Doubt
"OK… just a few more steps, Kimberly?" Dr. Peterson stood to the side, where Kim was standing, legs trembling and face pale, her heands holding onto the twin bars by her side. Behind her, Ron stood.
"OK." Kim said, and slowly, took her hands away from the bars. Ron tensed, his hands ready to grab, but Kim stayed upright. Kim bit her lip, and stepped forward. One. Two.
Three… She let out a tiny gasp of pain, but her hands stayed away from the bars.
Four…. Her lip held between her teeth Kim slowly walked forward.
Five—Kim's legs gave out and she started to fall, missing the bars, but Ron was there, his hands under her arms, holding her up, keeping her from falling.
"Damn!" Kim swore. Ron without missing a beat spoke up.
"KP… how many steps could you take a month ago?"
"None." Kim said, "But that doesn't make it any better."
"No, but Ron is correct." Cindy said. "Your rate of improvement—when you don't try and force it, is very good." She paused, "Your swimming shows that you are redeveloping the strength in your legs and control…and how do you feel?" Ron was letting Kim down into her chair, gently.
"Horrible." Kim said, "My back is killing me."
"To be expected." Cindy replied, "The damage to your back, and the fracturing of the lower vertebra… was severe."
"Tell me about it." Kim said, sighing as she took the pressure off. Cindy saw her legs were trembling, even now that the weight was off of them.
"Ron… do we have to go to thepractice tonight?"
"No." Ron said, "We could stay in and catch a flick."
"OK…" Kim said.
"Why not?" Cindy asked.
"I just…" Kim paused, "I just don't want to see the cheerleaders."
"Because you should be down there?"
"Yes." Kim said. Cindy nodded, and looked up at the door as it opened, and Kim's mom came walking in.
"Well, the Twins are settled." She said. "Thank you Ron."
"No problem, Mrs. P." Ron said, grinning.
"Good." Kim's mother said. "Kim…" She paused, "I'm here for another reason."
"Oh?" Kim asked, face setting in a frown. Than she blinked. "Look mom, I know Dr. Peterson's been talking to you…and nothing happened. Nothing!"
"Methinks thou doth protest too much." Cindy said. "But you could be right. That's why we're here." She shrugged, "Just one thing…and you don't have to talk to us about it again…ever."
"Finally."Kim said, "OK, what do I have to do."
"Tell Ron, nothing happened." Kim turned pale.
"Go Maddogs, Go Maddogs Go Maddogs!" The practice broke up into cheers and whistles as they finished. Bonnie looked around, frowned, and finally pronounced herself satisfied.
"Well…it'll do… don't forget, the big day is only four days from now!" The other cheerleaders nodded and left, laughing and chatting…except for Shelly.
"I thought Kim was going to be here," She said to Felix and Monique. The two shook her head.
"Kim does therapy on Saturday…and sometimes she's…not in a real good mood to watch…this." Monique said, gesturing at the gym and Shelly's cheerleading gear. Monique blinked. Shelly looked oddly pale. Her hands were occupied by a rosary, fingers running over the beads.
"Shelly…what's wrong?" Felix asked. He caught it too.
"What happened to Shego." Shelly asked.
"Shego?" Monique nearly spat, "Why would you want to know about her?"
"because… just humor me, OK?"
"OK… Shego died. After what she did to Kim…well." Monique got a vicious smile on her face, "She found out that Kim had a lot of friends."
"That's the truth." Felix added, "FSB, MI-5, CIA…" He shrugged, "They weren't going for a capture, either…every hide out, every bank account…gone." He paused, "even some of the bad guys were going after her."
"So?"
"So they cornered her at a hide out in Rome, and the place went up like a bomb."
"So nobody saw her body?"
"No, but they did find more than enough blood and scraps of flesh." Felix said, "They even called mom in to send robots in…she's dead Shelly." He paused, "Why?"
"No-nothing." Shelly said. Shego looking at her, and then Shelly on her butt in her empty room…
"She died too damned fast," Monique said, angrily. "I think she should have suffered…"
"That's what-" Monique glared at the rosary.
"Sorry, Shelly…don't take this wrong, but why should I trust God to take care of Shego if He didn't take care of Kim or Ron?" Shelly didn't have any answer to that. Monique looked at the emptying room.
"The good guys are supposed to win." She said, and closed her eyes.
"Kim? What are you doing here?" Monique asked. "Shouldn't you be at home?" She'd seen Kim yesterday. When Ron's parents had thrown her out of the hospital. She didn't look any better now, pale and small in the wheelchair.
"I'm…I'm um…" Kim had been crying all night, Monique could see and Zita and Bonnie were looking equally shocked at her appearance. "Nothing." She said, "It's…it's been really great knowing you all." She quietly said, putting a piece of paper down on the table. The three girls looked at each other. What was Kim talking about?
"I… I have to go to the bathroom…" Kim continued, and wheeled herself to the bathroom, sobbing once or twice. There was a growing silence in the lunch room.
"What was that about?" Zita asked. Bonnie picked up the paper.
"Bonnie, shouldn't you wait for Kim?"
"No." Bonnie said and opened it up. It was an official looking document, with seals and notes.
"It's…" Bonnie said, "It's a court order… remain no closer than 100 feet at all times…no telephone or mail communications…no attempt to make contact in any way…" She blinked. "This is a court order to keep Kim from talking to Ron… it even says' she can't take the same classes he does or talk to him at school…" She continued, "due to demonstrated danger…"
"Why did she come here for that?" Zita asked. Monique got a sudden terrible feeling in her gut and got up.
"C'mon guys." She said, and started heading towards the bathroom…the bathroom where there was a sudden sound of breaking glass…and then a freshman running out of it, screaming hysterically. Monique ran, now, and skidded to a halt…suddenly frozen, even as her brain gibbered she had to do something.
Kim was there, seated in the wheelchair…one hand a bloody mess as she finished dragging the shattered glass across her wrist, before changing over to her other hand, and repeating the process. Blood was gouting everywhere, as Kim looked up at the three girls, frozen with horror.
"They're right." She said, "I'm dangerous to Ron…don't stop me Monique, I'm dangerous to everyone. This is the right thing to do." Monique was unfrozen and she and Zita charged the girl, while Bonnie screamed into the lunch room for someone to call 911.
"Monique?" Felix asked.
"I'm sorry." Monique said, "But it just wasn't right. Mr. Barkin… she shook her head and put a hand to her head. "He was the first one in—Zita and I were holding her wrists, but there was so much blood, and then he came in."
"I was just coming in to the lunch room." Felix said, nodding, "I never thought Mr. B could move like that—he wasn't jumping one table…he was clearing two at a time." Felix shrugged, "and then Bonnie was telling everyone else to get the F-" He cut of the explicative, with an apologetic glance, "out of there, that they didn't need any sight seers."
"Yeah…" Monique said, "You missed Mr. B singing a lullaby."
"What?" She smiled tiredly, tears in her eyes at the memory.
"Yeah… Me 'an Zita used the towels to cover her wrists and were holding on to them, but Mr. B had the Lunch lady bring over the first aid kit and he wrapped them up in bandages… Kim…" She sighed, "Kim was asking him to let her die, so Ron would be safe. He just picked her up and held her against him… and I swear to God, started to sing. It was Welsh, or something, I guess, but it seemed to calm Kim down, until the paramedics arrived."
Shelly looked down at her hands, the Rosary in them.
God, why didn't you help them? That would be a question she'd have to ask one day, when the priest had a few days to spend explaining it.
"So why are you curious about Shego?" Felix asked.
"Just…" Malice filled green eyes peering into hers. "Nothing, I was just wondering, that's all."
"Oh." Monique said.
To be continued.