Eye for an Eye, Part 2

Posted on 16 Dec 2013 @ 1:03pm by Giada Basile M.D., Ph.D. & Lieutenant Lilou Zaren

1,051 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 07 - 1300 hours

[ON]

It had been a busy day so far, but Giada let that slide away as she watched the nurse prep Lilou for surgery through the surgery suite window. She washed up and passed her hands and arms through a steri-field. Once Lilou was unconscious and went through the door. After a quick survey of the room, she was certain she had everything she needed and where she needed it. She thanked the nurse and took a seat beside Lilou.

"Computer, Tchaikovsky, random selection, soft," Giada said. The computer complied Giada breathed deeply as the music started. Soon she was at her task, accompanied by a nurse, Thchaikovsky and the almost inaudible hum of the steri-field.

The Borg surgical techniques were not crude, but the Borg were supremely unsympathetic physicians. The ocular implant was anchored in place with no concern for comfort and the surgical wound around the eye had been closed quickly. She snipped the anchors and then opened up the skin around the ocular implant with an exo-scalpel. Then she was able to gently pull the implant out to expose the eye socket and optic nerve.

The socket was not well-cleaned and Giada shook her head. She wondered whether depending on nanites to preserve the host was really more efficient than better surgical techniques. She used saline and a gentle heating laser to loosen some of the crusted blood and who knew what other contaminants and let the nurse evacuate it. When they were satisfied the area was clean, they set to the most delicate part of the operation.

Giada clamped the optic nerve just below the ocular implant and then cut it. She set the Borg implant aside and applied a specialized nutrient bath and bio-regenerative field to the nerve ending. Then she carefully attached it to the artificial eye that was calibrated for Lilou earlier. Giada used some artificial muscles to attach the artificial eye, to give Lilou control of it. Then she lubricated the exterior of the implant and the interior of the socket with saline and pressed the eye into place.

"Okay, let's run some tests and then wake her up," Giada said. The nurse ran some tests as Giada shone light into Lilou's natural and artificial. Her brain registered the input as expected and Giada smiled. "Give her an hour under the bio-regenerative field and then call me when you wake her."

An hour later, Giada came back as the nurse started waking Lilou.

Zaren groaned a little as she woke, blinking and groggy. No green. She looked around, heart half in her throat, adjusting to the feel of the new implant. It moved a little slower than her actual eye, was a bit off color, but she could see. Could focus. "Can I read something?" she asked, a little breathless.

Giada came into Zaren's field of vision near her legs. "Of course," she said and handed Zaren a PADD while she watched Zaren's reactions with a smile.

"This... this is wonderful!" Zaren's right eye glistened with unshed tears as her left, artificial orb remained steady. "I believe I might never stop reading again. How long did it take? What did you end up using?"

"An EH-443 military grade prosthetic eye. I can send the specifications to your PADD so you can read all about it," Giada said with a smile. This was the most rewarding part of her work. "Giada turned her head so she could see the two eyes squarely. "You have a really pretty colour, it took bit of tweaking but I think the match is good. Hard to spot unless you're up close. How's your vision?"

"I'm not sure if there's a difference in color perception or if my brain became too accustomed to assimilating the green-tinted vision of the previous prosthetic-" The Trill bit her lip. "Poor choice of words, but you catch my meaning?"

Giada nodded understandingly. "I do. It's hard for us to tune it perfectly, but you'll love this," she said. She picked up a PADD and pulled up a program that asked for her voiceprint and then for Lilou's. Then Giada handed the PADD to Lilou. It showed a simple interface with sliders that looked like a graphics rendering program. "Since you're the only one who can know what the right match is, you get to do the final refinements. For security, this can only be done in a Sickbay, with a physician's voiceprint and yours, but you can adjust it as often as you want. Try it out."

Zaren took the PADD and began the series of equation survey questions that would align her vision. She was aware that she hadn't yet psychologically dealt with the fact that the Borg had physically removed her eye, among other things. At this point, all she needed to focus on was getting well enough to get out of sickbay and back to work. There was still a lot to get done. Not the least of which was finding out where she belonged on this vessel. Had Captain Saalm already filed Lilou Peers deceased? How did she go about registering her new identity on the UFP? That had always been done for her, by the Commission. Did she need to return to Trill? Could they keep her on? She offered the PADD back to Giada with a slight smile, "First time I've had twenty-twenty vision in my life."

"We aim to please," Giada said. She took the PADD back and cocked her head slightly. "You looked a little troubled there, the eye isn't giving you headaches, is it?"

"No headache," she shook her head. "It just occurred to me that-" her brow wrinkled. "They took my eye. They took Jared's arm. It's- I was so focused on surviving, on getting out, it's only now hitting me that that... really... happened."

"I'm glad you've got a lot of years of wisdom to help with making sense of it," Giada said. "And a whole ship full of people who are here for you."

Zaren nodded. "Yes. Yes, you're right. I do, on both counts. How long before I can get out of here?" She smiled slightly, "And can I see a mirror?"

[OFF]

Giada Basile MD. Ph.D.
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Lilou Zaren
Assistant Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

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