"Summer, lass, hand me the cumin from the spice rack." Casper said, cubing the beef for that night's dinner on a cutting board. Summer washed her hands, scrubbing off the flour and egg mixture that coated them. With a nod she dried them off with a towel and headed towards the counter.
"Cumin...cumin...which one are you?" She muttered to herself, examining the small bottles of spice on the rotating rack. The containers had been labeled at one point, but now most of them had been worn away from handling.
She spotted the bottle with the yellow-colored seed and inspected its contents. Walking back to the old cook, she placed it on the counter.
"I hope the recipe doesn't call for a lot because we're almost out." He grabbed the bottle himself and gave it a shake.
"It's enough for tonight." He opened the bottle and shook a little into the spice mix before placing it to the side.
"I'll add it to the supply list." He nodded in appreciation. Summer walked over to the paper attached to the wall. It had several ingredients written on it, and she grabbed the pencil next to it and wrote in 'Cumin' at the bottom.
"Is there anything else we-" She started, but was cut off by a loud crunch and a violent impact as the sub presumably hit something. The pots and pans hanging on the wall exploded off the wall as the force from the blow flung them across the room with loud crashes. Summer was slammed into the counter, her whole body thrown onto the top forcefully.
"Argh...!" Her head struck the corner of the cabinet with a loud thud, accompanied by a sickening crunch, and she collapsed limply to the floor.
"Summer!" Casper yelled, hanging onto the edge of the sink for dear life as the sub rocked back and forth as it regained its balance. Eventually, the movement ceased. The half-finished dinner was now strewn across the kitchen along with all the utensils and equipment that had been hanging on the wall.
Jean Bart came over the intercom, talking quickly but sounding as if everything was still under control. "We were attacked by a large sea king. So far, no integral damage has been detected, but we are resurfacing to inspect the hull."
As soon as he was able, the old cook scrambled across the floor towards the still girl. A pool of blood began to form around her head, and he hurriedly snatched a towel from the floor to press against the wound. He pressed two fingers against her neck, checking for a pulse. A tiny flutter pulsed under his hand and he breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was still alive.
"Someone help us!" He yelled, hoping that one of the crew was passing by. "We have injured!"
The sound of running feet thundered through the mess deck outside, and soon Blake burst through the door in a panic. With wide eyes, he took in the sight of the two cooks huddled on the floor.
"Oh God..." He muttered, dropping to his knees beside the fallen girl. "I don't know anything about treating injuries." He said, not bothered that Summer's blood was now staining his uniform.
"We need to get her to the infirmary. Help me move her." Casper said, indicating for Blake to help turn her over. After a painstakingly slow process, so as not to move her head too much, the men were able to pick her up and make their way out the door.
"I'm fine." Law muttered, holding onto his bleeding head while swatting Shachi's concerned hand away. They limped through the hallway, slowly making progress towards the infirmary. The sub still jostled here and there, Jean Bart expertly navigating their vessel away from any more danger as they surfaced. At this point, Law just hoped that he wouldn't collapse from nausea in the hall before making it to one of the cots.
"Captain, just let me help you." Shachi winced, watching as Law squeezed his eyes tight and swayed on his feet. The engineer grabbed hold of his elbow when he was clearly unable to hold himself up.
"Just get to the infirmary." Law growled, his anger directed at himself and not his subordinate. They pushed through a few panicked crew men and opened the doors to the familiar hospital-like room.
The first thing they noticed was a, hopefully, unconscious Summer lying on one of the beds, Casper and Blake holding a bloodied rag to the back of her head. They looked up sharply at the two men's entrance and visibly sighed in relief.
"Captain, thank goodness you're...are you alright?" Blake said, walking towards his captain in worry. Law waved him away, focusing his attention on the blonde cook despite his own injury still in desperate need of care.
"What happened?" The question was directed at Casper.
"She was tossed around when we hit that sea king, smashed her head into the upper cabinet corner. She was out instantly." Law, still holding his own head with one hand, came up beside her and lifted the rag soaking up her blood. The wound was still bleeding profusely.
"Blake-ya, I need you to get things for stitches. Disinfectant and clean bandages. Casper-ya, make sure she keeps breathing." He went over to the sink, washing his hand free of blood as the two men rushed to do as he said.
Shachi shifted on his feet beside the captain. "What is it you want me to do, Captain?"
"Go and help-"
Shachi watched in horror as Law's eyes rolled upwards and his knees gave out below him. His limbs went fully limp, dropping to his sides. The panicked engineer caught him just before he hit the ground, struggling to hold the dead weight.
"Hey! I need a little help here!" Blake saw the scene and rushed over to help, placing the bandages and disinfectant on the counter by Summer's bed. He helped Shachi lift the captain up onto a cot beside Summer, taking care to not touch the injured section of his head.
"Ok...ok...Does anybody have a clue of what they are doing?" Blake asked, glancing at everyone in the room as he paced the floor. Each man shook his head. He let out a breath. "Alright, so we're just going to have to try and hope for the best, huh?"
"I've had to help tend to injured before, but never anything this advanced." The older cook said, checking Summer's pulse once again.
All three men slowly nodded, resigning themselves to what had to be done.
"Umm...does that look right?" Blake asked, inspecting his work with bloodied hands. Summer's head was tightly bandaged. They hadn't stuck the first time, so the outside bandages had blood stains from Blake's fingers. Casper tied the final strip of cloth tightly to her head, taking care not to catch her long hair in the knot.
"It looks like it'll hold. It should be good enough." Shachi said, moving over to Law's cot. "Captain's looks fine too. I think we're good guys."
Casper gathered up the bloody cloth and threw them in the waste disposal. The three men put away the supplies and took turns washing their hands. After all was done, no one really knew what to do next. They stood near the two beds in silence. Blake was the one to break it.
"Well...now what?"
No one answered.
Summer stirred in her sleep, murmuring nonsense as she shifted positions on the bed. Everyone in the room jumped at the muffled noises. They exchanged glances and suddenly felt the need to hover around the bed.
"Summer?" Casper asked softly, not wanting to startle her.
"Mmnnn..." She moaned, stretching her limbs to the sides. She gasped sharply, stilling all movements, then suddenly brought a hand to her head in pain.
"Don't touch it, you might open the stitches again." Blake said, gently removing her hand from the bandages. Her forehead wrinkled and her eyes opened ever so slowly.
Immediately, they widened in alarm. The men raised their hands defensively in an effort to calm her down.
"Hey, now. You're alright now." Casper cooed, watching with concern as she edged farther and farther away from the men. The others began to fear something was wrong when she hugged her knees to her chest, attempting to hide her face behind them.
A tiny whimper came from the girl when Shachi moved his hand closer. The men withdrew slightly, exchanging worried glances.
"W-who are you?" She questioned in a terrified voice.
Shachi ran a hand down his face, turning away from everyone. "Shit..." He muttered, just loud enough for them to hear. "We have a serious problem."
Something moved behind them and they twisted around to see Law slowly sitting up from the bed, covering his face with his hands. He groaned loudly, rubbing his eyes intensely. Upon opening them, he frowned deeply. An extremely silent staring match then began, interrupted only by everyone's breathing.
Shachi was the first to speak, taking a tentative step towards the perplexed Law. He held one hand in front of him, as if he were approaching a dangerous animal.
"Captain, are you-" Law immediately narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Where am I? What have you done with me?" The obvious hostility directed towards his subordinate stilled all movement in the room. Summer stared wide-eyed at the angry captain, scared into silence. Not even a whimper escaped her lips.
"Yeah..." Blake agreed, running a hand through his hand in frustration. "We have a really serious problem."
ns 15.158.61.40da2
