The Steadiest Hand On Earth

Posted on 14 Jul 2017 @ 4:21am by Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Ensign Miraj Derani
Edited on on 14 Jul 2017 @ 9:32pm

3,369 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - San Francisco, Starfleet Medical
Timeline: MD 07, 0530

[ON]

Miraj stared at herself in the mirror. She had tied her bunches into plaits. It made her look even younger than her twenty one years. Her dad had reached Earth orbit last night, and she'd refused to see him. She couldn't baear the thought of not recognising her own family. They'd talked, they'd argued, but in the end, he had acquiesced. HE'd be there when she came out of surgery, but not before.

She looked at the clock. 0520. Time to go to surgery intake. She took the turbolift from the general ward she was waiting on down to the room that had been listed in the appointment. A nurse took her into a prep room, and she sat in the chair, ready for the next step.

The nurse took out a pair of scissors. "Ready sweetie?"

Miraj didn't trust her voice. She nodded.

The nurse picked up one plait, and snipped through above the band, leaving the neatly tied fat end swinging from her hand. She handed it to Miraj. "Don't worry, a couple of days to check everythings okay and you can get under a folicle stimulator and you'll have all this lovely hair back."

"Cool." but Miraj didn't sound very enthusiastic, she'd trade her hair for the ability to fly again.

The nurse handed over the second plait, and traded the scissors for a set of hair clippers, then she began to systematically shave all the remaining hair. Wisps of pink fell all around, until she was sitting in a semi circle of her shorn hair, her head as smooth as an egg.

The nurse handed her a medical gown. "Go get changed, and then we'll start on all the pre-op bits. The anaesthetist will be here in a second as well, and then we'll go through to pre-op.

Miraj took sixty seconds under the sonic shower to shift any last dirt and hair, then got changed, feeling hungry. She'd been banned from eating since the previous night, and her stomach gurgled. She wasn't sure she could manage to eat however hungry she was. Her head felt strange, too light, and too soft.

She went back out and sat down, whilst her body temperature and blood pressure and all the other things they had to check were checked, and then it was time to go. Two orderleys brought a grav-trolley, and she hopped up onto it, settling down with more calmness than she actually felt on the inside

They pushed her down the corridor to pre-op, where Miraj saw a slightly built woman, with strange bright blue eyes, already dressed in scrubs. "Allyndra!" Miraj said with relief. She didn't recognise anyone. She had no idea if she had met any of them but Allyndra before.

Allyndra nodded, "How are you feeling? A bit scared I imagine but everything will be alright. Now then, this is Doctor Willard, he will be doing the anesthesia. I have to go prepare." She gave a pat on Miraj's arm before turning away to get prepared.

The man Allyndra had introduced smiled though it was hidden a bit by the mask. "Pleased Miraj, now let's get you settled shall we?" He nodded to the other attendants that pushed the grav bed through now open double doors into the room just outside the surgical suite. The rest began to record readings and Willard prepared a line which he got into a vein quite easily.

"Now then, a couple of things to go over. We are going to be putting you under for a little bit for the initial procedure and then bring you back up. It will feel uncomfortable but we will have some spinal blocks so you should not feel any pain. Because we have to have you have the ability to speak, we will not intubate you either. There will be a nasal tube with oxygen but when you are awake again if you suddenly have any breathing problems we will intubate. I do not think that will happen. Any questions?"

"No," there was a waver in her voice. Now it was actually happening, she began to feel a lot more doubtful over if she could do this, awake and mostly paralysed whilst they rooted around in her brain. "Best to get on with it, yes?"

"Yes and relax, I have worked with Barnard and he is very good, now then I am going to give you something and count backward from ten for me." There was a movement and he nodded.

Miraj took a breath, and looked up at the ceiling. "Ten, nine," she felt sleepy already. Damn that worked fast. "...eight..." what came after eught. Oh yeah, "...seven..."

And she was gone.

--Surgery three hours later--

"Miraj, Miraj," Allyndra gently called. She could not touch her since that would break the sterile field and she hoped Miraj would sufficiently recognize the voice since her features were pretty much covered in the mask and gown. All they needed was to have her panic though she would not be able to move much.

She glanced toward Barnard who stood next to a monitor behind the shield that kept this part away from the opening in the skull exposing the brain. She had watched him work, finding the whole process fascinating and quite an experience. The probe had been put into place and already had been guided to the correct spot. Nothing more had been done yet as it was time to wake the pilot and have her tested as they slowly worked.

Miraj blinked but her brain was still so foggy, she couldn't focus. She could hear her voice, and focused on that, following it like the second star to the right. She finally got a focus and awareness, and she felt really weird. Kind of spacey. She was sitting up, leaning forward, body supported bya frame and head strapped into some device. She was aware of people clustered to her left and just behind.

And she couldn't move. she didn't feel panicked about that. the firmness of the straps, and the sluggishness in her body made her feel secure more than anything else. It was weird, but as she started to remember what was going on, she was glas she couldn't move much. She'd probably sneeze of do something else equally dumb and end up a vegetable.

"Doctor?" Allyndra was unrecognisable, more so than normal, thanks to the scubs she was swathed in. She didn't know if she didn't recognise Allyndra because of the scrubs or because the surgery wasn't working and felt a flare of panic. But the strange blue eyes in front of her only belonged to one person who should be in the sterile white and chrome room with the bright bright lights and the slowly beeping monitors. "Is it done?"

"Well hello Miraj. I bet that is quite a strange feeling but everything is fine. Now as to the question, we have done nothing but get to the point of the surgery. Remember some of the testing with objects we did and also with faces? Well we are going to do that all again. This will be a baseline and there will be some cuts and we will retest. You will not feel anything but it is going to be a slow process so bear with us. Ready?"

Miraj went to nod, found she couldn't, and was seized with a shred of panic. But that passed quickly. "Yes. Very ready. Totally Ready. Ready last week," her nerves were making her babble anxiously.

"Alright, at least nothing has gotten worse. Close your eyes and rest a moment and then we are going to try again." Allyndra nodded and waited.

She watched the rest of the team go to work and she could watch on a secondary monitor the delicate work Barnard was doing. The fiber bundles were there and he guided the probe to do some snips. Finally he looked up and nodded giving her the signal to try again.

"Miraj, we are ready for another go. Here we go. Now is the little ball in front or to the side of the big ball?" She showed the simple picture of the objects with the little one in front and the big one behind.

There was a feint glimmer of movement round the eyes, and she hafl squinted at the picture. It looked like in side. Then she shut her eyes, deliberately trying to erase the memory to see if it changed anything. She opened them again; it was at the front. She tried again. Back to Side. "Side?" she asked, knowing she was either right or wrong. That was what it looked like.

Allyndra did not say anything but went on with another one. "Top or bottom?" she asked. The little ball was on top of the big one.

Again, Miraj squinted and blinked. "Top..." she decided eventually. But it was obvious from her tone that she wasn't sure.

There were murmurs in the back and Allyndra paused in the testing while the rest of the team quietly talked and manipulated the probe. She waited and then Barnard gave another nod. "Alright let us try this again shall we?" She brought up the simple diagram again and asked, "Is the little ball to the side or in front of the big one?" This time it was to the right side.

Miraj looked at it. Blinked. No change. "Front?" she felt a lot more confident about this one.

Allyndra nodded and then again paused in the testing. She said nothing but glanced to Barnard who seemed to have a bit more worry on his face. He said nothing back concentrating on the position of the probe and the cuts it made. "Alright," he murmered, "we go for full separation." He looked up at Allyndra and said, "A few minutes before we start again."

The medical team worked as a team and Allyndra watched the minutes tick away on the chronograph. It was a full fifteen before Barnard said, "Let us see if that did the trick."

Allyndra nodded and noted that Miraj had somewhat drifted off. It was to be expected she still had a lot of sedative in her and more than likely the anesthesiologist had increased it just a tiny bit for the final surgery.

Allyndra gently called Miraj's name and waited until the eyes opened. "Alright one more time here. Ready?" She again brought up the simple image of the little ball and big ball, with the little one sitting on top of the big one. "Top, side or front or back what is the relationship of the little ball to the big one?"

Miraj had wandered off, mentally, if not physically. There were no nerve endings in the brain, she couldn't feel what was happening inside, but the unfamiler sensations going across her naked scalp had felt strange and distracting, and with no more stimuli to look at, her mind had started to fuzz over.

But a familar voice calling her name called her back, and she took a moment to focus on the image in front of her. And her blue eyes lit up, "Its on top," Miraj said. She didn't even have to think and there was a grain of excitement in her voice. It was coming back. Whatever they were doing back there, where her head felt strange, "Its working!"

Allyndra did not say anything but simply went to another picture. This was not a simple picture but a real photo. There was an orange and a watermelon. In this one the orange was in front of the watermelon. "Now is the large object in front, on top, on the bottom, in back or to the side of the small one?"

"Behind!" Miraj said, almost giddy with excitement.

She felt hopeful as the answer came quickly. "Now watch the motion of the two ojects." They were the same ones but now they moved. The orange starting in front and then circling to over the watermelon and disappearing and reappearing on the right side. "Describe the motion of the orange please."

Miraj watched the two circling. "Unstable orbit, over the top and round the side. Its changing direction at the back." She want to jig up and down in the seat, and was frustrated by the spinal blocks and other means to hold her immobile. But spatial relationships weren't the only problem. "What about faces?"

"Very good! Excellent!" Allyndra was excited and pleased. That later was pretty complex and compared to her previous problem was light years away better. "Alright," Allyndra took a deep breath. "Remember Doctor Barnard was not sure about that so do not get upset."

Miraj nodded, or tried to, she meant to, but was just too immobile to do so. "No getting upset, check."

"Alright here we go." Allyndra showed four faces in succession. The first was Luke Wyatt, the second was herself, third was the Admiral and the last was of doctor Barnard. The later would test recognition as well as memory since he was relatively new."

"Can you tell me the who belong to the faces you just saw?"

Miraj looked, and there was a light in her whole face. "Luke, and you, and Lirha, and someone else." She didn't know the last person at all. It took the edge off her growing sense of relief and excitement. "Should I know him? Who is he?"

"You should, he is the surgeon that is working in your head currently. Doctor Barnard. Still I think remarkable. Alright, we are going to put back to sleep and finish up. I will see you in recovery."

---Recovery two hours later

Allyndra had finished up and reviewed the procedure with Doctor Barnard. It seemed from the testing during surgery that Miraj had recovered quite a bit of proper cognition. There was a bit of concern over the fact she could not remember Barnard but then again she had only met him while her condition had persisted and Barnard offered that she could not form memories during that time properly. It would something to watch for but it had seemed the surgery had accomplished the desired goal.

She had then made her way to recovery and now sat at the side of the biobed waiting for Miraj to wake up. Other than her shorn locks, there was little indication that a good section of skull had been removed. All that had been carefully refitted and osteohealed and the same with the skin.

It took a while for the anaesthesia to wear off enough that the young girl started to come round, blinking with confusion, disorientated from the strong medication. After a moment she realised she wasn't alone, and focused on the woman sitting next to her. Her eyes were gummed up with sleep and she was intensely thirsty. "Water?" she croaked, her throat dry.

Allyndra got a bit of ice and placed it in her mouth. Full liquid at this point might cause retching but it should help. "There you go, just a bit, you might get sick otherwise."

She looked up at the woman who handed her the water, frowned, there was something familiar about her, and then she realised. "Allyndra?" it was like she hadn't seen the woman in years, and she wasn't entirely sure she was right?

"Yes, indeed. Everything is all over and looking good. I am not sure you remember much of the testing but it seems the surgery did the trick. You aced the spatial and most of the facial. Now rest, let you body catch up." She leaned forward and patted Miraj on the arm. "I think you are going to be back in that helm chair in absolutely little time."

Miraj nodded, and then her insides coiled. "Bucket!" she croaked, and then, unable to wait, leant over the side of the bed and coughed up the water she had just taken.

The door to the room opened, and a man in his late forties entered, with short curly hair and a bushy moustache, "Miraj?"

Miraj straightened, wiping her mouth, and looked round. She broke out into a smile. "Daddy!"

The man crossed to her, hugged her tightly for a long moment. Then he let her go, noticed Allyndra' and her teal trim. "Er sorry doc. What's the prognosis?" He asked his daughter.

"I'm going to be all right." She turned to Allyndra. "I am going to be allright? Aren't I? No side effects? Just flying?"

Allyndra hurried with a basin just in time. There was little to catch though since she had been fasting and it was still pretty much a normal reaction to the anesthetic. She was thinking about getting something for nausea when another person entered and went straight to Miraj. Allyndra was not sure who this was until Miraj said 'Daddy'.

"The prognosis is good. I believe we have relieved most of the impairment. Of course there will be further testing to see but so far so good. I believe that improvement will continue as her brain is still working on getting used to slightly different pathways." Allyndra replied and then added, "I am not her surgeon by the way. I am Allyndra illm Warraaquim, the former chief medical officer aboard the Galileo. Pleased to meet you sir."

"Will Garrison, Forlorn Hope salvage. I'm Miraj's father." He held out a hand. "Thanks for getting my baby home safe."

"Pleased sir," Allyndra took the hand but made a slight curtsey. She had refrained from a handshake earlier since that was the standard procedure unless offered, but she could not help her own inculturation. "I wish I could take credit but rather through a series of unfortunate events somehow we all made it back. She is a survivor and no doubt has all that from growing up on the freighter and her father."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, ma'am," Will said with a warm smile, "But my little girl is a trouble magnet, always has been. I'm just happy to see her in one piece," he looked at Miraj's bald head. "More or less. And I owe everyone involved in that a debt."

"No, not at all, we just needed to get our best pilot in the Fleet back," Allyndra said and patted Miraj. "Now then, I will leave you two alone, but keep the visit not too long your body needs to rest and recover." She again turned back to Miraj's father and made a small dip, "A pleasure to meet you," before she departed.

"Doctor!" Miraj called out as Allyndra moved to leave. "Thanks for everything. If I don't get to see you again..." Who knew what would happen with the interviews and the investigation. It was possible they'd all be broken up and shipped out to multiple places and never see each other again. "It's been very cool. I would have loved to go flying with you some time."

Allyndra paused. "As well Miraj, but no matter the worse is I will return home to Akkadia. You and your father and his ship will be welcome. Just say Mother named of House Warraquim says so." She thought a moment more remembering the time a certain young man enjoyed when he visited. "I think you two might enjoy the sky ships. Imagine wooden vessels using sails that float in the air and sail between the islands using the wind and navigating the currents of the sky rather than ocean. Relaxing and yet invigorating all the same. I would be happy to make arrangements. Now though you two catch up and then it is rest. The nurse will be in all too soon and I dare not cross a nurse." She chuckled and then again made a small curtsey to the two of them.

The last thing she saw was Miraj's jaw dropping with utter shock and sheer greed at the thought of airships, and as the door shut she could hear the calm baritone of William Garrison, "We'll go. I promise, sweetheart. But rest first."

[OFF]

--

Ensign Miraj Derani

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Second and Chief Medical Officer
formally of USS Galileo

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