Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Side sim: Matters of the Heart

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Side sim: Matters of the Heart

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Side sim: Matters of the Heart
In Sickbay, Roman’s heart’s rhythm was returning to normal. Grat’s treatment to restore typical electrical impulses was working and the heart’s sinoatrial node was taking over natural pacemaking. The erratic heartbeats were becoming more organized and regular.

The deep tissue repair to the heart had repaired a lot of the damage to the heart’s muscular walls, but it still wasn’t strong enough to pump enough blood to the body without the support of the pulmonary support unit. When they tried to wean him off the support, his heart began to struggle under the strain. But he was stable as long as he was on the support, so they were just waiting for the heart to heal a little more so it could handle the demands of the body on its own.

The dermal regenerator had healed the damage to the muscles in his arms. The muscles in his chest would take another round. The electrical burns on his palms needed another couple of rounds to fully heal.

They were going to wait a few more hours before trying weaning him off the support unit again. By the time Morgan escorted Rand back, they were about ready to try again.

~ Roman

After spending all the time with Morgan that he did and being in medical, Randy was familiar with most of the security staff. When he came out, finally, to get Rand, he paused to see K’pok, Morgan’s shift partner standing very close to Rand but his focus on everyone but her. That was enough for Randy to feel sick. It had been deliberate. Or there was enough evidence to make them wonder.

Rand watched her brother make his way across the room. Her mind blissfully numb at the moment. Randy led her into the back, K’pok taking up a spot just outside the door. Rand stopped far enough inside the door shut. Randy put both hands on her shoulders holding her against him. Roman was unconscious, the biobed beeping at different frequencies and rhythms for all the things it was monitoring. His breath seemed laboured to her, but Randy assured her he wasn’t in pain. She couldn’t seem to look away from the pulmonary support system. Grat explained what had happened to Roman, medically anyway, and that they would start trying to wean Roman off of it soon. He left for a moment, giving them privacy.

He would also have explained that attempting to wean him off wasn’t a riskless procedure. Sometimes damaged hearts gave out instead of taking over. Especially if it wasn’t ready. That was why they waited so long in between attempts to wean him off it. He was still on the pain medication Grat had ordered as well as the medication to assist his heart, though that they were hoping to wean him off after they weaned him off the support unit.

Since she was his medical contact as well as his fiancée, it was also explained to her that the surgery had saved his life, but surgery involving hearts was very invasive. It wasn’t as bad as if they’d needed to do surgery on the heart itself, but they’d still had to do damage to the ribs in order to gain access to the heart cavity.

Rand didn’t need the details, she remembered. She also realized she could be asked to make very hard decisions for Roman. They’d never talked about it. “You..you..um…should do as much of the bone fuser and dermal reginerator sessions as you can while he’s asleep. He…uh…he,” her voice shook and tried to crack and she stopped talking. Randy squeezed her shoulder and she took an unsteady breath and sniffed. “He’s a horrible patient. He’ll fight about the treatments and…”

Randy rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “We know. Grat will keep him sedated until his heart is strong on its own. It doesn’t have to work so hard when you’re asleep.”

Great nodded, “Quite right. And he will get his treatments no matter awake or asleep. We won’t postpone them. I’ll leave you alone for a few minutes.”

Rand made her way over to the bed, Randy having taken her PaDD and set it down somewhere. She started to hold Roman’s hand but they were heavily bandaged and so she just clasped her hands in front of her. “Is that what I looked like?” Her voice was incredibly quiet, “In…in the hospital…after…?”

Randy held her in a hug, standing behind her, and kissed the top of her head. “Yeah. But you’re okay now and he will be too.”

Rand nodded her head but more because she didn’t know what else to do. Her hands wrapped around, hanging on to his forearms. “It was deliberate… someone sabotaged the machine he was using. I saw the incident report when I took Morgan some rosters and files she needed. She’s given me a security detail incase....incase they try to hurt me too.” Randy had already figured as much when K’pok was with her. Rand turned into her brother, crying silently but all encompassing.

Finally Randy made her sit, “Talk to him, he can hear you.” He left to get her water and something for the headache she would have.

Rand didn’t know what to say, she laid both her hands on his arm, carefully. “Roman, I love you.” She set her head on the edge of the mattress and cried quietly until Randy or Grat returned.

Rand

Roman seemed to react, though faintly, to her touch and her voice. They’d had to change him into a medical gown for the surgery, and there was a long, stitched up incision on his chest, over his heart, bandaged in order to protect it. He was still hooked up to the pulmonary support system, so there were tubes and wires connected to his chest. His breaths deep and even as he slept, kept under by the sedative medications they were keeping him on. His hands were heavily bandaged to protect the burned skin. Overall, despite his muscular body, he looked awfully frail and weak in the biobed, wired up to support with the machines and biobed monitoring his bodily functions. With the support of the machines, his heart rate sounded pretty close to normal. A monitor showed his blood pressure as normal.

It was about an hour before the medical staff returned to try weaning him off the support system, having wanted to give her time alone with him first.

~ Roman

The door opened and Rand turned quickly to see who it was. Randy came in first, and after rubbing her shoulder a moment, he handed her water and told her to drink it. Grat and Temple came in looking at the equipment and his vitals. Randy moved Rand out of the way to the head of the bed. Rand rested her hands on both his shoulders and whispered softly in his ear. Mostly in Gaelic because she didn’t want anyone to hear what she was saying. “Ròmanach, tha gaol agam ort. Tha thu gu bhith ceart gu leòr. Tha fios agam gu bheil thu oir tha thu tòrr nas làidire na tha mi. Tha m’ uile chridhe agad, agus bheirinn mo chridhe dhuit gus do thearnadh.”

While she was whispering, eyes closed, she couldn’t watch, Grat began trying to wean Alden off the machines.

Rand