[snip]

Having consultant both doctor Hunter and doctor Kim it was agreed that the patient was now in a more stable condition, thus the medication that was used for putting him in an induced coma was stopped …it would be a few hours before the patient would regain consciousness .

After some time passed, there was a faint wheeze then further wheeze followed by an intake and harsh exhaling of breath from their patient. The man it seems was slowly and sluggishly regaining consciousness.

They watched as he started to regain consciousness ,Hunter still kept an eye on his vital signs ,while Kim gave him a much needed pain killer due to the burns though they had been treated, the Lt would need skin crafts as the woulds healed.

Cross bend down and spoke ‘’ I’m Cross chief medical officer of the Merrimack,you are in sickbay .Our Captain had a briefing with the Admiral who send the Merimack to the Nebula in search for the ship you were on the Trudograd ,I believe you are Junior Lieutenant Engineer Carol Machs ..am I correct?’‘.

She had a hundred and one question she needed to ask but for now the patient was far from alert.
Meanwhile Cross told the others that from what she saw the Trudograd seem to have been blown from the inside.

Hunter clicked his cell phone open =/\= Sickbay to bridge.. Captain the patient is awake and is providing us with detailed information.Sir I’m going to put him on, so you can hear for yourself of any insight, clues provided and description about what happened...... =/\=

=/\= Thank you Doctor Hunter, standing by… =/\=

Once Carol Machs had given his testimony, Glen replied =/\= Thank you… Just keep us appraised the patient’s condition, Dr Hunter. Glen out! =/\=

Cross gave a nod of approval to Hunter, Kate was still helping the injured Lt drink while doctor Kim had moved away for the time being …skin grafts would be done when the deep burns start to heal.

‘’Try and rest Carol , we’re doing our best to restore you back to health ‘’ she tried to reassure the poor man for the sake of his emotional peace, then headed to her office. Her sad countenance reflected the sorrow and tragedy that had be fallen the crew of the Trudograd,while wondering what difficulty or catastrophe awaited them.

=/\= Hunter the Captain suggested you ask the Lt what they thought the Risan ship was doing there if it wasn’t mining, and how it got 3-4 light years away from Risa with only sub-light engines?” =/\= .

Kate had just told the doctor that the patient had just woken up ,so Hunter went near his bedside ‘’ Lt, I know this this the last thing you want considering the state you are in but the Captain would appreciate some more feed back ‘’ he cleared his throat before commencing ‘’ Was there a Risan ship in the nebula? If so where they there because of the mining and how could they have got that far with only sub- light engines ? ‘’ Hunter went a bit further with his questions ‘’Was there an unknown ship already present in the nebula?’’ .

In a way the doctor was uncomfortable asking the poor man any questions ‘’Lt ,you understand the need for the Captain to find out what happened and has to be vigilant that our ship won’t end up being destroyed ,following the same faith as that of the Trudograd ‘’.

BUMP G.M

“Kate?” Faith asked, “I know I’m only an unqualified nurse in training, but isn’t that a lot of questions to ask that poor man at once. He only just opened his eyes and it feels like an interrogation. And he is already suffering so much too from his great loss!”

‘’Oh Faith, its Hunter that is asking the questions and I do feel the same way as you’’ replied the nursing officer.
Since they were near the doctor Hunter spoke to both women ‘’ I agree but I’m just following orders from the Captain ‘’ he intently looked at the patient ‘’He has already given us a lot of information .The Lt was coherent in the state before ,now he is more stable though still in pain’’ .

Hunter although he too was not comfortable in asking for more information..the doctor was just following orders.

“Well, I’ll be asking Captain Glen what on Earth he was thinking of!” Faith told them. “He has no right to over-ride the permission of the medical staff. That’s section 5, subsection 2 of the Starfleet Medical code. And subsection 3 says we must also provide some privacy, they can’t just be questioned in public… I was just reading it in the textbook, The Students Guide to Starfleet Medical Law and Ethics, if you want to see?”

Hunter got up ‘’Faith dear in the situation we are in any section 1 or 100 does not matter since the Merrimack and all the crew might be in danger .A danger that took the lives of all crew of the Trudograd , I’m quite sure the Captain knows what he’s doing and only our patient may or may not give us answers we so desperately need ‘’ he went on ‘’It was the CMO herself who passed on the Captain’s message and if she thought that any section was valid in the said circumstances she would have over ridden his request ‘’.

“Well, if you say so,” Faith replied to Hunter’s interruption, but then she continued to Kate, “There is another book, ‘Epidemics’, Book One of the Hippocratic school: ‘Practice two things in your dealings with disease: either help or do not harm the patient’. But maybe what I’ve read in books doesn’t apply to the practice of realistic medicine? Medical practice seems to be very confusing!”

• Faith, yeoman