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CH03: S [D03|1830] The Fog of Breath

Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 03 | 1830 hrs. ] The Fog of Breath

[ PO1 B'Nila Skai | Corridor near Guest Quarters | Vector 03 | Deck 19 ] attn: Anyone on Vecotr 03 up for a rescue?
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A breath.

A pull.

Another breath.

Another pull.

The process proved to be slow. She was broken. She could barely see past her own broken nose, the lack of oxygen in the room had caused a blood vessel to burst in her left eye, and the strain of the task at hand had caused her gray blood to flood over the vision in that eye. All she could taste was blood through her open mouth as she breathed, now much easier, pulling her task down the hallway, away from the damage, away from the gaping wound in the ship.

She would breath, and pull. Leaving a trail of gray and red blood behind herself.

Since they had left the room, B’Nila and her task, the breathing had become easier, but the doors exposed to vacuum were not as air tight as they could have been and steadily the atmosphere was thinning. Normally the emergency forcefield system would prevent this from happening. But that system was down, or at the very least non-functioning in the that section.

And every pull, every time she moved, B’Nila took a breath of precious air and exhaled. The temperature was already dropping, or perhaps it was just her own feeling of the air around her as there got to be less and less of it.

Another pull.

Another breath.

She moved down the corridor, having escaped the room. She had been lucky in the room because after the wall had gone a piece of hull ad fused to cover much of the hole. But it had left her in a near vacuum. She had survived only thanks to being unconscious when the vacuum was forming and just before the metal of the hull had been mostly closed the numerous holes.

The air coming in in the crack in the door left her just enough to pull herself from the bed. To pull herself to Michal. To pull Michal and herself to the door. To fight against the rush of air as she pulled herself and her task out into the corridor. And now she pulled herself and her task down the corridor toward the turbolift. She could not get herself to her feet, so she dragged herself and her task along.

But she was running out of strength. She was running out of blood, as the wound in her nose had not even begun to close and continued to pours down her face, leaving the trail on the floor. Leaving the gray smear of her blood next to the red smear of Michal’s blood.

She pulled. But her task did not move. She pulled, but she had nothing left to give. She pulled and her body screamed. She pulled and she fell limp.

She stared up at the ceiling, past her broken nose. She had survived. But she did not have it in herself to make it the remaining 20 meters to the turbolift doors. She had nothing left.

She would die here. She would die with Michal and that would be okay. She was fine with that...

Re: Chapter 04: Supplemental [ Day 03 | 1830 hrs. ] The Fog of Breath

Reply #1 –
[ Ensign Six | Corridor Near Guest Quarters | Deck 19 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Absinthe
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Ensign Six could hear it. It wasn’t the call of the Collective again. No, it was labored breathes, made in a certain interval. Was somebody hurt down here?

She had finished her shift on the battle bridge of the “Stallion” after what seemed an exhilarating day. Being new to the Theurgy, she was puzzled to find she was on Deck 19. Her forensics lab, along with her regeneration alcove, was two decks above. She had just finished a mental memo to ask Chief Engineer O’Connell about the turbolifts when she heard the labored breathing.

She followed it, her hearing enhanced to track the noise. She hadn’t gone far when she came across a couple of bodies. No, one was dead, the other on the verge. Both were female, one of which was of the likes Six had never seen before. She was pale, her eyes glowed. She would’ve proved a beauty if it weren’t for the wounds and the broken nose.

It had been evident, from the way she was holding on to the corpse, and the trail of blood behind them, they had dragged their way out from…where? What mattered was that they were wounded. They need medical attention.

“Ensign Six to Sickbay. We have a couple of casualties here. Deck 19. Hurry!”

She approached the bodies. Saw the grey female stir.

“It’s okay,” Six reassured. “Try not to move. Medical personnel will be coming.”

She noticed how there was a continual flow of blood, so she removed her top layer of uniform and ripped it to shreds to make temporary bandages. She shrugged as she shredded; she can replicate a new uniform later. Finding the sources of the blood flows, she wrapped the shreds around the wounds, taking extreme care, especially on the broken nose of the grey girl, in an attempt to stop the flow.

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 03 | 1830 hrs. ] The Fog of Breath

Reply #2 –
[ PO1 B'Nila Skai | Corridor near Guest Quarters | Vector 03 | Deck 19 ] attn: @Multificionado
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From the haze the thick fog in her mind, B'Nila could hear the voice, though the words were lost. She held onto Michal, holding her companion close. She felt cold, but B'Nila could not let go. In her broken state, all B'Nila could think of was keeping Michal warm and getting her to safety, to anyone who could help. She didn't care if she made it if she survived this mess. She had to make sure Michal did. If they died, they died together, but if only one of them was going to make it B'Nila had long ago decided that she would give up everything, all that she was, to keep Michal. Dying was not that big a deal.

She then heard the voice get closer, though the words the person spoke were still lost in the thick fog. She could barely move, could barely turn herself to look, even if she could see the figure. She felt someone touching her, but she could barely see them, it was too much effort to focus her eyes. It was too much effort to move, it was almost too much effort to breath.

"Michal... Save.... Michal..." she breathed weakly. Her voice was distant and pained, barely above a hoarse whisper.

She could feel bandages being wrapped around her and she wanted to struggle, wanted to tell this person to put the bandages on Michal. Why didn't they tend to Michal first? Michal was hurt! Michal was cold... B'Nila knew she had to keep Michal warm. But she was too weak to put up any sort of resistance. Too weak to fight back and make the stranger tend to Michal first.

She felt cold. Michal was cold and B'Nila could feel the cold creeping into her as well.

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 03 | 1830 hrs. ] The Fog of Breath

Reply #3 –
[ Ensign Six | Corridor Near Guest Quarters | Deck 19 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Absinthe @Auctor Lucan
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"Michal... Save.... Michal..." she breathed weakly.

Six was startled by the grey woman’s weak words. Michal…that had to be the dead woman. She looked at her pityingly.

“I’m sorry,” she said with regret. “There’s nothing I can do for Michal. She’s dead.”

It wasn’t just her ocular implant that told her so, it was the fact that she was limp and pale. So pale, she could feel the coldness coming from her body.

[ Ensign Six | Battle Sickbay | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ]

The Battle Sickbay wasn’t much, but it was the best offered, given the circumstances with the “Stallion” separated from the rest of the Theurgy. The majority of the medical staff was also dispersed across the rest of the Theurgy, leaving only a handful to tend to any casualties in the “Stallion.”

Six brought the grey woman and the dead Michal with whatever medical personnel available on the “Stallion.” They began treating the grey woman at once, whereas the dead Michal was laid aside for post mortem examination and to eventually be wrapped in a body bag.

Six felt a pang of remorse and pity for the grey woman. She must’ve been close to Michal to stubbornly drag the corpse along with her. That was the true value in a relationship. It made her think she needed more friends on the Theurgy.

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 03 | 1830 hrs. ] The Fog of Breath

Reply #4 –
[ PO1 B'Nila Skai | Battle Sickbay | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Multificionado
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As the medical team worked on her B'Nila continued to murmur and lightly struggle. She wanted them to take care of Michal, they had to take care of Michal. Michal had been so cold. They needed to warm her back up.

The medical team worked despite that, removing her uniform and beginning to work on the cuts and gashes caused by the flying debris from the explosion, as well as the damage to her capillary system caused by the slow decompression of the area she had been in. It was not overly difficult work, though they were forced to sedate her to do it properly.

After half an hour the doctors had done their job and B'Nila lay motionless on the medibed, the monitor beeping softly in time with her heart, it was normally a little bit slower than a humans and now it was slower than even that. But she was intact, at least physically.

When they had finished one of the doctors walked over to Six and breathed a heavy sigh. Dr. Franklin was enlisted and always had the look of a man who was both hungover and far too tired, yet refused to let either keep him from doing his job. "Well, it looks like you got her here with time to spare, though she had lost quite a bit of blood," he reported taking a seat. "It looks like the other was killed instantly by the flying debris. No pain, if that makes any difference to you." Franklin was playing off of the assumption that Six both knew and in some way cared for the two she had brought in.

"I think after this one," he gestured to the now resting B'Nila, "rests for a bit, she'll be fine. Her nose was broken, but we managed to fix it, and it didn't look like she took too much damage from the debris. Just a couple of gashes, a few scrapes, and some bruises. If she'd been human the lack of oxygen might have killed her, so she lucked out there."

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 03 | 1830 hrs. ] The Fog of Breath

Reply #5 –
[ Ensign Six | Corridor Near Guest Quarters | Deck 19 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Absinthe @Auctor Lucan
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The lack of oxygen would’ve killed her if she had been human. That was enough for Six to raise an eyebrow in interest.

“Fascinating,” she said, taking in Dr. Franklin’s report. She made a mental note to try to get to know this woman a bit more. It seems she comes from a resilient yet fascinating species.

Looking at the dead woman, Michal, Six felt a pang of pity for the grey woman. She had known about death, but never gave any thought to the impact the death of a loved one had. She thought a moment, looking into the distance.

The two women were evidently very close. Why else would the grey woman so stubbornly drag her companion on, mortally wounded, especially when that companion was long dead? Anybody in such a close relationship wouldn’t accept the death of a loved one or close friend too long. With denial came grief and the sense of loss.

It also reminded Six, once again, of how few friends she had made since Starfleet Academy. She only had one close friend, but that friend was gone, and anyway, since joining the Theurgy, she had nobody to form a friendship with.

Perhaps this grey woman would be a first step in forming friendships on the Theurgy. She would need to learn to form close bonds. She also made a mental note to seek advice from the current ranking officers, and until the “Stallion” joined with the rest of the vectors, they were Commander Stark and Lieutenant Ejek. After all, Seven of Nine confided in and sought advice Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay, and that’s what Six planned to do, especially with Ejek as a counselor.

She thought about this as she returned to her lab to commence her regeneration cycle, making a mental note, too, to check on the grey woman once the cycle’s complete.

OOC: I have to say, it's certainly a good way to get into depth of Ensign Six's contemplatives and thoughts and learning as a former drone. This thought she has about the sense of loss Six feels quite worthy of Spock, Data and Seven of Nine.

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 03 | 1830 hrs. ] The Fog of Breath

Reply #6 –
[ PO1 B'Nila Skai | Battle Sickbay | Deck 15 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Multificionado
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*A few hours later*

For a long time, nothing moved in B'Nila's world, all was still. Even though she found herself drifting in and out of consciousness, she did not think about much. She lay under the warmth of the medical department's less than comfortable blanket and she breathed, which was easier now that she was no longer in a compartment with air leaking from it.

When she, at last, opened her eyes she was forced to squint. The sickbay was brighter than she would have liked, though if it had been as bright as she would have liked she doubted the doctors would have been able to see to do their jobs. So perhaps it was better that she was in a bright area.

She was aware of how sore her body felt, every breath in and then out reminded her of that. He lungs had a distinct sharp pain in them, but it was not too bad, not as bad as the much larger hole where her heart was supposed to be.

In one of her fleeting moments of consciousness, the doctor had explained her condition and told her about Michal. That there was nothing they could do. That Michal had died instantly and felt no pain. The doctor had worded it in such a way to make it seem like death had been merciful and swift, that if there was some afterlife, Michal would be waiting for her there.

At least that is what B'Nila guessed he had said. She had stopped listening to him after he had finished explaining. She had no interest in the dull platitudes that did her no good. She knew them because she had said them before. She had dealt with people as they coped with loss. She knew it.

And she knew that she was in no state emotionally. She felt cold and numb, a door inside had been closed to the world.

So she lay in silence. She didn't want to engage with the world. She wanted it all to stop.
 
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