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=

.>