Good news bad news

Posted on 16 May 2017 @ 7:13am by Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Ensign Miraj Derani
Edited on on 24 May 2017 @ 12:21pm

2,241 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: USS Chaka - Sickbay
Timeline: MD -38, 0900

ON:

Allyndra had a bunch of cards tucked under one arm. It seemed archaic but then to make a final diagnosis on what Allyndra suspected was Miraj's condition.

"Hello, Miraj, how are you feeling today?" Allyndra asked when she got the bed that Miraj now occupied. Allyndra had insisted that she be kept in sickbay and had shown enough evidence that she had a neurological condition.

Miraj looked up from her padd, where she was being swept away to the 18th century, and the comforting world of Bloodbeard's adventures on the Spanish Main, swashbuckling his way through improbable plots armed with pistol, cutlass, panache, and cheesy one liners. A world where there was always a happy ending. There was a woman approaching, metallic blue hair, slight and fragile looking with a simarly metallic sheen to her sapphire eyes. That checked all the boxes she kept under the heading- "Doctor? Allyndra?"

"Correct, what are doing?" Allyndra asked pulling a seat over to the bed.

Miraj relaxed a little, knowing her guess was right. "I'm fine. Catching up on my reading."

"That is actually good. It stimulates the brain. The clot busters seem to be working, your scans look much better. Now we need to figure out if things are working correctly or not or just what is damaged or not. So some tests."

Allyndra shuffled the cards. They were faces that Miraj should be familiar with but stripped of colouration, hair, just a face. One of Lirha, one of Wyatt, and one of her and one of Tuula. The first up was Lirha but there was no green to the skin, just black and white of the face.

"Alright who is this?"

Miraj looked. Something caught in her gut, like she should know them, but she couldn’t place it. She shook her head. "I'm sorry. Its like deja vu kind of. I feel I should know them but i just can't place her."

Allyndra made a mental note. She could at least recognize gender clues in the faces. "Alright, let's go on," she said and showed the rest. The results were the same. She showed a final face, which was Miraj's own face minus hair, colouration or any other non facial cue. "And this one? Who is this?"

Miraj looked at it, suprised she actually recognized some one. Even is she hadn’t the feint trident mark and heavy eye sockets would have given it away. "That's me

"Very good!" Allyndra replied with excitement. That was good news that not everything was gone. "Alright, I am going to show you a new set." This would be full pictures. "What I would like you to do is try to put as much clues, hair, colouration, that sort of thing to make your best guess at who you think it is."

She started off with Lirha, "Anyone one with that rank and green skin?"

Miraj looked. Green skin, admiral's pips. "Lirha?" .

"Very good, now let us try the rest."

Miraj looked at the next one. Human, male, cute. She smiled, but she didn't know why. She frowned at the picture. There was something there, she could feel it. The eyes were very striking. So green. So bright. "I do know him, don't I?"

"Yes, look at everything else than the face, use other clues it helps with memory."

She stared at the picture. Red trim, 2 full, 1 hollow pip. "Luke?"

"Correct, very good, and now the last one." Allyndra showed the picture of herself.

Miraj looked at the last, then back up at Allyndra, then back at the picture. "This kind of feels like cheating. That's you."

"Excellent!" Allyndra was pleased. "The fact that you got that pretty quickly means that the damage is not extensive. We have a way forward. Now then this next test is going to be a little harder. We are going to see how your spatial systems are working. Do you feel up to it?"

No. Even if Allyndra thought the damage wasn't that bad, the last thing she wanted to test was whether or not she could judge how up was up. But it had to be done. Best to get things over with and find out if she was going to get grounded for the rest of her natural life. She gave Allyndra a mute nod.

"Alright we are going to start out simple," Allyndra said. She showed a series of pictures, one with a red ball and watermelon. The ball in front of the melon but close. The next was an abstract of that, two rough shapes but in the same position. The next the ball was on top of the melon and the abstract of that, and the next set the ball and melon were side by side with the abstract.

"Now show me the picture with ball above the melon?" That would test both spatial but also cognitive. Could Miraj recall a melon and ball and associate the names with the objects. The abstract would remove any clues just like the faces without any hair or other identifiers.

Miraj looked. She looked at the rough shapes. They were obviously not objects. She could see the pictures with the balls and the melons. But they looked similar to her. Her finger floated over one, then the other, beginning to tremble as she realised she wasn't sure. She guessed, and pointed at the first one. "That one."

"Correct," Allyndra replied and nodded with encouragement. "Now," she shuffled the cards and put one of the abstract ones. It was the one with the ball in front. "Tell me is the ball above, behind or in front?"

Miraj looked at it. A long moment passed, with a creeping dread crawling over her skin. The symbols made no sense to her. Which one was which? SHe turned her head trying to see, her heart getting faster. She wasn't sure. She couldn't tell! "Above."

Allyndra schooled her face and then found the card with the actual ball and melon in the correct position. "Now in front or above?"

Miraj looked at the picture. It was like looking at it through a lens, it seemed to swim in her vision. Her breath got faster still. "I..I.." she couldn’t tell. She shouldnt even have to think, but even as she stared at it, she realised she didnt know. She could see all the seperate parts but when she focused to kudge their relationship they would slip and move. "I dont know." Her voice was tiny, breathless, horrified. It was like she couldnt get enough air, like she was drowning.

Allyndra nodded. "Alright, it is alright. I need to do one more test." She got up and went to the replicator and replicated a small melon and an apple. The cards were still two dimensional though telling, this would be more real three dimensional and indicate how much damage there was. If she could not recognize these then her career might not be salvageable.

Taking a seat again she held the melon and the apple so that the apple was on top of the melon. "Now tell me the relationship of the apple to the melon." She could recognize the words, the shapes, just not the spatial. That was good, but now Allyndra needed to asses if it was just abstract or if the problem went deeper.

Miraj looked hopelessly lost and confused. The apple was definitely, "On top." She said instantly. She looked down at the cards. It was like trying to grab running water she just couldn't get her mind around the pictures. She picked up the apple and put it back down on the melon without any difficulty. "What's wrong with me?"

Allyndra nodded, she was pretty sure she had enough assessment. "I am going to say that you have a case of acquired prosopagnosia. The inability of the brain to recognize facial patterns and make the proper connection with memory. Some of that has also affected the same pathways as dealing with abstract spatial concepts. However, given the fact that you can determine real objects spatial and also that given sufficient external clues such as eyes, skin colour, that sort of thing, you can recognize people. I have been following the scans and some things seem to be clearing up so not sure what the final loss will be. So far, the prognosis is, I think things will get better, but at the moment cannot tell you just how much. Your brain structure is a bit different from closer to human form. The organization is a bit different so this is out of my area of expertise. There is still a bit of swelling in there and what the final outcome will be once that is down is unknown. That being said, there is still some permanent damage, so I am not sure how much loss there will be but something."

Miraj clenched her jaw to clamp down on the wobbling emotions threatening to bubble over. "Can I be fixed?"

"I am not a specialist in this kind of injury. Secondly, due to your unique physiology there are things that may or may not apply. The fact that can make some judgements I think is a good sign. There are some very very good neurologists back on Earth in San Francisco. Also, there is a chance some of this might recover on its own. The brain has remarkable properties to figure work arounds and reorganize itself. There is hope.

The next part was going to be hard, and it was hard for Allyndra to say but she had no choice either as a medical officer or a command officer. "Miraj due to the revelation of the testing, as the chief medical officer I am revoking your flight status. In addition, I do not think you are fit for regular duty status either. Until further notice you are relieved of duty and flight." She knew that was going to be hard. It would be for her as well.

No! No, no, no! It was a punch to the gut. Like she had been stabbed. She wished she had been stabbed. A week of tissue regeneration and shed be good to go. Not this. Not this! The terrible thought closed her throat. She wanted to scream and beg for anything but that, but she couldn't breath and she gasped for breath, hyperventilating, the world going white at the edges as she fought to get more air into her lungs. Panic gripped her. She couldn't fly. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't fly!

Allyndra leaned forward and put a hand on her. "Stop, take deep breaths. Do not panic. You will only pass out. Now then, as I said, we do not have a complete prognosis. There is much that can be done at better facilities and better testing. Do not give up hope yet. Consider this just to be temporary right now until we know better."

The young woman tried to slow her breathing. The enormity of the damage was hardly conceivable. No flying? She'd rather die. She would die. She tried to breathe evenly, hold herself back from passing out. It was like staying calm in a stall or a spin or...

Thoughts about flying, how it might be gone forever, set her off again. She was aware of Allyndra talking to her, but the words were rushed away in the roar inside her ears. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t fly. She couldn't breathe!

"Would you like something?" Allyndra asked. She knew how much this meant to Miraj but right now there was little she could do for the situation then offer sympathy. She just needed to get her to calm down a bit. "If you wish I could ask Sandoval to stop by."

Miraj's chest and shoulders heaved, but she was slowing down. There was less spinning now. She tried to focus on Allyndra's question, and nodded, not sure if she could speak without starting to hyperventilate again, Or to scream and beg, and rage. She gripped the edge of the bed to keep her upright and a few moments later she was breathing normally again. "Please!" she squeaked.

Allyndra nodded and got up to get a hypo. It was a mild sedative, just enough to break the panic phase. She pressed it to Miraj's arm and then took a seat. " Now then, concentrate if you must on that and rest. Let your body and mind have the time to heal itself." She stood. "I am going to see about making arrangements for you to be seen when we arrive. Now doctor's orders, rest."

The glow of the sedative took the last of the strained breathing away. She didn't feel happier, but could feel herself going a little bit numb. She nodded "Yes, Ma'am." She picked up her padd again. She was grounded and under guard. She may not ever fly again. Her reason to be was being sucked into an abyss and she felt like she was a breath away from falling in forever. She escaped the only way she could, back to the deck of the Hades and the swashbuckling fiction of Captain Bloodbeard.

[OFF]

--

Ensign Miraj Derani
USS Galileo aboard the USS Chaka

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Second and Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo aboard the USS Chaka

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