous anticipation, hoping the woman he loved was still alive.

"I—I'm sorry," the doctor said, shaking his head, "We couldn't do anything."

"What do you mean you couldn't do anything? You could've saved her! You could've saved her!"



"Tommy," Jason said, rubbing Tommy's back.

Billy hung his head, sobbed, and wiped his tears with his arm. Rocky punched the wall. Kimberly didn't make it. Tommy sunk to the floor, in a squatting position, burying his face. His body shook with sob after sob. It felt like a piece of his heart fell. He felt the emptiness—the loss—more than anyone else.

Katherine squatted down beside him, trying to comfort him, but Tommy pushed her away. He wanted to be alone, right now. He needed to.

"Leave me alone, Katherine," Tommy said, with a sob, anger rising in his voice.

Tommy ran up the stairs to the hospital's rooftop. Once he reached the rooftop, he stood at the very edge, and screamed as loud as he could, at the top of his lungs.

"Kimberly! Kimberly! Kimberly!"

He cried, all the more. He wanted to be angry at Kimberly for leaving him. For not surviving. He wanted to wake her up, like she was just sleeping. But she wasn't. The truth was she was dead. He was also angry at himself for letting her go, without apologizing to her. His last conversation with her turned into a big argument. He and Kimberly had been talking about the letter, but Tommy was too stubborn to hear her side. He wouldn't give her the time of day. He was angry at himself for not being able to forgive Kimberly and tell her how much he loves her. It wasn't her fault, after all. She did not send the letter he received, that day. It wasn't even her who wrote it. There was no other guy. But he did not believe her.



Outside, all around him, there was chaos. Screaming. Cries. Blaring sirens. Soldiers, shouting out commands and giving orders. Medical personnel, running helter-skelter. Victims, beyond recognition. Victims, half dead. Bloody. One victim had been pierced through from the back with a piece from the fuselage of a plane. Another man was crawling on the pavement, crying out to God to just kill him.

The Russians had just launched a retaliatory strike against America. But Tommy Oliver was blind to all that. All he could see was Kimberly. He was also deaf to the cries of others around him. All he could hear was his last conversation with Kimberly, being replayed in his mind, like a tape-recorder. Over and over.

Flashback

Kimberly's Apartment

3:30pm, Tuesday

Angel Grove, CA

Kimberly Hart had just arrived from Orlando, Florida. She had decided to come back to Angel Grove, after winning several gold medals for the U.S. Team, during the Pan Global Games, and after a long career of coaching gymnastics.

Tommy had come to talk things over with her, thinking he might find the closure he needed. He did not.



"You know what you did to me, Kimberly? You took away a piece of my heart, the day I got your letter!"Tommy said, reddening.

"And what letter might that be? I did not send you any Dear John, Tommy!"Kimberly snapped back.

"Don't play dumb with me, Kim! You want me to quote a line or two from that letter?" He pulled out an old worn-out piece of paper. He had been keeping the letter for the past seven years. Kimberly grabbed the letter, and read it.

"Whoever wrote this, it wasn't me! I can't believe you don't know me, Tommy! I would never lie to you!"

"You are, right now! That's exactly what you're doing!"

"For the last time, Tommy, I did not send you that letter! I never even wrote it! I was wondering why we lost all contact, all of a sudden! I thought it was just rumors, and I tried to ignore it! Then, the gang started hating me—just for that stupid piece of paper that I didn't even write!"

"I'm not buying this bullshit, Kim! Delude yourself all you want, but you'll never convince me you never wrote that goddamn letter!"

"You really think I would do something like that, to hurt you?"

"This letter is a proof of that!"

"Then, I'm sorry! I'm sorry if I can't make you believe that I never wrote that damn thing! There was no other man, Tommy! After all these years, Tommy! I thought you knew me well! I thought you knew me best!"



"Yeah, that's what I thought!"

"Then, clearly, you don't know me, Tommy! You don't really know who I am! I never took a piece of your heart away from you!"

Tommy stormed out of her apartment, leaving Kimberly crying. He didn't believe a word she said. Never did he know that that would be the last conversation he would ever have with her.