Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in Sickbay- Letting Go

Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Sickbay- Letting Go

Posted by Lieutenant Ben Hudson (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay- Letting Go
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
A Kobliad male appeared in Sickbay with a Kobliad female in his arms. One of the nurses, Syeda Castillo, recognized Sair’s mother, Kel, from the time Kel had helped out Sair during the strange aging thing. She rushed over to help them get to a biobed.

“Sair is on her way,” Sal said and the nurse nodded. She had given the counsellor her deuridium injections a couple of times and while she wasn’t going to get in the way, she also knew just enough that she should stay close.

Sair appeared, rushing in with a bag. She said very little as she adjusted the biobed monitors and then pulled out items from the bag. The first was the soft thick blanket that her mother preferred and she draped it gently. She took Kel’s hand. “Hey, we have you, okay?” she said with all the certainty she truly felt.

“She’s right,” Sal said, taking her other hand.

Kel nodded, even as she struggled to take in fuller breaths.

Sair’s eyes flicked to the readouts and she had been correct: her mother’s neurological responses were deteriorating rather quickly. It meant that her brain was having a hard time controlling her body and everything would begin to shut down. “You let me know what you feel you need.”

“I will. Not yet. But I am in some pain,” Kel said.

“I can give you something for that.” Sair moved over to grab a hypospray.

~Sair Songz, CNS

The doors to Sickbay slid open and Coxhrane walked in. He looked at the assembled Songz family and then quietly took a seat on the other side of the room.

Cochrane, CO

Sair acknowledged Alex with a nod and then administered a strong painkiller. There was no point in going in softly. After a few moments, Kel was able to draw in a bigger breath, even if it still seemed strained.

Ben stepped from around the corner, having heard Kel and Sal enter the sickbay. He kept quietly to one side of the, tapping in a few commands into a console. A holographic privacy screen quietly materialised, affording the family a bit of privacy should anyone else come into the recovery ward. Ben knew that this wasn’t something that Kel would recover from, but it was the most appropriate part of sickbay to use.

He caught Sair’s eye long enough to let her know that if there was anything she needed, he was there to help.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

She nodded at him and then went back to looking over the readings. After a few moments, Sair grabbed a blanket from the warmer and draped it over her mother. “Rest if you can,” she said softly.

Cochrane walked over to the CMO and said softly “How long do you think it will be, Doctor? I want to make sure we have everything prepared for the Songzs so that the… transition… will be as smooth as possible for them.”

Cochrane, CO

Sair stepped away and over to Alex and waved Ben over.

“So, as I suspected, she’s started to go through organ failure. On Kobliad, we have protocols for how we handle this final stage, and one thing is that long before we get to this point, the patient sets out their medical directives. I just want to make sure that we’re all good here, because for Kobliads this final stage is always very painful and denies people dignity. Long ago we made sure that we did everything we could to help people maintain that dignity and have a death that was in some way in their control. So, as many people write down in a legal fashion, my mother has been very specific about which point she wishes her doctor, me in this case, to let her go. We usually use a strong barbiturate that completes the organ shut down while she’s sedated. She will feel nothing of it. We’re not quite there yet, but probably sometime in the next twelve hours or so. And legally we need another doctor as witness.” She did not plan on debating or arguing this path, but she wanted to make sure they understood what was going on so it didn’t become a big deal at that time.

~Sair Songz, CNS

Ben nodded. He was familiar with the early 21st Century debates about whether euthanasia was compatible with the Hippocratic oath; and indeed, the debates hadn’t stopped there, with different professionals’ beliefs and cultures all having a say. Ben, however, he disliked the thought of someone who was clearly terminally ill having to endure inhumane suffering against their wishes.

“Of course, Sair.” he said, sympathetically. “If I can take a look over your mother’s wishes, as well as the latest scans, I will be the witness.”

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer