The Gift

I.

Kim reacted first to the darkness. She bolted for the door, jerked to a halt by her father's grasp on her arm. She whirled in combat readiness.

"Whoa, whoa, Kimmie-cub. Just wait a minute. You don't know what's in there ..." Mr. Possible took one step back at the fierceness in his daughter's eyes.

"Ron's in there, that's what's in there, and I'm going to him." Kim declared thickly.

Anne stepped up behind her daughter, "She's right, James, Kim was the only one who could touch Ron before, I may need her."

An instinctive, "You're not going in there, either." broke from James before Anne's darkening countenance made his head droop. "Sorry, dear, I know, your patient." He turned to pick up a box off the nursing station desk. "But would you at least wear a radiation badge?"

Anne grimaced, "I hadn't thought of that. Good idea, James." She pinned one of the rectangular devices on her lab coat as James handed one to Kim. He looked around, winced, then passed out the devices to the Stoppables as two nurses and an orderly reached for their own.

"Barbara, what's in there may not be pretty." Anne cautioned.

"This is new? Ron has never been a beauty contestant." Barbara tried to joke as she strode past Kim.

The other's exchanged glances, then chased after the determined mother.

II.

Tara glanced at the two strangers. Since Bonnie had left, they had taken seats, but made no other move or spoken. 'Ah, since we're all friends of Ron's, maybe we should introduce ourselves? I'm Tara Matthews." She offered hesitantly.

Monique saw Yori glance at the older man. When she received a minuscule nod, Yori smiled. "I am Yori. This is Master Mataki. I am a student at the Yamanouchi school. He is a senior instructor there."

"Still doesn't explain why you're here or how you got in." Monique grumbled.

"And how are you still here, Monique-san?" Yori questioned gently.

"Well, we, ah, I think Kim or Dr. Possible asked them to let us stay." Monique managed.

"Ah, I see."

"Do you know Ron well?" Tara asked, trying to defuse the situation.

"In some ways, very well. In others, not so well." Yori replied. "Who can see the heart of a chestnut when looking at it's shell?"

Monique and Tara exchanged looks. "Uh-huh, right." Monique said. "Ron talked like that for a few weeks after he came back. Felix brought him out of that when he started carrying a Bartlett's around."

"Pardon?"

"It's a book of famous quotations." Tara explained. "Every time Ron went Confucius, Felix would one up him with a quotation."

Monique grinned involuntarily. "Yeah, but I still think Bonnie's idea would have worked faster."

Yori cocked her head inquisitively.

Tara blushed. "Bonnie suggested we hit him on the head with the book when he..."

Yori giggled. "Ah yes. Sometimes Stoppable-san can be...shall we say..."

"Dense." Monique supplied. "Much as we all like the guy, sometimes it takes more than a book, it takes a sledge hammer."

The three smiled at each other, each remembering some instance of Ron's obliviousness. Yori finally broke the companionable silence by asking. "Have the authorities found the driver yet?"

Tara paled. "It wasn't a hit and run."

"But...?"

Monique stood abruptly, wrapping her arms around herself. "Somebody did it on purpose, ok?" She took a few steps away before turning back. "Some sick maniac took the nicest guy in school, beat him, burnt him, and tortured him almost to death." She drew a ragged breath, "I hope someday I can get my hands on that...that..." She ground to a halt as Tara placed her arm around her shoulders in comfort. "Anyway, it wasn't an accident."

The two girls watched Yori's face pale, then redden in anger. Yori turned and spoke a few words to her companion. Mataki-sama stood abruptly, motioning for Yori to stay. As he left the room, the girls saw him pull a phone from his suit jacket.

"Now what was that about?" Their eyes asked.

III.

Bonnie watched the families march through the door, followed closely by a maintenance man. She thought for a moment, then grabbed one of the devices everybody had been taking, and followed them. As soon as the doors closed behind her she thought "This must be what the entrance to hell looks like." The lighting was still out, even the flood lights only dark silhouettes. The dull red of the emergency hall lights cast a blood tint over everyone and everything. She saw Mrs. Stoppable stagger, her hand reaching to her mouth, when the party stopped for a moment at the observation window, then rush through the containment door, followed closely by the others.

Before she could reach the window, Bonnie flinched as a woman's scream rang out. "Mein Gott, mein Gott, Gross Papa!" She ran to the window. She couldn't hear whatever was being said, but she could plainly see Dr. Possible making urgent gestures of "Get her out of here!" to Mr. Stoppable and Mr. Possible. Mr. Stoppable wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders, turning her toward the door. She resisted for a moment, then collapsed weeping against his shoulder. Mr. Possible turned toward Kim, but it looked like she had a death grip on the bed and wasn't about to let go. He said something to his wife, she shook her head angrily, then motioned him out also. The two nurses and the orderly were doing something to Ron, moving him or straightening his body, she thought. She stared through the window before the door opened to let Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable out. They were followed closely by Mr. Possible. Ron's mother was sobbing almost hysterically into her supporting husband. They ignored Bonnie as Mr. Stoppable guided his wife out.

Mr. Possible started to follow them, then noticed Bonnie standing there.

"Bonnie, should you be here." His mind clearly still in the room. He walked over beside her, staring through the window.

Bonnie ignored his question. "What's happening? Is Ron...is he..." She swallowed harshly, "Is Ron alive?"

Mr. Possible started, then brought his attention fully to the girl beside him. "Bonnie, I know you shouldn't be here. This is something you really shouldn't see."

Bonnie waved a negligent hand. "You're probably right, sir, but is he...?"

Mr. Possible ran his head abstractedly through his hair. "Yes, I think so. That is...well, it was hard to see in there, with just the flashlights. And, I really didn't get close enough to see if he was breathing." The two stood silently, watching the frantic, shadowed activity in the room.

"Who screamed?" Bonnie asked quietly. For a moment, she thought the tall man beside her hadn't heard, but finally.

"That was Barbara, Mrs. Stoppable. She was the first to get a good look at Ron's face when they turned him over."

"But, but, she's seen him since he was hurt?" Bonnie said in confusion.

"Yes, she has." James paused, finally looking down. "Bonnie, did you know that Barbara's grandfather was a survivor?"

"Survivor?" Bonnie questioned blankly, "Survivor of what?"

James looked at her, almost pityingly. "The Stoppable's are Jewish, Bonnie."

"So? What difference...does...that..." Bonnie staggered into silence as memory flushed her eyes. In the stricken silence, somewhere a maintenance main closed a switch. In the sudden brightness, Bonnie saw Ron's face. "Oh God."