Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in Nightmares Tell Us What to Pray Against

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Nightmares Tell Us What to Pray Against

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in Nightmares Tell Us What to Pray Against
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Aasrel kept holding her long after she fell asleep. It crossed his mind briefly that Th’rethiss had never gotten the chance to go over his scans. He didn’t really care though. He rested his head against her and drifted back to sleep himself.

~ Aasrel

Harkins came in, one brow raised. Bethany didn’t wake, which was unusual. Harkins smiled gently at Izei and gave Bethany a hypo to help her sleep. She gave him his next round of medication and then pulled out an extra blanket to cover Bethany with.

Really Harkins shouldn’t leave her there, but Bethany’s body needed as much rest as possible. She checked on them regularly. When she noticed Aasrel awake again she told Th’rethiss.

The doctor came in and scowled at the two of them. Bethany slept on. “I shouldn’t leave her there, but she needs the sleep.” He looked at Izei, “She shouldn’t work, it will accelerate the process, but given her … stubbornness it is better to give her something else to concentrate on.”

Th’rethiss

“Give her desk work,” Aasrel pleaded quietly. “Don’t let her do anything physical. I… I can’t lose her. I don’t want her accelerating the process.” He hugged her close, careful not to wake her. “Please.”

~ Aasrel

“Light duty, no bridge shifts, no trainings, light patrols. The movement is good for her. She can supervise but not participate in training. I am making her come here for her hypo twice a day.”

He pulled up Aasrel’s latest scans and placed them next to the previous. “Good progress here. The swelling is much reduced, your psilosynine levels have quadrupled again. You can see here in the paracortex the increased neural activity. This one shows the areas of damage, they are almost completely healed.”

Th’rethiss

Unlike last time, Aasrel didn’t need help understanding the scans, just a little time to study them. “So when should I see a reduction in symptoms? When do you think my telepathy will come fully back?”

~ Aasrel

Th’rethiss brows went up. “Fully? So you have already started getting some of the sense back then?” He nodded to himself and looked at the scans. “I had not expected anything for at least a week. For full recovery…based on scans… perhaps within the month? Your brain is healing incredibly fast. Probably sooner. We need to keep scanning every day. Possibly two weeks. The complications from the swelling, a week after we are able to replace the bone.”

Th’rethiss

Aasrel nodded. “Empathy, in flashes. Nothing permanent yet.” He rubbed Bethany’s back gently, wanting her to stay asleep. “When do you think we’ll be replacing the bone?” He knew that was another surgery. He wanted Bethany there when he went in and when he came back.

~ Aasrel

The small movement of Izei’s hand was telling. It made him miss his Ch’te, Sh’za, and Zh’yi. “Well I can tell you more after your next scan. Which means after she wakes up, or I can have her moved now.” It was his nostalgia that made him sound perhaps accommodating.

Th’rethiss

“No, don’t move her. She needs the sleep. She never sleeps like this.” Aasrel said. “We’ll do the scan as soon as she wakes. Promise.”

~ Aasrel

Th’rethiss nodded and left the room. Whatever Harkins had given Bethany kept her asleep. She had strange dreams. She slept for long hours before they started to disturb her. She murmured in her sleep, in Standard and Betzed, but it was mostly unintelligible. “Quinyi. (I’m sorry.)” She said over and over and then began to sob in her sleep.

Bethany

Aasrel had fallen asleep again. Her murmuring in her sleep woke him and he hugged her tightly. When she began to cry he shook her gently. “Bethany, wake up. Come on, wake up. It’s me, Bethany. Just me.”

~ Aasrel

Bethany turned closer to him. She pressed her face into his shoulder, her arm tightened over him as her hand bunched in the blanket. “Quinyi, Rel.” It was muffled and slurred. She began to sob, her shoulders shaking. Her heart was pounding and her head hurt slightly. Whatever she had been dreaming about had scared her, but more than that had filled her with grief, guilt, and regret.

Bethany

Aasrel hugged her tightly. “It’s okay. It was just a dream. I’m here.” He said, repeating the words quietly and gently. “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

~ Aasrel

This nightmare had been just as bad as the one where Aasrel had died in an attack on the ship. This one had felt just as real. Bethany pressed closer which allowed his arms to tighten further. Eventually the sound of his voice sank in along with his warmth eased the tremors. It took longer for the tears to stop, but they did. She didn’t say anything, just held tightly to him.

Bethany

Aasrel kept whispering, “I’m here, it’s okay,” over and over as he hugged her tightly and rubbed her back. “It’s only a dream.” When she seemed like she’d stopped crying, he looked down at her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

~ Aasrel

Her face rubbed back and forth where she was pressed against his chest. “No.” Bethany had to get herself under control. She was going back on duty, she needed to keep it to herself. She needed focus and calm. He could feel her take long deep breaths, forcing an easy rhythm. “I love you, Rel.”

Bethany

“Okay.” Aasrel said gently. “You can’t keep it in forever, you know. But for now, that’s okay.” He rested his head against her. “I love you, too.”

~ Aasrel

His statement made her smile ruefully. He never wanted to talk about his nightmares, but he wanted her to tell him. The smile quickly slipped away, as the sleep aid over rode the nightmare induced adrenaline. She felt heavy and lethargic. When she lifted her head, it swam and spun thickly. “Somethings wrong…” Bethany sounded scared and alarmed. She was unaware that Harkins had given her something to help her sleep.

Bethany