162: Wounds of the Body, Heart, and Mind

by Lt. Doctor Terasha and Lt. February Grace
80224.00
Concurrent with Not So Fast

-=Sickbay, USS Serendipity=-

In the intensive care section of the Sera sickbay, Terasha studied the readouts of the comatose Lair Kellyn, a frown on her blue lips. Her antennae moved about slowly, as though they were in deep contemplation.

Lair had received a severe electrical shock that had given her second and third degree burns around her chest and neck, as well as sending her into cardiac arrest. Had it not been for Avery Breaux, the Sera crew would be mourning the loss of one of its own.

The drama involving the surprising appearances of two other ships, and the way the Alchemy had to get inside the Sera bay, had not done Lair any good. Though on life support, her vitals had begun to fluctuate, causing Terasha to think Lair was going to crash again. However, she and Kathy had prevented that from happening.

Lair was stable now and on full life support. Brain activity was low, but not dangerously so. The prognosis for recovery, was unclear. Time and Lair's desire to live, would determine her fate now. Terasha and her team had done all they could.

Terasha moved on to her next patient, February Grace. Apparently, Grace had been suffering the effects of her symbiont being poisoned by the radiation from 626, had not told Kathy the fullness of her condition, and received only a basic hyronalin shot. Passing out at her post once the Alchemy had made it safely back to the Sera, she had to be carried to sickbay.

Terasha had no experience treating Trill symbionts, so she had to quickly study from the Trill database, while Kathy gave February her medication. Terasha had begun the required treatment, but from the readings, she wasn't sure if they were effective. She watched as February drifted in and out of consciousness.

What did I get myself into by accepting this post, thought Terasha. Sighing again, she had one more duty to perform.

"Sickbay to Commander Salvek," said Terasha after she tapped her comm badge.

[Here,] said Salvek.

"We need you down here. Please bring Lieutenant Commander Reece with you. Sickbay out."

Terasha closed the channel and waited for the two men to arrive, her antennae moving in a short, circular motion, another frown on her lips.

A shriek resounded through sickbay. Terasha and Kathy moved quickly to the source, February Grace. She had jumped off the biobed and was standing in a corner, a wide-eyed and lost expression on her face.

Apparently the LMH had been successful in waking the Trill, and she was not at all happy.

"I can't hear him," February shouted repeatedly. "Why can't I hear him? I should be able to hear him!"

"Hear who?" asked Terasha.

"Reece," Micah Samson answered dejectedly, as he realized Bru was far too distraught to be comforted by a friend's presence now. He turned and quietly headed for the waiting area.

Terasha watched as the doctor and nurse holograms tried to apprehend February and give her a sedative, her antennae moving forward in trepidation.

"Be careful," said Terasha. "She isn't rational right now. Don't injure her."

Micah hadn't been called to the bridge- he knew that Commander Blane knew where he was and would call him if he was truly needed, and in the meantime he decided to take a moment to try to pull himself together.

Seeing her suffer this way was excruciating.

He slumped into a chair and held his head in his hands as February's wailing continued to echo off of the walls and the LMH tried to reach her with a hypo sedative.

"Delusional state most likely created by toxicity of the symbiont's neural pathways. . ." he diagnosed aloud to the ENH, who was just about to corner February between the biobed and the wall as she paced frantically.

It wasn't long after he'd taken his seat that Micah looked up, hearing the doors part and the hurried footfalls of Commander Salvek and Lt. Commander Reece approaching.

"February?" Dabin mumbled, hearing his wife's screams and charging off in her direction.

Salvek, eyes already fixed on the far end of Sickbay, knew that since he did not hear Kellyn speaking that her injuries must be severe. If she were able to talk, she would be trying to get out of Sickbay to see what had become of the Alchemy.

Seeing that Salvek and Dabin Reece had arrived, Terasha decided to let the LMH handle the situation with February, and now Reece. She would talk to Salvek.

"Commander, I must speak with you about your wife. Getting right to the point, she was struck by an electrical discharge in engineering, that caused second and third degree burns on her neck and chest, as well as a full cardiac arrest. Avery Breaux did CPR on her until I arrived, which saved her life. I was able to stabilize her and place her on artificial life support.

"As things stand now, her burns, as well as a scar on her forehead, have been repaired by dermal regeneration. She is stable and still on life support, and her brain activity is low, but also stable. Basically, we've done all we can do medically. The rest is up to her, and from what I understand, Commander Lair is strong and determined. I expect her to recover, though that is not a medical certainty." Terasha paused.

"Do you have any questions?"

"My wife's existing lung condition," Salvek inquired, "Has it been worsened by this event? If she were awake, would she be able to breathe on her own?"

"Her lung condition remains and while I am certain it did not help matters, it is not a large consideration now. We have medicated her to expand her lung capacity as much as possible."

"Thank you, Doctor, for all that you and your staff have done to keep her alive."

Terasha nodded, her antennae dipping slightly at the ends.

"You can see her now," said Terasha, "though she likely won't be aware of your presence. Still, there's so much we don't know about what a person comprehends while comatose...." Her voice trailed off. A thought occurred to her.

"If you're thinking of performing a mind meld, I insist that you inform me first. I'll want to make sure it's safe, and I'll want to monitor Lair if you do attempt one."

Terasha gave Salvek his privacy, and made her way back toward February Grace.

Hopefully, the LMH had things under control.

Lt. Doctor Terasha
Chief Medical Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012

and

Lt. February Grace
Senior Flight Controller
USS Serendipity NCC-2012