Hail Mary, Lost in Space Pt. 2
The blood-drenched man just stood there with his chest heaving. Just looking at him, anyone could tell that he had clearly been through something; his disposition radiated both intense fear and rage that made Grace and I tense up.
During this what felt like an hour-long stare-off, I had removed my helmet by this point. Grace let out a slight cough to clear his throat as he cautiously began to approach the man.
"Um, hello there," he softly greeted. "Uhh, welcome aboard the Hail Mary. My name is Ryland--"
Suddenly, with a loud grunting yell, the man lunged at Grace and pinned him up against the wall as he took hold of his throat.
"Grace!" Rocky semi-yelled.
"Ngh!" Grace struggled to free himself from the man's powerful grip.
He snarled. "You think you can trick me! Not this time motherfucker!"
Grace let out a strained cough. "I don't know what you're talking about..."
The man roared. "I'm not fucking stupid! I know what you are!"
"Stop! Stop!" I ran up to him, desperately smacking and grabbing at his arm. "Let him go! No one's gonna hurt you!"
But the man swiftly smacked me in the face with his forearm, knocking me back onto the floor. I lifted a shaky hand to my nose; at that point, I couldn't tell whether or not it was my own blood. I glanced back up at the man with tears stinging my eyes.
Grace choked out a cry as the man continued to secure his tight grip on his throat, leaning closer to his face; until Rocky barreled into his legs and managed to take the man down to the floor.
"Fuck!" He shouted with a grunt.
I stared at him for a second before quickly hurrying over to hold him down by sitting on his back while he weakly thrashed about.
"Get the fuck off me!" He demanded rashly.
"No!" I shot back. "Not until you calm down and realize that we're not threats to you."
The man growled. "Well sitting on me isn't gonna help..."
"Hush!" I held his head against the floor.
"Is Grace okay? Question." Rocky queried. I looked over to see Grace muster a subtle nod while rubbing his blood-stained throat.
"Yeah, I'll be okay," he said hoarsely. He then looked over and promptly walked over to me. "Sera, what are you doing? You're going to ruin your suit."
"I'd rather ruin the suit than risk this guy strangle you to death." I retorted him as the man let out another grunt of effort.
Grace sighed. "C'mon, he's probably calm right now anyway."
"He no look calm, statement." Rocky added.
"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!!!" The man roared again.
"If I get off of you, will you promise you won't attack us?" I turned to him, attempting to negotiate.
He gave another grunt. "Who's to say I will--"
"DO YOU PROMISE!?" I interrupted, snapping at him. I leaned a bit to put most of my weight on his upper body.
The man let out an exasperated yell. "Fine! Fine, I promise!"
I glanced up at Grace, giving him a weary look only for him to give me a small nod, as I slowly got off of the man and moved over to stand beside Rocky.
The man turned over onto his back, propping himself up on his elbows and scurrying away from us. Grace proceeded to carefully approach him.
"Hey, hey," he said gently. "It's gonna be okay. You have nothing to be afraid of. Whatever you're thinking, we're not here to hurt you. You're safe."
The man continued to eye Grace suspiciously, but the adrenaline from his rage-fueled paranoia was beginning to fade if only slightly.
Grace crouched down in front of him. "My name is Dr. Ryland Grace," he introduced before pointing his hand to Rocky and I. "This is Rocky and Sera."
"Greetings new human." He said amicably. I lifted my hand in a small, stagnant wave.
"What's your name?" Grace softly asked. "If you'll let me know."
A long pause followed, the man's eyes flickering between all three of us before turning his gaze back to him.
"Simon," he said in a heavy breath. 'My name's Simon."
My eyes stretched wide open as a faint gasp escaped me. Simon? From Iron Lung? I thought, I knew he looked familiar.
"That's a lovely name," Grace said with a smile. He exhaled and stood up, his hand clapping against his knees. "Alright, let's get you checked out at med bay."
Upon holding his hand out to Simon, he emitted another growl, albeit it was faint this time.
"Careful Grace." Rocky warned.
Grace persisted. "It's okay. I don't bite..."
"But he probably does." I uttered. Grace glanced back at me with a cheeky look.
After a while of what felt like hours, Simon reluctantly reached up and grabbed Grace's hand as he pulled him back up onto his feet.
"Come on," he said, putting an arm around him, guiding Simon towards the medical bay.
"Well that was quite an introduction." I remarked.
"Rocky isn't sure about new human, statement. But Rocky trust Grace."
I sighed. "Y'know, I'm kinda surprised that he managed to get through to him."
"Because Grace has big heart, statement." He proclaimed. I glanced down at the alien, a faint smile appearing on my face.
"We should probably follow them." I suggested.
"Right." Rocky said as he followed after me, rolling in his barrier ball.
In the medical bay, I firmly wrapped my nose in a cloth and took a deep breath before snapping the bridge to set it straight--which unsurprisingly started a new rush of blood. I tilted my head, individually wrapping gauze around my middle and index fingers to create makeshift plugs, as I shoved them up into my nostrils.
I then walked over and stood by the wall with Rocky as we watched Grace tend to Simon, wetting a cloth in a small bowl of water; the blood on him had started to dry into a more viscous coating. Grace went in to wipe Simon's face, of which the man flinched upon contact.
"Ah!" He said with a wince.
Grace jumped back. "I'm so sorry! Oh my god, I'm so so sorry. I don't mean to hurt you."
"No, no, it's not you," Simon reassured. "I just... Just be careful, will ya?!"
He gave a bashful nod, before proceeding to press the wet cloth to Simon's face and gently rub the progressively drying blood away.
Grace looked over to me. "Hey, Sera? Can you hand me that med kit please?"
"Sure Ryland." I said, picking up the partially closed kit and walking over to the bed.
"Thank you!" Grace said, grabbing the kit. "Alright Simon, just keep still."
"Oh, I'm managing the best way I can." Simon retorted with gritted teeth. He then glanced at me, his face softening a bit.
I sheepishly gave him a nod-up and made my way over by the entrance.
"How's your nose?" His deep gravelly voice rang out.
I turned back to him, shrugging. "It'll be fine. I've been through worse."
Grace glanced at me in his periphery. But I continued, "Don't worry about me."
"Negative," piped Rocky. "Rocky Grace Sera and new human are only ones on this ship, statement. We should worry about each other, statement."
Grace added. "He's right Sera. We're all each other have right now, therefore we have no choice but to worry about you..."
I gazed at the men and Rocky, smiling softly as I looked down when I felt tears spring back up in my eyes. I carefully adjusted the gauze in my nose.
Grace continued to wash the blood from Simon's skin, making his features much easier to see. The light of the medical bay shining on his tan skin while his brown eyes were fixed on Grace's blue ones.
I could practically hear Grace swallow the lump in his throat as his eyes lingered on his chest and the black harness Simon wore... Or maybe, that was just me, 'cause I was definitely staring.
I turned my gaze away though, biting my knuckle. Hot damn.
"Hello?" Simon uttered, cocking his brow.
Grace loudly cleared his throat. "Sorry, sorry, um... Let's, uh--" he stuttered. He set the cloth down and looked through the kit. "Now let's get a closer look at you."
He picked up a pair of steel scissors, carefully maneuvering as he snipped the dirty bandages on his forearms. I walked back over to them to help remove the wrappings and throw them in a nearby bin.
"Oh my god," breathed Grace.
I looked over his shoulder, my eyes widening as I honed in on the faint yellow bumps on his skin. Pustules. The man had what looked to be pustules forming on his forearms.
"Good god..." I muttered.
"It's not bad, is it?" Simon queried.
Grace stared intently at his arms. "Uhh, yes... No... It doesn't look that bad but--"
"It's not good either," I interjected. "Simon, what happened before I pulled you through the vortex?"
"Umm..." Simon thought for a moment.
I added. "Try and jog your memory."
"I got it!" Simon barked, before he went back to thinking.
Grace flickered between Simon and I while periodically glancing at Rocky.
"Um... I was in the Iron Lung," he started. "The line was cut after the sub was attacked, and..."
I stepped closer to him. "And?"
"And... A little blood squirted through the hull," informed Simon, gesturing to his face. "Right here."
I looked down, firmly taking hold of his arm and lightly caressed my fingers over the pustules. I pressed my thumb down on one of the bumps, making Simon wince.
"Okay. Okay, Ryland," I turned to Grace. "Continue tending to Simon. Take a blood sample, study his genome, whatever it is you need to do."
Grace nodded. "Okay! Um, can you grab the glass tubes for me?"
"Sure thing!" I said, quickly rushing over to the cabinet where I retrieved a small rack of test tubes.
As soon as I whipped back around...
I flinched, causing the tubes to loosen and at least two or three careen towards the floor; more would've followed but I managed to hold onto the glass tubes although with trembling hands.
I looked around frantically for the source of the voice. "Jules?" I whispered under my breath.
"Sera?" Grace spoke up, eyeing me with concern.
"Is Sera okay? Question." Rocky added.
My eyes flickered everywhere, practically ricocheting off of every corner of the room. Grace and Simon continued to stare at me with growing concern as Rocky slowly rolled in his barrier ball towards me.
"Sera?!" Grace raised his voice, catching my attention.
I quickly yet clumsily walked back over to him, putting the rack in his hands. "Here. Sorry for dropping half of them."
"It's alright," he reassured. "Are you sure you're okay?"
I only mustered a small nod. "Take care of Simon. I need to step out for a moment."
"What's going on?" Simon asked softly.
"Don't worry about it," my voice cracked. I inched over to the entrance. "I won't be gone long..."
"Rocky follow Sera, make sure she's okay. Statement." The Eridian said determined.
Grace set the rack aside before pulling out a needle. "You do that Rock, while I deal with Mr. Handso--I mean... Simon." He giggled coyly at the man.
"Alright Grace." Rocky said with a nod.
I sped out of the medical bay, holding my right ear, as I tried to keep myself from losing my balance, either due to the low gravity or the dizzying sensation that felt as if it were crushing all sides of my skull.
"Ngh!" I leaned against the wall, holding both ears now. "Gah!"
"Sera! Wake up!" Julia's desperate cry echoed in my brain.
"Julia, step back, I'm gonna try and return her to us..." Zora said firmly.
"Augh!" I grunted, my knees nearly buckling, as my energy dwindled more and more.
"No... Now's not the time..." an ethereal voice rang out. "Too early..."
I slowly lowered my hands from my ears, staring into the void, my mind disoriented. I groaned when I heard a panicked chirp as my face speedily met the floor.
