Writing time - 30 mins
Nolan opened his eyes to soft light streaming down from an overhead array of lamps. He stood up gasping and grabbing his side, searching for what he didn't know, but knowing it was deathly important. He pawed his rib cage and found nothing unusual. He looked over the room and realized he was in the trauma bay of the medical facility. He was on a bed with a blue microfiber blanket over his legs. The room was small and softly lit. There was a large observation window to his left, a doorway to the right of the window, and a monitor on the white wall to his right. The monitor displayed his vital signs, all looking normal to him, though he was no doctor. Nothing else adorned the white walls, it was the incarnation of minimalist design.
He put his legs over the side of the bed facing the observation window and rubbed his face with both hands. He knew something big had happened but he was groggy and had a difficult time keeping his concentration. He remembered the banging sound, the gravity changes and hitting his desk, but the rest was a blurr.
"Good morning captain." Mistance's voice came from the speakers near the observation window. "Welcome back to the living."
"What happened?" Nolan said.
"Our ship was attacked by Guranthien pirates, you were nearly killed by a broken bottle that had punctured your lung and ruptured your spleen. You should really change that materializer script to use more modern container material instead of glass." She responded.
"That might change the taste of the wine. Any Casualties?"
"Almost one. One big fool that no one would miss." Mistance sighed as she answered.
Nolan stood out of the bed and walked to the doorway, then stopped when he had the sensation of being nude.. He was wearing light Newskin silk pants. The fabric was so light and frictionless that he felt completely naked. The door derezzed and he walked into the observation room.
The observation room was round and about fifty feet from one side to the opposite side. Two robotic monitor robots hung from the ceiling. Their multi-fingered hands moving quickly but silently at the array of floating heads up displays in front of them. Each occupied observation room was constantly monitored and adjusted for the patient's comfort down to the hundredths of a degree. There were tracks along the ceiling and if a patient needed physical assistance, the robots could quickly move to their room where the window would derez so the robot could enter and provide assistance.
Mistance was near the exit where a human sized heads up display showed two internal images of a man's body. One was normal as far as Nolan could tell, and the other had something protruding from the side. This must have been his scan. The anatomy was completely intact and he wasn't sure how he felt about Mistance staring at his body so intently. He tried not to remember the pain he felt after hitting the desk, or think about how lucky he must have been that Mistance was in his quarters and close at hand when it happened. He was thankful, but a little embarrassed how intimately she knew his body. He had never seen her naked. He pushed the thought from his mind and greeted Mistance. She turned to face him and her face was calm but her eyes seemed to stab at him angrily.
"You saved my life. I owe you one." Nolan told her when he was close enough.
"You made me sleep in your bed alone. You're lucky I didn't let you bleed to death." She pivoted to the right and raised her hand to slap him. He caught her hand instinctively, then realized his mistake and let go. As soon as he did she struck him again from the left. This time he didn't stop it, and her hand hit his face hard enough to leave a bright red hand print.
As a writer I love a challenge. I intend to write an entire book a little at a time, and post it here. You will have the opportunity to read the story as its pages evolve. I am writing the story in parts every day and posting them at the top of this page. If this is your first time visiting my story page, check the archives to read from the beginning and catch up. Feel free to add any comments and be a part of the book creation!
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