A Familiar Voice

Posted on 26 Mar 2017 @ 7:52pm by Commander Jayla Kij

960 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Endgame
Location: Hospital on New Bajor
Timeline: MD17 : 2230

“Doctor Kij! Doctor Kij, I'm sorry to bother you, but... we've got incoming.”

Jayla opened her eyes and glanced around. For a moment, she wasn't sure where she was, but then she recognized Dr. Road on a nearby sofa and remembered that she was kipped in one of the waiting rooms of the hospital on New Bajor. “Wassamatter?” she muttered as she rubbed her eyes and yawned.

“Incoming wounded,” said the voice. “From the capital. I know you're exhausted, but we're overwhelmed.”

“Of course,” said Jayla, pulling herself up as quickly as possible. “Have you woken the others?”

“We're working on it,” answered the voice, who Jayla could now see in the dimly lit room as a 40-something Bajoran woman. “There are just so many.”

Dr. Road was up by now, too, and both followed the woman towards a busier part of the hospital. “Get much sleep?” Abbey asked Jayla.

“Probably about an hour or two,” answered Jayla. “Enough to go on for a few hours anyway.”

“Yeah, me, too,” said Abbey.

The Bajoran doctor led them to what must have been the Emergency area of the hospital. Doctors and nurses ran back and forth, attempting to get needed medicines and equipment to the patients while injured sat around, sprawled over every surface. Jayla took one look around and flashed back to that Ensign lying on the bio bed before shaking herself out of it and grabbing the end of an incoming hover gurney as it was being pushed in.

The man didn't look good. In fact, he looked awful. He was only just barely recognizable as a Vulcan male. Jayla tried not to think about it as they wheeled him into an exam room and she pulled out her tricorder- which was miraculously still in her pocket.

He was in bad shape. If he'd been Trill, he'd be dead already. In fact, if he were almost any other race- aside from possibly Klingon- he'd be dead. In short, it would take more time to put him right than he would survive. There was no way she was going to be able to save him. Massive internal bleeding, several cracks in his skull, swelling of the brain- among many other injuries- all left Jayla with one option: keep him comfortable for the two or three minutes remaining in his life.

“Doctor?”

Jayla whirled to see Nurse Lane standing in the doorway. “I can't...” she started. “He's not- he won't...” She turned back to the Vulcan to see the one eye that wasn't swollen shut open and look at her. She made to turn away, but he grabbed her wrist.

“Jayla,” he croaked out and she recognized the voice from so long ago. “My Jayla.”

She blinked and looked back at him just as the light left his eye. “No,” she said flatly. “No. Silak. Lane! Get me.... get me....” But, she knew it was too late for him. “Silak....” she whispered.

Nurse Lane, realizing that Jayla had known the man now lying dead before her, reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “There was nothing you could do,” she said gently. “Come now; there are others who need your help who you can save.”

Jayla looked once more at the man lying before her and then allowed nurse Lane to lead her away.

She managed to get through eighteen more patients, only losing one other, before the flow of injured slowed enough to allow them some time for breaks. Jayla jumped at the opportunity. She needed a few minutes.

One of the orderlies offered her a sandwich, and she took it absentmindedly. She bit into it and chewed it mechanically as she stared out a window at the now dark sky and attempted to process the fact that the man she had dated for nearly two full years back in medical school had just died before her eyes.

Silak. She hadn't realized he was attempting to court her for several weeks. Vulcans were so subtle. She grinned sadly at the memory. Once she had realized what he was doing, things moved pretty fast. But then, they graduated and he was sent to the Beta quadrant, she to the Gamma. They'd tried to keep things going, but the distance was too great. They had decided mutually that they would just let it go. They'd kept in touch, of course, but last she'd heard, he was still in the Beta quadrant.

So what was he doing on New Bajor?

She had no clue. She'd probably never know, in fact.

Of course she still loved him- there was no doubt about that- and she always would. Even though he wasn't her first boyfriend, he was definitely her first love and would always hold a special place in her heart. And the thought that he no longer existed was killing her. A universe without Silak was a universe she simply could not imagine.

“Doctor Kij?”

Jayla turned to see Nurse Lane pointing at her sandwich. “Eat that,” the nurse ordered. “Now.”

Jayla gave her a weak grin. “Yes, mother,” she teased.

Lane returned the grin with a stern one of her own. “You're no good to anyone if you pass out from hunger,” she pointed out. “Eat it.”

Dutifully, Jayla took a small bite and chewed it. “Thanks Penny,” she said sincerely as soon as she had swallowed.

Nurse Lane just gave a single nod and turned to return to her duties.

Jayla forced herself to finish the sandwich- which tasted like paper because she was just not in the mood to eat- and quickly washed it down with a bottle of water that another orderly handed her. She had to get back to work. She could mourn Silak later....

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