Disclaimer: I own ONLY AnneMarie, Fabiola, Madam Velosomikh, Madamé Císerosa, K.C. Anderson, Amelia Herrington, and baby Mariah.

Summary: This may be out of order in whatever way, but hey, its my story, I get to decide how it goes. ;-) Sorry if it takes a while for me to get it posted, but I've been writing it in whatever time I get between classes and stuff and I'm laptop less so its all scribbled down on paper and I've actually gotta find time to type it all up. But hopefully I'll find enough time somewhere. =) Also, I've decided to make it easier on people to let me know what they think, and give me more ideas of what to write. If you would like, I can be reached via email or Yahoo! messenger at AdorableKittens2002Yahoo.com or via AOL instant messenger as PrincessSpzMnky . Feel free to drop me a line if you'd like. =) Happy Reading! =)

Author's Note: I'm sorry, I know its been FOREVER since I've updated. A LOT has happened since then. I know I keep promising I'll get something up soon, and I haven't. I'm so sorry, please don't hate me! ;-) LOL Thanks for all of the awesome feedback I've been getting, you guys are amazing readers! Thanks for sticking with me and not hating me too much for all the heart attacks I've caused. ;-) I've been soooooooooooo busy finishing out my semester at school, working full-time and packing for a major cross-country move, while trying to fit in the absolute HOTTEST of boyfriends. (He so is too!) =D Anyway! So much has happened, to me. As some of you already know, things happened, and I ended up staying in San Diego. =) I'm on a vacation from work right now, so I'm going to try to get a few chapters up before I go back in a couple of days, so please forgive me for all the stalling and I hope you enjoy the new chapters. =)

Preparing To Leave

1 Week Later Tommy sat in Kimberly's room, half watching TV, half sleeping, with a soundly sleeping Mariah laying on his chest, when his mom walked in the door with Doctor Fowler.

"Tommy? Are you awake?" Christine asked.

"Yeah . . . . . But Mariah is completely out."

"That's good . . . . ." she said as the doctor checked the machines surrounding Kimberly's bed. "Sweetie . . . . . You should go home. You've been here for a week . . . Its about time you headed home and got some rest."

"I'm not leaving until Kimberly does."

"Tommy, you know how long that is going to be . . . . . Kimberly's condition hasn't changed at all . . ."

"She's alive . . . . ." Tommy said softly.

"Honey . . . . . . . ." Christine said with a sigh. "Kimberly has been in a coma for a week, with no signs of change at all. She's pretty beat up . . . . . And Honey, the longer she stays in the coma, the worse the outlook . . . . ."

"She's alive . . . ."

"For now . . . ."

"Mom, don't go there!" Tommy warned her.

"Tommy . . . . . . . . ."

"No! I'm not leaving! . . . . . But if you want to, be my guest! But I'm staying right here!"

"Sweetie . . . . . You should go home. Mariah needs you to be her Dad. Not just the guy she sees every few days . . You have a job and a life to get back to . . . . Kimberly would want you to go back . . . . . . . ."

"Don't tell me what Kimberly would want! Stop talking about her like she's dead!"

"Tommy, you need to understand what's going on. Kimberly isn't getting better. She's hooked up to all these machines, hoping to keep her alive . . . But Honey, its not healthy for us to keep doing this and its running up a huge hospital bill that you're going to have to pay."

"I don't' care. When Kimberly wakes up, we'll deal with it."

"And what if she doesn't?"

"Stop it Mom! I don't want to hear it!"

"Tommy, please Sweetie . . . Think about your family. AnneMarie and Mariah both need you at home, and Jason and your students need you back at work."

"Mom, don't make me ask you to leave . . . . ."

"Tommy, her chances aren't too good. You need to start thinking about your other options. You need to take care of you!"

"Mom, you don't understand. Kimberly IS my other option! She's my ONLY option! I promised to always love and take care of her, and that is exactly what I am going to do! I don't care if she only has a 3% chance of living! That's chance enough for me! So I'm going to sit here and wait, until Kimberly wakes up, and I can finally take her home, where she belongs! But if you don't' want to be here, that's completely understandable, and you can leave! But Kimberly is my wife. She's the one person who would sit here forever with me, and I intend to do the exact same thing for her! So I'm staying!" Tommy said strongly.

"Tommy . . . . ."

"Don't Mom! Its over! I'm not leaving my wife!" Christine sighed as she turned to face Doctor Fowler.

"Mr. Oliver, I understand your position, and I agree with you. However, your wife hasn't made any progress since she came in . . ."

"She's alive! That's progress alone!"

"Ok . . . . . Why don't we make your life a little easier. I know you're pretty far from home over here . . . . . Let me see if I can get Kimberly a transfer to a hospital in or near Angel Grove. AT least then you're closer to home, should you choose to leave for a short break." Doctor Fowler said, being the voice of reason.

"Thank you Doctor Fowler. That would be nice." Tommy told him, giving his mom a 'I told you I was right' look.

An hour later Jason walked into the room to see his best friend in the exact same spot he had been in for the last week.

"Hey Bro!"

"Oh, hey Jase. What's up?"

"Not much. I just thought I would drive down and see how you're doing."

"I'm hanging in there . . ." he answered softly.

"How's Kim? Any news?"

"No . . . . . But my mom is being a pain, trying to convince me to give up and go back to my 'life'." Tommy answered, using air quotes to emphasize the word life. "Yeah, like I even have a life without Kimberly."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Actually, they're getting ready to transfer Kimberly home."

"To your house?"

"Well not home home, but to Angel Grove Memorial. She's not progressing here, so why keep her here, right?" Tommy said sarcastically. "So we're all going back to Angel Grove."

"Oh! Well that's good! At least you'll be home, and we won't have to drive 2 hours to visit."

"My mom seems to think that by transferring Kimberly, I'll go home to AnneMarie and Mariah."

"Yeah right! You? Leave Kimberly's side? Fat Chance!"

"Exactly!"

"I'm guessing you're going with Kimberly in the ambulance or whatever. Would you like me to take Mariah back with me, or do you have other plans?"

"Would you mind taking her?"

"No! Not at all! Tom, I'm her God Father for a reason, you know?!"

"I know . . . I just . . . . . I don't' want to put that on you."

"You're not. I offered, remember?"

"But still."

"Tom, I'll take her. We'll leave the same time that you do, and follow you back to the hospital."

"Thanks Jase. I owe you one."

"No you don't. Its what friends do."

"Yeah . . . . ."

"Did your brother come by here yesterday?"

"Yeah. He dropped Mariah off for a few hours. How's he doing back at the dojo with all my classes?"

"He's doing good! I gave him all the beginner classes and took all the advanced ones with Rocky. I didn't want to overload David and cause a relapse or anything."

"Being back is good for him. David needs something to do that he can look forward to. Teaching is good for him. He'll be able to get some of his strength back."

"Well the students are pretty happy to have him back, but they miss you."

"Well I miss them too, but teaching just isn't my number one priority right now."

"You know we're all here for you. Take as much time as you need."

"I know . . . . . . . . . ." Tommy said with a sigh, as he looked over at Kimberly.

"You miss her, don't you?"

" . . . . . . . . . Its like she's not even here . . . . . . . I would give anything to go back to last week, before she left for Santa Monica . . . . . . . . I would have at least told her that I loved her one more time than I did. Or I could have insisted on her taking my car or something . . . . . . ."

"Tommy, come on, stop beating yourself up over this."

"There's no way I'm buying her another Mercedes when she gets out of here. The only car I'm buying her, is the biggest, baddest, best, strongest metal SUV we can find."

"Tommy, Kim doesn't like SUV's."

"Yes she does actually. I just wanted her to have the car of her dreams, and she fell in love with that blue convertible. I knew I shouldn't have bought it for her. I knew it wasn't save enough. I should have insisted on her getting an SUV. I knew a small car wasn't a good idea! Look what happens when I fall for that smile! Every single time I fall for it, something happens!"

"Tommy, stop it . . . . Have you even talked to the insurance company yet?"

"Yeah, kind of. My Dad is taking care of most of it."

"What did they say?"

"Kimberly is 97.8% not liable for the accident." Tommy said with a sigh. "But her Mercedes is completely totaled."

"Idiots! She's more like 110% not liable!"

"That's what the cops said. But you know how the insurance companies are . . ."

"Yeah really."

"But they're willing to pay to replace Kimberly's car, and take care of all the medical bills."

"Well that's good!"

"Yeah, really. They're going after the guy that hit Kim, to pay for all the damage."

"Whatever happened to that guy anyway?"

"Jerk has whiplash and a broken arm."

"Figures! Was he drunk?"

"Yep!"

"I could kill him."

"Trust me, I've considered it."

"Sounds pretty good right about now, doesn't it?"

"More than you know."

"So, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Yeah right. Like I believe that line."

"Believe whatever you want . . . All that matters right now, is Kimberly's recovery."

"You matter too though Tom. Have you at least been eating?"

"Jason, I"m not 2 years old."

"Name the last meal you ate!"

"Jason, I'm fine!"

"Tommy, you need to take care of yourself too. Kimberly needs you to be strong for her."

"I'm fine."

"Mr. Oliver, Doctor Fowler asked me to let you know that we will be ready to transport your wife in just a few minutes." a nurse said, sticking her head in the door.

"Ok, thank you." Tommy said tiredly.

"Are you ready to go home?"

"I'm not going home."

"You know what I meant."

"Did anyone drive down here with you, or did you come alone?"

"Why? Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No. I need someone to take my car back home."

"Oh . . Well . . . . Let me make a call."

"No, that's fine, I'll take care of it."

"Actually, Aisha drove down with me. She went to some meeting that Kimberly had scheduled. I'm sure she wouldn't mind driving one of our cars back."

"My mom has Mariah's carseat."

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

"I need to go buy another one anyway . . . . ."

"How about we let Aisha take care of that. She'll enjoy it more than we would."

"That's fine. Kim picked out the old ones, but I don't' think she's going to be up to doing it again."

"Probably not for a while."

"How's the store going? Has Aisha said anything?"

"They're getting a lot of cards and flowers."

"Yeah, where do you think all these came from?" Tommy said, looking around the room. "My mom brought a lot of them in."

"Well you haven't seen your house yet."

"Do I want to know?"

"Aisha and I put a lot of them inside to brighten up the house, but still had a lot left, so they're living your front and back walk ways."

"Seriously?"

"It looks good though."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Is Darlene flying in?"

"She's supposed to be here tomorrow."

"Why is she coming so late?"

"I don't know. She said that she would fly out immediately if we needed her, but if possibly, she'd like to get through some meetings, so she cold spend more time with us . . . I have no idea, Kimberly is the only one who actually understands Darlene."

"She just has different priorities. Don't try to understand it, Darlene will drive you crazy."

"I know. Kimberly has been telling me that for ears. I love Darlene and everything, but there are just certain things about her, that I just don't understand!"

"Trust me, you're not the only one."

"Tommy, are you ready?" Christine asked, walking into the room. "Oh hey Jason! I didn't know you were here!"

"Hey Mrs. Oliver."

"Jason, you know you can call me Christine or even Mom! Mrs. Oliver just makes me feel old."

"Ok." Jason smiled.

"Tommy, the ambulance is waiting outside. The EMTs will be here to transport Kimberly any minute."

"Ok . . ."

"Here, I'll take Mariah. I need to pick Aisha up in a couple hours, so I'll drop Mariah by the hospital on our way home." Jason offered.

"My car keys are in the drawer right next to you." Tommy said kissing his daughter, before passing her to his best friend. "I love you Princess." he said softly.

"Hey Baby Girl!" Jason said happily, as he took Mariah. "How's the most adorable little girl in the world?"

"Jason, I can take Mariah if you'd like." Christine told him.

"Its ok, I'll take her. I'm sure you'll be busy helping when you get back to Angel Grove. I'll just bring her by when I get back."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Its no problem! I told Tommy I'd bring his car up anyway."

"Oh, ok! Thanks Jason!"

"Any time! I just need to get her carseat."

"Ok, I'll walk you down once we get Kimberly all loaded up."

"Ok, just let me know when you're ready."

"I will. Mariah, Nana needs a smile!" Christine said, gently pulling the pacifier out of her mouth. "Will you smile for Nana? Please?"

"No, but she'll smile for Daddy, won't you Princess? You love Daddy!" Tommy said gently tickling her. Mariah slowly smiled, reaching her arms out toward Tommy.

"Oh, Baby!" Jason said with a chuckle.

"Oh, come see Daddy." Tommy said, taking his daughter again. "Nana has your Binki! You need to give her a smile, so you can get it back!" Mariah just laid her head on Tommy's shoulder, snuggling her face into th crook of his neck.

"You love your Daddy, don't you?" Christine said gently rubbing Mariah's back as she turned her face back toward Christine and Jason. Mariah latched onto Tommy's shirt, holding it tight in her tiny little fist. "You are such a Daddy's girl!" Christine said, handing Mariah's pacifier to Tommy.

"No, she's Mommy's little girl, aren't you Princess? You love Mommy the most, don't you?"

"Everybody likes Kimberly better than you!" Jason said sarcastically. "They're crazy not to!"

"Tommy, Mariah has been so good lately!" Christine told him. "She cries herself to sleep at night, I'm sure because she wants Kimberly, but she is really good the rest of the time!"

"Kimberly always rocked her at night, singing her to sleep." Tommy said softly.

"Kimberly is such a good Mom." Christine said with a gentle smile.

"Yes she is." Jason agreed.

"Mariah misses her." Tommy added. "We all do . . . . . . . . . . ."

"She'll be going home soon." Jason said, gently laying a hand of Tommy's shoulder for support. "She just has to get better." Tommy looked down at the baby in his arms, gently kissing her head. "Everything is going to be ok."

" . . . . I hope so . . . . ." Tommy said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Ok, looks like we're all ready!" Doctor Fowler said in a cheerful voice as he walked into the room with 2 EMTs following behind him. "Tommy, are you ready?"

"About as ready as I'll ever be." Tommy agreed reluctantly.

"Hi Baby Girl!" Doctor Fowler said, gently patting Mariah's back. "Angel Grove Memorial has Kimberly's room all ready for her, and Doctor Meyers is awaiting her arrival. I've decided that it is better to fly her over, rather than drive, so mercy air is waiting on the roof."

"Oh! Ok!" Christine agreed in a soft voice.

"Well, let's do it then." Doctor Fowler said, then began helping the EMT's switch Kimberly's IV and oxygen lines, then hook her up to a different cardiac monitor.

"Tommy, its going to be ok." Jason said, seeing the tears in his best friend's eyes.

"Tommy, I've got our things." Christine said grabbing her son's duffle bad, and putting ins things from the nearby table and night stand, inside.

"Come here Mariah." Jason said, once again taking Mariah from Tommy. Tommy kissed his daughter again as he let Jason take her, then turned to face his wife as Doctor Fowler helped the EMTs move her to a Gurney. Tears began to stream out of Tommy's eyes and run down his face, as he watched the scene playing out before him. Jason squeezed Tommy's shoulder in support, as the tears flowed freely.

"Ok, let's roll!" Doctor Fowler said when Kimberly was ready to move, direction everybody out of the room and into the hall. "Tommy , will you be traveling with your wife, or will you be arriving on your own?"

I would like to go with her, if I may." Tommy answered softly.

"Of course. Christine, I'll be sure they're taken care of." Doctor Fowler assured his friend. "It was great to see you again! Let me know if you decide to switch hospitals. I would be more than happy to have you on staff here."

"Thank you Doug. Its been great to see you again too. I'll let you know when we get any news in Angel Grove."

"Sounds good! Keep in touch."

"I will, you too."

"Sure thing." he said gracing her with a smile. "Tommy, I'll lead you to the roof." he said, then turned to follow the EMTs down the hallway.

Doctor Fowler led the small group to the waiting helicopter on the roof, helping to load Kim and Tommy inside, then watching it lift off for Angel Grove, before heading back to his patients inside the hospital.

To Be Continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .