Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, or any of the characters in this story. Not even the ones I made up. Go ahead and use them, I don't really mind.
Blooming
Chapter 12 / An Addict and an Anorexic
Katherine and Tommy arrived at the hospital twelve minutes after school had let out. They both knew it was mandatory to stay in the school premises for fifteen minutes and then be able to leave, but this was a very sentimental situation for both of them, especially Tommy.
While going towards Kimberly's room on the third floor, Katherine noticed Tommy's steps. They were three times faster and longer than hers were. She realized he was heated, aggravated, frustrated, and concerned for their friend's well being; a little too concerned.
Her feelings for him started coming in tact once more. She could not help an essence of jealousy rising upon her. The stench was making her nose hurt. She felt it go into her mouth and down the back of her esophagus making her gag with nausea. Heat fell on her and she felt as if the hallway was getting narrow as she walked. Darkness started to come in through the sides of her eyes. She saw the darkness escalate as it moved closer and closer to where only a small dot of light could be seen in the distance; her body shut down and hit the floor.
Tommy heard the fall and instantly turned around to find his girlfriend lying on the floor. He ran over to her and placed his hand on her back calling her name hoping she would respond. She was not moving; Tommy desperately wanted her to get up, wishing that she had just tripped and fallen. When she wouldn't respond, he knew all to well that Kat was not going to get up on her own.
"Could I get some help?" he yelled out even though he saw a nurse coming to her aide.
A male nurse, who was wearing sky blue scrubs leaned over to her and gently pushed Tommy away from Katherine. To Tommy's understanding, he moved out of the way so he could examine what the problem was. The nurse turned her around and placed his middle and pointer fingers under the right side of her chin, pressing into her neck lightly. He reached out with his right arm to a medical assistant to retrieve the syncope tube; but Katherine opened her eyes slowly in confusion. The nurse put the tube in his left pocket and asked Kat if she was alright.
Katherine nodded her head while saying "yeah, I'm alright." It sounded like more of a whisper than anything, but Tommy was just glad to have looked at those blue eyes instead of her eyelids closed.
The nurse gently helped Kat up, while the medical assistant brought an R Bed to him. He laid Kat down and asked her some questions about her state of being while taking her blood pressure. Tommy saw the sight with great anxiousness to just run over to Kat and hug her without letting her go at all.
The nurse applied a cool wet towel, which was provided by the MA on Katherine's forehead as he tilted the bed backwards so that her feet were above the level of her head in a trendelenburg position. The MA then asked Kat if she would prefer juice of cola because she noticed as the nurse was asking her questions, Kat had nothing to eat and was a bit pale; from the dehydration it probably caused the loss of consciousness so they needed to restore sugar in her blood system.
"Umm, juice is fine." She responded.
The MA then went to get the juice, while the other nurse went ahead and told her she was going to be alright, all she needs is to make sure she gets plenty of water and a good source of nutrition in her body. He sensed a lack of nutrition in her, but since he wasn't a doctor, he was in no right to give her any type of diagnosis; even if he did know that it was malnutrition.
Kat had been lying in the position for several minutes when the medical assistant came back with the juice. She went ahead and fixed the bed to be at an upright position while placing a medium sized cup in her hands and saying, "You should go see a doctor immediately. Unconsciousness could be caused by anything, but it's always better to know for sure what caused it."
Katherine nodded her head before taking a drink from the cup.
The MA then said, "I'm gonna go over and get back to work. Just sit there for a couple more minutes and if you're still feeling dizzy, I could get you more juice, okay?"
Katherine again nodded her head, this time with a small warm smile, "thanks, I really appreciate what you guys did."
"No problem." The MA said before heading over to join the nurse she was helping out.
Tommy went over to Kat with his head hung low. "Are you gonna be okay?" He asked, with a frown and a concerned look on his face.
Kat smiled at him, "yeah, I guess it was the heat or something", she said while shrugging her shoulders.
Kat didn't seem to make a big deal out of her fainting as much as Tommy did. He looked at her from head to toe and then again put his head down.
Kat knew him all too well to know that something was up with him. "Are you alright though?" She asked chantingly.
Tommy smiled at her wittedly and said, "I guess I was just so concerned about Kim's wellbeing, I completely forgot about your little problem."
"What little problem?" She asked.
"Oh, come on Kat, you know. You still hardly eat. I guess I just didn't think it was that big of a deal until now. I mean, don't get me wrong, I haven't eaten much since Kim got here either, but you have like years ahead of me."
Kat looked at Tommy with confusion. "You know, I've eaten the same amount of food that I always have and I've never had a problem. It can't be because of my eating habits, Tommy."
"Kat…"
"No, don't think that you know what's going on. It's not because of my eating habit," she repeated, "and don't even think about giving me a speech about how important food is in the human body. Save it." Katherine got up and walked away.
Tommy turned to look in her direction, not knowing if he should leave her to cool down a bit. He then saw her make a left and go into Kimberly's room.
Tommy followed after that, repeating the events that happened in his head questioning them.
Tommy arrived at the room while a nurse spoke with Katherine about Kimberly's condition.
"The early phase is euphoria," the nurse said, "a feeling of well-being. There's a general arousal, although with some dizziness. An increased talkativeness is also a factor. Offsets fatigue and highter doses my exhibit a pattern of psychosis with confused and disoriented behavior, for example, delusions, hallucination, irritability, paranoia, or aggressiveness." The nurse looked over at Tommy as he went over to listen as well, "she had an increased heart rate and blood pressure. There was also and increase in body temperature, she had dilted pupils, nausea, and vomiting. Have any of you noticed any nervousness, restlessness, tremors, anxiety, irritability, or anything out of the ordinary in Kimberly's part?"
They both nodded their heads reminiscing the events that had happened not too long ago.
"Well, a chronic use may lead to personality changes, hyperactivity, psychosis, as I said before as well. Cocaine overdoses can be characterized by agitation, enhanced reflexes, and in your friend's case, unconsciousness caused by reparatory failures. She had a cardio respiratory arrest."
Both Tommy and Kat raise their eyebrows in surprise to Kimberly's diagnosis.
"It was a good think she came in when she did, the faster the absorption the more intense and rapid the high is and the stronger it hits her if a problem arises."
Tommy and Kat both nodded in understanding again. Kat couldn't do anything but bite her lip, while Tommy was still trying to get over the fact that someone he loved so dearly could have something like that happen to them.
It was Tommy who spoke up this time. "I thought that cocaine had a sign of loss of appetite?" He had to ask. Kimberly was in no way loosing appetite so it seemed.
The nurse nodded, "Yes, that is a sign, although as we are all very different with different metabolisms and different craniums, different drugs hit many people in different way. For example, weed would not do to me what it might do to you. In Kimberly's case, it didn't hit her weight loss as it may seem to do so."
Tommy just nodded his head and didn't say another word.
"So what can we do for her?" Kat asked.
"Well, what she needs right now is knowing that her friends are here for her. Don't judge her, and don't ask why, just sit, and listen if she wants to talk, but don't try to force anything out of her. She needs great support right now."
Katherine looked over at Kim and just wished she would get better.
A couple of hours in, Katherine was again sitting in the visitor's chair while Tommy sat on the stool the her side. He again had the control watching television, thanking God that the hospital had Cable. He was flipping the channels over and over again until Katherine put her hand on top of his making him stop flipping the channels.
"What?" He asked.
"You're driving me crazy." She said.
"Oh, so now you talk to me, and it's to tell me that I'm driving you crazy." He said with a tone after having Katherine ignore him for several hours after some attempts of trying to get her to speak to him.
"She's not the only one you're driving crazy."
They heard Kimberly and turned to see her with a huge smile crossing both their faces.
"Kimberly!" They said in unison.
Katherine instantly go up to hug her friend, "Oh my God! We were so worried about you!"
Kimberly took in the warm hug and smiled at her dear friend. "Thanks, I really appreciate having friends like you two."
Kat looked at Tommy still sitting on the stool. "So, are you just going to stare at her or give her a hug?"
Tommy still couldn't believe that Kim was okay. He then realized that he was still sitting down, and with a huge smile walked over to her and gave her a huge hug along with a kiss on the cheek.
"Man, am I happy that you're okay." He said with relief in his voice.
Kimberly just smiled. "I'm glad I woke up to have someone in the room this time. I really hate being alone."
"I know what you mean", Kat told her, not being able to hide her joy.
It took three days for Kimberly to recover in the hospital, but when she made her way home, she was received with open arms and so many kisses.
Tommy helped her up the steps as if she was fragile.
"You know Tommy, I can go ahead and walk by myself you know." She said chantingly.
"I know, I just don't want you to strain yourself."
Kimberly just shook her head laughing, "you know, you haven't changed one bit."
Tommy looked at her and smiled.
Kim stopped him before opening the door. "Tommy, there's something I wanna talk to you about."
"Yeah?"
"Well… the other day… I mean, well… last week, I don't know what I was thinking. I guess what I'm trying to say is… I'm sorry Tommy. I'm sorry for what I put you and Kat through."
Tommy understood, "Thanks Kim, that means a lot to me. I care about you a lot and I just don't wanna see you get hurt."
"Well, speaking of that, actually, I was talking to Katherine the other day, and I decided to check into a rehab center to cope with my problem." She looked down in a way of shame.
"Hey, don't feel down about it. You should hold your head up high. You're trying to beat this Kim. I'm proud of you."
She smiled at him as he took her into his arms and have her a huge bear hug. "I love you Kim, and I'm happy you're taking the right steps to beat this monster."
"Thanks Tommy, for all of your and Kat's help."
They parted and Tommy again smiled at her before opening the door.
Katherine waited patiently in the doctor's office after being there just a couple of days before for blood tests. She waited patiently because the sooner she knew what was wrong with her, the less time she had to be happy, she thought.
The door opened and in walked the doctor. He wore a black suit under his lab coat which he removed upon entering the premises. Katherine turned to catch him taking off his stethoscope as well and hanging it on the coat rack.
She felt her nerves escalate while she took a deep breath in and waited for the doctor's diagnosis.
He went over to her and shook her hand, "Ms. Hillard, it's very nice to see you again."
Katherine smiled standing up and saying, "likewise, although, it must be in better circumstances."
"Yes, I do understand, go ahead and take a seat, many people just hate to see their doctor." He proceeded to sit down.
"Now, the test results are back from the lab and let me go ahead and show you what we've found." He opened the manila folder which carried her file. "Now, I found a high level of anemia in your blood. Now this is very serious Ms. Hillard, you see, the anemia, having been untreated, has grown."
Katherine's eyes just widened at the word 'grown'.
"This can lead to Leukemia Ms. Hillard."
"Cancer of the blood?" Katherine asked, although already knowing the definition.
The doctor avoided the question in a way and stated, "Now, I believe it hasn't gotten that far. You see, I did find an excess of white blood cells in your stream. Which can mean cancer Ms. Hillard, but it could also mean that your body had produced extra white blood cells to fight the infection."
"What caused this?"
"Well, it can be caused by a number of things, but reading your record, Ms. Hillard, all signs point to the leading factor: Anorexia Nervosa."
Katherine gasped. She never thought it would get that far.
"Now, you are at risk for an electrolyte imbalance. Which I'll prescribe pills to, but you'll have to come back for more blood draws; this time to see where the Leukemia is, or even if it's inside your body at all, okay. I don't want you to jump into conclusions. I'm also going to prescribe medication for the anemia and to slow it down, although I can't assure it'll go away as easily as the imbalance." He started writing in his prescription booklet. "Are you experiencing depression, Ms. Hillard?"
"Umm, not that I know of. I mean, I do feel down a lot, but I don't really think it's depression. I guess it's just because I haven't found my place yet."
"If you feel you need something for sentimental problems, please don't hesitate to ask." He tore off the pages with the prescriptions and handed it her. "You can go ahead and speak to the receptionist about the next appointment for the blood draws. I do also advise to eat plenty of fibrous foods to help the pills out with the anemia. Please Ms. Hillard, do everything in your power to get three well balanced meals a day with snacks in between. Since you are underweight, I'm going to go ahead and issue you a daily 2500 calories a day to gain your weight. When you hit the target weight that you're supposed to be, I'll go ahead and place you on a normal 2,000 calorie diet, okay?"
Katherine just nodded her head. She was speechless. Could she have cancer? She didn't know what to think up to that point. So many thoughts were crossing her mind, yet everyone of those thoughts had Tommy in them. He told her all this time that it was important for her to eat, yet she never listened to him. He has gone through too many problems right now to hear about hers. She decided to keep her thoughts and the doctor's visit to herself until she knew for sure what was going on. She didn't want Tommy to add to his agenda a new thing to get worried about at this time. She knew how to deal with it, just how she dealt with everything else, alone.
Katherine went ahead and thanked the doctor for everything, although in her mind thinking it was like thanking an officer for a ticket. She then went to the front office to schedule another appointment.
As Tommy and Kim entered the door, a swarm of friends went over to hug Kim her welcome backs. She was surprised and speechless to the party awaiting her.
Kat had put everything together for her friend, wanting her to know that her friends were there to help her and to worry about anything she was worrying about.
Kimberly did nothing but smile and laugh as Jason came up to her and hugged her saying, "hey, welcome back stranger."
"Up for scuba diving?" she asked him.
"Oh, anytime." He said innocently.
Adam was behind Jason waiting his turn to hug his friend. Jason moved over after being poked by Adam on the side, "Ahem, aren't you gonna let me get a hold of her?" He asked in a joking way.
Kimberly laughed while opening her arms to him, "Hey, where's Tanya?" She asked while hugging Adam.
"Well, it's nice to see you too."
"Oh, I'm sorry Adam, how are you?"
"Fine, thanks."
"Now where's Tanya?" She asked trying to get a rise from him, in which she succeeded.
"She's in New York. She couldn't come, work you know."
"That's too bad, I would've loved to see her." Kim said honestly.
Rocky was standing behind Adam just waiting for his turn to hug her. "Well, I'm not going to poke you, although I would just as well push you to the side."
Adam turned to catch Rocky looking at him with a face of 'get out of the way' so he did just that, "alright, alright, keep your food in."
Everyone around them laughed as Rocky let the joke slide and went over to Kim to give her a warm hug. "Hey, it's good to see you again."
"Oh, it's good to see you again too. How's your back?"
"Well, it's not what it used to be, but it's alright."
Kim smiled as she looked at her surroundings. Her friends were back in her life even though if it was for just a couple of days. She then noticed Tommy walk over to four teens and a woman at the side who were obviously trying to stay out of the way.
"Kim," Tommy said, while taking her hand, "I don't think you've met my students and my partner in crime."
He led her to the group of new rangers, "this is Ethan, Conner, Kira, and Trent."
They all looked at her with smiles, "Hi" they all said in unison while shaking her hand one by one.
Tommy then looked over to Hayley and winked his eye while smiling, "this is Hayley, she helped me build everything that these three are now. She's the brains in the case, I'm just somewhat of a supervisor."
"Hello, it's nice to meet you Kimberly. We didn't have a good introduction at the fireworks show, but I'm sure we'll be able to get to know each other a little better." She told Kim as she stretched out her hand to meet Kim's with both wearing a smile on their faces.
"I sure hope I get to know all of you a little better."
At that, they heard the door open and Kat walked through it with a gloomy look in her eyes. They all looked at her with concern and questioning her frown.
A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. It somewhat starts moulding into place everything that's going to happen. Well, anyways, sorry for the delay, but please review. I honestly think that the lack of me writing is the lack of reviews I'm getting. I did notice that the more reviews I got, the more it motivated me to write. Well, just a thought. And thanx for reading. I hope you guys will read the next chap.
