Treating the Wounded

Posted on Fri Dec 27, 2019 @ 1:21am by Civilian Jason Haines & Gunnery Sergeant Terry Henderson & Commander Amia Telamon M.D. & Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Lieutenant Commander River Morgan

2,417 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD11 2300?

ON

River was on duty and had just seen two very minor injuries that were more a case of carelessness and need for a band-aid rather than the sort of care a fully equipped battle ready Sickbay should have been dealing with but then she got a comm message from the surface and something genuinely important about some seriously injured patients on their way up.

As they materialised, the blue shimmering announcing their imminent arrival before they both materialised and the obvious damage to them could become clear. River quickly indicated two biobeds to them and assisted them to get themselves settled. She called over one of the senior "Regs" and the two of them soon had scans running and LCARS bleeping and flashing. The monitors began to scroll data at once.

"By the Gods. What happened to you two?" River exclaimed as the cuts, contusions, stab wounds, rape trauma and disruptor injuries began to become detailed out by the various types of scans and assessments from the biobeds alone, not to mention what was being revealed on the hand held medcorders the two doctors were using as well.

River's shocked and concerned face was nothing of the former conditioned-in, doctor's mask now.

"These are the two I called you about", Terry said, coming into the room. "The others I was able to take care of planet-side. Lieutenant Haines is stabilized mostly, but I wanted a second set of eyes on some of my work and I couldn't take care of his broken rib as it was too close to the heart. It's immobilized but I don't have the skill for the work. Lieutenant Wells..."

He paused a moment thinking of what to say next, "well, she needs your bedside manner, not mine."

At that point Jason groaned a little and his eyes flickered open some and he saw River.

"Hey doc", Jason said wincing. "Orange crème today?"

"No, Mister Haines, Mint and chocolate chunks" River replied with a smile, using his full name in mock seriousness, revitalising an old personal joke the two had shared a while ago. A "while" that felt like a year now.

Terry shook his head, surprised the sedative had worn off.

"No, you don't sir", he said and pressed a hypo to Jason's neck to put him back under.

Alanna was half-awake now that the pain was gone. She wanted to tell Terry to just spill it. She'd been raped and beaten, then shot. And she lost her boots. What had she heard someone say once about running out of your house during an emergency? Don't forget your shoes? Yeah. Now she understood why. Her thoughts scattered to images of oranges dancing...

Clearly Alana was out of the worst of her pain due to the analgesics she'd been given. River decided to prep for surgery and leave her Reg to keep Alana stable whilst she did the necessary op on Jason's sharp edged bone to saveguard it from managing to damage his heart as feared by Terry. However she took a moment to send a call our to Amia for back up as this was a female problem specifically and she knew Amia had minored in trauma counselling back in the day. River went over to Alanna and checked on her, muttered something about how she would be right back and that Alana should try to rest for a little while.

Setting up in Theatre, the Ops Team were already preparing thanks to the pre-arrival status report that Terry had transmitted up.

Alanna was half aware of the conversation around her. Jason had a rib pressing against his heart? And she'd hugged him... Yes. He definitely needed to be treated first. She would just lay here and count orange sheep with tiny bells that jingled when the sheep bleated. Then it turned into music. What had the medic given her for the pain? She wasn't sure she liked it.

Amia wasn't very long in arriving once called and she stopped at the main console in 'her' office to get up to speed on Alana's notes. Once she had a good idea what had been reported, she presented at the foot of the younger woman's bed and coughed gently to get her attention. She had apparently been given a fairly generous dose of painkillers and although Amia had no problem with that decision, it did make her own work a little more uphill due to the amount of "spaced out factor" Alana would probably be experiencing now. Amia nodded to Arman, the rotational Registrar who approached her softly.

"I've reviewed the notes." Amia told him quietly. "Any developments since Lt Wells arrived?" she asked and was told that nothing more that which had been annotated was of relevance or apparent. She replied that she was aware it was late and that Arman was long past his shift end so she would take over from here. Arman nodded assent and went to sign himself off and close his outstanding cases and notes before retiring for the night.

Amia approached the top of Alana's biobed and pulled up a chair to sit and wait for her to wake. Alana would obviously need all the rest she could get and yet Amia didn't want her to wake alone or possibly distressed by her traumatic experiences as she came back from a drugged sleep and was perhaps disorientated.

3,624 orange sheep. Alanna'd been counting. But it was a little difficult to follow them through the Quadrille. At least they all lined up for the fence jumping, which made it easier. And the wings were so pretty as the graceful sheep glided over the fence. Even their bells jingled in time to the music.

Then Sovok, wearing his black military uniform, walked onto the dance floor, sending the sheep spinning in all directions. "Time to dance, Alanna." He held up the Agonizer and began to laugh.

She cried out and opened her eyes. Not on a dance floor. Not on the other Risa. She was in sickbay. Slowly she relaxed and became aware of the other woman. "How's Jason?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"He's in Surgery with my colleague" Amia replied and went to the rear of the bay to fetch some water in a glass which she offered to Alanna. "Just sip it gently at first." she advised and sat, perching on the side of the bio-bed with a medcorder in her hand. "How are you feeling?" Amia asked but then added "apart from the obvious pain and trauma of course... is the pain under control? Or do you need more analgesic?"

"The pain is manageable, thank you," Alanna said between sips of water. "It's been...a rough day." It had been a terrible day, but she was back, and that counted for a lot.

"You've been through a very bad trauma. You don't have to be brave now you're back and safe. Just so you know, I'm saying if you want to rant, cry, just be left alone..... all those options are completely natural and totally your right to choose. I'm here to see you're properly tended to. I'll keep working on regenerating your wounds and physical harm but what you've been through inside your mind and feelings are going to be tough as they all roll over each other in an attempt to get out or hide away, whichever your coping strategy says it needs. I will call the Counsellor first thing but if you need to talk to her now, I can ask her to come over sooner?" Amia explained as she got to work on the most serious injuries as she was talking.

She began with the nerve trauma while the pain was under control and regenerated those which had been attacked. She carried on with that as she waited for Alanna to work out what she wanted to be her template for recovery and then had a chance to say what she had thought or decided for now.

"Right now, I just want to be with Jason," she said. He'd been her rock, and right now she just wanted to be with him, to feel safe. Later, she'd need to deal with her feelings and what happened, but first she needed to be held.

"I'm sorry, that's the only thing I can't instantly do for you but in a couple of hours' time he'll be out of surgery and out of recovery and able to be here too. It really will pass very quickly." Amia reassured Alanna as she continued to regenerate the skin and flesh of her feet and cheek. Then she asked her to turn over and began to repair her damaged shoulder and the scraping all over her back.

After a while she finished those particular wounds and got her back the right way up. "I should examine and try to repair the damage done to your insides by the rape but if you prefer I can regenerate your jaw and gums around the removed tooth and reconstruct a replacement tooth - but it's up to you as the dentistry is much less important than the hurt you've received from the violation. I just don't want to rush you by going at all the repairs one after another without your choices of what we should approach and whether or not you're ready?" Amia had done an ultrasound to reassure her own self that there wasn't any internal bleeding when she had run the first assessment tests so she knew there was no danger to letting Alanna do this at her own speed and when she was feeling a bit less in pain from the other injuries first.

"As long as they're both repaired, I don't care the order," Alanna said. "I don't want any lingering reminders of...what happened."

"I understand. Let's start with your internal wounds then, get those all repaired at least physically" Amia said gently making sure the cubicle was completely private and unable to be disturbed before she began to assess close up, regenerating and repairing as delicately as she could, trying to be as un-intrusive as possible at the same time.

"How did this mission go so wrong?" she asked, hoping that talking tactics might be a distraction at this delicate stage of the healing and repairs.

"Sovok knew where the rebels hid their shuttle. His men were waiting for them. And he decided that I would go with him...as his slave. When Torik went through the portal, he set up the ambush. Sovok waited long enough to give him the time he needed, then grabbed me and jumped through. We underestimated the Vulcans."

"Vulcans were supposed to be our Allies when I last looked. He's insufferable, cruel and despicable. Did we ..... as in our side, since I'm clearly not out there fighting or catching criminals myself, manage to catch him?" Amia muttered in response as she continued to concentrate on her tasks.

"In this universe, they are. In that one...they control by fear and torture. Anyone who defies them is killed, or their family members are." Alanna shuddered. "Jason...Lieutenant Haines...fought him to rescue me. Sovok is dead." Otherwise, Alanna doubted she'd be here now.

"That's one very brave young man you have there, Lieutenant. Sounds like he's a keeper." Amia said, genuinely impressed. "Judging by the savagery of your own wounds, i can't imagine killing off the beast that did this to you so remorselessly would have been anything less than totally heroic" She moved one of Alana's hands gently, changing the angle of her shoulder so she could repair one of the deeper scrape wounds. "In fact, judging by what you've had to endure and survive, you're a pretty brave cookie yourself, if you ask me!" she added sincerely.

"Thanks." Alanna appreciated the compliment. Compared to Jason, though, her efforts felt a little weak. "He's pretty amazing. I'm lucky to have Jason in my life."

Amia's smile was gentle and sympathetic. "It sounds like he's the very type that all little girls dream of meeting but only a very few ever do." she said and patted Alanna's arm. "I'm glad he was here at this time. Your wounds are pretty vicious so i suspect if he hadn't been there to save the day, you might have been in an even more unpleasant situation."

At first Alanna smiled, thinking of Jason. The doctor was right. She was fortunate to have someone like Jason in her life. But then, with her last comment, Alanna had to fight back the tears. "Yes. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here now. Sovok...promised to hurt me and heal me over and over until he grew tired of me. He said it would take years. I owe Jason...so much." She got control of herself. "Thank you for your sympathy...and for fixing me up."

"Fixing people up is my job and it's what I love to do, the sympathy is more than due considering what you have suffered." Amia said, gently. "I'll need to keep you overnight in case you have any problems but you'll probably be glad of the sleep to be honest. After than I need to see you for checking on and topping up the major regenerations you have undergone but I think every other day for the first week should be enough to cover that. Is that okay?"

"Yes, thank you," Alanna said meekly. "Whether it's part of your job or not, I appreciate all you've done for me."

"You're very welcome, I only glad i could help. I'm in great awe of your bravery." Amia replied. "Now, is there anything I can send in for you? A hot drink, a snack?" she asked. "I'd like you to be comfortable before you settle down for a sleep. Sleep is our greatest healing quality." she smiled and gently squeezed Alana's hand.

Alanna thought for a moment. "Hot cocoa and buttered toast." It was something she enjoyed as a child. Right now, it appealed to her. "Thank you."

Amia smiled. "That's my girl" she said taking heart at this incredibly brave young woman's spirit and disappearing off to find those very encouraging items.


OFF:

Lieutenant JG Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space Five

and

Cmdr Amia Telamon
CMO - DS5

and

Lt Cmdr River Morgan
ACMO - DS5

and

Lieutenant JG Jason Haines
Deep Space 5

and.....

Gunnery Sergeant Terry Henderson
Combat Medic / Corpsman
Deep Space 5

 

RSS Feed