Healing Up

Posted on 22 Dec 2015 @ 7:42pm by Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim

2,336 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 3, Sickbay
Timeline: MD1, early in the morning (prior to "taking responsibility)

ON:

Wintrow was relieved that he had opted for the transporter as he staggered a little upon re-materialisation. He felt disoriented, which was a clear sign he wasn't well at all. Blinking the dizziness away, the pilot tried to focus on the doctor who still supported him by his arm. "Office, or bed?" he queried softly, while gazing around at the mess that was once a well known place. What had happened here? A chill passed down his spine and he shuddered, then winced.

"Bed would be better but if you wish the extra privacy?" Allyndra asked and then waved a hand taking a bit more weight as he staggered. "We have not had time to completely clean the place yet."

"Bed then," the boy agreed, while starting to move to one, "I don't mind just the bed." He wanted to lie down anyway, at least for a few minutes. "I think my hand is the worst," he offered, "at least in terms of being burned, it took the brunt of the blast but my stomach suffered some burning too and Abbey didn't get to that. I feel a bit dizzy from the stun grenade, feeling a little unbalanced and I think it affected my hearing. I'm also seeing a few spots..."

"Oh and where did you get your medical degree?" Allydnra asked. "It may hurt the worse but doubtful it is the worse injury. Now then, let's make sure you don't have internal damage from the stun grenade." She put another anaglesic on board and would check the burns later but continued talking.
"Impact damage from the grenade may be the worse. That is the same as say having a shuttle crash, anything that cases a sudden stop. Your internal organs still move and can ram into your skeleton with enough force to cause them to rupture, bleed internally or bruise with longer term consequences. As a pilot some things to bear in mind."

Wintrow nodded in understanding, feeling the analgesics take effect as he was able to focus again a little. "That's useful information ma'am," he replied formally, "thank you, and no I don't have a medical degree but like any pilot I do have some basic field skills. I mean, I need to be able to self diagnose if I crash.. or help a fellow pilot if there's noone else around." He waited patiently for her to finish. "And what's the damage?"

"Well good news and bad news little brother," Allyndra pulled a monitor around to show him. "Good is no ruptures, no internal bleeding but see here and here," she pointed to dark spots on the liver and then the spleen. "Bruising on the liver and spleen. Just like the skin it means blood vessel rupture. Something we will have to keep an eye on to see if it resolves itself. Thankfully not extensive but probably explains more why you feel weak and faint. Lower blood pressure. Now let's take a look at those burns shall we?"

The young pilot nodded. "No flying for a while then," he concluded sadly, while pulling up his tunic to show her the area on his stomach which had been burned, along with his left hand. His undershirt was showing signs of damage, as did the jacket which had been returned to him.

Allyndra nodded in the affirmative but could not help but cast a glance toward the office. In there perhaps was a set of keys that could make all of this look like it never happened and faster then she could ever hope for.

She put her attention back. "These we can do something about right now. Not that it is in any great shape but let's get that shirt off." She smiled, "I am a doctor after all. And no, don't move, I don't want those internal injuries to get worse. I will just gently cut it away." She got laser scissors and a tissue healer. The burn on the hand was the worse really but nothing that could not be repaired. She went to work.

Wintrow lay as still as possible as she worked, a worried look on his face as he watched her intently, his eyes appearing blacker than usual in his anxiety. "Am I going to be alright?"

"The hand is going to be stiff for a bit. Not to worry though function wise I think we will get nearly full function back but it is going to be several weeks."

"Weeks!" Wintrow gasped, not really happy with this news, but resigning in it. There were means to help his hand regain it's agility, including practice on his guitar or just use a stress ball.

Now that everything was done she rechecked his status and made sure vitals and anaglesic levels were good then leaned against the office wall. "So what happened? Did you want to talk about it?"

Wintrow nodded. "I don't mind talking about it," he added, "but I've one more request..." His hand went to the scarred 'P' just under his left breast and he brushed his fingers against it. "Can you remove this? After all that's happened, I really want this removed now..."

Allyndra moved to look at the brand. "Yes, we can do that." She was not going to question the decision at this point. Again as she prepared she kept thinking back to the information sitting in the office. Hand that would heal in a day or so. Brand that would disappear on its own looking just as if it had never been there. She was tempted, sorely tempted but then again there was no certainty and she did not want to offer something she could not deliver.

As she worked Wintrow closed his eyes and recalled prior events. "Me and Abbey were fighting over a phaser. She wanted to head out and help our teams where I told her we had orders to stay put. She tried to grab it from me, and we fell, and then it went off and stunned us both."

"I see...." Allyndra touched a finger to the area. "Can you feel any pressure?"

The youth shook his head. "No, nothing ma'am."

"Good then continue while I get this off." She was confident the local anesthetic was working. Excising and then dermal regeneration should take care of most of it. She glanced at the room for a second feeling more like some ancient surgeon even though she had gotten the one bed cleaned up there was still splotches and splashes on the floor and walls.

"We woke up, though I don't know how long we'd both been out," Wintrow continued, keeping his eyes closed a second time, "and we looked for a medkit because we both got burned. We found one and injected ourselves with a painkiller. I don't know how to judge doses so I was careful. And she used the dermal regenerator, or at least tried. She bandaged my hand and then since the fighting seemed to had stopped we thought to go and have a look. That's when the grenade was thrown, and it exploded really close to me. I think I was knocked out by the shockwave and it's left me feeling disoriented and seeing spots.

Allyndra listened but most of her attention was on the work at hand. She wanted to make the job as nice as possible. "So sounds like you got your way if rather painfully to follow orders. Well, since you are going to be off flying duty for a bit with permission from your immediate superior would like to learn a bit more medicine so the next time have a better field medic knowledge?"

"Oh yes!" The teenager's expression brightened considerably. "Yes I would like that very much..."

Allyndra smiled at that. "Excellent," she said and then thought a moment.
"Have you any real plans for shore leave? You know the ship is going to have to undergo extensive repairs."

"No not really, maybe explore the starbase or help out where I can in repairing the ship..." He shook his head as he considered his options.

"You saw my world a bit on the holodeck would my little brother like to see it for himself?"

"Really?" Wintrow looked up sharply, searching her face as he considered her officer. "Oh I would! And I'd love to see you fly again, it was almost like a graceful dance." He cast her a semi-serious look. "They won't bite me will they? I mean...if you do I don't mind it...but I don't think I'll appreciate others doing it..."

Allyndra laughed. "No of course not. There is much cultural significance to that activity. Also, there are other worlds in the system. There is Hulibria which is something like your ice age Earth with all sorts of mega fauna and then there is Anesidoria. There is a section that is M class on the planet full of jungle and mysterious beasts. Of course," she shrugged, "one would have to fly to them....." She gave a wink and a smile.

"Which is something I can't...." He managed to look a little sad but he was happy all the same. "Which one is your homeworld? How long will it take us to get there? How will we get there?" Questions flowed from the young man in rapid succession, his mind awhirl as he was already looking forward to it. "When are we leaving?"

"Who says you will not be able to fly? We are not bound by fleet rules and besides," Allyndra shrugged. "perhaps I will figure something out to get the process accelerated." She might, she might not but it might explain a bit why Tuula suddenly seemed to have feeling in her legs. "It will be a bit after we get back. I have to make arrangements You should see the A'lekha of Hulibri, something like your elk but twice as big and with six legs."

"I've never seen an elk," Wintrow replied as he lay back on the bed, "and I need both hands to fly a shuttle, or any kind of craft. If I don't have dexterity in both hands, then I won't react fast enough, and I won't be able to compensate." He sighed softly, gazing up at the ceiling before turning his head to look at her again. "We'll see, right? What happens now?"

"Well, right now rest, sleep if you can. I will be close if you need anything."

The boy nodded, "Can I get a new shirt? Can I go back to my quarters?"

"I will get a new shirt, a new uniform prepared for you. I just want to keep you under observation for just a bit longer and then I think you can head back. And the hand," she nodded her chin. "I think I can get that healed up by the time we head off to my home world. Especially if you take it easy. Deal?"

"Yes ma'am," Wintrow replied happily as he settled on the bed, after shrugging out of his ruined shirt. "Can I at least have a blanket?" he asked softly, feeling a little exposed. While the branding was now gone, he was still reluctant to show more than was necessary, due to a life long habit of hiding bruises and what not. "I'll sleep, I promise.."

"Of course you can," Allyndra replied. "And please while here drop the ma'am. It makes me feel like I am a last year doddering Guild Mother." She said as she got a blanket. Thankfully the MU Tuula's experiments had not affected the supplies and they were all still fresh and clean. She unfolded it and then gently draped it over the cadet. "A couple of hours and you can go. We just need to get your fluids and electrolytes up and stable. Sleep if you can. I will be close by."

Nodding, Wintrow made himself comfortable, or as comfortable as he could get. "What is a last year Guild Mother?" he asked, enjoying the feeling of being mothered a little. He had never really known a mother's love and this felt good, it made him feel safe.

Allyndra looked at the cadet and then laughed lightly. She leaned against the wall. "Well a Guild Mother is the head of a House. A House is composed of individuals that belong to a guild, a group of talent not much different than Earth. For example, Warraquim is the House of Knowledge, my husband was of the Artists guild. As for a last year...." Allyndra felt a bit funny suddenly considering what went on here and the fact that she could not help others either. "We, Akkadians that is, once we reach maturity no longer age, everything heals. I have looked this way for more than ten Earth years and will continue to do so until the end of my natural life. In our last year of life though it is as if everything catches up at once. We age suddenly rapidly. Have you ever read the story called the 'The Picture of Dorian Grey'?"

Shaking his head, Wintrow still listened intently. "No," he replied, "so a last year Guild Mother is kind of a grandmother in the last year of life?" He yawned suddenly. "I'm sorry....that story will have to wait but I'd love to hear it." He yawned again. "Did you give me something to sleep?" he murmured, exhaustion suddenly catching up with him.

Allydnra shook her head in the negative. "No, just your body catching up. Now rest little brother."

Wintrow just nodded, the readings on the monitor above his head dropping slightly as he drifted off into sleep.

Allyndra waited for a few minutes before quietly turning to go to the office. She would watch from there and let the young man sleep for a bit.

OFF:

Cadet SO WIntrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[pnpc Tyrion]

LCmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed