My Life in a Box

Posted on Wed Jun 23rd, 2021 @ 6:48pm by Commodore Jacob Kane & Lieutenant Commander Savin & Lieutenant Commander Michael Ki & Lieutenant JG FalenvralLi Zh’kyhrihr

Mission: By Artemis' Bow
Location: USS Athena - Sickbay
Timeline: MD-03: Approx 10mins after "Looking for Cargo"
1550 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Kane's eyes snapped open sharply, his arms almost coming up swinging as he came to consciousness.

"Shh...it's okay, relax - you're alive..." the orderly was trying to reassure him as he sucked in a breath or two, trying to catch his bearings. They'd been in the cargo pods, the makeshift phaser-bomb ready to go, and then...here.

"The others..." he mumbled.

"We have them," the orderly reassured. "Doctor?" she called for her department head.

Michael had stepped from the frying pan into the proverbial fire since he came aboard the Athena. So much for settling in. he thought as the patients had been beamed in. Now that everyone was settled into biobeds and stabilized Michael had been bouncing from bed to bed checking in on his patients. He heard an orderly who had been tending to the Captain call him over. "Welcome back Captain..." He said with a smile as he realized he had not officially met the Captain.

Kane scowled, only vaguely recognising the medical officer from a transfer report he'd received an hour before beaming over to the outpost. These people worked fast, apparently.

"The others-" he looked up at the other occupied beds.

Savin took in a sharp breath, but lay still as he felt utterly disoriented when he came to again. How much time had passed since getting in the box, he didn't know. What he did know, was that he still felt the surge of panic he had done, when the box had been blasted into space. Slowly, he opened his eyes, but still didn't move, somehow not trusting his body to respond accordingly.

Violent tumbling, the feeling of her body slamming forward, her head slamming back - or maybe her world slamming against her as she stay still - filled Li's mind. Memories, but also sensations she still felt as she came to with a firm cushion against her back. More loudly than she'd intended, she said, "Tami, cut dishes seatbelt!"

Michael turned toward the Lieutenant that had just called out. "Relax Lieutenant you are safely aboard the Athena." He spoke in even tones and then signaled a nurse to check the Lieutenant's vital signs.

Li looked around the sickbay, seeing both Savin and Kane more or less intact, and she relaxed some but winced and held her left hand up to the side of her head. She blinked and looked into the eyes of the nurse who came over, saying, "Pounding running Tami while cat."

Michael looked at Li with a small amount of concern. He grabbed a tricorder and began to scan the Lieutenant. "Care to repeat that for me." He was worried that the Andorian woman may have some sort of head injury.

Her eyes focused on the unfamiliar man in a medical uniform, wondering where he'd come from. It was hard to make sense of his words, but she caught a couple. She spoke slowly, emphasizing each word. "Care? Running. While. Cat." She shook her head, blinking as the pain increased with movement. "Throbbing," she added.

"What's the matter with the Lieutenant?" Kane demanded.

Michael cocked an eyebrow as he looked over the scans. "At the moment Captain I am not sure. Suffice to say that she has a head injury of some sort. I am going to sedate her while I run some scans and try for a definitive diagnosis." Michael instructed a nurse to begin scanning the Lieutenant for any abnormalities in the brain. He placed a cortical stimulator on the Lieutenant and set the computer to keep her sedated for the time being. Then with the nurses help he went over the scans. A tense ten minutes passed in silence. "There..." Michael broke the silence as brought up a picture of the Lieutenant's front cortex. "There is a small subarachnoid hemorrhage almost unnoticeable." Michael administered Tricordrazine via hypospray and set the cortical stimulator to close the open vessel. "She is bleeding in her brain. It seems that she could have taken a severe head injury and is going to need surgery to relieve the pressure. For now she is stable."

With the Captain stable and asking for a report, and the Lieutenant now stable and under sedation, Michael turned himself to the third patient the Ship's Counselor. He walked over to Savin's bed and began to check the scans. "Counselor, how do you fare since returning to the Athena?"

Startled by the shadow that suddenly fell over him, Savin turned his head, just catching the words that were spoken. "I feel cold," he answered, "desoriented and breathless. But mostly glad I am longer robbed of most senses." As he spoke, he made sure to keep his eyes on the man. "Who are you?" He was sure, very sure, he'd not seen the man in his sickbay before.

"Forgive my momentary lack of manners. I am the new Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael Ki. I arrived while you were on mission. But dare I say that the pleasantries can be made when we settle this emergency." Michael glanced at the readout above Savin's bed and all vital signs read normal. "You said you are feeling cold. Is this a general feeling of cold as in a temperature change, or a shiver down your spine kind of cold?"

Savin struggled himself up in a sitting position, still making sure to face the man. "Space is cold," he stated absently, "very cold." He shivered at the memory. "I do not like to be cold," he added, "or the dark...." He shook his head as if trying to clear it, and toppled back into the pillows. "How are the others?"

Space... Michael thought, that is the missing piece it all made sense now. He glanced toward Li. "Space sickness... She was exposed to the void for too long, and the vacuum caused a hematoma to develop...." Michael's voice trailed off as he turned his attention back to Savin. "Everyone is well and will recover. For now rest."

Savin nodded. "If you have need of me, draw my attention first... I cannot respond to being called without Jerant present." Ever unwilling to just expose his handicap for fear of being treated too differently, Savin was reluctant to mention his lack of hearing to someone he didn't even know.

"Captain we are going to have to treat all of you for exposure. and Lieutenant Zh'kyhrihr will need surgery. But other than that everyone should make a full recovery." Michael addressed the Captain and then as an after thought added. "My apologies Captain I am Lieutenant Commander Michael Ki your new Chief Medical Officer reporting for duty." With the official duties out of the way. Michael sent an orderly to bring NVeid tr'Rehu. Michael was an emergency doctor and a diagnostician. What he needed now was a surgeon.

Within minutes, the Romulan surgeon walked in. "I hear I am needed for surgery?" he asked upon arrival, beelining straight for the new CMO. "What kind of surgery?"

"Doctor it is Lieutenant Zh'kyhrihr it seems that she was exposed to the vacuum of space for too long and a hematoma has developed in her brain. We need to relieve the pressure and stop the bleed." Michael said as he indicated the Lieutenant to NVeid.

=/\="Lieutenant P’rel to Captain Kane, Lieutenant Keating and I have analysed the data from the outpost, please report to the engineering support lab." =/\=

Kane shifted off the biobed. He was concerned about Li but she seemed to be in good hands.

"This is Kane. I'll be there shortly," he responded to the call. He looked at the others. "Those 'traders' have some explaining to do. See to Lieutenant Li, I'll need my helm officer back to health soon."

Michael moved quickly to intercept the Captain before he left Sick Bay. "Captain, I know that I am new here but you have not been cleared for duty. There is a chance that the exposure to the black could cause anything to happen. I would like to keep you in Sick Bay for a little while longer to make sure, I think a couple of hours should do it..." Ki's voice trailed off as he realized no matter what he said the Captain would not listen. He sighed heavily. "...Who am I kidding you will not stay here anyway. Captains never want to listen to the doctors. At least wear a cortical monitor so I can be alerted if something happens."

"I am fine," Kane retorted. He didn't mention the very mild hearing loss and weird headache alongside it. He'd had worse, and he had an administrator to venge himself upon. "Whatever it is you need to do to monitor me, fine. But I'll be on the bridge of my ship."

Ki quickly and deftly programmed a cortical monitor and affixed it to the base of the Captain's skull. Just under his right ear. "As you wish sir. But if anything at all changes report to Sick Bay on the double." Michael said just before the Captain left. As the Captain left Michael sighed heavily and hoped that he was just overthinking and that nothing was actually wrong with the Captain.

We'll see... Kane thought to himself silently as he made his way out.