You know you get those days when everything just goes totally haywire and you go to bed at the end just thinking well, that escalated quickly.
Yeah, well, let me tell you, you have never had a day as completely insane as the one I have just had. Trust me.
The thing is, it didn't even start off normal; it was odd from the moment I opened my eyes and found myself looking at an unfamiliar ceiling.
The strobe lights and harsh white colour scheme burned into my aching, abused brain and I shut my eyes just as quickly as I had opened them, instead listening intently to the loud conversation going on to my right. As I listened, I slowly gathered that they were talking about me.
"Damnit, Scotty, why d'you bring the kid on board?" said the first person, a man with a Southern accent that reminded me of home. He wasn't from Utah, though...more like Kentucky, or somewhere near.
"I couldn't just leave the little lass! I hit her on the head! I mean, it was an accident, but-" That Scottish accent was familiar too. Wasn't that - that guy last night! With the car!
"Why didn't you just call an ambulance?"
"Well, I...I just felt guilty, I mean, it was my fault..."
"You mean, you didn't want to explain to the police why you dropped a wrench on the head of a fifteen year old girl."
Oi, I thought, I'm seventeen, actually.
"It was an accident!"
There was the sound of sliding doors somewhere in front of me, and another, considerably calmer male voice joined the conversation.
"You requested my presence, Doctor?"
"Yeah, wanted your advice on this, Spock."
"This, Doctor?"
"Scotty's gone and brought some little girl onto the ship. Take a look for yourself."
Footsteps approached the bed I was laid out flat on.
"Ah," came the new voice from above me. "I see. I assume, Mr Scott, that you brought the young lady on board because of her injury? You wanted Doctor McCoy to treat her?"
"Ah, uh, yeah. That was the idea, sir. By the way, I didn't deliberately -"
"Doctor McCoy, I suggest that the logical course of action would be to treat the girl and send her back down before we leave Earth's orbit. You are aware that the young lady in question is already awake?"
Goddamn.
More footsteps headed in my direction. I kept my eyes firmly shut.
"Hey, kid, can you open your eyes?"
I opened them slowly and immediately wished I hadn't. A bright light burned down through my pupils, sending my head into spasms of agony. Groaning, I lifted up my arms - which felt like dead weights - and rubbed my temples.
"Did you have to do that just then?" I complained weakly, licking my cracked lips and pushing myself up.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa there kid," said the doctor, pushing me down gently back onto the bed. "You probably have concussion. You can't get up yet."
I lay back down and opened my eyes fully, taking in the scene. I was in some kind of medical bay, everything clean white and sterile with beds lining the long, oblong room. There were doors at either end and screen mounted on the walls, monitors and lights flashing and bleeping everywhere. The setting was pretty familiar to me, as a trainee nurse, but this equipment was far more advanced than anything in Utah State General Hospital. There were three guys standing around my bed - the guy nearest was dark haired, with dark blue eyes in his tanned face and frown lines. He wore a uniform that I recognised as standard Star Fleet issue - blue, indicating that this guy was something to do with Science or Medical. I guessed that he was Doctor McCoy. The guy on my right also wore blue, but I got the feeling he wasn't human - the pointed ears, slanted eyebrows and the weird haircut suggested Vulcan to me.
The last guy stood at the foot of my bed, eyebrows drawn together with worry. I knew him already - wearing Engineer red, with that reddish brown hair and worried expression - he had to be the guy from the machine shop last night.
"Hey!" I said, focusing on him. "You dropped a wrench on my head!"
"It was an accident! How was I to know you'd walk along at that precise moment!"
"You shouldn't even have been throwing something that heavy from a third storey window onto the street anyway. It's against the law."
"I was passing it down - "
"Dude, you were throwing it."
"OK, yes, I was throwing it. But I never meant to hit you, I swear. Sorry."
"...Apology accepted. Can I at least know the name of the guy who accidently dropped a wrench on my head?"
"Montgomery Scott. Everyone calls me Scotty."
"Lilly Moscovitz. Everyone calls me...uh, Lilly."
"Well, that's all very well and nice, but could y'all please stop crowding my patient? Ms Moscovitz needs rest and sleep if she wants to get over her concussion safely," said the doctor in an exasperated voice.
"I'll visit you later, if you want," said Scotty, "And bring some friends too. It's been a while since we've had anyone new join the crew."
"Ms Moscovitz is not joining the crew, Mr Scott, she is simply being looked after until it is safe for her to leave. She should be gone by tomorrow," reminded the Vulcan guy. He nodded to me. "My name is Spock, Miss. I hope you feel better soon."
"Just go, both of you," groaned Doctor McCoy. "Seriously, she needs to sleep!"
"Yeah," I said sleepily, yawning, "I do feel kinda...tired..." And with that, I put my head down and started snoring.