Twenty-Three Seconds

Posted on Thu Aug 14th, 2025 @ 5:15pm by Lieutenant JG James Phoenix & Captain Shran dh'Klar
Edited on on Thu Aug 14th, 2025 @ 8:02pm

1,193 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Wounds From the Mirror
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Right After "The Game Begins"

Twenty-three seconds. That is about how long it took to get to sickbay from the bridge aboard most Sovereign class ships. Phoenix knew this all too well, due to the simple fact that for the better part of the last year, he'd been battered, bruised, and lit on fire countless times, and spent many more occasions guarding the medical bay. During the past few years, he'd heard stories from other officers who made that trek when a loved one was in the medical bay. They said it was the longest amount of time in their life, even if it was only ten to twenty seconds, due to the straight fact that there was a slight chance something catastrophic happened to the person they cared about. The Lieutenant would soon discover that these officers were right.

James felt like he was in the turbolift for an eternity. Imik had found Ash, who was now in sickbay. Undoubtedly she was likely injured, but he didn't know to what extent. Was she alive? His mind was racing. He felt like he was on the verge of a panic attack. On top of that, assuming she was alive, what would he even say? She was his best friend. His real best friend. Not some Terran psycho who wanted him to suffer.

The time had never felt like the three and a half centuries it was since he'd seen her last. It had only felt like eight years. But it was still years since he last saw her. But what if after all those years, she died when he could have saved her? No. He couldn't think like that. She would be alive when he reached sickbay. What if she wasn't?

His thoughts kept racing back and forth until he found himself in front of the entrance to sickbay. He hadn't even realized that he left the turbolift. Despite it being a quick walk, it really did feel like an eternity.

James wanted to walk away. Maybe if he didn't enter, nothing bad would happen? No. That was clearly untrue. It would happen regardless. And this was something he couldn't afford to avoid, even if it meant seeing Ash in a terrible condition. He forced himself to enter the medical bay.

Sickbay looked like a cross between a field hospital and a warzone. It was obvious that combat had taken place here, and equally obvious that they were dealing with more casualties than they had personnel to deal with at the moment. The fact that the ship had been secured didn't seem to matter much at the moment in sickbay. Three doctors were working: Perrim, Del Rio, and the EMH. Perrim was in the surgical bay looking exhausted as he looked to be performing some sort of surgery on a Bolian officer, the EMH was treating multiple patients at once, and Del Rio was at a biobed, tricorder open, her patient was Ash.

Phoenix entered the bay in a slight haze. He swiveled his head, looking for Ash. He took in the sight of sickbay as he did this. Things here had changed drastically since the last time he was in here. It had only been a few hours. He turned and then saw her, laying in a biobed, with Doctor Del Rio hovering over her.

James walked over next to the doctor. Ash looked really bad. "Doc?" He asked while attempting to keep himself composed.

Viviana didn't respond right away, furiously working on the injuries. She quickly connected the I.V. and set it to the highest level she thought she could handle. "Apologies lieutenant, but this patient has serious blood loss that had to be dealt with. I assume you know her?"

"She's an old friend" James said while keeping his gaze on Ash, knowing that was downplaying how close they were.

"Well, don't worry, she looks worse than she actually is. I already have stabilized her, and most of the remaining injuries are fairly superficial. Believe me, I've seen and dealt with much worse over the last day or so" Viviana replied as she continued treating her patient. She picked up a dermal regenerator and began running it over several of the wounds, clearing them up.

James let out a quiet sigh of relief. He understood what she was saying about the last day. He was surprised Ash wasn't worse off physically, considered those who he knew were apart of the mirror crew. He made a note to ask her once she was home free from her wounds, provided the mental aspect wasn't much worse for her.

He turned to look at Viviana. "Thanks doc" he looked back at Ashlynn. She'd probably be out for a little while longer.

"She'll be fine, at least physically. She is going to need a lot of time with the counselors once we get her back to 100% physically" Viviana replied.

"She's far more resilient than I could ever be" James smiled. He knew that Ash would get through whatever came her way. Hell, she managed to survive an infestation of Terrans from the Mirror Universe, let alone whatever she dealt with since Alpha Three.

Ash opened her eyes after being asleep for a while now. "Someone's smiling like an idiot" she teased wearily.

James moved closer to the biobed as Viviana kept working. He rested his hand on the edge of the bed. "Can you blame me?" he chuckled.

Ash gave a soft smile before looking up at him. "You look like you've seen some things."

"Can you blame a guy for looking like a deer in headlights when his best friend looks like she's been through the wringer?"

"It looks worse than it is" she said softly.

"So the doc has said" James replied before trailing off, unsure what to say next.

Ash picked up on this and knew. "We don't have to talk about it right now" she said, implying the elephant in the room; The fact that they hadn't seen each other in years. "I just want to enjoy your company while I still have time."

"Thanks" he moved his hand to her arm to comfort her. "I missed you" he smiled.

She pat an empty space on the bed that wasn't in the way. She watched James sit down as he was told. She carefully leaned in, but not too much to interfere with Viviana treating her wounds. "I missed you too" she rested her head back down before falling sound asleep.

James rubbed her arm in a comforting fashion before standing up again. He planted a kiss on Ash's forehead. After that he turned to the doc. "Thank you again Doctor" he looked around at the less than stellar state of sickbay. "Could I lend a hand here in any way?"

"Only if you are hiding a medical degree" Viviana quipped. "Your friend is going to be fine. She just need to rest at this point. If you'll excuse me, as you can tell, I have a lot of other patients to tend to. Dr. Howard would be quite irate if I let more than a handful be treated by the EMH."

 

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