Let me preface this by saying that I am no doctor, nor do I portray one on TV. (the old folks out there should recognize that)… and I am not sure how a crushed throat would be treated, or if it can be. Anyways, I figure if in this universe Ron can have MMP, then they can treat a crushed throat the way I have written…

The "Ever Present" Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for Dual. The Bebe robot is a concept owned by the original creators of Kim Possible.

Chapter 7

Ron awoke about an hour earlier with four problems. One, he didn't know where he was, two, his left arm was immobilized, three, he had a terrible sore throat, and four, he couldn't speak! Needless to say he was a little freaked.

After the Doctor and nurses were finally able to calm him down, they explained what was wrong with him. Although, it took a strap or two to hold him in the bed so he couldn't hurt himself, or anybody else. His throat had almost been crushed, and his shoulder had been dislocated when he was yanked out from under the wrecking ball. Now he had a tube down his throat to help support the broken trachea bones. (For the life of him, Ron couldn't remember what a trachea was.) It would have to be there for the next couple of days.

Since he had this tube down his throat, he was unable to speak, so they had given him a pen and a notebook. The first thing he wrote down, was 'Where is Kim?'

Since it was now the night shift, and it appeared no one on dayshift had updated them, the night shift didn't know a thing. They had no idea who Kim was.

Now Ron was resting as peacefully as he could with an arm strapped to his side, and a plastic tube down his throat, when he suddenly heard a loud commotion going on just outside his door. He could hear shuffling, and quite a few voices yelling, something like "Stop her!" and, "Hang on to her!"

Then he heard a voice that was unmistakable. It was Kim! "I know he's in there! He's my friend! He's my partner! Now let me in… that… room! Ron!" She had yelled out even louder. "Are you in there?" Ron couldn't do anything since he was still strapped to the bed.

Suddenly the door burst open, and Kim landed on the floor underneath a couple of burly orderlies. As soon as her and Ron's eyes met, she found strength she never knew she had, and flung these big guys off, and launched herself at Ron. The two hugged fiercely as her arms wrapped around his neck, and Ron wrapped his one good arm around her waist.

Standing up and rubbing his head where a welt was sure to rise, one of the orderlies mumbled, "I guess she does know him."

The orderlies and security left the room, while the doctor and one of the nurses checked on Ron to make sure he hadn't strained anything. They also removed the straps, now that they knew why he had gone nuts earlier.

Kim spoke first. "Oh Ron… I thought you were… dead!" Tears of joy flowed out of her green eyes. Ron didn't say anything. He couldn't. "Ron, please say something." Then she noticed the tube sticking out of his mouth about an inch. The next thing she saw was some bruises on his neck, which just happened to match the size and shape of her fingers.

"Oh my God… Ron…" She whispered to herself as she brought a hand to her mouth. "Are you… OK?" She asked, gently lay a hand on his cheek.

Ron picked up his note pad, and wrote. 'Yeah, I'm fine. They wouldn't tell me where you were. I thought I had lost you!' By now the Doctor and Nurse had quietly let themselves out of the room so the two could be alone.

"Oh Ron… I am so… so… sorry." More tears started to flow as Kim knew she was the reason Ron was laying in front of her like this.

Ron started to write on his pad again. 'That's OK, Kim. Please, don't cry. You weren't yourself. Although if you hadn't been trying to hurt me, I would have thought you looked kinda cool.'

"Ron, Please! I could have killed you!"

'But you didn't.' Ron wrote. 'So don't worry about it. So now that we know each other is OK, what's next?'

Kim was slightly taken aback by Ron's sudden change of subject. She looked in his eyes, and saw that he was all business. "Well," Kim said, "I think I should go back to the Bebe site, and look around. That wrecking ball didn't just drop on it's own."

'Are you sure? By yourself?'

"Well you can't do anything." Kim replied.

'My legs are still good.' He wrote with a smile. Kim then noticed some saliva was running down Ron's lower lip, from the tube. Instinctively she took a Kleenex from a nearby box, and wiped his mouth off. As she did so, a tear fell from Ron's eye.

"Ron," Kim said when she saw this. "What's wrong?"

'Nothing Kim, no big.'

"Wrong, Ron! This is very big! I know you, what's wrong?"

'It's just, I suddenly feel like such a burden to you. Getting hurt like I did. I don't want you to…' Kim lay her hands on his, making him stop writing.

"Ron, Please…"

He gently set her hands down on the bed, and then continued to write. She let him continue. '… give up your life, ever, to care for me. I don't want to hold you back Kim. I want you to…' He paused writing. '…be happy.'

"Ron, I'm happy when I'm with you." Kim's eyes seemed to shimmer when she said those words.

Suddenly Ron got a look of pure determination on his face. He just HAD to tell her. This was the moment. But he forgot he had something down his throat. "Kihhh, I… uhhh… ewww."

"Ron, I can't understand you. Please, write it down so you don't hurt your throat."

With another tear in his eye he picked up the pad. 'What I have to tell you I want to say with my own voice. After I heal some more, I'll tell you. OK?'

"OK." Was all Kim answered.

Ron wrote on his pad again. 'So what are you going to look for?'

"I'm not sure yet, but maybe Wade can scan the site for weirdness."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kim arrived at the site, and shuddered when she saw the wrecking ball sitting there in the dirt. It had buried itself at least a good 2 feet into the ground. She didn't even want to think about what could have happened. The area was bathed in construction lights, so she had no problems looking around.

She started to walk around it, looking for clues. When she saw the grizzly blood stain, Kim froze. She could tell immediately that it wasn't anything that was painted, and she almost retched at the sight of it.

She then pulled the Kimmunicator from her pocket and keyed Wade. "Hey Wade. Can you scan the area around here for anything out of place?"

"Sure Kim." He typed furiously, and Kim stood near the center of the half-demolished building, and slowly turned so Wade could scan the entire area. "All done." He said after she had turned all the way around.

"Wellll…?"

"Off to your left, not far from the wrecking ball, is a shaft that leads down under ground. It's under that pile of debris. I think that's where you had rose up when you were… well…"

"I understand Wade." Kim said, noticing her friend's reluctance to mention what she had become earlier.

She walked over to the pile of junk, and moved a few pieces of metal, and bricks. Eventually Kim un-covered the shaft that the cylindrical elevator had risen out of earlier in the day.

Noticing the recessed rungs of an access ladder, Kim grabbed a flashlight from her backpack, and descended into the darkness. It wasn't far until she reached the bottom.

Swinging the light around, Kim saw she could only go in one direction, as the elevator was at the end of a hallway. Every once in a while, she could see some very dim emergency lighting, as the battery packs were slowly running down. After walking about 50 yards or so, Kim walked up to a large metal sliding door at the end of the hallway.

Still open, she stepped through the door, and was suddenly assaulted by some terrible memories! Flashes of light entered her mind, along with the sounds of her screaming as she was strapped onto a very cold table. A Bebe robot was attaching things to her. A cannon of some sort was attached to her left arm, and something covered her left eye. She remembered feeling a bunch of sharp pricks as the headpiece was placed on her head.

Shaking her head at the memories, her eyes finally adjusted to the light in the room. Dim red lights illuminated certain areas, giving the room a sinister feel. Looking around, she saw a door off to the side, and there was a memory of that door that made her shy away at first. Kim knew that was where she had to go.

Stepping around the table that she was so brutally treated, she walked over to the door, half expecting it to be locked. The door easily pushed open. This has got to be a trap. She thought.

No sooner had the thought entered Kim's mind, a flash of something came at her and knocked her into the far wall. She dropped the flashlight breaking it. Suddenly it was pitch dark, and some thing cold and hard was pressed against her chest, holding her against the wall.

Fumbling in her pocket, Kim found the Kimmunicator. It had a light source so she could see what was holding her. She brought the unit up as she hit the button to activate the screen. What she saw was a sight that would have made anyone else faint away from the fear.

Kim stared back at the one electronic eye that whirred as it moved back and forth inside the metal socket. The forearm across her chest was missing a hand.

It spoke in the standard Bebe voice, but it sounded like two voices talking at the same time. "Kim Possible. You have come back."

To be continued…

Not as wicked a cliffy as before…

As always, please R & R…