avoiding you . ch.1
| summary : after years of your coma, you finally wake up on the Hail Mary. two of your crew mates are dead, Dr. Grace, your former co-worker, is alive, and there are two new peopleâcreaturesâon the ship. itâs a hard adjustment between the four of you, and thereâs tension between everyone and everything.
| pairing : ryland grace x female!reader x simon
| word count : 5.3k
| tags : some humor and fluff, eventual smut in later chapters, started as a oneshot and i just kept adding to it, heavy pining, doctor!reader, misunderstandings, jealousy, rocky is not involved in their polyamory, bicurious!ryland and bicurious!simon
ch.2, ch.3
cross posted to ao3
Before you got put into your coma, shit, even after, you didnât think youâd find yourself in this situation. Ask yourself when you were 10, what would you be doing in your mid-30s? Well, 10 year-old you would have many answers, pursuing your dreams, being a superhero, maybe talking to your best friend.
The real answer would be watching a convict from an alternate reality, and the 8th grade science teacher from Grover Cleveland middle school, make-out. With their hands touching you, touching each other, eyes closed and not realizing theyâd been tonguing each other.Â
Regardless, this is much better than pursuing your dreams.Â
You were never supposed to be on Project Hail Mary, it was an extremely last minute decision on Strattâs end. You met her maybe⊠three days before you were induced Though, she made you feel as if you didnât have a choice but to be in this project.
You were the only nurse at Grover Cleveland, well over-qualified for your position. With a Masterâs Degree in Biology, completing and passing the MCATâessentially youâd completed every step to become a proper doctor at the hospital near your house.
And you hated it. God you hated every part of it, all the responsibility, disrespectful patients, nurses, staff, just generally a displeasing job for you. Youâre sure that other doctors loved their job, but you loved this area much more. You werenât willing to move in order to find a better job at a hospital, it wouldnât be home.
So, you compromised. You believed it was better to be happy and poor than miserable and rich. Your family believed otherwise, as hard as you worked for your degree, but you really didnât care.
You get paid extra just for being a technical Doctor, though some staff who donât really know you still refer to you as a Nurse. It doesnât bother you with staff, no, you care more about the children.
All the kids in school call you Doctor, so any staff member thatâs going out of their way to push down your hard work is simply just trying to be disrespectful. Itâs best to ignore.
You didnât speak much to Dr. Grace, but he respected your title highly, you think itâs because people donât respect his. Youâd often hear him talking to students;
âThatâs Dr. Grace to you, Kevin!â
Sometimes, when kids would ask to go to the nurse, you could hear him reply that this school didnât have a nurse, only a Doctor.
You found it amusing, especially considering you two didnât talk much. His classroom was on the other side of school compared to your office, he only came into your office once to ask for bandaids.
You remember the faint knock on your door. âCome in!â Youâd reply, working on your computer and still using your âstudent voice.â When Dr. Grace walked in, you continued typing a report from a kid that scraped his knee pretty badly.
âJust one second hunâ.â
âTake all the seconds you want, I get paid by the hour.â Dr. Grace replied, closing the door behind him. He had never been in your office, so he really took in the comforting atmosphere of it.Â
Your head jolted up at the blatant voice of a grown man, seeing Dr. Grace smirking at you. You couldnât help but laugh at the misunderstanding.
âOh, sorry Dr. Grace, thought you were a student.â
âI didnât think I was that short. Shot my ego straight down, Doctor.â
You giggled, pushing your rolling chair aside, away from the computer to better talk to him. âYou know thatâs not what I meant.â
âDo I?â
You crossed your arms. âWhat do you need?â
He walked over to the counter of your desk, crossing his own arms on them and leaning over to peek at what you may have on your desk.
âBandaids. Like a pack, my kids are pretty violent so we ran out.â
Youâd nod your head, standing up to walk to the corner of your office, and opening a drawer. âI can give you a map to the nearest Walmart.â You replied, searching for some band-aids. Preferably ones with cute designs on them, biology themed?
âHardy har har.âÂ
You tossed him the pack, he caught it. âWill that do?â
They were bandaids with planets on them, he rubbed them with his thumb, looking at them pretty intently. âYeah. Thatâll be fine.â He put them in the pocket of his suit, and you couldnât help but think about how different your work attire was. Yours was much more calm, much more casual.
âAlright, tell your kids to stop falling or cutting themselves on paper, Band-Aids are expensive.â
âI think if I told them that theyâd just wanna do it more. Theyâre menaces.â
âRight, bye Dr. Grace.â You sat back down in your rolling chair, typing on the computer.
He gave you a slight wave as he walked out.
Most interactions with people coming into your office were⊠boring. Everyone was scraping their knees, or needed packages of bandaids. Again, overqualified.
After school had ended, you were finishing up some paper-work, well, procrastinating on it. When someone knocked on your door, you assumed it was George Ramsâ mom, he had a fight today and you were the one who got stuck with fixing him up. You were sure she had some concerns, most parents arenât used to actual doctors working in schools, youâve had parents complain a lot about a ânurseâ handling something that a proper doctor should handle.
âMaâam, I am a doctor.â Youâd say. It was often just met with an âOh, thank you for your time.â
The woman who came in was cold and had a stoic expression, she had the vibe like she commanded a room. You were surprised that such an authoritarian figure would have a child getting into fights, but itâs also expected for children to have a rebellious phase in Middle School, better than High School at the very least.
âHi Mrs. Rams, is this about your son?â You sat up, giving her your attention.
âI have no son. My name is Eva Stratt, I am working with the United Nations to solve the growing Patrova Line problem with Astrophage.â
You stare at her, not saying much. Because what did this have to do with you? Did she confuse your office with the front office? Was this a mental health issue?
You open your mouth to reply before she states your full government name, which makes you pause your words in slight surprise.
âYou are a Doctor right, overqualified for the position as a Middle School Nurse?â
âMaybe.âÂ
âIt seems to be a theme with this school to hire those overqualified to work here. Please stand, Doctor.â
You do, you donât know this woman, but you stand.
âI hereby grant you clearance to know all information about Project Hail Mary.â
She places her hands on your shoulders, her words imply that she knows someone else overqualified to work here. Dr. Grace, right? Thatâs the only option, heâd be gone for quite some time, with constant substitutes. Normally a teacher would get in trouble for that but the principal seemed pretty lenient, almost scared to say anything about it.
âCome with me.â
She begins walking out, but you donât follow.
âUhm, Ms. Stratt thank you for this⊠whatever this offer is but-â
âIt is not an offer. You will come with me either by willingness or force. I would suggest following me.â
She stares at you for a moment, until your feet automatically move. You follow Stratt, you leave your computer open with George Ramsâ medical information on it. You donât know whyâwell, yes you do. Itâs fear, youâre scared of what Stratt is gonna do to you if you donât follow her.Â
Over the next three days, you donât ever see Dr. Grace.Â
Stratt tells you the purpose of Project Hail Mary, that this is a suicide mission.Â
She tells you that youâre not her top candidate, and that youâd only be sent if Dr. Grace is sent.
âHeâll only be sent if something happens to our two scientists, but we know he will not want to be there at all. We arenât sure if he will cooperate, or if he will do self harm in the hull in order to escape the responsibility.â
That doesnât sound like Dr. Grace, but at this point you donât know if you really know Grace at all.
âNot only do you know him, but youâre an extremely qualified Doctor, so youâll be the ship medic if he is sent up. If he does harm to himself, or others, you will be in charge of that situation. Or if any mishaps happen where someone is wounded, we need this Project to follow through.â
You slowly rose your hand during one of these meetings. âWhat if I⊠donât⊠want to go. This is a suicide mission, I-â
âWe donât care. Grace will not want to go. So you two can bond over that.â
Awesome.Â
And with your luck, after a deadly explosion of Astrophage, the two scientists were rendered useless before launch. Pronounced dead at the scene.
And you were forced to be put into a medically induced coma, and to go aboard the Hail Mary, all so you could be a medic.
ââ
When you woke up, everything was hazy.
âWhat is 2+2?â
Four. You thought.
âAughhrâŠâ You say.
âIncorrect.â The voice restates its question. âWhat is 2+2?â
Why canât you talk? You smack your lips, not wanting to open your eyes yet, because youâre still trying to remember things. You make loud noises, groaning continuously. You roll out of bed, before feeling an edge, okay, donât roll over there. You open your eyes slowly, seeing youâre very high above the ground, with several empty âhospitalâ beds below you.
A robotic arm grabs you and moves you back to the center of the bed. âWhat is 2+2?â
âFruckc.. offâŠâ You groan, trying to sit up, to look around. The lights are bright and fluorescent, and the gravity feels unreal. Your arms feel stronger, you donât feel unhealthy.
You feel tired. You feel gross.
You can assume it was a coma, your memories are hazy, you have no clue where you are. But you know that you probably just got out of a coma.
âWhat is 2-â
âItâs four!â You yell at the arm. âFour! Itâs fucking four!â You rub your face.
âCorrect!â
The arm takes several IVs out of you, you assume a feeding tube was taken out of you moments before you woke up, because your throat feels really weird.
You look on the other side of the bed, seeing a floor and a ladder that leads to a hatch. This room obviously has nothing of importance to provide you, so you sit up, slowly standing. Now that youâve answered the question, the robot helps you up, guiding you to the hatch.
When you begin climbing, the robot arm holds onto your back to prevent you from falling, and when you get the hatch door open, you canât help but say âThank you,â to the arm.
When you step out of the hatch, you enter a hallwayâ and you smell blood. Itâs so much blood, itâs a nauseating smell. You cover your nose with your hospital gown.
Is this a hospital? Hospital gown, smell of blood, coma, seems like a hospital. But why would a robot arm be taking care of you? That doesnât seem right in the slightest.
You hear loud thuds, like a ball rolling down the hallway. You turn your head in fear, maybe a cart or an emergency patient is being rolled. You step to the side to make way.
But you see a⊠rock⊠crab? In a clear⊠low polygraphed ball.
What the fuck is that?
âHuman! Human is alive! Three humans on ship! Grace friend!â It begins rolling towards you, you have no clue what it is. You donât want to know.
Ship? You start to wobble down the hallway, in your mind youâre running, but youâre actually walking quite slow. You turn the corner, looking behind you as the rock shouts âAmaze Amaze!â
You bump into a wet figure, gasping, and backing up to see blood on you.
You quiver in confusion, you look up. A bearded man with longer hair looks down at you. Heâs muscular, he has frustration in his eyes, and heâs covered in a lot of blood. You think you hear him ask if youâre okay, but it doesnât fully register.
You begin shaking your head, about to scream.
But behind the man, is Dr. Grace. You remember him, his face, his name, thatâs about it.
âDr. Grace!â You shout, walking over to him, again, imagining yourself jogging much faster towards the only person you know.
Dr. Grace accepts you into his arms, registering that you just woke up from a coma. Regardless, his embrace feels safe.
âYouâre awake!â He screams, happy as can be despite the blood now on his shirt. He seems to have been worried about you, because his arms are shaking in your tight embrace.
âI donât- I, whatâs going on? I donât remember anythingâŠâ
âItâs okay, Itâs okay. God, youâve been out so long, the mission is basically done.â
âMission?â
âProject Hail Mary.â He says, memories come back faintly at the mention of the name, and you rub your head slightly.
âHuman does not remember!â The rock states the obvious. It goes slightly ignored.
âOkayâŠâ You push yourself away. âThat doesnât explain the⊠rock, or this guy covered in blood.â
He blinks at you, despite being covered in blood, heâs pretty reserved. The blood doesnât seem to be⊠from him. Itâs like he took a bath in someone elseâs blood. He ignores you entirely, and looks at Grace.
âWhoâs is this?â
âGosh, so many questions! This is DrâŠ.â He repeats your last name. âSheâs the Doctor at the school I worked at, I⊠Iâm not sure why sheâs on this ship. Iâve been wondering that since I woke up.â
You push yourself off of him, not realizing youâd been hugging him so tightly for so long. He didnât seem to mind, it actually looked like he needed the brief human embrace.
You rub your eyes. âWho is he? Why is he asking who I am?â
âBecause I was curious?â The bearded man turns his head at you.
âOkay, okay everyone calm down please. Uh, Rocky.â
âYes Grace, question.â
âCan you take Simon to uh⊠the showers where he can handle the blood situation? And clothing situation? I should probably talk to the Doc here privately. Catch her up, you guys are throwing her off.â
âUnderstand. Come Grace blood friend to bathing center.â Rocky rolls away, and the burly man named âSimonâ follows it with heavy footsteps that squelch against the metal floors.
The silence is heavy in the room, your brain is foggy, fuck, your eyesight is foggy. You have the rest of your life on this spaceship, and you canât even remember what youâre on it for.
Dr. Grace guides you into the laboratory, simply because itâs an easy room to get to in that moment, he helps you sit down.
He reexplains the entire Project Hail Mary mission, the issues with astrophage and the Patrova Line. The more he speaks, the more you remember. The more you remember why youâre on this ship.
You interrupt him mid-sentence. âHow long have you been alone, Dr. Grace?â
He blinks at you, shocked at the interruption, but he considers it. âI have no clue⊠maybe eight months, if youâre asking how long youâve been out since Iâve been awake.â
ââŠIâm sorry. Stratt sent me as a⊠medic for the ship. I was supposed to be the one handling any issues. But from the looks of it you seem to have gained injuries.â You gently take his hand, looking at a scar, running your thumb over it. He lets you.
âNone of that explains the rock, or that random guyâ seriously, who was that? Eight months is not that long, and Iâve missed so much.â
âWell, that rock isâ Rocky. Heâs from the planet Erid, making him an Eridian. I taught him our language, and heâs helped a lot with solving the Astrophage problem. Perfectly healthy, itâs just we canât survive in each-otherâs atmosp-â
âYou solved the Astrophage problem?â You perk up, eyebrows raising.
Dr. Grace perks up with you. âYes! Uhm- Tau Ceti, the star, it has a Patrova line to a planet we named Adrien. On that planet was basically um⊠microorganisms, to put it simply, that were a âpredatorâ for astrophage. Then all I did was send those back on probes to Earth.â
You sigh, leaning back in relief that the problem had been solved.Â
âThat means Iâve missed it all, weâre all going to die out here.â
âNot exactly, Rocky gave us some astrophage as fuel, we have enough to make it back to Erid. So, not back to Earth right now but⊠maybe in the future?â
You sigh again, taking it all in, you originally thought you had no choice but to die. Hearing thatâs not the case? Extremely relieving. You rub your head, the brain fog clearing.
âAs for the man, he actually arrived like⊠four hours ago? Itâs really complicated but we think heâs from an alternate dimension, and accidentally managed to enter a wormhole. His ship is designed for water, like an extremely thick submarine. We managed to get him out of it and bring him in, as the ship didnât look suitable enough to survive out in space.â
You blink. âThat doesnât explain the blood he had on him? Is he an axe murderer?â
âHe says that in his world- or, dimension, all the stars have died, all the planets are gone. Thereâs just space stations, and he was a Convict for⊠something he doesnât wanna talk about. They basically had him go into an ocean of blood, but he was being used as a sacrifice? Or bait? Either way heâs pretty shocked about being alive still.â
Dr. Grace fidgets with his hands and fingers, you can tell heâs been really thinking about this the past four hours. âWeâve spent a lot of time getting him alive, with CPR and feeding him liquids. But he recovered quickly. My hypothesis is that heâs from a dimension that didnât solve, or didnât realize the astrophage problem, leading to planets and stars being eaten by them.â
ââŠOr itâs completely unrelated to astrophage.â
The brain fog is coming back, but you get the general idea. âIs he nice?â You ask, rubbing your head intently.
âHe doesnât seem like a butt.â
Thatâs not a very direct answer. He may just be closed off though. Your stomach grumbles loudly, itâs almost embarrassing.
Dr. Grace shows immediate concern. âOh! Gosh, Iâm so sorry. Stay right there!â He runs out the lab, and comes back with a small pouch.
âWhat is that?â
âLiquid food, your body isnât used to solids so you have to work back up to them. I know it sucks.â
You groan, begrudgingly opening the satchel and taking a sip. Youâre met with an immediate flash of flavor and deliciousness on your tongue, it tastes like chicken, several healthy vegetables mixed in. Itâs the best thing youâve had in⊠what, four years?
Dr. Grace chuckles at your expression, and how quickly you down the food. Immediately you feel better, your muscles feel somewhat better. Mentally, you still feel gross.
âUh⊠shower? Is that possible?â
Dr. Grace nods. âYeah! Come, Iâll show you.â
You follow him down the hallway. âOriginally,â He starts, âThe ship wasnât gonna have a shower room, but I had to beg Stratt. Saying itâd be inhumane to make a person bathe without a proper shower.â
You nod. âWere you and Stratt close? She barely talked to me.â
He glances at you over his shoulder, shrugging. âIâd like to think she trusted me more than others, but I wouldnât consider us friends. She had a mission that took priority over any friendship.â
Dr. Grace points down a hallway. âThat room is the shower room, let me know if you need anything.â
The offer isnât perverse, itâs genuine.
You walk over to the door, unthinking, and nudge the door open. The shower room is relatively large, like a mini-locker-room shower. Thereâs several unopened bars and packages of soap, conditioner, all sorts of stuff. One of the showers is already running.
The floor is red.
Oh.
âOH Iâm SO sorry I-â
âItâs okay.â Simon says. âItâs a locker-room shower, other people are expected to be in here.â He looks at you with a cold look in his eyes, you can see several burns and welts on his arm, something you should definitely treat under different circumstances.
Until then, you close the door. âJust- let me know when youâre done, Iâd prefer!â
You hear a quiet âMkayâ from him, and you notice a ball rolling down the hall again, Rocky turns the corner and looks at you.
âBlood Human is in bathing room, Doctor Human.â
You sigh. âThank you, Rocky.â
Before the crab has a chance to roll away, you ask; âUhm⊠where would my clothes be?â
Rocky rolls around in excitement. âRocky show! Follow! Follow!â He rolls off in glee, and you jog slightly to catch up.
He stops at a door, thereâs four beds, one of them has a cage so you assume itâs Rockyâs bed.
âThis Doctor bedroom. Clothes under bed.â
You smile at Rocky. âThank you, sorry for being scared of you.â
âApology accepted. Rocky understand that Eridian beauty is difficult for Human brain to comprehend.â
You just kinda⊠blink at him, but you shrug. âSure!â
You go over to your bed, pulling out a box. Stratt had, seemingly, broken into your home to take some of your personal clothes and pack them. Which is creepy, but you appreciate it. You search for comfortable loungewear, maybe some shorts and a tank top, something reasonable to wear out of a shower.
You find a black tank top and matching shorts made of silk, theyâre somewhat loose on you. You intend to get some real sleep after your shower, not comatose sleep.
You walk out with Rocky, who politely waited for you. You run into the once bloodied man in the hallway, he seems freshened up. Heâs wearing a tight t-shirt and sweatpants, presumably belonging to Dr. Grace or the deceased members of the ship.
Heâs drying his hair with a towel that rests over his shoulders, and he looks at you. You both pause, Rocky rolls away from you both.
âIâm done showering.â He added blankly, walking away.
You watch him intently, you canât tell what his tone is. He just seems tired.
You go into the shower room, taking a long hot shower, you donât even care if the water supply is limited anymore. You use all the soaps theyâd given you, taking full advantage of this moment alone. No one walks in, reasonably.Â
Afterwards, you put on your black tank top and shorts, you figure you should probably tell Dr. Grace that youâre going to bed, so heâs not worried about your uncomfortably long absence.Â
You walk down the hallway, holding a wet towel and the old hospital gown, you peer into the laboratory, seeing Dr. Grace talking to the man.
Heâs explaining everything he just explained to you.
âSo basically, weâre headed to Erid. Iâm not sure if weâre going back to Earth, but we wonât die.â
âThatâs all I care about, Ryland. I donât wanna die.â
Dr. Grace smiles at him. âThat makes two of us.â
Theyâre sharing a nice moment, it feels like youâre watching an old married couple. Supposedly, theyâd just met a few hours ago, but they talk to eachother like theyâve known each other quite some time. Simon is obviously pretty reserved, given his situation, but Dr. Grace saved his life, so he seems to trust him more than you.
You hate to interrupt but you knock lightly on the door.
They both look at you at the same time, Dr. Graceâs expression softens, Simonâs stays the same.
âHey, uhm. Sorry, I guess this is a weird thing to tell you both but Iâm going to bed. I need some real sleep.â
âOkay.â Simon says. âWeâll probably be close behind, at least, I will. I think Ryland is a bit worried about the ship and its destination.â
âYeah,â Dr. Grace agrees, âMaryâs been through a lot, so if anything off collision happens Iâd like to be awake but⊠I assume we can do shifts?â
You yawn. âI donât really care.â
Rocky rolls around in the lab, you reckon heâd been hiding around a shelf. âRocky watch Doctor sleep!â
You grimace. âWhat?âÂ
Simonâs expression is similar to yours. Being watched sleep isnât exactly something youâre wanting to do.
âEridians watch each other sleep, to keep each-other safe. You get used to it.â Dr. Grace says, and honestly you donât really care after learning that, as long as Rocky isnât being creepy, right?
You just nod, gesturing for Rocky to follow.
When you lie down in the bed, itâs a lot more comfortable than the hospital one you originally woke up in. You can feel Rocky staring at you in silence, but you donât really mind, itâs not the end of the world. You find yourself falling asleep relatively fast.
ââ
When you wake up, itâs dark outside.
Okay. Thatâs a given.Â
The lights are off in the hallway, and you can hear light snoring. You sit up slightly, peering into the pod next to you. The once bloodied man, Simon, is sleeping heavily.
You can see the welts on his arms, even with little to no light. You really want to look at them when heâs awake. For right now, youâre up, you have no clue how long you napped for, maybe four hours? Either way, you feel relatively refreshed.
Rolling out of the bed, you stand up. Rocky shuffles, moving closer to Simon. He doesnât say anything, but he figures he should watch Simon sleep now since youâre awake.
You trudge down the hallway in search for Grace, you know heâs awake, or sleeping somewhere thatâs not the pods.
You walk into the lab, the lights are on, but Dr. Grace has his head down on the table. Heâs sleeping.
What do you do? Do you wake him up?Â
You stand there for quite some time, feeling through your now dry hair.Â
âDr. Grace?â You whisper, he shifts slightly.
âMrgmmphâŠâ Is his reply.
That means heâs not in a deep sleep, so you calmly walk over to him.
You rub his shoulder softly. âHey, you should probably sleep in the beds. Youâll hurt your back sleeping here.â
He puts his hand on you, a failed attempt at pushing you away.
âMnmooâŠâÂ
âMoo?â You repeat to him.
âNo⊠I said no⊠I donât wanna get upâŠâ He grumbles, waking up slightly.
You pause, rubbing his shoulder still.
âRocky isnât watching you sleep.â
For some reason, that does it for him. He peeks an eye open under his glasses, and he sighs. It takes a moment, but he gets up. He rubs the eye boogers out under his glasses, flicking them somewhere. Gross, but understandable.
He walks with you quietly to the dormitory, you two donât say much, but your hand moves down to his back, you donât really know why.Â
You guide him to his bed, itâs comforting, the way you gently open the blanket up for him, taking off his glasses and setting them to the side. He doesnât say thank you, but you know heâs grateful.
Simon rolls over and faces the other way.
ââ
It had been a few days, maybe three? Not an extremely long time, especially compared to how long Dr. Grace had been alone, and for what Simon had to put up with before he came here.
Simon seems to be having a hard time adjusting to freedom, and adjusting to trust. Dr. Grace did say he was a convict, a criminal, so you assume he may have done something wrong? You have no clue what defines âwrongâ in his dimension though.
Either way, heâs been through a lot.
One day when Dr. Grace was showing Rocky some more things about Earth in the little TV room, you were left alone with Simon in the laboratory.
It had been awkward, especially since you walked in on him literally showering. God- you felt horrible for that.
Bringing it up again would just make things a lot more awkward, right? So you choose not to. No matter how much you want to apologize over and over.
Heâs looking at all the science lab tools, you donât really understand them, but if anything he understands them the least. You hope he doesnât ask you to explain anything, because it would be a very botched explanation of equipment only Dr. Grace (and even Rocky) really know how to use.
Just as youâre thinking that, he speaks.
âSo whatâs your purpose here?â
You laugh a little, being caught off guard. He lifts his eyes to meet yours, and you realize heâs asking a serious genuine question.
âOh, err, I guess Iâm the medic for the ship? I⊠havenât really been doing the best job, because Iâve been in a coma. Iâm glad Dr. Grace was able to help you.â
Simon looks down at his arm, at the welts that had calmed down.Â
âWhy are you calling Ryland, Dr. Grace? Heâs a Doctor? I didnât know that.â
âHe has his doctorate innnnâŠâ you bite your lip trying to remember, âmolecular biology? So technically he has the title. Heâs more focused on science and space and stuff, Iâm surprised he knew Câ well, never mind, heâs a teacher, CPR is a useful skill.â
Simon blinks at you, registering all the new things heâs learning about Dr. Grace. The fact that he has a doctorate, the fact that heâs a teacher. Has Simon been to school, does he know how college works? You really donât know how different your dimensions are.
âRight.â He states, sighing. âIâm glad he knew it. He saved my life.âÂ
You nod in agreement, quite awkwardly. âIâm sorry, I⊠donât really know what youâve been through but whatever it was it seemed-â
âTraumatizing?â
âI was gonna say exhausting but, traumatizing could be a word to describe it.â Like you said, you didnât know his situation.
He goes quiet softly, fingers running over his welts.Â
You canât help but ask.
âCan I see them?â
âWhat?â
âThe welts, Iâm guessing they havenât been treated yet, right?â
Simon considered, it didnât even occur to him to treat them. He walks over to you, showing you his arm.Â
His forearm is covered in tiny blisters, itâs gross. When working in the medical field, this stuff isnât gross to you. Thereâs irritation in certain parts, visibly red skin. His forearm is⊠large, thereâs so much room for these blisters to appear, they go all the way down to the palm of his hand. It looks like his arms are the most affected.Â
âWhat are these from?â
Simon bit his lip. âI think radiation?â
You look up at him, eyebrows raising. âHow much radiation were you encountering for this to happen?â
He looked away slightly. âOn the Iron Lung.â
He doesnât say anything else and⊠okay? The medical tool? Wh⊠what?Â
âIron Lung?â
âThatâs what⊠they⊠called the submarine I was on. It needed to use a radioactive camera to see, I think. I didnât really⊠read the manual.â He admitted shyly, avoiding your gaze. He isnât as tough as he looks.
That makes more sense. âWell, since youâre not around radiation anymore, this seems treatable. Maybe some scarring but I can definitely work with this, if youâd let me.â
He thinks about it, watching you analyze his blistered arms carefully. You study him, waiting for a reply.
He swallows, his adamâs apple moving visibly. ââŠPlease. It hurts.â
You didnât need to be told twice. You and Simon calmly walked to the shower-room, you werenât sure if there was really a bathroom? And even then that may be uncomfortable to deal with.
You pull a stool up, having him sit. Leaving him there for a moment, you find a ton of medical supplies in a closet, and you bring them.
You turn a faucet on to a lukewarm temperature, using a clean rag to gently wash his arm with soap. You do it carefully and softly, making sure you donât accidentally pop any blisters or cause more irritation than needed.Â
âHave any blisters popped?â You ask, drying his arms by patting them.
He thinks. âNo.. uh, I think this one? Iâve tried not to mess with them.â
âThat was a very smart decision.â You smile softly at him, he doesnât know how to take the compliment.Â
You look at the one popped blister on his palm, digging in your basket of medical supplies, applying hydrogel to protect the area. âAre you okay with taking an antibiotic?â
âIf it helps.â
âSo yes, okay. Iâll give you some when weâre done here.â
You get some medically safe moisturizer, applying it to extremely irritated areas of his arms. He winces softly. âI know, I know.â Youâd say to him. âItâs almost over.â
When youâre done, you give him some advice. âWash it with this bar of soap and lukewarm water everyday to keep it clean. Pat it dry, donât rub it.â He nods.Â
âIf any blisters pop, come to me. Here, take these antibiotics, theyâll help.â
You were surprised the ship had antibiotics to help exactly with what Simon needed, you guessed the hull had everything you guys could need for the short time you would be out here. You even spotted condoms while searching through the closet.Â
Stratt definitely⊠over-prepared.
Simon takes everything you handed him, looking at it, back at you. He looks grateful.
âI donât know what to say.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âI just⊠wouldnât have known what to do, I guess. Thank you.â He covers his mouth, he looks like heâs about to cry.
You place a gentle hand on his shoulder. âSimon, itâs okay. Youâre welcome, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Just come straight to me if you have any more problems, okay?â
He nods, sighing, wiping a stray tear from his cheek. âOkay, okay. I will.â
The two of you get up, conversing slightly. Nothing of importance, heâs asking a little about your life on Earth before Project Hail Mary. You both leave the shower room laughing, running into Dr. Grace.
He looks surprised, raising his eyebrows.Â
âUh⊠what were you two doing in there together?â He turns his head, double checking around the corner to see that yes, he really did just watch you both come out of the shower room together.














