OK...so I don't completely remember writing this and unfortunately I left it unfinished. However, it's far from horrible and clearly I did some (limited) medical research. *insert shrug emoji here*
This wasn't her first away mission, but it sure was going to be her last.
Dr. McCoy was going to kill her.
In Rosie's defense, it was a civilization built underground. The main export being, quite obviously, rocks. Well, not actually rocks. The closest she could parse out of Commander Spock's technical jargon was that it was a mineral molecularly related to Earth's lead. Or maybe it was iron. She was having a hard time remembering just now. Whatever it was, she remembered Scotty saying that it wouldn't interfere with the comms. Lead, then? But x-rays…
It was supposed to be a brief mission. Just a few hours down on Caverna to discuss…something. She had felt like she had understood it at the time, but now it all seemed to have leaked out of her ears.
Like a few away missions previously, Dr. McCoy had allowed Rosie to accompany the team down to the planet as the medical representative. Not that he hadn't required some convincing the first time around. It's perfectly safe, Captain Kirk had assured the Southern doctor lazily that day on the bridge. Rosie remembered how she had wanted to jump out of her skin with both excitement and nerves but managed to maintain what she hoped was a neutral expression, standing just outside of the circle of conversation between the Captain and CMO. The ship would be within contact range at all times, and there was no reason to suspect that anything dangerous was going to happen.
Dr. McCoy looked dubious – he usually did, when it came to the Captain – but then Spock, diplomatically, suggested that it would be a good field exercise for Cadet McDonald, especially given that there was still no telling how long it would be before she officially joined her classmates at the Academy.
And so, Rosie was granted permission to go down to the planet with the landing party. And, quite surprisingly for an Enterprise mission, nothing had happened. A perfectly normal away mission. "For once," Rosie remembered hearing the good doctor mumble under his breath when she returned to the med bay afterwards. The next time, she successfully splinted a sprained ankle, and the time after that had brought nothing more than a superficial scrape from a passing tree branch.
Today, it had been just her, Commander Spock, Lt. Sulu, and two red shirts. Again, remembering was difficult; what were their names? She knew she had met them once before today. Maybe it had just been today? She really was rubbish at faces under even the best of circumstances...
The conference with the planet's leaders completed, the party was making its way back through the system of tunnels, the witty banter bouncing around the corridors making it sound like the group was comprised of numerous small, garrulous children. Even the Commander had joined in the fun in own his subtle way, quietly acknowledging a job well-done.
There had been no warning.
OK, there had been a little warning, if you could count a three second heads-up. Which, quite frankly, Rosie did not.
A rumble of thunder, which had been odd. Although they weren't that far below the surface, she was quite certain there were enough tons of earth above them to muffle anything short of a nuclear explosion.
Which might have been preferable.
Everything hurt. Actually, scratch that. She was made of pain instead of a body. She couldn't tell where one ache ended and the next searing stab began. She tried to keep her consciousness just below the surface, tried to distance herself from the pain. Separate. Detach. Emotion was illogical; Spock kept trying to teach her that. Unbidden, a small cry came from somewhere deep within her. Kirk wouldn't be pleased; he was trying to teach her how to resist interrogation. Joints were beginning to reappear. Extremities. A shoulder seemed an inch too low. A foot felt crushed under the weight of the entire world. An arm couldn't move but still found a way to feel like it had been trampled. By elephants. Elephants on fire. How would that work? Would that have special fire shoes?
That bubble of hysteria rose up to her chest and her lungs seized. Like an electric shock every time she tried to inhale. The fine dust hanging thickly in the air wasn't helping. Try to cough… shift her weight…
It's Sulu that finds her, lower body trapped, one shoulder clearly dislocated, the other arm deformed at the wrist, and trying to push herself up to a position where she is able to breathe.
The others might be hurt…her job…treatment for crush injuries…was her med kit destroyed…
She doesn't seem to notice the man at her side, but he is able to keep her from collapsing back onto the stone floor when her dislocated arm gives out beneath her. She can feel her heartbeat pounding in her head, and the light from the bare lightbulbs – miraculously still swinging– from the remaining ceiling makes her eyes water as it creeps between her lashes.
Rosie couldn't hear the hubbub around her. The others, much bigger, stronger, and more seasoned, had been able to throw themselves clear of the cave-in just in the nick of time. Besides some minor cuts and sprains, they were uninjured and able to pull themselves from the peripheral debris.
Once the dust cleared, Spock quickly assessed the situation. Despite his superior powers of analysis, he saw the injured Cadet McDonald a fraction of a second after Sulu. He was beside the pair a second later, already hailing the ship to coordinate immediate beam-out. Unfortunately, the collapse has caused the cave to become a less than ideal location for such a procedure; it was possible that attempting to remove McDonald from beneath the tons of stone above her could exacerbate the current situation.
Spock had been secretly pleased when the Captain and CMO gave Cadet McDonald permission to accompany the away mission. While far from a genius, she was intelligent, responsible, and loyal – almost to a fault. He had begun to enjoy tutoring her and had to admit to himself that he saw missions such as these as lessons in fieldwork. Not to mention she was significantly less…stubborn than Dr. McCoy.
And now, he realized, he felt guilty.
She does notice someone there now. Maybe two someones. At any rate, there are multiple sets of hands. Her foot is released from the vice it's been held in, and she almost wishes it was replaced. Numbness had been setting in – at last – and it had been a small mercy.
McDonald's eyes finally opened fully when the red shirts, Planck and Rogers, removed the slab of rock she was stuck under. It had pinned the girl's left leg to the ground all the way from hip to ankle, and even the two strong lieutenants had required Spock's help to lift it. McDonald didn't make a sound, although it looked as if she wanted to. Sulu doubted that even Spock would have blamed her for that; he was pretty sure she hadn't just suddenly developed a new joint in the middle of her calf.
Especially one that bent backwards.
Kyla Planck marveled at Commander Spock's insane ability to gently yet confidently gather the injured young woman in his arms and set her down again several meters away – as if three out of her four limbs weren't clearly damaged. As if she hadn't cried out in agony when he lifted her from the ground.
Rosie could feel the tears slipping down her face as Commander Spock placed her back on the cold, hard ground as carefully as he could. She wanted desperately to break down in sobs, but breathing made her lungs prickle in pain, and she couldn't seem to get enough air. This was not a good time. She'd cry when they got back to the ship; she was due for a good, cleansing meltdown anyways.
"McDonald, can you hear me?" Spock tried to catch the girl's gaze. Her eyes were unfocused, and he was inundated with feelings of confusion, fear, and pain. "Be at peace; everyone else is safe." However, she refused to be comforted and tried to wriggle away from the hand he had placed lightly on her stomach.
What was going on? It seemed as if any comprehension Rosie had had of the situation had left her. She saw Commander Spock in front of her, heard Sulu talking to the ship, but it was becoming like a movie she was watching from inside herself. Like a dream.
She had to move; the pain was becoming unbearable. She was just working up the coordination to attempt to push herself off the ground for a third time when the familiar tingling sensation of the transporter beam cocooned itself around her. Rematerializing on the floor of the ship stole what little breath she had left away, but coughing was still impossible with the pain in her side.
She's so dizzy that she might just fall into space.
But then something is pressed to her face and, with a sudden sting in her neck, she was gone.