Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in side-sim: New Rhythms

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in side-sim: New Rhythms

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in side-sim: New Rhythms
Posted by… suppressed (25) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Aasrel smiled. “Okay. Go on. I’ve got work to do too.” He said and he stood from his chair. “I’ll comm you when it’s time?”

~ Aasrel

“You better, or no coffee for you tomorrow,” Bethany winked at him and then left sickbay. She had a lot of work to do, and needed to check in with her department. Then she had some computer programming to finalize.

Bethany

Oh, well, the coffee wasn’t the part he was looking forward to. Aasrel went back to work in Sickbay. There was a lot to do. Near the end of his shift, Th’rethiss came to Aasrel for the test. Aasrel comm’ed Bethany with a quick =/\= It’s time =/\= as he followed Th’rethiss.

~ Aasrel

Bethany was in the middle of going over the latest simulation. His comm broke through what she was saying. She tapped her badge, =/\=Aknowledged.=/\=

Most of the officers recognized the CMO’s voice. They were all curious and there were a few hidden grins and smirks. Bethany finished going over their performance. What went right and where they made mistakes. Then she dismissed them. She then went oulver the duty roster for the next shift and was able to head to sickbay.

She entered and before she could say anything, one of the nurses pointed the way for her without a word.

Bethany

By the time she arrived, Aasrel was already on a biobed, Th’rethiss using one of the more advanced imagers to take pictures of his head. As wordlessly as the reception nurse, Th’rethiss pointed to a chair next to the bed for her to sit in. Then he went back to focusing hard on what he was doing.

Aasrel didn’t move his head, he wasn’t supposed to, so instead he reached a hand over to her.

~ Aasrel

Bethany quietly sat in the chair and took his hand when he reached for it. She didn’t say anything because she didn’t want him to move. She watched the screen curiously, having no idea what she was looking at.

Bethany

It was a rather detailed image of a brain. Aasrel’s brain. Th’rethiss was frowning, flipping between ‘slices’ he was looking at. “That’s the paracortex. There’s the psilosynine gland…” The doctor squinted at the screen. A few more images and he was done, moving the machine away and loading the images to a PaDD.

Aasrel sat up as the Andorian doctor gave a look to Bethany, then Aasrel, who gave a small nod, then between both of them. “The implant in your brain is an electronic chip, wedged very, very close to the gland responsible for psilosynine production.”

The doctor frowned again, and then went on, “It can be removed but the surgery would be very delicate. It must be removed before this experimental donation procedure has any chance of success.”

~ Aasrel

Is that what stopped the production? If it was an electronic chip, it had to have a program. Bethany wanted to get ahold of it and find out exactly what it was supposed to do. That was a thought for later. “I know this is not the time, but can you do the procedure here? Do you have the right equipment and facilities?” Bethany wanted to donate before something happened. Whether her illness or this suicide mission, and she knew Aasrel wanted it more than anything. They had to be patient though. Rushing could cause mistakes.

Bethany

“I could do the procedure,” Th’rethiss said. “It’s more dangerous than the donation process. A mistake would mean brain damage. There will be a recovery period for which you would be off duty.”

Bethany nodded. Since Th’rethiss didn’t think it was necessary surgery, that meant approval for leave. Well if they were still Star Fleet. “How long?”

Th’rethiss shrugged. “Brains, even with the understanding of them we have, are tricky. Doctor Izei is a Betazoid, but if his brain were healing on its own like it should, we wouldn’t be here.”

“If it can be removed, I want it out and soon as you’re willing to do it.” Aasrel said. “I don’t care about the recovery or complications, I want it gone.”

~ Aasrel

Bethany squeezed his shoulder. “Let’s get through this stage of the mission and see where we are.” Speaking to Th’rethiss, “I am sure you will want to study the procedure. Dr Izei and I will have to make sure we have our departments well covered while we are recovering.” If they seemed too eager, Th’rethiss might refuse.

Bethany

Aasrel shook his head but kept quiet and squeezed her hand.

“I will need to study the donation procedure. The procedure for the implant is fairly straightforward, the same as removing a tumor or other anomaly in the brain. It’s the location that makes it difficult. It’s pressed into the paracortex, wedged between that and the gland. Those are deep brain structures.” Th’rethiss considered for a moment. “Make a plan for your departments. When this mission is over and Lieutenant Gadi is cured, we’ll talk about doing this surgery.”

Aasrel was very clearly not happy with that, but kept quiet.

~ Aasrel

Bethany wasn’t happy either. She didn’t like the implication that she had to be cured. They had no idea what a cure would look like. It could mean removal of the gland and then she would stop producing. Aasrel had said that was a possibility. “If a cure means removing my psilo-gland, will you take the necessary donation first?”

Bethany

Th’rethiss frowned and sighed a long sigh. “If you’re healthy enough, I can try… Otherwise, no. You are both my patients and I can’t prioritise an elective procedure over your health.”

~ Th’rethiss

Bethany was going to have to have a talk with Th’rethiss. She understood his position and commended him for his stance, but she didn’t think he understood Aasrel’s. She squeezed Aasrel’s hand again.

If it came down to it, Bethany knew very good doctors who, for the right payment, would do anything a patient asked - as long as it wasn’t torture or meant to hurt the patient. She would take care of it that way. Th’rethiss could jump off a cliff.

“Thank you, Dr.” Bethany stood up to leave.

Bethany

Aasrel had learned his lesson about arguing with doctors and was silently squeezing Bethany’s hand. When she stood to leave, he stood with her. “Thank you, doctor.” He said, sounding sad and upset.

He followed Bethany out of Sickbay. “I don’t like it, but he is right, you know.”

~ Aasrel

Bethany hurmphed. “Perhaps, but what he doesn’t seem to understand is that just as a Klingon could not live with paralysis, a Betazoid can’t live without their telepathy. It is about quality of life and mental health. Physically a Klingon can live with paralyzed. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually they cannot. It would be the same for an Andorian whose antenna will not regrow after injury.”

Bethany

“My old counselor would tell you plenty of people accept themselves with disabilities,” sighed Aasrel. He looked at Bethany. “I really, really want this but not at the expense of your health.”

~ Aasrel

“That’s true, some people do. Some can’t, and telling them they must accept it and then either forcing the issue or ignoring it only makes it worse for the person.” Bethany was quiet for a moment. “I understand the risk of the surgery. I do. But how is taking a large portion of the psilosynine out of my system a risk to me. Because of it, I am sick. The psilosynine is why my body is attacking itself. Wouldn’t removing it help me? And if it is being removed anyway, why not let you use it?”

Bethany

“Removing the psilosynine from your system isn’t the risk,” Aasrel replied. “For a betazoid whose body was working properly, it might cause issues with their telepathy. You don’t have that problem. The process of retrieving it is the tricky part. It’s more invasive than the sample test we did before, and you are already ill. What if something went wrong and you got worse? Then it won’t stay viable outside your body, so they’d have to do the procedure to give it to me, fairly soon after. Which we just learned is riskier than it would even normally be. If we weren’t on this mission, Th’rethiss might let me do it. But while we are on this mission… I don’t know.”

~ Aasrel

“I understand his reluctance because of the mission. But in the end it is my body, my choice. I’m not blind or uneducated. Yes it might get worse. But you know what, Rel? If we do nothing I die. If we do something I might get better or I might get worse and die. If we do nothing we both lose. I think it’s worth the attempt.”

Bethany

“We aren’t doing nothing,” Aasrel reminded her. “We just need to find a way to tell that neurochemical where it’s supposed to go.” He looked at her and smiled sadly, “It’s not me you have to convince. Th’rethiss is the doctor who would ultimately be responsible.”

~ Aasrel

Bethany shrugged. “I know a doctor who will do it. She’s very good, very clean, and has no aversion to elective surgeries.”

Bethany

Aasrel stopped and looked at her. “Someone in Starfleet?” She wasn’t suggesting what he thought she was, was she? If she was, was he desperate enough to go through with that?

~ Aasrel

Bethany gave him a look. “No, not Star Fleet. If we could use Star Fleet doctors we would request medical leave and go do it. We’re fugitives, on the run. And not every doctor can work for Star Fleet. She is highly trained. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Alpha Centari Medical Institute. She’s worked all over the quadrants. I met her when I was with the Rangers.”

Bethany

“How exactly would we get there?” Aasrel asked, “Not to mention doing that would piss off every doctor you and I are currently working with.” He’d been on the other side of it before, when a patient went off and found a doctor willing to do something he and the patient’s care team would not. “And Bethany… You know how much I want this, but if it made you worse I could never forgive myself.”

~ Aasrel

“I can get us a ride. I wouldn’t suggest going until this mission is over though. If we succeed, then we can take medical leave and go to a Starbase. If we fail, we will be outlaws for the rest of our lives. So non Fleet doctors will be our only choice. And I do not care if it pisses them off. I, and you, we are entitled to seek other medical aid.” She stopped walking and looked at him. “What are you going to do if you find a solution for me, dangerous but a solution, and Th’rethiss refuses because ‘it’s too dangerous, too risky, I’m not healthy enough’? Go along with it?” Of course she knew his immediate answer was of course not.

“Of course not. At this point, any solution is less risky than letting you die by doing nothing.” Aasrel said, proving her right.

But she had a feeling Th’rethiss didn’t feel that way.

She should never have allowed Ryley to check her. Refused the meds. She was better off not knowing. Now everyone treated her like she was fragile and incapable. That willing to take a huge risk at the possibility of living was insane. Why had she even bothered to go home that night?

Bethany

Aasrel sighed and looked at her. Was this what he sounded like? Probably. “We can look into it. Okay? But if we can’t do it till the end of this mission, by then I bet Th’rethiss will be willing to do it anyway.” Or wouldn’t be able to, if they had to remove the gland from Bethany. Either way, by the end of this mission, either Th’rethiss would do it, or it would be impossible to.

~ Aasrel

If they had to remove the gland…well Bethany would just refuse the surgery until Th’rethiss took the d@mn donor psilosynine. They were condemning Aasrel to an impossible, for him, life. She wasn’t going to let that happen. And if she died in the process? Well at least she would have done something that mattered to someone. “And you would have nothing to forgive yourself for. This is my choice, made freely and fully aware of the risk.”

Bethany

But not, Aasrel feared, of sound mind. He’d made her promise not to give up and here she was, sounding like she was ready to sacrifice herself to give him back his telepathy. “It’s your choice to offer, but it’s also my choice to accept.” They were condemning Aasrel to a life he didn’t want, but he really liked Bethany and didn’t want her to die in the process.

~ Aasrel

“Why would you refuse?” Bethany couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He needed a solution, they found one, she was a match. “You two are acting like me donating is a death sentence. ANY surgery has a risk, but it also has a chance of success.” Did something go wrong with the compatibility test? She came up short for one full step. Or was it that she was disabled and he didn’t want her problem? She didn’t want to believe that Aasrel felt that way, and she knew this whole thing made it impossible for her to feel clearly.

“Trust me, I don’t want to refuse.” Aasrel said. He nodded, “I know it could succeed but what would I do if something did happen to you?”

She grinned, “You’re right. It is your choice. The offer is genuine, no matter what you decide. I have faith in both your skills as doctors.” She started walking again. “I have a few things to finish up. See you later?”

Bethany

“See you later.” Aasrel said and smiled at her.

~ Aasrel