A/N – Just wanted to thank everyone for the reviews. I love receiving all and any reviews. I hope everyone likes this next chapter!
Jason gently opened the door to Kimberly's hospital room, Tommy right behind him. The two leaders saw Trini sitting quietly reading a magazine while Kimberly soundly slept in her hospital bed. Trini looked up at her two teammates and put her figure up to her mouth, motioning the two of them to be quiet.
"She just fell asleep a little while ago." Trini whispered as Jason and Tommy sat down next to her.
"What did the doctor say? Is everything okay?" Jason whispered back.
"Yeah, he says everything will be okay." Trini replied softly, her voice wavering a little.
"There is something else isn't there?" Tommy whispered taking his eyes off of Kim's peaceful form for the first time since they entered the room.
"Well, she really has to take it easy for next few months. She has had two serious head injuries in the last two months and she had the other one back home. The doctor said he is not quite sure she can take another serious hit to the head again without permanent damage." Trini answered taking a deep breath.
"That's not it, is it?" Jason asked, he voice wavering while Trini slowly nodded her head.
"Her wrist was just broken; there was some sort of tear in the ligament so even when the bone heals, which should only be about two months, and they aren't quite sure what shape her wrist is going to be in. So that questions her gymnastics career and Kim also needs to eat more. The doctor says she is way underweight and has been pushing herself too hard. If she doesn't eat better and take a little breather, he said she would probably wind back in the hospital or worse." Trini answered as streaks of tears begun to fall down her cheeks.
"Shit. We should have checked in on her more." Jason cursed looking down on his little sister. "How did Kim take it?"
"About the best we would expect her to. She was already upset about Tommy walking out of the room so this put her over the edge. She screamed and cried and the doctor had to give her a sedative so she wouldn't hurt herself." Trini sighed.
"Does everyone else know?" Jason asked trying to hold his own emotions together.
"Billy and Zack know so far. I don't know about everyone else. I also talked to Aisha while you guys were gone and updated her on everything. She is catching the first flight out of Africa and heading here." Trini answered looking down on her best friend resting peacefully in her bed.
"What about Kim's parents?" Tommy finally spoke up.
"I talked to Caroline before I came out to find you. She was going to fly out here, but I told her it's okay since we are here and we will take care of Kim and keep her updated. Kim's dad on the other hand, who knows where the hell that asshole is." Jason spat.
"So what are we going to do?" Rocky all of sudden said from the doorway where he stood with Adam, Zack and Billy.
"Huh?" Jason asked.
"We need to help Kim get through this. We are all still a team and Kim is our friend. So what's the plan?" Adam answered for Rocky while looking straight at Tommy.
"We need to talk to Kim about all of this. She needs to talk to her coach too. Until she decides what to do, we can't and we won't leave her down here alone. We need to figure out shifts or something." Tommy stated as he started to formulate a plan.
"Well Tri and I can stay for a long as we need to. We were moving back to Cali in the next month anyways." Zack suggested.
"Aisha is also on her way too so she will be here for as long as we need her to." Trini added.
"Aisha is coming!" Rocky asked excitedly causing everyone to smile at the Blue Zeo ranger. Everyone knew he had feelings for the former yellow ranger and that she also had feelings for the former red ranger. They just needed to find a way to tell each other.
"Yeah, she is catching the first flight out. She is going to call when she gets here." Trini smiled at Rocky.
"The rest of us need to figure out something considering our ranger duties." Jason spoke up not wanting to leave Kim's side and also not wanting to leave Trini. He had missed her more than he cared to let on to anyone.
"Maybe Zordon will let us teleport if we explain the situation to him." Adam suggested.
"It is possible. Zordon probably already knows what the situation is. Although he might see it as abusing the power." Billy replied. "We will need to configure a schedule so it does not interfere with ranger duties, school and of course we need to form believable explanations for the parents. We were already lucky to a certain degree that Kimberly's injury happened on a Friday so it's the weekend and Jason's parents are out of town so we said we were all sleeping over there this weekend."
"And there hasn't been any attacks either." Rocky added only to be elbowed in the stomach by Adam. "Ow, damn man."
"Way to jinx it." Adam hissed.
"I think we can all stay around here till Sunday and then me, Adam, Rocky, Tanya, Kat and Jason will have to return back home. The six of us will come up with a schedule to come back down and check on everything." Tommy commanded. I don't want to leave at all. I don't want Kim to stay here. I want her to come home with me.
"That sounds like a great plan for now." Trini agreed.
"Kim's not going to like us treating her like a kid and watching over her." Zack brought up.
"She is going to have to deal with it." Jason sternly responded.
"Well we are going to back to the hotel and get some sleep with Kat and Tanya." Adam said as everyone began to make their way out of Kim's room.
"I'm staying." Tommy replied as he took a seat next to Kim's bed.
"Bro, you should come back and get some sleep." Jason pleaded.
"No, I'm staying. I need to be here. I need to explain to Kim why I left earlier and we need to talk about a few other things too." Tommy said looking back at his friends.
"All right, but we'll be back around dinner time." Trini smiled at Tommy as everyone left the room.
Back at the hotel, Jason had just stepped out of a much needed shower. He pulled a red t-shirt over his head and tucked it into his dark blue jeans. The former red ranger hadn't worn his signature color since he had become the gold ranger. It felt good to be in a color he felt more comfortable in. He didn't like wearing so much black, he felt too much like Zack and when Trini had pulled out one of his old red t-shirts from her luggage, he couldn't help but smile. The smile didn't fade as he looked around the hotel room to find Zack sprawled on his stomach on one bed, Billy sound asleep on the sofa and Trini curled up in a ball on the other bed. He decided there was no way he was sharing a bed or couch with his male teammates and Trini had only taken one side of the bed as if she was inviting him to come lay down next to her. Jason smiled down at the beautiful ex-yellow ranger and decided there was no need to be scared or nervous. Trini is one of his best friend's and the fact that he is head over heels in love with her shouldn't stop him from lying down next to her. He had slept next to her a million times at the sleepovers the five original rangers had been having since they were in grade school, so why should this be any different. Jason took a depth breath, gently lay down on the bed and closed his eyes; the soft sound of Trini's breathing lulling him to sleep.
In the hotel room adjacent to the four original rangers, Adam, Tanya, Kat, and Rocky were all getting ready to take their nap. Kat and Tanya were curled up on one bed already sound asleep while Rocky and Adam continued to argue about who would get the other bed and who would get the couch.
"I slept on the floor last night while you got the couch." Adam argued.
"But Aisha may be here later tonight or tomorrow and I need to look good and not like I slept on a couch." Rocky argued back.
"Sleeping in a bed is not going to make you look any better." Adam laughed.
"Oh shut up. You are just jealous that I will say something to Aisha before you say something to Tanya." Rocky spat crossing his arms across his chest.
"First of all, shut up, Tanya is right there. Second, it's only been a few months that I haven't been able to talk to Tanya. You have been a coward with Aisha for years now." Adam spat back crossing his arms across his chest as well.
"Fine we'll flip for it." Rocky replied all of sudden smiling.
"What?" Adam asked looking suspiciously at Rocky. "Wait you don't mean…"
"Yup I do." Rocky smirked.
"Aww man." Adam whined as he and Rocky walked out of the hotel room, leaving the latch in the door so they wouldn't get locked out.
"Okay, hallway is wide enough. See the window at the end of the hall?"
"Yup."
"We go towards that. Whoever reaches the window first gets the bed." Rocky said as he turned around, his back facing the window on the other side of the hallway.
"Fine. When was the last time we did this?" Adam asked as he also turned around.
"It was right before Kim's power coin was taken. The last two to the finish line had to clean the zords." Rocky smiled at the memory.
Flashback
"Okay so the last two to reach Alpha on the other side of the zord holding bay has to wash the zords." Kim smiled at her teammates.
"This is dumbest idea. I hate when we do this." Tommy grumbled.
"That's because you usually loose Handsome." Kim said smiling up at her boyfriend.
"I do not." Tommy whined crossing his arms across his chest.
"Yes you do." Aisha laughed at her leader.
"Fine let's just get this over with." Tommy muttered as he walked over to the starting line next to Rocky and Adam.
"I'm so going to kick everyone's butt." Rocky said getting into position.
"Yeah right Ape boy. You know Kim is going to win by a mile, followed by Billy and Aisha. It's really between you, me and Tommy." Adam retorted.
"Well at least we know we can beat Tommy." Rocky laughed only to have Tommy glare at him.
"Al right, everyone ready?" Billy asked taking his position in between Kim and Aisha.
"Yes." Everyone said.
"Al right Alpha, tell us when to start." Billy called to the robot at the other end of the holding bay.
"Ayyyiyyi, I don't understand these competitions." Alpha sighed. "Ready..set…go!"
"Catch ya on the flipside." Kim winked as she was the first to launch herself in a series of back handsprings, her momentum carrying her far in front of the rest of her teammates.
The rest of the team also launched themselves in back handsprings hoping not to be the last to reach Alpha. Kim was the first to reach Alpha. She turned and faced the rest of her teammates watching Billy and Aisha battle for second and third while Adam and Rocky were only battling each other not to be one of the last ones to cross the finish line. Her soft brown eyes then landed on the struggling form of her boyfriend. A master fighter he was, a back handspring expect he wasn't. Kimberly couldn't help but giggle at her boyfriend as Aisha came in second with Billy a close third. Adam barely beat Rocky as both of them came crashing down in the end landing at Billy and Aisha's feet. Tommy finally lost his balance and also came crashing down, but was nowhere near the finish line.
"Looks like the fantastic girls win again!" Aisha jumped in victory. "And Ape boy and fly boy get to clean the zords!"
"This is so unfair." Tommy growled as still lay flat on his back on the ground not wanting to face his teasing teammates.
"Man, there goes my Friday night." Rocky moaned as picked himself up off the floor.
"Like you had plans anyways." Aisha teased.
"Who says I didn't have a hot date." Rocky retorted looking straight at Aisha.
"Yeah right Rocko." Adam laughed clasping a hand on Rocky's shoulder.
"You guys suck." Rocky moaned as Alpha handed him the first set of cleaning supplies for the zords.
"See you later Ape boy." Aisha waved as she, Adam and Billy teleported in a flash of yellow, black and blue.
"You have to clean too oh fearless leader." Rocky yelled as he walked over to the Frog zord.
"I'll be right there." Tommy moaned, still lying on the ground.
Kim sauntered over to her fallen White Knight and got down and sat Indian style leaning over his face. Tommy had his arms over his eyes and was taking deep breaths to calm his temper. Kim could tell he was still upset that he lost to everyone. He would never admit it, but he hated to lose or look bad in front of his teammates, especially her. "Come on Handsome." Kim giggled as she placed a kiss on his arm.
"We just had to flip for it." Tommy moaned again.
"You are just mad you lost and that you stink at it." Kim giggled again
"You are just loving this too much Beautiful."
"M…ay…be…just a little."
"Well it just means I'll be late coming over to your place tonight."
"That's okay. My mom is staying in L.A. till Monday anyways." Kim smiled as Tommy's hands quickly flew from his face.
"She is?" Tommy smiled up at his girlfriend.
"Yup and if you're lucky I'll give you a reward tonight for cleaning the zords." Kim whispered seductively into Tommy's ear making him jump quickly to his feet.
"We could just sneak out now and leave Rocky to clean the zords." Tommy replied as he helped Kim to his feet.
"You know you can't leave Rocky here." Kim giggled as Tommy wrapped his arms tightly around her petite waist.
"You sure?" Tommy pleaded as he leaned down and left a trail of kisses down Kim's neck.
"Tommy…" Kim moaned softly.
"Let's go." Tommy moaned into Kim's neck as he pulled her closer.
"You'll just have to wait till tonight Tiger." Kim giggled again as she pushed herself out of Tommy's arms.
"Kim…" Tommy pouted at his girlfriend.
"The sooner you clean the zords, the sooner I will reward you." Kim smiled as she trailed her finger down Tommy's cheek to his chin then down his chest to right above his belt buckle.
"Okay so not helping." Tommy moaned softly.
"Sorry Handsome." Kim replied as she stood on her tip toes and brushed her soft lips gently across Tommy's. "See you later." Kim smiled as she teleported in a flash of pink leaving an annoyed and very aroused Tommy Oliver standing in the middle of the zord holding bay.
"You coming Oliver?" Rocky called from inside the Ape zord.
"Yeah, hold your horses Rocko." Tommy growled as he tried to readjust himself. Rocky did not need to see what Kim had done to him. "That girl is going to be the death of me." Tommy whispered as he ran over to the zords.
End Flashback
"Oh my god I can't believe you never told us what Kim did to Tommy in the holding bay." Adam laughed.
"They thought I hadn't heard the whole exchange. You should have seen Tommy. I've never seen him clean anything so quickly in my life." Rocky laughed. "Okay you ready?"
"Yeah, you are going to lose Ape boy." Adam said as he got into position.
"You wish frog boy." Rocky said as he also got into position.
"Ready…set…go!" Adam yelled as they launched themselves into a series of back handsprings.
5 minutes later…
"So not fair." Rocky whined as he and Adam walked back into their hotel room.
"You are just mad you lost." Adam laughed as he threw a towel at Rocky.
"If that table hadn't been there with that stupid vase of flowers…"
"You still would have lost." Adam laughed harder remembering Rocky flipping right into a table in the hallway, the vase of flowers falling right on his head, drenching him in water.
"Whatever, go to sleep frog boy." Rocky moaned as he flopped onto the couch.
****
Back in the hospital Tommy sat silently next to Kim's bed. He brushed a piece of her caramel colored bangs from her face as he watched her peacefully sleep. A million thoughts and questions were running through his mind, but one stuck out from the rest: he didn't want to be in Angel Grove while Kim was in Florida. Tommy let out a frustrated grunt as he continued to run his fingers through Kim's long hair.
"Tommy?" Kim whispered as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Hey Beautiful." Tommy smiled as he caressed the side of Kim's cheek. "How you feeling?"
"Tired." Kim answered looking up into Tommy's dark brown eyes.
"Kim…" Tommy started.
"Trini told you." Kim stated rather than questioned by reading Tommy's face.
"Yeah. We need to talk."
"I know. Where do you want to start?"
"Why didn't you come and talk to me?"
"I was scared. I was in pain. I was confused and lonely. I kept hearing about you getting hurt in battles and that you were in pain. Then when I fell off the beam the first time and Jase convinced me to go see Zordon. We all thought this would be the better way. You were already too distracted in battle. You were going to get yourself killed and I was headed the same way in practice."
"Kim, it only made it worse! Don't you get it? Yes I missed you and yes I was struggling in battle, but you were also what kept me going. Every time I went into battle you were my strength. I knew if I had you I could make it through anything and then when that damn letter came… I didn't know what to fight for anymore. I had nothing to come home to without you there. I was no longer fighting for the future I thought I was going to have with you." Tommy slightly shouted.
"Tommy…I'm so sorry. I know I should have called you. I didn't want to be in pain anymore and I couldn't stand the thought of you possible being hurt in battle or worse…killed." Kim began to sob.
"I know Kim. I could feel the pain too, but I am sorry too."
"What do you have to be sorry about?"
"Kim I should have called you after I got the letter or I should have flown down or teleported. I was wrapped up in my own pain, my own world that I didn't think of what you were going through. I know you better than that. The letter was so uncharacteristic of you and I should have known something was wrong. All of this is my fault too and I'm sorry I ran out of the room earlier. There was just so much going on in my head…I felt…"
"You felt like you were going to be sick?"
"Exactly."
"I'm so sorry I made you feel like that. I'm so sorry I ever let you doubt my love for you." Kim sobbed a little harder.
"Kim…I did the same thing." Tommy replied, his own tears racking his body as he placed his forehead against Kim's.
"What do we do now?" Kim asked closing her eyes as she felt Tommy's hot breath on her face.
"We will talk to Zordon later about the link. Right now we need to focus on you getting out of the hospital and well." Tommy answered as he placed a soft kiss on Kim's forehead.
"What about us?" Kim whispered, fearing the answer.
"I love you. We will find a way to work all of this out." Tommy smiled.
"I love you too." Kim smiled back.
"But.."
"But what?"
"You have to take it easy for the next few months and you have to eat more. We are all going to be around to make sure and please talk to me more. Tell me if something is wrong. Let's not keep anything from each other anymore. Okay?"
"Okay, but I am fine. That stupid doctor doesn't know what he is talking about and I don't need anyone around to baby me."
"Kim…."
"What? I eat plenty and I…"
"Kimberly." Tommy said in his leader voice.
"Fine." Kim finally agreed knowing if was futile to fight with Tommy once his leader tone was heard and he only said her actually name when he was deathly serious. "When do I get to leave?"
"We get to take you home tomorrow morning." Tommy laughed at Kim's pouty face.
"Thank God. I don't want to be here anymore. I just…" Kim started but was quickly silenced by Tommy's lips brushing hers.
The next morning…
"Thank God I am out of here." Kim sighed as Tommy pushed her wheelchair out of the hospital. "You know I could have walked out."
"Sorry Beautiful. Hospital policy." Tommy replied.
"Sounds more like the Oliver policy." Kim smiled as the bright Florida sun hit her face.
"How you feeling sis?" Jason asked as he opened the door to the rental car Trini and Zack had rented.
"I'm fine. My condition has not changed since the last time you asked me five minutes ago Rex." Kim moaned as she pushed herself up from the wheelchair making everyone rush to her side. "Oh dear lord, all of you have got to relax. I can stand up by myself."
"We just want you to be careful Kim." Trini smiled as she slid into the car next to Kim followed by Tommy. Zack sat in the driver's seat as Jason jumped up front.
"Okay we will see you guys at Kim's place?" Jason asked looking at Rocky.
"Yup, we will be in the cab behind you." Rocky replied as he ran and jumped in the cab with the others.
"I don't know where all of you are going to fit in my little apartment." Kim sighed as she rolled down her window to feel the fresh air.
"It's only for today then Jase, Tommy and the others have to go back." Trini replied as Kim's face quickly fell.
"Oh…yeah…right." Kim sighed again as she turned to stare out the window hoping no one would notice the tears welling in her eyes at the thought of Tommy leaving.
"It's only for a little firebird." Jason tried to cheer her up as he looked in the rearview mirror to see Trini shrug her shoulders at the two people sitting beside her, both of them looking out their respective windows.
Zack rolled up to the curb in front of Kim's apartment to see a petite African American girl standing with her hands on her hips glaring at the group. "Kimberly Ann Hart! Don't you ever scare the shit out of me like that again!" Aisha yelled as everyone got out of the car and the cab.
"Aisha…" Kim started.
"Girl, I thought Tommy told you last time to land on your feet." Aisha seethed.
"Well you know me; I was never good at taking orders." Kim replied mirroring Aisha's stance.
"Yeah, yeah." Aisha said finally cracking a smile and running over to her friend to give her a hug. "Just don't do it again."
"I'll try my best. The ugly big bandage on my head and this awful cast alone is enough to motivate me to land on my feet." Kim hugged back.
"The mama bear has returned!" Everyone heard Rocky yell as ran and picked up Aisha into a big hug.
"Jeez Ape boy." Aisha squealed as everyone else greeted Aisha.
"Let's get you upstairs to relax Beautiful." Tommy interjected.
"Tommy, I am fine." Kim pouted.
"Let's go shrimp. The doctor said to stay off your feet today." Jason said standing next Tommy.
"Fine. Can't do much with you two teaming up on me." Kim sighed a she slowly started to walk up the stairs to her apartment. I cannot believe everyone is here. Maybe that is what is making feel so dizzy. Kim thought as she stopped halfway up the stairs.
"I gotcha." Tommy whispered as picked Kim up bridal style and carried her up the rest of the stairs.
"You reading my mind or something?" Kim replied as she was too tired to argue with Tommy about carrying her to the apartment.
"Hey anything's possible." Tommy cracked a smile causing Kim to giggle.
_________
Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up this week. As always I love reviews!
Catch Ya On The Flipside!
