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The Thesis had a small hospital on sector three. With a relatively small population, the medical needs of those on board didn’t warrant much space to be devoted for such things. That wasn’t to say that the medical facilities were primitive. Nearly every medical procedure that could be performed on earth could be performed on board the Thesis.

Matiew was made as comfortable as possible as soon as he was situated in his hospital room. They gave him medication for his pain and anxiety but didn’t let him go to sleep.

“You’ve had a couple of good hits to your head and going to sleep now could cause some additional complications for you,” the doctor, Avril Faucher, explained to him in a voice that made Matiew wonder if she’d already told him this. “We need to keep you awake for a few more tests as well as observation.”

“Can I get something to drink?” Matiew asked.

“Of course, your cup is there on the stand beside you.”

Dr Faucher pointed and Matiew followed her gesture. There was indeed a small stand beside his bed with a cup of water and a straw.

“Thank you,” he said, a bit embarrassed, and took a drink.

The water was cold and felt good in his mouth, washing away some of the lingering taste of the marsh. He couldn’t remember whether or not he’d actually gotten any of the marsh water in his mouth or if the ambient humidity in sector thirty was to blame but either way it wasn’t a very appealing taste.

“We’ll be doing some X-rays to check for any broken bones,” Dr Faucher went on, “as well as a CT scan to make sure your head’s doing alright. At the moment, nothing looks too serious but we just want to make sure.”

She gave him a well practiced smile and Matiew felt himself relax a bit more.

Matiew felt as though he should say something but wasn’t sure what. He settled on repeating his thanks.

“We’ve notified Robotics Control about the incident,” she said, “and they’ll be sending someone over in the morning.”

“Okay,” again, Matiew wasn’t sure what or if he was supposed to say anything but filled the small gaps with his murmured replies nonetheless.

“Alright, well let’s go and get these X-rays done.”

Dr Faucher turned and a pair of nurses stepped around her as they entered the room. They took up their positions, one at the head of the bed and the other at the foot. They followed Dr Faucher out of the room, maneuvering Matiew and the bed with ease around the corners. Matiew didn’t pay much attention to what all was going on. It was difficult to keep his mind focused for any extended period of time anyway. All he recalled later was that they had him shifting to one side and then another. Maybe they’d had him get out of bed once or twice. He particularly didn’t enjoy the CT scan.

By the time all of the testing was completed, he was really having a difficult time staying awake. The nurses and Dr Faucher kept coming into his room to check on him and keep him awake and talking. A part of him recognized that they were only doing what they were supposed to do but he couldn’t help but become at least a little grumpy with them.

“I just want some sleep,” he tried to keep the whine out of his voice but failed.

“I know, but we had to make sure everything was alright on your end before we could let you sleep,” Dr Faucher explained. “I’ve looked over your X-rays and the CT scan and besides a few minor fractures, everything else looks good.”

“So can I sleep now?”

“Yes. Good night.”

Dr Faucher left the room and Matiew immediately shut his eyes and fell asleep. It wasn’t the deepest of sleeps, like he would have wanted, but it was good enough. He was vaguely aware of people coming into his room a few times during the night but they never tried to wake him and he was more than happy to ignore them.

Matiew slept well into the morning. He would have liked to keep on sleeping but years of being an early riser meant that by ten in the morning he was awake and unlikely to be able to fall back asleep.

“Good morning,” the nurse said as she poked her head into the room and saw Matiew awake. “How are you feeling?”

“Better than last night,” Matiew replied dryly.

“I can imagine,” the nurse chuckled, albeit in a good-natured way. “Do you feel like having some breakfast?”

“Oh, yes please.”

He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until the nurse had asked.

“I’m Hannah, by the way. I just need to check a few things and then we’ll see about getting you that breakfast.” she spoke quickly now, pulling out a small pen light and shining it in each eye. “Just look at the far wall,” she told him. “Now follow the tip of my finger with your eyes without moving your head.”

She listened to his heart and lungs as well as looked over his bruises.

“You want to sit up for a bit or do you prefer to stay lying down?”

“Let’s try sitting up.” Matiew wasn’t sure how his ribs would respond to the change in position but he was ready to do more than lie on his back.

The nurse pressed a button on the side of the bed and it slowly and smoothly began to transition into a sitting position. Matiew winced as his ribs began to complain and the nurse noticed, stopping the bed from moving any further.

“Is that okay?” she asked.

The bed was only about halfway to a proper sitting position but it was enough of an incline that Matiew would be able to eat and look around his room without feeling too awkward.

“This is fine,” he told her.

“Alright, then. I’ll go get you your breakfast.”

Matiew lay there, trying not to breathe too deeply since that was what caused him the greatest discomfort. Fortunately, the pain medication was doing its job and kept the pain to a low throb unless he moved around too much. Then it would flare up and feel like a half dozen knives were stabbing his chest.

After a few minutes of sitting quietly in his room, the door opened. Matiew expected to see the nurse returning with his food but instead it was Min, followed by a security officer. Crime was low on the Thesis but not nonexistent and so the Thesis employed a few dozen security personnel to handle any such issues.

Min’s face was serious and she paled slightly as she looked at him. Matiew realized he hadn’t seen his own face since the attack and so had no idea how bad he looked. The officer looked impassive but nodded and gave Matiew a brief smile.

“I’m officer Dale,” he said. “I came with your supervisor here to make sure everything was alright, and to let you know we’ve taken your attacker into custody.”

“Thank you,” Matiew said for what felt like the hundredth time since being attacked.

“I’ll just be outside if either of you need anything. I’ll escort you back to the RCC whenever you’re ready,” he said to Min, “but no rush. Take you time.”

He nodded to them both and stepped back out of the room.

“You got an escort?” Matiew asked, only half teasing.

“We all got one today,” Min explained, pulling up a chair and sitting down beside the bed. “There was a big ship-wide announcement first thing this morning about you being attacked and how everyone was to stop harassing us at the RCC.”

“How’d that go over?” Matiew asked. This wasn’t the first time such announcements had been made in an effort to stop people from bothering people at the RCC.

“Pretty bad, actually,” Min said with a bitter chuckle.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Min said, more serious now. “A few people were arrested just outside my quarters. They’d scratched a lovely little note into my door as well.”

“That explains your escort.”

“We all have one now,” Min explained. “The director’s not risking another attack.”

“I’m sure that’s making him all the more popular.”

“It’s just a vocal minority that’s causing problems,” Min assured him. “Hopefully this’ll all be over and done in a few more days.”

“Yeah, about that,” Matiew said, looking himself over, “what’s the plan for that? I’m definitely not going to be cleared for an E.V.A. any time soon.”

“I was actually just talking with Mr Jorgenson and your doctor about that before coming here.”

“And? Is he sending you instead?”

“No, he still wants it to be you who negotiates with the robot,” Min shook her head to emphasize how much of a bad idea she thought that was.

“How? I’m not about to just trust myself to be strapped onto someone’s back!”

Matiew began to sit up further in his bed but his ribs protested sharply at the movement and Matiew fell back onto his pillows, gripping his sides and suppressing a groan.

“He’s not considering an E.V.A. now,” Min said after Matiew had relaxed again. “He’s working with the engineers to get an airlock installed on the the stairwell between fifteen and sixteen.”

“They can do that?”

“They’ll have to cut through the emergency doors for it to work,” Min said, “which the engineers aren’t too excited about having to repair once this is all said and done.”

“I bet, but if we don’t have to leave the ship…why didn’t they just do this in the first place?”

“Hey, it’s not my circus, not my monkeys.”

“What?”

“Just something my grandma used to say,” Min blushed. “Just means I’m not the one making those decisions and I’m not responsible for them either.”

“Huh, well, regardless, do you know how long it’ll take them to get the airlock in place?”

“A few days, I think,” Min said. “You think you’ll be feeling better by then?”

“No,” Matiew almost laughed before turning more serious, “but how much of a choice do we have? Unless Mr Jorgenson agrees to send someone else, I don’t want to just leave BaBS-Y alone any longer than we have to.”

“Agreed.”

It was an awkward silence they shared then. There wasn’t much else to really say. They both knew that Matiew was the most qualified for the task at hand. But the attack had thrown a heavy shadow over their work and neither one knew how much longer the situation could be left to continue. People were losing patience and no one knew what BaBS-Y was going to do next.