Author's Note:

I actually don't think I have much to say aside from thank you to those who've read and reviewed. Reviews make me smile, so nobody be shy.

I'm going to try to have two more chapters up, plus one more of my other story ('Hate' - check it out if you're interested) before the 15th of this month, so do look out for that.

If anyone finds any errors of any kind, please tell me via review or PM, if you're not comfortable pointing out errors in a review.

Lastly, these characters do not belong to be, but to Disney.

I hope this chapter gets your approval.

Kim's mother was standing near the main receptionist's desk sipping what appeared to be hot chocolate. Ann Possible, by all accounts, was a strong woman, but right now, she appeared rather shook up. By the look of her eyes, she had been crying earlier, though now she was standing calmly and placidly, her hands shaking only a little.

When Kim saw her, she let go of her father's hand and ran towards her. Seeing her coming, her mother quickly put down her cup on the desk (receiving an unnoticed cold glare from one of receptionists sitting there when some of the drink rebounded and landed on a form she was filling out) and stretched out her arms, expectant. Kim hugged her with force, putting her head on her shoulder, and Ann could already hear that her daughter had began crying.

Her husband walked up, removing his cap and unzipping his coat, and glanced at his wife with a sad look in his eyes. Ann knew that Kim would take this badly, and while James concurred, she suspected he underestimated just how badly. From the weary expression on his face, Ann knew that she was right in that guess.

Stroking Kim's hair in slow, long motions, Kim's mother tried to calm her down. Kim wasn't really sobbing or making a scene of any kind (not that Ann would care if she was or that such reactions would be deemed improper in a hospital), but tears were falling freely and quickly from her daughter's eyes. Finding her voice amongst the sadness of the scene, she said, "I know, Kimmie. I know. It'll be fine." She felt a little bad saying it, as, from the little she knew, it didn't quite sound like everything was going to be hunky-dory by the end of the night, but she knew it was the right thing to do in this moment. Her daughter needed reassurance.

"How's he doing," Kim mumbled through her tears, still holding her mother tightly and her voice sounding husky.

"No one's really talked to me, honey, so I don't know," she replied soothingly.

"You work here, Ann. What's wrong with these people," asked James Possible, outrage apparent in his tone.

"James, we'll know when we know," she said back, trying to communicate to him that now was not the best time to bicker about petty things such as the medical system.

Ironically, at that moment, a taller African-American doctor, his hair in the style of an afro (although much more tame than what Kim has seen on television) walked out of a nearby hallway towards them. He looked as though he was under a lot of strain, and his white lab-coat had hints of blood on it. Apparently, he either didn't notice or disregarded it as it wasn't brought up. To Ann, he said, in a good-natured voice, "Dr. Possible, I assume you want any available news on the three patients?" Looking directly at her, he, by-and-large, ignored the presence of both her husband and her teenage daughter, who was obviously grief-stricken.

"Yes, Leroy, if that's possible, it'd be great," Kim mother replied in a cordial voice, trying to stay strong for her daughter.

He nodded and gave a forced smile, perhaps trying to comfort them. "It's amazing, Ann. Being doctors for so long and we start feeling immune to this type of stuff." The doctor sighed and shook his head. "So," he continued, "you're a family friend?"

"Yes, my daughter," (Kim let go of her mother and looked at the doctor, seeing him for the first time that night, though he appeared blurry as her eyes were so moist) "and Ron, the younger patient, are very close friends."

"Since Pre-K," Kim croaked, wiping her eyes on her long sleeves.

Her mother looked at her sadly, and then nodded to her husband. "Leroy, this is my husband, James, and obviously this is my daughter. Honey, this is Dr. Higgs. He's a great doctor, so don't worry."

Higgs nodded solemnly. "Under the trying circumstances, I wouldn't be as fool-hardy enough to say nice to meet you, but I hope y'all got here without too much trouble. The snow's packing on quickly tonight. I hear we're in for a doozy."

"Kimmie and I had a few close calls, but nothing too life-threatening," Mr. Possible said, his hand now on Kim's shoulder again. "Is there any news, Dr. Higgs?"

"Please, call me Leroy," he replied kindly. Hesitating a few seconds before addressing the actual question, he began "Some on the two male patients. The mother is still undergoing some preliminary examinations."

"Well, what are your findings so far, Leroy? Please, don't hold anything back," Ann said, noting that her daughter was looking very worried (which was completely reasonable).

"Well," he tugged at his collar, looking nervous, "the father, Martin, I believe, was impaled by a large tree branch that penetrated his left lung and broke a few ribs. It was extracted quickly when he was brought here, but the blood he lost prior to his arrival may turn out to be, uh, fatal. Even without that, we're not sure his spine came out of the accident uninjured, so if he survives the night and wakes up, we'll be able to know the full story."

James's face whitened considerably, and Kim felt sick to her stomach thinking about Ron's father, impaled, screaming for help. Her worry for Ron, naturally, grew to new heights.

"How about Ron," she said in a very low voice, so low that Dr. Higgs almost didn't hear her.

"Oh, at first, it didn't look too good," he replied, looking somewhat relieved to be delivering some positive news, "because he was covered in blood." At this, Kim lurched forward, looking very pale. "No, no," Higgs rushed on, realizing only then how his words could have been misinterpreted, "it looked much worse than it was. Head wounds tend to bleed more than one would expect. Anyhow, his head apparently smacked onto the back of the seat in front of him and he received a concussion. In general, we wouldn't perform a CT scan, as it doesn't appear serious, but to be safe, in this case, we will. One is scheduled for later tonight. I suspect also a skull fracture and probably whiplash, though we won't know until later."

"Is he responding to treatment, Leroy," he mother asked, growing concern in her voice. "He's not in a coma or anything, is he?"

Dr. Higgs shrugged his shoulders. "Technically he could be, but I don't believe so. I think, by the end of tomorrow at the latest, he'll be conscious."

"And you know nothing about his mother," Ann begged desperately, almost losing all her previous composure.

He shook his head. "Nothing, aside from a head injury. We can only speculate on her condition at this point, which I'd rather not do, should I be mistaken. I should probably check on her now, to be honest. Ann," he said, looking directly at Kim's mother, "could I speak to you in private?"

"I said I want nothing held back from us, Leroy, and I'm not sure, in my mood, you would want to dispute this," Ann replied in a disapproving tone.

"It's not that, Doctor, please," he said gently, stepping away from them, still eyeing Kim's mother.

Sighing, she nodded, and stepped away from Kim and her husband. "I'll be back shortly, honey." She walked away with Dr. Higgs, and stepped through the doors to the hallway the doctor had come from.

Kim felt miserable, and her stomach was jumpy. Glancing to her side, she saw an empty chair, and moved her father's hand off her shoulder and sat down, looking to the floor.

"Kimmie-cub, is there anything wrong," Mr. Possible asked, sitting down in the chair next to her, watching her with concern.

"You mean besides Ron and his family being in the hospital," she replied bitterly, not looking up.

"We can't be mad, Kim. We just have to accept it and hope they all make it out okay," he said, sighing. "I know it doesn't sound good right now, but at least Ron seems to be in good standing."

She moved up her hands to her face, not crying, but feeling devastated. "What do we do now?"

"Well, as soon as your mother is done talking to Dr. Higgs, I think we should get something to eat. I know you had dinner, but I think after all we've been through tonight, food would do us good. The hospital cafeteria might still be open, but we could always have leftovers of dinner. In short, I don't think we can do much more here tonight," Mr. Possible replied, rubbing his head, as he was feeling a headache coming on.

"I-I can't see Ron tonight," Kim asked, looking up, her voice breaking.

"I don't know, honey," he admitted, his hand dropped from his forehead, not wanting to see her break down again. "Maybe it'd be better to hold off until he gets through the CT scan. He probably needs to be cleaned up anyways, and-"

"I want to see him, no matter what he looks like," Kim replied firmly, adding "Rufus might be there and I should take care of him." Though she used Ron's naked mole rat as an excuse to see him, Kim thought it was a fair point. Dr. Higgs never mentioned finding a mole rat, so he might just be in Ron's pocket or something.

"Oh," exclaimed Mr. Possible, looking surprised at her statement, "I forgot about that little scamp. We'll talk to your mother to see what she says, okay Kimmie?"

Kim nodded, and moved her head back into her hands, feeling tired though she'd already been asleep so much in the last few hours. They sat there in silence for 20 minutes until her mother came up to them sounding wearier than before.

"You okay, honey," said her husband, concern in his voice. Kim kept her head down, and gave no signs that she was awake, but kept listening in case her mother shared information with her father that they wouldn't have wanted her to know. Thinking briefly that she shouldn't go through with eavesdropping on them, the conversation continued, and Kim feigned sleep.

Sighing, her mother replied, "Yes, James, I'm fine, at least as well as expected. How's Kim doing?"

"As well as expected," he blandly replied, adding "she wants to go see Ronald before we leave for home. First off, is that possible, and secondly, do you recommend it?"

"I think I could arrange it. Leroy wanted me present at the CT scan, since I'm a neurosurgeon. He offered to let me do any necessary surgery in my expertise, thinking I'd be the most motivated not to miss anything."

"Did you accept," he asked curiously.

"Of course, I should help them as much as I possibly can. They still don't know that much about Elaine, but right now my biggest concern is her husband. If he did lose as much blood as I think he might have, it's not very likely he'll survive. That said, I'm in no real position to help him." Kim thought she sat down next to her father, because when he replied, his voice was directed to his side.

"Ann, be straight with me: How good is Dr. Higgs? Is his success rate high," he asked critically.

"He's young, James, but he's a good doctor. Raul Morales and Kulbhushan Bhullar would be my first choices, but they're both at some conference down in Dallas, or maybe Bhullar's in Tampa. I forget what Leroy said. Still, Dr. Higgs is a very good man, James. He had a hard enough time paying his way through medical school; he doesn't need anyone to question him. I trust him," her mother finished, firm in her reply.

"Okay, Ann, I trust your judgment. It's just that-" he paused for a few seconds, sighing. "Poor Ronald. I told Kimmie we'd get through this, but I'm starting to wonder," Mr. Possible replied, sounding very stressed.

"James, we cannot give up hope. We have to be strong for Kim, and Ron, when he wakes up. I only got a small glimpse of him, but he seemed pretty beat up," she replied, not sounding like that really surprised her.

"Does anyone know how the accident happened," asked James. "Was it collision with another vehicle or did they just lose traction on the road?"

"I haven't really spoken to the police. The doctors say it's likely they just hit a patch of black ice or something, then crashed through a rail on the road and stopped on the outskirts of a thin forest of trees. As bad as this may sound, James, it could have been much worse. We should be thankful the car didn't explode," Ann said, not sounding very convinced in her voice.

"It's something, but not enough for Kim," replied her father, sighing again. "So, do you think Kim should see Ron tonight, or should it wait?"

"I think it should be her choice. I believe she's strong enough. He's still bloody, though, so maybe we should suggest she don't," Ann replied.

"Why haven't then cleaned him up," James said, with an edge of unbelief and anger in his voice.

"Because the blood's not the biggest concern, James. They plan on doing it later tonight, but right now they don't want to exert any more pressure on his head then what they have to."

"Are the doctors sure nothing else is wrong with him," Kim's father asked, sounding still like he disagreed with the choice not to freshen him up.

"There's no internal bleeding, thank God, if that's what you're thinking. The most worrisome thing is the head injury. Mental impairment's not out of the question by a long shot, so we should talk to Kim before she goes to talk to him." Though Ann wasn't Ron's mother, Kim thought she sounded like it, with as care-filled as her voice was. The idea of mental impairment didn't appeal to the young Possible, but she made a promise to herself that if he did have something 'wrong' with him, she'd be there to help him through it all.

"Well, I guess we should wake Kim. If she still wants to see him, Ann, could you try and dissuade her," he asked, standing up. "I need to use the restroom before we go. I'll wait here at the door."

"What," his wife replied, surprise in her voice, "you don't want to see them?"

"I don't think I can take the blood, Ann. You know how I can be. One drop and I feel queasy. I just don't think it'd be a good idea," he admitted, actually, sounding to Kim, as though he were cringing when he said it.

"Well, okay," Ann said, giving in. "We shouldn't be more than ten minutes. If you wanted to, you could go ahead in your car and I could take Kimmie home in mine. I can't keep it here all night," she suggested.

"Okay," came his voice, approvingly, "sure, I can do that. See you at home, Ann. Try and keep Kimmie stable, okay? Love you."

"I love you too, James," she replied sweetly. "Be safe, honey." Kim heard them kiss, and then the footsteps of her father walking away.

A few seconds later, she felt her mother nudging her shoulder gently. "Kimmie, wake up, please."

Feigning a yawn, she straightened her slumped body, stretching out her arms, feeling sore for sitting down for as long as she did, and looked up to her mother. "Where's dad," she asked, of course already knowing.

"He decided to go ahead home, and we can meet up with him when we go back," she replied, and Kim could see how tired her mother actually looked. Small bags were under her eyes and he shoulders were slumping, but she still stood professionally despite this. "You father said you wanted to see Ron, right?"

Not wanting to hear her mother try and persuade her not to, she replied in a strong voice, leaving no room for doubt. "Yes, I really want to. Can I, mom?"

"You can, but," she stopped for a few seconds, rubbing her head during this time, "he's still a mess. Can you deal with that?"

"Mom, I need to see him," Kim said firmly, knowing it was true.

She gave her daughter a weak smile, grabbing Kim's right hand with her left. "Then let's go, Kimmie." Her mother started walked, and as flimsy as Kim's stomach felt, she followed, dreading already what Ron might look like.

Her mother pushed open a door, and Kim followed, wondering just how badly this accident will affect Ron's, and by extent, Kim's life.