"Captain, the patient is awakening. I've informed Counselor Troi."
"On my way."
Sarah was staring straight up at an odd looking ceiling. When she tried to sit up to look around, she felt a hand on her shoulder. The girl whimpered, and recoiled.
The weight from the hand retracted, but she could still feel the touch. "Whoa. Shhh." A gentle voice soothed. "It's alright." The child followed the voice to see a tall woman with red hair wearing a blue lab coat. The kind woman smiled softly. "My name is Dr. Beverly Crusher. Can you tell me yours?"
There was a long pause. Then quietly, nearly in tears, she replied, "Sarah. Sarah Pavlov." The Doctor's smile grew slightly. She placed her hand over the girl's.
"Sarah, do you know what year it is?"
"2006?" she asked in a whisper. Dr. Crusher tried to maintain her smile, but lightly bit her lip, while she shook her head. That was all it took for her tears to overflow. Beverly took the girl in her arms, while trying to keep her in the same position as not to hurt her. Soon, Sarah learned to accept the fact, and her crying died down.
"I'll be right back, Sarah, ok? Try to relax." The doctor told her, and left to get more instruments.
Then the door to Sickbay opened. In came Captain Picard and Counselor Troi. The child followed them with her eyes, and realized they were coming towards her.
"Hello." the Captain said abruptly. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard." He extended a hand for her to shake. Sarah stared at him, intimidated. Counselor Troi had a different approach, and when Sarah turned to her, as an alternative to the Captain, she began.
"I'm Deanna Troi, the ship's counselor." She said softly. "Everyone here wants to help you in any way we can."
Just then, Dr. Crusher returned. "Oh, I see you've met Sarah." she greeted.
"Sarah. What a lovely name." Deanna commented. The Captain was obviously uncomfortable, so he continued his work.
"I've assigned her one of the guest's quarters. Counselor, I want you to take her there. Doctor, continue what you need to do." He left.
"You're almost done. Let me just give you a quick injection of hypospray." Dr. Crusher informed both her patient and Counselor Troi.
At the word 'injection', Sarah's eyes widened and her heart began to race. She watched the doctor franticly.
"It's alright, Sarah." Counselor Troi said gently, taking her hand. "The hypospray won't hurt." The childs eyes once again filled with tears as she gripped the counselor's hand. Deanna knew that this girl had gone through a lot, though she didn't know what exactly it was. She rubbed Sarah's hand with her thumb. Beverly returned with the hypospray.
"I'm just going to put this up to your neck. You may feel a little tingle, but it won't hurt at all. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but try not to shrug." Dr. Crusher explained to her. Sarah gave the counselor eyes that said "please, don't let go". The hands tightened together as the hiss of the hypospray went off. "Ok, Counselor Troi is going to show you where you'll be staying for now." Sarah nodded, and turned to the counselor.
Deanna smiled at her. "Come on, I'll show you around."