The medbay of the USS Enterprise buzzed with frenetic energy, the soft hum of medical instruments barely drowning out the urgent voices of the crew. Ensign Hayvna Vevva lay on the biobed, her face pale against the stark white sheets, her breaths shallow and labored. The acrid smell of antiseptic mingled with the metallic tang of blood, a reminder of the brutal encounter she had barely survived.
She felt herself slipping in and out of consciousness, her thoughts fragmented and disjointed. In the haze, she could hear voices — distant and muffled yet filled with urgency.
"Nurse, we need a status report!" a voice called out, sharp and authoritative. It cut through the fog like a knife, and she latched onto it, trying to anchor herself in reality.
The pain coursed through her like an unrelenting tide, each wave threatening to pull her under into a dark abyss. Hayvna blinked slowly, fighting to focus. The medbay around her swirled in and out of view. She could hear the beeping of monitors, the soft murmurs of nurses moving about, but it all felt distant, like echoes of a shattered dream.
"Easy now. We've got you." Came a muffled voice of a southern drawl. "You're on the Enterprise. You're safe. Just stay calm."
"...Safe…" Hayvna murmured, her eyelids fluttering as she fought against the encroaching darkness. "The Star Chaser… the crew…"
"Your crew is being treated," McCoy reassured her, his hands deftly working on the bio-scanner. "We've got medics attending to them. You need to stay still."
The pain surged again, sharper this time, and she gasped, her body arching involuntarily against the table. "I can't... it hurts... make it stop!"
"I know, I know," McCoy said soothingly, reaching for a hypospray. "I'm giving you something for the pain. Just hold on a little longer."
But Hayvna wasn't listening, and her mind was racing, images of the attack flashing before her eyes—blast doors failing, the shriek of alarms, the sight of her crewmates falling. And then, the warrior, looming over her, his face a mask of menace, the blade glinting in the dim light. She shuddered, the memory clawing at her sanity.
"Ensign," McCoy's voice cut through her thoughts again, more insistent this time. "I need you to stay with me. Can you do that?"
"I… I'm trying," She whispered, her voice cracking. "I can't…feel anything..." Hayvna felt a weight on her chest increasing and she let out a choked off gasp, unable to breathe.
There was a louder fast yet muffled beeping of a machine to her right and she barely heard the muffled curses and shouts of the nurses and doctor above the sound of her heartbeat. "Damn it, she's crashing! Prepare for immediate intubation!""
Everything became far away, and she whimpered out the only name she could think of, the name of the one person in her life she wanted to tell her everything was going to be okay. "...T...T'lirri..."
