Random Acts of Kindness
Disclaimer: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by ABC and the Disney Corporation. Original lyrics to the songs referenced in this story and the music are the property of the respective authors, artists and labels. All other characters appearing in this story can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time).
This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.
Enjoy! Please read and review.
--
A/N Story Forward:
This is, I believe, something that happens every day but goes unnoticed…until now.
Just before graduation from their respective undergraduate programs at M.I.I.T., Ron plans a very fun-filled evening for both Kim and him, but their fun would be for entirely different reasons.
--
Chapter Forward:
Trips to the pharmacist can be interesting, especially when you've been around people far too long who work with Kim Possible.
--
Random Acts of Kindness
C02: Yes, Virginia, you never know.
--
He pulled up in the BullsEye parking lot into a disabled parking slot and stopped the engine. He happened to look up as the radio finished playing Beethoven's Leonore Overture #3 (his favorite of the Leonore overtures) and saw a woman getting out of the car opposite his parking spot. He hung his handicapped placard from the mirror and watched as she entered the store. Her car was tagged with disabled plates, he noted as he got out of the car and removed his walker from the rear driver's side.
Car locked, he headed into the store to grab a cart, a few items, and his prescriptions. He grinned again, remembering the email he'd received from his insurance company: they had closed their Home Delivery service for the time being, seeing as how a trio of Pods had buried themselves in the main facilities. Fortunately, the Specialty Pharmacy was untouched, so he could still get his MS medication shipped, but they had decided that, for the time being, they would honor all locally-filled medications at their discounted rates until they were able to re-open.
"Lucky for me the Specialty Pharmacy had listened to a smart consultant last year and de-centralized their medicine distribution," he said as he grabbed the nearest escaping shopping cart, folded the walker, and placed it inside. He then made a beeline for the pharmacy counter, only to find the woman walking away from the counter and sitting on the bench next to it, her cart only containing a few items.
He waited as the pharmacist finished an order for a different lady at the counter, handed her the receipt, and headed down the way to the register where he stood.
"Hello, Mr. Load," the pharmacist said, looking at the stack of bags waiting for customer pickup and suddenly remembered something. He slapped his forehead and headed back around the inside counter to where the drugs were stored and went though several stacks of paper before he found what he was looking for and came back to Ryan.
"Ryan, I remember hearing Valerie talking to you. Was this supposed to be on your insurance?"
"Yes, it is," Ryan replied.
"Well, for some reason, they denied it," the pharmacist said, and Ryan cringed.
"How much would it be without insurance?" Ryan asked, reaching for his wallet and a US 10-dollar bill.
"US 245.90," the pharmacist replied, and Ryan's jaw dropped.
"If you don't mind waiting until Valerie gets back from lunch, she can run this through with an override and see if we can do this for a lower price," the pharmacist suggested, and Ryan nodded his agreement.
"When will she be back?"
"In about 10 minutes," was the reply, and Ryan nodded once again.
"I'll be over here," Ryan pointed at the bench, and the pharmacist acknowledged him and turned to the next customer.
--
Ryan pushed his cart in front of the lady, sitting on the bench and fiddling with her Prido cell phone.
"Do you mind if I share your bench?" he asked, and she looked up and smiled. She was the kind of woman who was ageless. She could be anywhere between 25 and 65, because she had that beauty that was timeless, he thought. She had a wireless earpiece, and she was looking at her cell as if she were waiting for someone to call her back. He placed his cart next to her and sat, sighing as he did.
She smiled, and he revised his age estimate upward: at least 30, he thought, because she understands the joys of waiting. He sat, just staring at the end cap, the end of the shelves, in front of him, stocked to the top with contact lens cleaner on sale from a German company, the leading makers of lenses. He looked at the aisle next to it, and he laughed inside: side by side, covering easily one half of the total shelf space, were pregnancy test kits next to male 'pregnancy prevention devices'; he remembered trying to explain these 'devices' to his son when he was younger, and Wade laughing at the choice of the name from Grecian history.
He watched as a pretty young brunette wearing a beige halter top and a black denim mini-skirt stopped on the aisle and began to pick up and read the labels on several of the pregnancy test kits before placing them back on the shelves. After reading over six of the packages, she picked up three different packages and placed them in her shopping cart. She looked back and saw Ryan looking at her. She gave him a friendly smile and wave, winked at him, and then she turned, heading down the aisle.
He looked back at her, and smiled: her Prido had the display on, and she had an analog clock displaying the time: 1:25 PM.
"Most kids today couldn't even tell you what that was, let alone tell you the time without their cell phone," he commented. "They have no idea what a watch is," he added.
She looked up at him, followed his eyes to her cell, and laughed. "Yes, my grandson told me he didn't want anything that looked like that: he wanted a real watch, one that showed the numbers. I asked him if he could tell time, and he rolled his eyes and replied 'Of course.'"
"You aren't old enough to have grandchildren," he replied, and she actually giggled! He thought it sounded wonderful, coming from her.
"I had my kids when I was 4," she remarked with a twinkle in her eye.
"I can believe that," he dead-panned, and they both laughed.
"You know, the kids these days wouldn't know how to dial a phone," he smiled, and she laughed again.
"Yeppers, all 'dumbed-down and digital'," she replied, and he really wanted to ask her if she knew his uncle.
"I'm here," she said, looking up and away from him, and he turned away to give her a modicum and, at least, the appearance, of privacy.
"I'm here at BullsEye, just waiting for Les' medication. His blood pressure was 155 over 120 when he woke up this morning," and Ryan winced, "but I give him his medicine and an aspirin after I called his cardiologist, Dr. Santos, and that dropped it a bit after about 45 minutes. I gave him another aspirin; that helped it drop some more, and it also helped that massive headache that he had. His PCP had recommended taking him to the ER, but Dr. Santos knows how he is about hospitals, and she suggested that we wait and monitor him though the weekend and see if we can keep his BP down."
--
Ryan didn't hear the remainder of the conversation: he was remembering his first trip to the ER, before his MS had been diagnosed. Rachel was being strong, but he remembered hearing her outside of his room, talking to the doctor. "I can't lose him, Doctor: he's everything to me. I don't know what I would do if," and her words disappeared into sobs.
Ryan knew, then and there, that he was going to make it: not so much for himself, but for the woman he loved more than life itself. He looked down at his immobile legs, and then he looked up. "I don't know what You have planned for me, but we can and will make it, with Your help. Just help her get through all of this, please," he whispered, and he felt the calm come over him.
--
"So, what brings a handsome man like you here on a Saturday afternoon?" Ryan's thoughts were interrupted by her question, and he turned back to look at her. She had put her phone away, and her hands were free.
"Joys of insurance," he explained, and she snorted. "Beta-San's mail-order delivery operation got 'Pod'ded'," he smiled, and she laughed, "And, now, I get to have my prescriptions filled locally for the mail order price."
"Kewl," she replied, and he was still confused about her age.
"Ryan?" Valerie, the other pharmacist, stuck her head out the side door, next to the bench. "I'm working on yours now, and yours too, Virginia," she nodded to the woman next to Ryan. "I'll have something in a few minutes," she added and stuck her head back in, closing the door.
"I'm here picking up my husband's medicine," she explained, wondering why she was telling a perfect stranger what she was doing.
"Lucky man to have you as a wife," Ryan responded, and she smiled.
"Sometimes, he believes it," she smiled, and Ryan laughed.
"That's what my wife says, too," he added with a chuckle, and she looked away for a moment, reaching for her purse and pulling out her cell.
"Where have you been?" she asked with a smile. "I'm up at BullsEye, waiting, and he's at home." Silence, then "You were supposed to come over after you got back into town. Are you coming?" Silence, then "I should be home in 15-20 minutes, if everything works out with his medication." Silence, then "All right, 'Junebug'," she grinned, "I'll see you later, then," she reached up and touched her earpiece.
"Our son," she explained to Ryan as she replaced her phone in her purse. "I told him to bring his family over to have dinner, but now I've got to find something for everyone to eat since he's bringing the kids as well as the folks that that they went out of town with."
"I'm sure you'll make it work: my wife is famous for making a silk purse out of a sow's ear," Ryan smiled, and Virginia laughed hard.
"Thank you," she said when she quit laughing. "I've been worried about Les, and now I've got one more thing to think about…it's hard sometimes, you know?" She managed to fight back her tears, but Ryan read her face.
"I know what you mean," Ryan said, thinking back on his son's pre-Joss days. "But, you know He says that He will not give you more than the two of you can't handle, together."
"Amen to that, sir: amen to that," she smiled.
"Ryan?" the male pharmacist stuck his head out the door. "I've got your medications ready."
Ryan stood up and walked to his cart, turned it toward the pharmacy counter, and smiled at Virginia. "It's been a pleasure talking to you, and I'll keep you, your husband, and your family in my prayers."
"Thank you," Virginia smiled, still wondering why she felt so at ease telling this man what she had told him.
Ryan pushed his cart to the counter and past others. One young lady, no more than seven or eight, backed her cart from in front of the counter and into the aisle in front of the counter to allow Ryan to pass.
"Thank you, young lady," Ryan smiled, and her smile grew to cover her entire face.
"You're welcome, sir," she responded.
"Ryan?" the pharmacist came up to him with a bag. "Valerie re-ran it, and she got the medicine for your co-pay amount."
"That's a lot better," Ryan laughed, reaching into his wallet and pulling out his National Express card. Ryan looked at the pharmacist with a grin that was infectious. "Bradley: will you do me a favor and get me a pad and pen, please and thank you?"
"'Coitenly'," Bradley replied with a nasal voice and a laugh, reaching below the counter and retrieving both. "But, what are you going to do, 'Pinky': try and take over the world? Didn't work that last two times somebody and a pair of aliens tried it," he laughed again and put both items on the counter and took Ryan's card. Ryna grinned and signed the medical release pad, clicked the OK button, and the register read the card and generated the receipt while he wrote a note, reaching back into his wallet and retrieving something from it.
"I need a favor, Bradley," he replied, motioning for him to lean over so he could whisper his plans to him.
Bradley stared at Ryan for a moment, looked at the note Ryan had written and the items he'd placed under it, and quickly produced an envelope from the bin under the counter. He quickly placed the contents in it and handed it to Ryan, who sealed it, drew a line across the seal, and wrote 'Virginia' across the front. He then took Ryan's National Express card, swiped it into the register, and started a transaction. Ryan pre-approved the transaction, and now it sat, waiting for the entry of the items.
"You'll make sure she gets this?" Ryan asked, and Bradley nodded.
"You're an evil, evil man, Ryan, and I'm proud to know you," Bradley laughed and extended his hand. Ryan took it and shook it.
"I'm off to get the rest of the goods, and I'll be heading home," Ryan took his prescriptions and put them in the cart. "Later, Bradley," he called as he headed for the groceries. 'Twenty dollars is always better the three hundred, especially when the three hundred can go to such a better use,' Ryan thought as he headed for the produce section: grapes were on sale, and so were strawberries, 'and that boy eats a ton of those 'berries these days,' he laughed inside as he reached for two two-pound cartons of strawberries.
--
"WAIT!"
Ryan had just unlocked his car and was starting to unload the shopping cart when he heard a voice yell. He looked up, and it was the woman, pushing a cart towards him and her car, filled with bags, motioning at him.
He placed his last bag in the back seat. He then pushed the cart into the cart collection rack, pulled his walker out of the shopping cart, and returned to his car door just as the woman came up.
"You…you…," and her face erupted in a mixture of tears, laughter, and a smile to light the continent.
"Yes?" he asked, grinning. "May I help you with something?" He asked innocently, placing his walker in the back seat and closing the door.
"'May I help you …'" she repeated his words, staring into his eyes, and then she laughed. "I walked up to the counter to get my prescriptions, and the pharmacist handed the bag to me. I asked him what the damage was, and he told me that it was already paid for!
"I asked him who, and he pointed in the direction you had gone. I asked him why, and he grinned and handed me this," she held up the envelope that Ryan had loaded. "I opened it, and I pulled out your note, telling me that you wanted to help. You had paid for my husband's prescriptions, and you had added a little money to help pay for dinner tonight.
"Three hundred dollars!?" she looked at him, and he nodded.
"Hey, good steak and all the trimmings are expensive, especially when you get the cuts I suggested," he explained. "I hope you followed my suggestions for dinner," he continued, "and I hope you got the flowers for yourself."
"I did, and I did, but I don't understand: why did you do all this?"
"Blame my son and his friends for infecting me," he explained, and the look of confusion on her face was priceless.
"My son is Wade Load," he explained, and shock covered her face, "and his friends are Ron and Kim," he added.
Virginia smiled her understanding. "I think that your son is just 'paying forward' what his father and mother taught him, just as Kim and Ron are, as well."
"Thank you," Ryan accepted the compliment. "I hope you enjoy dinner tonight," he smiled, and Virginia extended her hand.
"Bless you, Dr. Load," she shook his hand. "You actually know Les, my husband: he's the custodian in your building."
"You're married to 'Crazy Man' Lester?" Ryan laughed. "I should have bought you three dozen roses as well for 'hazardous duty pay', being married to Lester," Ryan added. "He's a good man, and now I've finally met the wonderful wife he never stops talking about," Ryan pulled her hand up to his lips and brushed it. "Bless you, Virginia," he said, releasing her hand.
"I've already been blessed today," she smiled, a tear escaping from her right eye.
"You've blessed me," Ryan said, opening his driver side door and getting in the car, closing the door.
"How?" she asked through his closed window as he started the car.
"Just by being here for Les," Ryan said after he lowered his window and put the car into reverse. "And, by reminding me of what the kids have been fighting for, every day for the past four years." Ryan raised his window and backed out of the parking space, placed the car into drive, and started forward, leaving Virginia standing and smiling.
He reached for the radio and changed the station after he turned it on. A soft rock violin filled the inside of his car, and he smiled. DimeRiver was one of his favorites, and this was the intro to one of his favorite of their works.
"'I am a lighthouse,'" he began to sing with the radio as he pulled up to the stoplight leaving the parking lot.
--
"Ron, that was beautiful." Kim had tears falling onto her cheeks as Ron closed the book. "But, why did Ryan blame it on you and me?"
"Now, for your next surprise, KP, and it's a 'Loaded' one," Ron grinned, and Rufus looked over from his pile of cheeses and gave him a huge raspberry just before Kim groaned.
"Our first dinner guests are the Doctors Load: Ryan, Rachel, and Wade, and their friends Lester and Virginia Weeks," and Kim's jaw dropped when the five entered from the kitchen.
"Hey there, partner," Wade walked up to Kim with a smile on his face. "Ready for some more surprises?" he laughed and kissed her check.
"HEY!" came from Rufus, and Wade turned and looked at him.
"I am NOT kissing the naked mole rat," he announced, and Rufus blew him a raspberry.
"Come here, little guy and let me give you some grandmother sugars," Virginia held out her hand. Rufus ran and jumped into it. She lifted him up to her lips and kissed the top of his head, leaving a giant red lipstick mark on top of the pink.
"Nana sugars," Rufus swooned and fell over into her hand with a big smile on his face.
Ron walked over and took him from Virginia's hand, mouthing 'thank you' to her as he stepped back.
"Why, Dr. Load?" Kim asked, confused, and Ryan smiled.
"You know, Kimberly, sometimes you need to put those genius skills of your to work in the field," Ryan smiled, and Kim groaned. "You know why; you just don't think about it that much."
--
Chapter now complete
--
Author's afterward:
Bunnies are a funny lot. They gave me the start of this idea, but the squirrels took it and ran with it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. This will be an adventure, I can assure you.
I wanted to get comments from my betas on the chapter. One told me that there wasn't much they could do, and the other told me that they cried during most of it. I think I'm spoiling my betas…lol. Seriously, thanks to all of you for your input: you helped make this a better chapter.
A slight delay caused by the glitch, and some final changes occurred in here.
Next chapter will be a short one: Kim learns why, and she also learns that more is coming…next on Random Acts of Kindness.
Thanks for reading, and please leave a review.
--
Kim Possible Characters © the Walt Disney Company, USA
--
2009.08.09
--
