Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: New Normal

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

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

(snip)
“A month and a half.” Roman said. He held the end of her band, and then had her hold his for his stretches. Just to prove he was serious, he did the balance board and the bike when he was done with the band. His leg was sore when he was done, but if he was going to make the valentine’s dance, he was going to have to deal with that.

By the end of that week, when Roman took the experimental treatment to dissolve the clots, he had done his exercise every day, either before or after work. The clots passed, and Roman marked the date and time. He also noted that he had experienced the back ache caused by kidney pain proceeding each clot passing. He started using his crutch less.

By the end of the next week, he was almost never using his crutch, but he still couldn’t stand for too long without a break or assistance and he was still limping, but less noticeably, and Sovak had noticed the swift improvement. Roman had been on track to finish PT nearly a month late. Now he was back on track to be done in mid February. He was still experiencing pain after PT or after doing his PT exercises and after standing or walking too long, but the length of time he could walk and his speed were both improving.

~ Roman

The clot treatment made Rand’s stomach churn. She was so worried and hyper-focused on the possible negative side effects she could barely eat. When Roman mentioned a minor backache, she knew it was normal but she was till worried. But they disappeared as soon as the clots were gone. All four were removed without incident it was obvious for the next several days that something had changed for her because she was much more relaxed and energetic than she had been. Roman stuck with the daily exercises longer than Rand expected. She saw the improvement it was making for him. Even though his leg was sore after the work, in the mornings he was always able to complete a full duty shift with fewer breaks each day. He also didn’t rub at his leg often. Usually only days that he had a full PT session. By the time the PT session at the end of the next week, Roman was needing the heating pad less and less. He still used it but it usually only took a few minutes to help ease the ache. When Sovak said he was back on schedule Rand was thrilled. She wasn’t sure what was making him work so hard but she was thankful for it

Rand

By February 10th, four days before the Valentine’s dance, Roman was no longer limping, nor using the heating pad or crutches. He was walking normally - his only pain was if he were to stand or walk literally all day, or if he did something intensive. And though he had only done it so he could dance with Rand, he was sort of thankful she’d made him do it. His nightmares had started again, once every couple of nights, but most nights he was able to fall back to sleep, as long as Rand was there.

Rand was concerned about the return of his nightmares. She wasn’t sure what was bringing them back. At first she’d suggested they watch movies, even documentaries. Just something to distract the mind from it’s own thoughts. It didn’t help. Rand had resorted to telling him stories again until he fell asleep. The Scottish coffee and chamomile tea had become a regular to their nightly routine as well. She waited for Roman to tell her what was wrong, what was causing it, but he hadn’t said. She realized though that me may not know, it was just happening. She was thankful she was there with him when it did wake him up.

Roman would have told her if he knew, but they were just happening. He’d accepted a long time ago that sometimes they just happened, and he couldn’t make them stop. Stress, triggers, or certain times of the year made them worse. He was happy that they weren’t too bad and Rand was there to help him.

The evening of February 10th, Roman had PT after shift, and Savok was impressed with the improvements he’d made, and with his suddenly stellar compliance. When Roman showed up for his appointment, Savok had him do an assessment, much like the one he’d done his first day of PT. He had to stretch his leg in various ways, hold certain poses, or do certain exercises. When he was done, Savok had good news: “You’ve made considerable progress in the last month. Judging by the results of your appointment today, I feel comfortable clearing you for full duty. I would recommend waiting a little longer before resuming your martial arts, however you should have no problem with typical activity. Do continue to report any continuing pain or symptoms,” said the doctor.

~ Roman

Rand was at the appointment like always but didn’t hear what Dr Savok said, and the appointment ended early. She got up and walked over to Roman. “Is everything okay?” She had thought he was doing really well. “What did Savok say?”

Rand

Roman had a huge grin on his face. It was a mix of his robin hood look and just a hugely excited smile. “I’m cleared for full duty. Which means I can take you dancing,” he said to her as he headed away from Savok.

~ Roman

Rand wanted to hug him, but she wouldn’t. Not in the gym with all those people. It was pretty obvious something was up between the two of them. Rand was always there when he was, they arrived and left together. Some times she exercised and others she just watched. She grinned at him. “That’s wonderful. It’s all over. Should I pilfer some ice cream from the Galley?” Then his look and his words caught up with her. Dancing? What was he talking ab....oh no…No…no no no he wasn’t serious about that. She glanced up at him again and that ‘Robin Hood’ look. He was teasing her. That’s all. He was teasing her and she let out a breath she had suddenly been holding and grinned. Totally oblivious to the fact there was a dance planned on board. She hadn’t really paid attention to the recreation schedule, too busy with everything else. “Yes you do. I hold you to it the next time we dock at a space station.”

Rand

“Pilfer away, I think it’s cause for celebration,” Roman replied. She looked at him and grinned and Roman smiled again and shook his head. “No reason to wait for a space station, the Valentine’s dance is in four days. You’re my date. You agreed, remember?” He looked smug in a teasing way, but he was serious, he wanted her to go with him. “I did those… exercises every day, for a month. Now you have to go to the dance with me.” His look turned a little more serious, he did expect her to go, and like him and his exercises, there was no worming out of it. He looked excited, really. Roman, excited for a dance? Anyone who knew him would think he’d caught some sort of brain disease.

~ Roman

Rand’s eyes danced for a moment, still thinking he was just teasing her…and then he got serious. Wait…what?! There was a dance on board? Of course there was, now that he said it, she did remember some report or mention of that somewhere. Years…absolute years of acting lessons and experience kept the grin naturally on her face, while her heart raced and her mind went to warp 7. Later, she could panic later. It was obvious from his look he was serious and it was important to him. Then she landed on the fact he was the XO he’d have to go, at least for a few minutes. She could do that, she could go with him that long. It was okay, it was a ship function, they would show because it was part of the job and then leave. She looked back up at him as they left the gym, “Of course I am. You’re released from PT and your crutches. We have to go celebrate, so you better not back out. I’m not going with Mr Dummy.” If Rand could have rolled her eyes at herself without Roman noticing, she would have. What was she babbling on about now. She needed to calm down. Later, she could panic about this later. Four days…OMG she only had four days. “Any preference on ice cream?”

Rand

“Must’ve hit my shins into those things a dozen times. Now I remember why I wouldn’t use them before, either,” Roman grumbled, shaking his head. “Ever heard of maple nut ice cream? It’s my absolute favourite, but I doubt chef happens to have it on hand. It’s not the most popular flavour aboard the ship. If he doesn’t, I don’t mind, I’m not sure there’s a flavour I’ve tried that I truly dislike.” He smiled at her then, and nodded, “I’m the first officer, there’s no backing out for me whether you’re there or not.” Roman, of course, had been taught formal dance. Quite a lot about it, it was a requirement among traditional families. In the last month, in the time Rand hadn’t been around, he’d been brushing up. He hadn’t danced in a long time, he’d been quite rusty. If he was going to dance with Rand, he wanted to impress her.

~ Roman

“Yes, but they did help, and I’m glad you’re off of them now.” Randy had said something similar to her when she’d been tethered to the oxygen and nasal canula. At least the crutches allowed him to move around. She supposed the oxygen could have been mobile, but she’d been on strict bed rest for…it seemed forever. And then she’d been back in the hospital....she closed her eyes briefly pushing that away. They were going to celebrate his ‘freedom’ tonight. “I’ll see what Chef has. He’s always got something hidden away. Do you want to go with me, or should I just meet you at your quarters?” She caught herself from saying ‘our’. They were not ‘our’ quarters. If their routine kept up though it was going to be. Rand wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It still made her anxious. Roman had told her she could stay or not, whatever she was most comfortable with. With his nightmares returning she stayed. She could have just as easily stayed till he fell asleep and left, but she didn’t want to leave. And she was going with him to a Valentine’s dance? What was she thinking? She…she…no…nope she’d already figured that out…she didn’t need to worry about that.

A quick ride on the lift and then into the Galley to coerce the precious ice cream from Chef.

Rand

“I’ll go with you.” Ever since his leg had been hurting less, he almost always opted to go with her to get food or anything like that. She was his girlfriend, not his yeoman, he could at least go with her, now that he didn’t have to balance everything with trying to use a crutch. Even after he’d started doing his PT the way he was supposed to be, Sovak would still complain that he wouldn’t use both crutches, because it would be easier on his leg and his body as a whole. He was glad to be done with it all. No more Sickbay, no more doctors, and no more limping around relying on other people to help him. He’d completely forgotten that he was just about due for his yearly physical. That was coming up next week, actually, but with his recent stay in Sickbay, his regular yearly had slipped his mind.

Roman didn’t care whether they were ‘his’ quarters or ‘their’ quarters, as long as Rand was comfortable staying. He knew his nightmares must be a nuisance, especially if he accidentally woke her up in the middle of the night. He knew the worse the nightmare was, the more he tended to thrash in his sleep, or call out. That was another reason to be glad his nightmares hadn’t been too bad, even though they’d returned. He’d turned more into his normal self with their return, stoic and a little withdrawn, except now, every so often he’d have those playful moods. Staying until he fell asleep would be enough, but Roman preferred when she just stayed, he liked having her there. Liked seeing her when he woke up… whether that be in the middle of the night or to her alarm. He was excited for the dance, to get to dance with her. Roman let Rand do the talking with chef, she was better at that, but he stood with her. If people hadn’t known before, they probably did now, between her being in the gym whenever he was and them being seen together so much elsewhere around the ship.

~ Roman