Finally a new chapter!
Ron stirred, trying to open his eyes. He heard a voice.
"I think he's regaining consciousness. Radio in to headquarters."
What did they mean by that? It hurt to even think. He blinked twice.
The blurry image of people gathered around him slowly swam into focus. Ron tried to croak out the first word that came to mind.
"Mommy?" It came out as a weak grunt.
A broad shouldered man took command. "Back up, people. Give him some air."
"Are you alright, son?" He asked gruffly.
Did he look alright? He felt dead. Ron nodded weakly anyway.
"Looks like some minor cuts and bruises. Took a rough blow to the head, though. He's fortunate to have survived." The man seemed to be reporting to a guy with a legal pad.
Another one with a huge video camera stood by. Ron recognized the Channel 5 logo. Any other time it would have seemed cool to be on TV.
He tried to raise his head to look around for Kim. It was more painful than falling off his tricycle last week (thanks to the stupid garden gnome). A softspoken young woman prevented him from doing so.
"Oh, no. Stay still, you need rest. The EMTs will take you to Tri City Hospital right away."
He attempted to ask her about his best friend. "That's Barkin, Steve Barkin." She though he meant the man who had spoken to him earlier. "Don't mind his attitude. He's between jobs-just got out of the army- so he does these search and rescue missions all the time."
She laid a gentle hand on his forhead. "Everything is okay now."
Barkin returned to where Ron was. "The police says two missing child reports were filed. Beth, did you ask the kid if he was alone out here?"
"Is there somebody else?" Beth asked.
Once again Ron nodded.
"Maybe if we knew their name…"
He tried as hard as he could to say 'Kim Possible', but there wasn't much strength left in him.
"K…"
"K?"
"K…….P."
"KP?" Barkin said. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"He's weak. That's the best we can get at the moment."
Three uniformed people lifted him onto a stretcher. The last thing Ron heard before speeding away in the ambulance were loud voices in the woods calling out "KP! KP!"
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"KP!" Beth's voice was hoarse from yelling. She hoped he-or she- would understand. That is, if they weren't too late. She sighed inwardly. Already they had found three preteens out here, deliriously explaining how they had been saved by two little kids. This 'KP' would be the fifth in one day. If only parents would keep an eye on their children…
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Kim's eyes finally fluttered open after many failed trials. Each time she had been reminded of the sharp achy pain all over her body and reluctantly squeezed them shut. It felt horrible- worse, she expected, than when Ron had fallen off his trike last week because of that stupid garden gnome. She'd like to teach it a lesson or two like she did for the bullies at school and that bear. Ouch! Just the memory hurt.
Suddenly she heard voices in the distance. Human voices, thankfully. What were they saying? It sounded like two letters, K and P. She almost smiled, remembering how she and Ron had been the first team to master the alphabet in their PreK class.
Wait a minute, KP-those were her own initials! Could there be people looking for her? Like the volunteer group on the news? They had been searching for Tammy, Ned, and Max… even thinking was painful!
Kim closed her eyes again. She needed to rest for a moment.
This might be the beginning of the KP nickname. Update sooner, promise.