Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Side sim: The Follow-Up

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Side sim: The Follow-Up

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Side sim: The Follow-Up
Posted by… suppressed (35) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Roman was busy. Luckily. Even when he wasn’t busy, he had “something to do”. He made sure not to neglect Rand, like he had in the past, but for the past week, he had been working as much as he could, filling his vacant time with either reports he was “behind” on, or meetings he had been putting off. He was running out of those meetings. Notes though, and experiments, and… departmental reviews. Those he could fill infinite time with, and that was his plan. It had been just about six months since the attempt on his life, and he knew what that meant, and he wasn’t looking forward to it. He hadn’t stepped foot in sickbay since that day, unless he absolutely had to, as XO. And even then, he would spend as little time in there as he could, and then quickly leave. He knew Randy would eventually remind him, but he hoped Rand didn’t remember. He could put it off longer if it was just Randy bugging him about it.

~ Roman

Rand was doing better, but some things still slipped through the cracks. Normally she kept track of everything. But when Roman was released from sickbay and his treatment plan was set up, Rand had been still having trouble remembering the day of the week, much less keeping up with the tasks for the next day. Their roles had reversed, now it was Roman keeping track of Rand’s appointments and the medication she needed. Making sure she took those meds and made her appointments with Elbbirt and made her OT appointments too. A long term side effect of her concussion was her balance and coordination was off. When she’d been cleared to run again…it had taken one day before that was stopped. Simple yoga stretches were stopped too because she kept getting dizzy and falling over. Dr Sovak was working on helping her with her vestibular and proprioception senses.

Rand’s memory wasn’t quite what it was before, but the more she worked the better it was getting, though she still had progress to make. Even though it frustrated her and made her really sad, reading lines was helping. Though she couldn’t see that, Roman and Randy could. So Rand had no idea that Roman had an appointment coming up and that he’d missed it several times already. Elbbirt nor Randy wanted to ask Rand about it because they weren’t sure how stressed out it would make her.

So Randy showed up in the gym, at Rand’s OT appt. Roman usually went with her because afterwards she seemed to really struggle. Rand had a bad habit of using the sessions as a marker of her failure rather than her improvement. He entered the gym and looked around.

Randy

Roman showed up to all of her appointments, if he could. Every time, like she would do for him. He was glad she was doing better and he often talked to Randy about her progress. When Randy showed up in the gym, Roman was sitting near the edge, watching Rand. He did not seem to notice Randy. He had a PaDD with him, to read, but he was currently more focused on Rand.

~ Roman

Randy made his way over and sat down. “How’s she doing today?” Today Savok had her on the balance board for the first time. Rand clearly remembered Roman having to use this thing for exercises for his leg, and her trying it out once and falling on her face. She’d laughed at herself then, today she was upset. Frustrated and looked like she might cry. The board was making her dizzy. The only thing she had to do was stay on it for 30 seconds at a time. Her internal equilibrium was so off, it wasn’t happening. Savok assured her it would be difficult today, but would get better. She needed to practice, but should not do so alone for her safety. He was so annoyingly calm and matter of fact about it. Nodding every time she fell like he expected her to not do better, and then he would offer her both hands to help her up and get back on the board.

Randy

Roman made a face and shrugged. “She’s frustrated with it, like always. She’s getting better though. I’ll take her to the galley afterwards, a little food up in our quarters usually helps her mood.” He smiled slightly and glanced at Randy. “I used that same board, for my leg. She kept reminding me it would get better, that I was doing better. But she won’t believe the same thing coming from me.” Then he chuckled slightly, “Then again, I suppose I didn’t either.”

~ Roman

Randy gave him a look, “I think I remember you voicing your frustration that she was so adamant you were getting better, but you knew you weren’t, and you didn’t want to disappoint her.”

Roman smiled and shrugged. “That might’ve happened too.” He rubbed his leg as if remembering, “The balance board hurt though, when I started.”

He watched as Savok let go of her hands and Rand tried to balance. She was fine till she moved her head, got dizzy and fell again. “She might believe it once she is cleared for full duty again.” He watched, recognizing the look on his sister’s face. She was ready to run away and cry. It took a great amount of will power to not go over and talk to her, help her calm down. This had to be between her and Savok. She had to trust he would make sure she got better. “Speaking of being 100% cleared from medical, you missed your appointment.”

Randy

Roman was watching her as well, and had a similar desire to go and help. But he’d already been told he wasn’t allowed to do that. He had to let Doctor Savok and Rand do it. Randy’s words sent a spike of ice through Roman’s stomach that caused it to flip and drop. He visibly tensed. “What appointment was that? Don’t I have a month left on that? Or two… or three?” Why did Randy always have to ambush him for these things in places he couldn’t get away from? He had to just focus on Rand…

~ Roman

Randy did it that way because Roman didn’t leave him a choice. “You know good and well what appointment. That’s why your reports look like novels, your personnel reports have more similies and metaphors than Shakespeare and you have started three full experiments in different labs, and my favorite…schedule 3 extra counseling sessions with me.” He wasn’t looking at Roman, but watching Rand. He flinched as she went down again and Savok caught her. No new head injuries.

Randy

Roman looked like he might cry out for her when she went down, but then Savok caught her and she was safe. He grinned as Randy laid out the evidence Roman was avoiding the appointment. “I need those sessions!” He shook his head. “I can’t go. I can’t. No way. I… I know Elbbirt can’t do the scans without sickbay but I can’t go there.”

~ Roman

Randy glanced at him then back at Rand, “Yes you can, and she’ll go with you. It’s not like last time with the stress tests. These are just basic scans. Much easier.” Randy shrugged, “You’ve been on the meds awhile, it might be easier. Also, you know she will remember or find out eventually, and she will blame herself and her recovery. That you were spending too much time caring for her to take care of yourself. Not true, but you know that is how she will feel.”

Rand

“He doesn’t need stress tests this time? I thought he did.” That would make it easier but not much. Not enough. “I know she will. But I can’t do it.” He knew it wouldn’t be easier. The meds helped him with a lot but he felt ill thinking about going. He’d promised he was never stepping foot there as a patient voluntarily after he’d healed from the phaser burns.

~ Roman

Randy nodded, “You haven’t needed your rescue hypo in a month and a half, so Elbbirt feels that a detailed scan should be enough to make sure all the cardiac tissue has healed properly.” Randy sighed, he knew it was hard for Roman, and he would prefer not to. “We could do it over night, when it is quieter, fewer people. Maybe....a very lowdose tranquilizer to take the edge off, just for the appt.?” Roman needed to do this for his health but also his career. This could impact promotion and duty stations.

Randy

“I don’t want to keep Rand up late.” As he’d found out after the phaser burn thing, she really liked going with him. And he did need her there. “That wouldn’t mess up the test?” He asked, about the low dose med to chill him out for the appointment. His health he still had issues with ignoring and writing off but he also knew it could affect his career. If things didn’t heal properly there were certain positions he couldn’t hold.

~ Roman

“We could make it for the night before your and her day off.” Randy shook his head to the second question. “We are scanning the tissue to ensure it healed. We aren’t working your heart so it won’t affect the results. You haven’t needed your rescue hypo in a month and a half and passed all your PT evals, so no need for stress tests.”

Randy

“That’s not tomorrow but the next day.” He had been planning to claim he was so busy he needed to work it. His hands clenched into fists, just from the anxiety of thinking about it. “That’s probably best.” Though the waiting would drive him crazy. “Okay.”

~ Roman

Randy nodded. “I will bring the pill by tomorrow. Take with dinner the night of.” Randy was watching Rand, “Oh no…” He knew that look.

Roman sighed and nodded. “See? I do need those extra sessions.” It was a joke, to lighten the mood, but he did look upset with himself. At Randy’s ‘oh no’ he looked up at Rand.

Rand kept falling, and it was quite obvious to Savok it was time to switch gears. He suggested some yoga poses, those were great for both Rand’s goals. She was unsteady and kept shaking her head. Her expression wasn’t angry but frustrated and....confused. She was talking to Savok but refusing to get up and try. Savok was perplexed and turned looking for Alden. Rand was speaking Gaelic and Savok didn’t understand her.

“Tha mi dizzy. Chan urrainn dhomh. Tha mi dol a bhith tinn.”

Rand

Roman stood and went up to them. The first thing he did was hug Rand because that made them both feel better, then he looked down at her. “It’s just a little longer. A little more today. Okay?”

~ Roman

Rand leaned on him heavily, the room was spinning and he seemed stable and solid. She didn’t understand why Savok wasn’t listening to her. He said to tell him if she got dizzy. She was unaware she’d slipped into Gaelic out of frustration and nerves. “Tha mi dizzy. Chan urrainn dhomh. Tha mi dol a bhith tinn.” She repeated herself to Roman. She was going to be sick if she couldn’t sit down. She was frustrated, but she was supposed to complete her sessions, even if she was failing horribly. She just couldn’t. She was so dizzy she was sick.

Savok raised a brow, “What is she saying?”

Rand

“She’s dizzy, she feels like she’s going to be sick.” Roman hugged her when she leaned against him. “When she starts speaking Gaelic that’s usually when her head isn’t doing well.”

~ Roman

Savok seemed undeterred. “Then this would be a good time to work on how to recover from those symptoms.” Looking over at Randy, “En Farquharson bring that large red wedge please.” He turned to Rand. “Now, Rand you need to sit. If you are dizzy let someone help you if you can. You should not lay flat, but recline.” He took the wedge and put it behind her so she could. “Now pick a point in front of you and keep your gaze on that point. It should be stationary, not a clock or video or similar.” He reached down and tapped her leg, “Don’t cross your limbs. Let them rest in alignment. It will allow your proprioception sense to balance out.” He nodded once, “Good now you will count breaths.” He started to explain, but Rand knew how to do this. It was like when she would squeeze Roman’s hand so he would breathe with her.

Rand

Roman sat by her and held her hand. He recognised from Savok’s explanation that he was describing what Rand already did, for herself and for him when she squeezed his hand. He kept his focus on Rand and Randy, not the doctor. He could be stressed later, like Rand did. He had to, so he could be there for her now.

~ Roman

Rand breathed, feeling frustrated and sad and scared. Being told to lay just this way, be still, just breathe. Not allowed to sit up or lay on her side, which would help her stomach. Don’t upset her body’s rhythms. She had flashback of being in the hospital. It made her grip Roman’s hand, not in rhythm, but painfully. She wanted to go back to their quarters. She didn’t want to stay there any more.

Savok looked down at her, “En., when the dizziness has passed you may get up. We are done for today. Continue your exercises from last session.” Then he left, leaving Roman and Randy alone with her.

Rand

Roman let her squeeze his hand as much or as hard as she wanted to. “Are you feeling any better?” He asked, after a few minutes. “When you’re ready to get up, do you want to get food from the galley or go straight up to bed?”

~ Roman

Rand nodded, carefully and that didn’t seem to bother her. She hadn’t realized until Roman explained to Savok about the Gaelic she had slipped. She had just been frustrated, not…well not completely confused. “Ummm…”

Randy bent his knees and squatted next to her. I’m going to the galley anyway. “Why don’t I grab something? That way Roman can take you straight up, and if you get hungry you can eat?” Rand looked at Roman, was that okay? Or did he want to go eat? He was spending a lot of time and effort taking care of her. She preferred to stay in their quarters, esp after one of these sessions. She was just so tired after. Today was worse. Worse than worse, Roman and Randy had had to intervene.

Rand

Roman nodded, that was fine. He was spending almost all of his free time taking care of her, but she had done the same for him several times. He would do that for her. “That’ll work. We’ll head straight up to our quarters.” He kept sitting next to her, waiting for her to be ready to go. “Just tell me when you’re ready and I’ll help you up.” He had the playful urge to lift her instead and carry her but he wasn’t sure she’d like that.

~ Roman

Randy didn’t leave right away though, just in case something happened when Rand got up. Oh he knew Roman would make sure she didn’t get hurt, but if he needed someone from medical he would already be there.

After another moment, Rand sat forward still holding his hand. “I think I can get up now.”

Once she was though the dizziness returned with the movement. She leaned into Roman, thinking it would pass. It didn’t help her stomach at all. She closed her eyes because staring at the spot on the wall didn’t help. She would be alright in a minute.

Rand

Roman seemed to take her leaning into him both as a warning she was feeling dizzy again, and as an invitation, and lifted her into his arms, gently, and huffing as he stood with her. “There. How’s that?” He asked, giving her one of his playful looks as he headed towards the lift with her.

~ Roman

Randy chortle, “That’s why you don’t need a stress test.” He followed them out of the gym and took a different lift to the galley.

Rand grabbed his shoulders as her feet went out from under her. For a moment she thought she was falling. But then she was held against his chest. The look on his face made her feel better. “Better.” He was happy, and as embarrassing as it might be, his playfulness eased her frustration at her failure. She closed her eyes and put her head on his shoulder so the passing corridor didn’t make her more dizzy.

Rand

Roman chuckled at Randy’s comment. He hugged Rand close to him as he stepped into the lift. He made his way to their quarters, and when he got there, set her down on the bed. He smiled at her with one of those looks of his, he really loved picking her up, and then sat on the bed next to her. “Are you feeling any better? Randy should be here with dinner before long.”

~ Roman

Rand looked sad and sounded that way too when she sighed. “Some. I don’t feel quite so sick anymore. Things don’t spin so much with my eyes closed.” She had fallen and fallen. “I don’t know why I kept falling.” She curled up next to him. She would feel bad he had to carry her, except he was giving her one of those looks that always made her blush.

Rand

He tapped her head gently, like how one would boop the nose of an animal. “Because your head’s still getting better. You’re doing better than you were. And don’t you remember how long it took me to master that balance board? Today was only your first day with it.” Then he hugged her tight and smiled down at her. “You’re doing so well.”

~ Roman

Rand did remember, but his leg had been damaged. All new muscle and vein tissue. There was nothing wrong with her legs. She smiled just a little, Roman was being cute. She didn’t feel like she was doing great. She was saved from thinking about it more when Randy knocked on the door. He set the food down and walked over just to hug her. Then he left. Next to Roman’s plate was the tranquilizer for the next day.

Rand did not want to sit in bed to eat. She wanted to eat at the table like a normal person. She was careful making her way to the table, and she didn’t eat a lot.

Rand

Roman sat at the table with her. When he saw the pill he was supposed to take the following day at dinner he tensed, tried to ignore it, and focus on his food. He noticed Rand hadn’t eaten a lot and pointed at her dish with his fork. “Try to fit a little more? Just to be sure you’re getting enough?” He asked. He worried a lot about her, and it helped, in a way, to focus his worrying on something besides the sickbay appointment. He needed to tell her about it, she was going to be going after all, but he wasn’t finding the words to do so.

~ Roman

Rand nodded and sighed, but this just sounded tired. She poked around at it, but managed to eat more. She knew Roman worried, especially because before she started taking the new meds she had barely eaten at all. Tonight was different, her stomach was just very queasy and it was hard to eat. She didn’t know how to tell him that though. He worried so much about her and she felt bad about it. So she tried to eat a little more. “What did Randy want? He doesn’t usually come.” Had she done something wrong or concerning that Randy felt he had to come talk to Roman when Rand wouldn’t hear?

Rand

Roman reached over for her hand and smiled at her when she started eating, but when she asked what Randy wanted he seemed tense and stressed. He couldn’t not say, or say nothing, she might assume it was about her and he didn’t want that. It wasn’t about her. And she needed to know anyway. He squeezed her hand and started awkwardly, “He uhm.... He needed to remind me of something. Something for me. That I… I’ve already missed. A few times.”

~ Roman

Rand looked at him, head tipped to the side perplexed, and she squeezed his hand. What would Randy be reminding him of? Something that had been scheduled while he was acting Yeoman? That didn’t make sense because Roman didn’t ignore paperwork. Procrastinate maybe but he always got it done. The only thing Roman avoided was....Oh… But why did he have to go to sickbay? Was something wrong? Why did he miss it? Part of her knew it was because even now Roman would never willingly go to sickbay. The other part worried he was so busy taking care of her, that he couldn’t make the time. She tried to remember, was it the attack, his yearly physical, or something else, but so many little details slipped by her in the last months. “I’ll go with you.”

Rand

Roman squeezed her hand and nodded, “I know you will. That’s why Randy ambushed me at your appointment, to set up another appointment for me. To… to check my heart.” He didn’t want her thinking it was something serious so he added hastily, “Just to check, and see that it healed.” He pushed his plate so she could clearly see the pill Randy had left for him. “Something to try and keep me calmer. I’m supposed to take it at dinner tomorrow… Because the appointment is tomorrow night.”

~ Roman

Rand did the math in her head, how long it had been? Her memories after the attack were so fuzzy and disjointed. It was hard to reconcile how time felt with reality. Her internal clock was off. It had been… six months? That was good, right? 6 months was the first long term marker for a lot of things. Rand looked at the pill. Did he want to take that? She thought that would be an improvement, and if Randy brought it then it was safe to use before the test.

Roman did want it. The anxiety was near unbearable now let alone when he was supposed to go. And the meds Randy had put him on for everything else were working so well, it had made him a little more accepting of meds in general.

She searched her memory for the last time they had to do something like this. It was his last PT appt before the Valentine’s dance. “Oh, I can ask Gorshin for ice cream and we can celebrate you’re all better?” It was half question.

Rand

Roman nodded and squeezed her hand again. “We can do that. After the appointment.” He smiled at her and set his plate aside. He’d eaten enough, more than half, but he couldn’t finish it right now. “If you’re finished, I can get the plates out of the way?” He was trying not to fixate and stress endlessly until the appointment tomorrow.

~ Roman