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

(snip)

Roman nodded to Elbbirt’s instructions. He was still sitting by the bed, looking at Rand with concern, his hands clenching the sheets of her bed during the 20 minutes off phase of icing her head. His eyes were droopy from tiredness. He remembered from his own concussion, falling and hitting her head again could be deadly. He’d not let that happen. He had been hoping everything would be okay when she woke up, just a little amnesia. Her confusion and everything had him really worried. He just wanted her to be okay. Wanted her to be there when he got out of Sickbay.

Then he looked up at Elbbirt. “What? My release? Already?” He’d forgotten about it entirely. He couldn’t leave! “No! I… My chest hurts. I should stay a few extra days. I can’t leave!” It wasn’t a lie, his chest did hurt, though not bad, it was nothing to be concerned about, he was just trying to find an excuse so he could stay with Rand. “I’ll… overwork myself without her.” Another probable truth he was using to stay with her.

~ Roman

“Grat felt like if something would cause a relapse it would be this. He didn’t see a need to confine you to the room for another 12 hours.” Elbbirt patted his shoulder, “You can stay as long as you want, Cmdr.” But out of due dilligance, Elbbirt picked up a tricorder and scanned Alden. Adrenaline, large amounts of it were making his heart race, but not dangerously so. There was no wonder though. Elbbirt wasn’t sure how Alden was sitting in here and not out there looking for who did this. Shrine paused, but didn’t say anything when Alden said he needed to stay. She wasn’t sure what the rest of the medical staff would make of it, but she remembered him staying with Rand until the meds put her to sleep when she broke her foot. She would have to make sure that his early release was kept quiet so people didn’t talk. She left to go get food for Alden and drinks for Rand.

Roman had been getting updates on the investigation. There were no leads. He’d love to get his hands on whoever did this but there wasn’t much he could do beyond what was being done. And if he joined in on the investigation… He’d be consumed by it. He would overwork himself, probably stop eating and taking his meds too. He was wholly focused on Rand instead, on her recovery. He’d already lost one person, he couldn’t lose another. And even though she was awake, he was terrified something would change, and she’d be gone.

Elbbirt did another scan of Rand, she didn’t seem too uncomfortable if she stayed still though he was sure the headache and disorientation was horrible. There was medicine he could give her for the concussion but he was hesitant to do so until they knew how bad it was. He also didn’t want to give her too many meds unless he had to, and she was on enough for the burns. “The swelling is still coming down, but you’ll remember it will take while. I’ll be back to check on her in about an hour.”

Roman’s chest hurt? He needed to stay in sickbay? Something about that didn’t sound right but she couldn’t figure out what. She started struggling to get up, putting weight on her hands. The pain making her jerk her hands out from under the weight as pain begans to race along her hands and arms. “Roman....” and mumbling something about bread or maybe it was breath. It was hard to make words form. He couldn’t panic, it was really important that he not panic. She couldn’t remember why, but she had to remind him to breath.

Rand

“No, no, don’t get up,” Roman said soothingly, releasing the sheets long enough to put a hand gently on her shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.” He wasn’t very good at understanding her mumbled, slurred speech. “Just rest.” He pressed the ice pack back gently to her head when the timer said it was time to do so again. He was just about the opposite of calm, but he had to hide it, he had to seem calm so she would relax.

~ Roman

Rand settled back, letting the throbbing and spinning and pain subside. She was quiet for awhile. Why couldn’t she get up? Why was she so tired? Did they sedate her again? Why? What happened? Roman said to rest, but where was Randy? She blinked her eyes open and remembered this time to not move her head, her vision was fuzzy, but at least the light didn’t hurt. Roman was next to her, but she couldn’t quite make his face stop being blurry. The sound of medical monitors and smell of antisceptic confirmed she really was in sickbay, but why? Her fingers flexed in the bandages looking for his hand, but it hurt, her skin tight and felt dry and aching and they were wrapped up. She dozed off again for awhile.

Shrine had left food for him, insisting he eat. Since they didn’t need the monitors for him she offered to move the other biobed closer so he could lay down as well. She also brought and gave him his cardiac meds. Released but he still had to take them for awhile. “If she’s thirsty she can have water or the juice, but she’ll need help and support to sit up even with the bed. I’m just a outside.”

Roman rubbed her shoulder when she flexed her hand like she was looking for his. It would hurt if he held her hand. He was too stressed to want food, he was only able to make himself take a few bites. But he kept the tray so he could try to make himself eat. He remembered he was supposed to take cardiac meds for at least a month. He nodded to having the bed moved closer.

It only took Shrine a minute or so to power down and disconnect the bed from the monitors. She had to make Alden move himself and the chair so she could move it over. While she was at it she went ahead and changed the sheets and then moved the console tray closer. “Try to rest Cmdr. It won’t help her if you wear yourself out. I can come in and take care of her ice packs so you can sleep.” A genuine offer, but if he was like Rand he probably wouldn’t take it.

Rand woke again sometime after that. Her neck was stiff from being in one position so long, but that was nothing compared to the throbbing fire in her head or the strange pain in her hands, arms, and stomach. She cracked her eyes, afraid of the light, but it was still dim. Her vision was blurry still, but her voice was a little clearer. “Roman? Wha…what happen…?”

Rand

When Rand woke, Roman was still right next to her. It was a 20 minutes off time so Roman had his hands free and was examining the still very visible marks left behind by his own electrical burns. The skin was still discoloured, a bright red in some areas, and a darker, blackish colour in others. The skin was no longer smooth but rough with little ridges. The burns didn’t cover his entire palm but a large area of both, from the bottom by the wrist to up by the pinkie and extending all the way over to the thumb on his right, with the upper area by the index and middle fingers untouched. On his left the burn didn’t quite reach his thumb but otherwise was quite similar to the one on the right. He could tell though it would be more faint than it looked now, the scars would be permanent.

As she started to stir his attention was pulled back to her and he put his hand back on her shoulder. “You went up to your office, to do you work, but your console… It was rigged like my lab. Morgan saved you, but the console blew. That’s why your head probably hurts a lot, you have a bad concussion,” he explained gently. “Morgan and Ensign Kovan are still investigating it.”

~ Roman

That didn’t make sense to Rand. She wasn’t in her office, was she? She couldn’t remember being in her office or…she had a brief image of walking down the corridor with Roman, but the harder she tried to remember the more her head hurt. Roman was still talking but her mind couldn’t quite keep up with listening and thinking, even those he was speaking clearly and slowly. She missed the rest except for ‘bad concussion.’ Her heart. When she’d had the stress cardiomyopathy and collapsed, she’d hit her head, but it had only been a mild concussion. Something happened to her heart again, that’s why they had her sedated. They were going to discharge her, send her home with a medical discharge. She squeezed her eyes shut, squeezing out tears, and tried to turn her head toward the ceiling but that just made everything hurt worse. “Bhris mo chridhe a-rithist. (My heart broke again.)” It was slurred but clear enough for Roman to identify ‘heart’ and ‘broke.’

Rand