A/N: FINALLY an update! I suppose this chapter has quite a bit of what's been preoccupying my life recently. Haha. We've got a short break coming up, and I hope to be able to at least do some writing...though I am VERY rusty, I suppose...

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CHAPTER 16

At the Infirmary

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For a sick-bay, it was eerily silent for Jai.

He was slumped in a bedside seat. A bandage was wrapped around his right arm – all the damage he sustained was some severe bruising, due to the impact of the missile on their fusion ship. He considered it nothing compared to the injuries of the person he was currently looking after.

Meia was in critical condition; she was still unconscious, and her vital signs were still unstable. At least the bleeding had stopped.

Every time he looked at her stationary form, hooked-up to a complicated life support machine, he felt like banging his head on a hard surface. Anger and depression flooded him until his mind was full of it, with no room for anything else.

'If I had just been more cautious...it shouldn't have come to this! Just a scrape on the arm, and I let something like this happen...!'

He sighed and leaned back, staring at the ceiling instead, thinking back to what had happened.

Time seemed to slow down in the fusion ship. What seemed to happen in several minutes only took less than one – the speed of thought. And thoughts did drift from Meia to Jai, and from him to her, even without touching the sphere; just their mere presence in the area bared their entire minds to one another, whether they wanted to or not.

It happened then that Jai could sense – see, hear, feel – Meia's thoughts even while she was unconscious, or asleep. She was dreaming.

Dreaming. About her past.

Everything she did remember and dream, he saw in his mind's eye as if he was actually there – as if he was Meia herself sometimes, all her emotions and perceptions. Some events happened continuously, others in short fragments or sequences, but he felt and understood all.

Jai was then briefly reminded of people seeing their lives flashing before their eyes before they die...and he wanted so much to knock on wood.

And that was part of his anguish: she had gone through enough suffering in her time; the situation now was something he could have averted, had he been less inept. Though he had an inkling that she had gone through hard times before, he had little idea that it was that serious – her family, her childhood, her years of drifting through the streets and bad company.

'If only I could have done something more this time. If only I could have helped her. If only...'

He was roused when Meia fidgeted on her bed. Her vital signs showed no drastic changes; at least she was stabilizing a little. Even with little expression and movement, she looked in pain.

Jai knew exactly what was going on. Memories in her dark past were re-playing, over and over, in her head. What he saw of it on the fusion ship probably wasn't everything, but it was enough sorrow for him. He had heard many tragic life stories from the people back in his own time's hospital, but this time was different. This was a person he had come to know and appreciate, who he was close to and considered a dear friend, or maybe family, or maybe even something...more.

Here she was, suffering, and he couldn't do anything about it.

'Some hopeless doctor I am...'

And then a hand tapped him lightly on the back.

"You're all right." It was more of a statement than a question.

Jai looked up. "Hey, Gascogne..." His speech was slow, dull, and lacked its usual refinement. The older pirate frowned.

"For how long do you plan on moping about something that wasn't really your fault to begin with?" she asked, serious.

Jai remained miserable. After a long while, he spoke, "Like you said, I'm all right. Meia isn't. How can it not be my fault?"

Gascogne shrugged. "This is a war, after all. You think you were the only one fighting? You think she was the only one who was injured?"

Jai snapped. He stood and faced the female pirate with his bloodshot eyes. "You weren't there!" He yelled.

"Hey, keep it down, this is an infirmary after all," Gascogne said levelly, "Everyone was there, if you don't remember."

Jai was still fuming, but spoke in a softer tone. "You weren't in the ship. You didn't see what happened, so you don't understand..."

"I don't understand? What don't I understand, rookie? Losing a friend, a comrade, someone dear to me? Ha! You're one to talk, having been through only one battle."

Slowly, the anger in Jai's eyes subsided. The silence seemed to have more of an effect on him than words, Gascogne thought.

"I...suppose..." Jai whispered, slumping back down on the chair. "I...I'm sorry..."

She punched him lightly on the arm. "Hey; it happens. This is a war, after all. I'm sure we'll get the captain out somehow. She's a real fighter. Now you get some sleep; you'll feel a lot better afterwards." With that, she left.

Jai took one more look at the patient lying on the bed beside. Closing his eyes, he slipped into welcome unconsciousness.

It was like waking up to a 'code blue' at the emergency room.

First, an alarm and flashing red light right beside him; then, Duero running from his desk, mouthing what sounded like obscenities. Only after a few seconds did Jai fully wake...

...to find that Meia was in ventricular fibrillation.

"Status?" Duero shouted.

"Are you blind? V-fib! Her heart isn't pumping right!" Jai yelled back. "Where's the defibrillator?"

He checked; Meia had no pulse.

Both of them were at bedside. Jai started doing chest compressions, while Duero switched the mechanical ventilator to administer positive-pressure oxygen, and prepared the shock machine.

'Come on; come on!' Jai frantically prayed. Basic life support had to be the same even two thousand years in the future, right?

"Ready..." the Tarak doctor called out.

"Good. Now...what is...?" Jai expected to see the familiar defibrillator paddles, and was slightly surprised to see Duero holding two small probe-like applicators.

"Hurry up and place these on both sides of the heart so we can defibrillate!" Duero urged.

'I guess it isn't all the same...' Jai thought, taking the applicators from the other, and carefully placing them on Meia's chest. There was no time to entertain any stray thoughts now.

"Clear!" And 200 Joules of electricity were delivered to her form. For once, it was almost painful for Jai to watch.

They both looked back at the ECG. No change.

"Crap...one more..." Jai murmured, replacing the applicators. 'Please!'

"Clear!" Another shock.

Jai was afraid to look up again at the monitor. So all he had to calm his nerves was a steady beeping from the machine.

Duero only confirmed what he already knew. "Cardioversion..."

But it wasn't over yet. Jai quickly returned the probes, and checked Meia's breathing and pulse.

Both were now normal, even better than since she was first placed in the infirmary.

He then arranged Meia's clothing and even her hair, and finally heaved a sigh of relief, surprised that he had been holding his breath for a long time.

And it was only then that both doctors realized that a crowd of female pirates were standing behind them in the infirmary. Some were crying, or wringing their hands, but most just stood in tense anticipation.

Jai looked at them all, and smiled. "She's going to be all right."

Cheers erupted from the crowd, and the crying turned from despair to that of joy.

"Shhhhh!" Duero reprimanded them, though he was smiling as well. "We're in the infirmary."

He then turned to Jai. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to crack. You know what usually happens when doctors treat those closest to them," He shook his hand. "Nice work."

"Yeah, I guess," was the other's reply, "Thanks."

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A/N: I'll have to find a way to fix the formatting especially in the previous chapters...wall of text does NOT look pretty. It's been a while, and I suppose updates to this site kinda messed-up the previously-fine formatting.

Thanks to those who took the time to message me about my stories...I WILL finish them sooner or later...