AM: Okay, only the epilogue to go after this part...I was a wild ride, but it has to end sometime! Hope you guys enjoyed!
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Part 23
Mac startled awake approximately four hours later. All was dark and quiet on the pediatrics floor, so Mac didn't know at first what had woken her.
"Mmmmm…"
Mac's head spun towards the noise, her eyes coming to rest on two large pools of sea-blue.
"Kim!" Mac smiled, reassuringly, "Don't worry, sweetie! You're okay…Looks like your Dad fell asleep, too…"
Mac was about to give Harm a shake, to wake him up, when Kim spoke again.
"Maaaac…"
"Yeah!" Mac smiled even wider, "That's right! I'm here, it's okay sweetie, you're okay, there's no need to get upset. You're in a hospital, getting better after an accident…Do you remember anything about what happened?"
"Yyyy…Yan?"
"Yeah, that's right, sweetie," Mac, took the hand that Kim tried to lift to the oxygen supply settled beneath her nose, squeezing it reassuringly, "Don't worry about Yan…He was released last week. Mrs. Patterson is taking good care of him at home and they call to check in on you every day."
"Kkkk…kay…"
"Are you tired, Honey?"
"Uhhh…huh…"
"Okay, let me just wake up your father real quick…He'd be upset if he missed speaking to you…"
Harm woke with a snort, after Mac shook his shoulder, first gently, then a bit harder, when it proved insufficient.
"Kim!" he nearly fell down the space between the fold-out bed and Kim's bed, in his rush to slide across to his daughter.
"Careful sailor," Mac urged, with a smile, "I don't want to be visiting two people I love in the hospital."
Kim gave a lazy smile and Harm nearly lost it.
"Oh, sweetie! I've missed you so much! You don't know how long I've been waiting to see that smile of yours!"
"Ungh…"
"Are you tired, baby?"
"Yuh….Yeah…"
"Okay…Why don't you go back to sleep and I'll let the nurses know. They'll let the doctors know, but they shouldn't be in until tomorrow. You have time to get a few more hours of sleep, in the meantime."
"Gggg…G'nigh, Da…Daddy…"
"Good-night, baby."
"Sleep well, Kim, honey."
Once Kim was back to sleep, Harm went out to the nurses desk to apprise them of the new development, while Mac stroked the child's cheek softly, from her place sitting on the bed next her.
Afterwards, Harm came back and they went back to bed, now a bit more at ease.
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"Miss Rabb? Kim? Could you manage to open your eyes for me, just for a minute?"
When Kim's eyes fluttered open, lethargic but acquiescing, Doctors Grant and Redgrave introduced themselves.
"Good morning, Miss Rabb…My colleague and I are your doctors, Ma'am. I am Colonel Grant and this is Colonel Redgrave. You're welcome to call us either doctor or Colonel, for simplicity's sake."
Here Grant could see that his patient's attention was waning, so he got straight to the point.
"Kim, do you remember why you are in the hospital?"
Kim nodded, slowly.
"Acc…accident…we…fell."
"Do you remember anything that happened immediately before the accident? Anything that happened earlier that day?"
Mac saw the tension build in Harm's eyes, so took his hand in hers.
"Uh, yeah…skipped…school…"
Her eyes swiveled to Harm's, but he just gave a supportive smile.
"And before that? Do you remember?"
"Yeah," Kim answered but didn't elaborate anymore.
Grant and Redgrave continued to instruct Kim in some simple tasks, designed to tests abilities such as conversing verbally, cognitive functioning, visual tracking and visual object identification, fine motors skills and coordination. She was of course slow and shaky and didn't always achieve her goal without trying a few times, but both doctors assured all in the room that this was to be expected after such injuries and that Kim was actually functioning above expectations, considering her injuries.
Kim stayed awake just long enough to hear this then promptly fell asleep when Mac and Harm began firing questions at the bemused military doctors.
When both Colonels had left and they were sure that Kim was deeply asleep, they both gave into tears of relief and cried together.
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