Ok boys and girls I'm back for chapter twelve. Today we find out what happened to Ron. I changed what I originally had as the outcome (because of all of you). Turn Ron evil and people tend to hate him, but try and kill him and suddenly he's a saint. So okay, Ron lives. What happened to him as a result of the explosion? Read the chapter and find out.

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Chapter 12: Good for Bad

Kim alternated between sitting nervously and pacing the floor endlessly. Her parents had long ago quit asking her to decide on one or the other. It had been a long ten hours since they got the call from Kim. The good news? She had found Ron. The bad news? He had been critically injured in an explosion and might not live through the night. A team of the best doctors in Middleton had been working nonstop to save him.

"Why haven't they told us anything?" Kim said to no one in particular.

Mrs. Dr Possible was just about to tell her to relax again when a doctor finally came to speak with them.

"Is he ok?" Kim asked in an almost frantic voice.

"He's ok." The doctor assured her. Kim breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Mr. Stoppable's condition has stabilized, but it is still very touch and go. We can expect, with any luck, that he will make an almost total recovery"

"What do you mean almost total recovery?" Kim asked.

"Unfortunately he is comatose, so we can't be certain until he regains full consciousness; but, we fear that there is going to be some level of paralysis from the waist down." He could see that Kim wasn't taking the news very well. "As I said we aren't certain of it. However, unfortunately, early indications point to total permanent paralysis."

"Oh god, no." Kim sobbed as she sat down crying.

Her mother sat down with her and hugged her. "He's alive Kimmie, that's what's important now. Besides I'm sure that the doctors are doing all they can for Ron. Isn't that right Nick?" She asked the doctor, using his first name.

"Yes, that's right Mrs. Possible." The doctor knelt down and gave Kim a second assurance, "He is alive, and stable."

"When can I see him?" Kim asked as she wiped some of her tears away.

"You can see him now, if you like. Please keep it short though, he needs to rest." Nick said motioning for a nurse to come and take Kim to see Ron.

The nurse led Kim into the ICU and to a private room. "Please don't touch anything; and, try to keep it under five minutes."

Kim nodded her head and stepped into the room. There was so little of Ron to see through all the thick white bandages that covered his face and hands. He had a tube going into his nose and one down his throat. He also had several IVs hooked into both his arms, most likely pain medication Kim thought. The only sounds in the room were the slow steady beeping coming from the heart monitor and the intermittent mechanical hiss of oxygen-rich air being pumped into his lungs.

Kim looked around the room. She had been in the ICU before, when she assisted as a 'Sunshine Spreader', but she hadn't noticed just how sterile the rooms actually were. There wasn't much in it except the bed Ron was on and the monitors. She did notice the small desk/table in the corner. It had some various medical supplies on top and, as she knew, a bible in the drawer. Kim opened the drawer and picked up the bible, flipping through the pages until she found the passage she was looking for. She didn't know all that much about the Jewish faith, but this verse seemed appropriate. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…" She continued reading it aloud to the end. When she finished she placed the bible back into the drawer. She sat back down next to Ron and closed her tear-filled eyes. She could see him as he was, as he used to be. Walking with her into Bueno Nacho, smiling, happy. When she opened her eyes, reality set back in. He wouldn't walk again, he wouldn't be hers again, and he would most likely never see the world through free eyes again.

Although the police in Middleton were at times inept, even they would probably make the connection between Ron and Silver eventually. She didn't have an excuse for what had happened to Ron. She didn't have an excuse for why he was dressed as he was when she brought him in. Besides that, Global Justice already knew that Ron was Silver; Will Du had made sure of that. How long would it be before they came looking for him? What was she going to do?

Kim noticed the small container marked "personal effects" sitting on the floor near the bed. She picked it up and opened it. The Silver costume, or what was left of it, was in it. They had to cut it off him so they could operate. The shirt had been split up the middle and the cuffs and neck were cut off it as well. The pants were cut along the outsides of the legs from waist to ankle.

"The cops haven't asked about this yet, but they will. I don't know what to do…" Kim sighed. "They'll put together that when you went missing, Silver popped up; and, when you came back, in a coma, he disappeared." Kim said as she closed the lid on the box, keeping it on her lap.

"Then there's Shego to deal with. I know you want me to help her with your kid." Saying the words 'your kid' and 'Shego' together made Kim wince. How had it ever come to this? "And I will. If she'll let me. If I can even find her." Kim spent the next several minutes in silence, just staring at Ron.

The nurse stepped into the room, "Times up Kim. You have to leave now, let him rest. You can see him again tomorrow." Kim stood up and started for the door, still holding the box with the Silver costume in it. "Sorry Kim, but that has to stay. Hospital regulations." Kim reluctantly set the box back on the floor.

Kim did come back to visit tomorrow and everyday after that. She wasn't Ron's only visitor, not by a long shot. Everyone from school had stopped by at least once, even Bonnie. Tara visited several times, sometimes with other kids and twice by herself. Ron had been something of a hero to her since Cheer Camp at Lake Wannaweep. Monique visited at least once a week and sometimes brought Wade along with her. Kim had often wondered if she would ever actually meet the boy genius that she knew so well. Under different circumstances it might have meant something more to her, but meeting him here, like this, no.

Kim had always asked at the nurse's station if anyone who fit Shego's description had visited Ron. The answer was always the same. "No." Kim wondered if Shego even knew where Ron was, if she even cared.

It had been two and a half months since Ron was admitted. If the police hadn't figured it out by now, maybe they never would. The thought of Ron not being arrested made her smile. She turned the corner into his room when her eyes saw him. It was Officer Hobble, the Deputy Chief of Police. "Officer H-Hob-Hobble?" Kim stammered out. Her heart began to race a mile a minute.

Did they know? Was Ron going to be taken away? "What are you doing here?"

"Oh. Good afternoon Ms. Possible." He said rather sadly. "I just stopped by to visit your friend Ronald. I had wanted to come by earlier but, you know the saying, duty calls."

Kim's mood lightened a bit, he didn't seem to be here on business, and she smiled a nervous but relieved smile. "I'm sure Ron appreciates you stopping by."

"I had a partner, Jimmy McGinnis. We started out together back in New York City in 1976."

Some tears began to form in the tough cop's eyes. "We were on a call, helping the Fire Department with crowd control on a fire. There was a lady trapped inside and Jimmy…damned fool that he was…he went in after her. He got her out, but h-he didn't make it."

"I'm sorry." Kim was in tears now as well.

"Thank you. I just wanted Ron to know that we're all with him." Officer Hobble wiped his cheeks with a handkerchief. He took a small golden pendant out of his shirt pocket and laid it on the table. It was of St Michael, the patron saint of police officers. The sad, tender moment was interrupted by the sudden squawk of his radio; he was needed on a call. "Well, duty calls." He said before turning and walking fairly quickly out of the room. Kim was glad to see him go, sure, it was nice that he had stopped by; but if the police ever did figure out that Ron was Silver. She didn't want to think about it.

Kim sat down in a chair next to the bed. Ron had finally been transferred out of the ICU into a regular room. Complete with a TV, the hospital staff had told her that the sound from it was good for him. But she needed quiet time with him, she muted the volume. Ron's condition had improved a great deal, his bandages were off and he was able to breathe on his own. But, he was still comatose. Cards wishing him a speedy recovery had been pouring in from all over the world. Everyone that they had helped over the years sent something, even if it wasn't much Kim appreciated the thought behind it. His room was extra full of cards and flowers today, it was his birthday.

He was eighteen now. Kim should have been happy for him, he was finally a man. She could only see it as trouble. "Now if the police do ever figure it out you'll be tried as an adult." She said to him quietly. Kim had turned eighteen a few months ago but was too busy dealing with Ron being Silver to do much celebrating. Kim sat quietly just thinking about how much his life had changed since Ron's last birthday. His parents, Rufus…he'd lost so much.

A soft knock on the doorframe interrupted her reminiscence. "Come in," Kim said before turning to see who it was. Was it Monique or Tara? Nope. It was, "Shego?"

"If you don't mind," Shego said as she gave Kim a dirty look, "I'd like to spend some time alone with my Ron."

Shego looked to be about six months pregnant. Her clothes were loose fitting and a bit ragged.

"Are you going to leave or not?" Shego asked in an annoyed tone.

"I'll be out in the hall if you need me." Kim said, speaking as much to Ron as she was to Shego. Kim got up from her chair and stepped out into the hall.

Shego stepped up to Ron's bedside and leaned over, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry it took me so long to come visit you Ronnie. You know how hard it can be to go places when you're wanted in eleven countries." She smiled as the thought of how Ron had said 'make that 12' when he first saw a photo of her crossed her mind. She sat down on the edge of his bed and took out a small cupcake with a candle in it. She fired up one of her fingers, lit the candle and began to sing happy birthday to him. Kim stood in the hallway crying, hearing it sung with such emotion, at a time like this, it was heartbreakingly sad.

By the time Shego was done singing tears were running down her face. "Well if you're not going to blow it out." She said as she blew the candle out. "Sorry I couldn't get you something bigger; but, that's all I could afford. What, with having to eat for two myself." Shego said as she put his hand on her belly. "A few more months and your gift will be here."

Kim stood silent in the doorway; she didn't trust Shego alone with Ron, no matter what. Shego continued to speak to Ron. "We're out of money, the baby and I. When you didn't come back with that diamond. I knew something had happened to you. If you had been arrested, I probably could have broken you out. We could have gotten more money. But now, I'm too far along to do much of anything." She dabbed her finger into the chocolate frosting and slid it into Ron's mouth, letting him have a taste of his cake.

"Shego?" Kim asked.

"What do you want?" Shego growled, annoyed at being disturbed during her private time with Ron.

"I just wanted to…" Kim started to speak.

"You've got a lot of nerve princess." Shego snapped as she stood up. "The reason Ron is like this is because of you."

Kim kept herself from shouting, 'no, you're the reason he's like this!' and instead asked. "Do you want to live with me until the baby comes?"

"What makes you think I would want to do that?" Shego said coldly.

"I know you're out of money, and…" Kim's voice dropped a bit, "Ron asked me to help you."

Shego looked at Kim. After all the bad things Ron had told her about Kim. After all the things he had done to her. He still trusted Kim enough to want her to help with the baby. Maybe she could trust her too, after all what did she have to lose? "Ok."

Kim couldn't believe it. "What?"

"I said ok, let's go. I want to see how you explain this to your parents." Shego said with an odd smile on her face.

Kim smiled back at her, for the first time in a long time, "Things are looking up." She said as she looked at Ron.

As the two left the room together a small smile found its way on Ron's lips. Things were really looking up.