Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter twenty-four of "Just Away." This chapter has plenty of Tommy/Kim. Ranger action is coming in the next one or so. Stay tuned for chapter twenty-five.

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Chapter 24: Up and Over

The early morning sun beamed its rays on Angel Grove Memorial Hospital the next day. Kim lay asleep on her side in her hospital bed. She had her arms wrapped around the bear. She twitched her nose before suppressing a yawn. Tommy was asleep in the armchair. He moved his head before yawning a bit. He smacked his lips.

Tommy let out a soft sigh. He stayed with Kim after the others left and talked with her about Dex for a while. He mentioned he gave Ryan, Benny, and Caroline the number to her hospital room in which it happened to be 666-0310. She got calls from her father and brother that evening. They told her they would come see her late in the morning or early in the afternoon. She mentioned she was looking forward to seeing both of them.

Kim asked her boyfriend to stay with her overnight. He agreed and called Danny and Louise to let them know. They were fine with that. She ordered a hotdog with tater tots and milk for dinner. He got the same from the cafeteria and brought it up to her room. They talked about the baby and looked at the ultrasound pictures for a long while before going to sleep.

Kim emitted a loud groan and started stirring in her sleep. She opened her eyes in which she found blurry vision. She moaned softly and blinked three times. This cleared it up. She looked toward the window to find a house sparrow sitting on it. She heard it chirp a beautiful melody. Moaning caught her attention. She turned over to see Tommy waking up and stretching his arms above his head. He yawned widely and smacked his lips. He glanced at her and formed a big smile on his face.

"Good morning, Kim," Tommy greeted.

"Good morning yourself, Tommy," Kim responded while pushing herself into a sitting position. "How do you feel?"

"Pretty good," Tommy said as he leaned forward. "What about yourself?"

"I am doing pretty good too," Kim admitted. "I can't believe how crazy yesterday was, despite I was not there in person for much of it."

"I know, right?" Tommy asked with a soft chuckle. "At least we both got a good night's sleep."

"Amen," Kim whispered in relief. She eyed him getting up and coming to her side to sit on the bed. "Of course, it will become more difficult to sleep as my belly grows."

"Not to mention you will likely be peeing every hour," Tommy added.

"If only pregnant women could stop their babies from pressing on their bladders," Kim grumbled annoyingly.

"Unfortunately, they can't," Tommy commented and laid his hand on her stomach. He kissed her temple twice. "They just have to deal with it."

"Yeah," Kim agreed. "I have to admit I am scared of becoming a mother at such a young age. However, I will be the best mother I can be."

"I have to admit I am scared of becoming a father at such a young age," Tommy commented. "Still, I will be the best father I can be."

Tommy kissed his fiancée's forehead. He kept his lips there for thirty seconds before pulling away. The sound of the door opening caught their attention. They turned to see Alan coming in. He had a clipboard underneath his arm.

"Good morning, Kim," Alan greeted as he came to Tommy's side.

"Good morning, Dr. Jacobs," Kim responded.

"How are you doing this morning?" Alan asked with a smile.

"I am doing pretty good. I slept pretty well," Kim commented and wrapped her arms around the bear.

Tommy held up his hand. "I slept just as well."

"That's good," Alan replied in a warm voice. "I am going to examine you, so I can make sure everything is clear."

Kim nodded at him. "Okay."

"I will go over there for a minute," Tommy said while jerking his thumb in the direction of the window."

Alan chuckled. "Okay."

Tommy headed over to the window as Alan spoke inaudible words to Kim. He spotted a house sparrow flying over the parking lot. He listened to its chirps. He found this bird fascinating. He couldn't understand why it was called a sparrow when it was really a finch. He wondered if scientists thought it was a sparrow at first, but they discovered it was a finch instead. He believed they decided to keep its name as such.

Tommy watched the sparrow for five minutes before it disappeared behind a large building across the street. He turned around, finding Alan shining a light into each of Kim's eyes. He observed him repeating his action with his girlfriend's ears. Alan returned his flashlight to his coat pocket. He picked up his clipboard and wrote down his results. Tommy made his way to her side.

"You are looking good, but I am going to keep you here until tomorrow morning. I just want to make sure you don't have a sudden change in your condition. The baby needs to be monitored for this reason as well," Alan announced.

"That does not bother me," Kim said and cleared her throat. "It is better safe than sorry."

"Her father and brother are supposed to come for a visit. We do not know when they will be here," Tommy added.

Alan ran his tongue all over the inside of his mouth. "I see."

"I have not heard from my mother. She was supposed to get into Angel Grove around four o'clock this morning," Kim commented softly.

"Something tells me she is resting before she calls you to tell you she is coming," Alan suggested.

Kim nodded. "Yeah."

Alan took the breakfast menu off the clipboard. He gave it to Kim and motioned to him what she could have. He handed her a pen. She looked at the menu carefully. He checked off fried eggs, bacon, biscuit, a bowl of blue berries, and apple juice. She handed the pen and menu back to him. He formed a small smile on his face.

"I will get this breakfast prepared for you," Alan said.

"Thanks," Kim said and sighed contently.

"Tommy, you're welcome to go down to the cafeteria to get breakfast," Alan commented while putting the menu back on the clipboard.

"I'll have something to eat later," Tommy said with a shake of his head. "I'm not hungry right now."

"Okay," Alan said with a nod. "I will see you two in a few minutes."

Alan headed out of the room as he snapped his fingers. Tommy and Kim turned to each other and smacked their lips.

"He's such a great doctor," Kim whispered in much warmth.

"He sure is," Tommy agreed. "He cares so much about his patients, especially when they hit their heads."

"Yeah," Kim responded in a soft way. She started talking about the first time she did gymnastics.

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Kim listened as Tommy told her about the time that he won a foot race against neighborhood children in Tulsa an hour-and-a-half later. He stood up and curled his hands into fists. He moved his arms back and forth repeatedly while running in place. She turned on her side somewhat. She propped her head up with her elbow on the pillow. She wrapped her arm around the bear.

"I ran so fast that I got ahead of the other kids very quickly," he said as he became still. "One kid got close to me, but I managed to beat him by a nose."

"If he had been any closer, it would have been a photo finish," she replied with a giggle.

"Imagine winning by a trunk like Lotsa Heart did against Beastly in the Care Bears episode called 'The Race,'" Tommy said, a soft chuckle coming from him.

"She really did win by a trunk as shown in the photo," Kim pointed out matter-of-factly. "Having a trunk give elephants a great advantage. They can reach tree branches."

"A trunk is sensitive enough to pick up a flower, yet it is powerful enough to lift a human," Tommy commented and cupped his chin in his hand.

"Elephants are being relentlessly poached for their tusks. Their tusks are made into figurines and ornaments. It is disgusting," Kim mumbled and made a retching sound.

"I know, right?" Tommy mumbled with a roll of his eyes. "Many baby elephants have been orphaned due to the poaching."

"Elephant orphanages have taken them in. The keepers raised them as their own," Kim said while slipping a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Most hand-reared elephants are released into the wild. The keepers are very careful with how they do it," Tommy murmured and rubbed his hands together fast.

"You can't just chuck a hand-reared animal into the wild and expect it to survive. It must be taught to do so. Even then, it may not survive at all," Kim explained.

"Elsa the lioness was raised for two years by George and Joy Adamson. She was taught to survive in the wild. She did not do well in the area she was to be released in. She did much better in another area," Tommy added.

"Elsa managed to have three cubs. She raised them for a year before she died from babesiosis. Jespah, Gopa, and Little Elsa became averse to human contact and started hunting livestock. The Adamsons captured them and set them free in the Serengeti. They searched for them for nineteen months before they found Little Elsa in the company of two unrelated male lions. That was the last they saw of the trio," Kim said and rubbed her nose.

"Elsa's descendants are living on the Serengeti. Who knows how many she has?" Tommy wondered with a shrug.

"DNA tests could be done to determine how many descendants she has at some point. It is still in its infancy, especially when it comes to crime," Kim said.

Just then, the phone started ringing. Tommy and Kim looked toward it and raised their eyebrows. She turned over and picked it up in the middle of the second ring. She put it to her ear.

"Hello?" Kim asked.

"Kim, hi!" Caroline responded in great joy.

"Oh, Mom! Hi!" Kim blurted out in much surprise. "I didn't think you would be calling for a while."

"I just woke up and thought I'd call you. I slept a bit on the plane, but I felt I needed more sleep. How are you doing?" Caroline asked.

"I am doing a bit better," Kim admitted and sighed happily. "Tommy stayed with me all night."

Caroline squealed delightfully. "That is so sweet of him."

"Doctor Jacobs came in and examined me right after I woke up. He said they are going to keep me for one more day just to make sure my condition does not turn serious suddenly. My head still hurts a little bit from the fall," Kim explained.

"I see. I got a call from your father right after I got to the hotel. He wants me to come with him and your brother to see you early this afternoon," Caroline said, warmth echoing from her voice.

"I would love that, Mom," Kim said, looking toward Tommy. "There is actually something Tommy and I need to tell you when you three get here."

"What is it that you can't tell me over the phone?" Caroline wondered.

Kim sighed. "We feel it would be best if we did it in person."

Kim suppressed a yawn. She felt tempted to tell her mother she and Tommy were expecting a baby right there. However, she felt it would be wrong letting her know before her father and brother did. She ran her hand over her face three times.

"You want to talk to Tommy?" Kim asked.

"Sure," Caroline said eagerly.

Kim giggled. "Okay."

Kim handed Tommy the phone. He placed it to his ear and let out a long yawn. He smacked his lips before emitting a soft snort.

"Hello, Mrs. Hart," Tommy greeted warmly.

"Hi, Tommy. I want to thank you for staying with Kim last night. I really appreciate it," Caroline whispered in gratefulness.

"It was no problem. I felt she could use my presence. In fact, I stayed with her yesterday afternoon before she reunited with Coach Schmidt," Tommy explained.

"Anything about returning to training with the coach?" Caroline wondered.

Tommy bit his lip. He eyed Kim, who mouthed 'Just say we are in discussion about it.' He nodded at her and shifted his attention back to the phone. He took three deep breaths.

"Kim is in discussion with Coach Schmidt about the training," Tommy said and cleared his throat.

"I see," Caroline responded and snorted. "What was going through your mind when you learned Kim fell and hit her head?"

"I kept wondering if she suffered any damage from the fall. I hoped she would recover quickly. I was relieved to know she would," Tommy admitted.

"That is good," Caroline commented. "Well, I will let you two go. We will see you in a little while. Bye."

"Bye," Tommy murmured. "See you soon."

Tommy gave the phone to Kim, who returned it to its base. He slipped his hands inside his pockets. He tried not to smile, but he could not help himself. He sighed in content.

"It was nice to hear Mom's voice," Kim said in much happiness.

"It sure was," Tommy agreed. "They will be shocked to learn we are expecting a baby."

"I know. Let's not focus on that right now. Let's focus on us," Kim said. She smiled when he nodded in agreement. She started talking about her first gymnastics meet.