Cross Country: Chapter 6
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"Dammit. Ron, pull over." Kim had been fidgeting terribly for a while and had gotten to the point where she just couldn't stand it any more.
"What's the matter, KP? Gotta go again, already?"
"No." She moaned, opening the door even before he got to a complete stop. She hopped out onto the grassy shoulder, vigorously scratching her backside.
Ron watched in confusion. He was half-expecting her to throw up when he pulled off the road – something that had happened with alarming regularity before she started showing. Sometimes it was only a whiff or even a food she normally liked that would set her off. That had slowly tapered off, but after two full days traveling, he was starting to expect it.
Seeing her digging into her glutes with her fingernails was just not something he expected. Then she did something he would have never believed if he wasn't seeing it with his own eyes. She hitched her dress up and stuck her hands down the back of her underpants, scratching for all she was worth.
Slowly it started dawning on him what may have happened. When he took his turn back at their 'rest stop' is was purely zip and go. The girls obviously didn't have it so easy. "Uh, you didn't happen to see any Poison Oak back there, did you?"
"No." She whined. "I think I know what poison oak looks like, and so do you. If you get within ten feet of it, you'd be itching."
By this point the girls had their faces pressed against the side windows, trying to figure out the strange dance their guardian was doing. Both their eyes were as big as saucers.
"I'm not allergic to it like you are anyway."
"Well, something's got you going. Hey, better let the dress back down, there's a car coming."
She did so, but kept grinding her butt against the edge of the door. "Oh, this is ferociously bad." She watched the pickup roll by, then went back to scratching more directly.
"Kim, if you're itching that bad, it had to be something. Did you brush up against anything?"
"No. Well, yeah, I slipped a little and sat down hard. So not the best way to go, you know." She pointed over at the tree-line at the ground cover, which still looked bright green even though the sun was almost down. "I sat on that plant, whatever it is."
There was a slight whirring sound as the passenger side rear window rolled down. "Aunt Kim, that's poison ivy." Amethyst said, pointing at the leafy ground cover.
"Huh? I thought that was just another name for poison oak."
"Nope. We were studying that in school. It's a whole other plant. Poison Ivy, Poison Oak and Poison Sumac. The teacher said you could recognize it because the leaves were always in threes. Leaves-of-three, let-it-be." She sing-songed.
"Great, just great. Lovely shortcut, Ron. Not only are we probably lost, but now I've got a poison rash to deal with, and let me guess, we're a hundred miles from any kind of drug store."
"I dunno. You, uh, better quit scratching that, KP."
"Gee, thanks…Mom. I know I'm not supposed to scratch it, but whoever thought up that wasn't itching like this!
"Look, you might as well get back in. We've still got a long way to go tonight."
"Nuh uh. Next town we come to, we're stopping. I don't care if it's got one motor court and we have to share the room with Roachie's cousins, I'm not riding any further tonight, and let me tell you, the only way you're touching me tonight is to put on calamine lotion!" She glanced back at the kids. That last comment probably went over CJ's head, but Amethyst certainly got it, considering how the small girl was giggling.
"Whoa, KP. If you've got that much of it on you it's getting you like that, you might give it to me."
"Ron!" Gritting her teeth, she climbed back into the SUV, shifting from side to side. She had obviously irritated it further with her overzealous scratching. Still, she kept trying to dig her fingernails into it.
Ron grimaced, realizing what she had been doing at the time and where the poison might be spreading to. "Okay, this doesn't count." He picked the Kimmunicator up off the dash and hit the call button. They both waited expectantly until the screen finally lit up. The face on it wasn't quite the one they expected.
"Hey, ya'll, what's the sitch?" Joss asked. She had recently gotten her hair cut much shorter than she ever had before, and they were all still trying to get used to it.
"Where's Wade?" Kim asked, trying to hide her fidgeting from her cousin.
"He's takin the night off ta go out with Yori, so Ah'm babysittin the TP system and little 'Dori here." She panned the webcam downwards so they could see the coffee-skinned toddler sitting on her lap.
"Okay, whatever." Kim said, leaning over the Kimmunicator, but carefully not touching it just in case she could actually transmit some of the toxic oils from her fingertips. "Do you know how to use the GPS lock?"
"Sure do. Wow, jes where in the heck are you?"
"Supposedly West Virginia." Kim replied coldly.
"Well, I can see that, but what in tarnation are ya doin so far off the main road? Dang, you should a been clear to Charleston by now."
"Mister Shortcut here thought he found a better route." Kim growled. "Are we close to anything?"
"You're about five miles outside a place called Cass."
"Is there any place to stay there?"
"Lemme see. Yeah, looks like it's a tourist place. They've even got trains, like we've got over here in Durango."
"Cool. Thanks, Joss."
"Hey, Ron, thought ya'll would be gettin to North Cakalakee tonight. Run into a heap a trouble?"
"Nothing we can't handle, Joss. KP just took a leak in a field of poison ivy."
Regardless of whether she was contagious, Kim smashed her finger down on the off-button, but not before they both could hear the younger woman rolling around laughing.
"Ronald Eugene Stoppable." She said with a low voice, her teeth clenched.
He knew he was in trouble, but he couldn't help but laugh himself. "Okay, KP. We'll stop in this Cass place and get you fixed up. Better call Mom P before it gets to late and see what you can take. There might even be some Benadryl in the first aid kit. I know there's a bottle of calamine there, but I'm willing to bet you're going to need more."
She held up her hands. "Just drive. The sooner we can get a room, the sooner I can put my butt in a tub of hot water."
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Ron finally got Kim to settle down. After talking to her mother about her predicament, it was decided it would be better for her to take a shower and scrub the affected areas instead of soaking them, just in case the oils from the plant would spread in the hot water. The toxin in poison ivy was supposed to be the same as in poison oak, but there had to be some small difference since she wasn't usually terribly allergic to the plant that was common at home. Then too, it could have been some of the chemistry changes her body was going through because of her pregnancy. At any rate, her Mom prescribed a single 25mg Benadryl, calamine lotion and no scratching!
The hot water of the shower gave her some relief, but she was whining by the time she stretched out on her stomach on the bed while Ron carefully applied the pink lotion.
"This is so not how I thought tonight would go."
"I don't know, I kind of figured I'd have my hands all over your backside. Gives new meaning to rosy cheeks."
"Very funny, Ron. I'm just way cranked, considering before long we'll have to quit for a while. I hated when I went into that slump for a couple months just as much as you did."
He smoothed another coating of the cool fluid onto her backside. There were welts in the rash where she had dug in with her fingernails too vigorously and was likely going to have to sleep just like she was, which wasn't a pleasant thought with the shape of her abdomen. That was, if she was going to be able to sleep at all. It was one thing to be naked together for the right reasons, it was quite another to be lying in the bed with your nightgown pulled up to the small of your back. Kim just made the best of it, trying to enjoy his touch.
"Maybe taking a Benadryl won't be so bad." Normally she hated taking antihistamines. One of the normal side-effects of the older, but generally safer versions was that it made her extremely drowsy. There were newer pills that didn't do it quite as much, but her mother insisted she only take that one drug. Kim was nothing if not immensely careful about what she put in her body while she was pregnant, so she could live with the sleepiness.
By sleepy, it was more like curl up wherever she happened to be an go to sleep. That was why she normally avoided taking them unless she absolutely had to. That worked out fine most of the time since she wasn't prone to be allergic to much.
She waited until they were in their motel room to call her Mom. She even went so far as to make Ron go to the kids' room while she made the call. She was not the least bit ashamed around him, but for some reason such an intimate discussion ,which was more doctor/patient than mother/daughter still seemed like it should be private. For one thing, she had to admit to her mother how she got such an interesting case of poison ivy. For another, her scratching had not only aggravated the existing rash, it caused it to spread. While the inside of the SUV was comfortable and cool, when she stopped and got out she was hit by a wall of hot, humid southern air, and in moments was bathed in sweat.
The rash was now on her hands, but the sweat had caused it to spread to other areas. Very…delicate areas. She was glad she was using her cell-phone and not the Kimmunicator, since there was a video-phone at home. She didn't want to see her Mom's face when she said she had an itchy rash…down there.
Anne Possible didn't help matters when she proceeded to regale her daughter with the tale of the time when she was doing her internship and had to treat a young couple who decided to go au-natural in what turned out to be a field of poison oak. Kim pulled a face, realizing her Mom knew the two of them sometimes could get somewhat frisky (like mother, like daughter) and quickly pointed out that sort of thing was most def not happening with the kids in tow.
It still tweaked her that she wasn't able to enjoy her alone time with Ron. She wasn't kidding when she said it bothered her when her drive bottomed out during her second trimester. She missed him, even though he was right there with her and she knew he didn't enjoy the few times they did make love during that time simply because he knew she wasn't enjoying it. That was probably the worst part of it. Now she not only couldn't be with him during their trip, it was likely going to take a week to fully heal up, and the way she figured it, if things went like her last pregnancy, they only had a few weeks left for a while.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the large hands caressing her. The medicine was already starting to kick in, dulling the ferocious itching. That also meant her mind was starting to drift. Any moment she would be fast asleep, but she thought back to a night about a month earlier. Their wedding anniversary was Independence Day and the kids had all been sent to a sleep-over at her parent's house.
After they came home from the annual fireworks display (something they never, ever missed) Kim went around the room, lighting candles, lamenting the fact they couldn't light the fireplace in their bedroom since it was high summer. They still spent a good part of the night on the couch facing the fireplace before heading to the bed. The night was magical for both of them, even though she was showing pretty well by that point. Then, a few weeks later came her birthday, then a week later his. With her mind quickly fogging under the effects of the allergy medicine, they all seemed to roll into one.
She opened her eyes, smiling as she saw Ron coming back from the bathroom sink, having washed the rapid-drying calamine from his hands. Before the meds kicked in, her own hands were starting to itch a little as well, having gotten a dose of the fresh poison when she stopped to scratch. She let her lids droop back down as she felt him get under the covers beside her. He carefully pulled them up over her lower legs, leaving her bare rump exposed and cool in the dark room.
The memories of their special nights still fresh in her mind, she shifted her head so it was in the crook of his shoulder. Vaguely, she thought she was still supposed to be upset with him for his ill-fated shortcut and for the teasing he had done once he realized what her predicament was, but all she could really think about at that particular moment was how much she loved him…
…and that there was another itch she wanted to scratch.
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Amethyst opened her eyes and looked around the room. It was much smaller than the room they had been in the night before, but it still had two beds. CJ was beside her, sound asleep with her tangled blonde locks covering most of her face. Two days of travel and a night spent giggling and gabbing with her best friend and roommate had finally caught up to her, so she was out like a light, just like her nephew, who was quietly snoring in the adjacent bed.
She was dead-tired herself, but something was bothering her. As funny as it had been to watch 'Aunt' Kim scratching, she didn't like to see people uncomfortable or in pain. That meant she had to do something about it.
The small girl had a secret. It was something that nobody knew about yet, not her guardians, not her mother, not even CJ. Maybe her real father had an inkling, but she had barely ever seen him. It was a secret that gave her a way to help.
As quietly as she could, she slipped out of the bed. She gathered her long, violet nightgown up so she wouldn't chance tripping on it and went to the door, delicately slipping the chain off and pulling it open. The night air was warm and humid, hitting her in the face as she pulled the door almost closed, leaving her a way to get back inside since it would lock automatically if she pulled it completely to. Ron had the keys to their room, so she had to be careful not to lock herself out.
It was well after midnight and the town was rather quiet, but she had been told all her life how dangerous the world could be, especially in a strange place like they were in. That didn't bother her in the least. Rules or no, if she was in any real danger she knew her powers would protect her, one way or another. If anyone approached her, she had the option of using her glow-powers to blast someone, or she could simply lens away to safety. If either of her sleeping guardians knew about her boldness, they would likely ground her for a month, but she was always careful about it. She had great power and she relished using it, even if that meant practicing in secret.
The one thing she didn't count on, however, was that Kim and Ron's room was locked just as firmly as hers should have been. She scowled, thinking again that if her mother had seen fit to teach her some of her skills, she would have been able to easily pick the lock. The motel was an older one and had not yet converted to the more modern key-cards, using a traditional deadbolt instead. She furrowed her brow, trying to think how she might get it. The nicer place they had been at the night before had adjoining rooms, and the door had been left unlocked just in case any of the kids needed the adults. There was no such convenience at this place, and it really wouldn't have been a good idea for any of them to have their doors unsecured.
Biting her lower lip, she sneaked back into her own room, holding the door handle so it wouldn't click as it latched. She put the chain back on and tiptoed past the other sleeping kids, closing the door to the bathroom.
There was another way into Kim and Ron's room.
Since there was nobody watching her, there was no reason for fake hand gestures. All she had to do was stretch out her mind. In an instant she was aware of her precise location in the cosmos. She had already learned she was attuned to what must be the center of the universe. For her powers to work the way they did, she had to know that one, fixed point. From there she knew not only how the Earth itself was spinning, but how it was orbiting the sun, and how that star was orbiting the center of the galaxy. The galaxy itself was moving. She didn't pretend to understand all of those factors, but instinct played a role in it. She knew how her particular point in space was moving in relation to that central point, allowing her to open a portal.
Just as she had the night before, she opened it slowly so she wouldn't alert the sleeping Stoppables. Only this time it was larger, just large enough for her to step through. She also created it upright, instead of flat.
Moments later she was in a completely dark room. It smelled slightly musty and metallic. Cautiously, she ignited her glow, lighting the room very slightly. Convinced she was perfectly alone in the old, forgotten nook, she created yet another lens, opening it just as slowly so nobody on the other end would be alerted to its presence.
It took more concentration this time. Even though it was only about twenty feet away from her origin point, it was still a 'blind' port. It scared her to do that, not knowing what would happen if she was just slightly off. It hadn't happened yet, but that was one of the things her parents and guardians were afraid of. What if she materialized in a solid object like a wall? Or, in this case, the tub?
Holding her breath, she stepped through again.
Her aim was true. She was standing in the middle of a bathroom identical to the one in her room. As quietly as she could, she let the lens effect fade and let herself out into the room.
Kim and Ron were curled up together in the bed. She could tell they were asleep, since Kim was snoring the same way her son was next door.
Amethyst blushed, realizing her guardian's back was uncovered. She had accidentally walked in on them in the past, forgetting the rule she wasn't to come into their bedroom uninvited unless it was an emergency. Still, they were asleep and were mostly covered up.
She held her breath and delicately put her hand on her Kim's shoulder. She stopped snoring for a moment, but didn't completely wake up. The reason was pretty easy for her powerful mind to deduce. The medicine she had seen Ron getting out for her made her sleepy. She relaxed a little bit, more confident she wasn't going to wake them up.
Her secret was actually quite simple. She could heal people. It was one of the reasons she was never, ever sick. Her body automatically healed any infection that tried to take hold in her system. On top of that, she could heal other people. CJ and GJ often came down with colds, but she would fix them up the first chance she got. Somehow she could instinctively tell what was wrong, and her mind was able to repair the damage. There had even been a time when GJ had taken a particularly bad spill on his bike and hit his head. He hadn't been wearing his helmet, but fortunately she was there. When Kim came running out of the house, she was holding him. She never told her 'Aunt' that she saved his life that day.
She could sense what the poisons from the plants were doing to her. It wasn't bad, it just made life uncomfortable. With just a tiny expenditure of energy, she fixed it. She left the medicine working in her system, keeping her in a deep sleep, but she would awaken the next morning without discomfort.
Her job done, she snuck out the front door rather than risking another 'port.' Moments later, she was back in her bed, finally relieving her own young body of the exhaustion that came from using that particular power.
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