()()()()()
Kendal made her way quickly down to sick bay to offer her services to Jamie but upon her arrival she found the room empty and a complete mess. She assumed that Jamie and his corpsmen were out somewhere on the boat retrieving an injured man and would be back shortly. Seeing the need, she immediately started picking up the supplies spilled across the floor and began sorting them into various piles for more rapid access.
About 15 minutes later she heard the corpsmen coming down the hall with their patient. As they entered they gave a brief start at seeing Kendal in the office tidying up the place. She smiled at them briefly until she recognized the unconscious figure on the stretcher.
"Oh my god Chip! Is he going to be okay? " Kendal asked as she moved out of their way.
"I think so, it looks like a moderate concussion and a couple of broken bones," John explained. "Is there something you need Dr. Ferguson, are you injured?"
Just then Jamie entered sick bay catching the last bit of their conversation. "Are you injured Kendal?"
"No I'm not hurt. Jamie I was wondering if I could be of some help. I used to work as a ski patrol at a major ski resort and have had extensive first aid and EMT training along with lots of experience with broken bones and soft tissue injuries."
If there hadn't been corpsmen in the room Jamie would have kissed her. The look of relief on his face at the unexpected source of assistance gave her all the answer she needed.
"Kendal you are more than welcome to join in on the fun. Given that ride we all just went through I anticipate a full house in short order. If you would be good enough to continue straightening up the place and then checking in the injured as they arrive that would be a huge help. Once we get things in operational order I'll press you into service doing preliminary assessments and working triage if that is okay."
"Sure Jamie, anything you need," Kendal said as she grabbed a broom and began sweeping broken glass and other debris into a pile.
Jamie smiled then returned his attention to the man lying on the gurney. "Frank I need x-rays of Commander Morton's skull, chest and right forearm. John see if you can find another able bodied man to help with the stretcher and head back up to the control room to collect Rod and Phipps."
"Will do Doc, be back in a flash," John replied as he grabbed the stretcher and headed out the door.
"Yes Doctor, I'm on it," Frank said as he had already begun stripping the XO out of his uniform. As the shirt came off it was immediately evident he had met up hard with the chart table in the control room. "Oh you're gonna feel this when you come to Mr. Morton," he said wincing as he looked at the extensive bruising and the bulge over his broken ribs.
As Kendal finished straightening things up the line of injured had begun to form outside the sick bay door. She sighed knowing it was going to be a very long day for Jamie and his staff, she was just glad she could help out in some small way.
()()()()()
Lee walked as rapidly as he could through the various areas of the boat checking on repairs and lending a hand where needed. As he moved from section to section he noted that nearly half the crew was missing having been injured enough during their plunge to the bottom of the sea to take them temporarily out of commission as they too awaited repairs. Even though they were shorthanded repairs had been made to the majority of the affected systems with exception of the reactor and engines.
He finally made his way to the reactor room to see if he could help bring the reactor back online. As he entered he noted that only the chief engineer (aka Cheng) and his lead rating Graves were working on the system as the rest of the men stationed here had been injured and sent to sick bay.
"How's she looking Mark?" Lee inquired.
"Oh hi Skipper," Cheng replied looking up from the consoles he was working on. "Well, all things considered we're not in too bad a shape. That little drop we experienced knocked a lot of things out of alignment. The reactor SCRAMMED almost instantly so there was no release of radiation and no damage to the rods. Coolant levels are nominal and there appear to be zero leaks anywhere in the system. The jolt we took when we stopped shorted out a number of relays in a couple of the control panels so Graves is busy replacing those. Right now I'm working on realigning the rods so we can get the reactor warmed back up and running. Once that's done we'll tackle the engines."
"Excellent, do you need an extra hand?" Lee inquired.
Mark smiled as eyed his obviously injured CO, he looked worse than most of the men he'd sent to sick bay. No one could ever doubt the man's dedication to his vessel and his crew. "I think we're good for right now Skipper. Graves is just about done with his repairs then all that's left is fine tuning the alignment of the rods and between the two of us we can knock that out in short order. Once we get that done the reactor has to warm up and while it's doing that we'll be focusing on the engines. Initial reports are that we suffered minor damage on some of the engine controls which we hopefully can get repaired without too much trouble. I'm hoping most of my crew will be back from sick bay by the time we move to the engine room."
"Okay Cheng, if you're sure. If you do need some help give a call and I'll come on down and give you a hand."
"Aye sir, I'll keep you apprised."
()()()()()
Having touched base with all sections except sick bay, Lee made his way back to the control room. He spotted the admiral sitting up in the nose reviewing print outs and entering data into his laptop. He updated Lt. James on the status of repairs as he still had the con and was likewise briefed on the status in the control room. Happy with the progress they'd made, Lee patted James on the back and headed forward to brief the admiral.
"Any luck sir?" Lee asked as he walked over to the sideboard and poured a cup of coffee. He raised the carafe towards Nelson silently asking if he wanted a refill but Harri waved it off.
"Some. How are repairs coming to the boat?" Nelson asked taking in his battered captain's appearance.
Lee sat down gingerly across from the admiral, stifling a groan as his broken ribs protested the movement. He sipped gratefully on the hot coffee and relished being off his feet for the moment. "Repairs on most systems are complete the only things remaining are the reactor and engines. Cheng has almost got the reactor ready for restart and then they'll move on to the engines while the reactor warms up. The biggest problem we have is injured personnel, at least 50% of the men are injured to the point they need medical treatment so that is going to put a real strain on those on duty now to shoulder the burden until their replacements can return."
"How are things in sick bay," Harri ask nonchalantly as he continued to peruse his readouts.
"I haven't made it down there yet, I didn't want to get in Jamie's way." Lee replied eyes down talking into his cup of coffee.
Harri looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "I just bet. Lee you look like 20 miles of bad road son, you need to go down there and get taken care of before you collapse."
"I'm fine, sir," Lee replied somewhat petulantly. "As I said once we get things up and running I'll go see Jamie… So you said you've had some success in figuring out what that thing is around us?"
Harri narrowed his eyes as he looked at Lee and harrumphed at his quite obvious attempt to change the subject. "Yes. Best as I can tell we're encapsulated in a force field of some sort. I haven't been able to locate the source or get much more information on the composition and nature of the field or how fragile it may be. We seem to be floating on a cushion of water so we may be able to deploy one of the smaller AUVs via the moon pool and get additional readings but I want to study what information we've got first before I risk taking that step."
"I concur with you there sir. The last thing we need is for that thing to go pop."
Both men nodded and then stared distractedly out the front windows as a couple of fish swam warily past. Their reverie was broken by a hail from the Cheng. "Captain this is engineering."
Lee pushed up carefully from the table unable to hide the wince of pain as he stood. He walked over to the mic and picked it up. "Crane here, what is it Mark?"
"Sir just wanted to let you know that the reactor is now on line and working properly. We should have full power available in approximately 6 hours. I've got five of my guys back from sick bay and we are moving on to the engines to affect repairs there."
"Well done Cheng. Go ahead and make repairs but take no actions to engage the engines without specific approval from me or the admiral is that clear?" Lee replied.
"Yes sir. I'll let you know when we've got everything repaired."
"Great, thank you. Crane out." Lee replaced the mic and eased his way back to the table and perched on one corner. "Well that's a step in the right direction. At least we have power back to keep everything inside running, the big question now is how do we get the hell out of here?"
"We keep taking things one step at a time. Now that the reactor issue is resolved and Cheng has a good portion of his staff back, there's absolutely no reason for you not to go check on Chip in sick bay," Harri said fighting hard to bite back a smile.
Lee glowered at him then sighed in resignation, which his ribs did not appreciate in the least. "Aye, aye sir, I'll let you know how's he's doing."
()()()()()
Things in sick bay had finally begun to slack off as those in need of urgent care had been taken care of and it was down to the 'minor' injuries. Kendal had the patients flowing smoothly to Jamie and the corpsmen giving them enough time to treat each man. She efficiently triaged the injuries as they came in ensuring those needing immediate care moved to the head of the line.
As she was conducting an initial patient evaluation she noticed that those waiting in line seemed to suddenly stand a little straighter and were more alert. Looking up she immediately spotted the reason why as the captain worked his way down the line of injured speaking with the men and assuring them that they were doing everything possible to get them all out of this.
Taking in Lee's appearance she cringed at the sight. It was more than obvious the man was hurting despite his attempts to hide it and probably should have been one of the first ones through the door. She'd never seen him look so tired and washed out. Lee bid her a quick hello before he walked into sick bay to check on his men.
He made his way directly to Chip's bunk and looked down at him in concern. He had a large bandage on his forehead, his chest was securely swaddled in tape and elasticized bandages and his arm sported an air cast. He was still unconscious which worried him most; it had been nearly 10 hours since they'd hit the air pocket. He reached down and picked up Chip's left hand and gave it a squeeze. "Come on bro, we need you back with us," he said softly.
Lost in worry over Chip's condition, Lee jumped slightly at the touch of Jamie's hand on his shoulder. He looked back and smiled at the haggard looking CMO standing behind him.
"He's going to be fine Skipper. He took a really heavy blow to the head and even as hard as it is it still rattled things around inside pretty good," Jamie said. "He's been flirting with consciousness for the last couple of hours so he could come around at any time."
"Thanks Jamie. How is the rest of the crew doing?"
"We've got five more cases like Chip and we're watching them all closely. The bulk of the damage amounts to broken bones, sprains, strains and cuts. The majority of the men should be back on duty by tomorrow."
"That's good to hear," Lee replied tiredly.
"Now that I've got you here it's time we take care of your injuries Captain."
"I don't have time for that right…"
"Yes you do or I will declare you medically unfit and confine you to sick bay. I'm quite serious about this Lee. You've taken care of the boat and by the sound of things on the intercom everything is almost back to normal. You're barely moving your left arm at all which tells me you've got some serious damage under that shirt. A misstep or fall could run one of those broken ribs through a lung and then we really would have problems," Jamie replied. "Kendal, would you please do a preliminary assessment of the captain's condition while I finish setting this broken leg?"
"Right away Doctor," Kendal replied with a small smile. "Captain if you would come over here and remove your shirt I'll get you taken care of and ready for Jamie's worst."
Lee scowled at Jamie then shook his head and followed Kendal over to the makeshift exam room in Jamie's office. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and gingerly eased it off. Kendal's involuntary gasp at the discoloration on his chest and back was enough to tell him things weren't going to go well.
"My god Lee you should have come down here first thing. Without even touching you I can tell you've broken at least three ribs. Come on lay down and let me see what else is going on."
Lee eased himself onto the table and let Kendal help him down. She quickly took his vitals and then began her exam.
"Nice cut on the forehead, that's going to need a few stitches," she commented. She did a quick look at his eyes and confirmed that he had a mild concussion. Next she moved on to his ribs and carefully prodded his left side identifying four probable breaks and a couple of cracks. The minute she touched him she felt him tense and try to bite back a groan in pain. She was honestly amazed that he was still upright and had been walking around since this happened.
During the course of her exam she noticed the multiple scars on his torso some old, some not so old; he quite obviously had seen a lot of action and had come away with some nasty souvenirs. Harri had said something about Seaview's previous encounters with aliens and how the cost of victory over them had been high, especially for Lee. She wondered if any of these scars were a result of those encounters.
Continuing her exam her hand touched a relatively new scar on his right side just above his waist causing him to involuntarily flinch. "Did that hurt?" she asked concerned that he might have internal injuries.
"No, it's just a touchy reminder of an unsettling accident," Lee replied cryptically as he fought down memories of Krueger and the admiral shooting him.
"Oh, okay... Well Captain just lie back, relax and John will be by in a minute to get x-rays of those ribs."
Lee closed his eyes and nodded. Kendal finished up her notes and passed them off to Jamie now that he had finished with the broken leg he'd been tending to. He quickly perused the write up and nodded.
"Thanks Kendal, I suspected as much. I think I'm going to have to keep you around, he seems to be a whole lot more polite with you." Jamie shot a quick glance over to his skipper expecting a grimace or scowl for the slight jab, the fact Lee hadn't reacted at all told him just how tired and how much in pain the man was. Jamie watched as John walked over to take the skipper into the x-ray room. "John, rush the film on the captain's x-rays please."
"Sure thing Doc."
Fifteen minutes later John handed Jamie the x-rays. "Damn, looks like he managed to break five of them this time. No wonder he isn't using his left arm." Jamie moved over to the gurney and noticed Lee had at some point fallen asleep. Knowing that's what he really needed most Jamie was hard pressed to wake him but the ribs needed to be attended to since he never knew when the man would bolt out of sick bay to save the day.
Touching Lee's right shoulder Jamie gently shook him. "Skipper…Lee…Can you wake up for me? Lee I need to take care of your ribs then you can sleep all you want."
Lee moaned softly as he slowly pulled himself awake. "Wha…what is it Jamie?"
"Come on Lee I need to sit you up so I can stitch your head and stabilize your broken ribs. You hit the jackpot today with five that puts Chip's two to shame."
Lee chuffed as he struggled to sit up. "Can't let him out do me, one must maintain appearances for the crew."
Jamie chuckled as he got Lee upright and stable on the table. He quickly injected a local anesthetic in Lee's forehead and sutured the gash he had there. Next he pulled out his trusty med tape and went to work encasing his left side in adhesive armor then followed that up with a tightly wrapped elasticized bandage.
"There that should make it a tad easier to breathe and make it safer for you to be up and about. Now I'm going to give you a shot for the pain, and only because space here in sick bay is at a premium, I'm sending you to your cabin for some badly needed sleep. You're on the edge of exhaustion Lee and if you don't recharge soon you're going to crash and crash hard."
"You need to follow your own prescription Doctor," Lee replied seeing the exhaustion written across Jamie's face as well.
"Believe me I will. We're just about done here and then I will be sending people off, myself included, to get some badly needed rest. If I know you, you've been up over 24 hours already so don't give me any grief on this," Jamie ordered. He turned back towards Kendal and waved her over to them. "Kendal would you please escort the good captain here to his quarters and then you head to yours for the next 8 hours. We've got everything here pretty much taken care of thanks to your help."
Kendal smiled at the scowl Lee shot at Jamie. "Come on Captain, we've got our orders and I've seen what he does with those needles when people don't comply."
Lee returned her smile and carefully eased himself off the gurney with Jamie's help. "Alright, I'll go but only because I don't want to get you in trouble with Jamie."
"Yep I'm definitely keeping you on board Kendal just to handle senior officers. It would have taken me several threats and a 4 star retired admiral to get that concession." Jamie said as they made their way towards the door. "At least 6 hours Lee, that's a medical order."
()()()()()
The walk back to Lee's cabin was at a very slow pace, it was the best that he was able to manage. In the short amount of time he had been laid out on the gurney all his stressed and strained muscles had decided to tighten up and each and every bruise was loudly announcing its existence. He was having an extremely tough time not groaning out loud as he and Kendal made their way down the corridor.
When they reached his cabin door Lee placed a hand on Kendal's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Thanks Kendal for all you've done to help out in this crisis. I know Jamie appreciates it as do I."
Kendal blushed at Lee's heartfelt thanks, she was just happy there was something she could do to help and really didn't need to be thanked. What she really did need was to be wrapped up tight in his strong and sheltering arms like a child and to be told that she was safe and everything was going to be all right. She was more than a little scared and it was becoming a real effort to keep that fear tamped down. "You're more than welcome Lee, I was glad I had something to offer to lighten Jamie's load a bit," she squeaked out after a moment accompanied with a wan smile.
"You're doing a fantastic job handling this situation; especially given you're new to all of this. Harri is working hard trying to figure out what's got us trapped down here and how to best make our escape. I have every confidence in him as should you. He has a reputation for pulling off miracles and based on personal experience believe me it's well deserved," Lee said returning her weak smile.
"Thanks Lee. I must admit this is all a bit nerve wracking but I have every confidence in him, and you to get us out of this. He told me about some of your adventures in the past and I'm sure he'll come up with something…Well it's time we both got some rest. Do you need me to help you with anything before I go to my cabin?"
"No I'll be fine. Go get some rest and hopefully things will look better in the morning," Lee replied as he opened the door to his cabin. "Good night Kendal, sleep well."
"You too Lee. Good night."
()()()()()
Lee trudged wearily into his cabin and clicked on the lamp on his desk. He couldn't recall ever feeling this drained and exhausted. Between the stress of their current situation trapped thousands of feet below their crush depth, damage to his boat and personnel and the toll of his injuries he was at the edge of collapse. Jamie was right he needed rest or he would be of no use to anyone.
Thanks to the pain killer and the tape job on his ribs the pain was at least tolerable now although he had developed a nagging headache no doubt from the concussion. He walked into the small head in his cabin, turned on the light and opened the medicine cabinet to grab some aspirin. He opened the bottle and poured three tablets into his hand and popped them into his mouth. He then turned on the faucet and collected a handful of water to wash them down. As the cool water flowed out of the tap Lee splashed some on his face to try and wash away some of the day.
After turning off the faucet he grabbed the towel off the rod and patted his face dry. He stood up and stared intently at the tired man looking back at him in the mirror. He had to admit everyone was right, he did look like a walking ad for dead. He'd been up and moving for over 24 hours now and it was blatantly obvious from the dark circles under his eyes, the creases in his face due to the pain and the very good start he had on a beard. As he stared at the mirror he was startled by what seemed to be a ripple in the surface. He blinked his eyes and rubbed them lightly sure that what he'd just seen was all in his over-tired mind.
Lee returned his gaze to the mirror and once more observed a ripple and shimmer on the surface. "What the hell," he said aloud. He tentatively reached out his hand to touch the surface. As his hand made contact a large scaly, clawed hand shot out of the mirror seizing him by the wrist and pulled him in.
In Guest Cabin 1 a similar scene was unfolding as Kendal suddenly found herself pulled through the looking glass; a bloodcurdling, terror filled scream the only thing marking her passage into hell.