Birth of a Pilot

Doctors sure must be busy at the Martian Base. Roxie feels like she’s been waiting for millenia. In actuality, she would probably estimate her wait time to be less than an hour or so. The receptionist told her the doctor volunteering to train her should be here soon, but time has disproved that promise. As she waits, an unexpected familiar face rounds the corner. It’s Aiden!

“Aiden!” Finally, someone to talk to!

Aiden remains characteristically nonchalant. “‘Sup.” 

“What are you doing here?” Roxie tilts her head inquisitively.

The taller ranger scratches his neck. “It was either this or watch Rookie panic. Figured Mia could deal with that better than me.”

“Poor Rookie!” Roxie spent the better half of her time here fending off horrible predictions of Angelo’s fate. She can only imagine what it must be like for Leon. “Did you get any messages from Emil?”

“I don’t have a phone.”

“Oh. I guess I should check mine, then!” Roxie pulls out her phone and sees a message from Jun. From what she remembers, they and the captain went to go investigate the staff major’s lab. Maybe Jun’s just checking up on her.

“hey, rox. how quickly does a skull fracture heal. asking for a friend.”

Roxie’s fingers go into overdrive. 

“Did the captain fracture his skull??”

Moments later, she receives another message from her friend. 

“nah, he’s alright.”

“Who is the friend who needs assistance??” Roxie texts.

“me”

“yoU CRACKED YOUR SKULL?????”

“i prolly coulda phrased that better”

This is not good, not good at all! One crew member is already at risk of sustaining a life-threatening injury, but now Jun too? How many more of Roxie’s friends have to suffer today?

Roxie receives another message. “i just need the info for that one guy who got injured. said he recovered in 5 days. i don’t buy it. please don’t think i’m dying lol”

What a relief! Knowing that her best friend isn’t in immediate danger makes Roxie feel as if years have been added to her life-span, even if only because she just previously felt like it had been halved.

“You look like you just saw a ghost.” Aiden observes.

“No, I just saw something even better! No one’s skulls have been fractured yet!”

The blond ranger hesitates. “Uh… cool.”

“Except for that one guy who got trapped in the Starwalker.” Roxie adds.

“Oh. I just saw him walk out.” Aiden points toward the door leading out of the infirmary.

Roxie stands to attention. “There is information I need to gather from him! Stay here incase my instructor comes back.”

Aiden makes an ok signal with his hand, and Roxie paces out of the infirmary with newfound purpose. Upon exiting the door, she locates her target. He’s still wearing bandages around his head like an unfinished Halloween costume.

“Excuse me! Mr. Bandage Guy?”

Roxie delights as he turns around. His attention has been caught! 

“Hiiiii!” She waves.

Now he’s running. Roxie stands perplexed, wondering where she went wrong, but her wondering is cut short by the fact that her target is getting away.

“Wait! Halt! I mean no harm, I just wanted to ask you a question!” the ranger’s red curls flop behind her as she chases the outpatient. He looks back, but keeps running. She wishes he would stop; all this running can’t be good for his injury.

The halls are not empty, unfortunately, and Roxie must apologize to many a pedestrian for bumping into them. Even still, she manages to keep her momentum up enough to maintain the distance between them. He weaves in and out of the confused crowd in an attempt to throw Roxie off, but she spots him turning at a corner.

She charges down the next hallway only to find that she lost Bandage Guy. A new problem stares her directly in the eye. The elevator. At the end of the hall, a towering glass elevator shaft delivers star rangers and dependents alike to and from the other floors. Who knows how long it would take Roxie to catch up if the outpatient boards it? He could be lost for good! Still, he shouldn’t have been able to reach it yet. 

Roxie looks in front of her. A multitude of different faces, but no Bandage Guy. She looks to her right. A pair of star rangers post fliers for activities. Still no Bandage Guy.  She looks to her right. A slightly disheveled man with bandages wrapped around his head stands perfectly still a few feet away. She looks behind her. She blinks. She looks to her right again.

“L-Listen! I gotta--I got somewhere to be. I promise I’ll come back to the infirmary once I’m done there, just let me--agh!” He holds his head in pain.

Roxie approaches him slowly. “Hey, are you okay? I just wanted to ask how long it took to heal your noggin.”

“Wait. You’re not hospital staff?” The injured ranger looks questioningly at Roxie’s red arm patch. “But you have the-”

Before Roxie got the chance to explain, a doctor approaches them, followed by Aiden.

“Thank goodness you found him!” The doctor places her clipboard against her head. “Ranger Harada, what do you think you’re doing?”

“I was gonna come right baaaack.” whines the escapee. He scratches at his 5 ‘o clock shadow.

The doctor turns toward Roxie. “I am so, so sorry.  I would’ve been with you much sooner but I’d been running around looking for…” She gestures toward Harada to complete her sentence, looking incredibly exhausted and annoyed. “Anyway, let’s turn this into a positive experience!” The older woman claps her hands together. “After we get this one back to his room, I’ll interview you both to get a sense of where you’re at, and then we can go from there.”

“You’ll be learning with me?” Roxie asks Aiden.

He shrugs. “Might as well.”

“Yaaaaaay! We can both be travelers on the road to knowledge.” Roxie spreads out her hands in front of her.

“Yeah, I guess.” The older ranger mimics her motion, but with much less energy.

The doctor giggles at the pair. “Follow me.” She begins walking, then turns around. “And don’t let Ranger Harada out of your sight.”

Harada trudges behind. “Yeah, yeah, I won’t try anything funny. Sorry Mr. R…” he says to no one in particular.

“Usually I ain’t the type to rat people out,” Aiden trails behind the group. “But Roxie needed… something? What was it again?”

“Oh yeah!” Roxie remembers she hasn’t gotten the answer to her question. “Doctor...?”

“Akachi.”

“Dr. Akachi, how long would it take for his injuries to heal?”

“Months.” answers the doctor. “But he only needed to be an inpatient for about a week, or would have if he hadn’t pulled this stunt. We might need to keep him a little longer.” 

“Wow, that’s quick!” Roxie texts the information to Jun while wondering why the patient was in such a hurry to leave. Where does he have to be that couldn’t wait two days?

“Where did you have to be that couldn’t wait two days?” Aiden asks. 

I didn’t know he was a mind-reader! Roxie thinks to herself.

“I promised I’d be somewhere. Thought I’d be out by now.”

“Well.” Dr. Akachi begins. “Let this be a lesson to you to let the hospital decide when you’re released.”

The four enter the hospital once more, beginning Roxie’s journey for medical knowledge. She hopes to avenge Angelo’s needless sacrifice, as well as be able to provide aid for when he or any of her other friends need it.