Subject: Grail: "Last Look Back"-"A Precarious Situation" (Brennan)
"A Precarious Situation" Part 1
by Lt. Kait Brennan.
First becoming aware of the tremendous pain, she felt in her head and ent=
ire
being, Kait tried to focus on going back to sleep. There was no need to
fight the blackness that had threatened to overtake her every time she
became slightly conscious. Sleep would take away the pain... But there w=
as
something nagging at her that bothered her so much, she couldn't relax
enough to go back into unconsciousness. There was something she wasn't
remembering and somehow, that missing information seemed important to her.
First, she needed to start on a trail, which would start with the asking =
of
questions. The most basic question was, why was she here? From the pain=
,
Kait could assume that she must've suffered some injury. From the voices=
of
doctors which, though she heard, could barely comprehend, she knew where =
she
was. She only knew that the voices were doctors because one time, when s=
he
woke up earlier, she had opened her eyes to see one of them. This told h=
er
not only that she was in Sickbay but also that the lights were at far too
bright of a setting! It seemed to only worsen the pain she felt in her
head.
The pain in her head... did she get hit? There was nothing, not even a
clue, that told Kait what had caused the injury. But the pain in her le=
g
was something she did remember. She had been barely able to stand and no=
t
completely conscious when she had tried to stand up to the computer cons=
ole
and lock-out computer access. She remembered feeling a sharp pain in her
leg as a result of the action. It had been a disruptor blast that had hi=
t
her and knocked her off her unsteady feet. That was when sleep was easy.=
..
when she could escape the pain. Now was not so easy. Something was keep=
ing
her awake.
Then the thought came to her that she might've been drugged to be awake.
That would mean there was someone who wanted her to be awake? Kait opene=
d
her eyes and indeed saw a doctor standing over top her with a hypospray i=
n
hand. Kait smiled up at the doctor.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Great," she replied, hiding the sarcasm that pervaded her thoughts. Wha=
t
she wanted to say in response was "like shit" but that would likely be fo=
und
objectionable, and heaven forbid that she should ever appear rude.
It seemed like the doctor was ready to leave at hearing this. She wonder=
ed
at how he didn't know that she must be in such pain if she had suffered
injuries. The only reason she could guess was that she had been given
medication earlier and it had worn off. On a last minute thought, she
added, "Except I think my medication has worn off."
Kait wondered if she might've appeared to be more cognizant of the situat=
ion
than she was. The doctor didn't seem to acknowledge such a feat and simp=
ly
placed the hypospray up to her neck, and released its contents with a his=
s.
It was several moments before it started to take effect but it was such a
relief that the remaining headache was ignorable.
"How does your leg feel?"
Kait thought about it, and decided that she felt little, if any pain, in =
her
leg. "It's fine, thanks."
"Okay, you still have a concussion, so you should try to stay awake for a
little while."
After knowing that she needed to stay awake, she was hit with a wave of
fatigue and found that laying in the biobed was conducive to sleeping.
"May I report to duty then?" Kait asked.
"I would not suggest doing so. You suffered some pretty serious injuries=
,
and your body needs to finish the healing process. Any strenuous work mi=
ght
worsen the injuries."
"I don't wish to stay here," she started. The doctor sort of rolled his
eyes mentally, and regarded her as any other Starfleet officer : they nev=
er
did want to stay in Sickbay. "I can't stay awake while lying down," Kait
explained herself.
The doctor nodded and acquiesced. "Alright, but don't think of doing any
work today. Give yourself time."
Kait replied, "You don't need to tell me twice. I'm not quite that anxiou=
s
to get back to work. Can I take a couple days off? I think my leg feels
worse than I thought..." The doctor smiled at the joke, and told her tha=
t
he had to go.
After watching him walk away, she attempted to stand up. Her legs, more
unsteady than she had expected, had almost given way beneath her. Kait
leaned against the biobed and felt a sudden pain shoot up her leg. She
winced in pain, and truly hoped that no one saw her.
Looking around, the only ones nearby were Parker and Stone. Both were ly=
ing
there, still as can be. Stone's thoughts were all a scramble and happeni=
ng
at once. He must've been dreaming. However, she could feel nothing from
Parker, and assumed that it must've been the result of her limited
telepathic abilities.
Kait walked on her gelatin-like legs, attempting to make it as far as the
turbolift so that she could lean against its wall. She didn't make it th=
at
far before she needed to lean against the wall for support. Once she mad=
e
it to the turbolift, she decided against all the ideas she had to use her
spare time in preference to her quarters. Well, it didn't eliminate all =
her
ideas. She still could catch up on her reading, perhaps. Somehow that i=
dea
didn't seem at all appealing. Being locked up in her quarters didn't see=
m
appealing either. Well, she had to do something and walking around the s=
hip
was not a viable option in her condition. Somehow the most unappealing
thing about her quarters was that she would be alone. It was a reminder =
of
something she never truly had but sure did miss.
She considered going to engineering or visiting somebody. The first migh=
t
require work, and if she were to visit someone who would that be? Likely
one of the higher members of engineering like Hargen, Prynne, or Porter.
Somehow she wasn't sure if a visit would be appreciated so she decided on
something less obtrusive.
"Ten-Forward," she commanded the computer.
<OOC: Haven't decided exactly what to do yet. I'll continue tomorrow=
.>