Posted by Civilian Molly Holloway (CEO - Holloway Industries) in Sacred Heart Hospital - The Sheep Won’t Count Themselves
Living was not the issue. Sleeping was.

Even though Molly had gone through years of extensive therapy to deal with the aftermath of the many difficult situations she had faced on the job, she still found herself tangled in the distant screams, in the helpless feelings, and worst of all, in the agony she had felt. Sleeping didn’t come easy.

Still, for the past few years things had gotten better but in the wake of the Syndicate’s attack and the subsequent taking down of Ashley Newton, Molly found herself back with her old sleeping difficulties.

For the better part of the previous month, with Lucas and Calvin in the hospital, and the investigation that followed, Molly had not slept but rather passed out from exhaustion whenever her body gave in. When her life had become calmer, things were different. Some nights she would sleep the whole night, others she’d sleep for a few hours before waking up sweating in the early hours of the morning with a scream wedged in her throat. Visions of her mangled right hand would cause her to wake up in terrible pain, or the lifeless stares of Ryan, Calvin, or Lucas would haunt her until she finally woke up in the morning. There was no telling what would come and when.

A few years prior, when the first nightmares had started, sleeping medication had become a habit. A routine to be filled every night, when all Molly wanted was to fall asleep, but sleep didn’t come. After years of use, it had become more than that. A ritual that could not be broken. A requirement for a full night’s sleep. One of those practices that Molly could stop whenever she wanted. Or so she told herself every night as she downed yet another pill, or gave herself another hypo, whichever version she happened to have at the time. And yet, now that she needed them the most, they seemed to have stopped working, at least in her usual dosage. So she doubled it.

For the first week it worked perfectly. No more nightmares, no more pain, no more agony, just peaceful dreamless sleep. The second week brought a few restless nights here and there. By the third week, the nightmares were back. So Molly tripled the normal dose, and her peaceful nights returned.

At first, Molly didn’t think anything of the sporadic bouts of dizziness she started feeling during the day. Then, she found herself passed out on the living room floor, being awaken by a very concerned Calvin. Molly shook it off as lack of food. Later that week, she fainted again, this time in HHI’s elevator, having regained consciousness to a panicked young security officer who tried desperately to wake her up. It took only a few minutes for the news to reach Lucas, as he greeted her worriedly when Molly arrived at Sacred Heart to visit him that evening. Once again, she shook it off to a long working day. That night, Molly ended up passing out on the chair next to Lucas’s biobed and never made it home.

The issue finally became impossible to ignore when, a few days later, on her way to her daily visit to her uncle, Molly collapsed on the sidewalk right outside of the main entrance to Sacred Heart Hospital.

As passersby rushed to help what was now one of the most recognizable faces in the Colony, a young Trill hurried into the hospital’s main hall. Running to the Service counter, the panicked young man nearly yelled. “Molly Holloway just passed out by the front doors! I don’t know what happened, she just dropped! Please get some help!!!”

Molly Holloway, CEO Holloway Heavy Industries

The woman at the desk hit a call button that sent a page over the hospital intercom for a team to report to the lobby. She picked up a comm and called up to the security ward. The man said it was Molly Holloway and given the circumstances she wasn’t going to take chances on guessing if she’d been attacked.

The first person to respond was Jal’na. She’d been near by and didn’t pause to wait but was out the door quickly, finding the woman passed out on the ground. She knelt by her head and checked her for injuries, her body curled over, blocking her from view. The Klingon PT having the same cautionary thought that the admin at the desk had. The rest of the team arrived and finding no apparent injuries they stabilized her head, incase of injury, and lifted her onto a stretcher and moved her into the hospital.

In the security ward Yavia had taken the call and moved down to Lucas Holloway’s room and knocked on the door and motioned to Fayth to come out. In the hallway a very silent telepathic conversation commenced. Fayth moved away and grabbed Shrine and left. She stopped outside the door, “Agent Massik,” she moved over next to him, speaking quietly. “Molly Holloway collapsed outside the hospital. I don’t know anything more, but we’re going down. Thought you should know, just in case.”

Dr Fayth and Nurse Shrine were in the lobby meeting the stretcher as the team brought her in and moved her to the ER. “Ger her hooked up to the biobed. I want x-rays of her head and neck. Check her for wounds. Shrine get me a full blood panel, tell the labs to it’s priority.” She turned to the woman, “Molly? Molly can you hear me. It’s Dr Fayth.”

Fayth, SFCMO