"Thanks for helping out, Fran," Hunter smiled as the bookworm walked down the stairs. Fran had agreed to take Kelly's place for the next few days while the red head was in the hospital, and as a way of saying thank you, Hunter had offered she stay with him, Libby and Alex in the big house. He even offered her her own private room by forcing Alex to sleep on the couch downstairs. There wasn't much privacy at the loft, so a room to herself was already thanks enough.
"No problem," Fran said. "Libby was pretty much doing everything on her own. She just needed me there to make sure she was doing everything right."
"Have you heard the kittens talking about her training yet?"
"RJ's trying to figure out who will be her primary master," Fran said. "But so far that's it. They all want to help train her together. Apparently learning different skills from many different masters is important to reaching your full potential. Casey, Lily and Theo had four masters each: Mao, RJ and then a bunch of other weird animal names."
"Maybe we can get her started once this whole drama with Kelly blows over," Hunter suggested. Alex and Libby walked down the stairs, dressed and ready to go back to the hospital to be with Kelly.
"Do you guys want me to stock up the fridge for you?" Fran asked as the other three got their shoes and jackets on. She opened up the still empty fridge, "You're going to need something to eat. I saw teeth marks on the coffee table."
All eyes turned to Alex. He blushed nervously.
"My bad."
"Food would be great, Fran," Hunter smiled. "I'll pay you back somehow, I promise…"
"Don't worry about it," Fran said. "We're all in this together. Besides, you gave me my own room. That's thanks enough."
-Fight-Flight-
Tori walked into Kelly's room and took a seat on the chair beside the bed. She had intended to ask Kelly some questions the night before, but once her friend had fallen asleep, Tori decided it was probably best to wait for her to wake up again. Unfortunately, they didn't happen until this morning. Tori got a call from the hospital at an ungodly hour, saying that Kelly was awake and ready to answer any questions.
They had also told her to take what Kelly said with a grain of salt. While everything was looking good with Kelly (a few broken bones which the doctors had taken care of overnight, cuts, scratches and bruises) they still weren't aware of how much she truly did remember. The concussion she suffered was no help on this matter.
But Tori needed answers. She figured she would trust Kelly as long as her story made sense with the information she already knew.
"How are you feeling?"
"They gave me drugs, so better," Kelly chuckled. "But everything still hurts, just not as much."
"Tell me about it," Tori said as she rubbed her shoulder. "How's the head? The doctor said you had a concussion."
"Not the first time," Kelly laughed. "I'll be okay. It'll be my excuse to take things easy."
"You're not going to make Dustin run around for you again, are you?"
"I have a boyfriend this time," Kelly smirked. "I don't need Dustin."
"Good point," Tori smiled. She reached down into her backpack and pulled out a notepad and a pen. "Apparently you know I want to ask you a few questions."
"Yeah," Kelly nodded. "About the Grinders and stuff. I can't tell you much but…"
"Just tell me what you know," Tori said. "Anything can help us out. The more we know, the better prepared we are for them next time."
"They took a bunch of us," Kelly said. She was finding it hard to remember, but knew that was likely a result of the head injury she had suffered. She had been in this position before, just not to this extreme. The life of an extreme athlete was rather risky and it was unlikely anyone come out of such a career without a few stories to tell. "They just grabbed us and I guess carried us off. I blacked out after I left the store. When I woke up, I was in some kind of transport truck, with a few other people with me. We had Grinders in the truck, standing over us, and I guess we were all attached to something. The Grinders had us drugged."
"Yeah, we figured that out," Tori nodded. "When the Rangers and I found you, there was a needle on the ground nearby."
"Whatever the Grinders wanted, it wasn't to kill us," Kelly said. "They had us all. We couldn't do anything to stop them if they wanted to hurt us. I think they were taking us back to Venjix."
"We've been thinking the same thing," Tori said. "Kilobyte told me Venjix was trying to create the perfect robot. I don't remember much from my college classes, but I do remember the human brain is still the most complex system."
"Could he be using humans as a model?" Kelly asked, raising a good question. Tori was surprised she hadn't thought of that yet. She took it down in her notes before she shrugged.
"We're not sure yet. How did you get away? I doubt the Grinders would just throw you overboard for no reason."
There was no answer, even after a few moments of waiting. Tori looked up from her notes and saw Kelly was still awake, but staring off into space. She snapped her fingers.
"Kel, I know you're head hurts, but try and stay with me."
"What?" Kelly frowned. She looked at Tori.
"I asked you how you got away from the Grinders."
"I was at the back of the truck," Kelly answered. "When I woke up again, I wasn't totally out of it. I guess whatever they had given me hadn't quite set in just yet. I did feel really out of it, though."
"You were," Tori nodded.
"I could still kind move, though. It was weird. I tried rolling out of the truck. I don't recommend that, by the way."
"Dead if you do, dead if you don't," Tori shrugged. "At least you're alive now."
"I guess. Anyways, the Grinder stopped me. I don't exactly remember how we both fell out. Next thing I remember I'm here."
"So there is a blank?" Tori asked.
"I guess," Kelly nodded. "I must have hit my head at that point."
"Or while jumping from the truck," Tori chuckled. "I'm no doctor, but that's probably how you wound up like this."
"I guess so," Kelly said. "The Grinders didn't do anything to me. Not as far as I can remember, that is. I remember in the truck, aside from a sick feeling, I was fine."
"Did the doctors tell you how long you were going to be in here for?"
"Depends on my head and bones," Kelly answered. "The cuts and bruises don't bother them too much and as long as I have care at home I shouldn't be stuck here for too long."
"What did you break?" Tori asked. She couldn't exactly see much of Kelly below the neck. She had been covered with a blanket and Tori never even thought about removing it."
"Not much, actually," Kelly frowned. "The doctors think I must have rolled out in a weird way. Broken leg and arm ankle and wrist, all on different limbs, and a lot of fractures. The scratches and cuts on my legs though make them think I was dragged for a little bit before letting go of whatever was keeping me in the truck in the first place."
"No tuck and roll?"
"More like roll and roll," Kelly said. "I guess I should consider myself lucky."
"I really wish we could figure out what happened," Tori sighed. There was a knock at the door before Hunter, Alex and Libby walked in. Tori turned to them and then back to Kelly, "I'll tell Dr. K and the Colonel what you told me. I doubt we're ever going to really be able to help those other people, though. I don't want to risk sending in new Rangers to face off against Venjix' entire army."
She touched Kelly on the shoulder very gently, unsure if that was a sensitive spot or not, before she walked out, leaving the family of four on their own. She did need to get Kelly's information to the others before they made a decision on what to do.
Hunter approached the bed, "The doctor outside filled us in on last night."
"Don't worry. I don't remember the half of it," Kelly said. Alex went to sit down on the bed, but Kelly glared at him. "If you know what's good for you you'll stay away."
"Standing," Alex said as he took a few steps away from the bed. "I thought you couldn't feel anything again."
"Still hurting, just not as much," Kelly told him.
"I don't understand much of what the doctor said, but you pretty much hurt every part of your body, didn't you?" Alex asked. "Like, from your head, all the way down to your feet."
"Basically. I'll live, though."
"Are you still tired or anything?" Hunter asked. "You don't have to stay awake for us. We're happy just sitting here."
"It's fine," Kelly answered. "I'm okay for now."
"So, Tori was in here asking question?" Alex asked. He knew Tori was expected to visit, he just didn't expect her so early in the morning. He and Tori were especially close, even though she was Hunter's ex, but even he knew it was a bad idea to wake her up in the morning.
"Yeah. She's just trying to figure out what happened," Kelly said.
"Are you sure she wasn't just here to laugh at her ex' current girlfriend?" Alex snickered.
Kelly glared, "If I could move, I would hurt you."
"Sorry. But it's kinda true. I had one girlfriend once who loved to see my ex'…"
"What did we tell you about lying?" Hunter said with a slight smirk.
Alex lowered his head, "I never said the girlfriends were real."
Kelly laughed softly before looking at Libby, "You haven't said much."
"Just thinking," Libby answered her. "I think I know what happened."
"I hurt myself pretty badly," Kelly nodded. "You know what broken bones and bruises are? Remember I explained to you the stupid concept of funny bone."
"It's not funny and it's not a bone," Libby said, "Yeah. Are you going to be okay? Can you come home soon?"
"Not just yet," Kelly said. "But I'll be fine. I've hurt myself like this before. Just not this badly and not all at once."
"You have?" Hunter asked. "I guess I should have figured. You and Dustin and Tori talk about riding and surfing quite a bit…"
Hunter's lips curled into a bit of a smirk, "Maybe when you get the okay from the doctor you and I can find a place to ride? Dustin's found a place where they sell dirt bikes."
"I don't ride," Kelly said.
"What? But you and Dustin always talk about…"
"I don't surf, I don't board, and I definitely don't ride," Kelly bit back, rather harshly. Hunter figured maybe he would back away from the subject. "All I do is coach, okay? I know what I'm talking about with the other riders and I give them pointers on how not to break themselves."
"Way to go, Hunter," Alex said. "Piss her off, that'll help her recovery."
"If you don't want to ride…"
"No."
"Okay," Hunter took a seat in the chair Tori had been occupying and he leaned back.
"What's riding?" Libby asked. A mischievous grin appeared on Alex' face.
"Well, Libby…"
"Riding a bike," Hunter interrupted, before Alex could scar the girl. "It's a sport. Maybe I'll show you one day."
"What's surfing?"
"A lame water sport," Hunter chuckled.
"What's boarding?"
"Skateboarding. It's like the lame water sport, only with wheels and ramps."
"I skateboard!" Alex frowned.
"Still lame," Hunter laughed. "Motocross is the number one sport. Everything else just sucks. Right Kel?"
There was no response. Hunter turned to the bed and saw Kelly was sleeping once again.
"Kel?" he called again.
"Don't wake her!" Alex shouted.
"She sleeps a lot," Libby commented.
"How about you two go find us something to eat while she sleeps?" Hunter suggested.
"I think I'm doomed to a life of hospital food," Alex sighed. He walked over to Kelly's bedside table and grabbed the phone.
"What are you doing?" Libby asked.
"Calling RJ," Alex answered as he dialled the number for the loft. "There's no way I'm eating that crap stuff for the next little while until Kelly is discharged."
Hunter rolled his eyes but he didn't stop the teenager from ordering pizza. He was hungry himself, and one of RJ's pizzas sounded really good.
