She tried to say What happened?, but all that came out was, “Wa appa.”
“Don’t try to speak yet,” her med tech said. A likable young ensign named Calvin with dark skin and features that made Elvi think his ancestors might have come from the same region of West Africa as her own. She’d never asked, because he almost certainly wouldn’t know. Laconians did not share the Earther interest in ethnic origins. His face seemed to swim in and out of focus, and her mind felt weirdly disconnected from her body.
“Wa—” she said, ignoring his advice, and then she vomited again.
“Stop it,” Calvin said more forcefully. “You had a reaction to the sedative mix while you were under. We had to run some tests and a procedure before we revived you to make sure we didn’t do any damage.”
Calvin pulled a medical cuff off her arm that she hadn’t even noticed was there. The needles stung as they retracted. Several tubes ran from the cuff to a drug-dispensing monitor nearby. Elvi tried to read the screen to see what they’d been pumping into her, but her eyes couldn’t focus. The words remained a mysterious blur.
“What—” she managed to get out without vomiting, but before she could finish, Fayez burst into the room.
“You woke her? Why didn’t anyone call me!” he yelled at Calvin. “Let me see her chart!”
Fayez grabbed her hand and squeezed a little too hard. Up close, she could see that his eyes were a little red and puffy. Had he been crying?
“Sir,” Calvin said. “She woke because the procedure had finished. All her scans are clean. No brain damage. There should be no loss of function.”
“Brain damage?” Elvi croaked out. “Were we thinking brain damage?”
Her throat felt raw. Fayez grabbed a plastic bottle of water with a straw and held it up to her lips. She drank greedily. Apparently she was thirsty. Good to know.
“There was some concern that your breathing had been depressed,” Fayez said as she gulped down the water. “We just wanted to be sure.”
“It was unlikely,” Calvin added. “But we wanted to take every precaution.”
“What happened?” Elvi finally managed to say once her thirst was quenched.
“You didn’t tell her?” Fayez shot at Calvin. “Els, honey, you had a reaction to—”
“No,” she cut him off. “I know that. Where are we? I feel gravity. Are we through the transit?”
As she spoke, Calvin began putting his instruments away. It looked like whatever had happened to her, the treatment for it was over.
“Yes,” Fayez said. “We’re in Tecoma right now. We’re finishing our deceleration burn.”
“I’ve been out that long?”
“I was scared to death, Els. I’m getting a full battery of tests run to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“Sagale’s schedule won’t—”
“Sagale agreed with me. I was surprised too. I think the prospect of losing Duarte’s pet biologist had him pissing his uniform.”
Calvin snorted at that. “I’m done here. Do you need anything else?”
“No,” Elvi said. “Yes. When can I go back to work?”
“Now, if you feel up to it.”
“Thank you, Calvin,” Elvi said.
Calvin gave her a salute and a smile. “My pleasure, Major,” he said, then left the compartment.
“Maybe you should rest,” Fayez said. He was frowning at her. Elvi laughed. He almost never frowned, and with his baby face it made him look like a petulant child.
“I’m fine,” she said. And then, “Okay, I’m not fine. I’ll be fine. It’s just travel.”
“I don’t like it,” Fayez said. She took his hand. Her skin felt sticky. She was going to need a real shower.