A Night In Sickbay

Posted on Mon Nov 11th, 2024 @ 8:05am by Commander Sthilg & Lieutenant JG Maxine Mckull

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Sickbay - U.S.S Elysium
Timeline: MD9 (0015)
1102 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

The turbolift was very quiet. Too quiet. Yet it felt unbelievably loud at the same time. As it slowly moved through the decks of the Elysium, Max leaned against the wall. Her gaze kept falling to the coffee in her hand. She was tempted to finish it, but stars knew it would conflict with whatever the doctor ended up giving her.
Max huffed nearly silently and looked up at him with a frown. "Five days," she said simply, breaking the silence.

" Knightmaresss?" The lizard enquired as the lift slid down the ship's interior.

"Two of those," Max frowned. "I have stayed awake since."

" Well we have something that ssshould help with that." The gorn said as the turbolift doors slid open. " Thanks to your chief MD being a bibliophile." He added.

As the lift doors slid open, Max took a step forward, paused, then looked down. She nodded slowly, forcing herself to exit the lift and pausing before it with a sad look. "There is an expression... the stuff of nightmares. Now I understand what it means," she shivered visibly.

" Well, my dear we may be about to end thossse problemsss. " the gorn said as he led her through the sickbay to one of the wards at the back. " i found an old gasss usssed in earth early cryo ssstasssis programsss. It had the ssside effect of allowing dreamlessss sssleep. " he said drawing the curtains as he explained. " If you'd like to change we'll put you under, check your okay and then beam you to your quatersss."

Max stepped up and rested a hand on the curtains herself, gently taking them from the doctor as she signed with her free hand. She brought her hand to her chin, palm down, and tapped it before she extended her hand outward towards him, palm raised. "It is much appreciated," she droned, peering beyond the curtains to the small space. On the biobed, she noted the white gown, which unfortunately looked much too large for her short frame.

"I will need something else..." she huffed, almost seeming amused for an instant.

" What isss it? I can go and retrieve it." The old doctor responded.

"The gown," Max said, gesturing at the garment. Her lips twisted into a slight frown, unmoving as her translator spoke in a monotone. "It is much too large for me."

" Ah." Sthilg said as he headed for a cupboard. Drawing out a few other gowns he walked over and handed her them. " Just place the othersss on the chair."

Max nodded slightly and took the offered garments. She held them in her hands, trying to scope out which ones were likely the smallest. She figured it was better to start from the bottom up, rather than the top down, considering her short stature. As she did, she took deep, uneasy breaths. After a moment she asked in her monotone modulation, "You said you had nightmares too?"

The gorn nodded letting out a sigh. " I sssee the ghossst of thossse I've failed ssscreaming back at me from the void, but no where near how bad othersss are taking it. "

Max nodded slowly, relaxing just a touch at the doctor's words. She sighed, seeming to deflate some, sitting on a biobed with the bundle of gowns in her hands. She frowned deeply, stating after a few moments and silently biting her lip. Then she simply says, One of my fears laughed at me."

" I'm sorry to hear that my dear. " The gorn replied in his concerned voice. " If you'll lean back we can sssee if we can give you a good nightsss sssleep. "

Mad nodded, looking down at the bundle of gowns in her hand, settling on the second smallest one which she carefully removed from the pile. Setting the rest of them aside she asked monotonically, "If I might have a moment?"

The gorn nodded and turned away.

Letting out a soft sigh, Max set the bundles of gown down on the biobed before she went about starting to take off her own uniform. Though it wasn't necessary, she found herself reflexively folding it, something she always did in her quarters once she was finished with it for the day. Maybe she was just looking for a way to stall, to stay awake a little longer. Would the nightmares return even if they weren't supposed to? But alas, there was only a finite amount of uniform to fold, and she couldn't remain standing in standard Starfleet issue undergarments forever. So she reached out, picked up the one she thought would fit her the best, and started to put it on. A few moments later, she found it just a touch too tight, but she decided it was probably the closest fit she was going to get. She took the rest of the gowns off the bed, placing them on the table next to it along with her uniform, and reluctantly lay down on the biobed.

Sthilg returned giving her a reassuring smile. " Now." He said reaching for a breathing mask that he had in lab coat. " I'm going to place thisss on you. I'll need you to count back from five and you ssshould be out like a light."

This caused Max to raise her eyebrows. She blinked, staring at the transparent breathing apparatus for a moment and simply asked, "Rather quaint technology, is it not?"

The gorn nodded yet still gave a reassuring look. . " Sssometimes the old technology isss bessst.

Max simply gave a shrug and looked upwards. Some part of her still didn't want to go under. Even if she did, she wondered if she would still dream. "Will you be able to tell if I am dreaming?" She queried.

" No dreamsss I'm afraid. A sssmall price to pay for a good night sssleeep. " The gorn reassured her.

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After her dreams, she wasn't sure she ever wanted to dream again. But... she couldn't think of anything else she could use to hold it off any longer. With a slow nod she sighed, letting her head rest against the pillow under it. Looking up, she simply stated, "Hit me, then."

The gorn nodded and gently placed the mask over her mouth before letting off a slight squeeze. The effect was intentions as Maxines eyes closed as she feel into a deep sleep. Looking at the results the gorn smiled. No indication she was dreaming or having nightmares. Placing a monitoring device on her neck he pressed a few buttons to transport her to her quarters. Hopefully, she'd wake up in a few hours feeling refreshed.