Fluttering

Posted on 05 May 2013 @ 2:54am by Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant JG Kestra Orexil

1,208 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 05 - 0529 hours

[ON]

Striding through to the medical laboratory, Andreus Kohl was carrying a hypsopray cartridge that was filled with Human blood. He perched himself on the edge of a chair at an LCARS access station and entered his authorization code into the system. Kohl reached across the console and inserted the cartridge into the analyzer slot. He tapped and swiped his fingertips on the interface, silently instructing the laboratory sensors to conduct a complete blood count --among other test panels-- on Lily Blake's blood sample. Looking up to the display panel, Kohl saw the visual confirmation that testing had begun, and he dashed off towards the Intensive Care Unit.

Kestra watched the Argelian stride through and past, into the lab, then back out again. How is the girl?

Pacing his way to Blake's biobed, Kohl heard a familiar/unfamiliar voice resounding in his head. It stopped him in his tracks and he shivered slightly at the unnerving sensation. As he regained his composure, Kohl thoughtfully rubbed the back of his neck. Feeling like himself again, Kohl turned left and closed the distance between himself and Kestra Orexil's biobed. "Kestra, good morning," Kohl said, a bit too formally. "Doctor Carlisle hasn't made a diagnosis yet." --He shrugged and smirked glibly-- "But she'll be fine. Children need to get sick. It's good for them."

To a degree, she assented silently. Still, it is difficult to feel their quiet suffering. She's a sweet minded child. The Betazoid watched him with steady, dark eyes. I am sorry it discomfits you so.

Kohl dismissed any thought of his own discomfort with a wave of his hand. "But... you," he said, artlessly changing the subject. "Your neurotransmitter levels have risen again. How do you feel today?"

Alert frustration seeped from her in colors gold and green. I wish to move. Chalan Bo attempted assisting me earlier, but it was of little consequence. She pushed her hands against the bed and pulled herself bodily to a seated position, her legs dragging before her like damp driftwood. The move was one she'd learned that morning from the odd Bajoran, and it allowed her not to feel entirely like a convalescent, but her legs remained hollow weights. Useless and sedentary. Flitting between sleep and waking is one thing, but as I have been largely awake for most of this day - barring the times I have slept out of sheer boredom, I cannot bear to spend all my time in this bed.

"Kestra, I conferred with Doctor Ni Dhuinn," Kohl said. His thoughts remained with the subject of Kestra's projected thoughts, but not for the same reason. "We can find no organic reason for the paralysis in your legs. I could expect some deconditioning after what you've been through, but nothing like this."

She watched him, frustration morphing into concern the way ice melts to water. Then why?

At first, Kohl's eyes only widened like an animal caged or threatened. Kestra may have picked up on thoughts along the lines of don't ask me that. He didn't speak those thoughts aloud. Instead, he set his jaw and clasped his hands behind his back. "I don't know," Kohl said succinctly.

How can I not ask - if there's a flaw in my body, shouldn't I know it? Kestra wound her hands together in her lap. Am I to take up permanent residence in Sickbay, then? Will I never walk again? Are we giving up? Will I lose my arms all over again?

At first, Kohl was nodding at each of Kestra's questions in succession. He acknowledged the validity of her concerns, but the solutions weren't coming to him immediately. As her questions came faster, starting overlapping, Kohl winced and he looked away. Almost as soon as he had done so, he sucked in a ragged breath and he squared his shoulders. He met Kestra's eyes, and he told her determinedly, "Between Vega Colony's hospital and Doctor Ni Dhuinn, we have run every test we know. There is no reason to keep you in Sickbay for observation. I'm reaching out to the Adelman Institute, the Darwin Genetic Research Station, the Vulcan Medical Institute -- any resource I can beg for, across the Federation, to make a better diagnosis."

Kestra bowed her head. You have done so much; I do not like to seem ungrateful. I am only unused to sitting and fretting. I have always preferred action over inaction and this sense of waiting and unfilled stillness is driving me a trifle mad. There's nothing to think of or towards, so I am left as a reservoir for the thoughts of others, all burning concurrently through my psyche. Noise, black, and when I sleep, all I see are their dreams and not my own. It troubles me and I yearn for distraction.

"I think I told you," Kohl said, "I treated another patient through symptoms of paralysis? When I first came aboard Galileo?" Since Kestra wasn't looking at him, Kohl pressed his back against the bulkhead beside her biobed. He closed his eyes.

Drusilla, Kestra agreed. You did. I think you did. Whether you told me or not, I know of her. I remember. She paused. Hover chair? she inquired.

The transparency of his own thoughts held little concern for Kohl, but he was more guarded about his thoughts about his patients. Immediately, Kohl centred himself, thinking about himself --only himself in the immediate present-- and nothing but a white expanse spreading out in all directions. Then, he allowed the hover chair alone to join his thoughts. "I had a hoverchair replicated for her, but it's never been used," Kohl explained. "I think it was tucked away in a biohazard isolation unit after the crash on Vega IX..."

Kestra closed her eyes, a little frown forming between her brows. Funny, I distinctly remember it being placed in a box of supplies in the cargo bay. Towards the back. There's a label on the crate - four D six in red block letters... It was moved? She rubbed her temple, eyes fluttering open. What a strange sensation - did I fall asleep?

"No... No, you didn't," Kohl said, shaking his head a little warily. "And, you're right, the chair is in the cargo bay. I put it in the cargo bay, actually. I'll have Operations deliver it here."

I appreciate it, she thought, weariness slowly overcoming her. The effort of keeping so many thoughts at bay, sifting through them for her own... She shook her head gently. I think I will rest a little while. Thank you. You're very kind. Her last words faded, as though she were walking away very quickly down a corridor and around a bend.

After Kestra drifted to sleep, after Kohl sent his request to Operations, he walked away down another corner, and around another bend, to return to the test results awaiting him in the lab.


[OFF]

LTjg Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

LTjg Kestra Orexil
Former Chief of Security
USS Galileo

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