A Battle To Recover

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 10812.12)

 

 

John continued to recover in sickbay from his injuries sustained during his fight with a Klingon

during his covert mission for Starfleet Intelligence. This particular morning, however, was proving

to be more painful than any he had experienced so far. He turned his head slightly, and saw the

form of Jeff Michaels, his engineering colleague and friend, walking toward his bed.

 

Michaels arrived at his bedside, and smiled down at his friend. "Hey, John," he said. "How you

doing?" John smiled weakly up at him, and said, "Hey, Jeff. A little better now, thanks." Michaels

cocked his head to one side, and looked down at Randall. "You seem a little down about something,

my friend. What is it?" John sighed tiredly, and said, "I'm just tired, Jeff. My head's killing me, and my

leg hurts pretty good, too. Just drains me fighting the pain. Don't worry about me, I'll be all right."

 

Michaels nodded and said, "Well, I won't bother you, then. You rest up and get well, we miss you

in engineering." Randall nodded wearily, and gave a small smile. "I'll be back before too long, Jeff.

Say hi to Steve Davis for me." Michaels nodded again. "I'll do that, John. Speedy recovery, my

friend." He lifted a hand, and left sickbay. John watched him go, then leaned back into his biobed,

his hands gripping the sheets tightly as a new wave of pain lanced through his body.

 

A little while later, but what seemed to be many hours to the Starfleet lieutenant, a nurse came to

his bedside. She looked at the readout on the medical panel, then looked down at Randall. "How

are you doing, Lieutenant?" she asked, noticing the tension in John's body, and the way his hands

were gripping the bedsheets. Randall replied through clenched teeth, "N-Not v-very good, r-right now,

I-I'm afraid." The nurse heard the pain in his voice, immediately filled a hypospray, and said," Well,

it's time for your pain meds; this should help."

 

She administered the hypo to the side of John's neck, and within a few seconds, or so it seemed

to Randall, the pain lessened noticably. He sighed in relief, and relaxed into his bed; then his eyes

widened a bit, and he looked at the nurse. "Nurse, my leg feels wet and hot," he said. The nurse

raised her eyebrows, and peeled back the covers. She frowned at what she saw; there was some

oozing along the suture line when John's leg injury had been sewn up. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be

right back," she said brightly, and went to get some ointment from the sealing dispenser.

 

John, lying in the bed, groaned mentally at the nurse's attempt at humor, then thought, 'Well, she's

just trying to make you feel better.' He also knew that he was to blame for his leg being messed up

again. Earlier, he had made himself get out of bed, and limped over to the intercom on the wall to

issue an order to Jeff Michaels; now, he couldn't even remember what the order had been; something

to do with the sensors, he thought, but wasn't for sure. He sat up enough in his bed to where he could

see his leg, and closed his eyes resignedly.

 

The nurse came back with the ointment, and began to apply it to his leg, covering the ointment with

new bandaging. As she worked, she eyed the lieutenant from the corner of her eye, and said, "You

know, if I didn't know better, I'd say someone has been on his feet before the doctor said it was okay."

John gave a small smile, nodded, and said, "Guilty as charged. Won't happen again, though; it hurts

too much now." The nurse finished her work, and put an ultraviolet light on his leg to seal the bandages.

She smiled at him, and said, "Your secret is safe with me, Lieutenant."

 

John smiled his thanks, then said, "Nurse, would it be possible to get something to make me sleep

for a while? I'm REALLY tired, and it feels like I have no strength whatsoever." The nurse nodded, and

said, "I'm sure we can come up with something." She made some adjustments on the computer

medical panel, looked at the results, then went to the dispenser and filled a hypospray. She came

back to his bedside, and applied the hypo to his neck. "There, I think and hope you should have some

pleasant dreams, now," she said.

 

John nodded, smiled wearily, and whispered, "Thank you, Nurse." He then closed his eyes, and

waited for the sedative to kick in. The nurse thought to herself, 'This man is worn out. He must have

really been in pain.' She re-covered him with the bedsheets, and patted him on the shoulder,

whispering, "I'll be here when you awaken, Lieutenant." She walked away, then turned to watch him

again, and saw his body gently relax as sleep claimed him. She smiled to herself, and continued on

her rounds.

 

 

END LOG