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

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Side sim: Matters of the Heart
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Roman didn’t seem to understand her, not focusing well enough to translate. He was watching Randy and Elbbirt as he stood from the bed carefully, his hand still on it to stabilize himself. Then he took a step, at first limping on his right leg as if it were still hurt. But as he seemed to realize it didn’t hurt, he stopped limping and headed for the door. He wasn’t ready for this. He was lightheaded and his chest hurt, really hurt, but he was determined and stubborn and with a hand on the wall he could keep walking so he was going to.

“Roman, No.” Rand put a hand on him as he started to get up but he shrugged her off, hard. It didn’t hurt her at all, more a state of mind. The alarms were going crazy. “Randy,” Elbbirt handed him a hypo and he had one as well. Elbbirt looked at the guards as Alden went through, “Don’t let him past.”

“Commander, stop. Where are you going?” The security guard outside the door said. Roman ignored him. One hand on the wall, one clutching his chest, he was still heading out. “Commander, for your own safety, stop!” The other guard at the door said. Roman shook his head. “I’ll be fine.” The first guard moved from his post at the door to the surgical suite to block Roman’s path forward. “Even if it weren’t for your security sir, you are on medical leave, under medical orders to stay put. I can’t let you go.”

Randy hated this, Roman was going to have some serious back sliding from this. He walked up behind him quietly to try and give him the hypo and almost got beaned in the nose from agitated flying limbs as Alden argued.

Roman looked like he was going to try to push past him. “Nurse Hargrave, we’ve been through this before, you can’t stop me.” Then the guard looked really confused. “Who?” But Roman was having no part of it. He tried to push past the guard, but he was about the same size as Roman and as weak as Roman was between his heart and being in bed for six days, he couldn’t make it past him. But he was certainly trying. The second guard came to help the first, taking a defensive stance next to the first guard, blocking the way forward.

It only seemed to agitate Roman further. Pushing against them, he attempted to force his way through, fighting against their grip. They ended up taking him down, dropping him to the ground. “Commander! What’s gotten into you?!” Roman was still struggling to get away from them. His chest was hurting bad like fire, locked in his flashback he just wanted away, but the guards’ grips were firm even as he fought and shouted for them to let him go.

~ Roman

Elbbirt didn’t hesitate, he dived into the tangle and gave the hypo which acted very quickly. “Get him in the bed.” Rand, Elbbirt, and one of the guards carried him in. Shrine ran in to help Elbbirt and Randy stepped out to look at the guards. “I expect you to remember this is sickbay and anything that happens here is covered under medical confidentiality.” The guards nodded, they knew and wouldn’t spread gossip.

Rand watched on in horror as the guards restrained him, Elbbirt sedated him, and the monitors over the biobed seemed to be the sound track for a horror film.

Rand

The hypo was fast acting and almost as soon as it was given his struggling slowed and then stopped. Then he was carried to the bed, and as soon as the monitors got readings from him, they went crazy. His heart had entirely relapsed, it wasn’t self-regulating well, it was struggling to beat effectively, trying to give out and stop on them. His breaths were still rapid, his blood pressure dropping as his heart struggled to pump blood.

~ Roman

Shrine and Randy got Alden situated on the bed while Elbbirt began hooking him into the cardiac support unit. They spoke quietly, Elbbirt issuing orders and questions and Randy or Shrine answering him. It took awhile but they worked until he was stable. Rand sat, curled on the bed, feeling very much in the way. She couldn’t leave, she didn’t want to leave, but she didn’t want to watch either. The cardiac unit took over most the work for his heart, and a higher dose of the cardiac-stimulant helped regulate his pressure and rate. The sedative kept him blissfully unware. Or at least Rand hoped. She also hoped that it stopped whatever flashback he was having.

Rand

He certainly looked more peaceful, kept asleep by the sedative. But whether it had stopped the flashback? That was impossible to know. Once they were sure he was stable, she was allowed to sit by him again. He’d set back his progress nearly to the beginning, but with the support of the meds and the support unit he would stay stable. As for what had caused such a vivid and powerful flashback, that also was hard to tell.

~ Roman

Elbbirt’s quick reaction kept the bone fuser from causing damage when Roman started moving around. Once he was stable in the support unit Rand had them finish the last session. It was slow and took longer than normal. Ellbirt didn’t want the process to overwork his heart.

It was several days before they were willing to allow Roman to wake up. Randy, Ellbirt, and Grat had discussed at great length and then talked to Rand. They felt it best to keep him sedated until he could be taken off the support system in order to avoid another flashback. He was having to stay on a higher dose of the cardiac drugs after. Anything lower and his heart would become unstable. Rand threw herself into her work, simply for the distraction. If possible she was even more efficient than before. She was driving her security detail crazy, refusing to stay in one place. She allowed them to alter her schedule and her routes, but she refused to sit idle. They still hadn’t found who had done this to him. Finally though they all felt it would be best to wake him up and see what happened.

Rand arrived back at sickbay for the night, a bundle in her arms. A surprise that she hoped would help Roman.

Rand

Roman woke that night feeling like he’d had a bad nightmare. They must have given him something to help him sleep though, because he felt like he’d been sleeping. He started by trying to sit up, he was allowed to do that he thought, but as soon as he started moving, the monitors’ alarms went off, so he lay back down. Then he reached over for Rand’s hand. “Miranda? Was I..?” having a nightmare was the implied end of the question he didn’t want to say aloud.

~ Roman