Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: The Reckoning

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: The Reckoning

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: The Reckoning
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Randy opened the small medkit he had brought with him and quickly pulled out a tube and loaded it into the hypo gun and then pressed it to Alden’s leg. “Should only take a minute or two to know if it will help.” Before he could sit down he heard a familiar stride coming down the corridor…but faster than a stead walk. He held up a finger and walked over to the door and opened. “Miranda Arabella Farquharson. If you run on that foot and damage it I’m going to sew you into a sleeping bag like you did me when we were 10!” Her laughter carried through the open door. “Yep and if you eat all the food in the pantry again without restocking I’m leaving cheeze whiz in your bed.” Randy muttered Gaelic curses but he was grinning, “Don’t you dare, No. More. Ants!”

Footsteps were coming down the hall. Was she done already? Or it had it simply been that long? It sounded like she was running, and a moment later, Roman knew Randy had made the same deduction as he stood to meet her at the door. Roman had to smile at the exchange. He turned his head and craned his neck to try and see out the door, but the bed was against the wall and the angle was too strange. He couldn’t see Rand standing outside.

Then he let the door slip closed and came and sat down. “So when we were 6 or 7, Rand saw a mouse outside the house. Because it was small it just had to be a baby,” Randy rolled his eyes, “So she decided she had to take care of it. She set a snare in our room, opened the window, and pilled wood and chair and crates outside and inside the window and scattered food from outside, along the window sill, and to the snare. Well…she caught something alright, but it wasn’t a mouse. We woke up the next morning to a blizzard of ants in our room. And Rand desperately trying to sweep them up and toss them out the window. Our dad came in and I thought he would pass out he laughed so hard. And the whole time Rand is in tears because there are so many of them she keeps stepping on them.”

Randy

Then Randy returned and Roman smiled and shook his head. “I think she’s told me that one before. Sounds familiar.” His short, tense answers were a sign of his pain. The hypo helped, a little, but Roman found it rather akin to using a teaspoon to put out an out of control kitchen fire. Adjusting his leg on the pillow, he started rubbing the sore area.

~ Roman

Hmmm well he supposed after all those nights they had to talk about something. He looked at Alden as if seeing him for the first time. He was having a rather amazing affect on his sister. Randy, being honest with himself, wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He respected Alden a great deal, even if he found him frustrating and annoying. But he suddenly realized he was going to have to accept that he was going to be around for awhile. Rand and Alden didn’t just like each other, it was rather serious. He’d always promised himself that if Rand ever found someone she was relaxed and happy with he’d be nice and support her. Looked like he was going to have to make good on that promise. “When you get a chance, you should watch the last video on the disk she gave you. Her very first performance.”

There must have been something special about that performance. Roman was pretty sure he remembered Rand saying the same thing. But he’d been in Sickbay, and in so much pain he’d barely heard her. Randy was looking at him differently, Roman couldn’t tell why. He wasn’t as good at reading Randy as he was Rand.

Checking the tricorder he looked up. “Pain meds have worn off now.” Just then the door opened and Rand walked in looked from one to the other and decided she wouldn’t ask because from the way they were looking at her they’d been talking about her…great. She passed a mug to Randy. “There’s more of that, but limited quality so don’t drink it all at once.” Apple soda. She handed Roman a mug, hot citrus tea. “Not your favorite but you aren’t allowed caffeine until the toxins are out of your system.” Well if Randy was going to talk about her, he’d have to deal. She kissed Roman, “I’ve still got an hour of work left and then I’ll be back.” She kissed Randy’s cheek, “be nice.” And then she walked over to the cage and opened one of the access doors and loved all over Pipkin, “They’re all done and they left you locked up. I’m so sorry baby, maybe I’ll just take you with me next time.” Randy grinned and shook his head, Rand and her animals....Then she walked over and put Pipkin on the bed. Then she was gone again.

Rand and Randy

It must have been at least somewhat down if the pain meds were fully worn off and Roman wasn’t in quite the same state he’d been in before. That didn’t make it a good time, either. He was still rubbing the sore area and readjusting the ice packs, trying to get some sort of relief out of it. He wasn’t going to be able to focus on anything else like this. Sleep would be difficult, too. Rand handed him a mug and he could tell what it was by the smell. He made a face of mock hurt. “No caffeine? Are they trying to kill me off now? I can’t have anything nice!” He complained. He really lived up to the age-old English stereotype: he loved complaining about little inconveniences. But her kiss made up for it. Right in front of Randy, too. He fought the urge to grin. Roman was shaking his head as well. And then Pipkin was on his bed and immediately hopped into his chest, sniffing him. “Look, Randy’s right there, you little fluffball, no need to police me now,” Roman said to the bunny in fake annoyance as he scratched her ears.

~ Roman

Rand gave him that same look she had on Kelmao, “You’ll survive with it out.” The implication being he might not with it, and she was just as stubborn as he was. Randy groaned and made a production of being totally disgusted. “Hey none of that.” But he winked at Rand as she left. Rand heard Roman talking to Pipkin and her laughter floated back into the room. “Told you she was on my side.” Randy picked up the ice packs and felt along them and then squeezed and there was a pop. He shook them and placed them back on his leg. “Most people forget they can refreeze these one extra time. There is a capsule inside, find it, squeeze till it pops, and shake. It refreezes the pack. I’ll leave extras.” Randy watched the rabbit crawl up Alden and settle in. How in the world Rand managed to get a pet with the perfect personality that she’d never interacted with was beyond him. Randy wished she’d left the rabbit in its cage. Now Randy had to watch Alden and the rabbit. It was small and helpless and if the pain increased suddenly he might accidently grab it. He knew Alden wouldn’t do it on purpose, but pain could make you do strange things.

Randy

Roman made a pouting face as he sipped his caffeineless tea. Randy acted all disgusted and Roman shook his head. “Thanks.” The refrozen ice packs were better than they had been but he was still struggling to find any relief. He let Pipkin snuggle in and then his hands returned to his leg. The rabbit’s presence helped him stay relaxed, but he knew he had to be careful with her especially with his pain distracting him. Hesitantly, he asked, “What have you decided on the meds?”

~ Roman

Rand of course had made the tea exactly how he liked it, even if it wasn’t his favorite black tea. There was another problem, apparently sleeping against Roman was going to be something Pipkin insisted on as the little rabbit was already hunkered down eyes closed again. Randy was careful to keep his expression neutral but wasn’t that interesting. Alden was asking about the meds. That was an improvement and unexpected. “As your nurse I recommend we proceed as we did in sickbay. Start with the lowest possible dose and move from there. The double anti-inflammatories seem to be helping, you aren’t ripping the bed apart and nearly passed out. Your heart rate is up but not dangerously so and your respiration has gotten shorter but again, not like it was. I honestly wasn’t expecting you to be able to talk at this point the first round out from sickbay. So that’s a very good sign. As your therapist I know why you don’t want it and I’m not willing to force you. However, that said, without a little extra, right now, you won’t be doing anything but staring at the ceiling. I don’t think you will care that you’re bored though.”

Randy

No, he didn’t care that he was bored just then and he wasn’t going to be able to focus on anything anyway. He wasn’t clenching his fists, mostly because he was rubbing his leg instead. He’d been clenching them earlier, and he still had the dents in his palms to show for it. “No, it’s not as bad as it was or I assume I would be nearly passed out, but it’s all I can think about and if I move it I think I might scream.” It was unusually honest of him to admit that, but he was more comfortable here than in Sickbay and sort of used to opening up with Randy because of their therapy sessions. “I won’t be sleeping either.” That part he didn’t mind as much, he felt like he was going to be tired either way. The pain in his leg was triggering more nightmares than he’d had lately, and he worried it would be worse after the incident when he’d woken up in Sickbay after the surgery. The nightmare he’d had the night after only made that worry worse. He knew the meds would make some things easier but he still didn’t want them, couldn’t make himself get over it and ask for it.

~ Roman

“After the surgery, while you had the nerve block, we were giving you a low dose of Oxycodone to ease the pain and discomfort from everything else. It is a mid level pain killer. When we removed the nerve block Dr Elbbirt used Dilaudid which is much more powerful. You’re talking and able to think, if you force it. Let’s try something less than Dilaudid. Let’s bring you back down the scale. We can try Oxycodone, what you had right after surgery or if you prefer we can go even lower down the ladder and try Vicodin. All pain killers can make you groggy and hard to think, but Vicodin has the smallest rate of that side effect. We can start at an 1/8th of a dose if you want.”

Randy

Roman knew next to nothing about the meds. Randy’s basic description meant little to him. A smaller rate of side effects sounded good, but it was pointless if it wouldn’t get the job done. He’d still rather none of them but if the pain got any worse after Randy left… Either he’d be alone and in too much pain to do anything or he’d be making Rand watch him be in too much pain to do anything and she’d have to get help for him. After a long moment of silence, he gave a defeated sigh. “Whichever you think will do what it needs to do.”

~ Roman