There were times when Ann wondered just how really depressed and worn out her daughter Kim had really become over the years.
Having to deal with a bully at school, and a deranged ex heroine turned criminal outside of school as well as two brothers who didn't exactly make life easy for the already overtaxed young enforcer that was her daughter.
Why Kim chose this line of work as a "hobby", Ann would never really have the answer.
She simply stopped thinking about it, having realized that if her daughter didn't go on these dangerous errands then someone else would have to.
The only relief she did get was that once in a fit of panic when she let slip the extremely inappropriate question "Kimmie. Do you think I'm a good parent or not. Because I don't feel like one." the only reply the distraught mother received from her smiling daughter was a surprised but serious "Of course".
Kim then placed a comforting hand on her tired mother's shoulder before continuing to insist that these fears which Ann was having were irrational and that she had probably just had another hard day in the hospital again.
"But mom. Really. I wouldn't trade you, dad or my two brothers away for anything. I mean it."
"But Kimmie. I don't give you anywhere near as much time as you..."
"You gave me all the time you could mom. And that's really all I could ask for. And if you aren't there in the hospital, who knows how many innocent people won't be saved. Just as who knows how many innocent people will be at risk if I didn't make that website and start doing what I do now.
Those patients in the emergency room aren't going to save themselves mom. Just as those villains trying to do stupid and dangerous things aren't going to stop if someone doesn't go and stop them."
Ann was at a loss for words then and only nodded, fighting back tears that were trying to force their way out of her eyes. Grown ups were too old to cry she told herself, and she couldn't let her daughter see her more sad than she already was.
"You'll feel better after some tea mom. Sit down and take some time off." said Kim as she took the kettle to the sink to try and boil some water.
The conversation ended there. Mother and daughter realizing that further discussion of this futile topic would only make them both sadder and more worried than they needed to be. It was those kind and comforting words of encouragement that Ann thought back on when she felt her fingers beginning to lose strength, and her vision beginning to blur from exhaustion. When she saw what she thought was an injury far too mortal for anyone to recover from, even with her help.
Or when fear and doubt threatened to make her force Kim not to go on her next out of town mission.
As difficult and dangerous as Kim would make the next mission sound, the reminder her daughter had given her that evening during what very nearly came to a mental breakdown for her put her back to where she knew she needed to be even as Kim's parent. Prepared to let her girl out of her sight so that what needed to be done could be done. And so that loss of life could continue to be minimized and maximum happiness for all maintained.
The basics of utilitarianism in a nutshell. The set of morals closest to perfection as far as Ann and her family were concerned. Even if it meant that every time Kim went out of her sight that she risked not coming back ever again, this had to be done.
Ann had a crazy dream from time to time when she lay down to try and get a good night's rest in preparation for the busy day at the hospital tomorrow.
In that dream, one of Drakken's experiments had gone awry, causing her and her daughter to trade ages with each other without anyone else knowing except for Kim's good and friendly friend Ron, and her trustworthy husband James.
The surgeons would rush over to the Possible household and haul Kim away to the hospital thinking she was the masterful neurosurgeon who was the only one capable of performing the next major operation, successfully while global justice took Ann away to brief her for the next top secret operation which was almost certain to end in death for someone less skilled than who they believed was a modest cheerleader.
Ann would not run, not try to explain what had really happened to cause this mix up or that she was not equipped with the correct set of skills for this incredibly difficult task.
She would instead hurriedly grab a pair of sunglasses before global justice came, to conceal her blue eyes so global justice did not suspect anything and claim that she had just had a haircut after she got tired of her long and overly exaggerated hairstyle kept getting in the way of her line of vision and threatening the success of her ventures.
Kim would of course, open her mouth to complain hotly but Ann silenced her daughter with a sympathetic shake of the head even as the surgeons burst in through the door to whisk Kim away thinking she was the real Dr Possible.
She would smile as global justice escorted her in an armored car to their base of operations, happy that Kim would never have to worry about another life threatening task ever again. That her daughter's new life as a doctor in a hospital was much safer and most importantly much less violent.
Kim hated fighting since it went against everything she had been taught, and loathed the idea of violence since after seeing the terrible things it drive once innocent and harmless people to.
"It was violence that drove a perfectly happy and kind girl like Shego to become the terrible person she is today." Kim once went so far as to state, shaking her head sadly as she did so. "And the last thing I want to become, is another Shego. But that won't be easy."
But now Kim would never have to fight another battle again. Now Kim could have the pleasure of putting people back together rather than taking people apart. And now the troubles of high school, of being picked on by the cruel and sadistic Bonnie and her gang. They'd be her mom's problem now, not her own. Her mom would be the one risking her life out on the dangerous high risk jobs which paid nothing.
Only the luxury of relative safety a hospital room free of dangerous criminals and the large wads of cash the job of a neurosurgeon paid out, were Kim's worries then.
Why did it matter if they each had to keep their sunglasses on to hide their true eye colors.
Ron would be overjoyed at finding that his Kimberley was safe inside the hospital and not in anymore danger, and so would James.
But then just as the dream was getting to the best part, the alarm rang rousing the sad and angry Ann Possible back up to go to work.
She was still the grown woman she so wished she was not, and Kim would once again be torn from her sight as her cellphone rang again to direct her to whatever evil mastermind was out to try and match her, even though no one matched wits with her brilliant daughter.
"That sounds more like a nightmare than a dream" the patient remarked after Ann finished telling him the story of her sweetest dream.
The operation had been very tedious and painful, but Ann's story made the entire thing so much more pleasant and joyful.
"If I had one wish. That'd be my wish." replied Ann sadly. "I hate my age."
"Well then you're a good parent. Not like some." praised the man, looking at his surgeon with a new level of admiration. It wasn't everyday he found a doctor this willing to help him, and it was even less he found a parent this good. How he wished his parents had been this good to him when he was a boy. Perhaps he wouldn't be nearly as depressed as he was now.
"Don't ever stop being the good mother you are now. Ann" he pleaded as he got ready to leave the hospital. "Don't ever stop."
The hospital was surprisingly empty this morning. The tide of injured patients surprisingly slow. And so to while away the time, Ann took out what she called her patient book. A book with all of the main patients she could expect to see more than once, each of whom suffered from a variety of different ailments invisible to the eye.
She had worked on it for a long time now, taking care not to let anything tarnish the still tidy and tear free pages.
Patient 0
Name: James Possible
Personality: Trustworthy.
Gender: Male
Description of Illness: A severe impact caused by a heavy blunt weapon put to the back of the patient's head, has left him with permanent memory problems which he cannot control despite his best efforts.
Further notes: The patient does not seem depressed or even sad despite being insulted several times for his handicaps.
"I'm sorry James" she whispered, very close to tears. He did not deserve all the insults people gave him, and if those people knew what had made him like this then they would see what she saw in her husband.
She quickly flipped the page before her emotions got the better of her.
Patient 2
Name: "Shego"
Personality: Apathetic.
Gender:Female
Description of illness: Severe family problems has caused the patient to become very distant and cold from their family. A mixture of other factors including depression, seems to have caused the patient to have a very twisted moral compass and desire to flout the law.
Further notes: The patient does still seem to be a good person and seems to still have a very strict set of rules they follow even after deciding to discard their old morals.
"You need to go back and talk to your family Shego. And you really need to stop this grudge you have against Kim. Kim doesn't hate you Shego, she just wants to stop you breaking the law and hurting other people.".
Even as Ann said those words, she thought back to that lovely collection of photo's her daughter had entrusted her with. Photo's of the brief time when they were able to be good friends together, even if during the friendship Shego had been under the influence of a mind control device that switched her personality.
The only real difference between Kim and her rival, if anything was that Kim followed the law while Shego broke it.
And that was why they couldn't be friends.
The next one was a good one.
Patient 3
Name: "Drakken" Drew Theodore Lipsky.
Personality: Misunderstood
Description of illness: Constantly being looked down on and bullied during high school has caused this man to became bitter about the world around him and desperate to go any length to prove his worth, even if it means hurting others and breaking the law.
Further notes: The patient once had a much better relationship with my husband and myself. He also still seems to have a strict set of rules he still follows even when they make hurting others much harder. He also does not seem to understand the actual meaning of the word "Doctor".
A doctor was supposed to help others, not hurt them. Perhaps if poor Drew understood that then people would begin to like him much more.
But as treasured as all of those entries were, and as much a pleasure as those were to read. None of them even came close to the page Ann had dedicated to Kim's beloved boyfriend Ron.
Patient 1
Name: Ronald "Ron" Stoppable (will become Possible in the very near future.)
Personality: Loyal
Description of illness: A type of depression. Symptoms include
-low self esteem
-constant feelings of sadness without seeing Kim by his side.
-A feeling of not belonging to society.
- Constant headaches, and nausea as well as difficulty in smiling.
Further notes: Patient 1 seems to also exhibit traits similar to patient 0. The patterns they share in problems involving things such as memory and decision making abilities seem very similar. Further investigation will be needed to tell if Patient 1 also suffers from head trauma.
Reading those entries had made the surgeon even more proud of her daughter.
Four very debilitating and life changing kinds of mental illness, Kim had somehow managed to avoid despite all the pressures life threw at her.
She was not angry and resentful towards her family like Shego, or hungry for attention and validation like Drakken.
Her self esteem had also never wavered despite life's best efforts to bring her down.
It was as she finished reading that the next patient, a short and frowning girl was pushed into the room on a trolley that Ann made a wish to kind fate.
Not that Kim would be able to stop going on missions following an end to all crime. That would be asking too much.
But she did wish that Shego and Drakken, two very ill and mistreated people who did not know how badly they needed medical attention would one day pay a visit to the hospital so that Ann could have a proper conversation talking with them.