Nivka awoke in a hospital bed. She knew it was a hospital bed, by the feel of it on her spine. It was tough, but not quite uncomfortable. Give her time, and she could identify which hospital she was in. Go's, she had been in these places too damn much.

  She slowly focused her eyes, and saw IV's connected to her stomach area due to her metal extremities. She slowly moved, and felt her head spin.

  She lay back down, and slowly, she adjusted the bed to be sitting up (she loved that feature). She tried twisting her head, and it only caused moderate vertigo. She slowly panned around, taking her situation in.

  She was in a hospital bed, in an isolated room. That... was bad. Genpop meant she was largely ok. Isolation, though... meant things had been touch and go. That things were still fragile even. Given what had happened... She could see it.

  She sat back. Her mind wandered back. She was so, so lucky she had threw her helmet off before it melted through properly. Things were fuzzy, but if it wasn't for those special full helmets they made us wear, and not those caps... she would have lost her head if she had anything else on, no question. Still almost did.

  She shuddered, sending pain shooting through her chest. Oh... oh... She had forgotten about her lungs... She could breathe so much easier she hadn't noticed.

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  It wasn't at 100%, but... it was so much better then drowning in burn fluids... She shuddered at the feeling, at choking on liquid, clawing at the ground...

  And her head. She slowly reached up, and grabbed onto bandages. More bandages... her head hurt, causing more vertigo.

  She was so tired, even when she had just woken up. She had been sure, in her heart that she was going to die. That she was going to drown, or her heart would give out. She was... She was...

  She slowly closed her eyes, falling into a light sleep.

  "Lieutenant Nivka?" A soft voice called out. "Lieutenant Nivka, cab you hear me?"

  She slowly opened her eyes to her hospital room. It was, as expected, unchanged. A man, a doctor most probably, was checking over her vitals on a monitor, glancing at her. When he saw her open her eyes, he got up and stood in front of her.

  "Fantastic. You're awake." He said, looking me over.

  "Hey, doc." She coughed. He reached over to the side and grabbed a bottle, and uncapped it. He slowly poured water hin her mouth, and she swallowed. "How am I doin'" She asked.

  "Poorly, but better. A large amount of your skull needed to be replaced, and scourge lungs were severely damaged. We have fixed the damage, but flash cloning simply wasn't possible. I'm afraid you have permanent lung damage. Not severe, but you will need medication." He said.

  "You also have a, at this point, severe lack of bone. This will cause anemia. Not untreatable, and you will need iron supplements. You also had slight brain damage, which was, thankfully, fully fixed. You were, incredibly lucky." He sain.

  "Don't I know it." She sighed. "Fuck. There goes my career.... well, I was fucked anyway. I knew I was probably going to die on some colony world, but to actually almost bite it?... Fuck." She said, sighing again.

  "You also have 2 visitors. Your family, and army command." He said.

  I jolted. Family? My- oh fuck. Oh fuck fuck fuck, I hadn't told them jack shit about anything that has happened to me. My breathing increased. What would I say? Do they know about my condition? I-

  I coughed violently. The doctor pushed me to lay down, and I tasted metal. "Lieutenant, you are strained in almost every way. Calm down. I will send both away. Just rest for now." He said.

  That sounded... like a good... idea...

  She fell asleep.