Mysterious Problem in Sickbay

Posted on Fri Oct 9, 2015 @ 6:13pm by Lieutenant Benj Amoran & Lieutenant JG Noelle Bennett M.D.

1,637 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Fallout
Location: Infirmary, Deep Space Five
Timeline: MD1

OOC:

This was the strangest situation for an ACMO to find himself in. Well, Benj supposed there *could* have been stranger but this was weird enough for now. His CMO was right here, here in their own Sickbay but helpless and lost. He was looking at her and wondering if he should try to involve her in discussions or if he should just leave her right there as a patient who needed to rest.

He decided on the latter but something told him she would need a way to re-link up with her past. Her *real* self was in there somewhere and she was needed. Needed as a whole person, well again. He stood a short distance away from where there was a nurse attending to Amia and he gently flicked his comm badge, turning away at the same time and taking a few steps towards the office.

=^= Amoran to Dr Bennett =^= he connected. =^= I wonder if I could trouble you for some of your valuable time? =^=

"Of course, Doctor," Noelle replied via her own comm badge. After hearing what had happened to Amia, she'd left word with sickbay to let her know when the injured physician would be up to seeing visitors. Bennett anticipated she would be needed to help address the other woman's anxiety concerning her amnesia at some point, but she realized the doctor needed a good degree of rest first. Besides, it wasn't as if Noelle didn't have enough to keep her occupied, considering the crew was still coping with their return to the station after so many had been injured or killed. The phenomenon that had created such chaos could never have been anticipated, but that didn't mean the crew an easy time coping.

In short order, Bennett arrived in sickbay and approached the acting CMO, offering a gentle smile. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine thanks" Benj was his usual guarded but outwardly cheerful self. "How about you? Overwhelmed with work I imagine, much as we all are. The whole crew are exhausted and most of us are confused with it. And now we're having an influx of patients complaining of hallucinations, as if we didn't have enough to sort out," she said with a grimace but not a disheartened attitude. He was tired, who wasn't? But he was 'business as usual' with it.

Noelle nodded in agreement. She was tired and she was overwhelmed with patients complaining of hallucinations too. If there were just one or two cases, she would chalk up the experience to extreme fatigue, but over time cases had increased, and the hallucinations were as unique as the people themselves. "It's odd and I haven't been able to put my finger on what's going on so far. I would say it's just fatigue, but there's too many reports for them all to be fatigue related. Do you know if the medical staff has been able to identify a specific cause? Perhaps a virus? Or exposure to a certain substance?"

"We've tried every possibility we can think of." Benj shook his head. "We were down to analysing the processed air last time we talked about it with the Management."

Bennett knew they were doing all they could and that it was just going to take time. Unfortunately, there was not much she could do therapeutically when someone was in the midst of hallucinations except provide medication and it was only effective in that case if whatever external event or substance was contained. "How may I be of service?"

"I was wondering if there's anything you could do to help us get our CMO back. We could use her right now but she's suffering from amnesia as a result of having been shot. We can't be sure if she's post-traumatic and shutting out what her mind can't deal with yet or if it was induced by hitting her head on the decking when the shot took her down. Psychological or physical?" He explained their question and dilemma.

Noelle nodded. "I'm aware of what happened to her and left word with the duty officer to contact me as soon as she was stable enough to be assessed. I'm relieved you're reaching out to me, as I was beginning to think she wasn't physically stable and there was something more going on." Bennett paused then, offering after a moment, "it's not uncommon for someone to suffer amnesia after a trauma that's purely psychological in nature. That said, I'm curious. I'm assuming you've done extensive neurological scans. Do you have any indication there is a specific neurological reason for her amnesia?"

"She had mild concussion but she's over that. 24 hours have passed and her scans are completely normal again. That was the first thing I checked." He rather resented the idea that he wouldn't have checked that right away, it was a rookie check from 101 of head injuries.

His last words left her wondering if she'd left him with the wrong impression. "I wasn't suggesting you hadn't done a thorough job, Doctor," Noelle reassured. "When you said you weren't sure whether her amnesia was psychologically induced or physiologically induced, I wondered if you found something that would make you suspect there was something neurological in play. I know this whole situation couldn't have been easy for any of the medical team."

Benj felt his hackles smooth out and he coloured a little pink. "My apologies Counsellor. I'm a bit sensitive at the moment. We're all exhausted and with the added stresses of suddenly finding myself walking in Amia's shoes at the same time that she's not able to remember what size she takes, well, it's disorienting to say the least."

Noelle smiled and offered reassurance with a wave of her hand. "There's nothing to apologize for, Doctor. This is an unprecedented situation in many ways and I know you're doing the best you can. Just make sure you follow your own advice and get some sleep and take breaks when you need to, okay? She wouldn't want you to work yourself up to the point you become a patient as well," Noelle reminded him. "So if I'm understanding you, you haven't ruled out a physical cause, but so far, you have no evidence to support that theory?"

"We have no positive medical evidence to indicate that when she hit her head - which we know she definitely did do - she also did any lasting damage that is causing this amnesia." Benj picked out the explanation of what they had eliminated so far. "She had a slight concussion but that's cleared now yet she still has the memory block. It's a selective block because if you ask her medical questions she's all still in there, but if you ask about her private life. Who she is, who is important to her, even her name, she can't tell you." he went on.

Noelle considered all he was saying and frowned as she thought. "I'll need to review her records and of course speak to her to get to the bottom of this. I wouldn't expect her to lose all memory of who she is even after this sort of trauma unless being shot triggered some memory of another traumatic event in her life that is so overwhelming she's completely shut down. Do you know of any such event in her life?" Bennett knew it was a long shot, but she figured it was worth asking.

"Well, I know her mother died tragically when she was in her teens and she was very angry about it. Apparently it was something that she felt could have been very easily treated but her people didn't believe in technology and I understand she's never forgiven them nor ever gone back. She doesn't consider her home planet "home" any more and became a Starfleet orphan after that. She's quite open about it though, it's not recessed in her memory as far as I know. She never knew her dad or where to find him but he never came back to her and her mother as promised. He was a Starfleet officer and apparently never knew he'd left her mother pregnant but he clearly did leave her. He could be dead but then again, if that's an unknown and a 'never will know' issue, I don't see how that could be counted as direct, deniable trauma as such?" He was asking a question but it was almost rhetorical. He was interested in Noelle's assessment though so he paused to let her mull that over.

Noelle agreed none of those experiences would seem to fit. "As far as you know, she's never experienced something close to the shooting in her service to the station before? Perhaps she was close to a patient at one time who experienced a similar trauma?"

Benj shrugged. "I don't think so. Not that is on her records," he said. "Is there anything that she could be reacting to that's not a specific physical trauma but an event or some repressed feelings?"

"I'm not sure," Noelle replied. "I haven't been here for too long." Noelle shook her head after a moment. "It's alright. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to dive right in. May I see her?"

"Please do. She's in Bay 2. I'll take you to her." Benj tried not to seem to enthusiastic but this was something he had hoped the Counsellor would say. He needed a second opinion or better still, he would like to have someone with the appropriate qualifications giving the CMO's case an official diagnosis.

Noelle smiled. "Thank you." Bennett allowed Benj to lead the way, all the while praying she could get to the bottom of this mystery.

A JP Between:


Lt Amora, Benj
ACMO - DS5

and

Lt (jg) Noelle Bennett
Chief Counsellor - DS5

 

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