Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in Nothing is Guaranteed

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Nothing is Guaranteed

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in Nothing is Guaranteed
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Bethany was out cold, near death, unresponsive, and then Th’rethiss finished stitching her up, and the stranger’s blood got into her system. She went from pale, cold and unresponsive, to looking like she was taking a nap out in the sun. Her breathing was slow and regular, her color was good, and there was no sign of the bruising and bleeding that had sent her into emergency surgery. The nurses didn’t know what to make of it as the moved her from the surgical suite to a biobed in a recovery room. She was after all on immunosuppressants. They didn’t want her getting sick on top of everything else. No matter how healthy she looked now.

They had no sooner walked out of the room when her eyes popped open and she sat up. She felt like the last months were nothing but a bad dream. There was no fatigue, no racing heart, no labored breathing, no itchy burning, no headache. The last conscious thing she remembered was falling and really hurting after and going to bed. Now she was in sickbay, again. She felt normal again… no she felt better than normal. She got up, intending to go find out what was going on. Except the biobed didn’t like that she got up and started alarming.

Bethany

Aasrel was leaning by the door, arms crossed when she woke. “How do you feel?” He asked, looking at her as she stood. He walked over to the bed and silenced the alarm, then watched her as if watching a lab experiment.

~ Aasrel

Well physically she she thought she felt great, but losing that amount of blood volume (even if it was replaced) did havok on the body’s equilibrium. Her body should be sore, maybe it was. She saw him standing in the doorway and moved eagerly towards him with her heart racing. He walked past her and she sat on the end of the bed feeling very confused and realizing she wasn’t well enough to stand yet. His voice seemed to trigger more recent memories of him asking her about calling him and a lot of pain and him telling her she was going to be alright. He was giving her the oddest look, like he barely knew her. Where was her Rel? If she had been sick, why wasn’t he happy that she was awake? Had it all been a fever dream? Or was it something much much worse?

She gripped the edge of the bed to keep from swaying. She might feel incredible now, but her body was not fully recovered. The stark improvement had lulled her into a false sense of confidence. She shouldn’t be up. He was still giving her that strange look though. That look made her feel like she’d woken from a dream into a nightmare. She wanted him to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he didn’t seem inclined to come anywhere near her. She couldn’t figure out why. “Rel?” Her voice sounded strained and hesitant even to her.

Bethany

Aasrel saw the way she gripped the bed and immediately he was by her side, giving her that same concerned look he usually did. “Lay back down, you’re obviously not as recovered as I thought.” He said gently, beckoning her back into the bed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. You’re okay.” He said, voice soft. Her hesitation and fear was clear to him, by the empathy she had returned to him. As much as he was trying not to, there was still that hesitation in his actions, like he just wasn’t sure.

~ Aasrel

Bethany didn’t argue and did as he instructed. His hesitation was clear to her; she just didn’t understand why he was acting that way. What had happened? Her memory felt muddled by strange recollections, that she put off as fever dreams, but they were vivid and painful.

As she laid back down, the biobed ran a complete scan. Her vitals were perfect, her organ function the same. Also of note… there were no traces of medication in her. No anesthetic, no immunotherapy medications. Nothing. She was perfectly healthy.

GM

“Recovered?” From what? From her illness? “What happened?”

Bethany

There was Aasrel’s usual look of concern and fear for her. “Bethany, you fell in your quarters. You were internally bleeding. You almost died. I… I had to rush you here for a medical emergency.”

~ Aasrel

She reached for his hand tentatively. Her gaze was slightly far away as she tried to recall. “I was doing my exercises Jonan gave me. I lost my balance and fell. It hurt, but it seemed okay, so I laid down. I remember you asking me something, but not sure what, just that I really hurt.”

Bethany

Aasrel took her hand and squeezed it gently, sitting in the chair next to her bed. “I asked why you didn’t call me when you fell.” He said gently. “I had to find a blood donor for you, and I did.... it was just… this person was very odd.”

~ Aasrel

“A blood donor? Couldn’t you just synthesize it?” That seemed strange, but she’d never had a blood transfusion before. Her eyes snapped over to his at the way he said it. “Odd? In what way? Who was it?”

Bethany

He looked down at her with his black and black-tinged-silver gaze. He looked tired. “Your blood can’t be synthesized unless we teach the system how and we didn’t have time to do that.” He explained patiently. “I don’t know who it was. He wouldn’t say anything useful, just kept insulting me.” He shrugged. “He looked Bajoran, but that must have been a disguise for the mission. He had hidden his blood type from my scans and refused to help until he found out you were who I was trying to find a donor for. He insisted I was some kind of coward unworthy for you because I wasn’t doing your surgery myself.” Aasrel rolled his eyes, “idiot. Anyway, and then you were suddenly healed, I mean, in literally minutes, and he vanished.”

~ Aasrel

Bethany looked at him. “I think you’re telling me a fairy tale. It sounds like magic. Aasrel, if I’m really sick, just tell me.” She shook her head, “Why would it matter if it was me? I don’t know anyone else on board. Not really. I mean Cmdr Calloway might have given me a blood donation, but you know her.” She didn’t like the sound of it. It was too strange, too oddly creepy. Something about it made her stomach churn.

“Well don’t worry about what that person said. I guess you had Th’rethiss do the surgery? You’ve told me many times he’s the top surgeon on board. What does it matter if you had Th’rethiss do it or yourself, as long as I was getting help? I know you’d make sure I got the best care.”

Bethany

“I know,” he said gently, “That’s why Th’rethiss did the surgery.” He rubbed her hand gently with his thumb. “I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t. You’re not sick. In fact, you’re so healthy, you’re the prime example of health.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t Callaway. He’s on file as Michael Sorov.” Aasrel shrugged. “I don’t know who he was.”

~ Aasrel

Sorov? The name wasn’t overly familiar. It was a popular surname in the Eurasian area of Earth, specifically the area previously identified as Russia. “I… don’t know anyone by that name. Neither name is Bajoran but that could just be his cover. Was he security?” She answered for herself. “No, I would recognize the name if he was in my department. You said he refused to help until you told him it was me?” She looked upset. “That’s crazy!” She sighed, “I guess I should just be grateful.”

Aasrel nodded. “I guess so. Like I said, he was very strange. He flipped out once I said your name.”

Her hand squeezed his tightly as she finally let the rest sink in. “I’m healthy? Just like that? No more seizures, no more rampant psilosynine, no more of my human half trying the kill the rest of me? But how?”

Bethany

Aasrel nodded and finally, finally grinned a huge smile. “There are no meds in your system, none at all. And you’re seizure free, your vitals are perfect, there’s no sign of anything.”

~ Aasrel

“That’s crazy. How?” Bethany whispered as she looked at him a very very long moment in total disbelief. The genuineness of his smile gave her hope. His image suddenly became watery and blurry. She squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden burning ache. Could it really be true?

Bethany

“I don’t know.” Aasrel leaned over her and hugged her. “You’re healthy, Bethany. No more disease. No more symptoms. What’re you gonna do?” He asked it jokingly, but there was a note of seriousness to his voice.

~ Aasrel

When he hugged her, her arms went around him. She held on tightly with her face pressed into his neck while she waited for the shock and relief to become manageable. Finally, she took a slow deep breath and lifted her head slightly, “I’m going with you to Betazed.”

Bethany

He smiled and relaxed a little against her, chuckling lightly. “I can’t wait.” He said softly. He stayed there for a long time, his earlier hesitation gone. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

~ Aasrel

“Me too.” She held onto him for a long time. Bethany didn’t quite believe it though. It was too sudden and too unknown. They didn’t know how she was better. Maybe she was dreaming. In the quiet half memories started to come back to her of fire and pain. She’d been burning and then … she shuddered. “I saw my mother.”

Bethany

“What?” Aasrel looked at her, face confused. “What do you mean?” He sat up a little bit so he could see her better, sitting back in the chair, but still leaned partly over her, holding her hand.

~ Aasrel

“I dreamed about her. Or maybe I was hallucinating? They say the mind creates images and sensations to try and make sense of dying.” She shrugged, but there were after shocks of fear and what ifs. “I thought I was burning alive and then I saw my mom.” Realuzation of how close she came to never waking up made her eyes water. “I always wanted her to come back. I guess I still wanted her back so badly I imagined her.”

Bethany

Aasrel still hadn’t become reused to filtering others’ emotions from his own and her fear set off his own. He hugged her tightly to him. “It’s okay, you’re here now. You’re with me. You’re not going anywhere.” He said, reassuring himself as much as her. “That’s probably what happened.” He said softly. “The brain makes up a lot of things when it’s in trouble.”

~ Aasrel

Bethany leaned her head against him. “When I woke up and was able to get out of bed, I wasn’t hurting or anything. I thought I was dead. I never believed in an afterlife or deities. I was glad I was wrong so I could at least see you.”

Bethany

Aasrel kept a tight hold of her. He smiled a little. “I don’t know what I would have done if you had died.” He frowned for a second as he remembered something. “That weird donor said if you didn’t live he’d kill the whole crew. Myself last… It was… Odd to say the least.”

~ Aasrel

She couldn’t hide it from him, but Bethany certainly tried. That set off all kinds of warning bells in her head and her gut. “What an odd thing to say for someone he doesn’t really know. Some cultures have strange feelings about blood and organ donations. Perhaps there was a sense of obligation. I’ll have to find him and thank him properly for it.” She didn’t like it though, but she forced herself to laugh, “Well good thing I’m still alive.”

Bethany

“I really don’t think it was that,” Aasrel said. He felt her unease. It made him worry more. “I can’t help wonder about it… but yes, you’re alive, so I guess it doesn’t matter.”

~ Aasrel

She shivered slightly and sat up a little. “I’ll find him and figure out what’s going on.” His words made her worry more. She was being paranoid. She told herself that firmly. She’d been through quite a bit physically and she needed to think and not react. “Yes, I am and we’ll just be grateful.” Then she contradicted that by holding her arm out towards him. “Take a blood sample and run all the tests you want. If I should get sick again, I want to know how to duplicate it the process. Might as well make a blood donation while I’m at it since you can’t synthesize it.”

Bethany

“No, Bethany… No. It’s not worth it. He seems dangerous.” He grabbed a full med kit from nearby and drew the blood sample. “Let’s wait until we know you’re fully better before we do a donation.”

~ Aasrel

She held still while he took the sample, it was always a weird sensation to her. Then she grabbed his hand. “If he’s dangerous then I need to find him. That’s my duty. I can’t let someone dangerous run about the ship. Maybe he is just playing up his new role. Besides I deal in dangerous. I’ll be careful.”

Bethany

Aasrel squeezed her hand tight and met her gaze. “Fine. But if you go, I go.” His voice was firm. “I already almost lost you once. I… I can’t just let you go into something like that and not be with you.”

~ Aasrel

Bethany set her hand along his cheek, and stared into his eyes. “Stubborn,” she grinned though. “Well don’t worry, I know I’m confined to sickbay for a few days. No matter how good I feel, I do understand I just had major surgery. Besides I could just be better because I lost all that blood, and the psilosynine went with it.”

Bethany

“Major surgery… That there is no sign of on scans.” Aasrel sighed, then kissed her gently, a quick one. “You are confined to Sickbay for a few days. Maybe we can use that time to discuss you tracking down weird dangerous dudes with magic blood.”

~ Aasrel

It took only moments for the tests to be run on the sample, especially when the alarm sounded on the tricorder. There were only a few things that set of such alarms: contagions (none detected), unknown matter present (none detected), toxins (none detected), foreign bodies (none detected), foreign organisms (none detected)… or illicit substances or other Security triggers (… … …). But to complicate things, the result that set off the alarm was locked and required Command Level Security Access to view. That meant one of three people: the CO… the XO… or the ship’s Chief of Security.

GM