Posted by Captain Orvos Legen (Commanding Officer) in Sickbay - (Pre-sim) Lessons in Plasma

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Elara Dain (Doctor) in Sickbay - (Pre-sim) Lessons in Plasma

Posted by Lieutenant Matthias Meadows (Helmsman) in Sickbay - (Pre-sim) Lessons in Plasma
Posted by… suppressed (10) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Matthias and his partner in crime, Lt. jg Jackson, were quickly on their way to sickbay. Matthias in particular was cradling his arm which was throbbing in pain. His face was tense as they moved quickly down the corridor. He tried though, as best as he could, to maintain a sense of calm. Jackson was freaking out.

“I’m sure they can fix this sir! I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen some miracles happen. I’m so sorry. I won’t let it happen again.”

Matthias gave a pained grin. “Stop, Dan, it’s fine. We’ll just make sure the area you’re working on is properly sectioned off, right?” he said with a laugh that hurt.

Dan, who was moving fast and ahead of him simply hollered back to him. “Yeah, yes sir! Exactly! Won’t make that mistake again.”

Meadows entered sickbay, uniform singed and arm bleeding, the skin underneath blistering and peeling. He knew full well that the doctors could handle it. But Jackson needed to learn this lesson, so he bore through the pain long enough to physically get to sickbay.

-Lt. Matthias Meadows, Helmsman

Elara was working the smaller of the three sickbays, close to engineering. Searching one of the carts, muttering to herself, she glanced over as the doors hissed open. She noted the figure, male, a little above average height, average weight, late twenties to early thirties, dark coppery hair. She didn’t recognize the face, but certainly the double rank pips.

With him came the scent of ozone, burnt cloth and skin. Involuntarily she wrinkled her nose with a sympathetic grimace, while rushing over. The injury was as obvious as the sunrise. “Okay, El-tee, let’s get you over on biobed one,” she said, her tone urgent but gentle. One arm went around him for support while guiding him where she wanted, while with her other she stabilized, cradled, supported the wounded limb, mindful of the pain. It looked nasty.

Matthias didn’t resist her. “Yeah, that’ll work,” he replied through gritted teeth.

Once she had him seated, she fished a hypospray out of one pocket and a medical tricorder out of the other one. “What’s your name,” she asked quickly, pausing to meet his green gaze with her own.

Lt., j.g. Dain, Doctor

Meanwhile, the junior lieutenant began interjecting. “That’s Meadows, helmsman and engineer extraordinaire! Honestly, it’s my fault ma’am.”

Meadows interrupted. “I’m fine now, lieutenant! Get back to your area and make sure nobody else is injured.”

Startled, the man quickly turned tail and left the pair alone.

“Meadows, Matthias Meadows, ma’am,” he replied, trying to get his mind focused. His eyes chose to lock onto her face. He noted her green eyes and briefly noticed the trill spots leading up the side of her face to her hair. “And what do I call you, doc?” he said, preferring the teasing nickname over a full rank.

-Lt. Matthias Meadows, Helmsman

The ma’am made her feel old, but she ignored it. “Doc’s fine. Dain if you want to be formal. Elara is my given name. Ela or Lara works too.” The way she shortened her name came out as EE-lah not EL-ah. The other monikers others gave her sometimes she chose to ignore for now.

He winced at some of the throbbing pain, but still managed to speak. “Lara, I like that one. Pretty name for a pretty woman,” he said, trying to distract from the pain.

Elara couldn’t quite contain the small blush that heated her face. It wasn’t the first time someone had made such a comment. Idly she tucked her dark hair behind her ear. While highly inappropriate, it was nice to hear. “You flirt with all the girls, or just the ones holding the future of your ability to use a wrench in their hands?”

The blush on her face was a pleasant distraction from the pain he was feeling. Anything to keep his mind off of it to be fair. “Oh, no. Definitely not all the girls.” It was honest as well. He didn’t seek out other women to flirt with. But if a cute on ended up having to talk to him, why not?

Reaching up she tucked dark locks behind her right ear, flashing her spots all the way down her slender neck. “Uh, do you have any allergies to medications? I don’t ahve your file in front of me, and…” she trailed off, waving the hypo in one hand. Last thing she needed was to give him a pain reliever and have his lungs shut down or his neck swell up like a balloon… turn into elephant man.

Lt., j.g. Dain, Doctor

Meadows shook his head. “No, not at all. Pain relief would definitely help.” His composure was being tested, but she was being thorough in her work. He had no qualms against her in the slightest. But the pain was not easy.

-Lt. Matthias Meadows, Helm

With the information she needed out of the way, Elara pressed the hypo into the crook of his elbow and sent a cocktail of antibiotics and a good pain reliever. It spread, blossoming up and down his arm from the injection site.

The actual blacked and fried portion of the skin didn’t hurt much. He wouldn’t be able to feel it much at all since the nerve endings were sealed or gone. But the second and first degree rings of burn around it, she imagined, were burning like a chord of firewood. That was the painful part. But they eased significantly within seconds.

“Better,” she asked, giving him a smile. It could have come off as dry and sarcastic with many others, but instead, it came through with warmth and a flicker of amusement dancing in her green eyes. Not that she was mocking him. More that it wasn’t serious, the wound, and sure it sucked, but she wasn’t worried.

Meadows had a feeling the doctors would be able to fix him. And she seemed to have the confidence to confirm that in him. He could feel the edge of the pain subsiding and soon nearly dissipate. His face relaxed and he seemed a lot less tense. “Much better.”

“Now comes the fun part,” she mused, then moved over to the supply cart, grabbed a bottle with clear liquid in it. A bent tube that tapered to a point made the top. She pocketed a boxy device, and picked up something that looked like bent scissors. Trauma shears.

Walking back over, she tipped the bottle on it’s side letting the liquid flow into the tube. Giving the plastic a squeeze, a thin stream of cool water came out. This she directed onto the fabric of his uniform, especially the particularly burnt parts as well as the worst of the burnt skin. “You probably don’t want to look at what comes next,” she said, offering him a way out.

Lt., j.g. Dain, Doctor

Meadows laughed. Given how little pain he was feeling, it was a welcome somewhat comical thought. “I’m not squeamish really. I’ve dealt with some grim situations. This is definitely not the greatest. But I’ll be fine.” He kept his eyes trained on her face, his eyes meeting hers with a smirk. “Although, I’m trying to figure out: is this a real warning? Or is my flirting actually working? Cause the next best thing to keep my eyes on would be…” he said trailing off with a slight chuckle as his eyes watched her face for a reaction. Her blushing was cute.

-Lt. Matthias Meadows, Helm

Ela felt her face flush with more heat, all the way to her ears. Damn it. Nor could she keep the smile off of her face. “Mister Meadows that’s highly inappropriate,” she said, but the smile didn’t waver at all despite the mild scolding. Her gaze was locked on his, but broke first, looking down, away, head tilted. She tucked her dark hair behind one ear, flashing her spots.

Matthias gave a slight chuckle and smiled, perhaps a bit smugly. He didnt push too hard, despite wanting g to point out that he was finding g it difficult to believe her words with the pretty smile still on her face. His eyes though were still on her, noticing the spots.

Vision focused on the wound, she tried to ignore his attention, his gaze, that he was looking at her… like that. Fabric soaked, skin and burns softened, hands gentle she slowly peeled it away from the burn, tugging with a sympathetic wince where a few spots stuck and pulled. Fresh blood began to flow through the cracked and broken skin. “Sorry, she murmured, just barely loud enough for him to hear. Her gaze flicked up, apology in her eyes. The fresh damage was unavoidable, and he was on pretty good pain medication, but still, new pain impulses could make it through before settling down. There was nothing she could do about it without more serious anesthesia.

He winced momentarily, but he recovered alright. The pain was minimal but it was enough to cause a small reaction on his part. He smiled through it, his eyes still focused on her and avoiding his arm.

Clearing her throat, she pulled out the cellular and dermal regenerator from her pocket. “This… might not be so much fun either.” A cool hand wrapped around his wrist, stabilizing him. A flick of a thumb activated the device, creating an energy field, a mixture of electrons and photons. Running it over the arm it immediately began to itch like mad as the flesh began to heal and knit rapidly, undergoing weeks of recovery at incredible rate, thought he progress was at a crawl to the naked eye.

He sucked in some air as it began to itch. He resisted the urge to scratch instantly. It was all part of the process. But knowing that didnt help negate its effects. His eyes met her gaze again, trying to resist feeling the rough sensations he was feeling on his arm.

Glancing up at him, meeting his gaze she paused, then blinked as though remembering what she was going to say. “How’s that? Too much? We can slow it down if it itches too much.”

Lt., j.g. Dain, Doctor

He noted the odd pause. Was it a simple happenstance? Or was his flirting actually effecting her? He chose the latter. She responded decently receptive in a subtle way. If anyone had been watching they would have heard her earlier admonishment, but he had seen through it he felt.

“No pain, no gain, right Ela? I’m sure I can handle whatever is needed.” He said with a teasing smirk.

-Lt. Matthias Meadows, Helmsman

She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “There is such a thing as productive pain,” she agreed. “But most of the time, pain is damage. Damage is bad. Right?” She shrugged one shoulder and tried to put the look in his eye away, out of her mind. And maybe bring down her heart rate and blood pressure a little. Absently she chewed her lower lip. “But I suppose the body is the one thing that breaks down if you don’t use it, and use it hard enough.” Ela pursed her lips together then, as though suppressing a comment or something else. Lightly she rand cool, gentle fingers around the damage site, feeling for inflammation and the quality of the repairs as they proceeded apace.

Lt., j.g. Dain, Doctor

Matthias couldn’t argue with her logic in any sort of rational sense. “Sure. I suppose damage can be bad in some cases.” he trailed off as she continued.

He grinned and stifled a small chuckle. “Is that your professional opinion, Ela? You’re probably right. Could stand to put my body through some stress every once in awhile.” he said with a smirk just before she pushed gentle fingers on the damage site. He didn’t grimace, but there was still a bit of soreness. All in all, the skin seemed to be growing back at an appropriate pace.

-Lt. Matthias Meadows, Helm

She looked up at him for a moment, head tilted slightly, dark hair falling back to reveal the soft line of Trill spots that curved from her temple down her neck. “It is,” she said simply, the comment carrying a little weight of agreement—and perhaps shared understanding.

Her hazel-green eyes dropped to her work. The itching had started to ease as the dermal regeneration did its job. Elara ran her fingers lightly over the area that had been burned, not just along the edges, but directly across the newly mended tissue. Her touch was deliberate but gentle, pausing now and then to gauge his reaction. “A good workout’s always a good idea,” she murmured. Her eyes flicked up again, brief but bright.

The quick scan from her tricorder confirmed what her fingers already told her—tissue density, blood flow, nerve activity. All normal. But healing wasn’t just about numbers.

“Make a fist.” Her tone shifted slightly—more professional, but still warm. She guided him through a sequence of movements: flexion, extension, rotation. Never quite breaking contact, always gauging, adjusting.

Then she turned his hand palm-up and wove her fingers between his with quiet precision. The intimacy of it was subtle, medical, but undeniably present. She pressed both thumbs gently into the base of his palm, then smoothed them along tendons and muscles with steady, practiced pressure. A stretch. A release. She repeated it again, slow and firm.

Her fingers never lingered longer than necessary—but they also never rushed.

“Lemme have the other one real quick,” she said, looking up again. Her voice was light, maybe even teasing. Head tilted. The faintest smile at the corner of her mouth.

Lt., j.g. Dain, Doctor

Matthias let out a breath of something close to a laugh. “At this rate, you’ll have both arms working better than before.”

Ela smiled for a moment, eyes down, focused on her work as her hair fell just enough to hide her face. “Well, that’s the idea, right?” She stole a quick glance back up at him.

His fingers shifted slightly, not resisting when hers slipped between them. The stretch actually did feel good—he hadn’t realized how tense he’d been. His gaze flicked to hers briefly, catching the small smile.

“You’re obviously skilled with your hands.” He gave a slight pause to allow he words to conjure up alternative meanings besides how she obviously used them while working. He was also enjoying the light massage.

The comment sent a flush of heat through her, all the way through her face and the tips of her ears. “I… well… ” She swallowed. “Kind of have to be when taking care of other people.” Chewing her bottom lip, she continued working.

He continued. “What do you do outside of here?” He curiously asked, eyes set on her face to read her reactions with no shame.

-Lt. Matthias Meadows, Helm

“You mean besides flirt with cute but slightly clumsy operations folks?” She shrugged one shoulder. “A lot of things.” Her face heated again. “I… It’s kind of silly, I guess.”

Lt., j.g. Dain, Doctor