Guys, I'm sorry for the late update...I really am. It's the homework.
But still, I'd like to thank all of my awesome reviewers: 99luftballonsx.o.x, Moonlightdeer, HeartsGuardianSol, megagenie, xVentressx, raven-saber, Jimmy 144, Bee4ever, Coolgal02, GTG, FredWeasley99, Lioness32, Pikahopp, and DarkshadowsXsunny-sides! Much appreciation! Now, on to the story...
Chapter Eleven: Jenna
(Charlie's POV)
My eyes fluttered open and I groaned, the sound hoarse and scratchy and I ended up coughing towards the end of it. I sat upright quickly, still coughing as my throat burned. Why did it ached so much?
"Don't stress yourself too much." A male voice I've never heard before said, his tone chastising. I looked around until I found the person the voice was coming from, and almost screamed. Well, I tried to scream, but it left my throat burning even more. There was a tall man, with pale skin, mahogany brown hair and eccentric blue eyes. He was dressed in a long white coat that covered any clothing he was wearing underneath with thick black glasses and I tried to scream again, scooting myself backwards and away from the strange man.
The man immediately rushed forward, "Please, be careful-"
But it was too late, I kept scooting back until I felt my back tip downward, and I tumbled ungracefully to the ground, a splitting headache, along with a slight throb in my back was the result as I realized I had just fallen off of whatever I was laying on. The man muttered something under his breath as he crouched down beside, lifting me back into a standing position as the world swayed. Once throb in my back and head reduced, I took in my surroundings. Fluorescent lights lit up the room brightly, and a sterile smell lingering in the air around me. The room had a counter that contained neatly organized medical equipment and above it was a glass cabinet filled with medicines and other strange materials I didn't recognized. I then noticed a bed, the clean white covers were crinkled and strewn everywhere, while the small white pillow was laying on the ground. Was I sleeping on that bed? It seemed to just now dawned in on me that I was in a hospital, and instantaneously, I became nervous, my muscles stiffening. Me and Doctors never did along well. After looking around the room, my eyes landed back on the doctor and narrowed dangerously.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice horribly hoarse, "Where am I? What happened to me?"
"You are in a hospital," The doctor responded with a calm, subtle voice, although is eyes were telling something else. I was trying to figure that part out, "I am Dr. Ratchet, do not worry Charlotte, you are safe."
Taken aback, I blinked, my nerves only growing as I swallowed hard, "How am I supposed to trust you? And how do you know my name?" Then, something else seemed to come to mind. Something about a flash of glistening silver, so fast that I almost missed it as I blinked again, before my eyes widened in realization. "Sideswipe! He was t-taking me to the...where is he?" My eyes wide with fear as I nervously began backing up.
The doctor didn't move, he remained still in perfect calmness, "Don't worry Charlotte, Sideswipe is fine. You are recovering from a sickness, you need to rest."
I bit my lip nervously, "I...I really don't want to."
The doctor- Or I should say, Ratchet- rolled his eyes, his calm and subtle face starting to break as he sighed, "Would it help you relax if I called him in?"
I nodded without hesitation, and Ratchet grumbled something under his breathe before the room went silent. His eccentric blue eyes were blank and I quickly assumed that he was a robot, and he was sending a message through his head, or processors or whatever they called it. Only a second later did he snap out of whatever daze he was in and looked up at me.
"The glitch is coming," He said in a gruffy voice, "Now, will you please lay back down. We are the Autobots, we will not hurt you."
I sighed, not knowing what else to do, so I walked over to the bed and sat down, too nervous to completely lay back down. The room was silent as Ratchet went over to the counter, picked up a clipboard and began scribbling something down while I nervously wiped my hands on the front of my jeans. I stared down at the glossy white-tiled floor, my heart still racing in my chest as I tried to calm myself down. I breathed in slowly, and exhaled slowly. It was something I've been doing to calm myself down a lot lately, escpecially after I left basically my whole life behind in Washington. By the way, where were we now?
The door to my room opened, which brung me out of my thoughts as I looked up and sighed in relief, jumping up from my bed and walking over to the silver Corvette's holoform, who was smiling as I approached him. My heart finally settled back into place as relief washed over me like fresh water, and I was almost tempted to hug him. But that...would be weird...I mean, do alien robots even hug each other? It made me wonder how they did show affection, but that was another thought for another time.
"Nice to have you back in the living, schlemiel." Sideswipe said, his smile turning into smirk.
"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You've been unconscious for five days," Ratchet replied, and we both looked back at him, as he made his way up to us before crossing his arms, "By the time Sideswipe arrived with you, you were unconscious and very, very sick. I had to put the antibodies into your system before allowing you to rest to fight off the bacterial infection. I've been monitoring you ever since, along with this glitch." Ratchet growled, gesturing to Sideswipe, "He's been coming here everyday asking about your status, and annoying me non-stop."
"Yep," Sideswipe said with a nod and another signature smirk, "Got the dent marks to prove it."
Finally, it seemed to dawn in on me that we were actually at the base, and not in any harm or with any Decepticons. Immediately, I felt bad for how I reacted to Ratchet, and I looked up to meet his ocean blue gaze again. I sighed softly, chewing on my bottom lip while thinking of an apology, when Sideswipe spoke again.
"Charlie," He said, and I turned back to him, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been drinking fire in a bottle," I croaked, rubbing at my sore throat.
"Stop making her talk!" Ratchet snapped, "She is still recovering and it will take longer if she doesn't get the proper amount of rest!"
I shook my head, "No, I don't want rest...I want water."
"I am not concerned for what you want. I am the medical officer, and when I say something, I want it done. Charlotte, please go back to your human berth. And Sideswipe, you big fragging glitch, go back to the Med Bay and allow Jolt to finish you! Stop coming back here, she's awake now!"
Sideswipe snickered, holding his hands up in surrender, "Now, now Ratchet, you don't have to get all cranky."
One moment, Ratchet was glaring at Sideswipe, the next, a large wrench came out of nowhere and hit Sideswipe right up against the head. Sideswipe hissed, groaning out curses as he rubbed the spot on his head, and I just blinked before turning back to Ratchet.
"Did you just hit him...with a wrench?" I asked, both of my eyebrows raised.
Ratchet just shrugged, "It won't damage his already fragged-up processors."
"Hey! I'm still in the room!" Sideswipe protested, shooting the medic a dirty look.
The door opened again, but this time, two people I didn't recognized stepped through the the door. One was a human, I could tell because he had soft brown eyes and short brown hair, tanned skin and wearing an army suit. The other man, was easily past six feet with paler skin and raven black hair with a blue and red streak running through it. His eyes were a bright, neon blue, and everything about his posture just seemed to scream regal. For some reason, I had automatic respect for him, and I could tell he was respected by the way Ratchet and Sideswipe slightly bowed their heads and stodd next to eachother with their postures straightened. I nervously stiffened my posture as well. The human man was the first one to speak.
"Miss Garrison, I am Major William S. Lennox," he said with a warm smile that almost immediately made my stiff posture relax, "I'm in charge of the N.E.S.T soldiers and operations, and my colleague here is Optimus Prime," He said motioning to the man right next to him, "He is the-"
"Leader of the Autobots." I said, staring wide-eyed at the man next to him. He sure did look like a leader, what would he think of me?
The man named Lennox paused for a moment, glancing between Optimus and I before continuing, "Well, yeah...he is."
"Hello Miss Garrison," Optimus spoke, and I nearly jumped out of my skin from how baritone his voice was, "I have been recently informed that one of my soldiers had a civilian human involved, and I have come in person to apologize for all the harm that my have been inflicted by both my soldier and the Decepticons. It was never our intention to have any more humans in our war with the Decepticons than necessary, and for that, I truly apologize." He said, the sincere look he was giving me proved he wasn't lying.
"But," I started off before coughing again, "But Sideswipe didn't hurt me, not once."
"I am referring to Sideswipe's more aggressive twin, Sunstreaker." Optimus said, eyeing Sideswipe before his neon blue eyes returned on me.
"Oh." I said, nodding slowly.
"We believe that because of the interaction you've had with Sideswipe, the Decepticons sees you as a target, and that is exactly why they had kidnapped you in the first place. Because of it, we will have to place you in Autobot protection, and for us to keep you protected, you will have to remain here, on the base until it is safe for you to return to your family once again." Optimus continued.
I sighed, but nodded my head.
"But while you are staying here, we'll be sure to make it as comfortable as possible. You'll be given a room where clothing and toiletries will already be provided." Major Lennox added.
"I...I understand." I said softly, glancing down at the white tiled floor, where the harsh glow of the fluorescent lights seemed to glare off of.
"Very well," Optimus said, and I looked back up at him again, "Everything is already arranged for you, and you will be resting in the Med Bay for one more day until Ratchet clears you. And once again, Miss Garrison, I apologize for all that has happened, and everything you had to sacrifice."
"You...you can just call me Charlie." I mumbled.
"Pardon?" Optimus said politely.
"She said to just call her Charlie, sir." Sideswipe answered, and I looked at him again.
He met my eyes and we stared at each other for a half second before everyone's attention went to Ratchet, who cleared his throat. "I can obviously see that Charlie isn't comfortable in my human Med Bay, I'll let her sleep in her room... but," He said, his gaze on me, "You must report to the Med Bay in three hours so I can make sure you are fully healthy again." I nodded silently, and Major Lennox stepped forward.
"I'll show you your room." Major Lennox said, and I nodded again before glancing at Sideswipe again. He was watching me with a careful gaze, in fact, they all were watching, as if they would think I might explode or something.
I huffed out a short breath of air, before following Major Lennox out of the "Human Med Bay" and down the hallways. Major Lennox showed me the important places; the food hall, the main hangar, and the courtyard. We then arrived at the civilian dorms, at a door on the far left side of the hall that said 18B. "Here's your stop." He said, digging into his pocket for something before handing me two golden keys. Oddly enough, it reminded me of Sunstreaker.
"Thank you," I said, unlocking the door and opening it. I was assuming it be some crappy, small, cheap bed with a small bathroom kind of dorm, so you could imagine the look on my face when I saw the room.
The bed was nicely made, and looked very comfortable, along with the pillows piled on top of it. There were two dressers already filled with clothes and the bathroom had lotion, toothbrush & toothpaste, floss, soap, towels, and a hair dryer. It was almost as if i was staying at a hotel rather than a military base.
"Fancy, isn't it?" Major Lennox asked from beside me.
I couldn't help the grin that appeared on my face, "It's perfect."
Later that day after I had moved and organized everything until it was suitable for me, I decided to venture down to the food hall, while also memorizing all the hallways I had walked down. Minutes later, I arrived at the food hall and made a bee line straight for the lunch line, and craned my neck over taller soldiers to see what food they were serving. Once the line moved up more, I could finally see what they were serving, which was baked chicken, mashed potatoes, sliced fruit, and green beans. Eh, it was better than McDonalds.
Shrugging, I picked up a serving of each and turned around to scan the crowded cafeteria for an empty table. I briefly wondered where Sideswipe would be, and If I could just spend the rest of the day with him. Of course not, I sighed, shaking my head. All he was supposed to do was deliver me to the base safely, nothing more...and plus, if I'd want to be around him there's no doubt I'll have to see his twin brother again.
Nope, not really ready to die yet.
Therefore, the best option was to just integrated with others on this base until I could leave. I was more annoyed now than nervous in the crowded cafeteria as I looked again for at least one empty table.
"You trying to find a spot?" A voice asked from behind me, which made me jump a little in surprise.
I turned around to face a girl who was slightly taller than me. She had brown eyes and reddish-orangish hair with freckles dusted across her tanned face. She was slightly skinnier than me, with high cheekbones and and round, full lips. She was pretty. Super model pretty, even. The girl smiled, and I smiled in return, laughing nervously.
"Um...yeah, kind of..." I trailed off.
The girl laughed softly, "Yeah. It's been like this ever since I got stationed here."
She was stationed here?
I couldn't help the surprised tone in my voice, "You were stationed here? Why?"
The girl shrugged, "Beats me, they still haven't told me why they stationed me here yet, but I figured I'd find out sooner or later. So, what's your name?" She asked as we began walking, to which table...I wasn't sure, but I followed anyway. At least I wouldn't have to sit alone.
"Charlie." I said, glancing around the room for an empty table again.
"Let me guess, short for Charlotte, right?" She asked, with an amused smile.
I rolled my eyes, but let out a short laugh, "Yeah...never really did like my name. Thought it was too girly."
"It's not that bad," The girl said, before leading as to a small table in the corner of the room I didn't even realize was there. "My names Jenna."
We both sat down, and the annoyance was replaced with relief.
"So, how'd you get stationed here?" Jenna asked, taking out her plastic utensils before picking at her green beans.
"I'm not military." I said, taking my plastic utensils out of the wrapping.
"You're...not?" She asked, raising an eyebrow with a quizzical look on her face. It almost made me laugh. "Then...what are you doing here?"
"A long story." I deadpanned, before shoving mashed potatoes into my mouth.
"Well that only made me more intrigued," Jenna said with a roll of her eyes, "C'mon, tell me."
I sighed, putting the plastic fork down, "Well, it started off at the junkyard..."
And that's where we'll stop today! Again, I am so very sorry for how late it was, but thank you for reading it anyway and don't forget to leave a review!
