Hand in Hand

Posted on Mon Jul 20th, 2020 @ 8:41pm by Ensign Alexandra 'Lexi' O'Connery & Lieutenant JG Mattias Constantine

Mission: Mission 3 - 100
Location: Deck E - Sickbay
Timeline: Day 37, Month 2, Year 0 03:30
2511 words - 5 OF Standard Post Measure

[Two Days Prior to Day 1, Month 1, Year 0 16:00]

“Matty, get ready for dinner, you’re going to be late.”

Standing in front of a mirror, Mattias Constantine tugged at the collar of his dress uniform, testing the recently tailored garment for fit and comfort. When it had arrived the day prior, a first try-on revealed it was a bit tight around the shoulders and a bit too loose around the waist. Luckily, he had brought his trusted seamstress with him - the very same person who was currently chastising him for being tardy.

“Natalie, stop it! I’m basically done over here,” he grabbed some of the tissue paper that was used in the packaging, balled it up, and threw it at his sister. He looked over to where she was standing, dressed in a full length gown ready to head out for the Starfleet-hosted dinner celebrating the launch of the Atlantis’s mission. “Dressed to impress, huh?”

“Well yeah, duh,” she nodded. ”I mean, I have to keep up with Mister Dress Uniform over here.”

“It wouldn’t look this good without your help, sis. Thanks again,” Matt adjusted his collar and made one final adjustment to his pip, ensuring it was perfectly aligned on his chest.

“Ooo,” Natalie prodded her brother in a sing-song voice. “Last time I saw you put pomade in your hair you were going on a date. So it follows that you must be trying to impress somebody,” she snapped her fingers. “Ah ha! Must be that Alexandra in your department.”

“No, the only thing that follows is that I’m trying to make a good first impression on the entire crew, ya dork.” The newly minted communications officer said one thing, but his truthfulness was nullified by the rush of color to his cheeks. “Ugh,” he admitted defeat, “remind me never to tell you about my crushes anymore.”

“You definitely have a type, big brother.”

“Shut up!”

“Rude!” Natalie grinned, satisfied in the knowledge that she had successfully struck a nerve. “Well come on Matty, if we don’t start walking now, we’re going to be late.”

“Matt.”

“Matty.”

“Mattias!”

[Day 37, Month 2, Year 0 03:30]

"Huh? What?"

Lieutenant Constantine was startled awake by a gentle nudge on his shoulder. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he realized that he had fallen asleep in one of the chairs beside one of the biobeds in sickbay. Most of the preceding thirty-six hours had been a sleepless affair for many of the crew aboard the Atlantis, but Matt had come down to visit as frequently as his schedule permitted. He may have been assisting with the repairs that were ongoing after the crew had repelled the Vrav boarding party, but his thoughts never left the well being of his best friend, Ensign O'Connery.

"Sorry, lietuenant, I'm just about to go off shift. Do you need anything before I go?" The night shift nurse was making the rounds checking on the wounded.

"No, I'm fine, thanks. Just tired. Do you mind if I stay?"

"No, not at all. Just give me a ring if anything comes up."

Mattias nodded, thankful for the work that the medical team had done. The physical casualties were severe, and so too was the toll on the mental health of the crew. Doctor zh'Kenarh, Ensign Bell, and the others continued to work dutifully to treat them all. He shifted his weight in the chair in search of a new position that would be comfortable enough to allow him to sleep. He reached over to the bed, taking Lexi's hand in his before fatigue took over and he slipped into unconsciousness.

The sound of a voice brought her out of the fog. She could tell that she was horizontal, and from the sounds around, she was in sickbay at the very least. Something tickled her nose and her cheeks, and when she tried to raise a hand to swipe the annoyance away, it felt heavy. She moaned a little as she suddenly became aware of how much she ached. It wasn't like her to emerge from sleep grumpily, but her last memory had something to do with the sound of someone telling her to not die and blood. Being on a hospital bed usually meant something direr than a set of bruises and blood which she high suspected was her own in a vague memory was something a lot bigger.

Slowly she opened her eyes and blinked in the dim light trying to make everything out but it was impossible so she looked down at why she could not raise her hand. “Matt.” She whispered not able to speak louder than that.

His was a shallow, frivolous sleep, so Constantine woke almost immediately when he heard his name called out. The contortions that the small chair he had slept in required had stiffened his joints and muscles. Matt stretched and leaned forward in his seat, bringing himself close to Lexi's eye level. "Hey, I'm here." He was sore and fatigued, but she still put a smile on his face. "You gave us a little bit of a scare, Lexi, but don't think you can get rid of me so easily. Can I get you some water or something?"

“Sorry. I was surprised as you guys.” Her voice gravely and her hand reached for the annoyance at her cheek to pull it away. By doing so, she removed the oxygen from her nose finding it was making her feel woozy. She did not want to be sick right then.

"Please. I feel like my tongue is making a convincing impression of sandpaper, my mouth is so dry…" She gave him the smallest of smile, not feeling at the top of her game, but still feeling good enough to try to make him smile, or at least to reassure him that she was still in good spirit. She had no idea of the extent of damage the shot had caused, but since she could feel most of her limbs just fine she was sure she would be fine.

"Okay, I'll be right back, don't go anywhere," Matt kept his tone light, even though he didn't feel that particularly upbeat. In a deliberate motion, he stood up to his feet and walked over to where the nurses had set up a drinking water station. Filling two cups with chilled water, he made his way back to Lexi's bedside, taking the opportunity to read the display of her vitals on the overhead screen for what must have been the hundredth time.

"Prost!" Matt tapped his cup against hers and drank most of its contents in a single swig. Waiting until she had finished drinking, he placed a handkerchief down on the bedside table to act as a coaster before taking and placing both vessels on it for reuse. Unsurprisingly, he didn't have much to say that early in the morning, but he was attentive towards his best friend. He noticed how she winced every time she had to move, so he took his hand and swept the hair out of her face to the side, knowing that it drove her crazy even on a good day.

Lexi smiled a little at the notion that she could go anywhere but that was impossible right now. As soon as she finished a few sips a nurse appeared out of no where just as the man was doing something more kind that he had ever before. “Thank you Matt.” She croaked feeling the instant relief of not having her hair in her face.

“You were meant to let us if anything changed Lieutenant. It is good to see you awake Ensign.” He said to the Communication Chief sat there. The nurse coming to loom over her to check her pupil responses found Lexi less than cooperating. The light in her eyes was something that she never was fond of. Right now, it felt like someone cranked a headache from a 3 to a 9 by flipping a switch. Without being rough, but with an amount of strength that clearly let the man know that his patient was not going to suffer the exam right there and then, Lexi pushed the penlight away from her. “I am going to let the doctor know you are finally awake.” The man said amused by the woman.

“Finally awake?” Lexi commented on with a frowned.

"I don't know how much you remember, but after our date Friday night I guess you left my room at some point after I fell asleep," Constantine explained slowly. He knew she deserved the truth, but he stalled for a moment by taking another sip of water. "So the Vrav would've boarded early Saturday morning. Don't worry, we repelled the boarders. We're safe for now, but the only negotiating they are doing is by the end of a rifle, so there hasn't been much for us to do other than regroup. It's um, well - it's Tuesday now."

"That is right. We fell asleep and I woke up cause you were snoring in my ear. I tried to wake you but you were impossible to wake." She could remember that clearly, it had been nice to fall asleep like that. She had woken up but could not get any sense out of him other than his request that she stayed but she did not want to have to do the walk of shame so she had grabbed her shoes to leave. It was just after that, that it all became blank. She could remember being cold and hearing everyone being worried for her. "Yet I feel like I could just curl up and go back to sleep."

"I don't blame you. I'll stay here with you if that's okay. I don't feel like leaving."

As Matt listened to her recollection of the events, the full realization of how close things had come to going horribly wrong dawned on him, almost as if someone was slowly illuminating the darkness he had compartmentalized in his brain to keep functioning. Cracks started to appear in his facade, a result of the emotional roller coaster that they had all been forced to ride. If there was one thing he wanted more than anything, he wanted to hold her close and let the synchronized rise and fall of their breathing melt their problems away, but that was impossible for many reasons.

"I'm sorry Lexi," he wiped the tears out of his watering eyes. "I don't want to sound like I'm complaining or have been dealt an unfair hand. We're all going through the same hardships. Honestly, I've got it better than most because I get to tackle things head on with my best friend, it's just... I almost lost you, and it just hit me how that would shake me to the core. I'm so glad you're okay, you have no idea," Matt finally managed a smile.

“I am right here. I am okay-ish.” She told him before she fell quiet taking in his tears. Lexi stared at him for a long time before she leant our and weaved her fingers through his slowly using that momentum to sit up.

The nurse came out just as she move enough to wince, she wanted to comfort him and it was impossible laid there. “Whoa Ensign. Lie back down. What is going on?” He demanded feeling the heightened emotions in the room

"I'm sorry nurse, she's just trying to console me," Matt explained, already resigned to taking the blame and the dirty look that the medical professional shot him. "Lexi please lie back down or else he's gonna kick me out for being a distraction. Heck," Constantine felt the nurse's laser-like stare boring a hole in the side of his head, "he might kick me out on principle anyway."

"Fine." Lexi lay back down after shooting them both her own dirty look and a few choice words under her breath in French. She hurt too much to argue and she was sure if she carried on she would wake up the other people in sickbay.

"You are the most stubborn woman on this ship after the Commander, Alexandra. It has to be a communication officer thing." The Nurse said trying to sound level but he would get into trouble if the doctor discovered all of this especially as he had let the man stay there.

Alexandra. The sound of her full name seemed foreign to Mattias, who had always known and called her by her nickname. He offered his heartfelt thanks to the nurse as he left for his continued professional courtesy before sitting back down in his chair. Matt finished off the rest of his water with one final gulp, idly manipulating the cup with some basic sleight of hand as the lights began to dim back down to their nighttime setting.

"Such language, Lexi!" Constantine chuckled softly in the darkness as he reclined his chair as far as it would go. It creaked and groaned under his weight, but eventually he managed to twist himself into a shape where sleep was within the realm of possibility. A stifled yawn signaled exactly how close he was to falling asleep. "Well, at least I know what language you'll go to when you get angry at me. If I start hearing French, I'm going to run and hide in Duncan's room."

Lexi said nothing about the language that she used, she was sure he had heard worst from her. It was her go to after Spanish. "Mcgrumpy won't protect you. He thinks I'm cute." Lexi said watching him settle down next to her. She wanted to say to him to bed, wanted to say that she would be fine without him there but she wanted to know that someone would be there when she woke up.

"Mmm, everybody... thinks you're cute, silly," he managed to murmur through another yawn. "You're a total babe, duh." Taking a squashed up pillow, Matt wedged himself against the corner of the biobed and surrendered in the fight against his increasingly heavy eyelids. In a few hours, it would be time to put his officer hat back on and start helping with repairs around the ship again, but for a moment, Lexi helped him forget about the odds that were stacked against them.

"I'll be here." With his eyes closed, Matt searched for Lexi's hand and rested his arm alongside hers. "I'll be here when you wake up. I promise."

The woman said no more, they had so much to talk about when she was better but for now it really could all wait. Her own body was feeling the strain and the sedation that she had been Under to try and heal her enough to wake up. Beside her, the rise and fall of Mattias's chest slowed to a steady rhythm as he drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow would come soon enough, but for now, it was enough to survive.