“DOCTOR!?”

The monitors continue to bleep away like crazy, as Dr Sandison immediately starts to perform CPR

“Get the defibrillator ready Kerian” as the Doctor grabs the oxygen mask and puts it over Sean's face

Keiran rushes over to the cart, fumbling with it as he’s no nurse but knowing enough to start preparing the paddles with gel and start charging the machine, Dr Sandison stares intently at the warnings flashing on the monitors as the readings start to stabilise

“Stand down Kerian I think he'll be fine for now.  I want you to take blood samples, and ultrasounds of his internals every 2hrs and monitor him at all times.”

 Kerian breathes a sigh of relief as he shuts the defibrillator off “okay, I can run the blood work, but the ultrasound scans are beyond my knowledge, you'll have to look over them” pushing the machine back into the corner

“I know...just take the ultra sounds and send the readings to my computer”

“Aye, doctor”

Dr Sandison takes one last look at the monitors, satisfied he leaves the room
Kerian watches the doctor leave the room before collapsing on a chair shaking from shock from the sudden turn of events. Turning his head to look at Sean who remains unconscious on the bed beside him Kerian  takes a few deep breaths before heading back to the fridge and checking the vials a last time, hesitating over a different coloured vial and saying to himself

“I really hope we don’t have to use this, I don’t want to do that again...”

*********

As Kerian dozed behind his desk, head on a pile of papers slightly drooling I slowly came to speaking out loud “Oh I feel terrible” Lifting my head “Is there anyone there?”

Kerian wakes startled, yawning a little as he wakes up from his nap, slowly sitting up and looking over at you “you say something?”

“Hey Keiran, any happen while I was out”

“You nearly had a heart attack, I’ve been keeping an eye on you, blood tests and ultra sounds, but other than that not too much really, hence the nap.” As Kerian wiped a little drool from his face and papers he was sleeping on

“Heart Attack??” I said, rather startled

“Yeah”

“I'm fine now....right?”

Keiran smirks before replying “That depends on if you consider mutating fine”

“Mutating? I take it, its starting then?”

Kerian nods, checking his watch and climbing to his feet “you got about 10 minutes before your next scan, we’ll see just how far”

Dropping my head back down on my pillow and staring up at the ceiling “so how long had I been out?”

“Erm about 4 hours”

 
Before I could say anything more an intense pain starts building up in my back, groaning out in pain before a loud audible crack echo’s though the ships medical room

“OH JESUS!! WHAT WAS THAT!?” I shout in pain

Keiran snapping out his own daze rushes over to my side “relax, and don’t move”

“I don't plan to” Breathing heavily

“Where was the pain?”

“My back”

“Hmm...”

“Erm Keiran...I...I think I can feel my feet again”

“You know, I’ve always wanted to try this”

“Try what!?” turning my head to look at him

But Keiran had his back to me as he played with an empty needle, taking off the safety cap and walking back to my bed, lifting the sheets over my feet and poked my right big toe with the point

I was startled as not only did I feel the needle prick my skin but my foot also kicked out slightly
"Ack! Hey!"

Keiran smirked at me "sorry, always wanted an excuse to do that, also looks like your body is healing up nicely as a result of the initial transformation”

“That hurt”

Keiran threw the needle into the bin "I thought you didn’t mind pain"

“Heh...I hate pain really...plus I wasn't expecting my spine to start repairing itself till the day you said the main transformation begins”

“It isn’t so much your spine as your spinal cord, but yeah, it is a little surprising, but then each transformation is different. I’m gonna call the doctor down, see if we can use the fluoroscope, see what’s going on”

Taking a deep breath as the pain diminishes “Least the pains subsided”

“Yeah, but don’t get comfortable...you’ve a long way to go”

I watched Kieran head back over to his desk, picking up the phone and calling the doctor

“Hello Sandison? It’s Keiran...There’s been a development....yep that’s right he’s awake....the transformation has begun....his spinal cord has been repaired and a loud audible crack also suggest his broken spine might be fixed as well....”

“How about getting me some food while you’re on the phone?” I called

Kieran chuckled while he spoke to the doctor “okay Sean I’ll ask him” and then replied “No food for you until your liver and kidneys are working properly, or you'll poison yourself” hanging up the phone

“Oh well...ye don't ask ye don't get” rolling my eyes

“Yeah, you've still got water though, as appetising as that is”

“Oh Tasty”

“I can't wait till I'm up and about, I feel stiff as hell laying here.”

“Yeah, I’m sure your insides don’t mind that though”

“Right I'm here, what happened?”

“Hey Doc, I think my spine has healed”

 “Yeah he seems to have at least some motor control back”

“Explain what you did Keiran?” said Dr. Sandison “What test did you perform?”

“I touched his foot and made sure he could feel it”

Giving Keiran a little glare “With a needle I might add” before wiggling my toes in a sign of demonstration for the Doctor “I can feel everything below my hips again”

Doctor Sandison poked and prodded my legs and feet for himself before looking up at Keiran “What version of the vaccine did you use? Really wasn't expecting your physical injuries healing so soon.”

“I used the third strain, it focuses more on major organs, at least it did in previous tests”

“Hmmm, Okay then let’s have a look at your liver and kidneys then, might be able to take your off most of these machines and allow you get a little more comfortable on that bed. Get the Ultrasound Keiran”

“Aye doctor” Keiran drags the ultrasound trolley over to the bed

“I want you to take the usual scans, I'll monitor the readings” as he starts whistling.

Keiran smirks and rolls his eyes a little at me when doctor looks away, pulling my sheets down and putting the gel on my stomach

“Looks like you’re stuck with doing all the manual work” I whisper

“At least I get to do my own work now and then" nodding back at me before carefully pressing the ultrasound pod just below my ribcage and turning on the scanner

Sandison stands there looking over the images for a good ten minutes before requesting “Interesting....move down to his kidneys” Keiran moves the pod down to my left side again then studies the images with an “Hmmm” before declaring

“It seems Sean your life threatening injuries have been healed. I'm not allowing you out of that bed though, you must still be monitored at all times for the duration of the transformation.”

Turning to look at Keiran “Right Keiran you can disconnect the dialysis machine, His kidneys and liver have healed.”

“Aye doctor, I’ll get one of the techs to put it back into storage. Can you recommend anyone for the nightshift?

“Someone will be here to watch things, finish up here and get some sleep. Bring some food for Sean here in the morning.” Looking back down at me he replied “Sean I suggest you get some sleep, your gonna need your strength for tomorrow”

“Aye Doctor” Keiran replied

“Sure thing doc” to which I replied

Doctor Sandison got up from the work station and left the medical bay while Keiran proceeded to save the ultrasound scans onto the flash drive before switching it off and getting a towel

“Least my injuries have healed...so I guess the strain of the transformation on my body is the only thing I need to beat now?”

Keiran hands me the towel and replies “it’s your mind too you've got to keep an eye on, a whole new set of instincts and sensations to deal with”

“Danger of going feral?”

“Yeah and a few other things”

“Oh joy, here was me thinking it was just getting over the transformation”

Kerian puts the ultrasound back in the corner of the room while I clean the gel off my chest and belly

“Anything else, I should know?”

“Probably, but I don’t see any of it mattering right now, it’s better to deal with things as they come”

As Kerian returns to my bedside with a tray of tools, I just laid there sighing heavily

“Great, I could still die by my mind getting over ridden. This is scary...How many people have you seen go through this?”

“Only two others, one went okay, in fact I still chat with her whenever I get a chance. The other... well...”

“I get the picture...Listen go get some sleep...I feeling rather tired myself”

“I need to get those tubes out of your arm first remember, or would you rather miss another meal?”

To which my stomach growls hungrily “No thanks, I'm looking forward to breakfast”

“Yeah, you might not want to watch this, the sight of the blood isn’t too pleasant when it’s yours”

Keiran looks out for some cotton, gauze and cellotape, I plop my head onto the pillow and close my eyes waiting...while Keiran shuts down the machines, carefully removes the input tube and applies the gauze, bandaging my arm as the blood runs down it.

“That felt a little sore”

Keiran does the same again removing the output tube, before bandaging my lower arm tightly, making sure it doesn’t bleed before cleaning off some excess blood

“Wow, I’ve had a lot more medical training than I thought I did...”

“How long you been on this project?”

“Erm about two years now”

“Two years!?” I said surprised

“Yeah, but medical training wasn’t really part of the original job offer” he replies as he takes off his latex gloves and puts them in the biohazard bin.

“Any more?”

“No that should do it for now” as he also shuts down the dialysis machine and pushes it off to the side

“So my insides are prepared for the big transformation?”

“It’s already started, your blood chemistry should've killed your heart”

“My heart attack you mentioned?”

“Possibly, although I doubt it since the serum didn’t get much time to do much, plus the stress you were under at that point wouldn’t have helped”

I make moves on the bed, getting myself comfortable for the night.

“That feels a lot better”

Keiran just stands there smiling a little.

“Expecting any fireworks tomorrow? With my 2nd injection? Sandison did say I need my strength”

“We'll see.”

“Why do I get the feeling your uncomfortable with all this?”

“Because not only are you my first case, you're also a good friend and I want this to work...”

I grab Keiran by the arm and reply “Hey relax..I'll win Keiran, I swear I'll get through this”

“I hope so, or I’m going to have a lot of annoying paperwork to fill in” laughing a little

“Now we both need rest and I'm getting hungry...how about we both get some rest”

“Okay then, try and sleep well”

“You too”

I lay back down getting comfortable again, while Keiran picks up some papers from his desk, heading for the door”

“In the morning Keiran”

“See ya Sean”

I close my eyes and drift off to sleep, while Keiran turns the lights down and heads to the crew quarters