Disclaimer: Well I know I don't own them I am just in a playful mood. I have decided exactly what I want to do with these characters. This is going in a direction that even I am surprised by. So on with the show.

Chapter 5

Another hour passed as the group of five friends waited to here news on Kimberly's condition. Tommy had long since sank to the floor from his standing position. Jason had taken to pacing the length of the waiting room. Tanya and Kat were seated together on one of the leather coaches. Rocky stood by the window watching Jason pace with a thoughtful expression on his face. Adam was once again at the sign in window trying to get word on Kim's condition. Though he claimed to not know what was wrong with their friend, Adam's eyes told them that he did have a vague idea of the problem was. Adam walked back to the group shaking his head.

"They will come and talk to us when they get word to." Adam said as he placed a hand on Jason's shoulder. Jason turned to the former green ranger, his midnight eyes asking the same question they had asked earlier that night.

"What do you really think it is Adam?" Jason asked, his voice husky and low, barely more than a whisper.

Tommy looked up at the two young men that were no more than five feet away from him. He had been stunned to arrive at Jason's to find Kim so sick. When she had left him at the park earlier she had seemed fine. Quiet and quite different than the last time he had spoken with her. It had him upset that Kim had gone to Jason's apartment. He was starting to wonder if there was more to Kim and Jason besides the lifetime of friendship they shared. He had seen that Kim was wearing a set of Jason's sweats. Tommy tried to shake the building jealousy to listen to what Adam was going to say.

Adam looked around at the people he considered to be not only his friends but his family. He had a good idea of what might be wrong with Kimberly. He didn't however want to tell his friends about it. There was no need to have them worry. Adam once again locked eyes with Jason.

"Did she tell you if she didn't feel good?" Adam asked. "Any symptoms?"

Jason looked down as he recounted Kim arriving at his door right after the storm began. He told them about how she had been soaking wet so he had her change. Then about her falling asleep and his soon following into the land of dreams. "I woke up and went to push the hair out of her face and realized she was burning up with fever and that her breathing was slightly labored." Jason sighed as he finished. "Oh and she was rubbing her neck, she didn't say anything about it but she was definitely in pain."

Adam's eyes startled Jason when he spoke of Kim's neck pain. He knew that this confirmed whatever it was that Adam suspected Kim of having.

"Are you sure that her neck was bothering her?" Adam asked softly.

"As sure as I can be. She was rubbing it and acting like it was bothering her."

"Well I hate to admit this but I think I have an idea on what Kim might have. I could be wrong but this is an educated guess. The fever and neck ache point in this direction"

"Adam get to the point already!" Rocky growled from his place next to Tommy.

"I.." Adam started and then stopped as he looked around the room. What if I am wrong, he thought. Jason's eyes boring down on him made Adam utter his next words.

"Spinal Meningitis"

"What?" Tanya asked from her seat next Katherine. "How could she have that. I thought that there were vaccines for that."

"There is a vaccine for viral meningitis. If she has meningitis it's probably the bacterial kind and more severe especially with her fever spike." Adam said softly.

All became quiet again after Adam's speech. Tommy stood up and began to gaze out the window. He was almost sure now that there was something in between Jason and Kim. Jason knew he still loved Kim, why would he go for her. Kim had been distressed when around him earlier that day but why would she be so at ease with Jason. He knew that Kim and Jason shared a bond but they did too. The more Tommy thought about it the more he was starting to get angry. Angry with Jason for taking what Tommy thought was his. Hurt that Kim would chose to hang with Jason than with himself. Before he was able to vent any of his feelings to his friends a nurse came through the double swinging doors.

All eyes turned to the tall woman in navy blue scrubs. She had a kind face that had a serene yet tired look to it. It was her duty to tell this group of young people what was wrong with their friend. She watched as each one of them looked her way. Some of them had looks of hope while others looked as if she was going to confirm their worst nightmare.

"Well?" asked Tommy.

"My name is nurse Hathaway, you can call me Ashleigh. We have managed to keep the fever in between 104 and 105 degrees though we have been unable to bring it lower. After we were able to bring the fever down and the threat of seizures was lower we performed a spinal tap. During the procedure we extracted fluid from the spinal canal to be tested for bacteria. We have the lab results and I am afraid that it shows Kimberly has Meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis."

"In English?" Rocky asked.

"Kimberly is very sick. Her heart rate has rose and we are worried about the fever. She has remained unconcious throughout most of the night. When awake, she was delirious due to the fever. However, I need to know if there is a Jason among you."

"I'm Jason." He said stepping toward Nurse Hathaway. Tommy's blood began to boil as he listened to the nurse explain to them that Kim had repeated one thing while awake and delirious. Jason. She was calling for Jason. Even when she was delirious it was his name that she called. Tommy was ready to fly through the roof when Rocky placed a strong hand on his shoulder. He watched as the nurse led Jason through the double doors that blocked them all from Kim. Tommy brushed Rocky's hand off him and left the waiting area for a breath of fresh air. He needed to clear his head. Rocky, Adam, Kat and Tanya waited until he left to begin talking about what they should do next.

Jason followed the nurse to a small room with chair and a counter. He listened while she explained to him that he would have to have an injection of antibiotics before he would be able to spend prolonged time with Kim to prevent him from contracting the illness. She removed the needle and placed a band-aid on his arm and then led him down the hall to Kim's room.

"I have a chair waiting for you next to the bed. Don't be afraid to ask if you need anything." With that she patted him on the shoulder and turn to go about her rounds.

Jason slowly opened Kim's door and prepared himself for the worst. The only light in the room was that of the machines that were monotering Kim's vitals. Jason sat down in the chair never taking his eyes off Kim. Her chest rose and fell softly, though she had stopped shaking Jason knew that the fever still raged on. He noticed that she had oxygen tube running just under her nose. There was an i.v. attached to her left arm and an e.k.g monitoring her heart.

Jason reached forward and took Kim's burning hand in his own. They had been through so much together. He refused to believe that meningitis could bring her down when sixty foot monsters that shot electricity from their fingers could not. She had had his support then and she had it now. He remembered the first time he had met Kim. They had been five and were seated next to each other the first day of elementary school. Though Billy had been his best friend Jason had excepted Kim into the two's friendship.

Jason turned her hand in his praying that she was going to come through this okay. He had come to terms with his feelings for Kim when she had fallen asleep in his lap. He knew that he was falling in love with her. Had been since the day he saw her up on the cliffs. He knew it sounded crazy. Tommy was his best friend, his bro and he knew that Tommy was still in love with her. Jason wanted more than anything to make Kim well, to take away all of her pain, pain from the past and that of the present. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize Kim's eyes were open and she was watching him softly turn her hand over in his own.

Kim struggled to regain consciousness. She had to get to Jason. He would make it all better. The pain in her neck was becoming hard to bare. Jason always knew how to make her feel better. Kim felt someone take her hand. She would know that hand anywhere. Jason had come. The need to open her eyes became stronger. He would be worried about her. When Kim was finally able to pry her eyes open she was bombarded with pain and nausea. She turned her eyes to him watching him gaze at her hand that he was holding.

Jason felt her eyes after a few moments and looked up at her. He was startled by her doe brown eyes. Even in the dim light he could see that they were fogged with pain. He leaned forward as she tried to talk.

"It's okay Kim," he said when she couldn't find her voice. "I'm here for you."

"Make it stop." She whispered to him.

"Make what stop, Kim?" He would do anything in his power to make her feel better but he had no idea what she wanted.

"Make…the…pain…stop." Her eyes were beginning to glass over and she felt her grip on coherent consciousness slipping away. "Please Jase."

Jason wanted more than anything to be able to help her. He would gladly take all of her pain away and bare it himself. He watched as she closed her eyes and tightened her grip on his hand.

"Please…" she whispered again. Her grip on his hand was softening and Jason knew that she was going back to the blackness of unconsciousness. At least there she wouldn't feel any of the pain. Perhaps the next time she woke back up the fever will have broken and she would be on the path to recovery.

Tommy came back into the waiting room to find Tanya asleep on Adam's shoulder and Rocky hugging Kat in the corner. They had agreed that they would stay at the hospital until they got word that Kim's fever had dropped. They felt that they needed to stay not only for Kimberly but for Tommy also. Rocky had shared what he had seen in Tommy's eyes that night. Jealousy and rage. They knew that Tommy still had feelings for Kim but it appeared that there might also be something going on with Kim and Jason.

Tommy sat down on an empty chair across from Adam and Tanya.

"I am sorry I ran out." He finally said.

"We understand." Katherine said coming forward.

"Any more news?"

"Jason came out a little while ago. He said that she came around for a few minutes and then passed back out. She is in a lot of pain. Jason is going to let is know when the fever breaks. We can see her one at a time when that happens. So we thought that we would wait until then before going home. Kim needs to know that we are here for her."

Soon the tired group of friends began to fall asleep. Tommy was the last to doze off and he held on until the sun was almost up.

Ok so this chapter took me a whole lot longer than I thought it was going to. I hope that you all like this one and the turn that I am taking with it. Please read and review!!!!!!! *********Jules**********