The Best Part of Waking Up

Posted on Thu Jun 24th, 2021 @ 8:29pm by Commander Ryan Blake & Senior Chief Petty Officer Henry 'Hank' Keitel & Lieutenant Commander Sheena Toran-Blake & Lieutenant Commander Robert Hendon

Mission: The Thorion Conundrum Mission Brief
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Back post: 24-48 hours prior to Coming Home

Senior Chief Henry 'Hank' Keitel walked into to Sickbay to see Nurse Peeters reviewing the life support monitor over Ryan's bed. He saw Sheena sitting in a chair next to Ryan's bed, a hand gently covering the young man still in a coma. He stepped over and nodded at Ryan's still form. "Evening XO. Any word on Lieutenant Blake's condition?"

"Nothing yet. His mind is......dis......disjointed so much. I can't make sense of it yet", Sheena said, trying to smile. Scared for Ryan, Sheena did not go back to their quarters to sleep. She had no intention to move, unless she was needed by Maia.

Hank looked at the still form of the man he had served with the last four years and change. He remembered like it was yesterday when the fresh faced Ensign Blake had reported to the Starbase Strategic Operations Center. Unlike most newly minted officers, Ryan had sought out Hank and asked for advice on how to go about his duties and how best to interact with the enlisted members of the department. Hank had been a mentor for the lad for nearly a year before Ryan found his natural rhythm and excelled. He looked at Sheena and remembered the first day she and Ryan met on her first liberty call at the Starbase. Their bond had only grown stronger over the last several years. "XO, take a crusty old Non-Coms advice. Crawl into that bed right there and get some sleep. I will watch over the lad for you. I promise, I will wake you if there is any change in his condition."

"Thankyou Hank," Sheena said, and did just that. She climbed into the bio bed and was soon asleep or was she?

Tag Hank

Peeters looked up from the screen when she saw the senior chief enter the sickbay. She expected Dr. Hendon but apparently he was still getting settled. She said, "Senior Chief, nice of you to step by!". She saw his worried face and continued, "I believe he is a good friend of yours...We were lucky that Dr. Henden arrived, without him the lieutenant would have probably died. But now his condition is stable and we have to wait for him to wake up."

To cheer him up she decided to be positive. "Come on Senior Chief, you know as well as I do he is a fighter, he will overcome this! I'm following up his vitals, so nothing can happen to him without us knowing. You can stay but I urge you to leave, the moment it gets too busy here in sickbay!"

Hank nodded in response to Kimberly's instructions. "Understood Lieutenant. Just take good care of him."

"Ofcourse senior chief!", she replied. It was the second time she granted someone unauthorised full acces to sickbay, but with her present, there wasn't a procedure violation ... technically.

Hank sat with Ryan and watched the bio-scans displayed on the overhead monitor. He noticed a sudden spike on the monitor and sat back, startled by Ryan's abrupt sitting up.

"Orions attacking the...!" Ryan blinked as he looked about Sickbay and realized he was safe. "What the...?"

As soon as she saw the spike? Peeters called for doctor Hendon =/\= Dr. Hendon being requested in sickbay, Dr. Hendon ... sickbay! =/\= She walked to the biobed and she urged the senior chief to take a step back and join Sheena at the bed next to Ryan's. "Calm down lieutenant, You're safe!", she said while checking the bio scans again. "You just woke up from a coma!", she said.

Robert rushed in. He had just popped out for break when the call came. He hurried over to Blakes bio bed. He looked at the beds bio readings. They were not great. But still a lot better then when Ryan was brought in. Roberts hands ran over one indicator reading.

“ Good good the surgery worked. But he has a very long road of recovery to travel. Try not to speak just yet Ryan. Your brain needs to process your arrival to consciousness for the moment. Your be chatting away soon. Peeters let’s see if he can manage some fluid intake please. Vitamin C would also be good for him. Perhaps a glass of orange juice to wet his whistle. I’ll bet he is as parched as a Cardassian desert.” Hendon said.

"Ok doctor!", Peeters looked at Sheena and Hank, making sure they kept a distance until the initial examination was over and the doc gave his permission to 'welcome' the lieutenant back. "Senior chief, can you go to the leisure bar and return with a bottle of orange juice, please?", she asked Hank. Seeing Hank leave, she walked towards the cabinet with supplies and took what she needed, bringing back the sac of fluid, a catheter and adhesive tape. She managed to put the catheter in place but it took her much longer than usual. A good thing doctor Hendon didn't see her struggling.
"Fluids done, doctor Hendon!"

Sheena sat up in a hurry......"Ryan......pirates......Orions.....?" Looking like she had seen a ghost, "Oh my god it was terrifying!" she screamed burying her head in her hands. Finally getting her composure she looked at Ryan, "Ryan.....you will be alright. We will get through this together," she said softly getting off the bed.

Robert looked at Sheena’s bio bed readings. He immediately gestured back towards the bio bed.

“ Commander. I think it might be prudent if you stayed on your bio bed for now.Your heart rate has gone up a little to quickly for my liking. I know your worried about Blake. But do you wish him to see you collapse? “

He turned to Peeters.

“ Her heart rate just shot up. It might be due to her link with Blake. Put together a hypo just in case. Hopefully she will calm down and it may return to normal.” Robert said.

Looking at Dr. Hendon, knowing he meant well, Sheena reluctantly got back on the bio bed. Looking at Ryan, she closed her eyes and laid back only to see the horror's of what they went through. Her heart jumped again as she saw an Orion coming for Ryan...."Neural blocker!!" Sheena screamed, as she paled.

Hendon looked at Peeters.

“ He’s having a nightmare and taking her with him! Peeters get a neural blocker and put it on her. Before Ryan drags her to far in.” Hendon said.

Tag: Peeters,

Ryan sensed Sheena's distress. Through force of will, he regained consciousness for a second time. He looked at her for a moment before glancing at Robert. He closed his eyes and concentrated on Sheena's favorite song. He focused on the lyrics.


Between the neural blocker taking effect and the sheer force of Ryan's song lyrics, Sheena's mind slowly began to release the horror of what she was seeing. Crying, Sheena's heart went out to her beloved. The pain and torture he was forced to endure tore her up but she understood that the road to his recovery would have to start with her being strong enough to endure his pain through his recovery. Now it was up to her and the counselor to help Ryan deal with this trauma.

Hendon watched the bio bed readings closely. The neural blocker was working. He gave a small sigh of relief.

" Looks like she is stabilizing........ good. That was a close call. They both could of been sucked into whatever horrors Ryan is reliving in his nightmare. You know the Orions should be held to account for this." Hendon said.

Slowly Sheena opened her eyes. "Oh Ryan my love......I am so sorry for what they did to you," she said aloud. Tears ran down her cheeks, the pain of what he suffered was almost too much for her to bear. "I am going to avenge you my beloved!", and openly weeped.

Hendon knew what it was like. If someone hurt Alice or his kids. He would indeed hurt that person. But he could not allow Sheena to leave sickbay just yet. The toll of her link with Ryan had been very severe. She could hurt herself even if it was just walking out of sickbay.

" I am sorry Commander Toran. Believe me I understand your need to avenge your lover.But your synaptic pathways need time to steady. If you leave sickbay now your end up in a comatose state and unable to help your Imzadi." Hendon said quietly so only Sheena could hear.

"Dr. Hendon, I'm not going anywhere till you allow me to," Sheena said softly so only he could hear.

Ryan saw that Sheena was also in the care of Doctor Hendon and Nurse Peeters. He settled back in and focused on pleasant memories of Sheena and himself. The thoughts would help him do directed dreaming as he fell back asleep. Which occurred rather quickly as he drifted off less than a minute later, a smile on his face.

Hank stood back watching. His expression was stoic as usual, but inside he felt a wave of relief. Ryan was rather like a son to him, despite the younger man's being a superior officer. He gave a single nod before quietly exiting Sickbay.

Hendon was pleased to see peace return to Ryan's face.

" Well. It looks like Ryan will make a slow but full recovery. I want Sheena monitored as well. But it looks like she has not suffered any long turn effects." Hendon said



Cmdr. Sheena Toran
Executive Officer
USS Leto

Lieutenant Ryan Blake
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
USS Leto

Senior Chief Henry Keitel
Command Senior Chief
USS Leto

Lieutenant Commander Dr Robert Hendon
Chie Medical Officer
USS Leto

Lieutenant Kimberly Peeters
Head Nurse
USS Leto