Serena knocked before entering Gia's hospital room. Even though she had been given the okay by Emma and her mother to visit the yellow Ranger, she knew Gia wouldn't appreciate the intrusion. Once she heard Gia call out for her to come in, she stepped inside. She pulled a stuffed tiger out from behind her back.

"They wouldn't let me bring Tiger in," Serena said. "I picked this up at the gift shop. Looks just like her, don't you think?"

"It does," Gia nodded as she took the toy.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I was hit by a truck, then it backed up, and hit me again."

"You look pretty good," Serena said. "When Emma told me you lost a fight to Oedius, I thought there would be more bandages."

"I can't walk."

"Yeah, for a few months," Serena chuckled. "Besides, knowing you, that cast will be off in no time."

"Oedius is tough," Gia conceded. "I can see why the new guys are having such a hard time."

"She's kicked a few asses," Serena nodded. "You're the first one to do real damage."

"She got away."

"I watched the footage of the fight," Serena said. "You made her bleed. A lot. She'll be out for weeks, at least."

"Aliens might heal faster."

"You bought the Rangers time," Serena said as she sat in the chair next to Gia's bed. She spotted a drawing at the foot of the bed and reached for it. "Ciara's?"

"It's a get-well picture. It was apparently all mom could get her to do."

"It's nice," Serena said. "Though, isn't she old enough to write herself?"

"That is her writing."

Serena looked to the picture again. At the top, in neat printing, with all the words spelled correctly, Ciara had put: "Get well soon, mommy! I love you so, so much."

"How old is this kid again?"

"Five."

"She spells better than Terran. She writes better than me!"

"I know," Gia chuckled. She took the picture from Serena and looked to it fondly before setting it down.

"Is Jake flying back?"

"He'll be home tomorrow."

"That's good."

"How's Sarah?"

"She's awake," Serena smiled. "She's pretty out of it, though. Apparently, she's called the nurse mom a few times."

"The brain injury?"

"They're going to wait until the drugs wear off to see if that's the cause, or if it's the injury," Serena said.

"Fingers crossed."

"Have Wes and Eric talked to you about back to work?" Serena asked and hoped to switch the subject. Gia looked to Ciara's picture again. Serena frowned. "You are going back to work, right?"

"Ciara's almost lost her mother twice because of work."

"You love being a Guardian."

"And I can't think of anything else I'd rather do," Gia nodded. "But… we've already lost Jordan. Joe and Ciara are still upset by that. If something happens to me too… my daughter needs me far more than this city does."

"I can't argue that," Serena sighed. "But… how about we wait until you can go back to work before we make any final decisions."

"I…"

"You love your job," Serena reminded Gia. "Jordan… he died way too young, but we all take comfort knowing he died doing what he loved."

"I love my daughter more than my job," Gia insisted, and Serena nodded her head.

"I know, but I also know you're not the kind of person to just sit at home and watch cartoons all day. You like helping people. You need to help people."

"I can find another job…"

"Wait until you have to go back before you make up your mind," Serena said, and Gia gave a slight nod.

"I'll think about it."

-Ninja-Steel-

Shane was doing his best to keep up with the doctors at the hospital. Since Sarah's condition was still up in the air, he wanted to be sure he was ready for anything. He wanted to make life easier for her. He didn't want this to be another challenge for her to overcome. She had been through enough.

He wasn't by her side much, but Kelly made sure Sarah was never alone. She stayed with her girlfriend and kept Shane updated on the progress she saw. She had been the one to tell him of Sarah calling the nurse mom. She had just come back to and had a high dose of painkillers running through her system. The nurse did look like Jenny, so in the blinding light and the brain fog, it wasn't unexpected for her to be a bit confused.

Sarah was in a lot of pain, though, so the doctor had her sedated. Kelly waited by her bedside and flipped through the channels of the TV as she spoke with her girlfriend. Sarah was sleeping, but Kelly never wanted her to feel alone.

"I guess it was too much to hope this would stay private," Kelly sighed when she flipped to a news station and saw they were covering the attack. All they knew so far was that someone – or something, had attacked the Silver Guardian's HQ in Angel Grove, and that Gia and a civilian were harmed.

"Officer Holling has been reported to be in fair and stable condition. We're still waiting on news of the still unidentified civilian, but from what we can gather, we hear that their condition is serious. Our prayers go out to the families of those affected. No word yet on who was behind the attack."

"Prayers, schmayers," Kelly muttered as she turned down the volume on the TV. "How about you stop trying to pry into what's not your business and just let us recover in peace?"

She turned to Sarah, "I hope Emma keeps that footage guarded. If anyone ever finds out this was Oedius, or sees you as the pink Ranger, we're going to have a lot of trouble on our hands."

"It's just curiosity," Preston announced as he stepped into the room, carrying in lunch for himself and Kelly. "People don't like not knowing."

"I don't like the fact that my girlfriend is in the hospital and not knowing if she'll recover or not," Kelly muttered. "But I'm dealing."

"It's just a sandwich. Eddie made it before I left."

"Eddie?"

"Our cook," Preston said. It felt like so long ago since he had moved out from his family home. He didn't want to be around his parents if they forbade him from seeing Sarah, simply because of her sexuality. He especially didn't want to be near them if they were going to speak so poorly of someone he cared so deeply about. After some time away, his parents missed him, and were willing to open their minds a little bit so Preston felt like he could come home. Preston accepted the olive branch, but life with his parents would never be the same. He hardly spoke to them, and never really saw them. They would pay for his meals, his outings with his friends, and would support him financially for the rest of his life, if he needed it, but otherwise, they were estranged. Still, he had the benefits of maids, butlers and cooks, and at a time like this, having people working for him was a real benefit. "He says he's keeping Sarah in his thoughts."

"That's sweet."

"He's always been pretty cool," Preston nodded. "When I was little, and just learning to use my manners, he'd always sneak me a second helping of dessert if he heard me speaking kindly to someone on staff. Nothing motivates you to say please and thank you like two slices of cake."

"That would do it," Kelly said with a chuckle. Preston gave her the sandwich, then sat down to eat his own lunch.

"How is she?"

"She's still out," Kelly said. "But the last nurse in here said things were looking good. I think physically, Sarah will be fine."

"You think it'll be stuttering rage again?"

"She didn't stutter when she was awake," Kelly said. "That's a good sign."

"And her helmet would have absorbed a lot of the impact," Preston added. "Even if it's not right away, she could bounce back over time. I doubt we're looking at worse case scenarios."

"Still," Kelly said. She took a bit of the sandwich, and if they circumstances had been different, she would have raved about how this was the best sandwich she had ever eaten, but she kept her mouth shut except to tell Preston to thank Eddie.

"Have you seen Hayley since this?" Preston asked. Kelly shrugged.

"She's stopped by once or twice. Aaron too. It's bad timing, but he managed to get us a place on our own. We could move out, and Shane can get that new place he was talking about."

"A new place?"

"Sarah doesn't like being at home without Jenny and having a second story is really tough on everyone with my chair. He's going to downsize and make sure there's just one level."

"That's good."

"Yeah. So, Aaron said he'd rush to find a place and there's an apartment in the city that affordable. Hayley and I will be sharing a bedroom again but… I think I prefer it that way."

"You don't have to be alone," Preston nodded. Kelly had been through a lot too. She had lost three parents, and though she hadn't spoken to him about it in a long time, he knew she still struggled with Drex raping her. Now she had to worry for Sarah's health. Preston could completely understand why she might want to limit her time alone.

"Yeah."

Preston communicator buzzed, and Kelly tensed up. Before he answered it, he assured her it was just Mick calling him into training. There had been no sighting of Oedius since Gia had taken her down.

"I hope next time we do see her, she's dead," Kelly said and Preston couldn't help but agree.

"Let us know if anything changes with Sarah," he asked her and Kelly promised she would.