Ch.35

As Ron was waking up he took the time to inspect the wound and begin healing himself. He focused on the internal injuries deciding that the stitches would help camouflage his condition with the doctors before he was discharged.

When he fully allowed his consciousness to return he noticed that he wasn't alone. Kim was in the room with him and from the looks of it she was having a nightmare. Not cruel enough to just watch he reached for her hand and squeezed it.

In a moment Kim settled and stopped moving. Seeing this Ron smiled to himself.

Ron then looked to a couple of places in the room before whispering in Japanese. "Thank you!"

When they nodded in return Ron settled, then remembered Rufus and asked. "Where is Rufus?"

"Ron!" Was the reply he got as Kim woke up. A moment later she started crying.

Ron could guess what was bothering her and for the moment chose to let Kim vent. Rubbing her hand with his thumb he waited till Kim let it all out of her system.

"Feeling better, KP?" Ron asked once Kim stopped crying.

"Yeah, Ron...I'm sorry." Kim said after a moment of hesitation. "It was my fault you got hurt."

"One of us was bound to get hurt eventually, I'm just glad it was me." Ron quietly admitted.

"Why would you think that?" Kim asked when she heard him.

"I promised to have your back as long as we were going on missions together." Ron looked Kim straight in the eye and answred, then thought to himself. 'Even if it leads me to a shallow grave with a bullet in the back of the head.'

"Ron, I promise that it won't happen again. Next time I'll properly listen to your opinion." Kim promised Ron after seeing his resolve.

"Now Kim, where is Rufus?" Ron asked seeing that the things troubling Kim were settled.

"Oh, he's here in my pocket." Kim answered and began explaining. "I had him sedated so he could rest. I was worried that his health might be at risk if he didn't sleep and you always mentioned that Naked Mole Rats needed lots of sleep."

"I understand but he is going to be mad at you for that." Ron stated taking Rufus from Kim's hands and started to massage the little guy.

After that Ron suggested that Kim get some rest and a while later she conceded.

"Sorry for the delay Master Sensei." Ron apologized after Kim left the room.

"It's not a problem Stoppable-san." Master Sensei said as his astral form came into view.

"I'm guessing you helped me once again. Thank you, Master Sensei." Ron said truly grateful for the help.

"Ah, this time I could not help." Master Sensei lamented and pointed out. "But you were instrumental in your recovery as I observed. I assume that it was thanks to your MMP?"

"Yes, Master Sensei. Soon I am to start receiving instruction." Ron explained.

"Wonderful progress Stoppable-san." Master Sensei commended.

Ron proceeded to explain to Master Sensei about the healing techinique and his plans to use it inside his body till he gets better. After Master Sensei agreed that it was a wise course of action, since it would protect him from praying eyes.

~~~~~

When Yori was informed that Ron made it through his surgery and had woken up she was relieved to the point of tears. After letting the information sink in for a while, Yori dialed Shego.

"Yori, what's the news?" Was the first thing Shego said into the line.

"Ron made it through the surgery and has woken up." Yori explained.

There was a sigh on the line.

"Thank you, Yori. Keep in touch." Shego said and hung up.

Yori was surprised by how short the conversation was but figured that Shego wanted some privacy to deal with her emotions.

~~~~~

Monique had tried dialing Kim enough times to irritate the most social of people but had yet to reach her. Having no other choice, she did what a highly concerned friend should do, Monique called her mom finding her the easiest Dr. Possible to talk to.

"Dr. Possible, how may I help you?" Ann spoke.

"Hello Dr. Possible, it's Monique a friend of Kim's." Monique greeted then explained. "I was wondering if they are okay. By now Kim usually calls me back so I can't help but worry."

"Ah Monique, yes, I remember you." Ann confirmed. "As for their safety, they are both okay. There was a mishap in the mission and Ron got hurt but he is in okay, expected to make a full recovery."

If Monique didn't know any better, she would have guessed that Ann was trying to convince herself that Ron was okay instead of her. Still, Monique couldn't get past that Ron was hurt and asked for the details. When she heard Ron was shot twice Monique cried for a while before, quite frankly, begging Ann to keep her informed and to tell Kim to call her.

~~~~•

Anyone who wanted information in Middleton High knew that Monique was the girl to call, so not surprisingly Tara was making that call. The day before she knew Monique had nothing but Tara knew twenty four hours was bound to change that.

The second the line connected Tara spoke not giving Monique a chance. "I need to know if Ron is okay?"

"Tara I'm going to need you to sit down." Monique stated sending Tara's heart a two hundred beat request.

"He hurt isn't he?" Tara asked into the line crying.

The only thing Tara heard before she fainted was Monique sighing and saying yes.

~~~~~

Bonnie was starting to get ticked at her bestfriend. Tara was supposed to meet her at the mall twenty minutes prior and had still to make an entrance. To top it off, Bonnie's mood had been bad the last two days as she found herself worried about Ron, which she had sworn that she would not do again since he broke his promise from ballet school that summer years ago.

When her phone rang she assumed it was Tara and started to complain when she picked up. "Tara where have you been? You have me waiting..."

The rest of her words died as Monique screamed. "Shut it Queen B, I need you to check on Tara."

Switching gears lightning fast, Bonnie had already gotten up and was heading towards her car. "What happened?"

"She called to find out if Ron was okay." Monique began to explain. "Then I started to tell her he was hurt in the mission but before I could finish explaining there was a loud noise and she stopped responding. I think she passed out."

Bonnie's expression solidified into the Queen B persona, her emotions hidden and locked. 'What happened to Ron?' She demanded of herself to ask but couldn't voice the question.

"How long ago was your conversation with Tara?" Bonnie asked.

"Twenty to thirty minutes ago." Monique replied then added. "I stayed on the line for a while hoping she came to, but no luck."

"I'll be at Tara's in five minutes." Bonnie simply said, still thinking to herself what happened to Ron.

Just as Bonnie stopped in front of Tara's, she noticed that Tara's mom's car was in the driveway. Walking up to the door Bonnie rang the doorbell and waited.

"Hello Bonnie, what can I do for you?" Mrs. King ask Bonnie when she opened the door.

Bonnie quickly explained that Tara likely fainted while on the phone with Monique and Monique sent her over to check on her. A now concerned Mrs. King told Bonnie to come in as she raced up the stairs. As she made it upstairs, Bonnie found Mrs. King cradling Tara as she checked the bruise on Tara's face.

"Bonnie can you go to the bathroom and bring the first aid kit? It has some smelling salt that should wake Tara up." Mrs. King asked.

"No problem." Bonnie replied and hurried towards the bathroom.

In moments she was back with the first aid kit and kneeled down next to Tara and Mrs. King opening it.

"The blue and white ammonia inhalants." Mrs. King directed. "Yes, those."

Bonnie opened the packaging and handed one of them to Mrs. King who placed it under Tara's nose. The effect was quick and Tara woke up, but just as soon as she did she went hysterical. Tara tried to shake off her mother as looked around, not finding what she was looking for she asked.

"Has anyone seen my cell phone. I need to call Monique. I need to know how bad was Ron hurt. I need to know if he is okay!" Crying and nearly shouting, Tara continued to look around.

Bonnie quickly dialed Monique and put her on speaker before handing the phone over to Tara.

When Monique answered Tara shouted. "How bad was Ron hurt? Is he going to be okay? Have you managed to speak with him? Can I speak with him?"

"Glad you're okay Tara." Was the first thing Monique said before she explained. "Now I want you to sit down before I explain, I don't want you to faint and hurt yourself."

Mrs. King pulled Tara towards the bed and sat with her as Bonnie sat on the other side and held Tara's hand.

"I'm seating." Tara said.

"While on a mission with Kim, Ron was shot twice." Monique said to a now trembling Tara and a pale Bonnie. "A vein was nicked by a bullet causing lots of bleeding and both bullets impacted the liver. He underwent surgery and is awake but I have yet to talk to either Kim or Ron. This information is from Kim's mom and she is going to keep me informed till I can get a hold of Kim."

"Is he expected to recover?" Tara asked shaking even as her mom held her.

"I was told that he was expected to make a full recovery but I don't know any details." Monique explained.

Tara continued to cry, now hugging Bonnie as her mom hugged her. It was a few minutes before a crying Monique spoke again.

"Tara I have to go. I have a shift at five and now I have to redo my makeup." Monique said as she hung up.

Mrs. King waited a few more minutes till Tara settled down before speaking. "Tara sweetie, I want to know all about this Ron."

~~~~~

After Ron spoke with Master Sensei he tried healing his internal injuries till he was satisfied there was no more internal damage and then began meditating, after a while he was able to enter his mindscape.

"Wow, can't believe that worked." Ron stated surprised that he made the connection.

"It just serve to prove your learning capabilities, afterall you have been coming here a lot lately." Xu Ming Yue commented.

"Teacher Xu, I was wondering of you would like to meet Master Sensei?" Ron asked.

To say Xu Ming Yue was surprised was an understatement as she quickly asked. "Ron are you aware of the risk involved? Giving someone that much access to yourself could result in them destroying you from within."

"I know but I trust Master Sensei and I like to think that I'm a good judge of character." Ron explained.

Hearing Ron's explanation Xu Ming Yue decided to trust Ron's judgement and agreed to meet Master Sensei.

With her consent Ron left his mindscape and asked Akito to contact Master Sensei. A few minutes later he invited Master Sensei's astral form to enter his mindscape and meet with Xu Ming Yue.

In his mindscape Ron waited a moment till Master Sensei's form appeared and introduced. "Master Sensei I'd like you to meet Xu Ming Yue. Xu Ming Yue this is Master Sensei, a man I consider my mentor."