As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

Kim was sitting up in her hospital bed, her knees tucked under her chin with her arms wrapped around her legs. The clock on the wall seemed to be advancing at about the same pace as the one did back in her freshman year, when she served her one and only detention: v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

Time seemed to speed up for awhile when Felix and Monique dropped by around nine-thirty to check in on Kim. She was thrilled to see them and made certain to thank them for all they did the previous night, especially for Felix's nick-of-time actions that in all likelihood saved Ron's life.

Monique had brought along a bag of goodies from the local donut shop, including Kim's all-time favorite: a chocolate éclair stuffed with genuine whipped cream. They stayed for about fifteen minutes before excusing themselves. Monique was scheduled to close at Club Banana. Felix planned to spend the day testing a new pair of robotic arms that he and his mother had developed for his cybertronic wheelchair and then fly out to the mall and pick up Monique after she got off work.

That left Kim alone once again with her father. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy this one-on-one time. She did. It's just that she and Ron hadn't spent any time alone with each other since before last night's attack, and there were some things she really wanted to share with him. One thing she especially wanted to say was that, especially during this stay in ICU, but even in the days and weeks since the Prom, she has sensed a growing realization that, while he was still her best friend and now boyfriend, he was becoming even more than that. He was her "other half", her "soul mate".

Eleven o'clock couldn't come soon enough.

As Kim was pondering all this, James Possible was off on another coffee run, this time preceded by a side trip to the Men's Restroom. It had been a wonderful morning with her daughter, a very special time. Yet he too was now anxious for eleven o'clock to roll around. His daughter seemed to be fully recovered from last night's attack. Now it was just a matter of the doctor giving her clearance to go home. Frankly, he needed a shower, and then hopefully a nap on the sofa, with some college football on the big screen to keep him company.

Returning to Kim's patient room, James pulled the laser grid controller out of his pocket and pressed the button to deactivate the system. Walking briskly over to his bedside chair, he then turned and pressed the controller button to reactivate the grid. James sat down, took a sip of coffee and glanced up at the clock on the wall: 10:25. Thirty-five minutes, just enough time for one more father-daughter talk before Ron arrived.

"So, Kimmie, are you and Ron straightened away yet on your post-high school plans?" asked Mr. Possible.

"Well, we have agreed he will go to culinary school", answered Kim. "But that's been a given since Day One. The other thing we seem to be in agreement on is we'd like to go away to school."

"Away. As in out-of town away, out-of-state away or out-of-the-country away?" questioned Mr. Possible.

"Most likely either out-of-state or out-of-the-country", Kim replied.

"Any particular reason why? I mean, I understand there's a very good culinary school just a few hours from here, nestled up in the mountains at two well-known resort towns."

"Sounds like you've been doing a little school research of your own, Dad."

"Oh, maybe a little. Kim, it's no secret that Ron wants to go straight to culinary school. I'll admit I've spent some time on the Internet seeing if there were any schools local or nearby. So has your mother, by the way, and Ron's mom says she and Mr. Stoppable have been doing some culinary web surfing as well."

"What is this? Some sort of conspiracy?" Kim asked with a laugh.

"You could call it that, I suppose", replied her father. "We're only doing what millions of parents do when their daughter or son is about to leave the nest, so to speak: try to delay things as long as we can. Nana Possible had a hard time when I left home for college. She told me several years later that she did all she could to subtly convince me to go to school nearby, but I was bound and determined to strike out on my own. Of course, I was too busy getting ready to head out to take notice. She understood, because she did almost the exact same thing after she graduated from high school. Nana warned me that payback would come some day, and, as she usually is, she was right."

"Dad, I want you to understand that it's not you, or Mom, or even --- I can't believe I'm actually saying this --- the Tweebs", Kim explained. "It's not Middleton, either. As long as you and Mom are here, Middleton will always be home. Ron feels the same way. It's just that we'd both like to experience living somewhere else."

"But you and Ron have literally been all over the world, Kim", exclaimed Mr. Possible. "Heck, you've been to more countries than the President or the Pope!"

"You're right, Dad. We have been seemly everywhere, but only for a day or two while on a mission. The only time either of us has actually lived somewhere else was when Ron spent that week in Yamanouchi, Japan, last year as part of the student exchange program."

"What about all your friends here in Middleton, Kim?" asked Mr. Possible.

"Well, Felix says he's planning to stay in Middleton, go to school and --- Ahem! --- if a certain world-famous rocket scientist can pull some strings at the lab", Kim not-too-subtly hinted. "Felix would like to work with his mom on developing a prototype of a mass-producible version of his wheelchair."

"Felix's mom and I have already discussed it", said Mr. Possible. "Consider the strings pulled. Only don't tell Felix. It's supposed to be a surprise."

Kim ignored doctor's orders, hopped out of bed and gave her father a great big hug. "Dad, you're the best!"

Not wanting the Day Shift Nurse to catch her out of bed, Kim jumped right back in and rearranged her bedding like she never got out.

"Since Felix will stay here, Monique's going to keep working at Club Banana", Kim continued. "She's been promised a full-time eight-to-five position after graduation plus she'll be put on their "management track". That'll free up her evenings and weekends to work on her fashion design business."

"As for Josh and Tara, Josh really wants to go art school and get at least a Master's degree so he can teach while running his own studio. He's applied at some top-notch schools in California, Montana, New York and Boston and is pretty sure he'll be accepted. Where he goes will depend mainly on who offers the most financial aid."

"Tara's only sure about one thing right now: wherever Josh goes, she goes."

"What about your missions? What's Wade think of you and Ron going away to school?" asked Mr. Possible.

"As always, Wade is way ahead of things", Kim replied. "The Kimmunicator and Ronnunicator are both completely modular, so it's literally a snap to upgrade them. Any time he comes up with an upgraded module or a new one, he'll ship it to us via a GJ courier along with instructions. That's also how he plans to deliver us any new mission gear. Oh, and he has in the works units for you and Mom along with Ron's parents so any of you can call us or beep us, when you want to reach us."

Mr. Possible let out a very audible sigh. "Well, it does seem you two have covered all the bases. So far."

Ron knew he was cutting things close when he pulled his car into the hospital parking lot. The clock on the Ronnunicator screen said "10:56 AM". That gave him less than four minutes to park, grab the flowers and bottle of sparkling grape juice, dash inside and somehow slip past the main desk and the ICU desk without Rufus being discovered. "Piece of cake", he said to himself.

Gathering up the flowers and juice, Ron waited for Rufus to jump out before closing the car door. Rufus then crept down Ron's paints leg into his usual pocket "home".

"Now, good buddy, you need to keep still and not make a sound. If anyone inside hears you squeak or sees you squirm around, we're done for and you'll have to head back home with Mr. Dr. P. Got that?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Great! Now let's go see Kim!"

The automatic outside doors at the main entrance whooshed open as Ron triggered the electronic sensor and then closed behind him. A few steps further and the inside doors did the same.

The main hospital desk was to Ron's right as he entered. Being a Saturday, the hospital was running at reduced staffing levels, a situation he hoped would work in his favor.

Approaching the desk, Ron smiled and greeted the woman behind the counter. "Good morning! My name is Ron Stoppable and I'm here to visit a patient in ICU, Kim Possible."

The woman turned to the computer monitor, typed in Kim's name and pulled up her record from the hospital database.

"Oh, yes, Mr. Stoppable, I see you have permission to visit Miss Possible. Give me a few moments to print out your visitor's pass and then you can be on your way."

"So far, so good", thought Ron. "Stay cool, dude, and you'll be in Kim's room in no time".

A thermal printer could be seen on the back counter churning out Ron's visitor pass. The woman got up, stepped back to the counter and tore off the printout, slipped it in a plastic pin-on I.D. sleeve, then turned and handed it to Ron.

"Here's your pass, Mr. Stoppable. I hope you have a pleasant visit." As Ron was pinning the pass onto his shirt, he saw the pleasant, friendly smile on the woman's face suddenly change to a slightly repulsed puzzled expression.

"Oh, great", thought Ron. "She smells Rufus. We're dead."

"Excuse me, sir, but what is that smell?" she asked.

"Oh, that's some cologne I borrowed from my dad", replied Ron, hoping she'd accept the answer. "I think I might have overdone it a little."

"No, I smell the cologne, sir. There's another smell; an odor, actually."

"Uh, well, I forgot this morning that when I put on the cologne there's some sort of strange chemical reaction that produces an odor", Ron explained. "I've been told it has something to do with my body chemistry."

"If you'll pardon me for being so frank, sir, it smells like a dead rat", she commented.

Rufus let out a very audible "Grrrrr" in response to her comment.

"What was that sound?" the woman asked.

Ron had to think fast. "Oh, that was my stomach growling. I haven't eaten much the last day or so."

"Funny. I'd swear that sounded like an animal growling", she observed, scratching her head. "Strange. Very strange. Well, if you're that hungry, they will start serving lunch in the cafeteria at eleven-thirty. Oh, and you might want to think about getting a different brand of cologne for yourself."

"Thank you, ma'am, for the advice. I'll be sure to do that the next chance I get", Ron said, quite relieved.

Spinning away from the desk, Ron set off down the hallway to ICU.

"Man, that was close!" thought Ron. "Way to go there, Stoppable. Those two explanations definitely deserve a "Boo-yah!"."

Ron came to a halt just short of the ICU entrance, took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. "Just stay as far away from the ICU desk as you can", he thought. "And hope the Day Nurse isn't downwind."

Acting as nonchalant as possible, Ron pushed open the door and entered the Unit. The Day Nurse was nowhere to be seen.

"Boo-yah!" whispered Ron to himself. He triumphantly walked over to Kim's patient room. As he approached, he could hear Kim and Mr. Possible speaking. "That Ron is late again", grumbled Mr. Possible. "Dad, it's only eleven-oh-three", Kim pointed out. "If he shows up right now it would actually be early for him."

Taking his cue, Ron sprang into the room doorway.

"And here he is!" Ron exclaimed, a huge grin on his face.

"Well, well. About time!" commented Mr. Possible. He was clearly annoyed, yet, when he spotted the impressive floral arrangement in Ron's right hand and the bottle in his left, he couldn't help but grin himself.

"Ron, those flowers; they're incredible!" exclaimed Kim, a look of wonder and amazement on her face. "Where on earth did you get them?"

"Kim, let me in and I'll be happy to tell you the whole story", said Ron.

Reaching over to her nightstand, Kim picked up the laser grid controller and pressed the deactivate button. Ron entered, walked over and stood beside her bed. Kim then pressed the reactivate button to bring the grid back up.

"That takes care of my end of the deal", Kim said. "Now it's your turn. Tell all."

"Well, before you kids get reacquainted, I think I'll head on home", interrupted Mr. Possible. "Thanks for coming down to relieve me, Ron."

"Oh, believe me Mr. Dr. P., it's my pleasure", said Ron with a grin.

"Of that I have no doubt", responded Mr. Possible with a grin of his own.

"Kimmie, I'd hoped the doctor would show up before I left. He'll need a parental O.K. before you can be released. Just call home and your mom can give it to him", advised Mr. Possible. "If there are any papers to sign, she said she'd be willing to come down."

"It's been a very special morning with you, Kim, one that I'm going to remember for a long, long time. Wish it could have happened under different circumstances, but too often it takes a crisis like this to make these times happen."

"Thanks for staying with me, Dad. It has been special. I love you, Dad", Kim said, turning to her father so she could give (and receive) a great big hug.

Mr. Possible bent over and embraced his daughter. "I love you too, Kim."

"Well, I'm off. You two have an enjoyable afternoon. Hopefully we can all have supper together tonight."

"Sounds great to me, Mr. Dr. P.", said Ron.

Kim deactivated the laser grid so her father could exit the room, then immediately reactivated it.

"By the way, Ron", Mr. Possible called from the room entrance, "if you don't want Rufus to spend the entire day with you two, he's welcome to come home with me. I'll wait outside for five minutes. If I don't see you by then, I'll head home. Okay?"

"Okay, Mr. Dr. P.", Ron replied. "Kim", he whispered, "how did he know Rufus was here?"

"Ron, don't you think after five years my dad would know what a naked mole rat smells like? All that cologne you're wearing isn't concealing Rufus' scent, you know."

"Yeah, I've figured that out. The lady at the floral shop smelled him. So did the woman at the hospital front desk. Only they couldn't tell what they smelled."

"Well, you might as well come on out, good buddy."

Rufus immediately popped out of his hiding place, jumped onto the bed and scurried up the covers to give Kim a cheek "hug".

"Ouch! Watch it with those claws, Rufus!" said Kim. "I'm glad to see you, too."

"He's just thrilled to see you're okay, KP", explained Ron.

"Well, good buddy, I'm afraid your visit's going to have to be a short one."

Rufus gave Ron his naked mole rat version of the Puppy Dog Pout.

"Sorry, guy, but it's really for your own good. I'm sure Jim and Tim won't mind keeping you company and, unlike here, there should lots of food."

Rufus perked up at the mention of food, gave Kim another cheek "hug" --- this time being careful not to scratch her with his claws --- scampered back across the bed and hopped back into his pocket "home".

"KP, I'll run Rufus out to your dad, grab a couple of glasses from the cafeteria and be right back. Anything I get you while I'm running around?"

"Nope. As long as you come right back, I'll have everything I need", Kim said with an inviting tone in her voice.