Absolutely NOT!
Posted on 20 Jul 2016 @ 9:00pm by Lieutenant Lucas Abrams M.D. & Commander Jayla Kij
1,255 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Risky Business
Location: Sick Bay
Timeline: MD 6 || 0145 Hours
Jayla's head was pounding and she had no idea why.
She groaned and opened her eyes slowly. Wait, this wasn't her quarters. It was far too brightly lit. And the bed was too hard.
Why was she in Sick Bay?
"What's going on?" she asked nobody in particular.
Lucas stood next to the biobed as he scanned her. "Try not to move. You took a pretty good bump to your head." Like everyone else, he was tossed out of bed rather violently and suffered a few bruises and a superficial laceration to his forearm from some broken glass, which was already healed over thanks to their modern technology.
It didn't take long for him to run from his quarters, wearing nothing more than a pair of black gym shorts, but thankfully, he'd thought to grab a shirt on his way out. Here he was, wearing his sleeping clothes with his mane of hair pulled back into a low ponytail with no shoes on his feet. Though, if he had to guess, the vast majority of the ship was going to be in similar states of dress except for those who were on duty or slept in their uniforms. "Do you remember what happened?"
Jayla thought for a moment. "I remember... the ship shaking," she said. "And hitting my head and after that... nothing until just now. Don't suppose I can get something for this massive headache, can I?"
"You can just as soon as I finish this scan," The large man said, looking at the readings as they came through. When that was done, he loaded up a hypospray with a painkiller and pressed it against her neck. "You should be feeling better soon. You cracked your head pretty good. You've got a concussion."
"A concussion?" she said, the pain in her head already subsiding. "Now? No. I've got to help. I'm sure there are other people much worse off than I am." She tried to sit up and failed as her head pounded threateningly.
"And just like them, you're a patient right now," Lucas said, helping her to settle back down. "Most of the med team has made it in, and we'll see to it that all the other injured are taken care of. You could get dizzy, and it's because of that that I insist you stay right where you are. I don't want to risk you falling and hitting your head again."
Jayla lay still, but she wasn't happy about it. "How'd I get to Sick Bay?" she asked.
"Miss Road brought you in. She found you in the corridor. Sadly, I only got a vague description about what happened, but I'm sure she'll be able to fill you in on the details if you were to ask her." He actually felt a bit bad about forcing her to stay put considering the condition their department was in presently, but her well being was priority, just as the others who'd come in to be treated.
"The corridor," repeated Jayla. "How did I get all the way down here without remembering it?"
"You blacked out," He said. "Do you know what year it is? Where we are?"
"1976?" she joked. "It's 2388. And we're in a nebula, chasing down the Chimera and the Cochran. Right? Or are you going to tell me that was seven years ago and I've got three kids now?"
Lucas smiled, then he got a bit more serious. "Sorry, but I'm afraid your first answers were the right one, and you're going to be admitted for the night so we can keep an eye on you here. I know it's not what you want, but it's the way it's got to be."
"For the night?" she said. "No way. You need my help. I've got to- what the hell am I wearing?!" she exclaimed, looking down at herself. She had thrown the blanket covering her back and felt a draft on her legs. She was still in her pajamas- turquoise Daisy Dukes and a black camisole. "I wandered through the corridors in this?" she said, throwing the blanket back over herself. "Ugh. I must have been out of it."
"You're the patient now, Jayla," Lucas said. "You've got to give up control for the time being. I'll tell you what. Let's try twelve hours... see how you're feeling, then reevaluate? Does that sound better?" He offered her a sympathetic smile. "Everyone happens to be in various states of dress."
For the first time, she noticed his attire and grinned. "I guess most of us were in our pajamas, weren't we?" she said. "All right, twelve hours. But, you're going to need everyone to handle all the injuries, I'm sure."
"We were. Nurse Blake is relatively under-dressed as are some others." He returned the grin. "We've got all hands right now, so we should be able to cover it. For now, though, I'm going to get you moved to a private room for now. We'll reevaluate again in twelve hours and see how you're feeling then."
Jayla sighed. She didn't like it, but what choice did she have? Concussions were serious business, and if she'd managed to get from her quarters to Sick Bay without remembering it, odds were it was a bad one. "All right," she said, disgruntled. "Twelve hours."
"Is when we'll see how everything looks," Lucas finished. "Now, I'm going to help you back to a room and help you get settled, then I'm going to check on some of our other patients."
"All right," agreed Jayla with a sigh. Slowly, very slowly, she sat up. The room gave a bit of a twitch, but there was no spinning. She blinked. "Wow," she said. "It's a little like being high, isn't it? Only with some nausea."
"I've never actually suffered from one, so I couldn't say. That doesn't mean I haven't had my share of bumps to the head, though. Yours just happens to be worse than others." Before she could try to stand, she slipped his arms beneath her and scooped her up. "I'll get you something for the nausea once you're settled in." That being said, he carried her back to the med ward.
It was a mark of just how not good Jayla felt that she didn't complain. She just let him carry her to one of the private observation rooms and settle her onto a bio bed there. "Thanks," she said, closing her eyes to stop the room from oscillating.
"No problem," Lucas said once she was settled. "I'll send someone back with something for nausea. Do you need anything else in the meantime?"
"Another blanket," she said, feeling herself drift off again. "These shorts are not very warm."
Lucas grabbed a blanket and brought it over to the bed, laying it over her. "I'll be back to check on you in a little bit. If you need anything between now and then..." Then he realized what he was doing. A smile formed on his lips. "You know the drill."
Jayla grinned and closed her eyes. "Yeah, I do," she agreed. "Thanks you, Doctor Abrams."
"You're welcome, Doctor Kij. I'll check on you soon." He offered her a smile before he made his way out to check on some of their other patients. Of course, they'd lost people, and while that didn't please him, he still had a duty to help those that were still living. Lucas planned to do whatever he could to make sure there would be no more life lost.