A Brush With Death (Part 2)

Posted on Wed Nov 27th, 2024 @ 9:24pm by Captain Akeno Misaki & Commander Mashiro Munetani "Shiro" & Lieutenant Commander Mark Johnson

Mission: Return to Tyra
Location: USS Wayfarer (NCC-72113)
Timeline: Approximately 3 hours after Part 1

The doors to Sickbay opened and a rather exhausted Mashiro stumbled in. It had already been a long day for her, filing reports and interrogating the mutineers, and it was hardly even lunchtime. But after everything that had happened, she wasn't feeling particularly hungry, so she decided that she'd spend her lunch break checking up on the Captain to see how she was doing.

"Hello? she called out. "Doc? Are you there?"

The scickbay was slowly getting back to normal. The number of trated officers was slowly reducing and the medical personnel was able to get some well deserved rest. Mark was still presiding the CMO office going thorugh all the needs of his department and trying not to leave the captain alone.

The voice of Mashiro arose him from his reports filing.

"I'm here, commander" he answered while exiting the door of his office in the middle of the sickbay and closing in.
"Are you injured?" he asked out of habit after a busy shift.

Mashiro shook her head. "Far from it doctor- I was hoping to check up on Ak..."

She stopped herself. Huh; was she really just about to refer to Captain Misaki as "Akeno," without being prompted?

"...Captain Misaki to see how she's doing," she corrected herself. "Is she available to receive guests yet?"

Mark nodded "Glad at least you're not injured" he vocalized his thoughts. "She is...well...stable" he answered motioning her to follow him "We sedated her, we can awaken her if needed. She needs to rest but should be mostly out of danger for now" he told her while accompanying her to the biobed where the body of Akeno was laying in a stasis.

Taking a deep breath, Mashiro made her way over to the bio-bed before taking a seat. She sat there in an awkward silence for a good minute or so before eventually mustering the courage to speak up.

Mark stayed close to the biobed for any eveniences but gave some privacy to the two senior officers.

"Hey, there," she began, though she was well aware of the fact that Akeno was asleep and that this would likely fall on deaf ears. "I know you're probably not going to hear this, but, ah..." -she reached over and scratched the back of her neck. "...I just figured I would stop in, see how you're doing, give you a bit of an update after everything that's happened..."

...

As was to be expected, she was met with complete silence, save for the EKG and Akeno's light breathing.

"Commander McKenzie and I are still in the process of tallying up the casualties," Mashiro continued, bowing her head. "Mostly, it's just a few injuries here and there- nothing life-altering or anything of that sort, we're expecting most of them to return to active duty by next week... but I have no doubt that everyone's still a little shaken from this whole ordeal..."

...

"Ah, let's see, what else... our surviving mutineers have been confined to the brig for the time being; Zolgon'Tar's voluntarily surrendered himself confinement, though at present Command McKenzie and I have no reason to believe he had no involvement in the mutiny. We're, uh... we're continuing to monitor their Ketracel levels, administer any additional supplements per Doctor Johnson's formula if their numbers get too low... it's definitely not a long-term solution, but it ought to get us by until the resupply gets here..."

...

Mashiro sat back and pondered as to what other insightful information she could offer. "Xander's doing alright, I think you'd be pleased to know that; he basically barricaded himself in your quarters and hunkered down until McKenzie signaled the all-clear. He's, uh... he's been a real trooper through all this; he's been worried sick ever since finding out that you were stabbed, and he's been checking with Medical Staff every half-hour to see how you're faring... seems like you're reaching a point in your relationship where you really care about each other..."

She chuckled to herself. "Damn, I never thought I'd say this, but a part of me envies that... guess I've never really put aside enough time to give a long-term relationship a thought... look at me, I'm 29 and still single, and my Captain, who's younger than me, gets in bed with a total stranger and hits it off... I don't think I could ever move that fast; I'd need some time to get to know the guy before I make an informed decision to commit..."

...

"And, uh... I suppose I owe you an apology for yesterday... I mean, I still stand by everything that I said, but I didn't mean to come off as a bigot, if that was the impression you had made of me... I mean, given their upbringing, we can't just expect them to behave like we do; their needs and values are different from ours, is all I meant to say."

...

Mashiro sighed. "You know, there's been something on my mind that I've been meaning to ask you for the past couple of days... how do you do it? How do you come off of the single-bloodiest conflict in Galactic history, and then go about life like nothing's wrong? How can you visit a mass war grave and still have the energy to be hosting a Karaoke party? How does someone who's lost their entire family muster up the courage to see through to another day?"

"You... just.... do..." Akeno answered sluggishly. The sedative was starting to wear off. "Life is for... living...Shiro-Chan..."

As Akeno awakened, Mark simply shot a glance over the monitor of the biobed checking lifesign readings and trying to rule out any potential issue. All seemed well.

"What the hell?!" Mashiro shouted, smacking Akeno upside the head. "Were you listening to everything I just said?!"

A smirk spread across Akenos face as she opened one eye. "More or less." She replied sleepily. "Because... I... never really listen... do I?"

"I believe the technical term would be 'selective hearing disorder'..." Mashiro grumbled.

"Something we... share... in common..." Akeno replied softly.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just make a dig at me."

"Heh..." Akeno replied before she drifted back into sleep. It was obvious that she was still fighting, still recovering as she drifted off again.

Mashiro sat there for a few moments before sighing and pulling the covers back over Akeno's shoulders.

"Sleep tight, Captain," she whispered. "Xander wishes you a speedy recovery."

And with that, she stood up and made her way back over to Mark.

"Er... apologies for hitting her," she expressed. "I know she needs her rest and all that..."

Mark scratched his beard "Well, it was not something I would have done, to be honest" he told the XO with a shy smile. "I checked her lifesigns when she woke up, all seems well. Better than expected, to be honest. She just needs rest. How about the rest of the crew?" he asked worried "Any other officer that still need to be treated?" he asked the first officer.

"Commander McKenzie and I are still in the process of tallying up the casualties," Mashiro explained. "We're reaching a point where most if the remaining injuries are minimal- a sprained ankle here, a crushed finger there- but we reckon that all of the critical injuries have been beamed into sickbay by now."

The doctor nodded crossing his arms and leaning against the nearest bulkhead.
"Sounds like we managed them all pretty well then" he commented while shooting a glance to his busy sickbay.
"I'm going to send my people in for some forced rest then. We'll be back to normal routine soon" he smiled.

Posting by:

Captain Akeno Misaki
Commanding Officer
USS Wayfarer

Commander Mashiro Munetani
Executive Officer
USS Wayfarer

Lt. Cmdr Mark Johnson
Chief Medical Officer
USS Wayfarer