First off, I would like to thank all of my reviewers so far. I am glad you guys are enjoying the story so much. I'm really enjoying writing it. It's only gonna get better later on, I promise. And as a treat, I'm uploading chapter 4 today. I'm currently working on chapter 5, and hope to have that finished tonight or tomorrow, depending on how things go with it. It should be posted by Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how many reviews I get :P Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 4 Enter the Nightmare
The crowd cheered loudly as Kimberly Hart mounted the balance beam for her final event in the Pan Globals. Her entire routine was performed flawlessly, dismount and all. Then came the announcing of her score: 9.8. She'd won the gold medal for beam. As Kimberly took the 1st place position, cameras flashed widely. She'd been one of the most memorable up and coming gymnasts in the 1996 Pan Global Games. Coach Schmidt was clapping wildly for her. Beside him stood Coach Blair, a famous Olympic gymnastic coach. Kimberly smiled widely; all of her dreams were coming true. Or so she thought. The background became fuzzy and began fading away.
Kimberly's eyes opened slowly; the pain came back to her. Her eyes quickly darted around in a panic as she realized that this wasn't her room, and it certainly wasn't her apartment. Her body ached all over. It was then she noticed she couldn't feel her lower half. She panicked, but she couldn't move from her bed. She realized that she was in a hospital. Kimberly didn't know why, but something terrible had happened.
The door to her room opened and Kimberly turned her head to see who was walking in. A blonde haired man in a long white coat walked in carrying a clipboard. "Ahh, Miss Hart you're awake. You've been through a terrible ordeal." He noticed the terrified look on the young woman's face. "Miss Hart, I'm Dr. Matthews. I've been watching you over the past few days."
Kimberly interrupted, "What's wrong with me? Where's my mom? Why am I here?"
"Calm down. You're mom is on her way. She's at the airport right now and will be here very soon. Kimberly, I need to talk to you very seriously. The other day you were injured in a gymnastic accident. Luckily your coach was still in the area and heard your pained cries. He had you brought here. We thoroughly examined your body. You've done irreversible damage to your spinal area, paralyzing your lower body. You will never be able to compete in gymnastics again and will be using a wheelchair for the rest of your life. We are going to see to it that you are able to adjust to it in the easiest way possible," explained Dr. Matthews. It was very hard to explain everything to a sobbing teenager who'd just lost her a chance at her dreams and it stabbed at his heart. A knock on the door left any other thoughts forgotten. "Come in," called Dr. Matthews.
In rushed a frazzled mother. Dr. Matthews knew the look. "Kimberly! Oh Kimberly! I came as soon as the hospital got a hold of me." The mother rushed to her daughter's side, hugging and kissing her. It was then that Kimberly's mother noticed the restraints on Kimberly and grew fearful. "Kimberly…. What happened to you?"
"Mrs. Hart, as one of our secretaries told you on the phone, Kimberly was in a terrible gymnastic accident. Her coach believes it was due to exhaustion from the long workout that day. Your daughter is paralyzed from the waist down and will no longer be able to compete in gymnastics. I'm very sorry, but the damage is irreversible. I'll leave you two alone for now," explained Dr. Matthews as he shut the door behind him.
Kimberly was a wreck. Her dreams, shattered, gone. No Pan Globals, no Olympics, no more gymnastics. She sobbed and sobbed. "Mom look at me, look at what I've done to myself. This is terrible, the worst possible thing to ever happen to me! I've ruined myself completely!"
Her mother sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled her daughter's head to her breast. She ran her fingers through Kimberly's hair. "Shhh…. Kimberly… this doesn't change who you are. You're still the same sweet girl that everyone loves. No one is going to hate you for what happened, especially not your friends. They love you no matter what. Just like I love you. And I always will."
"My friends don't know about this. Oh god… Tommy. Tommy doesn't know yet. What will he think when he sees me like this?" wailed Kimberly. She sobbed harder. It was one thing to deal with her friends, but Tommy… If Kimberly had been thinking rationally, she wouldn't have had to worry about what Tommy would think. However, Kimberly was thinking irrationally and her views on life were very different than what they should have been.
"I'll call Tommy for you and the rest of your friends. They shou….."
Kimberly interrupted. "No mom. I don't want them to know. Not yet. Maybe not ever."
"Kimberly, you can't think like that. Your friends would want to know if anything bad happened to you. They really care about you."
"Mom, no. I don't want them to know. Please, listen to me. Don't tell them. I'm begging you."
Kimberly's mother sighed. She didn't know what to do with her daughter. This wasn't the Kimberly she'd raised. She knew it was from the recent shock, but she couldn't help but wonder why Kimberly would be so adamant in keeping this a secret. Surely she didn't mean it. Surely, she'd come to her senses after she had adjusted some. Her mother really hoped that this was only temporary. She just couldn't believe Kimberly would want to keep everything from her friends, even her boyfriend. "All right Kimberly. I won't tell any of your friends if that's what you want me to do."
"Promise me this mom. I'm serious," whispered Kimberly.
Her mother looked at her daughter's face, the tears still rolling down. "Kimberly, I promise. I promise that I won't tell any of your friends or Tommy."
A look of relief spread over Kimberly's face. "Thanks mom."
"Kimberly, you must know I'm not happy about this, but I'm willing to do it for you on the condition that you will eventually tell them."
"I will mom."
"I'm going to go call your father and get settled in the city, all right? I'll be gone no longer than three hours." Her mother kissed the top of her head. "You rest some, all right?" Kimberly nodded and her mother softly closed the door behind her. Outside the door, her mother sighed deeply. This was going to take a lot of effort and patience.
Kimberly turned her head to the window, only to find that it was closed. As she glanced around the room, she saw that the other bed was empty, leaving her with no roommate. A fresh wave of tears hit her as she looked down her body. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. It just wasn't. Fate had dealt her a cruel hand.
Rita clapped with glee. She'd been watching Kimberly over the past few days. "Finster! This is better than we could have ever planned! Not only is she unable to do gymnastics, but she's also heading for a depression! And you know humans do the stupidest things while depressed!"
"Well, yes that is true my queen, but what does her depression mean for us?" asked Finster.
"It means that we can manipulate her thoughts you dolt."
"What do you plan to do?"
"I plan to enter her dreams and have a chat with Pinky… one she'll remember when she wakes. One that will have a direct connection to Tommy-boy."
"Ahh, I see. And you'd like me to give you the device to do that?"
"No, I'd like you to throw it off the balcony! Of course I want you to give it to me!"
Finster winced at her high pitched scream. "Sorry. I'll go fetch it right away."
"Yes, you do that. I want to hit her while everything is fresh." Rita rubbed her hands together, just thinking of everything she could say to Kimberly to lower her self-esteem even more.
Finster rushed back with the device and set it on a table near the balcony. "Here it is. Just attach this to your forehead…" he held out a long wire with a circular attachment. "This will read your brainwaves and transmit them into Kimberly's mind. I'll just set this to the frequency of Kimberly's brainwaves. Just watch this screen here and it'll show you everything Kimberly sees in her dream. As soon as she falls asleep, I'll activate the machine." Finster turned the dials and adjusted the viewing screen on the small box.
Kimberly hugged a pillow against her chest, as tears flowed down her face. Her mind was cloudy and she couldn't think straight. She just wanted to go back in time and change everything. She would tell herself not to stay late, no matter what. She would do… something. Kimberly cried until she exhausted her body, crying herself to sleep.
"Finster! Activate the machine now! She's out like a light!"
"Activating Dream Intrusion," called Finster as he pushed a button.
Kimberly's Dream
Kimberly glanced down at herself. She was wearing her ninjetti outfit. "What is this? Where am I?"
"Kimberly!" Kimberly turned to see where the voice was coming from and saw none other than Tommy in his white ninjetti outfit. "Come on! Rita's sent down more Tenga warriors!"
"Tommy…. I can't…." called Kimberly. Her lower body fizzled and changed. Soon, a wheelchair appeared below her legs, her body sitting in it. "Tommy, I can't help you… look at me…."
Instead of understanding, as Kimberly had expected, this Tommy only sneered. "How useless you are. The city's in trouble and you can only sit there and stare."
Tears formed in Kimberly's eyes. "But Tommy…. I couldn't help this…"
"Yeah, right. The real Ninja Rangers and I are going to actually go do something. You know, like save the city." Tommy disappeared in a white light.
Kimberly placed her head in her hands. "No… this can't be happening…." She cried.
A loud cackle came from behind her. "What's the matter Pinky? Lover boy abandon you?"
"R…Rita Repulsa…" muttered Kimberly as she recognized the voice.
"Of course it's me," answered Rita as she walked around the wheelchair. She tilted her head, acting as though she was examining Kimberly. She lifted Kimberly's chin so that Kimberly had no choice but to look at her enemy.
"What do you want with me?"
"You? What would I want with you? In case you haven't noticed, you're chair bound. Not much good without your legs. Didn't you see how lover boy reacted? He wanted nothing to do with you. Who would?"
"Tommy's not like that! He's not evil anymore and he wouldn't agree with you, no matter what I looked like!" argued Kimberly. Tears had begun flowing down her face again.
"Oh wouldn't I, beautiful?" whispered another voice in Kimberly's ear.
"Tommy, no. You don't really think that about me," replied Kimberly.
"I don't want to date a cripple. You're useless now."
Kimberly just looked at him, tears falling down her face. She couldn't think that this was her Tommy. It just couldn't be. Then again…. Kimberly didn't know what to think. Tommy was just as active as she was…with her unable to do anything she used to, why would Tommy want her?
"Someone's thinking a little hard," commented Rita.
"I don't need your comments!" Kimberly yelled.
Tommy petted her head. "You could make a good pet," he mused. "You're worthless for anything else. No more sparring, no more gymnastics, and no more chances at ever being a Ranger again!"
"See? Tommy doesn't want you. Just like I wouldn't want you either. No one wants to deal with you anymore. Not after what you did to yourself. You brought all of this on yourself. Staying late to practice, even though you knew your body was tired. Yet, you pushed yourself beyond your limit. Tsk, tsk. Did you want to be this way? Hmm? You must have if you're sitting here like this."
Kimberly shook her head. "Stop it! Stop it! Get away from me!" All she could hear was Rita's evil cackling in her head.
End Dream
Kimberly's eyes flew open as the nightmare disappeared. She was panting, and covered in a cold sweat. She couldn't believe what she'd just seen. Rita and Tommy…. And neither of them wanted her. As much as she admitted to say it, she felt that deep down, Rita had been right. She had done this to herself, made herself this way. Who would want her like this? The dream came back to her, and she played it over and over in her mind, until she was convinced of one thing. She felt it was the only correct thing she could do.
Rita shook her head as she removed the device from her forehead. She noticed her minions around her. They had been watching the entire dream through the small viewing screen. "Finster that device is genius!" she cackled.
"Thank you my queen. It was meant for just such an occasion," replied Finster. "How did you get Tommy to appear with you? The machine can't do that."
"Huh? I thought that was the machine. I didn't try to conjure him," answered a confused Rita.
"No, no. The machine can only place you into someone else's dream. You cannot conjure any other forms to appear with you," explained Finster.
"So then that means…" Rita's eyes lit up. "She conjured him on her own!"
"To be more precise, her conscience did. Inside, deep down, she thinks Tommy really would feel that."
"Who cares? That dream Tommy of hers just helped my plan along even more! I could have sworn the machine read my thoughts and created him."
"No, no. All her. I've never been able to create a machine with that kind of technology. The conscience is a very hard concept to reconstruct."
"Enough of your techno talk. My plan is moving along even better than ever. The best part is, Kimberly still thinks it's all her fault, she still doesn't suspect anything."
"That may be true, but we still cannot be too sure of ourselves," came Goldar's voice from the shadows.
"Are you eavesdropping?" asked Rita angrily.
"No, my queen. I am only warning you. Every time before that we've thought we've won, we still ended up losing."
"I know that you buffoon."
"I am only saying it because you seem too happy about this turn of events."
Rita growled. "Goldar, if you don't get out of my face right now, I'm going to tear you into a million pieces in the most torturous way possible. Don't tempt me."
Goldar gulped and disappeared down the hallway. With Finster's technology at her disposal, he knew she'd get a hold of some of his most deadly, untested weapons. He knew there were some that were even worse than the Tenga Talcon. Not that he'd ever snooped or anything; Rito had done that for him. All he did know was that he didn't want to be in the way of the weaponry.
As Kimberly tried to cry herself to sleep that evening, she couldn't help but think about what she'd just done; it was too late now though. The nurse had done what she'd told her to. She just couldn't believe…. No it had been the right thing to do. She knew what to do—she'd call Trini tomorrow. Trini would know what to do. She always did.
Next time on Windmill into the Fall: Kimberly receives a few visits from friends and gives Trini a call. Trini takes a few days off from college to come see her best friend. Will she be able to talk some sense into Kimberly? And what will Rita plan next? Find out next time in chapter 5! (And leave some reviews please :P)
