Early the next morning, Tina rushed to her husband's room at the Las Vipers Memorial Hospital as fast as she could. In front of the room, she could see a cobra physician with two young, female garter snake nurses on either side of him. "Doctor! Doctor! Is my husband alright?"
"Oh, are you Mrsssssss. Ssssssssteele?" The doctor asked.
"Yes, I am." Tina quickly answered.
"Mrsssssss. Ssssssssteele, your hussssssssband issssssss fine, but he wasssss involved in a nasssssssty elevator inccccccident." The cobra said. As it turned out Stanley was riding the elevator from the hotel casino back to his room when one of the cables snapped and the elevator crashed all the way down.
"But he's okay? He can still fight tomorrow?"
"Fight? No, he can't fight. He broke both his legsssssss. It could take weeksssssss, monthsssssss before he can walk. We sssssssstill don't know if he can ever walk again. I'm sssssso ssssssorry."
Tina simply did not know how to react to the news. If only she accompanied Stanley from the beginning of the trip, perhaps this would not have happened. "May I see my husband?" she finally asked.
"Of courssssssse." The doctor responded. "Right thisssssssss way."
Tina kindly thanked the doctor and went inside the room to see Stanley just laying their sullen and hopeless, despite the rising sun beaming on his bed. She never thought that she would see such a mountain of a bear look so vulnerable.
"So how's your son?" Stanley finally said, staring blankly in the distance.
"What?" Tina asked, totally shocked.
"Ya know! Kit! Your boy!"
"But how did you . . . "
"I'm not as dumb as ya think, dollface. I saw ya talking to him back in that office and I figured it out when you wanted to stay there. Just a shame that ya didn't tell me, didn't take him with us."
"But . . . but I thought you didn't want kids." Tina remarked.
"Dat's right. I ain't crazy about kids." Stanley replied. "But I'm crazy about ya and I woulda accepted him as my own cuz he's yours. How could ya not know that?" He then continued, looking into his wife's eyes. It was then that Tina realized that she was wrong about Stanley. That he really did love her and she misjudged him all this time.
"Don't matter now though. Not like I can take care of either of ya now. Heck, dunno if I can take care of myself!" Stanley added and then struggled to turn his massive upper body on his side away from the window to the best of his ability at that point. "Shut the shades and close the door behind ya, will ya, Babe? I just wanna go back to sleep."
As soon as Tina left the room, she knew what she had to do. Stanley needed her now and try as she might, she may not have the time and resources needed to help a young boy adjust to his new life while also caring for a rehabilitating husband. Rebecca's words rang true with her more than ever. She decided that the ultimate act of love would be to leave Kit again, knowing that he was in good hand where he was. As painful as it was for her, she knew what she had to do.
That afternoon, when Tina presumed that Kit had returned from school, she called the office at H4H. Coincidentally, Kit picked up the phone. "Hello . . . Kit." Tina began nervously.
"Mom! Where are you? Baloo and Miz Cunningham told me you're in Las Vipers! But why didn't you even say goodbye?" Kit answered.
"Oh . . . well, I had to come here to see Stanley before the fight and . . . "
"But you're gonna come back, right?" Kit asked, interrupting his mother.
Tina did not know how to break the news. Knowing that Kit had a good heart, she knew that Kit would offer to come to Vipers and help with Stanley, but she didn't want him to do that. She just couldn't allow herself to let the boy take on such a burden; not now, not when his life was finally going so well. Tina therefore knew that she certainly could not tell Kit the truth.
"Kit, I don't know if Stanley would want . . . "
"That big brute! You don't need him, Mom! I'll take care of you now." Kit quickly responded.
Tina's eyes started swelling up with tears. "I'm sorry, Kit. I'm sorry. I hope to come back someday, I do. But just not now. I'm sorry."
"Mom!"
"I'm sorry, son. I love you." Tina said before she finally hung up. She really did hope to return and see him some day, perhaps when Stanley could walk and even fight again. So, although she knew that giving him again really would be the best option for him for now, she wished upon a star that night that their next reunion would be forever.