Chapter nine:
Dr. Aisha DeSantos was just finishing up with a patient when her husband came running in, looking like he had just seen someone he thought died walking down the street, or like he just saw a monster outside the building.
"Kim's back in California and you will never guess who she is with!" Rocky exclaimed, skidding across the room, past cats and dogs and many other patients.
Aisha rolled her eyes as she came around the counter; a little awkwardly do to her large belly, "Her boyfriend from Florida." She suggested.
Rocky danced around the little waiting room confirming what all of the owners already feared. The capable vet Dr. Aisha DeSantos was married to a crazy person, "Wrong, wrong, you're wrong. You'll never guess. Oh, this is the best news ever, and you'll never believe it."
Aisha took a deep breath, it was probably not a good idea to strangle her husband in front of a room full of witnesses, "Let's see, it's the best news ever that I'll never believe that involves who Kim was with." She paused for a moment before finally saying, "No way! She was with Tommy wasn't she?"
Rocky let out a squeal of delight as he continued to dance around, "Yes, she's with Tommy and they have a kid!"
Aisha stared at her husband in disbelief, "Is this like the time you saw Bigfoot?"
Rocky huffed, "NO! I really saw them, at the Diner, Together!"
…
Janet and James Oliver hurried to the door as the door bell rang. They smiled as they opened the door and were tackled hugged by a blonde five year old.
"Grandpa, Grandma," Olivia shouted, tackling them with a big hug.
"Where are your parents?" James asked.
"Daddy's helping Mommy." Olivia stated, as Tommy helped Kim up the steps of the front porch.
"Hey Mom, Dad," Tommy greeted his parents.
"Can I play outside?" Olivia asked, she had been coped up in the car for three hours and wanted nothing more than to have sometime running around carefree.
"Stay in the yard." Tommy instructed her, as his father opened the door and pulled out an old soccer ball.
He tossed it at Olivia, "This used to be your daddy's when he was your age."
…
Olivia was kicking the ball around the front yard when it rolled out into the road. Used to living out in the middle of the woods where there was no traffic, she ran out onto the road just as a minivan turned the corner. The van slammed on its breaks and swerved to avoid hitting Olivia, instead hitting a street light across the street.
Tommy hurried out the door of his parents' house when he heard the squealing breaks and the crunching sound of metal hitting metal. The first thing he noticed was a minivan against a light post, an Asian American woman getting out and checking on her kids in the back seat. Then he saw Olivia standing in the middle of the road, looking quite panicked and shocked.
"Olivia!" he called out, racing into the road and scooping her up, "are you hurt?" he demanded, checking her over for injuries.
Olivia buried her head into his shoulder, "I sorry Daddy, I forgot to look both ways like they taught us at school before I chased after my ball."
Tommy held her in his arms noticing that she was shaking. He didn't blame her for being upset, he was upset too. He had learned only too well the price a car accident has from knowing Olivia and Kim. He headed over to the minivan, where the woman was on the phone with the police and trying to calm down a screaming one year old. Peering into the van he could see a little girl around Olivia's age still in her booster.
"Are you okay?" Tommy asked, and then gave a double take when he recognized the woman, "Trini?"
"Tommy," she replied, "I hardly recognized you with short hair." She glanced at the little girl in his arms, "We're fine; is your daughter okay?"
Tommy nodded, "Just shaken, we live out in the middle of the woods so we don't have to worry about traffic, and I forgot to remind her that we do here."
"I'm sure this isn't something she'll forget for a long time." Trini admitted.
Tommy smiled, "My mom just pulled out a batch of cookies, would your kids like some?"
Trini nodded, "Sure, I just got off the phone with the police, and they'll be here in a few minutes."
They were met at the door by Kim, who immediately began to yell at Olivia, "What were you thinking! You aren't at home Olivia; there are cars here! You could have been hurt!" Kim took a step forward only to start to fall. Tommy quickly sat Olivia down and caught her.
Olivia was crying full out by now as Tommy ordered, "Olivia, can you find Mommy's cane I think she lost it."
Olivia hurried into the house as her father studied her mom, "Would you like to tell me what that little outburst was, Beautiful? She didn't mean to run into the street."
"I can't," Kim muttered, "I can't be responsible for another death." Then she rose her voice as if to make a point, "I'm a power ranger, my job is to protect lives not take them away!" With that she pushed away from Tommy and tried to walk away but discovered that she couldn't walk without her cane.
Just then Olivia appeared with the cane, "Here is your cane Mommy; you left it hidden underneath the couch."
Trini burst out laughing as Kim accepted the cane and stood up straight, using the cane for balance, "Thank you Olivia." She said sarcastically, as she limped off upstairs.
Tommy gave Trini a dirty look before racing after Kim. Honestly, why would Trini laugh at Kim like that, he thought she was her friend.
Kim was sitting in the middle of the bed, glaring at her right leg like it had betrayed her somehow. She looked up and gave Tommy a half smile, "I'm sorry, I didn't handle that as good as I should have."
Tommy smiled, "I know," he plopped down next to her, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Kim took a shaky breath, "Trini laughed, she's my friend, why did she laugh?" With that Tommy pulled her closer, hugging her.
"I'm sure it's a simple misunderstanding." Tommy insisted.
Just then there was a knock at the door, Kim looked up to see Trini in the doorway, "I'm sorry I laughed; it just reminded me of when Jason had those crutches. He didn't want us to know about them, so he hid them under the couch, but you knew about them and grabbed them. You said the same thing to Jason as your daughter said to you. That's why I laughed."
Kim gave her a half smiled, "I forgot about that. That happened while I was living with the Scotts during my parents' divorce."
Trini plopped down on the other side of Kim, "So girl, what's happening with you? We haven't seen each other since I left for Switzerland and that was a lifetime ago."
Kim laughed hollowly, "There isn't much to say; you got my letters."
Tommy burst out laughing causing the others to look at him, "Kim, you cut off contact with me and everyone else long before the accident. You have a lot of catching up to do."
Kim moaned, Tommy was right, "That's almost a decade of information to tell. Where do you want me to start?"
Trini nodded to the window, were they could see her van, which she had parked in the Oliver's driveway now that the police had reviewed the accident, "You can explain why you lost your cool out there. You always were the most levelheaded one, besides Billy, yet a kid makes a mistake and you lose your cool."
"When I heard you slam on your brakes and then the thud of metal hitting metal, it…" Kim took a shaky breath to steady herself, "it reminded me of my accident. That was the last thing I remember hearing. It just brought it all back."
Trini shot Tommy a look over Kim's head, asking him a silent question. Tommy shrugged, nodding towards Kim; she would have to be the one to answer the question. "What accident, what do you mean responsible for deaths?"
Kim shook her head, "I was in a major wreck soon after I came home with Jason for a visit."
"After your room at the hotel got vandalized." Trini stated, which caused Kim and Tommy to stare, "I'm married to Jason; he doesn't keep secrets from me."
"My brakes stopped working and I couldn't stop, I crashed into a car and ended up killing five people."
"Your brakes didn't stop working James tampered with them." Tommy countered, "And if I ever figure out his last name I will hunt him down and pound him."
"Callaway," Trini stated casually, "Jason told me about Kim dating a guy named James Callaway; apparently he was her roommate's twin brother."
"I was purposely not telling him that information," Kim hissed at Trini.
Trini left before dinner, claiming she had to be home when Jason got home or else he would start worrying that something bad had happened. Tommy understood how many times had Kim been targeted because she had been with him?
"Let's meet at the Youth Center after we put the kids down," Trini suggested, "I think I can get Sylvia to babysit, she's still in school and can use the money."
…
That night after tucking Olivia in and turning her care over to his parents, which he suspected would include that one last movie she wanted to watch before bed that Kim had said no to, Tommy and Kim headed to the youth center.
Tommy had expected to be reminded of the times he had spent here as a power ranger, but the insults of memories almost over come him. Beside him Kim stumbled a little as she took in the Youth Center, it looked just the way she remembered it.
Tommy helped her up to one of the bar stools, and almost immediately Ernie showed up from the back, just like he had in the past. He started, "Hi guys, seeing you two here together made me think I had somehow gone back in time."
Kim laughed, "I was thinking the same thing."
Just then there was a loud shout and somebody tackled hugged Kim, knocking her over and knocking her cane out of her reach. Kim gasped out loud before stating, "Zack, how did you know I'll be here?"
Zack smiled as he helped Kim up, "Sorry about that couldn't help myself, it's been forever. Meeting here was my idea, when I stopped by to fill out the police report Trini told me you two were in town, together. I didn't believe her, so I asked her to get the two of you here together. I guess she was right."
Tommy quickly grabbed Kim's cane and handed it to her. Kim nodded her thanks as she planted it on her left side, shifting her weight so that it was no longer on her right leg. "Who else is going to show up?" Kim asked, ignoring the look Zack gave it.
"Trini and Jason, of course, I won't be surprised if Adam and Tanya show up. Jason and Adam own a dojo together here in town. I'm sure they heard you were in town." Zack answered before asking the question he wanted to ask, he knew that Kim wouldn't answer it if he didn't answer her question first, "What's wrong with your leg?"
Kim shifted her leg a little, blushing, "I nearly lost it in a car accident back in Florida. The doctors were able to save it, but it never was as good as it use to be."
"See I told you!" A loud voice called out from the entrance, "This isn't like the time with Bigfoot. There they are together, with Zack."
Kim laughed as a very pregnant Aisha rushed over to her, hugging her to the best of her ability, "I guess I should have believed Rocky when he said that he saw you."
"I guess so." Kim said with a laugh.
Just then a bundle of red scooped Kim up and twirled her around, "Jason!" she exclaimed, "Put me down!"
Tommy quickly headed over to where Jason and Zack were talking, keeping an eye on were Kim was talking to the girls at their old table; he couldn't let her know what he was doing.
"Jason," he said quietly, "Do you know a James Callaway."
Zack looked up at him, "He's my partner on the police force, and he's a good worker, I like him a lot."
Tommy frowned, no wonder he had gotten away with murder, "You aren't going to like him when you find out what he did to Kim."
Rocky and Adam overheard him and headed over, "Who did what to Kim?" Adam demanded.
In low tones and glances at Kim Tommy told the other boys what he knew about Kim and James involvement in it.
Kim was talking with the other girls when suddenly Rocky shouted, "I'm going to kill him!"
Kim frowned with that, Tommy must have told them what he knew. Zack stood up, "I won't stand for it; he is responsible for sabotage, man slaughter and attempted murder." He started to pace, if he could just get a confession out of him, he could get the justice that his sister deserves.
Kim looked at the girls as they rushed over to their husbands to learn what had happened. She groaned, she hoped for their sakes that they never run into James or else she might end up bailing them out of jail, or more likely breaking them out.
….
A/N: Dah dah dah dah, James is in Angel Grove and works with Zack in the police force. How come I have a feeling this isn't going to end well for James?