Ratchet's P.O.V.
It's been quiet in the medbay, which is a good thing even if I'm not sitting by our only patient; the young girl we saved who's now my charge.
"At least you can skip most of the explanation you'd have to do if we didn't know about you guys already," Yazmine assures me before leaving the room.
Two weeks, and after the Energon treatment, what are we missing? Why aren't you waking up?
I've been here — using my holoform— since I woke up three hours ago.
A few minutes pass before I see her eyes open and her head turn to look at me.
"Ratchet?" Jasmine asks.
"I didn't think you'd remember me after all these years; you're safe."
I give her water before doing my assessment.
The Energon did help her recovery. Jasmine might need a little physical therapy, but not as much as she would without the Energon.
"How am I even alive?" Jasmine asks, which hurts my spark.
"I'm a very good doctor," I reply, "we had to give you Energon."
Jasmine's P.O.V.
I'm not sure what to think about having Energon in my blood. Should I consider myself lucky since it's deadly to humans? Devastated I would have died if Ratchet didn't try treating me with Energon?
"I know hearing you have Energon in your blood is a lot to take in. You need to rest; I'll explain later, I promise."
Ratchet leaves the room as I try to fall asleep. It's hard to believe I'm tired even though I've been in a coma for who knows how long.
It's mid-afternoon when I wake up; Ratchet's holoform sits by the bed, along with Optimus Prime and Lennox.
Yazmine must have told him about our plan to join N.E.S.T. Should I be worried I'm going to be told I'm too injured? Major side effects from the Energon?
"Relax, the Energon saved your life. Your body accepted the Energon," Ratchet explains, "you are now a hybrid. Your hearing and vision are amplified. You will heal much quicker and not age."
So, I will outlive my sister, damn.
"I am your guardian; I will protect you from the cons," Ratchet finishes.
"Ironhide is Yazmine's gaurdian," Prime adds.
"About you and your sister joining N.E.S.T.," Lennox starts, "you still have to recover, but consider you and Yazmine part of N.E.S.T."
"Thank you, sir," I reply, "er...sirs."
They all laugh before Lennox and Prime leave the room while Ratchet looks over me again.
"Everything continues to be good; do you want to try standing up?"
I'm afraid to discover my legs are too weak.
"You might need a little physical therapy; a month tops," Ratchet assures me before telling me that I'm wearing a fucking adult diaper, "it's better than the urinary catheter," Ratchet smiles, "I took that out while you slept."
He's seen me nude if I ended up needing surgery, but I feel embarrassed.
I have a couple of IVs on my right arm and the feeding tube in my nose. Ratchet explains while my digestive system tolerates what he's been giving me, that might not be the case when I eat food. I doubt he'll let me take more than a few steps before having me get back in bed.
My legs feel weak as my feet meet the floor. I hold on to Ratchet's shirt as I try to walk. Instead, I fall right onto his chest.
"I'm sorry."
I wasn't expecting Ratchet to hug me, "it's ok, we'll get through this together."
He helps me back in bed before going to get dinner.
I didn't think he'd get dinner for both of us.
Oh, Ratchet, you shouldn't eat here. I hope I don't throw up.
Ratchet's P.O.V.
Jasmine kept the food down. No surprise, she asked me to remove the tube, even after telling her it's uncomfortable to put in if I have to put it in again. I want to wait twenty-four hours, but she's stubborn. I do as she wants and remove the feeding tube. She should be fine with over-the-counter pain relief, so I remove the IVs.
"Another step achieved."
Jasmine proceeds to complain about the adult diaper she's wearing.
"If I put the catheter back in, then you won't be able to get out of bed. You'd be putting your recovery on hold."
The next six hours are interesting. Glad I don't have to change the adult diaper like I would a baby's diaper. She can take care of that herself.
"No, stay!" Jasmine begs as I leave the room, tears rolling down her face.
Rung told me about this. She was fine earlier cause she knew I would still be around. Now I'm going to my room upstairs and leaving her alone all night. It's like she has war trauma before she even joined N.E.S.T. Sleep aid is an option, but I'm just ignoring the problem. Jasmine is in a room with two beds.
"You are safe, I promise."
She hugs me and cries.
At this point, part of the reason she's crying is fear she'll be told she's mentally unfit to be a part of the military. It's too early to promise her that won't happen. I let Jasmine cry for a few minutes before laying her in bed. I sit by the bed and hold her hand until she falls asleep before sleeping in the other bed.
Jasmine's dream
I'm driving home from work when a car tries to hit me head-on. I end up swerving into a tree, but I'm fine. Well, I'm fine as in not injured, but the car that tried to hit me is a transformer.
"You damn fleshie!" He rages as he bangs on the back of my car.
Do I worry about gas leaking and starting a fire, or what he'll do to me?
He proceeds to smash the front of the car, causing the windshield to shatter, pieces hitting me. I regret I didn't fake being knocked out, but would that make a difference? A smaller con opens the driver's side door and drags me out of the car. I take my chance and scream, knowing I might be asking for death quicker than they planned. I'm thrown into the tree, fall to the ground, and everything goes black.
Ratchet's P.O.V.
Jasmine's screaming wakes me up. At least the IVs are out. As I approach the bed, I see she's laying on her side, still asleep while screaming. Even while she knows I'm here, she's still dreaming about what happened.
"Jasmine, you're ok. It's me, Ratchet," I loosely take her hand, hoping she will not panic, and rub her arm, "shh, you're ok."
Jasmine opens her eyes and stops screaming once she sees me. It's only midnight; I'm giving her sleep aid.
Jolt is not pleased to hear how Jasmine was last night, before having Lennox, Prime, and Rung come to my office for a meeting.
I knew Rung would say it's too soon to know if this is PTSD or how long the nightmares will stay. Jasmine could be like the terror twins when it comes to these nightmares.
"...for now, she will have them nightly," he concludes.
"I know Jasmine and Yazmine will have a room together, but is there a way I could have a room temporarily with Jasmine?" I ask.
"Yes, but you'd have to ask her first," Lennox replies.
I watch Jasmine sleep, hoping she can recover mentally. I'd hate if her dream was ruined by a con.
I worry we're seeing the mistake of assigning me as Jasmine's guardian. I think she'll be afraid to be alone for a while, and as the CMO, I don't think I can stay with her as much as she needs. For now, it's doable, but if the cons attack...
"Perhaps we should see if First Aid can come here for a while," Jolt suggests, "even if you weren't assigned to be her guardian, she trusts you and feels safe with you. That's important to help her recover mentally, you know that."
I agree with Jolt's idea; he contacts First Aid while I wait for Jasmine to wake up.
Yazmine's P.O.V.
I sit with Ratchet, waiting for Jasmine to wake up. She's going to want to know I agree with Ratchet's idea. Ratchet will figure out why I think he should be Jasmine's guardian soon.
Jasmine is happy to see me when she wakes up, though not sure about sharing a room with Ratchet. I don't know why Ratchet left us alone while I try to convince my sister this is a good idea.
"It's better than staying here as you recover, right?" I ask, "and you feel safe with him. This will help you recover. I don't think he's the type to want to look at you nude as you dress."
At least I got my sister to laugh, which causes pain.
"We're safe here; we are part of the Autobot team."
And soon, you'll have a boyfriend. Trust me, Jasmine, I know you've liked Ratchet since we were kids coming here.
My sister might say this is a dirty trick when she realizes what I've done, but she'll thank me one day.