Best Friends Since Pre-K chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own no aspects of Kim Possible. This fact is now thoroughly documented.

I'm so so sorry that it's been so long. I was having a real writer's block in all of my stories. However, I am back now and I intend to write as much as I can before I have to go back to school. Thanks for being patient, everyone!

The action is finally starting, so wish me luck. I'll try to be true to the characters in the chapters to come.

Enjoy!

The comet was beautiful. Even from the ground it was a splendor of dazzling colour. Citizens saw it pass overhead, uncomfortably close, or so it seemed. They called friends and families outside to watch as it soared through the sky, though with a kind of frightened awe reserved for those mysteries still left in the world.

Ron never saw the comet. He rushed out of the school after his audition, eager to find Diana and tell her, and all he saw was the smoke.

The smoke curled menacingly over the distant housetops, thick and dark, and it would hardly have been deemed beautiful even if he didn't think that he knew where it was coming from.

But he didn't let himself think, he merely ran.

There was already an ambulance parked outside by the time he reached Diana's house, men in white coats swarming around it like worried ants. The house itself was only singed, but smoke curled up lazily from the backyard and hovered over the whole area in a choking cloud. The tall back fence had been burning. The boards were blackened and broken like a pile of kindling someone had thrown on the fire, and it smelled strongly of smoke and chemicals. Diana's father had only finished putting it up a month ago.

"Di," he said, but he only breathed it, as though speaking any louder would make this real. Was she here? Could she still have been at the school? Cheer practice would be finished, but maybe she had stayed there for something. Had she said anything to him? He couldn't remember.

"Diana!" He screamed it that time. Then he coughed from the smoke. A man in a mask thumped over to him then.

"Stand back please, son" he said, muffled but still clear.

"What happened? Are they okay?" Ron asked desperately. He knew he was crying, but he thought it might be from the smoke.

"Stand back please," the man said again, more firmly this time. Ron simply stared at him. His throat was stinging from the smoke, but his chest burned for another reason. Speech was impossible. The firefighter's face softened behind his mask. He placed a hand on Ron's shoulder and guided him away from the smoking, broken fence. Once they were far enough away from the smoke, the man removed his helmet, revealing a lined, craggy face softened by a graying beard. Ron knew him, he had seen him around Go city, and he thought that his mother might even be friends with this firefighter's wife, but none of that mattered right now. The man didn't seem to recognize Ron, and Ron was going to keep it that way. Recognition would only be a delay he couldn't afford.

"It's alright son," he said comfortingly. "They were all got out. The kids were hurt though, and they were all taken to Go Central Hospital. Do you know where…?"

But Ron was already running. He didn't wait to hear the rest of the firefighter's words; they weren't nessissary, he didn't try to find out more; it was a waste of time, and he didn't think about all the awful things that could have happened to his friend; that would only distract him. He merely ran towards the hospital, and his friend.

"The colourful comet, sighted by many citizens today, and lately dubbed the 'Rainbow Comet', has finally come to rest in a rather more violent way than its namesake would suggest." Lue Veega paused, and smiled at the cameras. Behind her, the still smoaking ruin of Sinclair house provided a thrilling backdrop to her story. She then assumed her previous expression of professional concern and interest, and continued, making certain to always hold her microphone the proper distance from her mouth, to the fraction of a hair.

"We now know," she said, glancing at the prompter, "that all five Sinclair children were caught in the blast, and have been rushed to the hospital. At this point, it is believed that though all of the injuries were serious, only one of the children, Diana Sinclair, is in critical condition. I am certain that the prayers of neighbors and friends go out to this family, and we must wish them all a safe and speedy recovery. This is Lue Veega with News Now, and we'll do our best to keep you posted, as always."

As the cameras flickered off, signaling the end of her segment, Lue lowered her microphone and glanced again at the smoldering building behind her. She really did hope that those kids would be okay. Truth to tell, she wished that some other reporter had been assigned here today.

It was agony.

Diana lay on the hospital bed, bandaged from head to foot and every inch of her burned. She knew the comet had struck while she was practising a cheer rutine in the back yard, and that if it hadn't actually hit her, it had come within a fraction of doing so. She had been in so much pain she must have passed out. She was awake now, had awakened at the hospital in only slightly less pain than before. They had told her that every inch of her skin had been scorched by the comet, and that they had wrapped her in bandages and given her painkillers. They had said that her skin should heal.

But Diana didn't know what they were talking about. Her skin wasn't hurting her at all. This pain, this mind-numbing torture was coming from inside her skin. Every limb, every cell, every atom of her being was burning, and it seemed as though liquid magma was flowing through her veins, scorching everything it touched. The pain had gone down initially, and she guessed, as well as she could with what felt like her flesh was melting off of her bones, that she had been given painkillers, but now the burning was growing more intense again. She wanted to groan in agony, but even that was too much effort through the pain. She could only lie there and gaze stupidly at the blank ceiling above her, and wish for the cool relief of sleep.

She thought that her mother had been in to see her. She had a recollection, blurred by pain, of her mother's worried face bending over her, but now there was no one.

She waited, and let the fire burn and burn and scorch her bones and her muscles and her very particles, and gradually the pain lessoned again. She felt the burning recede slowly, and with the gentle relief came an indescribable weariness. She wanted to sleep, but something kept her awake. She was lonely, and somehow afraid to surrender to sleep and the helplessness it would bring. Still sleep pulled her down until she was only hanging onto wakefulness by concentrating on going over her cheer routines in her head. She had been practicing that when the comet…hadn't she?

Through the whispers of her half doze, she heard a sudden, panicked and very welcome voice.

"…am her family. No, I don't….Just let me in!" There was a soft murmuring from behind the closed door of her room, and then it opened. She couldn't see him enter because she couldn't tilt her head far enough to see him without bringing back the pain, but she knew it was him. He came up to her bed softly, and she knew, fuzzily, that he must have been warned to be quiet.

"Diana," he whispered. "Di, are you okay? How are you doing?" He bent over here, and she saw his face, worried, but also happy, and relieved to see her. Diana kind of smiled, and it hurt her face. She knew it was worth it though, because his eyes glowed and he returned her smile with a gentle one of his own.

"…m okay," she said. He sat down then, but still leaned forward so that she could see his face.

"You know, if you wanted to be the centre of attention, you could have just practiced more," he said, almost earnestly to sound like he meant it. Diana couldn't really laugh, but she smiled again, and her anxiety retreated somewhat. She was fading fast now and knew she couldn't hold sleep off much longer.

"Ron," she said with difficulty. "…ill you ss…ay?"

"Of course," he said. "I'll stay even if they try to kick me out." He was being funny, but he was also being honest, and Diana knew that he would have stayed even if she hadn't asked. That was good…he was….

She was asleep before she had finished the thought, but it was alright, because she wasn't worried any more.

Thanks for reading guys, and sorry it was so late. I've been going through some stuff in my life for a while now, but that is all getting better now, and I haven't given up any of my stories, so don't worry about that. I hope my take on the comet was believable to everyone.

At any rate, now that we're entering the action, chapters should start to get longer. But don't worry if you want to see what happens with Ron's audition. All will be answered soon.

Next update will be in Loving You Behind Closed Doors, so look out for that one. I'm just touching up the chapter, so it should be up in the next day or two.

See you all next time!