Dr. Matson

…

Aria's happiness had been short lived. The mighty Prime lifted her back onto the flight deck before Ironhide and Bumblebee hoisted him up as well. As soon as the giant hand let her go, she abruptly fell to her knees on the wet fight deck.

While still catching her breath, she glanced up at the three Autobots. Ironhide was talking to the Prime while Bumblebee looked between them and her.

"You could have been washed away saving that human, Prime." Ironhide sounded upset.

The aircraft carrier was still swinging back and forth in the violent ocean waves. Seconds later there were three soldiers around her, appearing out of the blue. He focus, however, remained on the talking duo.

The Prime stood tall. "I will not let harm befall any human on my watch."

"Are you okay?" one of the soldiers hollered over the wind and rain.

She nodded.

Ironhide crossed his arms. "I know that. You should have warned me you were jumping in or let me do it in your stead. It is not worth the risk."

As much as it hurt, Ironhide was right. It was foolish for the Prime to jump into the water for the likes of her. She also doubted the ebony robot would actually jump into the ocean to save her. He didn't even like her, let alone care.

The soldiers grabbed her under her arms and lifted her up while another started wrapping what looked like a tinfoil blanket around her. After securing it around her body, they led her back to the bridge and away from the Autobots.

There was a soldier on either side of her preventing her from falling over or slipping on the water washing back and forth across the swaying flight deck. The rushed movements of the two men caused sharp pains in her back. All the while she strained her ears for more of the alien's conversation. It was useless, though. Nothing could be heard over the rain and the shouts of the men helping her.

They reached a door that entered the first level of the bridge. The third man assisting Aria rushed ahead to open it. As he did, the aircraft carrier shifted sides and the door to slammed open on the man. He quickly recovered and followed Aria and the other two soldiers inside.

The room looked like it was intended to be an engine control room, but it was now crowded with inured men and women and a few doctors running around trying to tend to them all.

Some of the crew workers were covered in blood, while others looked cold and wet like her. Many were wrapped up in similar tinfoil blankets and shivering.

The soldier that had let the three of them in pulled the door closed behind him. The room became quiet. The chatter inside nothing compared to the noise of the storm.

She was then led further into the room and was prompted to sit down beside a blonde man with a gash on his right temple. He held a cloth over it, but the blood seeped through the material and down his face and arm. His lips were pulled back into a thin line.

On her other side was a much older man with a piece of metal jutting unnaturally out of his thigh. There were two medics around him. One was giving the man an oxygen mask and the other was wrapping a piece of clothing tightly around the top of his wound. The man himself was rocking to and fro clenching his blue hands above the place the cloth was being tied as if willing the pain to go away.

"It will be a minute before a doctor can come check you out."

Aria looked up at the soldier talking to her. Water from her hair dripped onto her eyelashes. She wiped her face with the palm of her hand.

"Just keep your hands under your armpits and breathe deeply. You'll be okay," he added giving her a reassuring nod. He then hurried back towards the door with the other two men.

Aria continued to stare at the space where his head had been long after he had left. The shooting pain in her back had gone away, replaced with the numbness that consumed her whole body.

Something was off. It was more than just her body that felt numb. Her emotions dulled as well. Everything became inconsequential as apathy took hold. Normally the sight of blood made her queasy and the room of injured people would be cause for concern. Instead she focused her vision on a distant wall while the voices around her blended together into a drone in the back of her mind.

Deep down, something told her she should be doing something. Something that the soldier said. She closed her eyes and envisioned his deep-set eyes and thin lips as they moved to form soundless words.

Was it something about armpits maybe? No, that was ridiculous. Why would anybody talk about armpits in a situation like this?

…Although, armpits were the warmest part of the body.

It dawned on her. The man had probably told her to put her hands under her armpits. But that would be unpleasant. Her nails were blue and probably incredibly cold to the touch.

She went to move her fingers, only to find that they didn't listen. Not a good sign but it wasn't that big of a deal. She was on the verge of hypothermia—or could already be suffering from it—and all she could do was gaze down at her hands. Maybe she was going to die after all.

Is this what dying was like? A semi lucid mind trapped in a hollow shell? She didn't feel cold or wet anymore. Sure her nails were blue, and every visible inch of her body was covered in goose bumps, but she felt nothing.

There was a wail of pain. It came from the older man to her right. The medics had just pulled the piece of metal from his leg. Usually the sight of so much blood would have made her sick to her stomach, but she just stared, her eyelids heavy.

A loud voice brought her back to reality.

"My name is Dr. Chen."

A man crouched in front of her.

"I'm going to take your temperature, okay?" he asked, though his question sounded more like a statement.

She nodded as the man stepped around her.

"I need you to lean forward so you're resting your arms on the floor," the doctor instructed.

Under normal circumstances Aria would have shot up in a second and asked rather harshly what he was doing. But her mind and body did no such thing. She was going to get a thermometer up her butt, surrounded by men. Aria closed her eyes while the doctor adjusted her blanket for privacy. Hopefully no one including herself would remember this event.

She laid like that for a good two minutes before the doctor told her she did a good job and placed her clothing and blanket back in its intended position. Though he was done, Aria didn't move. It wasn't until the doctor pulled her up by her shoulder that she sat up again.

"Now's not the time to go to sleep," he said, his eyes meeting hers. He then turned to the blonde man beside her. "Come here and keep this young girl warm before she freezes to death. She has moderate hypothermia that could easily get worse if we don't warm her up. And don't let her fall asleep either."

The doctor's voice sounded clear enough, but it was like English was a foreign language of a sudden.

An arm brought itself around her shoulders bringing her close to a body. A hand also reached out and took both of hers in it. Aria looked up through half lidded eyes to see the blonde man giving her a pained smile.

"Doctors orders," he said.

What the hell did he think he was doing? Despite her will to move away from away from the stranger, her body didn't listen. She didn't like strangers, especially when they held her hands. Is that what the doctor told him to do?

The man's previously bleeding head was now covered in a white bandage, blood was still visible seeping through it. What had happened to him? He was a crew member because of his uniform, which was a jumpsuit much like hers was at the museum.

"You okay?" he asked sounding concerned.

Had he said something?

She leaned her head into him. "No," she murmured closing her eyes.

Something was shaking her and talking, but she paid no heed to it. Darkness clouded her vision and took her away from the confusion.

…

Where…where was she?

She was lying in a bed, that much was clear. The rest was hazy at best.

The only noise in the room was the beeping of the heart rate monitor. The room smelt like a hospital for lack of a better term, like disinfectant and antiseptics.

The aircraft carrier now smoothly sailed along. It almost felt like she was on land again, almost.

Her body felt warm and dry. Her hands and feet were resting on some sort of heating packs. The unnatural warmth covering the rest of her body must have been coming from a heating blanket. She gave a content sigh before opening her eyes, the white lights blinding her as she did.

This must have been the "intensive care" unit of the ship. There were unconscious men and women lying in the surrounding beds. Many had heart rate monitors attached to them as well.

That's right, she fell into the ocean. If it wasn't for the Prime, she wouldn't be here.

A single doctor made his way around the room holding a clipboard. He would examine a patient, lifting their eyelid and shining a light on their pupil. Then he would jot a note down on his clipboard and move on to the next bed.

Upon seeing her awake, he flashed a white smile, the bags under his eyes suggesting he hadn't had much down time recently. Aria smiled back at the bald man.

"Well it's good to see someone's finally awake. I'm Dr. John Matson," he said and shone a light into her eyes. "How do you feel?"

Aria blinked at the sudden light and turned her head away. "Pretty stupid," she said.

"Oh?" the doctor looked amused now, "And why's that?"

"Well instead of listening to a giant alien robot to stay put, I ran outside and fell into the Ocean." She made a breathy sound like a laugh and shook her head.

"I happen to hear that this robot you speak of doesn't like to be disobeyed," he said and smirked. "And as far as robots go, I don't think he likes swimming either."

Aria laughed nervously. Now that she thought about it, the Prime did look pretty angry after he had saved her. Perhaps she should have thanked him instead of laughing like an idiot. The sea water must have been to blame.

The doctor looked thoughtful. "Though he did happen to ask about your wellbeing yesterday."

"You didn't tell him anything embarrassing, did you?"

"As in getting your temperature taken?" he raised his eyebrows amused.

"I don't even want to think about it." She resisted the urge to pull the blanket over her face. "Nobody needs to know about that, namely him."

A mental picture of the Prime and Ironhide laughing at her expense played in the back of her mind. They could never know.

"If it makes you feel better, eleven other men had to go through the same thing. Believe it or not, you weren't the only one who decided to go swimming yesterday."

"Well, that makes me feel so much better."

…

It turned out on top of nearly drowning, Aria also had a cracked rib. She was spared from the pain when she woke up due to the drugs in the IV. The doctor had told her not to do any strenuous activity, and to avoid railings unless absolutely necessary.

Very funny, Dr. Chen.

Armed with a bottle of pain pills, she was sent on her way. Before going down to the mess to get some food, she went up to the flight deck. It was a day after the storm and curiosity once again led her astray.

A dozen or so planes remained on the flight deck, crowed together in the center like a clutch of chicks. They had minor dents and scratches, but over all looked in good flying condition. Various crew members surrounded the planes, examining them closely.

Around the ship was calm water, sunlight reflecting off the surface. The salty wind was pleasantly cool. It would be easy to be lulled into a false sense of security when the ocean was calm and the sun was warm.

Aria went to take a deep breath of the fresh humid air but paused when sharp pain shot through her back. The drugs must have been starting to wear off already.

She turned to face the sun like a flower after a rainstorm. The peacefulness of the moment was mesmerizing. Perhaps it was staring death in the eye was why she was grateful for such a small thing like the sun shining overhead. If only Jetfire could see it as well.

When the men on the deck started giving her sideways glances, it was a good indication that she lingered too long. She went back below deck. Maybe she could find some familiar faces on the way to the mess.

The hanger was in complete disarray compared to the flight deck. Most of the crew was piling up scrap metal that had been torn off the planes. The metal made loud crashing noises as they threw the pieces on top of each other.

All of the Autobots were there too, helping in various ways. Some helped collect metal, while others assisted in sorting the damaged planes away from functioning ones.

Groups of soldiers stood along the walls, idly talking with one and other probably feeling not needed. Sam, Mikaela, and Leo where nowhere to be seen.

There was a loud mechanical "Ahem" sound as the black, sturdy looking robot spotted her and nudged the towering Prime beside him. The giant red and blue alien turned around to look at Ironhide, then followed his gaze to Aria.

She gave a nervous laugh at the look he gave her. He did not look happy. The floor trembled as he walked purposefully towards her.

Seeing something so large coming at her, she squealed and started backing away. The Prime caught up with one extra step. He kneeled down and before she could turn to run. His face was in front of hers in an instant. Her legs turned to jelly and she fell back on her butt. She yelped at the sudden pain in her back.

"I told you to stay put," he said, his voice deep.

Aria opened her mouth to apologize, but was cut off.

"Do you know how to listen?" the Prime didn't give her a chance to answer. "No, obviously not." He kept his head close and spoke in a hushed angry tone.

Aria looked down at her bare feet. "I just wanted to-"

"By falling of the ship? Last time I checked, that is not considered helping." The giant robot gave her a hard look with his glowing optic eyes.

Aria blinked, was the Prime lecturing her?

"If Ironhide hadn't seen you fall off the ship, you would not be alive right now."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad," she said. "It's just…" her voice cracked.

The Prime's huge face vented out air in what sounded like defeated sigh. "Calm down, calm down. There is no need to become emotional, just do not do it again." He pointed a mechanical finger to further emphasize his last statement.

The Prime then stood to his full height and turned and walked back to Ironhide who had been watching the exchange.

Aria was left standing there bewildered. Never in her life had she even begun to imagine that she would be lectured by a thirty foot alien leader. Not even an "Are you okay?" or a "Happy to see you survived". Nope, just a good old fashioned talking to. But, that meant he cared at least, right?

She looked at the other robots. Ironhide's expression was hard as he nodded his head as if agreeing with what the Prime had said. Bumblebee, the yellow robot however, looked sympathetically at her before turning back to join the crew members.

The two small red and green Autobots looked like they were about to fight, but were separated by Ratchet. After pulling the two away from each other he made his way to Aria, much less intimidating as the Prime had. She managed to stand her ground this time.

Ratchet crouched down in front of her and held out his arm. Aria jumped when a blue laser scanned her up and down. "Hmm, it seems you have a dorsal fracture on your fourth vertebrosternal rib," the alien physician stated.

Aria nodded her head at the robot. "Yeah, it hurts a little," she said idly. Truthfully it hurt a lot more than a little. The dull throbbing pain returned every time she inhaled.

The robot looked interested. "And how did you receive such an injury?"

Aria sighed, "A wave pushed me into the railing."

"Ah, I see," he hummed thoughtfully.

…

Aria's bed had never felt so uncomfortable. She wanted to curl up into her usual ball and fall asleep but her back hurt just to think about it.

When she made it back to her bunk after eating a plate full of mashed potatoes, she discovered Leo loudly snoring in the bed above hers while Sam and Mikaela's were empty. Probably off doing something mischievous.

At least her journey was finally coming to a close. Tomorrow she would sleep in her own bed, in her own house, on the ground—beautiful solid ground—Not this merciless ocean that sought only to kill her. Thankfully these robots can swim, or else she would be dead.

She could finally see her animals again. Her dog would be at the neighbors and her horses would be running low on water by now. Oh, how she missed them.

What was her life going to be like once all this was over? Surely they weren't going to send her back home and act like nothing ever happened. The government must have some sort of plan to cover up the episode at the Udvar center that Jetfire practically destroyed. She had already filled out paper after paper to be sure she would not tell a soul about anything she saw. The greatest adventure of her life and she couldn't tell anyone about it. Not like anyone she would believe her anyway.

Would she ever see the Transformers again? She overheard their secret base was in Diego Garcia, which happened to be in the middle of the Indian Ocean. They, along with the military, would most likely be heading back there as soon as possible. She had a life changing experience and had met towering aliens from a distant planet, only to never see them again. This is what she studied, this is what she lived for!

Could she become a scientist for them? Yeah right, she wasn't that good. They wanted accomplished astrophysicists, not museum janitors. But, then again, from what she learned this past week and a half, anything was possible.

She turned her head to face the wall, with the curtains drawn it was pitch black in her bunk. She lay on her stomach taking small breaths to avoid unnecessary back pain.

The Prime's regal voice sounded in her ears as she imagined his metal face with the symbol on his right cheek. Aria remembered the doctor's words.

"Though, he did ask about your wellbeing yesterday."

…