Kirk had decided to pay a visit to Engineering to check on how Lexie was doing and to see how she was coping with his Scottish Chief. Kirk knew where the two of them would be working since he had asked Scotty to fix the heater problem personally. He was still a while away from his destination when he heard his communicator bleep. He removed it from his belt, flicking it open as he raised it up to answer. "Kirk here." There wasn't a delay before the person calling cried out, "Captain! Help!" Kirk felt his heart begin to beat faster, "Scotty? What's wrong?" He asked. "Lexie and I are trapped in the broken heater tank; the hatch is jammed and its filling with water!" Kirk didn't need to be told any more, he had already taken off running. "I'm coming Scotty! Just hold on!" As he ran Kirk called McCoy who answered immediately, "What's wrong Jim?" He asked. "Get down to Engineering Bones, it's an emergency! And bring some thermal blankets with you!" "On my way Jim!" McCoy answered before cutting off the communication. Scotty snapped his communicator closed; his head was only inches from the roof of the tank.
"The Captain's coming, he'll get us out of here." Scotty reassured Lexie who nodded in agreement, "I know he will." Scotty smiled slightly, he felt like a human ice cube and he could feel his legs going numb. Kirk soon arrived at the water tank and had climbed his way up to the hatch. He banged on it loudly, "Scotty! Lexie! Can you hear me?" He yelled. There was a painfully long wait until a voice called out from inside, "Yes Captain." Kirk turned his attention to the hatch, "Hold on! I'll get you out!" He cried as he began to pull on the hatch but it soon became clear that it wasn't going to budge. "Guys stay clear of the hatch. I'm gonna try to cut it off with my phaser." Kirk called out as he pulled out his phaser, "Ok Captain but hurry!" Scotty cried. Just as Kirk began to cut away the hatch McCoy ran up behind him, a pile of blankets in his hands, "What the hell's going on Jim?" He asked. The Captain didn't turn away from the hatch but did answer, "Scotty and Lexie are trapped in the tank which is filling with water!" McCoy's eyes widen. "My god!"
This was a situation that Lexie never imagined she would be in her life, and it's one Scotty had hoped he would never be in ever again. Once was enough in his mind. "Scotty, I can't feel my legs." Lexie said quietly, "Me neither lass, won't be long now." He said, but that wasn't his only problem. Scotty's ankle had started to hurt, he must have injured it when he got it trapped in his tool box. But he didn't tell Lexie that, she had too much on her mind at the moment to be worrying about him, he then swam a little closer to her. Lexie looked over at him to see Scotty shivering uncontrollably and that he looked like he was struggling to breathe normally, she knew what this could possibly mean. "Scotty, you're showing signs of hypothermia." She exclaimed. "I know lass, so are you." Lexie knew he was right; she too was finding breathing difficult. "Scotty I'm scared." She whispered, "Me too lass." Scotty replied.
He didn't mind admitting that, even though he had been in this type of situation before it doesn't make the current one any less scary. Just then Scotty's head bobbed beneath the surface, Lexie felt her heart skip a beat or maybe even several. "Scotty!" Lexie cried. Thankfully, he was only under for a split second before raising his head above the water once more, "I'm alright lass, just starting to find it hard to keep my head above water." Scotty replied. Lexie knew how that felt, she had started to get cramp in her legs but also in her stomach. The scar located there had begun to hurt, clearly the extreme cold wasn't doing it much good.
Suddenly the hatch was flung open allowing light to pour in which illuminated the tank, Lexie had to look away since her eyes had gotten so use to the dark. When she looked back she saw a hand dangling down. "Grab a hold Lieutenant!" A voice cried; Lexie reached up to grab the hand. She soon was pulled out of the water, still shivering she felt something be wrapped around her. She looked over her shoulder to see McCoy standing behind her with his tricorder in hand. When Kirk knew that Lexie was in good hands he turned his attention back to the tank, once again he dangled his hand down. "Scotty, grab on!" He cried; the Scotsman wasted no time in latching onto his Captain's hand. Kirk soon pulled his Chief out of the tank; he immediately then threw a blanket around him. "T-t-thank you Sir." Scotty stuttered; Kirk smiled at him. "Any time Scotty." Lexie looked up to face Scotty who she could now see was very pale, "Jim, help me get these two to sick bay." Kirk nodded as he helped Scotty to his feet while McCoy helped Lexie.
Both Lexie and Scotty were lying in biobed's in sick bay. They were no longer in their waterlogged uniforms and were huddled under several blankets, each with a mug of piping hot cocoa in their hands, while Kirk and McCoy stood at their bed sides. "You two are very lucky, any longer and you would have had extreme cases of hypothermia." McCoy stated. "Will they be alright?" Kirk asked, McCoy nodded. "They'll be just fine Jim, after a good long rest." Lexie smiled as she turned her head to face her Captain, "Thank you for saving us Sir." Kirk smiled. "Your welcome Lieutenant, that was some first shift?" Lexie laughed, "It sure was Sir." "How you feeling Scotty?" Asked McCoy, "I've been better Doc, I never imagined I would almost drown in another water tank aboard the Enterprise." McCoy just rolled his eyes at his answer. "The two of you are to stay in these beds until I say you can leave. If you don't, I'll sedate the pair of you." McCoy ordered as he left the room, closely followed by Kirk leaving the two Engineers alone. Scotty turned to face Lexie, "You ok lass?" He asked, Lexie finished her sip of cocoa then nodded. "I'm alright. Are you ok?" She asked back, Scotty nodded slowly. "Aye lass, I'm ok. I can feel my legs a bit better now." Scotty answered, his ankle was starting to hurt more but he still didn't tell Lexie about it, he wanted her to focus on resting.
Lexie smiled, "I hope this hasn't made you wanna quit working in Engineering?" Scotty quickly questioned. "Of course not, this was just an accident. When you work in a place like that you have to accept that you are working in a hazard filled place, but I wouldn't work anywhere else." Scotty smiled; he was so glad to hear that she hadn't been put off. "I assure you, not every shift will be like this one." Lexie nodded, "I should hope not, I maybe half Scottish but I ain't immune to the cold." Scotty couldn't help but laugh, "Even us full Scots ain't immune despite popular belief." The two of the laughed together, just as the doors opened, they turned their heads to see McCoy walking in. "Alright Lexie, you can head back to your quarters now and put on some warm clothes. You've got the next three days off, just so I can make sure that there ain't any long term effects." Lexie nodded, "When can I get out of here too Doctor?" Asked Scotty, McCoy turned to glare at him. "When I say so dam it, and don't ask me again Scotty." McCoy replied sternly, Lexie chuckled quietly to herself as she climbed out of bed. "You best listen to the Doctor Mr Scott." She said, Scotty nodded. "Aye that I will lass, otherwise he might end up sedating me after all, rest up now." "You too." Lexie replied as she left to return to her quarters.
When Lexie returned to her quarters she darted towards her wardrobe to get out some warmer clothes, since she was still freezing and it's what McCoy had told her to do. After grabbing the correct clothes, she headed into her bathroom to change. She slipped on a pair of black thermal trousers, a set of thick cotton socks and a long sleeved, turtle neck jumper of pale red and white. She then emerged back into the main room to see that Delta had woken up, "Hey Lex, how was your first shift?" He asked, Lexie smiled at him as she sat down on her bed. "Hey Delta, my first shift was eventful. To say the least." "In what way?" Asked the little robot as it jumped off the desk onto the bed, "Oh you know, Scotty and I almost drowned." Delta almost had a power overload; Lexie had said that as if it was a normal thing.
"You what? Are you alright? How did you almost drown in Engineering? On a Star Ship?! In the middle of space?!" Delta blurted out all at once, Lexie reached over and picked him up. "I'm fine Delta, the ships Chief Medical Officer made sure of that. Scotty and I were trying to fix one of the heater coils inside a water tank when suddenly it began filling with water and the hatch had slammed shut." Lexie was sure that if Delta had a biological heart it would be going ten to the dozen, the look he had in his cybernetic eyes was one she had seen many times. She held him up to her face, "Delta, I'm fine, I promise. McCoy gave me the all clear, I've got the next three days off to rest but I'm fine." Lexie's words seemed to calm her robotic friend who simply smiled at her. "Ok Lex, is Mr Scott alright too?" He asked, Lexie nodded as she placed Delta back on the desk. "He's fine Delta, he was waiting for Doctor McCoy to give him the all clear when I left sickbay, but he's going to be fine." She then gave Delta a gentle 'boop' on the nose, "I'm gonna rest my eyes for a little while, if anyone comes by, hide alright?" She said as she laid down, "Sure thing Lex, rest well." He replied.
Scotty was still lying in his biobed as ordered by McCoy, he had been tempted several times to get up however, two things were stopping him. The first was the fret McCoy had made about sedating him if he got up, and the second was that his ankle had gone from causing him some pain, which he was able to block out to being unbearable, which he was struggling to deal with. McCoy then walked into check on him and immediately noticed that something was wrong, he could tell just by the look on Scotty's face. He hurried over to the bed with his tricorder in hand, "Scotty, you in pain?" McCoy asked, Scotty just nodded slowly. "Where?" McCoy questioned, "My ankle…" McCoy scanned his tricorder over one of the Scotsman's ankles, "My other one…" Scotty muttered, McCoy rolled his eyes as he switched to the other one. "You've sprained it, how did you manage that?" "In the most stupid way possible." Scotty remarked as McCoy jabbed him in the forearm with a hypo filled with painkillers. "Which is?" Scotty sighed to himself, he really didn't want to say, just then Kirk walked in.
"Just came back to che… Bones?" Kirk stopped mid-sentence as he noticed McCoy scanning over the Engineers ankle, he wasn't aware that Scotty had been hurt. Scotty hadn't even mentioned it, "Just a sprain Jim, don't panic yourself, he'll live, but maybe you can get Scotty to tell you how it happened since he seems reluctant to tell me." Kirk walked over and stood at the bottom of the bed. "How did this happen Scotty?" "It happened while I was in that water tank with Lexie." Kirk stared at him, "That's where it happened not how?" Kirk said sternly, Scotty sighed, he wasn't going to win this one, plus he didn't really wish to get into an argument with his own Captain. "OK, fine. I got it trapped inside my tool box, happy?" McCoy and Kirk exchanged a look of confusion. "What? How?" McCoy asked, he was determent to get to the bottom of this. "When we heard the hatch, slam shut we both jumped to our feet, I unknowingly placed my foot in my tool box which I had magnetized to the floor." "How did you free it?" Asked Kirk. "I didn't do it Sir, Lexie did. She came back down from the ladder to help me, if it wasn't for her I would have drowned long before you even knew anything was going on."
Kirk and McCoy were surprised but they were also thankful that he hadn't been working alone, otherwise it could have ended much differently. Scotty then squinted as McCoy was having a closer look at his ankle to determine the extent of the sprain, "It's only a small sprain, you'll be fine in a couple of days but you need to rest, which means no work for at least three days." Scotty sighed loudly, he hated taking any time away from his work. "And next time Scotty, tell me when you are in pain instead of trying to hide it. You maybe Scottish but you're not invincible, no matter how much you think you are." McCoy said in a very caring way, he could have easily gone off at the Engineer but decided not to since he was just worried about him, Scotty was known for not seeking help if he got hurt or became ill. McCoy got out a single crutch and handed it to the Engineer, "Back to your quarters to rest and no going down to Engineering, that's a medical order. If I find out you've gone back down there you will regret it and I mean that."
Scotty chuckled, "In what way?" He asked, "I'll sedate you for three days or I might even take away that bottle of Scotch in your room. So, don't disobey me." Scotty just nodded as he slipped off the bed, he didn't really wish to disobey McCoy not after hearing his threats. "And if the pain becomes too much, please come by so I can give ya another hypo of pain killers instead of trying to deal with it." McCoy added, Scotty nodded once again. "Aye, I will Doctor." Then slowly left sickbay with the aid of his crutch and headed back to his quarters, leaving McCoy and Kirk in sickbay, "He won't come back will he?" Kirk chuckled, McCoy rolled his eyes, "You're dam right he won't, bloody stubborn Scotsman."