Chapter five

I'm an idiot, she thought to herself. She had broken down in tears in front of complete strangers! So much for being strong.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a woman's voice calling her name softly. Alex opened one of her eyes only to snap it shut once more as light flooded into it. Trying again, she managed to open them, forcing them to adjust and looking up at the woman who was calling her name. She looked to be in her early thirties. She had soft brown eyes and long black hair pulled into a low ponytail, and she wore green scrubs and a light blue jacket.

"Alexa, can you hear me?" She asked, her voice soft but urgent.

"Y-Yes I can." Alex said, wincing from pain. Her head throbbed and her side ached, and she went stiff from the pain in her shoulder. Her left arm was wrapped to her chest with Ace bandages and gauze.

"So, um…" Alex began. "The, ah, um….bots? Are they like some secret military weapon, you know, like Voltron?"

June looked at her in surprise, stunned by what she'd said.

"Um…I'm not really..." She paused. "Actually, you know what I think? One of them can explain it better than I can." She replied, her brow furrowed in thought as she held out her hand, indicating it was time for another shot. Reluctantly Alex held out her arm. The nurse took it and injected the morphine into her arm. Instantly it took action, dulling the pain and numbing her brain. Ms. Darby said something more to Alex, but she had already slipped into sleep.

Alex pulled out the simple, leather-covered book that Ms. Darby had given her. She opened up to the first blank page and picked up a pen. She might as well start now.

It's been one month since the incident that made me stay on the base. I now know the rest of Team Prime.

Alex paused. Where next?

I met Jack first. He's nice and all, but he is way too much of a goody two-shoes for his own good. Not to mention that he's a complete pushover. I met Miko, too. I swear, her parents had to have pumped her full of caffeine every day as a child. And they probably still do! She's a lot of fun, and she was really easy to befriend. And Raf! He's just so kawaii, and incredibly nice. Oh, and really smart.

The bots were harder to talk to sense I would faint from shock or pain every time I tried. After I got comfortable talking with Prime and Ratchet, Bumblebee was the first one I warmed up to. He's just as cute and sweet as his charge. They both seem completely innocent, but Bumblebee's broken voice box stands as a constant reminder to me that he really isn't. Prime told me that Megatron crushed Bee's voice box when he refused to talk. Even though he doesn't have a voice anymore, he's quite the conversationalist. If there ever was an award for being high-strung, Arcee has no competition. She's like the mom of the group. She has a cold exterior, but it seems like she has a warm and caring heart. Not like I've experienced it personally, but I've seen it in the way Arcee talks to the other bots and humans on the base. Bulkhead, for one, is awesome! He's huge and likes really loud music, as well as playing with Miko. His size freaked me out for the first few days, but I got over that quickly. He's super gentle and sweet under his tough attitude. Ratchet's not at all easy to get along with, but the fact that he's the only medic around, bot-wise, anyway, meant I had to get over that, too.

Optimus is the easiest to talk with. His voice…It's soft and strong at the same time, as well as gentle and commanding. His voice makes it easy to trust him, but it also makes me want to smart-talk him! I've caught myself doing that so many times. And I've had to stop and apologize to him…

Alex' hand started to cramp, so she capped the pen and closed the book up. She look at the gash on her elbow, and noticed that it was almost gone. Her shoulder was another story. Alex prodded it gently. The deep gouge wasn't getting any smaller or healing at all, and her arm was still tied to her side. Alex remembered how just yesterday, the scab started turning blue! Ratchet said that it may be the leftover energon surfacing. He refused to break the scab open for fear that it wouldn't close again.

Alex looked up. Ms. Darby walked into the room. "I brought you some new clothes." She said, smiling gently. "Two pairs of black sweatpants and a loose purple tee-shirt, as per Ratchet's request." She winked. "And, of course, new underwear." Alex got out of bed and Ms. Darby carefully helped Alex get the new clothes on.

Alex looked up and down at her clothes. The pants must have been June's because they were a little big, and the shirt was not just loose but very loose. Alex hid her frown from June Darby, but knew that she had to have her own clothes. Alex saw Bumblebee and Arcee walking by. Now was her chance. "Hey, Bee?" They stopped. "Is there any way to get my backpack for me?" Bulkhead meandered up to the conversation. "I've seen it." He said. Bumblebee and Arcee walked off to find the backpack.

Alex found Raf and Jack, and sat, watching them race. She was bored to tears. Alex got up and started hobbling around the med bay, looking around and taking it all in. Suddenly Ratchet stormed in. "Young lady!" Alex cringed. "How many times do I have to tell you that you have sustained serious injuries!" I closed my eyes and bit my tongue. "You must get back in bed, and you will stay in bed until I tell you that you can leave!" Ratchet ushered her into her room, fuming. Alex whittled away the rest of her day in bed doing absolutely nothing. But imagining how many ways existed to kill a certain medic was a rather entertaining exercise. So far there were ten thousand that she had thought of, but only six hundred and fifty-four of them would really hurt. Alex watched quietly as, one by one, Miko, Jack, and Raf left to go home.

Finally the bots returned with her backpack. Alex practically jumped of her bed when they walked through the ground bridge.

"It's here!" She shrieked with joy as Bulk handed the backpack over to her.

"Wow, kid. You really like that bag."

"Not just the bag. It's what's inside, plus this has to be – never mind." Alex said, her tone dropping at the end.

"Well, then. I'm gonna get some recharge. 'Night, kid."

"G'night." Alex said, smiling softly, turning to dig in her bag. After about five minutes, she'd pulled out a pair of dark blue jeggings and an undershirt, along with a hair tie and her dark gray sweater. Ms. Darby would be there soon to check up on her, so she reached in and pulled out the book she'd been reading, World War Z. She cuddled down in bed and began reading it. After a couple minutes Ms. Darby walked in and did her routine checkup, then helped Alex change into her new clothes.

Once the checkup was over and Alex was back in bed, she skimmed pages of her book as she fell asleep.