Middleton Hospital, 2:45 PM.
Shego was surprised to see how quiet the hospital was—the walls were still stained with soot in some areas, and many windows were boarded up, but by and large it looked fairly sleepy. Surprisingly, Dr. Possible was waiting for her.
"Dr. Possible?" Shego asked, surprised. "What are you doing out here?"
"The secretary is on break, and half the staff is transferred all over the country right now, helping with the clean up, and since we still don't have 24 hour power… a lot of procedures are being rescheduled." The red head answered. "So…we're all kind of doing double duty." She smiled. "Now… I'm assuming that you've finally decided to be a dear and stop avoiding me when I leave messages on your answering machine wanting a check up."
"Well…" Shego frowned. She's Kim's mom… do you think she's going to stay quiet if you hand her a weakness she can use? The natural answer came back to that. You were about as helpless as could be when she was putting you back together… But Still…
"Yeah." Shego said heartily, "I decided that after you and Kimmie had done so much, I could reciprocate."
"Mmmm…" Andrea said, indicating the door. "Well, then we'll start with a basic physical."
Inside, Shego quickly put on the hospital gown that Dr. Possible offered her and they started with the exam. Andrea looked at a data pad, and asked the air.
"Baby, is the MRI free?"
"No. Dr. Possible, it is booked until tomorrow at 6 PM. Shall I reserve an appointment?" Shego blinked.
"Baby's working at the hospital?" Dr. Possible smiled,
"Among other places… I'm going to have to give Wade and Kyoko a Christmas present." Shego groaned.
"What?"
"Do you know how many times Dr. D tried to make an AI?" There was a pause from Dr. Possible.
"They never worked?"
"That's an understatement." Andrea looked at Shego and tilted her head.
"What is going on with you and Drew right now?"
"Nothing… well nothing much." Shego said, "He's forty, for crying out loud…and everyone seems to think that we-" oops "Not that being forty is a bad thing, I mean." She wilted in front of Dr. Possible's gaze.
"Well…" Dr. Possible said, "I wouldn't know, since I'm 39…"
Dig that hole, girl! Shego's brain told her.
"Besides, he can't dance." Shego finished, lamely, even to her ears.
"hmmm…" Dr. Possible said, giving her level gaze and then smiled.
"Don't worry Shego, I'll just have to inform Jonathon tonight that I feel old and he needs to prove me wrong." A bigger smile, "And prove also that you and Drakken never did know the right weapon to defeat Kim Possible—send her running into the night, vowing to never break into your hideout's unannounced."
"Oh?" Shego asked fascinated.
"Coming in at 15 to see her parents making out." Dr. Possible deadpanned. "Almost caused a catastrophic heart failure….and at such a young age, too." She grinned, "And then made us swear on a stack of bibles that we would never engage in such unnatural behavior ever again."
With that, they started the medical exam. Two hours later, it was finished.
"Well… from your records…." Dr. Possible said, "I can say your comet powers are…impressive."
"That I can walk?" Shego asked.
"That you aren't eating through a tube." Possible answered. "Shego…I've never seen anyone so beaten as you were." She paused, "What about problems?"
Maybe I should wait on the blank spaces. Shego thought. But… She sighed.
"Yeah…I've been having a few." She paused, "And this is between us, right?"
"Heh…Ask Kimmie why I missed her 12th birthday." Shego blinked.
"Why?"
"A judge wanted a patient consultation…and well, long story short…I spent a week in jail over it." She paused, "I can't get honesty if I might go off and tell." Shego nodded. No better promise than that…and this was important.
"I've been having…blank spots." The beautiful mercenary told the doctor. "I'll…be standing and all of a sudden the clock just moves ten minutes."
"When you're alone?" Shego groaned.
"No…I had one in the checkout line." Andrea tapped her stylus against the pad.
"That…could indicate that you have not healed your brain damage fully."
"Well, duh!" Shego said. "The comet helped heal everything else."
"Including some of the damage to your hair, I see." Dr. Possible said, smiling slightly. Shego reached up and touched her hair, already long enough to serve as a serviceable bob.
"Yeah.. it gets to about this point and then really slows down—It'll be six months before I'm back…" Then, refusing to be distracted, Shego continued. "So why isn't it doing the same with the inside of my head?"
"You should be happy it isn't eager to screw with your head, Shego." Dr. Possible said. "Remember, that brain contains your memory…personality… what if the comet power decided to heal it by resetting it to say…the way it was when you were five?" Shego gulped, as Dr. Possible continued, "Shego, there were micro lesions and burst vessels throughout your entire brain…far too many for us to work on." She sighed, "If we'd had a full staff and room, you would still be under observation…but as it was, well…" Shego remembered—three to a room and they'd be cleared out the minute it looked like they wouldn't die for other casualties.
"Well… you have to-"
"But, we can transfer you in now…and I want you to check in so we can observe you."
"NO." Shego said. "Do you know how vulnerable a hospital is? I kidnapped Kim out of a more secured place then this one!"
"Shego, the world just almost came to an end…do you really think people are looking for you right now?"
"Look… trust me on this, staying here is a bad idea…and I'll just hang in my apartment for a while…" Shego said, "I can stay out of sight and I'll-"
"Shego… seizures are not normal and can cause damage, at the very least —what if you fall down and hurt yourself?"
"Oh Please." Shego said, offended, "Do you think I'm that-" She blinked as the edge of her vision turned kaleidoscopic. She shook her head.
"….Shego?" She heard Dr. Possibles voice like it was coming from the bottom of a well. Shego shook her head again and glared at Dr. Possible.
"Look, Doc, I'm FINE!" She said and barely had time to think oh no, before her vision dissolved into sparks of color and darkness.
Shego woke up, tasting blood, where she'd bitten her lip. Feeling something soft under her, she realized that Andrea had pillowed her head in her lap.
"My…that was an impressive Grand Mal seizure." The red head said. "Pretty long, too—five minutes, and then better than 3 minutes after that, before you came out of it." Shego licked her lips Andrea asked her to speak "give me the water." then accepted the proffered cup of water.
"Why didn't you stick something in my mouth to keep me from biting my tongue…or swallowing it?" She asked.
"Because I'm a doctor, and like every doctor, I wish that old wives' tale would die." Andrea replied, "Do you know how many people die of 'swallowing their tongue'? None—but more die from people putting something in their mouth that gets sucked into their windpipe. I asked you to speak before I gave you the water because your color looked fine but I wanted to make sure that your airway was completely open first" She paused, "Do you think you can get up?"
"Sure." Shego said, and rose up, immediately felt dizzy and lay back down again. Then, she looked at Dr. Possible and frowned. "Maybe…I need a hand."
"OK..." And with that, Dr. Possible and Shego, between the two of them, got Shego back into her seat. Shego blinked at the bruise on Dr. Possible.
"Did I hit you?"
"'Hit' implies control… you were flailing around and I got in the way of a fist." Dr. Possible said, and continued. "Has this type of fit happened before?"
"No." Shego gritted out. " But if it's getting worse…" She tried to keep the worry out of her voice. "Doc… my job skills pretty much need me to be able to cross a room without freaking out…" Dr. Possible sighed.
"Well, you could always change." Before Shego could retort, she continued, "But Shego… figuring out what is wrong requires time in the hospital, and I can't jump the line for the MRI. The comet healing ability seems to ensure you aren't in immediate danger of death…which is more than I can say for some of the other patients."
"So I stay home."
"Right…now you don't just have to worry about zoning out…you have to worry about flopping around like a gutted fish." Shego frowned at the image. "And… You'll notice you got that big seizure when you were upset… which indicates they're triggered by stress. Care to guess the odds that if you do get tracked down by an enemy, the same thing happens?" Shego turned pale.
"So what do you suggest?"
"Mmm…. Not Drew…if he's anything like Jonathon, when he's in the lab the Last Trumpet could sound and they wouldn't notice it."
"Oh yeah…"
"Not the hospital…" She snapped her fingers. "Our house!"
"What?"
"Certainly—Kim and Ron are there a lot, Hirotaka as well as Yori are staying with Ron's parents, especially since school hasn't started yet…and it's close enough so that if anything happens during the day, they can get back in fast…and the twins are there pretty much all the time…at least until school starts." She smiled, "If you're worried about an attack, Kim and Ron can protect you."
"Kimmie and Ron…protect me!" Shego glared at Ms. Possible, and Andrea returned the gaze with her own, completely unapologetic gaze.
"Name me someone better suited to protect you…that you have never actually managed to defeat." Shego opened her mouth, closed it, and then frowned.
"That's low." Andrea smiled,
"That's fact…" Then her expression became serious. "Shego… You saved my daughter…that's a debt I cannot repay, but let me try in this small way."
"Ronnie did most of it…"
"Ron is a very good man." Andrea said. "But without your help he never would have gotten to Japan." She paused and the devilish grin was back, "Besides, you can spread the rumor around that it was a way to insure the Possibles would owe you and now you're shamelessly taking advantage." Shego grinned, but Andrea noticed that the grin was a little forced…uncertain.
"How long?"
"At least a week—we have to line up the MRI first, than the CATSCAN, a dozen other little tests…get your full records."
"GJ has them." Shego said. "They did the tests when I was with Go-Team." Dr. Possible nodded,
"That'll help…. Baby?"
"Yes, Doctor Possible?"
"Be a dear and download Shego's records to my computer at home?"
"Very well."
"Thank you," Then to Shego. "And after that we have to develop a methodology… if we can—it may be a matter of waiting for your body to complete healing."
"But it will stop." Shego said. Dr. Possible didn't say anything. "Doc…it will stop…right?" Andrea shook her head.
"Shego… I can't make promises like that until I know precisely what is going on…I'm sorry, but I don't tell my patient's lies." Shego sighed.
It'll go away… it has to.
"Shego is staying here?" Kim asked, blinking.
"Yes, in the guest room." Her mother said, "Kimmie, don't tell me that you of all people are worried?"
"No…but…well…" Shego is staying in my house and I'm not worried that it's a plot to destroy us…which is so weird.
"How about I sneak in and attack you tonight, Kimmie." Shego said, nonchalantly, "That way everything can be normal so you can get your sleep…unless Ron is coming over, that is." She paused, and then in a very Shego voice, "In fact, how about if I just wait until Ron comes over…and surprise you… or maybe a threesome?" Kim turned so red that it looked like she was about to catch fire. Her desperate look at her mom showed Andrea that Shego was doing it to tweak Kim in front of her mother and, well…succeeding.
"Shego's kidding, Kimmie…"
"You sure?" Kim said, looking at Shego. Andrea couldn't resist…she would pay, but she couldn't resist.
"Well unless you haven't told us everything about that trip into Tokyo you took with Shego." Now Kim could have made a fire truck look pale.
"MOM!"
"Sorry Kimmie…your mother has to get her laughs somewhere…"
Later, that night, Shego lay in bed. The TV was off—the networks were barely back to six hours a day, and that mostly news and repeats. Eventhe power in the house, save for the emergency nightlights, was dead. Yep… It was their turn for the power rationing—not so much due to the power plants, as the damage to the power grid. She sighed, and looked at the walls. Pictures…
"Geez…. You'd think this was a photography museum." Shego muttered. All those pictures…was there a single park anywhere in the states that the parents hadn't dragged the kids to? With a grumble, she rolled over and went to sleep.
Hego was furious.
"How COULD you do this to us! Do you know that that means?" He roared advancing on Shego. All Shego could do was back up against the wall, hands' protectively over her pregnancy swollen belly. She'd known this was a bad idea…but she'd run out of excuses to stay away.
"Please, Hego…calm down!" Mego said, looking worried. Shego ran out of wall to slide along, ending up in the corner, hoping Hego wouldn't notice her again. No such luck.
"That's it…I'm sending you to a clinic in Europe where the baby will be born…and you will not engage in any more shameful behavior like this! You're a minor, I have custody, and you will stay there…if I have to order them to lock you in the room!" Shego looked around desperately for some support, any support…but there was only fury in Hego's face, worry in Mego's. Shego was alone, and found herself slipping down the wall, beginning to sob.
"Ah!" Shego woke up and looked at the clock. Three hours had passed. She growled and glared at the pictures on the wall. Damned pictures. She hadn't dreamed about that for over a year. Shego flopped over on her belly and pulled the pillows over her head.
But sleep was a long time coming.
To be continued.