Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in What If…

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in What If…

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in What If…
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Hammond returned a moment later and with Jay’s protective eye and help, he ordered Roman into the chair and took him for the tests and images he needed. Lori looked at Jay, eyes wide and then grinned. It wasn’t funny Roman was hurt, not at all, but the way those two were acting now was cute.

Yeoman Rand

Jay grinned back playfully and then over exaggeratedly rolled his eyes. It was a silent message: Our needy friends, right? Then Roman was taken out of the room for his tests and Jay stayed with Lori. “He’s an idiot, I swear. Leave him to his own devices I don’t know where he’d be.”

Lori’s shoulders shook slightly and she bumped his shoulder with hers. “I don’t know where either would be, but they seem to be figuring each other out just fine. Amazing what a little medical intervention can accomplish.” She started laughing, and covered her mouth to quiet the sound. That sounded really bad taken out of context.

It wasn’t long before Roman was back. He’d argued Doctor Hammond into letting him stay in Rand’s room a little longer. Something told Roman Rand would worry if he wasn’t there when she woke.

~ Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Roman wasn’t wrong, she would worry. She’d stress just as much to find him still sitting there. Why was he still there and why hadn’t the doctor made him go back to his bed? But she slept for awhile. When Roman returned, Lori was sitting in a hard chair, turned side ways, with a pillow to cushion her back and her legs stretched across Jay. They were both sipping almost cold tea. “Honestly, Jay, I’m surprised it took this long for this to happen to her. It was kind of inevitable. Glad she was already at the hospital when it happened.”

Yeoman Rand

“Roman’s like that. So good, he knocks the women off their feet. And he doesn’t even know it!” Jay replied, grinning. Roman shook his head. His scans showed no skull fractures, but the brain was swelling in the area that had been hit. There was bruising in the brain in the front, the opposite of where it was hit, a quite common “contrecoup” injury.

He was rolled back in, in a chair, and left next to Rand. “Come on, I didn’t mean to do this to her. I… I hope it’s not me.”

~ Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

“No!” Lori flushed and whispered, “No. It’s not you. Rand is…” she turned and dropped her feet to the floor to look at her. “She’s emotionally fragile. She hides it alright when she needs to, but once she’s alone or the dam bursts it’s like this.” Lori didn’t know why Rand was that way. “She’s had a lot going on, so she was bound to get overwhelmed. Her twin, Randy, usually goes on tour with her, but he just joined Star Fleet and his shipped out. So she’s alone. Then add to it,” Lori motioned toward Bys and Pater who were still standing guard, “this stalker business. I mean that’s enough to break anyone’s nerves.” She grinned at Roman, “Rand doesn’t date. She’s shy around everyone, but romantic interest seems to scare her. She invited you home for tea. Rand doesn’t even invite friends over. That adds to the nervousness, in a good way. Then you got hurt. Rand is… well she’s a little intense when people get hurt, especially if she is there when it happens. It’s like she thinks it’s her fault, no matter the circumstances. I don’t know why, she won’t talk about it.”

Yeoman Rand

“Hmmm.” Roman said, thinking it over. His thinking was a bit sluggish. “She means don’t blame yourself. Rand will figure herself out.” Jay said. “Just… Just stick with her, alright?” Roman nodded and looked at Lori, “Just don’t let her think I’m not… I mean.... Let her know I erm… I really like her. Okay?”

~ Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Lori laughed, “I intend to remind her every chance I get. She won’t believe me though. So you should tell her, a lot.” She gave him a very stern look, “But first you need to get better. She’ll be fine. She should have taken her anti-anxiety meds, but she forgot and didn’t bring them. By the time the doctor saw her here, she needed something just a bit stronger. She’ll sleep it off and be fine, I promise. And she’ll have time to rest. We don’t have rehearsals for another week. And she doesn’t need to rehearse for the next show. She can do it in her sleep.”

Yeoman Rand

“Oh I’m alright,” Roman said, earning another glare from Jay. “We were just dancing, honest and I… I don’t quite recall, that’s funny.” He shook his head. “I’m alright. The doctor said I’d be fine by tomorrow.”

Jay scowled. “Just shut up and rest, alright? Or I’ll have to chase you down and make you. Remember the last time? Do you really want a repeat?”

Roman shook his head. “No, not really, no.”

~ Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Her hand fanned her neck, “Oh my, you do sound so fierce Jay.” Lori hid a grin behind her tea cup. She wished Rand was awake to listen, but knew it would only make her nervous because she wouldn’t know how to participate.

Yeoman Rand

Jay grinned. “Fierce as they come.” Roman rolled his eyes. “More like a little ferret.” He leaned back in his chair - a wheelchair, they expected to roll him back to his room, probably after Hammond returned with the imagining results - and sighed. “What a way for a good date to end.”

~ Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

“Ferrets are fierce,” Lori declared. “You study animals.” She grinned at Jay, “Though I have a feeling you are sneaky like a ferret too.” She glanced at Roman, giving him a serious look, “No one said a good date had to already end. It’s just intermission.”

Yeoman Rand

“I might be,” Jay said, shrugging. Roman smiled, “So you’re saying when I’m better, we should finish what we were doing. And since the doctor said I’d be better by tomorrow…” He grinned.

~ Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

“I’m saying there are 168 hours in a week. That’s a lot of time, or not much at all. And it has to last until you come home again.” Jay said he had to be encouraged, so Lori was going to encourage. It was telling how Rand’s hand was still sitting on the edge of the bed where he’d left it, as if waiting for him. Personally, Lori didn’t want to be there when Rand woke up. Oh, she’d love to be a fly on the wall, but the moment would be better without spectators.

Hammon came in, “Well, the good news is no skull fractures, but the bad news is your brain is swelling in the area that had been hit. You also have what is called a “contrecoup” injury. Basically your brain tissue is bruised on the front of your brain, opposite of where you hit. You shook your brain pretty hard with that fall. We’ll do another round with the regenerator, and mandatory anti-inflammatories and anti-nausea. One full day, 24 hours of bed rest, and then another day of rest.” He looked at Jay as he said the last part. Not envying the young man the job of making Alden behave. “You need to come back in 48 hours to see me or see your own physician to make sure the swelling and bruising has healed.

Yeoman Rand