One Day At a Time ✔️

Ch. 10 Difficult

Optimus Prime’s P.O.V.
I’m glad Jamie allowed Crosshairs and Drift to take her for a walk around the park. I don’t like how she looks as they walk down the hall.
Sunstreaker stands beside me, also not liking what he’s seeing.
“I’m worried she can’t recover from this,” he tells me. 
I know Sunstreaker respects Jamie, but I didn’t think he cared about her this much. 

I go into the room with Jamie and her guardians, watching Drift sit on the bed, holding Jamie. Crosshairs sits on the chair in front of them and takes her hand. Ratchet checks over her, telling me she’s fine. This is a good small step in the right direction. He tells me he’s unsure what the right plan is that is also safe.
“They are trained in medical procedures to know how to take care of her if there’s a problem,” I assure him, “I know you wouldn’t let them take her from this room if they didn’t have the knowledge.”
Perhaps the only good time in Crosshairs' and Drift’s training around Jamie’s illness is a good thing, and it’s a lot more than basic first-aid. 
I suggested Crosshairs and Drift take Jamie to the lounge room and let her watch a little T.V. Jamie agrees, and I’m able to keep it secret that I asked everyone to stay away from the room for the day. This is another decision that I am unsure if it’s right, but it’ll help Jamie. 

Drift’s P.O.V.
Jamie lies on me as I lay on a reclining section of the sectional couch.
I don’t like that you can’t talk with the trach in. That’s not good, even if I’d likely still have to try to get you to talk.
At least she’s relaxed as we watch T.V. 

Jamie is asleep two hours later. I don’t want to move. Instead, I have Crosshairs connect the oxygen tube to the trach. He covers Jamie with his trench coat.
“I can’t believe what she’s been through and how much she still has to go through,” Crosshairs says, sadness in his voice as he sits next to me.
We worry nightmares will happen even if Jamie’s been out of the coma for weeks. 

Jamie’s nightmare
I can’t believe they continue to think I’m the problem. They tell me I’m going to a psychiatric hospital; I have no time to tell Drift.  
Something is off when a new patient is immediately transferred after being admitted. This hospital looks like an asylum, and I’m escorted to a room in cuffs.
“Get in there, worthless trash,” the doctor says once he removes the cuffs and pushes me into the room that looks like a prison cll. One small window provides light. So they make their patients sit in the dark. 
Is this really where my family wanted to send me? 
What the... I see a rope.
This place encourages suicide. I need you, Drift. 
I sit on the floor and cry until a doctor comes in and grabs the rope.
“SHUT UP!!”
This rope is actually a whip; they best their patients. 
“You know what? Why don’t I skip the assessment and start treatment now?”
He wraps the whip around my throat.
Does he mean treatment is killing patients? 
He pulls tighter until everything goes black...

Drift’s P.O.V.
Jamie is crying, and I see she forgets she has the trach, panicking that she’s not getting air through her mouth. She’s fighting me as I try to hug her, and Crosshairs rushes out of the room.
How the frag did she not have nightmares before today if this one terrified her? Unless she has, but because we can’t hear her cry...
“It’s me, Drift. You’re safe, but you have a trach in, remember?”
Ratchet comes in and injects a drug. I don’t want to let Jamie go, but he wants her back in the medbay. I watch him carry her away before running out of the room past Crosshairs and towards the hangar.

  I run into Prime; he doesn’t ask why I’m running towards the hangar before trying to comfort me. 
Crosshairs comes running over.
“You need to go back to her,” Prime tells me.
“Ratchet can’t get her to relax,” Crosshairs adds.
Oh fuck, that’s not good. I know Ratchet used a small dose of the relaxant.

I didn’t think Jamie would fight Ratchet and Jolt. They could use more of the relaxant, so why don’t they? The two get out of the way for Crosshairs and me. They couldn’t get the monitor leads on her, but I suspect her oxygen level is low. I put my hands on her shoulders to get her to look at us.
“Jamie, you’re safe; that’s Ratchet. He’s trying to help you. You’re not going back there, I promise.”
Crosshairs and I take a hand, and I stroke her hair. She’s calm within two minutes, and Ratchet can do what he was trying to do while Crosshairs and I hold her hands but not restrain her. The good thing is her oxygen level didn’t drop too much.

I waited for her oxygen level to return to normal before asking Ratchet if we could move Jamie to a medical berth. It’s easier for both Crosshairs and me to lie with her. We carefully position ourselves and the oxygen concentrator on the berth. 

We lay here for an hour before I ask Ratchet if I could try to give Jamie food; a little applesauce should be ok. Jamie didn’t like hearing how she would likely throw up.
“Let’s see if small amounts will help.”
She knows why she might throw up and hates how sick she is.
A fourth a cup takes fifteen minutes, but Jamie doesn’t throw up. It’s all we’re going to do for now. I tube feed her before Crosshairs, and I try to go to the cafeteria, but Jamie doesn’t want us to leave. 
“You want to come? Everyone wants to see you.”
I don’t want to force her to come, but it would be good for her.
She agrees to come with us but wants me to carry her. I know why; she can hide the trach better than in a wheelchair. 
Ratchet agrees to let me carry Jamie to the cafeteria, but I have to take the oxygen concentrator. I have Crosshairs make soup, easy for me to eat with one hand, and Ratchet says I can feed Jamie a little soup. 

Crosshairs’ P.O.V.
I rush to the cafeteria to tell everyone there we got Jamie to let us bring her here, but no one is to go near Drift before making soup. While we like using a recipe, I’m glad there’s some canned soup in the cabinet.

Drift is trying to comfort Jamie. She does not like how there are other bots and soldiers here, but she’s doing better than I thought.  
“Relax, you’re safe. You want some soup?” Drift asks and gets a spoonful of soup.
I watch the tears roll down her face, hating how much Drift is taking care of her.
“You know I don’t mind taking care of you. I love you,” Drift says as he hugs Jamie and wipes the tears from her eyes.
“I don’t mind either, Jamie. We are friends,” I tell her. I have learned some human friends support each other, maybe not like this, but this is how I need to support Jamie right now.
Drift fed Jamie a little more soup, and she could keep it down.

Ratchet is pleased to hear this, though he can’t say for sure that it means her digestive system has recovered and she won’t throw up as she eats more food. As for leaving the medbay, it’s hard to tell if progress was made today. Sure, she agreed to go for a walk and join us for dinner, but she might refuse for the next week.