The phone rang and distracted Kim and Shego from their reading. Shego sucked her teeth in annoyance; she wanted to know what happened between Sheshona and the doctor since it seemed that Sheshona had just beaten up an orderly. The journal had yet to state the reason why her ancestor had wailed on the orderly and she wanted to know the reason behind it; it was nice to know that her family was taking care of business even back then. Kim wanted to know the reason behind the fight too, but she got up to answer the phone, which irked her guest. She figured that she could get rid of the caller quickly if it was nothing important.
“Hello,” Kim greeted her caller.
Shego watched as the redhead had a very brief phone call where she mostly shrugged, as if the caller could see. She also muttered the words “all right” quite a few times in a nonchalant manner. She then disconnected the call and put the phone back on its base. She returned to the sofa.
“Who was that?” the green-skinned female inquired. She was nosy sometimes; it was a habit from as far back as she could remember. It did not help matters that she dealt in stealth, so she always liked having information.
“Boyfriend,” Kim answered as if it was nothing.
“Breaking up with you,” Shego teased.
“I’m waiting,” the slender adventurer admitted as if it was nothing to her. He had broken enough dates to be traveling down that road, so she was just waiting for him to get to it to stop wasting both of their time. He seemed to be beating around the bush with things, though.
“What?” the pale woman inquired while failing to hide her shock and confusion. Kim was waiting for her boyfriend to breakup with her? That could not be what the college student meant, she convinced herself.
“I’m waiting for him to breakup with me,” the redhead affirmed. She truly wanted him to stop wasting her time and just get it over with. She would break up with him, but she did not have a valid excuse to do, so she was waiting for him to state his reasons and she could guess what those were since they hardly varied from boyfriend to boyfriend.
“You’re waiting for him to breakup with you? Is this the same Kim Possible that got her panties in a bunch when she found out that her precious Eric was a snytho-drone?” Shego asked incredulously. She still had flashbacks of that retched night when she got a few glimpses of the goody-goody’s dark side. She would not share what she thought of that night, but it was not what most people would expect of her.
“I like to think I’ve grown some in these past four years,” Kim replied. She was rather ashamed of most of that night in retrospect and wished that her guest had not even bothered to bring it up.
Shego shrugged; she had not noticed, but attitude-wise, her foe had mellowed a great deal. Now, she still took crime-fighting, helping out, and world-saving as seriously as she always had, but she had grown out of the desire to never be wrong, the need to be perfect, and the desperate attempt to get a steady boyfriend. She had tuned down her stress; oddly enough, she had Ron to thank for that.
For the brief time that Ron had dated Kim, he looked at her in a whole new light and realized that Kim went way beyond control issues. He could not even put into words her behavior, even if he had been allotted the chance to make up the words. The fact that every little thing had to go her way had caused him to break up with her; it had taken all of his willpower to not run screaming into the night once their relationship was done. He liked being friends with her so much more than anything else now that he had experienced having her as a girlfriend and when he explained to her why, she had taken his words to heart; it had to be true if her best friend was telling her that she had problems. He helped her amp down a bit, but they never got back together as a couple. Relationships for her still were not going as well as she would have liked.
Sometimes, Kim considered that she just was not made to be in a real relationship. She had not had a steady boyfriend for more than two months in her whole life and two months was pushing it a great deal of the time. She did not think there was something wrong with her because of that, but she did occasionally think that things would always be like that because they had been like that.
“So, you just sit around and wait for guys to break up with you?” Shego inquired in disbelief. She would never do something so stupid, but then again, she would never get into a serious relationship for there to be any breakups.
“Yeah,” Kim replied as if there was nothing wrong with that.
“Then you must not care much about them,” the moss-hued thief commented. Wow, it seemed that she and Kim were more alike than she would have thought if she was right. She dealt with guys that she did not care about all of the time.
“They hardly ever do anything to endear themselves to me. They’re all gushy the first couple of weeks and then it eventually dies down. They usually tell me something along the lines that I don’t make enough time for them or something just like. Apparently, I should leave the world to suffer because my boyfriend is in a surfing contest or playing a gig in a club that no one has ever heard of. I’ve finally figured out that I shouldn’t have to try so hard for a guy or beg him to stay or something like that,” the redhead explained.
“So, you do have a brain for complex thought,” Shego teased. She was a bit happy that the younger fighter figured out that a guy was not so important. A boyfriend leaving was not the end of the world. Hell, most of the time it was the best thing that could happen to a girl in her opinion.
“Well, what about you, Miss Go? Do you have a boyfriend?” the younger woman asked, looking to taunt her guest.
“Nope,” Shego replied easily. “Men are merely tools for me to get off on, nothing more,” she commented. She was being very serious there.
“Rather dispassionate way to look at things,” Kim muttered.
“Well, I’d rather not end up like a certain so-called hero who one night in the rain could have killed someone over a boy,” the pale woman quipped in a slightly curt tone.
“I knew that wouldn’t kill you,” the redhead argued.
Shego craned an ebony eyebrow in disbelief. “Really? How would you know?” she practically demanded to know. What she had gone through that night would have killed almost anyone else.
“I know you’re stronger than that,” Kim muttered. After fighting Shego for so long, she knew that the villain could take a lot of punishment, much more than any normal person. She also knew that her arch-foe held back when they fought, especially when it came to plasma blasts. The plasma that could go through steel, yet somehow never even made her bleed. Most of the time, it did not even singe her clothing. She did not understand why her enemy took it easy on her, but she knew that Shego did.
The pale martial artist nodded. “Good to know,” she mumbled.
It was very good to know that Kim had not been looking to murder her that night over a boy. She had lost quite a bit of respect that night for the petite hero and it had never really come back after four years. It had left a hole in her that she had ignored and tried to go back to living her life as she usually did, but the spark that went through her when she fought Kim had changed. She used to feel excited, gratified, and joyous when she went against the younger fighter before the Lil’ Diablo incident, but after it, the feeling had transformed into annoyance, frustration, anger, and sometimes even hatred that the girl dared to come against her. Her career with Drakken was actually categorized pre-incident and post-incident by her; the strange thing was that she did not think that such cataloging was very significant.
“Hey, Shego,” Kim said after a moment of silence.
“What?” the thief asked as if she was irked.
“Why haven’t you killed me yet?” the hero inquired in a very curious tone. She knew that the super-powered female could have blown her away easily with her plasma. So, why had she not done that?
“I take it back, you don’t have a brain for complex thought,” Shego remarked.
“Why do you say that?”
“Haven’t you noticed yet?” Shego asked.
“What?” Obviously, she had not noticed whatever it was that her houseguest was going on about.
“I never kill anybody,” the green-skinned sidekick pointed out. Oh, how badly her mother would slay her if she were to ever kill someone, even by accident. She had not been trained to kill; it went against their family code. She had been trained win, but never to kill. She was built for civil combat, stealth, and the desire to be at her best. She wanted to fight like an athlete wanted to play her sport. It was fun, but it was work too. It was not just a game, but her life and she wanted to be the best. Killing was not apart of her life.
“Yeah, I noticed that…” Kim mumbled. She supposed that her question was a little stupid now. She had never seen a warrant out for Shego because of a homicide and through everything that Shego ever did, Kim was usually the only one that got somewhat hurt. Guards at places that Shego broke into were almost always put to sleep in some form that had nothing to do with blunt force trauma.
“Let’s get back to the journal,” Shego suggested. She and Kim were getting too personal for her taste now. Kim agreed with that because they were getting to know too much about each other. They were not friends; they did not need to know each other personally.
…I shudder to imagine what the orderly was doing in my patient’s room with her ravished appearance. There had already been hints that he was behaving distastefully, but no one has ever spoken up about it. Female patients might cry or whimper as he walked by, but they never said anything about why they do such things. Some female patients even broke down if he touched them in what seemed like an innocent manner, but even then, they would not say why.
Women are typically led to believe that such attacks are their fault in some way, so they do not speak of it because they do not want people to think poorly of them. Many people do blame women when such things happen, sometimes going so far as to claim that a woman desired it or deserved it. Sometimes, even going so far as to attempt to justify the man’s actions by degrading the woman and claiming that she is a whore.
It seems that Sheshona neither desired it, deserved it, nor even allowed it. Well, if my assumption is correct anyway. She has not told me what happened, much like everything else. Much of the evidence points to my suspicion, though. I hope that she does speak to me about it, so that it does not fester on her mind. Before any of that could happen, though, my main concern was getting her medical attention…
(1855)
Sheshona stared at Kimberly as she stepped into the pale woman’s room. The raven-haired woman wondered what her doctor thought as she looked between Sheshona and the unconscious orderly a couple of times. There were so many problems that might arise, but the main thing that was on the pale woman’s mind was that she had never been beaten up in front of a conquest.
Sheshona had always made it a point to never fight in front of women, especially ones that she was attracted to. Women were just impressed with her, not with her power or skills, which she liked; although she had to admit that at the moment, it did not look like she had much talent. She was bleeding, after all. Now, all she could do was think that her doctor was going to compare her behavior to a man’s to link the whole thing to her so-called problem. She was only concerned about that.
There was the fact that she could be in trouble for beating up the orderly, but that had not entered her mind. He was an employee of the hospital, after all. No one might believe what he was attempting to do to her; even her lovely doctor might not believe it. Although when she looked at her physician, she could tell that Kimberly knew just what happened. Was that a good thing, though?
Several problems could arise with her physician knowing what happened. Her doctor might assume that she was weak or that she had somehow led the orderly on before changing her mind. Her doctor might somehow blame what happened on her.
Doctor Possible went over to her patient almost immediately and she put her hand out for the raven-haired woman. Sheshona stared at the hand as if she did not know what it was. She did not get the chance to ponder the hand because Kimberly bent down and put her arm around Sheshona’s shoulders. She helped her patient to her feet and even put her jacket over Sheshona’s shoulders to hide the tear that was going through the emerald-eyed woman’s shirt.
Before helping Sheshona to a medical room, Kimberly ordered some of the institutions staff to get Barkin out of the room and get him some immediate medical attention. Sheshona eyed the doctor as she barked out commands; dear, sweet, merciful God in heaven, it was erotic, especially since people were following those orders. Sheshona had never realized how amatory power could be. She did not get the chance to witness much of the doctor’s authority because Kimberly dished out the orders quickly and then went to the medical room. The orders did continue in the medical room, Kimberly commanded Sheshona to take a seat and for a moment the emerald-eyed female hesitated.
“Sit,” the redhead repeated in a harsh, no-nonsense tone that made the patient’s legs bend without commands from her brain and place her butt in a seat.
The physician then proceeded to pull out things to treat the bruises covering Sheshona’s face and the cuts that damaged her body. The raven-haired woman was dumbfounded as she watched the doctor work; she was like a woman on a mission. And then Kimberly sat down to take care of her patient.
“What do you think you’re doing, doc?” Sheshona demanded to know.
“Let me take care of this,” Kimberly answered.
“I can do it,” the pale woman insisted.
“With your hands like that?” the redhead pointed out while motioning down to her patient’s shackled hands.
Sheshona turned her mouth up as if the question was an affront to her. She might not like to show her power in front of women, but she did not like showing weakness in front of anyone. She should be able to take care of herself no matter what; her father had put her in such a spot thanks to his damned chains.
The cranky warrior begrudgingly allowed her doctor to tend to her wounds, which was something that no person had done since she was about twelve. She was surprised to not have to suggest using a balm to clean her wounds; Kimberly was already doing that. And then damnable redhead mended her with such a tender hand that it bothered her. How could a woman who just yesterday decided not to help her, think to help her now? She did not even want the help.
“I’ll get you a new shirt,” Kimberly said when she was done with bandaging all of her patient’s wounds.
The pale woman protested, but the doctor did not pay her any mind. Kimberly wandered off to retrieve a new shirt for her cantankerous patient. When she returned, they were presented with a new challenge that had not even crossed Kimberly’s mind until that very moment. How were they going to get Sheshona into the shirt with her handcuffs still in place? And that brought something else to Kimberly’s attention, which was that Sheshona had probably been wearing the same shirt for the two months that she had been in the asylum. They might have to peel that shirt off of her.
“Sheshona, put your hands out,” the redhead commanded.
“Why?” the pale woman practically huffed.
“Just do it,” the physician ordered.
Sheshona frowned; such a pushy wench, her beautiful doctor was. She put her hands out and Kimberly pulled out a key from her jacket pocket; the jacket that had earlier been draped over Sheshona’s shoulders. Had she really been wearing her salvation? Kimberly unlocked the bonds without a thought and Sheshona just could not believe it; her freedom had been in that woman’s hands the whole time. She could have stolen that little key at anytime. Her thoughts were thrown off as the doctor handed her the new shirt.
Sheshona eased the new shirt on; it felt good to be wearing a new shirt. She had been trapped in that other filthy piece of cloth for so long, which was an added evil to her father’s chains. He knew that she hated being dirty; unlike most of the population, she actually bathed on the regular basis. Her father had interrupted her habit thanks to his cuffs. She still cleaned herself whenever she could, but the fact that she had to remain in the same disgusting outfit was torture.
The pale woman rubbed her freed wrists after she was in her new shirt. There were impressions in her skin from her shackles. The whole area was sore, so now the flesh was pleased with being liberated. She rotated her wrists a few times, just to let the joints move. She sighed and then turned her attention back to her doctor.
“Put them back on,” Sheshona told Kimberly.
“What?” the redhead asked in disbelief.
“Put them back on. If my father comes to check on me and finds them off, he’ll only fit me for a worse pair,” Sheshona explained.
The pale woman was only telling half of the truth. Her father almost never came to check on her because she was never any place long enough for him to think about doing such a thing. But, there was the chance that he might show up and if he saw her free, he would definitely throw her into another pair of bonds without considering the fact that she was free and had not escaped. He was not a man into deep thinking and always had to be right, so she would have to be manacles.
To add to her half-truth, there was also the fact that without her chains, she felt compelled to escape and she wanted her conquest before that. She would have her physician and she had plans for those cuffs. So, it would be best to put them back on.
“Are you certain?” Kimberly inquired. She was not against leaving the bonds off; she did not care how horrible Mister Go swore his daughter was. She still did not think that justified putting Sheshona in chains.
“I am. Put them back on,” the green-skinned woman answered.
Kimberly did not argue, even though it seemed like a very odd request to her. She fitted the chains back onto Sheshona’s wrists and locked them back into place. Sheshona stared down at her handcuffs; they had saved Barkin’s life. She would have killed that monkey if she could have fought properly; the family creed be damned. His blood would have been on her hands and she would not have lost any sleep over it.
“Have you eaten yet?” Kimberly asked Sheshona in a somewhat softer tone than usual.
“No,” Sheshona admitted.
The redhead escorted Sheshona out to the cafeteria and even though it was past breakfast, Sheshona was given the morning meal without any fuss. Kimberly then did exactly what Sheshona wanted her to do; she left the pale woman alone to her thoughts. It was like the doctor knew exactly what her patient wanted and needed for the moment. She did not even bother with their daily session, which Sheshona silently appreciated.
Kimberly spent her day getting Barkin’s side of the events. He was rather reluctant to speak on the matter; he had after all, been physically dominated by a woman in a battle. His claim was that he went to open the door to let Sheshona out for supper and she had hit him in the head with some type of contraband that she had managed to get her hands on. He could not remember what it was, but she had slammed it into his skull and knocked him unconscious, which was why they found him the way that they did.
Kimberly was not amused by the tale and brought up the obvious inconsistencies in his story, like Sheshona’s extensive bruising and the fact that he had been found locked in the room with her in it. She had not stolen his key to escape, she had not attempted to hurt him any further after he was knocked out, her clothing had been torn, and then there was no contraband discovered in the room. His account did not explain any of those things and she told him that. He only became flustered and then indignant, screaming at her for doubting his story.
“I am merely stating the facts, Mister Barkin,” Kimberly said evenly, even though she did not appreciate his outrage.
“You’re taking the side of a loony criminal!” he hollered.
“Mister Barkin, first of all, this would go much better if you were to calm down. I am not taking sides. I am attempting to find out what happened,” Kimberly replied, still remaining as calm as she could be.
“I told you what happened,” he insisted.
“So, that is your statement?” she inquired to be sure.
“Yes, it is.”
Kimberly nodded and accepted that since he claimed that it was his statement. She had no problem with him sticking to that story. She dismissed him for the moment because there was nothing further for them to discuss.
The next day, Kimberly decided to get Sheshona’s side of the story. The pale woman brought herself to the office that day, refusing to be touched by any orderlies. She sat in the chair and looked around the office like she did every time that she came in there. She supposed that one day the doctor might give her an actual reason to scan the room by changing something or buying a painting.
“Sheshona, I was hoping that you might tell me what Mister Barkin was doing in your room?” Kimberly requested.
“Getting his face fixed. But, alas, it seems that there’s no helping the monkey,” Sheshona remarked with an amused smirk on her face that she was forcing out. She wanted to appear normal, as if yesterday had no affect on her. She was doing a fine job of it, pretending that everything was fine.
“You can tell me, Sheshona. It’s not your fault—” Kimberly began to inform her patient, but she was cut off.
“Oh, I know it’s not my fault,” Sheshona interjected. She had not done anything to warrant such an attempt on her sanctuary and no living soul could convince her otherwise.
“Then tell me, did Mister Barkin attempt to force intercourse with you?” Kimberly asked.
Sheshona frowned; it was apparent that she did not want to discuss the matter. But, her doctor continued to gently probe her for her information. Sheshona was hostile for a time, but she eventually broke down and admitted his intentions and she did not stop there. The pale woman continued on, saying that it did not even matter. It was not like someone was going to do something about it, she insisted. Besides, she had beaten him soundly, so she doubted that he would try again. She kept accidentally repeating that it did not matter anyway because it was not like anyone cared and Kimberly only listened.
The doctor allowed Sheshona to vent whatever was inside of her because she could tell that her patient needed it. She wished that she could offer more than an ear to the pale woman. It seemed more than anything else, Sheshona required a shoulder to lean on, someone to depend on. She needed someone who would care about what happened to her.
…I released David Barkin. I could care less than nothing about what the board has to say about my actions. He will never hurt one of my patients again.
Next time: Kim and Shego go grocery shopping while Kimberly takes a new approach to Sheshona.