While her friends were at school, Gia was alone in her hospital room. Her parents had wanted to stay with her, but when they called in sick for work their bosses wouldn't take it. Neither of them had even been very generous with vacation and sick days in the past. Gia remembered having to cut a vacation short because her father's boss had called him in from work and threatened to dock his pay significantly if he couldn't come in.

Gia's parents weren't tough like she pretended to be, so they usually gave in. This time was no exception, but Gia didn't mind. She wanted to be alone. No one was asking her how she was feeling, or if she was ready to talk. Her parents were worried, and naturally had a lot of questions. They had sat with her as she told the police what they needed to hear to arrest Cliff, but she had stuck to the fact. She told them what had happened, not how it made her feel, and not what she thought of herself now.

She stared down at her hands and clenched them. She was a lie. Since Cliff had first appeared in her life, she had changed drastically. Now, he had destroyed her twice, torn her part until there was nothing left of her. The first time she had been just a kid – only fifteen – too stupid to understand what love really was and what love meant. She hadn't had time to grow or find herself. Two years later only meant two more years of her life were gone. She had put up so many walls since Cliff had first abandoned her that even she didn't know who she really was. She didn't play sports, she wasn't a member of any club, and didn't show any interest in anything that was purely her own. Occasionally she rode on her BMX bike with Emma, but that wasn't her passion. She did it to be with her friend. That was a part of Emma.

Gia thought of Emma. The little girl she had always known had always been a little timid. She had been shoved into the background because she was always next to Gia, and everyone seemed to pale in comparison to Gia. But Emma had everything figured out. Someone had noticed her. Jordan knew it was Emma who shone brightly and he treated her with respect. He treated her in a way that made Gia jealous. No one respected and cared for Gia in the way Jordan did Emma. Jordan saw a human being in Emma. Every boy who tried to get Gia's attention saw a body.

Emma had interests, and though she sometimes doubted herself, she did have skills. BMX was hard, and though Emma had many spills, some of which had landed her in the hospital in her childhood, she had never been scared away from her bike. When she took pictures, they always turned out beautiful. Gia never once found herself hating a picture of Emma's, and not because of the bias of Emma being her best friend and not wanting to hurt her feelings. Emma was genuinely an amazing photographer, and would have no trouble getting into a college if that was what she wanted to do.

Emma was also incredibly smart. Her math skills could use a little improving, but she was far from being the bottom of the class. She was talented in the arts – mostly due to her passion for photography – and her love of nature meant she did very well in her science courses. Anything she could learn about nature and the world and the way everything worked, she would learn. Even if it took hours of studying and tutoring, Emma always found a way to reach her goals.

And her passion to protect the earth, though it irritated Gia from time to time, was still very admirable. She did what few people could do. She not only talked the talked about going green. She lived it. Big businesses in the city had listened to some of her speeches and in a matter of weeks had gone a little greener. All because a seventeen year old girl had stood up to them and showed them it was possible to protect the planet and their bank accounts.

Gia felt like nothing compared to Emma. The pink Ranger was beautiful, strong, brave, passionate, determined, and smart. She knew who she was, where she wanted to go, and wouldn't settle for anything less. Compared to her, Gia was just an empty shell. It was no wonder guys like Cliff, Mick, Alex, and all the other boys at school thought they could mistreat her. It seemed to be all she was good for.

A knock on her door pulled her from her thoughts. Her parents promised to stop by for lunch and thinking it was them, she lay back down in her bed and pretended to sleep. Instead, she heard a nervous laugh.

"I use that trick on my parents all the time," it was Jake's voice. Gia sat up and looked to her friend curiously. She knew he hated hospital, and though he had been to one with her recently, this time was very different. She was badly hurt. She looked like she had just been in an accident, with her bruises and the scars all over her body. Jake had lost a lot of his family to a car accident, and they had all died in hospital. Even when their prognosis was starting to turn around, something always went wrong.

"You came?"

"I told the others I was going home for lunch," Jake nodded his head. He grabbed a chair and brought it over to the bed. He took a seat, "How are you?"

Gia shrugged her shoulders, "You didn't have to come. I get it…"

"I'll have to face my fears sometime, right?" Jake said, "I mean, I'm a Power Ranger now. I'll probably wind up here in the near future."

"I hope not," Gia whispered. Jake looked to her with a little smile.

"Outside of our very touching bonding moments, I think that's the closest you've come to caring for me."

"Don't get used to it," Gia smirked. "Seriously, Jake, if this is too much…"

"You're going to be okay, right?"

"Doctors say yes. I'm just here so they can keep an eye on me. You know, in case…"

"Something comes up," Jake knew it very well. He nodded his head slowly and sighed, "So Cliff really… he threw you out of a window?"

"I told him I'd rather jump out the window than sleep with him again so… I guess I got my wish."

Jake had a look around the room, "Where are your parents? Lunch, or…"

"They had to work. Their bosses have always sucked. But I don't mind."

"Then I guess it's good I stopped by," Jake said. "I had a feeling you were probably lonely. Oh, by the way, I got you this."

He reached into his bag and pulled out a stuffed tiger. He placed it beside Gia on the bed.

"I know tough girls don't cuddle up with soft, plushy kitty-cats," Jake teased her, "but I thought Tigger could keep you company at night or whatever. That's usually the worst time after stuff like this. I don't know what it is about the dark that just makes everything see so much worse."

Gia looked at the tiger and then held it out to Jake, "I can't do this, Jake. I'm not… you can't just…"

"What?" Jake looked genuinely confused, "Gia, it's a get well soon present. I thought of finding a video or something of Emma beating up Cliff so you could watch his defeat over and over again, but the tiger isn't as scary and it's cuddly, and it's you."

"It's my Zord. I'm nothing."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked. "Look, Emma kicked Cliff's ass, I'm not taking that away from her, but you took him down. It's because of you that scumbag's behind bars. That takes a lot of guts, Gia."

"I told the truth. I don't…"

"Me walking into a hospital is scary," Jake said and held out his shaky hand to show Gia just how nervous he still was, "You confessing about what happened. How you suffered because of Cliff, and standing up to show the world just how big an asshole the guy really is takes real bravery. He was the school legend. People loved him! No one would have known he was a bad guy. If you think about it, you've probably just saved countless girls from having to suffer the way you have. Those girls would have fallen right into his trap. You're a hero, Gia."

Just as Jake finished saying this his morpher went off. Gia heard hers go to, but she was in no condition to fight. She looked to Jake.

"It's probably just that monster from before," he said to her, "He makes music that hurts people. We'll stop him, don't worry."

Jake got up and gave Gia's hand a gentle squeeze, "I meant it, Gia, what you did was really brave. I think you are just as tough as you pretend to be. No guy messes with you and gets away with it."

Gia sighed and shook her head. She couldn't believe him. Jake believed in her though, and his smile showed it.

"We're all planning on coming by tonight. After we defeat this monster for sure. I'll bring a movie or something. We can all just chill. Oh, and the really scary part for me comes now. My relatives always had a turn for the worst after I've visited so stay strong, okay?"

"Jake…"

"Promise me you'll stay strong," Jake said to her as he started to run to the door. Gia nodded her head.

"Go kick monster ass, Jake. I'll be here when you and the others get back."

Jake smiled as he rushed out of the room. Gia watched him go and hugged the tiger to her chest.