Rimmer stared down at the girl she seemed so quiet and peaceful now; Kryten has sedated her an hour or so earlier and had taken the Cat and Lister to check out the results of several tests surrounding her. Rimmer had been sat with her quietly since they left, privately he was terrified that if he left she would stop breathing, he was pretty sure if she was going to die there would be nothing he could do to stop it, yet sitting here holding her hand he felt like he was doing something useful. The others wouldn't understand and felt his time would be better spent researching with the others but whatever the others thought of him he wasn't about to let the girl wake up alone and with no idea where she was – even if he wasn't who she would like to see first, he would be there anyway. Kryten had taken blood, x-rays and cat scans in order to get a better idea of what had happened to the girl, they still didn't have a clue where she was from or what her name was but it was clear to all of them that Kryten was failing keep his worry under control.
Rimmer sighed and lifted a wet rag to her face once more, carefully wiping the last of the mud from her body. He carefully applied some antiseptic to her cuts; he was humming quietly under his breath and found himself feeling very strange. Earlier today he had been seething with anger and self pity yet now he felt nothing, nothing but concern for her. This was the most amount of time he had spent alone with a woman in over 3 million years, he admitted that he wouldn't be feeling this cool or in control if she had been conscious but he definitely felt comfortable at this moment in time. All the pain of Lister's jokes earlier had left him now. To keep himself sane he had found himself talking to her and pretending she was answering him, too long in space he smiled to himself. Rubbing at his H one more time he reached out and touched her skin, she felt a little cold.
Leaning over he checked her temperature and looked around for a blanket. "I hope you wake up soon" he whispered, gently tucking a blanket round her body. "I don't like this feeling. It's very weird not thinking about myself." He rose to his feet and walked around the room, "I should be seeking revenge you know that don't you? I mean I have just told you all about it. I should be finding something dear to Lister and destroying it, not sat here with you covered in vomit and wishing you would wake up." He stared back down at his clothes and shuddered, "Holly can I get a costume change please?" Rimmer smiled as for once his orders were carried out without the usual sarcasm and looked down at his new emerald green suit. Turning back towards the girl he stared waiting for her to wake and wasn't surprised that she didn't move he started to feel nervous he might have bored her into a coma. Lister wouldn't let that go easily. With a sigh Rimmer sat back down beside her, "You take as long as you need."
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"Cat what have you got for me?" Lister shouted swivelling his chair around to face his friend, "Anything yet? I can't find anything more from this pod or the ship"
"Sure have bud, got her ID number from her trousers, her name is Paige. No second name on file, no promotions. All of this doesn't make sense. Says she is human – born on earth yet signed up for a year mission, no previous experience in space, then nothing. This was years and years ago. Its almost like she didn't exist, she's been in stasis for 2 million years. It doesn't even have a log of her having ship leave or any missions complete. It's like a name and nothing more." Cat scratched his head, "Wait, medical records coming up now"
"That's so weird", Lister mused reaching for his cigarettes, "Usually there is more than just a name. I mean my ship log is 5 folders thick and that was because of Rimmer and his smegging reports, everything you do on a ship each mission, each medical, each haircut is noted. There is no way she could have been on a ship and not have been noticed for over a year"
"Oh she was noticed alright sir" Kryten's face was ashen as he walked into the cockpit, "I think you had better come and look at this"
"Wait, Medical records, she's 23, female and … oh my god" Cat rubbed at his eyes wildly, "She's dead? How can that be?"
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Paige opened her eyes slowly and pulled the room into focus she felt calm and secure there was a voice that had been keeping her safe. The voice was still talking; she turned her head slightly and saw a man stood with his back to her. "Then it turned out Lister hadn't passed his chefs examination at all! All that panic for nothing and things pretty much resumed as normal after that, I didn't see that there was much to learn from the situation. In fact I think it was very beneficial for Lister to realise he cannot rise above his rank". Paige blinked again and stared; he was tall and stocky, not fat but certainly looked built. His hair was wild and wavy and he was dressed head to foot in what looked like green silk he began to turn slowly around and she closed her eyes quickly, she could hear him move closer towards her and felt his hand take hers.
It was warm and smooth, definitely not hand that had ever done a hard days work but there was something comforting about him, he seemed to be experimenting with her fingers, lacing his own through hers his fingers were long and soft. A scent washed over her, it was soap mixed with a subtle aftershave she had no idea how Holograms worked but it was clear he was a lot more modern than she had previously thought; it was almost as if he was human. Paige took a deep breath and opened her eyes once more he jumped a little startled but didn't let go of her hand. She smiled as warmth flew over her body as his deep brown eyes connected with her emerald green ones, "Are you okay? Are you in pain?" he asked softly.
"You were the voice" she whispered, "Have you been talking to me?"
"Well yes, just in case you could hear or .. I don't know it kept me sane I suppose, do you want anything? Some water? Let me get the others" Rimmer dropped her hand and the electricity left his body with it, he stopped and looked at his palm then at her with confusion in his eyes, then at the door once more. "I will just be a minute"
"No, please" she whimpered, within seconds he was back beside her, he went to take her hand again, he wanted the jolt but didn't have the courage to grab it again "What happened?" she asked as she attempted to sit up in order to regain some sort of independence and fell awkwardly towards him. Rimmer laughed gently and caught her once more, "I think you should just stay where you are for a minute" he gestured back towards the table, "I will let Kryten know you are awake, I am sure he will be able to tell you more than I can. They are away looking at your medical results now; I have just been sat here with you" Rimmer knew he was mumbling but he didn't know what to say to make her feel better.
When she didn't move from his arms Rimmer started to slowly move her back towards the table but she clung on around his neck, he was completely unprepared and had no idea what to do in this situation. Half of him was freaking out; he barely knew her why was she so clingy? He should just throw her down and run and get the others, she must be concussed or having a bad reaction, no one ever relied on him. Yet the other half just revelled in being able to touch someone else and feel so needed, her arms were so tight around him it was the first hug he hadn't had to beg or pay for. "Medical records?" she half cried, "They wont do anything to me will they?" she clung even tighter to Rimmer, "Please don't let them. Please!
"Hey hey calm down" Rimmer stroked her hair gently as he once saw someone do in a film it seemed to calm her, "We aren't going to do anything you don't want us to okay? You are safe now. What happened to you?" he could feel her warm tears soak through his shirt and reached over to grab the blanket from the table, wrapping it around her body and half round his own so she was completely covered, "Can I trust you?" she whispered slipping her small hand back into his. Rimmer nodded and held her tight and waited until she was ready to talk.