Sixteen

His eyelid flickered.

He felt his lip twitch.

Yet nothing else moved, just like the last ten times he'd tried.

Good God, this is becoming annoying.

Since the initial episode of being able to gain a fuzzy glimpse of his surroundings, his body had remained stubbornly still. It didn't take him long to determine that he had become completely paralysed, and therefore the only reason he was still alive was that his brainstem had been unaffected by whatever had resulted in his condition.

It was as though the connections between his brain and central nervous system had been disrupted.

Wait.

That's exactly what's happened…

My higher order thinking must be returning. That's a relief, at least.

He realised there was another hand grasping his own, their warm fingers gently caressing his skin. An internal scream of frustration ensured when none of his fingers responded to his motor electrical signals, remaining stationary by his side.

It took him a minute to realise that a sensation he'd grown accustomed to had apparently vanished. It's not stinging anymore! But the skin there was so damaged…They must have run the dermal regenerator over me at least a hundred times - those cuts were not superficial.

Part of him was grateful that despite his critical condition, his staff had taken the time to ensure his cosmetic injuries were attended to.

The other part was concerned that they apparently hadn't managed to reverse the effects of Martin's concoction.

He desperately wanted to flex his metacarpals, his extensor carpi; hell, even if his abductor pollicis brevis would slightly spasm, he'd be satisfied that his condition was not permanent.

"Brainwave activity is increasing, BP climbing to 99/65."

If he could've, he would've jumped. That's the first sound I've heard for a while…Jabara?

"Does this mean he is conscious?"

Sisko's deep voice came as a shock, and it seemed to reverberate around in his sensitive skull. What is the Commander doing here? Oh wait. I'm the head medical officer. That explains his presence.

"He's not entirely conscious, no. I'd still say he's in a comatose state. There's some lingering inflammation to his frontal and occipital lobes, and his intracranial hypertension hasn't improved by much," Dax took a shuddering breath. It'll be a few days before we can determine how likely it is that he'll wake up."

"How likely?" Sisko exclaimed. "Dax, yesterday you were telling me he was doing better!"

"That was because he'd finally been stable for a consecutive twenty-four hours, Commander," Dax's voice was strained. "I didn't think he'd get to that point at all, given how slow we were to dissolve the clot. Plus, his brain is under such immense pressure right now. It's too dangerous to do a lumbar puncture to drain some fluid and reduce it that way. All we can do is give him regular diuretics and see if that helps."

Julian was stunned. A blood clot? Well, that explains the locked-in syndrome. But how the hell did Martin create something that can induce a stroke?

There was a long pause before Dax spoke again. "I'll be honest with you, Benjamin. Considering the number of seizures he's had in the last few hours, I'll be surprised if he regains consciousness at any point."

So strokes, increased cranial pressure and seizures. What a sadistic way to kill the brain off.

Wait a minute. Julian took a moment to process his thoughts. He said it would kill me, but not a normal human. Maybe there was some sort of nanomachine in the gas that was coded to my DNA? A virus that was engineered for me? I guess we'll have no way of knowing since that was the only sample-

"What I don't get is why he's not responding to traditional anti-thrombotic treatment," Dax sounded exasperated. "He's been given multiple doses of enoxaparin, and yet there's been next to no improvement in his condition. He should be awake."

But I am! I'm here, Dax! I'm here! Clearly some of that medication has worked, otherwise I'd be a complete vegetable. If you'd just look at the EEG-

A sudden realisation came over him like cold sweat. My accelerated metabolism!..Maybe that's been affecting the half-life of the medications! Dammit, Dax, think about it!

But wait! Oh God, they can't find out! If they do, I'll never get to practice medicine again! Maybe she'll just think I have a naturally high metabolism…maybe?

He felt his autonomic nervous system activate, his heart rate quickly accelerating as he began to panic over this internal conflict. If they have to find out to save my life, will it be worth it?!

"Heart rate ninety-nine, BP 149/100." Jabara called out.

Yes, because I'm stressed!

"Heart rate one-fourteen, beta waves increasing. He's gonna have another seizure," Dax must've been looking at a monitor.

No I'm not! You're not bloody listening to me! I'm here!

"I need one milligram of clonazepam!" Dax ordered. "Benjamin, tilt his neck for us."

He felt a set of calloused hands wrap themselves around his head. No, no, Dax! Don't sedate me again!

The familiar pressure of the hypospray was applied against his jugular, the signature hissing quickly drifting away as he felt himself dissolve into bliss.