Revive

-One-

"This is Anastasia Orlova reporting on day 11 after the ozone depletion of Earth. It is exactly 271 hours, 2 minutes and... 14 seconds after the occurrence. We, ship 625C, received a distress signal approximately 13 minutes before the ship's discharge into orbit. Due to unavoidable risks, the ship crew has dismissed the call to be dealt with later." "Anastasia! Look here!" Sharon signalled to a clothed lump at his feet. I took short jumps towards him, lingering in the air for a few moments. My clear mask fogged up with every exhale as I rushed to my partner. There lay a child, no older than 13, wrapped in cotton shawls. Her face was a pitiful one, it was as pale as the rags she wore. There wasn't an inch of her skin which lay barren, it was freckled in dull grey spots. Though young, she had the eerie appearance of someone who had aged too quickly; her hair was brittle and ashen, and her scalp was scaly with chunks of her hair missing. I crouched over her, picking and laying her head on my lap. "Ana! She might be contaminated!" Sharon urged. Ignoring his protests, I stared down at the child's eyes. They were thick with cataracts but held an odd playfulness to them. It was only then that I noticed the unsteady heaving of her chest, muffled by the scraps she wore. I never knew whether it had been my imagination or not, but with a soft tug at her lips, she smiled. As if blown away by a wind, it all disappeared; the glint in her eyes dulled, the heaving of her body ceased, the smile on her lips fell and it was all gone. 

The clinking noise of metallic instruments woke me from my reverie. On opening my heavily lidded eyes, a bright halo-like light blinded me. I turned my throbbing head to my right, towards the sound's source. "Ah! Ana, you're awake! Thank goodness, I was starting to get worried about you! Knocked out for over 6 hours, that's a personal record of yours, I bet?" The head nurse chuckled at her humour. "By the way, your last week's report just came up. Your organs' functionality is in order but the oxygen levels in your blood are concerningly low. To make it worse, there is a drastic increase in the amount of CFC in your system. It's quite unnerving honestly, I mean, they pump oxygen into the ship and, unless there's a leak... well, there isn't supposed to be any freons getting in." She stated matter-of-factly. With my vision finally steadying, I glanced up at the clock on the wall and following my gaze, she did the same. "Ah well, it's time for dinner, you're all set to go anyway."