E-mail: browncoat_malcolm@gmail.com

Status: Completed 9/13/2008

Word Count: 2590

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"_Kao!_" Mal spat as he was thrown against the medical bed. He grabbed the edge to keep himself from falling to the floor, gasping as his injured ribs hit the frame. A muttered curse caused the guard, who had turned to leave, to turn back towards Mal. The guard sneered and moved to strike Mal with his weapon, but was stopped by the medic.

"You will _never_ strike a patient in my med lab, _dong ma?_" The medic said, keeping a firm grasp on the guard's wrist.

The guard didn't answer; he merely glared at the medic for a few seconds then yanked himself free and stormed out of the med lab. To Mal, it had looked as if the guard had been considering hitting the doc.

"My name is Andy," the medic said as he approached Mal and helped him onto the bed.

"Mal." He accepted the medics outstretched hand and shook it briefly.

"Nice to meet you. Now, I need you to lay back and relax. I have to run a few scans to make sure there's no internal damage."

Mal did as he was told and remained still and quiet as the medic ran his scans. He ran several small hand-held devices over the length of Mal's body then put him under a large full body scanner. He also took a few blood samples as well as doing a bit more poking and prying. He did his best not to cry out when the medic hit a few of the more sensitive along his ribcage. When he was done with that, he hooked up an IV.

"You're pretty dehydrated. This will help with that," he began as he inserted the needle. "You're also malnourished." The medic frowned. "When was the last time you had any kind of real food?"

Mal stared at the man blankly. *Was that a trick question?* He wondered. *Forget "real food", I can't remember the last time I ate, period.*

"Yeah, that's what I thought." The medic inserted another IV. At the questioning look on Mal's face, he said, "You have some minor congestion in your chest, as I said earlier. This is for the anti