"Kathleen, what's wrong?" Sky asked gently

"Look" Kathleen replied

"Oh, shit" Jack exclaimed, "it looks like a bomb went off in here!"

Shadow Ranger arrived seconds after Kathleen hit the emergency buttons in her morpher.

"Rangers, what happened?" he demanded

"We aren't sure, sir" Sky replied, "we were in the workout room when we heard what sounded like a shotgun blast coming from here, sir"

"We morphed and came running and this is what we found, sir" Jack added

"Cadet Manx…" Cruger looked around for the S.F. red ranger as she had been there earlier and had suddenly disappeared. He found her in Kat's lab, she had switch to EMT mode, (a/n: her team was required to take EMT training as well. In EMT mode they have some advanced first aid equipment along with an EMS vehicle that carries heavier equipment and is prepared to transport patients to hospitals if necessary) she was checking Kat's symptoms aloud to herself , then demorphed and began to cry.

"Kathleen, what's wrong?" Cruger asked as Sky began to try and comfort his distraught girlfriend.

"She has sustained extensive head trauma… which has lead to a severe concussion and subsequently she is falling into a coma, sir." Kathleen managed "the blast also resulted in a fracture of her skull… along with… numerous other severe injuries, sir"

Felix came in and told Cruger everything Kathleen had told him, which was everything that he didn't want to hear.

Kat was taken to the infirmary where her head injury took top priority. A CT scan revealed the severity of Kat's injury, and her prognosis was grim. Sky did his best to reassure Kathleen that everything would be okay, but little actually helped any… they needed a guaranty that Kat would be okay and that was something no one could give.

Commander Cruger sat silently at Kat's bedside and looked at her in concern and wished that she would wake up, but the longer she was in that coma, the worse off she was.

Then he noticed her gasping a bit as her breath became irregular and shallow. Soon the alarm went of that said that she wasn't getting enough oxygen, and her pulse had become too rapid.

Felix came in to try and get her condition to improve. Felix applied oxygen to help her breath and then turned to Cruger.

"Sir, if that alarm goes off again it will mean that I'll have no choice but to put her on a ventilator, which might mean that she truly won't wake up." Felix sighed

"Okay, Felix, I know you're doing the all that can be done to save her." Cruger sighed sadly as his eyes focused on Kat as she fought to stay alive.

Kat was in a deep dream at that moment and she looked around the outside of the academy and soon stumbled across her husband. He smiled and hugged her near as she began to cry.

"Shush, I'm right here, and I won't leave you" he whispered.

Felix silently left and Cruger knelt at Kat's right side and placed his hand on hers.

"Lord I come to you, humble and broken to ask of you forgiveness, and you to work your will in Kat's life, I love her and I know you'll do what you think is best for her…" he prayed no louder than a whisper. He left the infirmary in tears, he wasn't himself and the rangers saw it as him trying to hide the fact that he feared for Kat's life.

The next month past and Kat's downward spiral began to take its toll on Cruger and Kathleen whom had both fallen into deep depressions, but Kathleen was also suspicious because something didn't smell right.

Kathleen began to investigate her mother's lab; she left no area unchecked. She then found the remains of a timer-operated detonator, and her blood ran cold, the explosion in her mother's lab was no accident!

She left the lab at a run and headed directly to the command center, she needed Cruger to approve a formal investigation of the scene of the explosion, and she would take care of the rest, personally.

"You believe that the explosion in Kat's lab was caused by a bomb…" Cruger said skeptically.

"Yes, sir" Kathleen replied

"Okay, you may investigate this case as far as you see fit" Cruger said

"Thank you, sir"

Cruger dismissed Kathleen and sighed as Felix contacted his communicator.

"Commander, I thought I would inform you that we did have to put Doctor Manx on a ventilator this morning" Felix said sadly, "it doesn't look good for her."

"Does her daughter need to be informed?"

"Yes, Cruger, as soon as possible"

"I will let her know" Cruger cut communication with Felix and then pressed the intercom button "Cadet Manx report to the command center!

Kathleen left the lab with a look of confusion on her face. She came into the command center wondering why she was the only one Cruger called for.

"You need me, sir," she said

"Yes cadet, I have some bad news about your mother" Cruger paused briefly "you might want to sit down"

Kathleen sat quietly in a chair as she silently wondered what Cruger had to tell her

"Your mother needed to be placed on a ventilator this morning" he said

Kathleen gasped.

To Be Continued…


pls. leave a revew and note that all flames will be redirected at the first hurricane to enter or form in the Gulf of Mexico