Lost in Space - OC insert

"Saff-on -ells"

Saffron groaned as she came to. Her eyes were screwed tightly shut as she felt pain course through her body. Before allowing herself to start panicking, she did a self-check. Wiggling her toes, flexing the muscles in her legs, all the way up to clutching her fingers, she made sure nothing hurt in a way that was fatal. She concluded that she had at least a few bruised ribs, and most likely a concussion. She got the concussion part from the throbbing pain in her forehead. Every heartbeat felt as if a tiny drummer man was pounding the inside of her skull with no regrets. I've never liked drummers.

As she slowly opened her eyes, she was hit with a wave of vertigo. She was expecting to see everything right-side-up, but she had been in too much pain to notice that she was actually upside-down, sitting on her shoulders. When her Jupiter crashed to the ground, Saffron was thrown from her seat and landed upside down in the front bay window.

Slowly, she maneuvered her way down, making sure to move at a snail's pace. With her limited knowledge of medicine, she already knew that if a concussion was bad enough, you shouldn't fall asleep for too long. But I had to go above and beyond and pass out upside-down.

Saffron groaned again as she warily got to her knees. She pried her helmet off and turned to take her spacesuit off. A wave of panic hit her as she saw the glass cracked where she had been flung. Realizing that she hadn't tested the atmosphere, Saffron knew that if she didn't act quickly, she could be dead in a matter of seconds. It took a second before she relaxed, remembering that she had been passed out for who knows how long next to the leak, so if the atmosphere were toxic, she would be long dead by now.

Saffron dropped the rest of her space suit and took a deep breath to calm her erratic nerves. The momentary lapse of panic gave her body just enough adrenaline to stagger its way over to the med bay. She had one hand pressed to the back of her head and the other wrapped around her aching ribs. She was practically leaning on the walls the whole way over, dragging herself along the metal surfaces. When she reached the med bay doors, she smacked a hand onto the panel for access. The scanner was barely able to scan her embedded chip as the door creaked open. The usual friendly automated voice was distorted and several tones deeper as it squeaked out, "Saff-on -ells."

The door that usually slipped open smoothly and mechanically made a terrible screeching sound as the damaged metal scraped along the floor and ceiling of the Jupiter before getting stuck. Saffron's hands flew to cover her ears as her breath caught in her throat at the ear-splitting noise. Her breathing quickened its pace as she was forcibly brought back to the Resolute, staring at her father's lifeless body and the similar noise that had been emitted from somewhere on board.

She vigorously shook her head in an attempt to clear the memory and the tears that formed behind her eyelids. There was no time for grieving, just surviving. Saffron reached a shaky hand up to the door and tried to shove, but it wouldn't budge. She unwrapped the hand that was holding her ribs and brought it up to the door. Using both hands, she shoved hard. The noise was brought back to life, and she paused for a moment before swallowing her fear and pushing the rest of the door open.

Saffron smiled softly at herself as the door slid into its frame, proud that she got over the noise. Even if it was a small step, she would've jumped up in joy and cheered if she weren't terrified the noise would attract...something. She settled for simply throwing her arm above her head straight up in the air. Her hand was clenched in a tight fist as a pained smile stretched across her lips. She slowly brought her arm. Scolding herself slightly. I can't be celebrating yet. Not until I'm safe. I am on an unknown planet with practically a hole in the front glass. Any creature hungry enough could easily break the glass and find me. Who knows, there was probably a hole somewhere else on the ship. A memory flashed behind Saffron's eyes before she could stop it.