A/N: Lots of questions coming up, huh? Don't worry, all questions will be answer eventually. As I said before, I'm trying my hand at writing something a little darker than usual, so if some characters (mostly the villains) seem a little OOC, please don't hold it against me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible. It belongs to Disney and its creators. If it was in the show, I don't own it. I am not doing this for money, only for fun and practice.

Claimer: Krista Ruthie Stoppable is my OC. If you want to use her, please ask.

Chapter 3: What's Wrong?

Kim went out into the hallway. "Ron! Come here!" She heard feet coming up the stairs and down the hallway.

"What's the matter, Kim?" he asked.

"Get me the thermometer," Kim replied. Ron left and returned seconds later with the thermometer. Kim put it under Krista's tongue, and the temperature came out to one-hundred-and-four degrees.

"Oh my God. Why is it so high?" Ron asked, looking at the number over Kim's shoulder.

"I don't know. But I'm calling my mom and telling her to come over here. Can you call her school and let them know she's not coming today?" Kim asked as she picked up her cell phone. Ron nodded and left the room.

Anne answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Mom, I need you to come over here now. Something's wrong with Krista."

Anne could hear the panic in her daughter's voice. "Calm down, I'm on my way. What's going on?"

"I don't know. She wouldn't wake up this morning and she has a temperature of one-hundred-and-four."

"One-hundred-and-four?" Anne exclaimed. "I'm five minutes away. Put a cold cloth on her forehead until I get there." Kim did as her mother told her. When Anne arrived, Ron let her in and led her upstairs to Krista's room. Anne felt Krista's forehead. Even after using the cold cloth, I was still hot to the touch. She shook her granddaughter's shoulder.

"Krista, Sweetheart, it's Grandma. Can you wake up?" Krista didn't respond.

"Krista, we need you to wake up," Anne continued. There was still no answer. When Krista didn't respond for the third time, Anne turned to her daughter and son-in-law.

"Get her to the hospital now."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took less than ten minutes to get Krista in the car and to the emergency room. The doctors rushed her back to examine her while Kim and Ron waited in the lobby.

Kim nervously paced the length of the waiting room.

"Kim, sit down. Worrying this much isn't going to help anything," Ron said. When Kim seemed to ignore him, he stood up and took his wife's hand and led her to a chair.

"Kim, calm down. Why worry when we don't know all the facts. It could just be the flu."

Kim sighed. "I know. I just feel like…" She didn't finish, only looked down at her hands.

"Feel like what?" Ron asked.

Kim looked back up at him. "Ron, we've only really been taking care of her for two months, and look at everything that's happened. First she got kidnapped when she was born, then she got kidnapped again eleven years later and almost killed, then the nightmares, and now this. Are we bad parents?"

"Of course not, Kim. We may have only been taking care of her for two months, but we've known her and loved her all her life. Sure, she knew the Moores longer, but look how that turned out. Their love was fake. Ours isn't." Kim put her head on her husband's shoulder. She knew Ron was right, but why was this happening to their daughter?

Just then, the doors to the waiting room swung open, and a doctor walked up to them.

"Krista's parents?" she asked. Kim and Ron nodded.

"Please follow me." Kim and Ron looked at each other but followed. This didn't look good. There was no "I have good news" or "Your daughter is doing just fine." It was just "Please follow me."

Instead of a room in the outpatient or inpatient sections, the doctor led them to the Intensive Care Unit. Anne stood right outside, waiting for them.

"Mom, why is Krista in the ICU?" Kim asked, panic rising in her voice.

"Kim, it'll be alright," Anne answered. Now Kim knew something was wrong. Her mother didn't answer her question.

"I'm Dr. Lowe," said the doctor who had led them here. "Now to answer your question, Krista is here so we can keep an eye on her. I don't want to scare you, but as of right now, we're not sure what's wrong with her. We ran a series of tests, and nothing showed up for strep, pneumonia, mono, anything."

"So what's going on?" Ron asked.

"We're not sure. All we know is that she is running a high fever, and she seems delirious when she wakes up. We asked her if she knew where she was, and all she said was 'Don't let them find me.'"

At that moment, they heard a murmur from the hospital bed. Kim and Ron went to their daughter's side, in time to hear her say "Fire. Someone help, there's a fire."

Oh no, Ron thought. She was having the nightmare again.

"How long will this last?" Kim asked.

Dr. Lowe sighed. "There's no way to tell. We can only wait it out and hope for the best."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

But waiting it out proved difficult and painful for Kim and Ron. All that night, Krista awoke, crying and afraid, and there was nothing that they could do to help her. It broke their hearts. All they could really do was try to calm her down.

And what was worse, her fever had risen a half a degree.

Krista's face was constantly bathed with ice-cold water in an attempt to bring the fever down. She was under constant monitoring, with someone with her at all times. Usually it was one of her parents, but even they needed some rest, so Anne or one of the doctors took over for a few hours, promising to call them if anything changed.

But after twenty-four hours, if anything, Krista was getting worse.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"SHEGO!" Drakken yelled for his sidekick from the main lair. Shego entered and found him sitting at the giant computer screen, a news article pulled up on the internet.

"What? Why all the screaming?" Shego asked. Drakken pointed at the screen, and Shego began to read.

We all know that the world famous heroes, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, got married. Two months ago we found out that they had a child, Krista Ruthie Stoppable, who was kidnapped at birth and raised in a different home in order to spite the former teen heroes. Eleven years later, the Stoppable family was reunited and has been living happily until yesterday.

Reports say that Krista Ruthie Stoppable was rushed to the hospital due to a high fever. Though not many details have been released and no statements have been taking from the Stoppables, we do know that Krista is currently in the ICU at Middleton General Hospital. Our prayers go out to the family as we hope for Krista to recover quickly.

Shego looked from the article to Drakken. "So this means…?"

"With Kim Possible and her buffoony sidekick incapacitated with worry over their precious daughter, we can rule the world!" Drakken said excitedly.

"So how does this relate to the plan from before?" Shego asked.

"I'll show you," Drakken replied. He pressed a button on the control panel, and the two familiar figures appeared once again on the screen.

"We just saw the article. Nice work. Now finish the plan," one said.

"Do you have the information?" Drakken asked.

"We have someone in place. No one will be around tonight at two in the morning. Don't screw this up." The connection was severed once again.

Drakken turned to Shego. "You heard them. Don't screw this up." Shego smiled sinisterly. She had to admit, this was a great plan, better than any they had had before.

It was ten o'clock now. She only had three hours to wait before their plan would be complete.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was almost two in the morning back in Middleton. Ron sat in the chair next to his daughter's hospital bed, thinking. Why did this happen? How did this happen? Aside from the nightmares, Krista had seemed perfectly fine and healthy.

The nightmares. The procedure. All this happened right after the procedure. Had something gone wrong?

"Daddy?" Ron was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of a tiny, weak voice. He turned to see Krista looking at him, eyes half-open.

"Hey, Kiddo, how ya feeling?" he asked his daughter.

"Daddy, don't let them get me," Krista replied.

Ron was about to answer when there was a knock on the door. He turned to see Dr. Owens standing there. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Stoppable, but Dr. Lowe and I need to speak to you and your wife."

Ron glanced at Krista, who was drifting back to sleep. Noticing his skepticism, Dr. Owens added, "It will only take a minute."

Ron turned back to Krista. "I'll be right back."

He followed Dr. Owens out into the hallway, where he found Dr. Lowe and Kim.

"What's this about?" Ron asked.

"We hate to tell you this, but Krista is getting worse," Dr. Lowe said. "There are a few things left we can try, but I can't promise anything."

"Please. Do anything. We need our little girl back," Kim said.

They discussed a few of the options, and decided to try whatever it took. Kim and Ron thanked the doctors and headed down the hallway.

When they got back to the hospital room, Krista was gone.

A/N: Like always, questions, comments, concerns, and reviews are always helpful. Thanks!

-LP99