Intensive Care Unit

Month 16 Day 5

1623 Hours

Lt Cmdr Facchini, Engineering, St Elmo

The redhead in the other bed awoke with a start. "Ouch," she told herself.

"Bad dream, Red?" he asked. His voice sounded tired and hoarse, even to him.

"No. Yes. I don't know. At least I didn't dream I was falling."

"I got caught in a crystal explosion. I'm surprised to find myself still alive. Do you remember what happened to you?"

"Um. Let me think. A cloud of gas washed over me. A cracked pipe must have ruptured. Yellow gas, from the warp power alcove, which would make it diflaxibrophine."

Ah. She knows the name of it. Must be an engineer. "Then you also are lucky to be alive."

There was a short pause before she responded. "Alive, yes. Lucky, maybe."

He let that pass, for now. If she's in pain, she might not feel very lucky. "I don't recognize your voice. Are you assigned to the St Elmo?"

She gave a short burst of hard laughter. "No, I'm from the Fireball. We answered Capt Valentine's SOS."

"Fireball?" I thought I'd dreamed Smitty was here. Well, that's okay, then. Smitty will put things right again. "You must be one of Mr Smythe's, then."

Another pause before she spoke. "One of his what?"

"Engineers."

"Oh. Yeah. For the moment, I guess I still am."

For the moment? Did Smitty pull her from a different department? He's a firm believer in cross-training, but I would expect him to bring his best over with him. He suddenly remembered another dream he'd had, that a woman was pregnant and had no doubt Smitty was the father. Did Smitty say anything about that? No, nothing about being pregnant. But he did say, the Smitty in my dream, that he wanted to introduce me to his protégé. And the woman he would marry. As soon as I woke up. Had he mentioned a name? For either one? "Colleen?"

"Everybody calls me Mac."

"Surely not Mr Smythe." Which one does the name belong to?

Another, longer pause. "No, not him."

He pondered what to say next. Or maybe I should just close my eyes and go back to sleep, let her try to do the same.

"Psst! Mac. They tell me you aren't asleep."

Stinky opened his eyes wide and craned his neck, caught sight of a brownette in a rumpled engineering uniform halfway between the door and the other bed.

"No, I'm not," Red confirmed. "Why aren't you, Ivy? It's not like you're getting a lot of time off today."

"Well, I was in bed, and falling asleep, when it dawned on me that you didn't have the right gravity in whatever bed you were in, and you wouldn't be able to sleep. So I brought the gravity unit to set up for you here." She approached Red's bed, then disappeared from view as she got down on her hands and knees. But she kept talking. "I wasn't sure they'd let me install it, but Nurse Temple, Dr Davis, and even one of the Elmo's doctors thought it would be a good idea, you being a heavy worlder."

"Thanks, Ivy. I've been trying to sleep, but I keep waking up. At least I haven't starting having nightmare about falling yet. I don't think I have."

"Hmm. The base is different on this bed," Ivy stated. "I can't place the gravity unit in the middle."

Med bay beds stand on a pedestal, for a variety of reasons.

"Place it as close to the middle as you can get it, and I'll see if I feel any difference in my feet. If not, it'll probably work."

The 2 women were quiet then, for a couple minutes, then the brownette climbed to her feet. "Okay, are you ready?"

"Do it."

"Computer, turn on gravity unit 1038 to Gaelund normal," Ivy requested, and turned a worried look to her friend when that woman grunted. "Should I turn it off?"

"No," Mac answered. "I'm just extra aware of every little tug on my body right now. The skin on my back is tight."

"Yeah, burns do that," Ivy stated. "I know you're not a fan of healing rays, but burns are the easiest thing for them to heal. You can't even tell where my burn was."

"Well, we'll see," Mac answered. "All I know for sure is I get to wear this blue glop until tomorrow."

"Good. The longer you wear it, the better a job it does."

"Ivy, you should be sleeping..."

"And so should you, Mac," said a blond nurse as she entered the ICU. Stinky didn't recognize this woman, either, so she must also be from the Fireball. The nurse walked over to Red's bed. "Wilson, go back to the barracks and get some sleep. You've had a long day."

"I don't mind..."

"Well, I don't like those dark smudges under your eyes. You have a good reputation with Mr Smythe, and I don't want to see you flub that up. Anyway, I have a flair for barking an order when I need to. Do I need to now? I've been a lieutenant longer than you have."

"No, sir," Ivy Wilson muttered, and stifled a yawn. "I'm sorry, Mac, but I really do need to sleep."

"That's okay, Ivy. Good night." They waited until Wilson left the room, then lowered their voices. "Okay, Beth, what's the prognosis for me?"

"There'll be no healing ray for your back, for fear of introducing unintended complications, given your condition. Instead, they've discovered an old-fashioned ointment to coat the burn with. They'll cover that with sterile bandages, some loose clothing, and you'll be allowed to go."

"To do what?"

"They'll probably tell you light duty."

"Oh. Paperwork."

"You might remind Mr Smythe that the burn does not affect your mouth nor your brain."

"I'll never get into a uniform with my back covered in bandages."

"Leave that to me. Now, do you need something to help you sleep?"

"I don't think so, but the next time I wake up, could you send for a milkshake for me?"

"What flavor?"

"Ohh, pineapple if they have it. Otherwise, chocolate."

"You got it. Have you given any thought to your hair?"

"I've thought about shaving it all off, let it all grow out at the same time."

"Well, that's a little drastic, but you could do that. Or, you could have what you still have cut into curls to frame your face. I think that would be very flattering."

"Shaving it all off would be easier to care for it."

"Sleep on it," the nurse suggested, and then was leaning over Stinky's bed. "Mr Facchini, do you need something to help you sleep?"

"No, but I could use one of those milkshakes that Red mentioned. Strawberry, if you please."

"I'll send for it right away."