Recovery (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 02 Oct 2012 @ 3:25pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle
Edited on on 02 Oct 2012 @ 3:33pm

2,251 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Sickbay
Timeline: MD 10 - 1400 hrs

[ON]

Her green eyes slowly fluttered open and a soft groan escaped her lips. Above her, all Lirha could see was a blur of white lights, and her heart began to race as she realized she was still on the table in the interrogation cell. Or...was she? She could have sworn she remembered Starfleet personnel rescuing her, lifting her from her restraints and carrying her down a dark and musky corridor. Perhaps it had just been a dream...but it had felt so real.

Sitting at the desk in her office, finally reclaimed from the patients, Pola was going back over the scans and test results for their Captain. They couldn't account for why she hadn't awoken yet. The trauma to her body had been treated and her natural anabolism had kicked in to aid with the internal repair which they hadn't been able to fully mend. Both alien substances in her body had been eradicated but no trace remaining.

With a sigh, she collapsed back into her chair, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. Just as she's about to take breath, an alarm on her console rang out. Automatically she banged her hand down to silence it before she was on her feet, running to the biobed the Captain was on. Even from a distance she could see the opened eyes. "Captain. It's alright, you're in sickbay."

Lirha blinked as he vision began to clear. She heard a familiar voice and began to recognize familiar patterns in the walls, and different parts of the room. "Sickbay..." said quietly, her eyes drifting over to a dark haired blue-collared woman. "Lieutenant Ni Dhuinn..." she said as she recognized the doctor, stating her name more as a fact to make sure she remembered who she was.

Using her fingers to manipulate the monitor's readings, Pola glanced down at Lirha and softly nodded her head. "Can you tell me how you are feeling?" The Doctor wasn't certain what had changed, but her aim now was to keep the Captain concious.

How was she feeling? It was a good question because Lirha wasn't quite sure. Slowly, she adjusted herself in the biobed which allowed her to take note of any pains. She noticed that her leg was a bit sore, more an aching sensation than anything else...and there was a similar feeling in her shoulder. And...her head felt a bit cloudy. "I feel...better." she finally replied, then tilted her head to the side curiously. "How did I get here?" she asked, wanting to know for certain how she had been returned to Galileo.

Keeping an eye on the neuroreceptor activity. "I'm not 100% clear on the details. Commander Holiday led the team that went over to recover yourself and Lieutenant Coleman. When the team got you back you were in a bad way and we've been fighting to stabilise you since."

The captain let out a mental sigh of relief, first from the realization that her dream had indeed been real, and then from the knowledge that her intelligence officer had also been rescued. "How is Lieutenant Coleman?" she asked, wondering how bad her injuries had been.

"When she reported to sickbay, her injuries were extremely minimal, surprising after what they had put you through. We were able to discharge her back to duty on the same day." Looking up, Pola gaze moved directly to the Captain. "Right now, let's concentrate on you for a bit."

Pulling over a chair, Pola settled herself so as she was at eye contact with Lirha. "There's a couple of things I need to go through with you. When you were brought in, we found that the Klingons had used some sort of substance on you which required us to break down your hormone suppressant. We cannot risk giving you another dose of the suppressant until we are certain the foreign substance has been eradicated. Are you comfortable with this?"

Lirha vaguely remembered being administered the drug. The rest had been an incoherent blur, of which she was still uncertain what had occurred. Listening to the doctor's evaluation of her condition, she slowly nodded. "Yes, that is fine." she replied quietly, "I trust your judgement...and will try to limit myself to the rest of the crew." she added, not wanting to inadvertently influence any of her male personnel with her body's natural pheromones.

"We will try and get you administered with more of the suppressant as quickly as possible, poor Kohl won't know what's hit him otherwise." After being up so many hours, so many days, Pola was tired. She knew it was a weak attempt at a joke but it's all she had. "I'm going to need to let Commander Holiday know your conscious. He'll want to brief you on what's happened in his absence. Would you prefer I kept his physical presence away until your administered your injection?"

"No," the captain replied in a soft voice, "He should feel fine as long as he limits his time around me...a couple hours at a time." she said, drawing off her past experiences with Human males. The last thing she wanted was for her XO and acting CO to be under her influence and make rash decisions, but she also wanted to see and talk to him.

"Before I let him know...is there any other questions you have for me? Are you still in pain and feel you might need something for it?" Pola glanced back over at the monitors. All vitals were slightly elevated, including the pain activity but she wouldn't have expected anything else given the trauma which the Captain's body had gone through.

Lirha thought for a long moment, wondering what, if anything, would make her feel better at the moment. She was still sore in certain places but felt much better than she had previously. "For now...I'm just glad to see that you are alive and well." she said sincerely, giving the youthful lieutenant a small smile. Judging from the damaged state of the ship, Lirha knew that the doctor's hands had probably been full over the last several days, and she wanted to convey her thanks to the woman for tending to the crew. "You've done a great job, lieutenant...all things considered."

Looking down at her hands, Pola felt a strike of pain in her chest as the words sunk in. She didn't do a good enough job. "Ma'am...I can officially confirm that we lost 12 people. 1-2 were part of the group of scientists, the rest were all ours."

A wave of sadness washed over the captain and she closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. In addition to watching one of her petty officers be executed in front of her, more of her fears had just been realized. Twelve people...that was almost 20 percent of her original crew. "What about the Hardaways?" she asked finally, hoping that at least the key mission personnel were safe.

"Anthony Hardaway was involved in an altercation with one of his own scientists but he's recovered and was discharged in the last 24 hours. His wife was fine based on the last update we've received." Pola looking up, it was on the top of her tongue to say more but Lirha hadn't asked the question, perhaps it was better the Doctor waited. "I'm acting XO at the moment. I'd prefer the Commander filled you in, despite my role, my concentration has had to be heavily on sickbay due to the amount of casualties we've had to look after."

"I understand." Lirha answered as she looked back up at Pola. It was good to hear that the mission was still intact...at least for now. "Hopefully I can return to duty soon and relieve you of your added responsibilities."

Smiling softly, Pola raised a hand to rub her tired eyes. "No need to rush. It's been quite an education. Few days laid up here recuperating won't do you any harm. Your arm is going to meds to be in a sling for a few days. We did what we could for the damage that was done but your body needs to finish out the repair. The sling will just help keep the shoulder immobile so you aren't stressing it. Thankfully the injury on your hip was less severe."

The captain nodded and absentmindedly adjusted her arm inside of the sling. It felt comfortable, and she could feel the light touch of the medical bands wrapped around the skin on her shoulder which were helping to support the recovery process. "Yes, I will rest." she agreed, "But I would like to be able to return to my quarters soon." she added, not wanting to be stuck in another room against her will for any more days.

Looking back over at the biobed monitor, Pola smiled slightly. "I don't see any issue with that, but it will be with the order of bed rest. Would you rather wait and meet the Commander there or will I call him now?"

"You may inform him I'm awake." Lirha answered, preferring to see him sooner rather than later. In the meantime, it appeared that the captain had another visitor as well.

Counselor Carlisle approached the exchange with far more calm outwardly than she felt inwardly. She'd known the Captain had been rescued and was receiving medical care nearly immediately, but until she could speak with Lirha directly, Delainey couldn't be sure what to expect. She had known on a gut level the day the Captain had been taken, were they lucky enough to find her alive at all, Carlisle would not take a direct role in the Captain's medical care because she would be called upon to provide psychological treatment and emotional support.

Any hope she might have had the Captain would be spared significant psychological trauma certainly died with the hand to hand combat Delainey witnessed and upon learning of Commander Remington's murder. Though the emotional waves that washed over the Counselor certainly contained significant relief, it had only taken one adrenaline fueled review of Lirha's medical report to realize the horrors that had been visited upon her physically and emotionally.

Thus, the surge of energy she felt now was not motivated by panic or indecision, but merely a strong need to begin to apply the psychological balm Saalm and Coleman needed. Her professional experience kept those urges in check, however, and Delainey took up a position nearby, so she was close enough to understand the medical issues involved but respectfully unobtrusive.

Lirha took note of the chief counselor standing off to the side, patiently waiting yet observing her with interest. The captain gave her a weak smile. "Hello, lieutenant." she said in greeting.

Delainey came closer in the Captain's field of vision and smiled. "Hello, ma'am. It's good to see you alert again. You gave us quite the scare for a bit," she added with a smaller smile. "Please call me Delainey. I realize you're anxious to get back to work and put your ordeal behind you, but I'd like us to spend some time together in the coming days."

The captain wanted to protest, but knew that protocol required the counselor to do her job and assess any possible post-traumatic symptoms. No doubt there would be a few, Lirha admitted to herself, but hopefully nothing that would impede her duties as a commanding officer. "Perhaps. What did you have in mind?" she asked curiously.

Looking between the two woman, Pola got to her feet. "I'll leave you both alone. If you've any further pain or you feel that some might not be right, I'll just be back in my office Captain. I'll also give the Commander a call." Smiling gently at Carlise, Pola moved off to give both women more privacy.

Delainey watched Pola go and then turned and offered a smile to Lirha. "I promise I didn't give her a secret signal to go away." In actuality, Carlisle was glad for the opportunity to speak to the Captain alone. "I expect for awhile, sheer force of will is going to keep the full emotional impact of your experiences at bay. You're still in shock I'm sure, and in many ways, that will protect you while you do the things I'm sure no one can stop you from doing. That said, I want you to know that when all of this hits you, you're not crazy, and there is a way to work through this. Talking about what happened is part of it, but I'll give you the tools to deal with your emotions first, so telling the story won't be so overwhelming."

In reality, the last thing Lirha wanted to do was talk about the torture she had just experienced. But the counselor had some valid points, and eventually Lirha would have to submit a report to Starfleet which detailed her capture and rescue. When that time came, no doubt some of her emotions would be involved, and it was reassuring to know that there were people like Carlisle who would be able to help her through it. "Thank you, counselor." she responded quietly.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

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