As with every chapter before and every to follow, all 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.

James Possible decided that he had sat enough the past twelve hours and took a leisurely walk about the hospital grounds. A cobblestone path wove its way all around the main hospital building. Between the path and the building's outer way were planted a variety of well-tended flowers, shrubs and ground coverings. Following a very hot and dry summer, a recent period of much-welcomed rain and cooler-than-normal temperatures had restored the hospital's entire landscape to a lush green with splotches of seemly every color in the rainbow.

Strolling up the section of cobblestone just outside of Kim's room, James stopped and stood for a moment, hoping to catch another glimpse of his daughter before heading back to his car. He could see her standing over by the mirror, obviously freshening herself up for Ron's return. James smiled. Even in her hospital garments, Kim was making every effort to look her best for her boy friend.

Then it dawned on him: if she was sprucing up, Ron must be headed out to the parking lot. James spun around and ran back up the cobblestone path. Coming around the corner of the building, he nearly collided with Ron coming out of the main hospital entrance. Fortunately, he was able to slow up and veer to the right at the last second. Ron, seeing him coming, planted himself and grabbed onto his likely future father-in-law to keep him from crashing to the concrete.

After catching their respective breaths, each thanked the other.

"Thanks, Ron. I very nearly took a major tumbling there."

"Glad to do it, Mr. Dr. P.! No reason for both of us to have one of these", Ron said as he pointed to the bandaged wound on his forehead.

"How's that feeling, by the way?" asked Mr. Possible.

"Oh, it doesn't let me forget it's there, but the ER nurse did a good job cleaning and bandaging it", Ron replied.

"That's good to hear, Ron, but I'd have someone take a look at it again and put a fresh bandage on before you come home, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

"So, is Rufus riding home with me?"

Rufus popped out of Ron's pants pocket, leapt to the ground and hopped over beside Mr. Possible.

"Well, I guess that answers that question. Okay, Rufus, let's go find the car and head home."

"Okay!" squeaked Rufus.

"Ron, he seems almost a little too excited to be leaving. Is there something I should know?" queried Mr. Possible.

"Uh, well, Mr. Dr. P., I did mention to him something about there being lots of food at your place, that's all", Ron rather sheepishly answered.

"Uh-huh. Guess I'd better call ahead and make sure there will be. If not, I suspect Kim's mother will require that I stop off at the grocery store on my way. Anything else?"

"No, Mr. Dr. P., that's it." Ron bent down to say goodbye again to Rufus. "See you later, good buddy. Behave yourself. Hopefully Kim and I will be home later this afternoon."

Mr. Possible turned and walked toward where his car was parked, with Rufus hopping along beside him.

Ron remained at the entrance, watching as Mr. Possible opened the passenger side front door so Rufus could jump in, then went around to the driver's side, climbed in and started the car. Moments later the car slowly backed out and proceeded past a few other parked cars before exiting the lot.

Ron waved, then turned and walked back in the hospital entrance. He'll miss his little buddy, but it was worth it so he could spend a few more hours alone with Kim.

"See, Mom? I told you we'd be shoo-ins to make the J-V team, didn't I?"

"Yes, Jim, you did, and I'm very proud of both of you", replied Kathleen Possible as she drove the family mini-van back home from the soccer tryouts. "It's a good thing the boys are fast", she thought to herself. "They're a head shorter than the rest of the squad and most of the other boys look like they spent the summer in the weight room. Better stock up on the ice packs."

Once the vehicle was within two or three houses of home, Kathleen reached up and pressed on the automatic garage door opener, then looked in the rear view mirror.

"Okay, boys. Remember. Cleats come off in the garage and then straight to the shower. I'll find some clean clothes for each of you and set them on the floor just outside the bathroom. Last but not least, be sure to throw your soccer clothes in the washer, pull out the control knob and close the lid."

"Any questions?"

"No, Mom", replied the twins in unison.

"Good."

The minivan pulled into the driveway and up into the garage. Jim and Tim immediately jumped out and headed for the kitchen entrance.

"Boys? Cleats?" reminded Kathleen.

"Oops. Sorry, Mom."

The twins quickly untied their cleats, tossed them aside and then raced to the bathroom.

Kathleen sighed and shook her head.

"Someday they'll learn. I just hope for the sake of their brides-to-be that it's before they get married."

Pressing the button to close the garage door, Kathleen walked into the kitchen just as the phone rang.

"Good morning, Possible residence."

"And a good morning to you too, beautiful."

"Hmmm. I wonder who this could be. The voice sounds like Jim, but it can't be him. He hasn't called me "beautiful" since our honeymoon. Must be an imposter. So, just who are you?"

"V-e-r-y funny, Kate. Oh, and I have too called you beautiful since our honeymoon."

"When?"

"Let's see. There was that one time … No, didn't do it then. There was another time … Nope, didn't do it then, either."

"You haven't, have you? See, I was right."

"Now, Kate, you can't expect me to recall events that may have happened ten or fifteen years ago after all that's happened the past twelve hours. Besides, I know for a fact that I've called you lots of things that are the same as "beautiful"."

"For instance?"

"Well, "gorgeous", for one, along with "fantastic", "marvelous", "incredible", "breathtaking" and "a knock out", to name a few."

"W-e-l-l, I guess I'll let you off the hook this time, but only if you promise to add "beautiful" to your list."

"Done."

"Good. So, how did the morning go?"

"It went great. Easily the best time I've had with Kimmie in years. Caught up on father-daughter talk and even managed to get a few hours of shut-eye."

"How's Kim doing?"

"That daughter of ours never ceases to amaze me. By the time I left it was hard to tell anything had happened to her last night. She even twisted my arm to promise that I'd give the thumbs up if the doctor asks if we thought she could come home today."

"That's good to hear, Jim, but I'd still like her to take it slow the next few days even if she comes home today. It's not uncommon for there to be a delayed effect on the brain following electrical shock days or even weeks after the incident."

"Maybe we should have Wade ask Global Justice to put Kim on temporary leave, Kate."

"Well, she might be more open to the idea coming from Wade than from us. Do you mind giving him a call? He may even be able to conference in Dr. Director."

"Sure, Kate, I can call him; just as soon as we're finished."

"Oh, I forgot to mention I have a very hungry naked mole rat as a passenger. Should I stop by the store on the way and pick up some stuff for Rufus?"

"No, I think we have enough snacks to keep even Rufus happy."

"Jim, what do you think the chances are that Kim will be released today?"

"I know I said earlier that Kim twisted my arm, but I honestly do think she's recovered enough to go home. Of course, if she does, like you said, she really should take it easy for a few days. Why do you ask?"

"Well, with Jon Stoppable getting home today after being gone a week and Kim hopefully coming home, too, what would you think of making dinner into a sort of "Welcome Home!" celebration?"

"That's a fantastic idea, Kate! What do you have in mind menu-wise? Is there anything I can pick up on the way?"

"No, just come straight home. I'd like to call Rachel and run the idea past her. We'll probably work up the menu together and then later on make a grocery run."

Back at Middleton General, Kim's face was buried in the floral arrangement, deeply inhaling the delicious mixture of fragrances.

"Ahhh!" Kim exclaimed as she lifted up her head and exhaled. "What a w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l surprise, Ron! You sure you don't want to take credit for these?"

"Like I said, Kim, they were a "Thank You!" gift from the lady at the floral shop."

"And the sparkling white grape juice?"

"That was her idea, too, although I will take credit for tracking it down. The corner store down the street was out, so I had to do some quick thinking and find another place that carried it chilled."

"In other words, you called Wade on the Ronnunicator, he tapped into the inventory databases of all the local stores and you were able to download a map showing where you could find it, right?"

"Yeah, but hey, at least I was smart enough to call him."

Kim leaned over and gave Ron a quick peck on the cheek. "Way to go, champ."

While Kim went back to enjoying the floral arrangement, Ron made another attempt at opening the bottle. Amidst grunts and groans, the sound of a "Pop!" was heard as he finally managed to remove the stopper.

Pouring glasses of the bubbling juice for the two of them, Ron handed one glass to Kim and then called for a toast. Ron raised his glass, and Kim, with a smile, did likewise.

"In thanksgiving for Kim's recovery, for our families and friends, and especially for each other. May we never take our blessings for granted."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Ron."

Clinking together their glasses, Ron was lowering his to take a sip when Kim grabbed his arm.

"I know this going to sound silly, but could we do a "bride and groom" first sip?" Kim asked.

Ron grinned. "Sure. I'm game. Just remember your boyfriend isn't exactly God's gift to coordination."

Taking it slowly step by step, trying to maintain a steady hand while giggling, Kim and Ron intertwined their right arms and brought their glasses to their lips.

As they drank, Kim looked into Ron's brown eyes and smiled. He did the same, peering into Kim's green eyes and smiling. Their free hands instinctively reached forward and clasped together. They remained silently gazing into each other's eyes for several minutes, communicating through changes in facial expressions.

So focused were the two teens that, when the Kimmunicator beeped, it startled them as though they were awakened from a dream.

Kim snatched the Kimmunicator off her nightstand and pressed the Transmit button.

"What's the sitch, Wade?" she asked in an obviously annoyed tone of voice.

"Uh, did I just interrupt something?"

"Yes, Wade, as a matter of fact, you did."

"Oops. Sorry", apologized Wade, clearly meaning it. "You want me to call back later?"

Kim sighed. "No. That's okay, Wade. What's up?"

"I just thought you and Ron would like to hear the good news. We've been able to identify the original senders of that e-mail. It's just as we thought: some stupid high school prank that got out of hand and ended up being sent to those goons' e-mail address by accident. GJ working with local police have taken the kids into custody and confiscated the computer."

"And people call me dopey", interjected Ron. "Unbelievable."

"So what's going to happen to those kids?" asked Kim.

"Legally they're minors, so they won't be treated the same as the goons who actually carried out the attack. A lot depends on the local laws and whether any of them have any prior offenses."

"Well, I know what I'd like do to them", spoke Ron.

"You'll need to take a number, Ron", Wade chuckled. "From what I hear, there's already a long line, including several folks from GJ."

"Okay, you two, cool it", admonished Kim. "That's Drakken and Shego talk, not Team Possible talk."

"Wade, any other sitches we need to know about?"

"Not at the moment, Kim. Maybe all of the super villains decided to take the weekend off."

"Ha! You wish! Besides, we still have half of Saturday and all day Sunday left."

Taking a sip from his ever-present soda cup, Wade appeared to be pondering what to say next or how to say it.

"You know, Kim, it might not be a bad idea to take a few days off from saving the world and let GJ handle things."

"Wade, I'm feeling just fine", Kim bristled.

"Well, you're not going anywhere until the Doctor says you can be released", reminded Ron.

"And that should happen any time now, Ron."

"Kim, you may think you're fine when in fact you're not", Wade pointed out.

"And there's no way to know for certain until I'm actually back in action, right?" Kim fired back.

"Actually, Kim, there is another way we can get a good idea if you're mission-ready", answered Wade. "You could go through a battle simulation at GJ Headquarters."

"Who do you suggest I fight, Wade? Will Du?" asked Kim sarcastically.

"Dr. Director says she's willing to be your opponent", replied Wade. "That is, if you're willing to take her on."

"Is Dr. Director behind all of this?" questioned Kim. "Well, since she's so concerned about my fitness for battle, sure I'll take her on."

"Great. I'll go ahead and set it up for tomorrow afternoon. GJ will pick you up about one o'clock. Ron, are you and Rufus planning to come?"

"You bet! We wouldn't miss this for the world. "Kim Possible vs. Dr. Director: A Battle Royale"."

"Ron, turn down the drama!" chided Kim. "This is going to be a simulation. We'll both be wearing protective gear."

"Um, actually, Kim, you won't", Wade corrected.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope."

"Does she understand what she's getting herself into, Wade?"

"I'm sure she does, Kim. The question is, do you?"