ways_infirmary | Visiting Post for Commander Colene Shepard

Visiting Post for Commander Colene Shepard

The Milliways infirmary is a lot busier than usual, mostly because of the recent wave of nightmare-injuries. The aforesaid situation has turned one of the regularly attending doctors into a patient, so Zhaan has been spending a lot of extra time here.

Most of the patients are recovering just fine on their own, but Zhaan is watching the sleeping ones closely in case they have nightmare episodes and need to be woken up for their own safety. She also has a certain patient in with broken fingers and a concussion.

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Immediately after this.

There's the sound of fast-moving bare feet just outside the infirmary door.

and then there's a young woman just inside the doorway. She's likely just been asleep; the nightgown is an obvious enough clue. She's holding her left hand several inches away from her body, palm up, and her right sleeve is rolled clumsily to the elbow. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

alyssa isn't - Selar isn't - Dr. Crusher isn't - Gene isn't.

Never mind empathy. The tone of her voice alone is proof enough she's terrified.

Zhaan's by Sariel's side in an instant. "It's all right. What happened?" she asks, looking at Sariel's injured arm.

Sariel flinches, head turning sharply as zhaan appears. she's reacting like prey, and the fear she's giving off would be readable by anyone with an ounce of empathy. "I don't know, sir. I woke up this way--I thought I was asleep." And now she's doubting it.

Her left palm is red; there's a fine diagonal slice running from her little finger to just shy of her thumb, and that opposite sleeve is rolled up for a reason. Fingerprint bruises are already standing out against her skin.

"A few people have been experiencing such nightmares lately," Zhaan says. The injuries Sariel has sustained are mild, compared to what many of the other victims have, but she's had a worse-than-average scare. "Come sit down. I'll clean that and dress it, or use the fuser on it - whichever you prefer."

Sariel follows along obediently; questioning zhaan's treatment is lightyears from her thoughts, and objecting's even further out. that doesn't mean something the other woman says doesn't register. "Others have had this happen?"

It's not so much fear of her own nightmare experience anymore as fear of... something else. "they've been returned?"

and that's a rather odd choice of words, isn't it?

"They were dreaming," Zhaan says, "about the things or people they most fear. I think you may be confusing your nightmare with whatever it was based on." She sits Sariel down in a padded chair and goes to get some disinfectant and the skin fuser.

Sariel's gaze flicks from one side of that chair to the other the instant after she sits as though half expecting to be held in place; there's nothing. That might be helping, just a little. and then--

Blink. blink blink. that answer is enough to jar Sariel into a moment of true confusion. "they--" and there's something like hope sparking. Faintly.

"They never left their... people have seen them dreaming?" something like hope, and something like disbelief. what if she's wrong?

"Yes. Their bodies remain where they are, anyway - perhaps what's inside is taken somewhere else." Zhaan believed that things like that could happen even before she came here.

"Hold out your hand, please. This is going to sting a bit." Zhaan has some gauze with disinfectant gel on it.

What if she's wrong--but maybe she isn't. there are still thoughts and emotions churning; they had no interest in our higher cognitive processes before,
but who says they haven't now? They didn't treat us like beings who dreamed, and they could only recreate our universe in one room, and what if it's them? But it doesn't sound like them.

There's still fear, certainly. but there's also dizzy relief. "I thought for a second..." sariel's hand is held out quietly. It's shaking.

Zhaan takes it gently with one of her own, in a touch meant to be both physically and emotionally steadying. "You are safe now," she says quietly. "Here. I will fix this, and get you some hot tea." She wipes the cut on Sariel's hand with the antiseptic gel, then picks up the fuser and uses it to scan the cut.

"If you can keep your hand still for about a minute, I should be able to close this wound.

She'll make the connection sooner or later; zhaan could be a little like Yrael. Right now she's holding still. Hers is a world of regeneration technology; she's used to it.

"I thought--" and she *is* slightly steadier in the next breath, emotionally and otherwise. "I thought the beings who--that they'd come here." she might be a while fully convincing herself that they haven't.

Beat. "But something is happening? A telepathic influence, or?..." the basics are sinking in, now. The reasons behind them are what she's seeking.

"We aren't sure. A number of people are investigating. For the time being, we can only mend the hurts and keep a watch on those who have had nightmares, to make sure they can be woken up if they have another one."

No, that doesn't sound at all like them. the prey vibes she's been giving off will still be there for some time, but they're lessening, slowly. "I should tell whoever is investigating that I've been--" not abducted, not again, "affected by this." Unless that was taken care of by turning up at the infirmary.

"I will do that," Zhaan says. "I am trying to contribute to the effort as best I can." She activates the skin fuser: it will make the injury on Sariel's hand and the area around it feel unusually warm for a bit.

Whoops. "Oh. ... thank you." Sariel doesn't flinch, warmth is one thing, pain is quite another. she can handle the former.

And then something else belatedly clicks in. "If I can ask, who else has this been..." she's left searching for a suitable phrase, but the intent is clear enough. she has close friends among the regular patrons of the bar.

"Will Scarlett and Kate Bishop, Gupreet Sandhu, Asher, and Colene Shepard, among others." They're the ones Zhaan's had direct contact with, and they are all in the infirmary right now. "I do not have the full list. But quite a few people."

Two of the names she's never heard before, but the first pair? They make sariel take notice. "Will *and* Kate? And Dr. Sandhu?"

the whole situation, now she's piecing together what it actually is, is extremely troubling. But it's just gotten even more personal. "Should I warn anyone I know who stays here?"

"You probably should," Zhaan says. "Monitoring sleepers and waking them up in the event of a nightmare is all we can do, though. Fortunately cots have been set up in what used to be the staff gym, with people on duty to watch. Anyone who fears being attacked can stay there."

Her work with the fuser done, Zhaan deactivates it. "Let me get a hand scanner and make sure you suffered no other damage - just in case."

"I don't normally stay here, but several of my friends do." Yrael, doc, angel, Harding. "I'll tell them as soon as possible."

She'll probably go looking for them all as soon as she's cleared to leave, knowing her.

Zhaan nods, activating the small scanner to check for any broken bones. "You seem to be all right," she says. "I would suggest spending the rest of the night on one of the cots, if you are planning to stay here. Repeat attacks are unfortunately common."

Broken bones there aren't, but Zhaan's scanner may very well pick up healed scars hidden beneath Sariel's clothing.

"I only meant to sleep for an hour or two." From the look on her face at the idea of repeat attacks, she isn't planning on finishing that nap. "Thank you, I--" her eyes flick to her bruised right wrist, and then away. "I'll warn whoever I can."

"All right. Please come and find me if you require anything."

"Thank you, I will." It's a still shaken Sariel who stands and exits; it almost certainly it isn't the aliens who abducted her, but there's still something beyond unpleasant going on.

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Visiting Post for Commander Colene Shepard

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