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

(snip)

“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

Randy thought for a moment. He wanted Roman to sleep and sleep deeply to avoid nightmares. But he wanted him to wake up too if something was wrong or he did, by chance, have a nightmare. So he decided on the Dilaudid. It had worked fine for him post surgery and he’d still been coherent once he woke up and the sedatives wore off. He grabbed the vile and the hypo and gave him a 1/4 dose. “Dilaudid, lowest dosage. It should help you relax enough to sleep, and your body needs that. After decent sleep we may be able to drop you down more. We’ll give it 3 minutes and see if you need a bit more.” He got up, and after months of being Alden’s yeoman knew where everything was. He made no qualms about going through the small pantry area and came back with water. “Drink this. Water is the great equalizer in the body. It will help things flush out and help your kidneys with the toxins being filtered. Drink as much water as you can, it really will help.” 3 minutes later, Randy wasn’t thrilled with his heart rate and respiration and he was still occasionally rubbing his leg so he gave him another half dose. He wanted it to work for the 7 hours before the next time he got meds.

Randy

Roman set the mug of water on the little table by his bed next to the half empty cup of tea. It did not take long after Randy gave it for Roman to feel the effects of the pain medication. He had been sitting up so he could reach it to rub it or readjust the ice, anything that might help before the pain got worse. With the medication the pain dropped and he relaxed a little, no longer constantly fiddling with things, but it still hurt and occasionally he’d go back to rubbing it. It didn’t really help anything, but it was what he’d been in the habit of doing whenever that leg hurt. The three minutes passed and Randy gave him another half dose.

Again, the effects were fast acting. His pain dropped and he lay back again, using his pillows so he wasn’t laying all the way down, rather reclined. As he did, he watched for Pipkin, still sleeping on the bed. He hated how the meds made him feel: tired, sluggish, groggy, and loopy. Another three minutes passed and his breathing had relaxed, turning back into longer, deeper breaths. His heart rate was down again. He blinked a few times to keep his eyes open. He took a sip of the water, hoping the colder drink would wake him up a bit. The citrus tea would put him to sleep. There was still pain in his leg but it was more tolerable and it felt distant in a way. “Rand will be happy,” he said finally, his voice a bit slurred from the meds.

~ Roman

Randy arched a brow, “Rand will be relieved you aren’t hurting and that your heart isn’t at risk of over working.” Randy knew Roman would blame the meds for the groggy feeling but he hadn’t given him enough for that. At least not to work that fast and that deeply. It was an indirect effect of the meds. Dropped pain caused physical relaxation which caused the body to produce endorphins and oxytocin. Those combined increased the body’s physical relaxation, dropped the adrenaline and the body crashed. He would be more awake in an hour or so if he didn’t fall asleep.

Randy sat quietly and let Alden doze. There was no reason for him to stay other than compassion, which Alden might find strange, and he was family now. That and Rand would be very angry if he left Alden alone. She arrived back in less than the hour she said, but working in her office without the teasing from Randy she was able to work more quickly. She was careful but worked quickly. She came through the door and saw how quiet it was and slowed her steps to be more quiet.

Randy got up and showed her the two anti-inflammatory hypos, pre-dialed. “I’ll be back in the morning to give him the other. But if anything happens or you need me, I’m next door.” He grabbed his kit and slipped out the door. He didn’t need to ask, he knew Rand was staying. Rand moved the chair so she could lean back against the wall, checked on Pipkin, and then sat down. She was immensely relieved that he didn’t seem to be in pain.

Rand