Revelations

Carla and Dr. Possible had been talking for nearly an hour, setting up all the required measures, after Andrea had phoned her husband. He wasn't overly happy about it, but then he wasn't even allowing Ron's name to be mentioned in the house still…and there had been the interviews with Child Protective Services over their handling of Kim…and their current handling of the twins. Andrea shivered. There were people who wanted to take their two remaining children away from them.

Is this fair to my family? Should I do this? She shook her head. Her oath was to heal, and it didn't have an escape hatch for "work to heal only when it's convenient."

"Andrea…" Carla said, after starting and stopping for several minutes. "There's…something that I have to tell you about Bonnie…but you can't tell anyone else about it." She paused, "Not your husband, or Kim, or your priest…" Andrea nodded at her.

"I'm a doctor, Carla…and even if this isn't fully official, Bonnie is in some respects, my patient… what is it?"

"My ex-husband….Bonnie isn't his." Andrea blinked. She'd expected many things, but not that.

"Not…" She paused. Bonnie's father had divorced Carla two years after she'd been born…

"Not his…. I was feeling "neglected"" Carla said, and her face was a study in old self hatred, "So I decided to flush the love of my childhood sweetheart, the father of my children, right down the toilet for a good lay with some beefcake who doesn't even remember my name." She laughed. "Harold stuck with me for two more years…but well, it's amazing how easy it can be to wreck trust, and how hard it can be to get it back…impossible a lot of times."

"And he left…"

"Yes. He left me the house, most of the money and he still pays child support…but he left." There was water in Carla's eyes now, as she looked over, unwilling to meet Dr. Possible's eyes.

"And of course…" She paused, "Bonnie doesn't know, and neither do the other two…but somehow… I don't know. Bonnie's always been… apart from them. She feels in competition at all times, and well, they don't help much… I've tried, but…" She shook her head. "I don't know why, but Bonnie and her sisters have always been competitive, but Bonnie's a lot more sensitive about it than she lets on." Dr. Possible nodded, remembering something she'd seen, long ago.

She was walking Kimmie to the Pre-K, her belly swollen with the Twins. She shook her head in affectionate disgust. Jonathon was overjoyed… well he wasn't going to have to pass them, and her maternity leave would have to be somewhat extended. Ahead of her a brown haired girl, about Kim's age, ran forward to catch up with her two older sisters. Bonnie, she thought her name was. Suddenly, the child tripped, and throwing her hands out to catch herself, skinned them. Andrea walked (well, waddled) forward quickly to see the child looking at her scraped palms. She took them in her hands.

"Here… I can fix that." The child sniffled, when her sisters laughed.

"Oh, look at the crybaby!" Andrea looked up and frowned, but before she could say anything she felt Bonnie pull her hands away, and looking down, saw the girl rub her eyes once and then glare.

"I don't need to be fixed. I'm fine!" The girl announced, and ignoring Andrea, Kim, and her laughing sisters, marched into the pre-K where her mother waited.

"I know…" Andrea said. "She and Kim… well, Kimmie…" She bit her lip for a moment, "Had no lack of things to say about Bonnie, and I bet Bonnie was the same."

"Bonnie…doesn't confide in people quite as much as Kim does," Carla sighed, "I think… I think she felt that Kim was a test…if she could beat her, then her sisters were wrong and Bonnie could be the best… I don't know. I… I really haven't been the best mother for Bonnie, I'm afraid."

"And I didn't do as much as I could have for that…" Andrea looked down. "I didn't think their competition had gotten that far out of hand…but it was. Kim would have never gone after Bonnie unless she…"

"But she was having a breakdown." Andrea shook her head. I lied to myself enough.

"No…the drugs would enhance what was there, but not create feelings whole cloth. On some level, Kim saw Bonnie as a danger and a threat… I hope…" She closed her eyes. "I hope that i-when she comes back, I can help her work on that."

"You will." Carla said. Andrea nodded, carefully not mentioning the note they'd gotten, from Shego, of all people. The police were still looking for Kim, after all…and she and Jonathon had been informed that regardless of the court case, the minute Kim reappeared, CPS would begin proceedings to have her removed from their house.

And unlike Andrea, Carla could not claim patient-doctor confidentiality.

"So…" Andrea asked. "How are we going to do this?"

"I…think that Bonnie should stay at your house for now… Unless you think I should take a vacation for a while…"

"No…the problem isn't your presence, it's your absence, and taking vacation days now just puts off the problem—and you might need them later." She smiled, "I gave you my cel and pager number—and those are both ALWAYS on, no matter what I'm doing, without exception." She shrugged, "You won't have to worry about them being busy either."

"aren't they for your medical work-"

"Yes…but I'm…" Dr. Possible looked down for a moment, "On reduced duty, pending the findings of the Medical Review Board."

"What findings?"

"Kim used illegal drugs in my house, and pretty much showed the text book definition of a drug related psychotic break, and I didn't see it…. There's a fair amount of space to question my fitness." Andrea said.

"But…but…" Andrea overrode Carla.

"Kim was suffering every sign of post traumatic stress, and then just stopped. That doesn't happen without a cause, but I didn't check. She started having periods of extreme hyperactivity, where she couldn't even stand still, along with periods of lethargy and weariness bordering on being comatose… which is another clear sign of something going wrong…and I still didn't check any further. I thought about it, but I didn't. Mr. Barkin Did….Ron did… but the woman who has been a doctor for fifteen years, who did her internship in a town where half the cases were drug related, the brain surgeon… didn't see it. Didn't stop her daughter from self destructing, because the stupid bitch of a doctor was too busy seeing what she wanted to see." Andrea found herself hunched over, hand's clenched, breathing hard. Then, softly, she continued. "In any case, there are a few other chickens coming to roost. I don't suppose it'd surprise you that there have been comments to the effect that if I had spent less time being a surgeon and more time being a mother this might never have started, that the kids obviously need more time with their mom… if CPS doesn't take them away, that is." She shrugged, "There's every possibility I could lose my license…" Her face twisted slightly, "At least I'll have more time with my sons, even if I did fail my daughter." She shook herself out of her thoughts.

"Bonnie comes over starting tonight. I know you don't' have to leave, but I'd say it's best to start this while you're close."

"What about the twins and their father."

"Jonathon is okay with this…Jim and Tim…" She shook her head. "I've talked to them, but they've been having some problems. Fights at school… anger… they miss their sister."

"Maybe we shou-"

"No." Andrea said. "Carla, we can't do anything for Kim… let us help here, please?"

"I understand. Let's go and get Bonnie's sleeping things."

When the van pulled up to the Possible's house, Bonnie looked nervous. Part of her wanted to take off, run back home. Her hands were clenched inside her jacket.

But if she ran back home…mom would be gone and the dreams would be waiting for her.

She didn't have a choice.

"Ready Bon-Bon?" Her mother asked her. Bonnie nodded, not even getting angry at her pet name.

"Yeah."

"Want me to walk you to the door?" Bonnie shook her head, anger surfacing even through her fear.

"I can do that mom…" Her mother nodded.

"I know, Bonnie… If you need to call, at any time, you know my number…and if you need me to come back."

"I…" Bonnie paused, "I'll try not to." Her mother kissed her, and then Bonnie was walking to the door.

She was terrified, both of what lay behind it…and that if this didn't work, she'd have no place else to run to.

TBC.