To be perfectly honest with you our readers I will tell you this story is probably the most rambling one we have ever done and I am on the fence on how much i like the final product. Don't get me wrong we have finished and i will be posting the entire story but it can be a bit long and my mind has moved on to other things. I will be posting several chapters and finishing this story quickly within the next week so hope you like it and let me know if you think I'm wrong! :P :)
Enjoy and keep an eye out for our next story (I enjoy that one much better)
Ring… Ring… Ring…
Adam sighed, hopping up from the table to go grab the phone. Tanya gave him a look, but he just grinned and ran to grab it before it went to voicemail. The group at the table, which consisted of Tanya, Rocky, Aisha, and Kat, went back to talking while Sophia played with her food in her seat. Adam grabbed the phone and stepped out into the hallway to answer.
"Hello?" he said. "Oh, hey Jason. What's up?"
He frowned as he listened to what Jason was saying.
"He's where!" Adam exclaimed, nearly dropping the phone. "The hospital? What did he do this time?—Of course he did…Yeah, it really doesn't surprise me—oh, sure. We can do that—don't worry about calling them, they're all here anyways…yeah, I'll pass on the news—ok. Thanks. Keep us updated—alright, see you tomorrow."
Walking back into the dining room, Adam stopped when he realized everyone else was staring at him.
"What was that about?" Tanya asked expectantly.
Adam took a deep breath before answering.
"Tommy's back in the hospital…" he answered slowly.
"What?" the other rangers exclaimed, making Sophia jump in her seat.
"What happened?" Kat asked, her eyes wide.
"Jason didn't give me all of the details," Adam said. "But apparently Tommy's house recently incurred some structural damage—something about tunnels under the house no longer being stable. Anyways, he has to do some remodeling."
"And how did that put him in the hospital?" Rocky asked, frowning.
"Well…"Adam said slowly. "He was trying to do something he probably shouldn't have. I guess Billy ran out to get dinner and when he got back a few hours later, Tommy was trapped under a beam. He had tried to lift it and lost hold of it. When it fell it landed on top of him. Jason said he was in pretty bad shape."
The girls gasped, Kat's hand flying up to her mouth.
"But they got him to the hospital right away," Adam said quickly. "He's going in for surgery. Jason said the doctor expects everything to go well."
"We have to go see him," Aisha insisted.
The others nodded in agreement. Sophia was banging her fork on her plate, giggling.
"That's the other reason Jason was calling," Adam said. "I guess the doctor says they aren't going to release Tommy from the hospital until he has somewhere safe to go home to. The work on his house needs to get done as soon as possible. Ken is already there, with Kim, helping to get things moving in the right direction, but they could use some more hands."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Rocky asked, looking around. "Let's go."
Arriving in Reefside the next afternoon, the rangers followed Jason's directions to the house.
"Man, he really does live out in the middle of nowhere," Rocky said as he looked at the trees on either side of the road.
"I think that's the driveway," Adam said, slowing down.
He pulled up the driveway and parked in front of the house. Several other cars were there. Originally they had all wanted to go straight to the hospital, but Jason said Tommy was still really out of it. So, after dropping their things off at their hotel, they'd headed out to the house to check in with Ken and the others. Rocky and Aisha had left Sophia with Aisha's parents for the week, not wanting to worry about her running around underfoot in the house. Jason had told them Mark was with Trini's parents for the same reason.
"Great house," Kat commented as they parked.
The rangers all climbed out and headed toward the front door. Adam knocked and they all waited for someone to answer the door. It was Kim who answered.
"Hi!" she exclaimed, immediately stepping outside to hug the others. "Come on in. Ken's out working, but he'll be back soon. Billy's in the kitchen with Zach."
"Where are Jason and Trini?" Tanya asked as they followed Kim into the house.
"Oh, they're at the hospital with Tommy," Kim said. "We've been taking turns staying with him. He's still out of it from surgery and we don't want him to be alone. But they should be back soon"
She shut the door and then turned to lead the way down the hall.
"Don't worry," she grinned, looking back over her shoulder. "You'll all get your turn. Especially once he's awake. Tommy doesn't like to sit still, so the news that he has to stay in the hospital until the house is fixed isn't going to go over well."
Laughing in agreement, they followed her into the kitchen.
"Greetings," Billy said, looking up as they walked into the room.
"Hey guys," Zach grinned, leaning back in his chair. "Was wondering how long it'd take you to get here. We've been here for days. Seen Tommy yet?"
"Not yet," Adam answered, shaking his head. "We decided to come by here first and see what was going on."
"No a whole lot," Zach sighed. "Ken wanted to wait til we were all in one spot to go over everything. He's supposed to be back not long after Jason and Trini."
"How's Tommy doing?" Kat asked hesitantly.
Billy and Zach looked at each other and then back at the others.
"He is recovering as expected," Billy said.
"But he is so out of it," Zach grinned. "It's great. There's more than one reason we don't leave him alone."
Kim rolled her eyes, cuffing Zach on the shoulder. Billy was looking at a text on his phone.
"It's not his fault," she said.
Billy glanced up.
"Jason says they're going to be a little later than expected," Billy said. "Hayley has been unexpectedly delayed at the café."
"Then why don't we go meet them at the hospital?" Tanya suggested. "It would be nice to see Tommy before we all get to work."
As everyone else chorused in agreement, Billy, Zach, and Kim hurried to get shoes on.
At the hospital a short time later, all eight of the rangers trooped up to Tommy's room, Kim in the lead. They found Trini and Jason sitting in Tommy's room, talking quietly. Tommy was awake and turned to look when the group walked in.
"'lo," he mumbled. "Who're you?"
Kim, Zach, and Billy just smiled, grabbing some of the chairs scattered around the room. The other five walked over to his bed.
"It's us, Tommy," Kat said, placing her hand over his. "How are you feeling?"
Tommy didn't answer. Frowning, he turned to look at Jason and Trini.
"It's fine, Tommy," Trini said, smiling. "They're here to visit you. They're your friends, too."
"K…" Tommy said, turning back. "Who?"
Aisha, Kat, and Tanya exchanged concerned glances.
"Tommy," Kat repeated. "It's us. Don't you recognize us?"
"Us?" Tommy asked, frowning. "But…Huh?"
Zach snorted, stifling laughter as Kim elbowed him.
"It's Kat, Tommy," she said. "And Tanya, Aisha, Rocky, and Adam."
"Where'sa ca'?" he asked, looking around in confusion. "I don' see…"
Zach lost it, nearly falling off his chair as the others chuckled. Kat and Rocky both looked at Tommy in shock. But he didn't notice. He just stared around in confusion.
"As you can see, he's still out of it," Jason chuckled.
"Why?" Tommy asked.
"Because they drugged you," Jason said answered without missing a beat. "And now it's time to rest while the drugs wear off. Ok?"
"No," said Tommy, trying to shake his head. "Not tired…"
Jason sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Yes you are, bro," he insisted. "Now go to sleep."
"No," Tommy said again.
"Tommy," Jason said as the door opened to admit Dr. Walsh and a nurse. "You're tired. Sleep."
"'m no' tired…" he mumbled in protest.
"Being stubborn as usual I see, Dr. Oliver," Dr. Walsh said.
Tommy started looking around the room in surprise.
"Zordon?" he said, confused again.
Some of the rangers looked at him in horror, but Jason, Trini, Zach, Billy, and Kim just sighed. Dr. Walsh just chuckled and shook his head, taking it in stride. The nurse didn't say a word, she just walked over to the bed to check Tommy.
"What did you give him?" Tanya exclaimed.
Before Dr. Walsh could answer, the door opened again.
"Fentanyl," Hayley said, walking into the room. "And ketamine. Not to mention he's still coming off the anesthesia. Hello, everyone. It got crowded all of a sudden."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Adam said. "We all wanted to see him, so…"
"It's fine," Hayley smiled.
"He's all set for now, Hayley," Dr. Walsh said as the nurse finished up with Tommy. "If you need anything, just let us know."
"Thank you, Dr. Walsh," Hayley said.
"Thanks, Alpha," Tommy mumbled as the nurse walked away.
She just shook her head and kept going, following Dr. Walsh out of the room. The moment the door close, the rangers whipped around to look at Jason.
"Why didn't you stop him?" Aisha asked, belatedly remembering Hayley was in the room. "He—he shouldn't be rambling like that in front of the doctor. I mean—mmm…"
Aisha trailed off, looking around as she tried to cover her tracks. Hayley frowned but shook her head, taking the seat Jason offered her next to Tommy's bed.
"He's drugged right now," Hayley said. "Do you realize how many odd things doctors and nurses hear when patients are drugged? I doubt the names Zordon and Alpha are the weirdest things they've ever heard."
"She's right," Jason said, moving to stand behind Trini's chair. "They'll just assume he heard them from a movie or a book. So it's no big deal."
Aisha, Rocky, Adam, Tanya, and Kat exchanged hesitant looks, but nodded. The other rangers didn't look worried at all. Hayley's entire focus was on Tommy now.
"So you don't want to go to sleep?" she asked, leaning forward to talk to him.
"Huh?" Tommy said, turning to look at her. "No' tired…"
Sighing, Hayley turned her attention back to the rangers for a moment.
"Why don't you guys go ahead back to the house?" she said. "He really does need to sleep. Jason, you can set up a rotation of who is going to sit with him."
"Got it, Hayley," he grinned. "Good luck with him. Been trying to convince him to go to sleep for the past hour or so."
"Oh, he's going to sleep," Hayley said firmly, turning back to Tommy.
"Hi, Hayley…" Tommy said, looking at her as though he'd just noticed she was there.
The rangers all started moving toward the door, shooting glances at Tommy and Hayley.
"Tommy," she said gently, running a hand through his hair. "You need to go to sleep now."
"But—" he started to protest.
"No buts," Hayley said. "Sleep."
He frowned, looking up at her.
"You'll stay?" he asked.
"Yes, I'll stay," Hayley said. "As long as you go to sleep. If you don't go to sleep I'm going to leave you here by yourself."
"No," Tommy said. "Stay."
"Then close your eyes and go to sleep," Hayley said.
Tommy nodded and obediently closed his eyes.
"Mm k," he mumbled.
Pausing by the door, Jason chuckled and shook his head. The rest of the rangers were already in the hallway.
"I try for an hour and get nothing," he said. "You try for less than five minutes and he's out."
And he was. Tommy was out cold, Hayley's hand resting on his cheek now.
"I have a gentler touch," she smirked. "Plus, I don't think it's your face he wants to fall asleep to."
"Ouch," Jason said as Trini laughed just outside the door. "I see where I'm not wanted."
Turning, he strode out the door and shut it behind him. But it opened back up a moment later.
"Need someone to bring you dinner or did you eat already?" Jason asked, poking his head inside.
"I ate at the café," Hayley smiled. "Thanks anyways."
Nodding, Jason disappeared out the door again, leaving Hayley with a sleeping Tommy.
Back at Tommy's house, the rangers piled out of the cars and trooped inside. Ken was already there, waiting in the kitchen with several piles of paper spread out over the table.
"There you are," he said, glancing up.
Kim smiled, walking over to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Who wants something to drink?" she asked, looking around the room. "There's coffee, tea, hot chocolate…"
As everyone answered Kim, Trini joined her. Between the two of them, they soon had hot water going and cups on the counter. Once everyone had a drink, they all moved into the living room where there were more seats.
"So, what's the plan?" Adam asked, looking at Ken expectantly.
Ken was sitting in one of the arm chairs, Kim snuggled in with him as she sipped her tea. Kat had claimed another chair for herself across the room while Jason, with Trini in his lap, had another. Adam, Rocky, Tanya, and Aisha were crowded onto the couch while Zach and Billy had opted for seats on the floor rather than sharing an already crowded space.
"Well," Ken said, leaning back in the chair. "Most of the damage to the house centers around Tommy's office and toward the back of the house. It also extended out through part of the hallway and the kitchen. As you can see, I've already replaced any damaged beams and supports in the main hall. That's actually where Tommy was working when he got hurt."
"So what do you need us to do?" Tanya asked.
"We won't be doing anything today," Ken said. "It's too late in the day. We'll get started first thing tomorrow."
The rangers nodded.
"Now, I've still got work to do on the foundation of the house," Ken continued. "So I'll be spending most of my time down there making sure everything is stabilized and properly supported. While I'm down there, Jason will be supervising up here. He helped with the renovations to his dojo, so he knows the answers to the most common problems."
"And if I don't know the answer I have you on speed dial," Jason grinned, his arms wrapped around Trini's waist.
"Exactly," Ken nodded. "So tomorrow I'll need some of you to finish up in the hallway. As I said before, it's nearly done. I've already replaced everything and re-hung drywall. I'll need some of you to mud and paint the walls. You'll have to put the baseboards back in, too. I trust one of you knows how to properly use a nail gun?"
Several of the guys nodded in agreement.
"Good," he said. "To continue, plumbing and electric through the house also needs to be checked for damage, so a few of you can work on that. Once all of that basic stuff is done, we'll start opening up some more walls in the kitchen and office to make sure everything is the way it's supposed to be. Nothing cracked, burnt, or damaged in any way. The roof has also sustained some damage, but I'll handle that myself once I'm done with the foundation."
"And he doesn't trust us to not fall off of the roof," Kim said drily.
Ken glared at her, but she just smirked.
"Anyways," he said. "And the final renovation is going to be a surprise for Tommy. Since we're already doing a ton of construction on his office, I've decided to go ahead and expand it. That's give him more room for a small library and a place to set up a computer if he wants to. But we'll worry about that once we start tearing down walls back there."
"So, do I get to use any power tools?" Zach asked, grinning.
"Umm… I'm going to leave that up to Jason for the moment…" Ken said slowly. "He's got the list of everything that needs to get done tomorrow, so I'll let him pass out assignments."
Zach immediately whipped around to look at Jason who just shook his head.
"And the best part of the remodel," Kim said excitedly, interrupting before Zach could complain, "is that we get to update Tommy's décor! There are too many neutrals in this house. Brown, tan, occasionally some green—we need to brighten it up."
Ken sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Let's not go there right now, Kim," Jason interrupted before she could continue. "Save it for after the construction work is done."
She glared at him, but settled back against Ken's shoulder.
"Anyways," Jason said. "While we're working, we're also going to have to take shifts sitting with Tommy at the hospital. We all know how stubborn he can be. He's not going to want to stay put in bed and Hayley can't watch him twenty-four hours a day. So we'll all be taking turns. Starting bright and early in the morning."
"I'll take the first shift!" Kim exclaimed, shooting upright and nearly knocking Ken's coffee out of his hand.
Jason raised an eyebrow and nodded.
"Fine," he said. "Now, how do we want to do the rest of this?"
Sometime later, they'd worked out somewhat of a rotation for staying with Tommy and keeping him company. As the group started getting ready to head out for the night, Zach paused, frowning.
"So, what exactly are we doing with Tommy at the hospital?" he asked, looking around.
"Entertaining him," Jason answered. "He's not supposed to get out of bed, so get creative."
"Ok," Zach said slowly. "So you want us to hire strippers?"
"Zach!" the girls all exclaimed, glaring at him.
"What?" he asked. "How else am I supposed to entertain him?"
Jason groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. Heading out the front door, the rangers shut the door behind them and headed for their cars.
"Try talking to him, Zach," Jason sighed. "Or take some cards. You could probably even take some movies. Just no snacks since he's on dietary restrictions."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Zach grumbled. "And I supposed there are all sorts of rules to follow, too…Leave it to Tommy to stick us all in the hospital with nothing to do, just to keep him doing nothing..."