The road to recovery

Posted on Monday 26 April 2021 @ 08:45 by Civilian Sansa Draxx-Jones & Lieutenant Commander Hayley Godding

Mission: A Cry from the Darkness
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD6 0400
1312 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Sansa slowly came around. She soon realized she was in sickbay. Looking to her left, she saw Hayley asleep on the bed next to her. Her right arm was covered by a stasis field. Had that all been another bad dream. Finally, she found her voice and called out weakly. "Hayley.... Hayley..."

Hayley's head turned to look at her "Hello killer." she said in a flat tone.

Sansa started to tremble.. "No... I didn't mean to .... I was trying to protect you..."

"There's something else you can do." Hayley whispered.

Sansa rolled off the bed and came to her side "What?"

"Wake up!"

Sansa frowned "Wha...."

***

Sansa eyes slowly opened as she came around. She was still in sickbay, laying on a biobed. Exactly as she had been in her dream. She looked to her side. This time, she had to fight the urge to scream. She slowly got off the bed and came to stand by Hayley's bed, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. "Sweetie?" She asked tentatively as she took hold of her left hand again.

It had been a very long night for Hayley, not that she could remember much of it. She distinctly remembered waking up in the middle of the night in a state of confusion which was replaced by raw panic at the realisation of the loss of her right arm and eye which had necessitated her being sedated. She was presently in that half-groggy state where she was neither asleep nor truly awake, just laying there alone with her thoughts. One overriding fear she had right now was whether Sansa was alright. In her hysterical moment earlier, she'd not seen her and had been sedated before anyone had told her anything.

She felt the reassuring touch on her left hand and could hear Sansa's quavering tone of concern pierce the fogginess of her mind. She opened her one remaining eye and could see Sansa's tear streaked face looking tenderly at her. The redness of her eyes was evidence of the sheer emotional toll the poor girl had been going through. It occured to Hayley that perhaps she'd witnessed things that she'd never been forced to see before in addition to her own concerns for Hayley.

"Hey hun..." Hayley let out scratchily, her throat being incredibly dry. "Any chance of some water?" She gasped out.

Sansa nodded and went over to the replicator, returning with a glass of water. "Oh my love, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have been in that corridor. I should have got back to our quarters faster.... I..." Her hands trembled as she handed over the glass.

Hayley's hand came out and steadied both the glass and Sansa's hand as she grasped it. "No babe... No... this isn't on you at all..." She said, then took a deep drink of the water before talking again. "If I had detected the probe earlier... got our shields up faster... got our teams on alert sooner... all those people who died... that's on me..." Tears rolled down from her one eye. "It was my responsibility to protect this ship and all her crew... and I failed... I deserve death for what's happened..."

"OH Sweetie, no..." Sansa embraced her and kissed her forehead. "You went above and beyond the call of duty to defend your ship and your crew. You did everything that was asked of you, and more." She started stroking Hayley's hair. "You did what you always do, put other people first. You're not responsible for those people dying, you're responsible for helping to save everyone else, including me and what you've had to pay for that loyalty... well it's too high a price if you ask me." Sansa said as she tried to comfort her.

Trying to drag herself out of her self-pity-parade, Hayley sniffled and wiped her face with the back of her left hand. "So... you okay?" She asked, patting Sansa affectionately. "I hope you weren't hurt because I failed to protect you..."

Sansa nodded quickly and blushed, taking a quick breath before answering. "Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, glancing to the right as she blinked a few times. "They were able to.... drive those guys back toward the turbolift and a security officer managed to grab me and you and pull us both to safety. She brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I'm fine, really." she added trying to smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Hayley wasn't buying what Sansa was selling. "Sansa... how long have we known one another?" She asked.

Sansa took hold of her hand and squeezed it. "Eighteen wonderful months Sweetie."

"Right, so do you really think that after all this time I don't know when you're lying to me?" Hayley said, coldly. "What aren't you telling me? Come on, it can't be as bad as all that..." She added a touch of compassion to the final part of her question, placing her hand on Sansa's arm.

Sansa's lip trembled as she forced herself to look Hayley in the eye. "You're right... I'm sorry... I managed to get free of the one who was dragging me and....When you went down... I grabbed your phaser and I had to... I had to shoot him. I'm sorry Sweetie. I had to keep you safe..."

Hayley could tell that it had cost Sansa a lot to not only tell her that but to do the action in the first place. It was probably the first time she'd ever fired a weapon in anger before. I mean, the guy would've crumpled to the floor and that would've been scary, even if he was just stunned. She pulled Sansa towards her and embraced her with her arm. "It's okay... thank you for telling me..." She said softly into Sansa's ear. "You did what you had to do. I'm proud of you."

Sansa nodded as tears continued to roll down her face. "I couldn't lose you... I just couldn't. You were on the floor and..... and ... my hands were covered in blood. It was my nightmare! My nightmare all over again."

Continuing to hold Sansa as tightly as she could, she kissed her softly on the cheek. "We survived sweetie... against the odds... we survived... You haven't lost me... I'm right here... Well... most of me anyway..." She chuckled with a bit of gallows humor.

A nurse came over. "Come on now you two, there'll be plenty of time for that later. You both need some rest. Miss Jones, you can go in a few hours. Commander Godding will have to stay a bit longer."

Sansa reluctantly let go. "Can I come back and stay with her?"

The nurse nodded. "Of course you can, but she will need her rest Sweetheart."

"How's the ship? We back under control again?" Hayley asked.

The nurse let out a sigh of relief. " Yes, thank goodness. It was touch and go, I must admit, we got rather worried when we heard the auto-destruct counting down."

Sansa's eyes went wide. "Mom almost blew up the ship?!"

Sighing, Hayley looked down at the gap where her arm used to be. "Your mother refuses to be backed into a corner..." She said. "She would've had no choice."

"Well, we're still here and red alert was canceled." The nurse added.

"The Captain okay? The away team?" Hayley asked.

"We've not heard anything yet Commander but when we do, I'll be sure to keep you in the loop. But as for now, you two need some rest.... So" She looked at Sansa.

Sansa nodded. "I'll be right over here." She said to Hayley as she slipped back onto her own biobed.

"I'll be here when you wake up." Hayley said, softly.

OFF:

○●● Lieutenant Commander Hayley Godding
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Merlin


Sansa Draxx-Jones
Civilian
npc Jones