Sibling Comfort

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11604.18)

 

The orderlies from the medical gym came to get John for his physical therapy session. They walked him down the hallway to the gym, and watched the chief engineer of the Challenger go through a slightly more rigorous workout than his previous one, and added fifteen minutes to it.

 

John was feeling good at the end of the session; his body was beginning to regain its endurance, and for the first time since his admittance to the hospital, he felt confident that he would be back aboard the ship very soon.

 

He was toweling the sweat off his body when the door of the gym slid open, and in walked Dr. Joanna McCoy. She looked around for a second, then saw John, and made a beeline for him, walking very briskly. She came up to him and smiled. "Hi, Lieutenant," she said. "How's it going?"

 

John smiled at her as he rubbed the towel into his sweat-soaked hair. "Pretty good, Doc," he answered. "I feel better after this workout than I did the other one. Hardly any soreness at all." McCoy nodded. "John, I have news," she replied. "My father has been looking into the incident aboard your ship, and he's coming here to talk to you about it."

 

Randall stared at her. "Your father?" he said. "Who--", then it hit him, and he stared slightly slack-jawed at Joanna. "Are you saying Admiral Leonard McCoy is coming here?" The female physician smiled at him, knowing she'd dropped a bombshell on him. "That's right," she beamed. "My father is extremely interested in your case, and also he wants to check the results of the new plasti-skin he helped invent that we used on you.

 

"But, he's not coming alone," she continued. "Admiral Jason Baldwin of Starfleet Intelligence is accompanying him," and John, whose eyes had strayed away from hers, suddenly riveted his gaze on her, and Joanna knew he recognized Baldwin's name. "Do you know Admiral Baldwin, Lieutenant?" she asked gently.

 

John slowly nodded, his eyes turning a deeper shade of blue, and Joanna was struck by the sharpened intensity of his gaze. "I am acquainted with Admiral Baldwin," he said slowly in a low voice, and Joanna instantly thought to herself, 'The admiral is not one of his favorite people.'

 

She said lightly, "Well, it will be ten hours or so before they get here, so let's get you back to your room, and update your stats, so to speak." John nodded, his eyes returning to normal, and the orderlies escorted him back to his room, Joanna tagging along.

 

He was placed in his bed, and the nurses immediately began scanning him with their medical tricorders. This went on for a few minutes, the nurses showing the results to the female doctor, who nodded approvingly, and John felt himself begin to relax. The door of his room slid open, and in walked his sister, Victoria, the head nurse in charge of his case.

 

John's sister smiled and gave him a little wave as she was shown the results of the scans. She nodded to the nurses, then Joanna said she had some computer work to do, exiting the room, and Victoria went over to her brother, kissing him on the cheek.

 

"Hi, Johnny," she said. "How are you feeling?" Randall smiled at her. "Stronger by the minute, sister mine," he said, and Victoria beamed at him. "The workout went good and felt good. I have hardly any soreness, and I think my endurance is starting to come back." His sister smiled happily. "I'm glad to hear you say that, brother dear," she said, then her PADD beeped, and she looked at it, her eyebrows rising.

 

"Johnny, these readings are....amazing," she breathed. "I cannot believe how far you've come in so short a time. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled beyond words at this," she finished, and kissed his cheek again. "You have been working out on the ship, haven't you?"

 

John nodded. "Every chance I get, sweetie," he said. "You have to maintain a certain degree of fitness to be a Starfleet officer. That's pretty much what I strive for, and those levels aren't that low, either, I assure you." Victoria nodded. "Well, you've been keeping your end of the bargain, so to speak," she answered. "It's definitely aiding you in your recovery, and I couldn't be happier, Johnny. I'm so proud of you," and she hugged him tightly for a few seconds.

 

John returned the hug, then the siblings stared at each other. "Thanks, Vicki," he said. "I sure am glad you're here taking care of me, too. That's took a lot off my mind, knowing I have someone here who gives a flip about me. I love you, sister mine," he finished, and Victoria immediately hugged him again, then John heard muffled sobs coming from her, and held her to him. He hadn't meant to make her cry, but Vicki could get emotional at times, and, to be fair about it, he was pretty sure she had been worried sick about him when he first arrived here.

 

She broke the embrace a few moments later, and smiled through her tears at him. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to get so mushy around you," she said, and John wiped her cheeks, smiling gently at her. "As Surak said, the cause was sufficient," he said in his best Vulcan voice, and she giggled. "Oh, Johnny, you could always make me laugh," she said. "You could always pull me out of one of my moods. I love you for that," and kissed his cheek again.

 

John smiled, then a memory of his father popped into his head; his father soothing Vicki after one of her emotional outbursts when they were kids, and an expression of sadness came over his face. Victoria saw it, and was instantly concerned. "Johnny, what is it?" she asked gently, taking him by the shoulders.

 

Randall shook his head. "Just an image of Dad comforting you after something happened," he said, then his throat tightened, and he couldn't go on, hanging his head. Victoria immediately hugged him to her, knowing this time, she was the protector, and she could be fierce when it came to her older brother, whom she loved dearly. "Oh, Johnny, don't do this," she said softly, and John laid his head on her shoulder, fighting back tears.

 

Victoria's heart ached for her brother; she knew how much John still missed their father. He was the only biological child of Marcus Randall, but she, Rick, and Jimmy had never been treated like the adopted children they were. John loved each and every one of them, and to him, they were blood. Marcus and Denise had drilled into their adopted children's heads that they were family, the adoption stuff was gone. They were Randalls in every sense, and the parents had treated them accordingly.

 

Victoria still missed her adopted father as well, but she knew John had idolized Marcus, and had taken his father's death extremely hard. Then, she had found out, along with certain other people, that her father had been murdered, and John had avenged him. She loved her brother doubly for that, while being angry at him at the same time for putting his own life on the line. If he had been killed, and she hastily abandoned that line of thought, holding her brother to her, trying to give him strength.

 

END LOG