Infected- Penn- Open

[somerandomhippie1]

With a grumble, Penn sent his soccer ball ricocheting across the room. He had just been having a bad week. After Anna and Ben had gotten back from their escapade, the med bay had become extremely quiet-- almost too quiet for him. He had enjoyed the peace for a little while, but he soon begun to miss the background bustle, and the energy, of the hospital where he was kept running around. He literally had nothing to do. Soccer practices were limited, since the space was rather crowded, and he had run himself through all of the equipment at least twice. Apart from the new connections seeming to be going off in his brain, which he attributed to boredom, the constant quiet was doing nothing for his mood.

With a grunt, he swung his foot rather viciously at the ball, letting it bounce off the light and the various computers littering the place. He could have been doing so much more at home-- even just basic things in the ER would have made his day. Not to mention his grandfather. He'd just been diagnosed with a heart condition, and Penn could have been there with him, helping, instead of being stuck in this good-for-nothing lab. He swung his foot as the ball bounced cheerily back to him, and missed completely. He was losing his focus.

He turned with a sigh, crouching to grab the ball, and stopped cold. There was someone standing in the corner. No one could have made it to that corner without coming through the door, right past Penn's line of sight. He let his gaze move up, past the laced shoes, the tough pants, the crossed arms in his tartan shirt, to the beard and mustache combed neatly across his knowing face. It couldn't be. Penn sprang up, dashing around frantically, looking for a holo-recorder. Nothing. He was just there. A ghost? No, he didn't believe in such things. But, he was standing in front of him, like living daylight. Mentor, confidant, friend, partner in crime...

"Grandfather?" he whispered, blinking frantically. "Is... It's you..." He sat down heavily. No.

[jsneill]

John was still on board the Venia, and was still no closer to discovering anything about R4. Maybe it would be best if he put in a request to be taken back to Earth - yes, a request, he wasn't used to having to ask to do things, but in this case, there was no other way of going about it. The only thing exciting that had happened on board in the last couple of weeks had been when the group of aliens invaded the ship, and that had ended in a sticky mess. He didn't intend on getting into more trouble like that any time soon. But then, life had other plans.

He was walking past the medical bay on the way to the mess hall - his preferred place to sit and work out of the all the rooms on the ship - when he heard a thunk. Curious, he took a step backwards, peering through the doorway. He couldn't see anyone directly, but he heard a voice - a male with a Welsh accent, must have been Penn, one of the medical officers. Did he say something about his Grandfather?

John opened the door and walked inside; the man looked completely overcome, like he'd seen a ghost. "Penn?" John said, clicking his fingers to try and get the man's attention. There was a soccer ball lying on the floor, no doubt what had caused the sound he'd heard. Casting his eyes around the room, he confirmed that there was no one else there. Strange.

[somerandomhippie1]

Taking a deep breath, Penn got up, walking over to stand nose-to-nose with his grandfather. He waved his hand. Went right through, and his grandfather mimed injury. "Shut up," Penn scoffed with a chuckle, shaking his head. He felt odd... He turned, and saw John in the doorway. With a frown, he snatched his hat, and plopped it on his grandfather's head. The hat fell to the ground. Penn rubbed his face, picking up the hat. "Great. I'm hallucinating." he muttered. He was sweating, rather badly. He felt a little light, too-- was his face warm? He pressed a hand to his forehead. He was burning up. Tossing the hat back to John, he went to the computer, whacking into a console on his right as he passed. Damn tunnel vision.

He whacked the thing on. "Computer, perlim scan. Temperature, vision, blood, brain activity, the basics." The computer hummed, rather loudly. Penn ran a hand through his hair. Why was he so out of breath? And why were his ribs hurting again?

The computer beeped. "Your temperature is 13 degrees above normal," it informed him cooly. "Symptoms indicate panic attack, yet fear centers in the brain are at minimal. Oxygen is normal, carbon dioxide is decreasing rapidly, at a rate of 76%."[/i][/b]

Penn groaned, turning back to John, whom he'd virtually been ignoring. Before he could speak, his grandfather started waving. "What?" He watched the miming. "Behind me? Oh--" He spotted the blinking light. He pressed a button, and a message popped up. It was from Ben, holding Anna, who seemed quite sick. Oh no.

"Okay," he continued, turning back to John and his grandfather. "Okay," he started, exhaling deeply. He was starting to feel the symptoms-- light-headiness, upset stomach, muscles tensing up. It was like a panic attack, only he wasn't frightened-- he had no control over his body. "If this continues, I'll be passed out in a matter of minutes. Looks like I've got something in my system attacking my nervous centers. Ms. Mcadam is also sick, possibly with the same illness. You have--" He stopped, clutching his ribs. He was starting to hyperventilate, and his ribs weren't too happy about it. He tried to slow his breathing. Nothing. His grandfather looked worried. "You have to alert the crew," he choked out. "Get anyone who might be sick up here, and-- get anyone with medical ex-perience to help..." His head was starting to spin. The blood vessels in his brain were closing off. He'd be out like a light.

"I don't know what's happening," he admitted. "This might be a virus that could spread, or--" He grimaced. "--I might be just going mad." He held onto the desk. No, too soon. "Get Kiri," he sputtered out. "I need her--" His ribs sent a shot through his lungs, and he gasped. Bad idea. His vision closed in, and he fell forward. He was gone before his grandfather could catch him.[/color]

((Okay, Penn's gone, so I can go camping. Have fun with that melodrama XD))