Well I've finally been able to finish this chapter. I would have had it out sooner this week, but it's soon to be Thanksgiving Break starting friday so every professor's loaded on the work that has to be done before friday... I've finally been able to finish the biggest part of it. Only my history assignment is left to complete. Now that I've gotten chapter 42 up I plan to work on one or two one shots before the next chapter. As some of you may have noticed, I've posted a few Kim/Kat ones the past week...they were all done in my classes. I've more in mind to work on between chapters. Anyway, enjoy this chapter and leave feedback.
Chapter 42 Is This What We've Sacrificed For?
Katherine wiped tears from her eyes. Her outburst had been sudden, sudden enough that she hadn't even expected it. She drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. She had no idea where she was in the Power Chamber. After she'd run from the main room she'd taken any twist or turn that came her way. She didn't know whether she was still on the main floor or not. She could have been miles under Earth and not known it.
In a way, she felt foolish for reacting the way she did. She'd gotten so upset over such a small thing. She'd let her emotions get the best of her, but she couldn't stand the way the others acted about Rita. They'd never dealt with her as intimately as Katherine had. Katherine had worked for her and been used by her. Only Tommy and Kimberly would understand her, but those two were having troubles of their own. Katherine didn't want to interfere. She'd put them before herself; she'd put anyone before herself, even if it meant she had to suffer for it. She only hoped no one noticed the burden she harbored inside her heart. A new flood of tears fell from her eyes and she didn't wipe them away. They fell and small wet spots appeared on her clothes.
Her ears perked up as she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps on the metal floor. She cowered into the shadows, forcing herself behind what appeared to be boxes. No one would find her, not like this. She refused to be seen. She sucked in her breath, holding it as she heard the footsteps draw closer. They never went past her hiding spot. There was a sudden movement and suddenly the echoing faded away until once again Katherine heard nothing. She breathed a sigh of relief.
She was safe for the time being. Her mind wandered and drifted back to when Maroon had first attacked her. Attacked wasn't the word for it. She had been abused and taken advantage of. She didn't want to think of what could have happened if Maroon hadn't been stopped. She wondered whether or not Maroon would have taken things farther. Katherine shuddered at the mere thought of it. Being left with no options, no way out was how Maroon had gotten to her.
Her thoughts turned to Rito and his way of controlling her. She didn't know how he had done it. It was like magic had overtaken her body, erasing all rational thought. She remembered the before and the after, but nothing from the time the magic, or whatever Rito had used, had controlled her body. She didn't want to know what she had said, thought, or conveyed. She only knew it had stopped before things had gone too far.
Medical Bay
Alpha had left Tommy outside the door to the medical bay. For reasons unknown to Tommy, Alpha wouldn't enter the room. The little robot simply turned away wordlessly. Tommy watched him clank back toward the main room before pressing a button beside the door. The metal door slid apart and Tommy glanced inside. He saw a metal table off to the left, along with sets of machines against the wall. He saw glimpses of human skin mixed in with the tangles of wires and machinery. Cautiously, he made his way toward the table, knowing he'd find Kimberly there.
He shrank back; the site of the machinery hooked up to Kimberly's small frame made him queasy. He noticed the tube around her body and the breathing apparatus over her nose and mouth. At least he noted grimly she didn't looked as pained as before. The cuts and bruises were very faint on Kimberly's body. Tommy was glad for Zordon's alien technology. He didn't want to have to explain this to a stranger on the street, let alone her parents.
Tommy jumped as Kimberly stirred suddenly. He thought she was waking up, but her face twisted and contorted in pain. "You'll never get me," she hissed. The breathing pieced muffled most of her words, but Tommy heard them anyway. His hands pressed against the glass. She may not have been his girlfriend any longer, but he dearly wanted to help her awaken from the nightmare she was involved in.
"Hang in there, Kim," he whispered, unable to do anything else.
Just as suddenly as the nightmare had come it stopped. Tommy breathed a sigh of relief as Kimberly settled back to a peaceful rest. He lowered his right hand along the glass, setting it level to where Kimberly's hand rested on the table. "Please wake up, Kim," he whispered. In some childish way, he hoped that whatever fate heard him about would grant his wish right away, but the minutes continued to pass without Kimberly stirring. Tommy resorted to watching her chest rise and fall; it was the only way he could tell she was alive. He chose to ignore the beeps of the machinery tracking her heartbeat. It did not compare to the person who lay before him.
Tommy's head began to nod. He hadn't realized how tired the last few days had made him. The snatches of sleep he had gotten while imprisoned were few and light; before that he couldn't sleep because of his worries about the upcoming battles. His lids grew heavier and he'd catch himself almost dozing off. He shook his head to clear his mind every time, but eventually he dozed off, his head resting against the glass barrier between Kimberly and himself.
Kimberly began to stir not long after Tommy dozed off. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw a mass of something above her head on the glass. As her eyes focused, she realized it was a human. Then it hit her that that the human was Tommy. He must have come down to see her and fallen asleep waiting on her to wake up. He'd not had much sleep the past few days. She wanted to call out to him, but the breathing device over her face didn't allow for that. She tried to raise her hand, but found that the different wires and tubes attached to her body didn't allow for raising her arm more than half a foot into the air.
Aggravated, Kimberly lowered her hand to the table again. Then she got an idea. If she couldn't speak to rouse Tommy, then she'd pound her hand on the table enough to create noise and vibrations. She hoped Tommy wasn't a heavy sleeper. If he was, then she was stuck waiting for him to awaken again, which could be hours if he was left undisturbed. She began pounding her hand on the table, lightly at first to test how well the wires reacted to her movement. She found that they didn't pull as long as she didn't go above about a half foot. She began pounding harder, hoping her feeble attempt would wake Tommy.
Come on, Tommy she thought to herself, becoming annoyed with each passing moment. She kept her eyes on the glass, watching for any movement in his body. After what seemed like ages, she heard a groan elicited from Tommy. He turned his head and… slept on. Kimberly growled to herself. It shouldn't have to be this hard. Just how heavy can he sleep? She continued and Tommy groaned again. She watched hopefully, hoping he'd awaken this time around. Once again, he was still fast asleep. Kimberly grew angry at her feeble attempts. She hated the weakness; she couldn't even wake Tommy. She made a fist, and slammed it against the side of the glass, which shook. This time, it caused Tommy to jump out of his sleep, lose his balance, and fall to the floor.
Kimberly's anger dissipated quickly into laughter. She was glad the breathing device hid her smile and laughter. It was funny. Tommy did deserve it. She heard Tommy grumbling, but couldn't see the look on his face, which she knew was priceless. Tommy rose to his feet and Kimberly quickly pretended to be asleep, but Tommy caught her just as she closed her eyes. "Kimberly…you're…you're awake." He didn't seem to attach his sudden awakening to Kimberly, which just made it funnier. She would have continued to laugh, but the look of seriousness on his face was more important.
Nodding at Tommy, Kimberly made a motion toward the device that covered her mouth. Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember Billy putting it back over her mouth after she'd fallen asleep, but it could have replaced itself. She could have sworn that she'd heard her friends earlier too, but she attributed that to a dream. None of them were here now. No one but Tommy.
"Kimberly?" Tommy asked softly. He thought he was dreaming. Was Kimberly really awake?
Kimberly looked to Tommy and nodded her head as best she could. She saw him reach an arm into the glass encasement to try and remove the breathing device. His fingers fumbled gently around her head, finally finding a latch. He clicked it loose, and the device fell to the side. Kimberly sucked in a breath of real oxygen. It was so much better than the oxygen supplied by the device. She was glad to be rid of the awkward equipment.
"Better?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah, it is," Kimberly answered.
Tommy pulled his hand away from Kimberly's face. He didn't want to seem as though he still cared… Did I just think that? He wondered to himself. He wasn't a heartless person. He then chalked it up to not wanting to Kimberly to think he was desperate. After all, she was the one who'd written the letter. It was her choice of whether or not she wanted a relationship again, not his. Could they ever go back to being a couple again? Or had Rita interfered too much to make that a reality?
"…Tommy?" called Kimberly. Tommy looked down at her. He must have been daydreaming again. She looked agitated that he'd been ignoring her.
"Sorry, Kim. I must have been zoning."
"Tommy, I want to talk with you, but not like this." Kimberly motioned to all of the equipment around her body, attached to her in one way or another.
"I want to talk to you Kim, but I don't know if Alpha or Billy will let you out of that yet," he answered.
"Please go find Billy. He'll let me out." Tommy didn't want to; he wanted her to stay there for her own safety. Her body still showed light bruising and injuries. From what he could tell, the outer healing had processed quickly, but he wasn't sure if the wounds had healed on the inside. Kimberly's eyes appeared to be making an appeal to him; she didn't want to be caged inside the glass anymore.
"I'll go see what he can do, Kim, but no promises. He may want you to stay in there." Tommy turned and walked toward the door and out of the medical bay. He was only doing this because Kimberly wanted it.
Tommy made his way back up to the main chamber, surprising Zordon, Billy, and Alpha. "Tommy! You're supposed to be with Kimberly!" exclaimed Alpha.
"Tommy, has something happened to Kimberly?" asked Billy, a look of concern on his face.
Tommy shook his head. "No Billy. Kimberly's fine and awake again. She wants you to get her out of the glass tubing though."
Billy sighed. "I was afraid of that. Come on. Let's go see what I can do. I don't know if I can let her out yet."
"I tried telling her that, but she wouldn't listen. If you can do anything, Billy, I think she'd be grateful."
The two teenagers walked slowly back to the medical bay. "Well, there is a wheelchair I retrieved from my father's garage. I don't know what he was using it for or how long he's had it, but I brought it back here. It could be of some use."
"Whatever will work, Billy," replied Tommy.
Tommy and Billy entered the medical bay. Tommy made his way back to Kimberly's side and explained things to her. "Kimberly, I've brought Billy back with me. He's going to see what he can do."
"I'm not dumb, Tommy," retorted Kimberly.
Tommy grinned sheepishly, while Billy's face peered over the opening of the glass tube. "Kimberly, I'm going to remove the tube so I can examine your body further. Your injuries and wounds appear to be healing nicely on the outside, but I am uncertain of the progress on the inside."
Kimberly nodded as Billy pressed a button on the console against the wall. The tube split down the middle and slid into the sides of the table. He pressed a few more buttons and a loud whirring noise was heard. "Don't worry, Kimberly. I've only instructed the machinery to run a few diagnostic tests on your body. This will determine the progress of your healing."
Kimberly, Tommy, and Billy waited as the whirring continued. Kimberly felt little jolts of electricity run along the tubes that led into her body. She crossed her fingers, hoping that they'd find some good news.
A few successive beeps were heard and Billy turned to the machine, which spit out a printout. He examined the pieces of paper for a few minutes, his brows furled. Tommy and Kimberly waited for him to explain the results. Billy sighed and looked up at his friends. "It's not what I had hoped for by this stage," he began. "But it is enough that Kimberly can move around cautiously." He then looked to Kimberly. "Kimberly, I have a wheelchair here that I've retrieved from my father's garage. I'll put you in it, but you must promise not to overexert yourself. You shouldn't even be wheeling yourself around. If you let Tommy guide you to where you want to go, you'll be fine, but you still must be very careful."
"All right, Billy. Just get me off this thing. It's very uncomfortable," agreed Kimberly.
"Tommy, I'll need your help removing this equipment. Just follow my instructions and you'll be fine."
Tommy nodded and the two set to unhooking Kimberly from the machinery. Even with their combined efforts it took over ten minutes to completely free Kimberly. As soon as Tommy had removed the last bit, Billy rolled over a wheelchair that was made of a gray metal with a dull brown padding on the seat. It was truly ugly in all respects, but it was all that was available for now. Tommy lifted Kimberly from the medical table and placed her gently in the chair. "Billy, is it possible for us to go somewhere private to talk?" asked Kimberly in a soft voice.
Billy was about to respond that the medical bay was privacy enough, but he knew Kimberly didn't feel comfortable staying there to talk. "The park will be safe enough. Your injuries are so light that they are barely noticeable unless someone is closely observing you. Just stay away from the main flow of traffic just in case," he instructed. Billy watched the two teenagers teleport away from the Power Chamber. He hoped that they'd be able to settle their differences now. Things had to be made right. If not as a couple, then together as friends.
Next time on Windmill into the Fall: Kimberly's finally awake. Tommy's teleported the two to Angel Grove Park. Will they be able to work things out? Or will they remain forever friends?