One Day At a Time ✔️

Ch. 24 Complicated Issue

Drift's P.O.V.
I hate the idea I have to cause Jamie distress to teach her to trust Jolt and Ratchet. I have the two wait a few minutes after Crosshairs, and I sit with her, the twins, Jazz, Mirage, and Bee. Five minutes pass before Jolt and Ratchet sit at the table. Immediately Jamie sees them.
"You're ok; they will not hurt you," I assure her. I'd rather not point out what they'd do if they wanted to hurt her. I'm just going to cause a problem; Jamie will be unable to be left alone with them. I worry about what is going through her mind when she sees Jolt or Ratchet. What happened to her being ok with them and then suddenly being frightened to be near them?
Even though she's terrified, Jamie doesn't run away though she can. Instead, she stays and hugs me tight. I know it's better to have her stay here, but we also want her to eat, and I want my girl to recover from what Megatron did.
I hate she likely remembers what those so-called doctors did to her as she sees Jolt or Ratchet. As Crosshairs tries to take her, her reaction confirms it, and I've never seen her terrified before.
"Easy, you're safe," he assures her.
Ratchet tells us to take Jamie back to our room. It hurts to hear Jamie cry as soon as we leave the cafeteria. 

Once Jamie is asleep, Crosshairs and I talk about what happened as I tube-feed Jamie.
I'm terrified she can't recover from this, and it's my fault this happened. Jolt and Ratchet come by to make sure Jamie is ok.
"I worry we can't remedy this," Ratchet frets, "or at least without what we saw in the cafeteria happening."
"Maybe trying to deal with three issues at a time is the problem?" I ask.
"They are all connected. I need to make sure she's doing well to remove the trach, and it is possible she's not adjusting to talking with the trach," Ratchet explains.
We need to focus on having Jamie use the speaking valve all day. How the hell is Ratchet going to continue being Jamie's doctor? Sure Ratchet trained Crosshairs and I enough, but we don't know how to deal with everything.

I don't know why Jolt and Ratchet wanted to stay until Jamie had a nightmare. Ratchet has already seen how Jamie fights Crosshairs and me. As we wait, we talk about a few plans, hating there's no way to know what is the right way. I don't want to continue what we've been doing, but I also want Jamie to know Jolt and Ratchet will not hurt her.
"She doesn't last long when she sees us," Jolt observes.
"No, same routine; we calm her down, and she falls asleep. Her oxygen level drops to 90% every time," Crosshairs explains, "she has nightmares every nap and at night."
"Unusual," Ratchet points out, "and concerning; I don't know if it's the trach or not. There's no lung damage... unless you want me to take another look."

Ratchet's P.O.V.
I knew Drift would walk out of the room. It's hard watching Jamie struggle to be afraid of Jolt and me. Now I'm suggesting having her in the medbay. Even if we drug her now and take her to the medbay, she still needs to wake up in the medbay, which might frighten her if she's not drowsy from the drugs. It's hard thinking to try to help Jamie; we will cause more fear and distress. Crosshairs hates deciding without Drift, but he tells Jolt and me to take Jamie to the medbay. I tell him to find Drift.

Three hours later, the scans find nothing.
"It's possible that Megatron would use her as an inside spy without her knowing," I explain.
"But then decided she's better off dead," Jolt concludes in a sad tone, "but she doesn't know that — or at least the part about the surgery not being completed the way she thought it would be. I worry about how she was put under for the surgery — or if she was."
"Unless she was barely conscious, to begin with. We can't put a new monitor chip in right now, but I should have put on one before the tracheostomy."
"That normally would be a serious error, but she will not be leaving Crosshairs and Drift's side," Jolt points out.
We move Jamie to a room.

Crosshairs and Drift are already waiting in my office, and I contact Prime to tell all three of them our findings. 
"... she will not listen," Drift dreads.
"I can try to talk to her," Prime insists.

Optimus Prime's P.O.V.
Crosshairs, Drift, and I sit in the room around the bed, waiting for Jamie to wake up. It's still hard to see Jamie with a trach and knowing little of what she went through. It's hard not to prepare a team for a revenge mission, but we'll get our chance. Right now, Jamie needs our support. 
Ratchet checks on Jamie every ten minutes but doesn't want to stay and wait with us. 

An hour passes before he fills a syringe with a relaxant drug, which we all dread.
"I don't know how we can show you, Jolt, and I will not hurt you," he says before leaving. Crosshairs, Drift, and I look at the syringe on the counter, hoping we don't have to use it. Drift is already sitting by the bed, holding Jamie's hand.

Unfortunately, Jamie has a nightmare before waking up, and watching her forget where she is and the trach, when she wakes up is heartbreaking. Drift has to restrain her arms, which is not a good idea in her mental state, but we'd have a serious problem if she takes the trach out. She tries to break free from his grip for a few minutes before realizing who's holding her. We know part of the problem is the trach and the inability to make a sound. Jamie likely believes her mouth is taped shut. Like another part of the torcher she endured. 
"Shh, it's me, Drift; you're safe," Drift assures Jamie, but it's no secret she's in a room in the medbay.
"You are safe," I assure her.
She's not ready to listen to me.
"Every time," Crosshairs sighs, wiping a stay tear from his eye. 

Ratchet's P.O.V.
She's not ready for the trach to be removed unless she agrees to stay here. While Drift calms Jamie down, I talk to Jolt and Prime in the hallway about what we could see when I remove the trach and that Jamie might not be ready, but Jolt and Prime agree we should try — if Prime can get Jamie to agree to stay here and relax. I told him he could stay if that's what we must do.

Optimus Prime's P.O.V.
Jamie let me hold her on my lap as I sit on the bed. She's having a hard time calming down. I want to avoid using the syringe Ratchet prepared and try to remove the trach, but it's not good for us to let Jamie continue to be frightened. Feeling her tremble angers me. My friend — who'd never back down from a fight — is terrified to be in the medbay with Jolt and Ratchet.
"You're ok; Jolt and Ratchet want to help you."
From what Ratchet told us, Megatron changed the plan, but Jamie doesn't know.
"Take her," I instruct Drift.

"Are you certain there's nothing?" I ask Ratchet.
"Unless they put in a device where the monitoring chip would be; yes."
"Which we can remove when we put a replacement chip in," Jolt adds, "also, considering she isn't talking, I doubt Megatron is getting any information."
I am not lying completely, even if Jolt and Ratchet find something later. We watch Crosshairs and Drift struggle as Jamie fights them before Crosshairs gets the syringe and injects her. Drift is on the verge of tears as he watches the drug take effect. It's not long before Jamie is asleep; Drift lays her in the bed before Crosshairs hugs him.

"She'll be ok; we'll get through this," Crosshairs comforts him.
I tell the two my idea; both are uncertain about this but know it could help Jamie. The problem is the other outcome we'll have. I know Drift wanted to do this before, but how he changed his mind worries me.
For now, Crosshairs and Drift take Jamie back to their room.

Drift's P.O.V.
I don't know which way is right. I'm tired of my girl crying and being terrified. Her mental struggle before this scrap looks like nothing compared to this. 
"Well?" Crosshairs asks.
"I don't know... I'm so tired of our little lady being terrified and crying, the nightmares.. but if it's too soon to remove the trach...you know the serious problem we'll have."
"I know, but Ratchet could be right; she might be having difficulty adjusting to talking with the trach and being ready to remove it — even if we aren't following the typical procedure."
I know Crosshairs worries about the consequences of taking the trach out too soon. 

Twenty minutes pass before Prime comes by. He sits on the bed, stroking Jamie's hair as she sleeps.
"You're safe here. Jolt and Ratchet are trying to help you," he says, even though Jamie is asleep.
I know everyone is trying not to think the damage is permanent, but Jamie is terrified, and it's not helping her recovery. 

Optimus Prime's P.O.V.
I don't know what to do. It's not a good idea to explain to Jamie what Ratchet and Jolt would do if they were the evil doctors. I know Ratchet was advised to treat Jamie like a young child and do things to build trust, but it's hard to make Jamie upset, even if it's temporary deliberately. Thinking about how she fights Crosshairs and Drift, it bothers me that there's a span where she thinks we're all the enemy. She'd feel guilty if either of them got hurt. Are we truly out of options? And this is how our friend is going to be? I refuse to accept this.