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
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
It was another half hour before Rand was finally done. She was tired and gratefully signed out of her console, pocketed her control rods. She stepped into the corridor, which was still brightly lit, it was always brightly lit, and stood leaning against the wall, head down, stretching out a stiff neck. Food or sleep? She could get both in her quarters. She just didn’t feel like walking all the way to the mess hall. When she entered her quarters Randy was asleep and she stopped abruptly and looked up at the chronometer, it was almost midnight. How did it get so late? She sat on her bed and munch quietly on some random thing she found in the small pantry. Roman hadn’t come and knocked on her office door, so he was probably asleep. Or was he waiting for her? But if he was already asleep she didn’t want to wake him up, but what if he stayed up waiting for her? In the end it didn’t matter, Rand fell asleep before she decided.

The next morning came far too soon, but she felt better for the sleep. Her morning was going along as normal until she passed by sickbay. “Ensign! Rand!” echoed down the corridor after her, on her way to check the requisition sheet for the recreation hall and then the last of the science lab reports. She turned, wondering why Dr Elbbirt was calling her. “Good morning, Doctor. Is everything alright?”

“Do you know when Cmdr Alden goes to the labs? You seem to always know where everyone is and I need to speak to him.” Worry and apprehension, but she did her best to not show it. “0700 is when he usually goes to the labs.” She resisted the urge to ask, she wasn’t sure he would tell her.

Elbbirt grinned, “Do you think you could get him to meet me in his office. I know he hates dealing with doctors, but I have good news for him and need to talk to him.” Rand nodded, “I’ll do my best. 0630?” Elbbirt nodded and left. Rand finished what she was doing, usually she did her early observations at 0600, but she needed to go try and find a way to get Roman to talk to Elbbirt. So she stopped by the biology lab to tell Franks she wouldn’t be by until later. Then a lift ride later, Rand was standing outside his door and knocked.

Rand

Roman’s alarm was set for 0600. So when Rand knocked, Roman wasn’t really awake yet. He checked the clock, it was still early. He wasn’t late. Would Rand be there for some reason? She hadn’t ended up coming by last night, but Roman assumed she’d fallen asleep after the Captain kept her working so late. He’d better get ready just in case it wasn’t her. Quickly, he got up and got fresh clothes, and then let the door open. “Come in!”

~ Roman

Rand stepped through the door and it swished closed behind her. “Hi.” He looked like he had slept well and that he was rushing to get ready. “I…I thought you’d already be up. Did I wake you?” A gentle weight on her foot made her look down and she bend down to scoop Pipkin up and nuzzle on the bunny. “Hello to you too, fluff ball,” her voice taking on that soft pitch she only got with the animals.

Was Rand nervous? It seemed like she was, just a little. “I’m normally just barely getting up now when I can sleep,” he said. “Takes me less than an hour to get ready.” He smiled as the bunny went up to Rand, almost as if saying ‘hello’ herself.

It was probably better to just get right to the point. “I’m here, kind of, officially. Elbbirt said he had good news for you and wanted to know if you would meet him in your office at 0630, before your shift.”

Rand

The last person Roman wanted to see at 0630 was Elbbirt. He didn’t hate the guy, but well, Elbbirt was a doctor and it was far too early to deal with this. His feelings would show on his face, he didn’t always try to hide things when it was only Rand around. “Did he say anything about what it was?” He asked. If it was a meeting in Roman’s office, he could hope it was work related. He was a biologist after all, occasionally he did help medical. He convinced himself that was what it must be. That helped the pit in his stomach that opened the moment Rand said Elbbirt’s name.

~ Roman

Rand carried Pipkin over and sat down on the bed, reaching for the container labeled ‘favorite.’ While Roman was getting ready, his back turned, Rand snuck two out of the container and fed them to Pipkin, “Shhhh....don’t tell him I gave you two.” She was totally spoiling the rabbit. She hadn’t see Pipkin all day the day before, so she had to make up for it. She glanced up and shook her head. “He didn’t say. Only that he had good news for you and would I ask you to meet him in your office at 0630. He was smiling and seemed excited if that helps.” She had been worried when Elbbirt first asked her, but he had assured her it was good news. So maybe it had something to do with work, or there is a mistake on the images and the clots weren’t as bad as they thought? Or maybe his PT was going really well and he’d be done sooner? But she had no idea, and Randy had the day off and was still asleep as far as she knew, so he probably didn’t know.

Rand

Roman didn’t see Rand sneak Pipkin the treats. He was in his bathroom, brushing his teeth and brushing his hair. When he was done getting ready, it was 0625, and for once he absolutely did not want to go. But Elbbirt said it was good news… So there was nothing to be worried about, right? It seemed rational to him but he was still not wanting to go. He sighed. “You’re coming with?”

~ Roman

Rand had Pipkin sitting in one hand, the other hand holding her front paws gently and was touching noses and making cute little kissy noises at her when Roman came out. Both Rand and the bunny jumped, as if caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Which....they had been…the bunny cookie jar, anyway. Rand turned pink and Pipkin wiggled down and climbed off the bed and hopped over to Roman and sat by his foot looking far too innocent. Rand got up and walked over to where him. She could tell he was nervous and wanted to help him the way he helped her. So she hugged him, “Of course I am.”

Rand

Rand was holding Pipkin up to her face, and they were touching noses while Rand made cute noises at her. Roman had to smile upon seeing the scene in front of him. Then Pipkin sat by him and he bent down to give her some pet before standing up again. He stood again, and though Pipkin was a useful distraction he still seemed nervous. But then Rand came up to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. “Good.”

He was going to be late, too. It was 0628. Elbbirt had told Rand 0630! He gave Rand one last little squeeze and then let her go. “Let’s go.” Leaving his crutches behind as he usually did lately, he headed down to his CSO office to meet Elbbirt.

~ Roman

Rand scooped Pipkin up off the floor and put her in her cage before following Roman out the door. It wasn’t far to deck 9 and his office, but if the lifts were slow, it could take longer than a couple minutes. It was a last minute request and early in the morning, so Rand didn’t think it should count if they were late. They arrived at his office and Rand sat down in one of the extra chairs, grabbed the rest of the reports from his desk, and started working on them.

Roman sat down at his desk, stretching his leg out under the desk. Rand grabbed his reports and started working them, so Roman grabbed a stack of his other paperwork. He barely got started before there was a knock at the office door.

Elbbirt didn’t want Alden to feel he was ambushing him so when he went to the office and they weren’t there yet he went to the Galley for coffee and then came back. He knocked and entered when beckoned, and was not surprised to see Rand sitting next to the desk. “Good morning, Cmdr., Ensign.”

“Good morning, Doctor.” Roman said after he let Elbbirt in. He would seem nervous, his voice a bit tight, his demeanor incredibly formal. “To what do we owe this visit?”

“I’ll get right to the point. I was doing some research, and there is a new medicine to treat blood clots. It is given as a hypo, and it adheres to them and works with the body to pass them naturally through the renal system. You are given one ‘dosage’ for each clot based on the density of each. The hypo is given in the area of each. In your case here, here, here, and here.” Elbbirt pointed to each are on his own body. “All four would be given the same day.”

“No more images, I can calculate the density based on the ones I already took. The thing is it is experimental. It is in the final stages of clinical trials, so your data would be sent in.”

“Side effects are few. A mild back ache in the area of the kidneys if the clot is bigger, but no damage or prolonged discomfort has been reported. The worst was a patient who had an open wound that was healing and the medicine attached to the platelet cluster at the opening and removed it. The patient started bleeding again. You have no such wounds. And the doctor was able to stop the bleeding and the person is fine.”

“No more blood thinners. You won’t have to miss any time. And the whole process can take one to two days.” Elbbirt went on to describe what to look for when the clots passed. “As long as that happens four times, the clots are gone. The only thing is we don’t have any, but I checked the ship’s inventory. We have the equipment and compounds needed to make it. I just need the help of the Chemistry folks. It takes about a day and a half.”

Elbbirt

The doctor explained a new medication that would treat his clots. Elbbirt pointed to his own arm, leg, belly, and then chest, explaining that the new medication had to be given to the area the clot was in. Roman knew by ‘his data’ it would be his age, the type and density of the clots, results and effects of the medicine, things like that. Nothing identifying, that would breech confidentiality, so he was okay with it. He was listening closely as Elbbirt talked. No more blood thinners, maybe a mild back ache, no missed work, and a few days, and the problem would be gone? This was good news! “What’s its success rate? Does it ever fail to break down clots?” He asked.

“90% success rate. In the early stages it did fail to break down bigger clots. That was when the research team started measuring for clot density and adjusting the dosage. It does miss them sometimes. The medication can get pumped and diverted missing the area where the clot is, and then passes out of the body. But that is why we will inject it near the clots. Sometimes it picks up the wrong clot. Which shouldn’t be an issue since your body isn’t making new clots. Sometimes the medicine picks up multiple clots and it can’t break them down because the dosage wasn’t high enough. In that case we have to keep an eye out for red, swollen, or hot spots because it will get stuck. If that happens there are two options. 1 remove the clot surgically like we did the others. Or 2 do a more invasive injection of the adjusted dosage into the clot and let the medicine remove it.”

Then he considered the chemistry team. “They aren’t working on anything major right now, they’ll be more than happy to help you. Ensigns Jacobsen and Connelly have experience with medical compounds, if my memory is correct.”

~ Roman

Elbbirt nodded, “I have worked with Jacobsen before. She’s fast but very methodical and careful.”

Rand wasn’t sure how she felt. At first it seemed amazing and everything would work out fine, but then Elbbirt said it was still experimental and Roman asked about the outcomes and risks and it sounded scary, and she didn’t like the idea of Roman having surgery again. But that was a slim chance right? And none of the outcomes were fatal. Unless Roman chose not to report something, and he wouldn’t do that again, right? He promised.

Elbbirt
Rand