Posted by Lieutenant Commander Markus Woods (Chief Star Fleet Science Officer) in Unforeseen Developments

Posted by Lieutenant Sharah Fayth (Chief Star Fleet Medical Officer) in Unforeseen Developments

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Markus Woods (Chief Star Fleet Science Officer) in Unforeseen Developments
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
He could feel her rising panic but he was as steady as a sturdy tree, bowing and swaying in the wind. “Everyone’s okay. Nobody got hurt. I’m pretty sure if you hadn’t people would have gotten hurt.” When she asked about the psilosynine levels, he nodded. Stretching out one hand, he called the PaDD to him from the chair, then gestured to the bio-bed readouts, swiping them onto the PaDD for her to see, current levels, baseline levels, and where they had dropped to earlier, along with a timeline for the readings so she had an accurate picture.

His calm steadied her and she nodded. She’d helped, but she had no real memory of what she had done or how. How could she control it if she didn’t know how she had so e it?

Sharah knew, better than most, how the artifact had changed Markus and the latent abilities it had awoken, but it never ceases to create a sense of awe in her. Even when they had fallen asleep on the couch watching a movie and he moved a blanket over her. Maybe it awes her even more then.

For the moment, he let her take it in, not wanting to interrupt.

Mark

She stared at the readings for long silent moments. Well physically silent, mentally she was murmuring softly and processing at a rapid speed. The numbers, patterns, evaluating cause and effect. The implications sinking in and to shocking to react to at first. Shocking in that her research had no similar data for her to examine and how different her life could have been if…if this wasn’t a fluke.

She opened and closed her mouth several times. ‘Do you think the intense use of my gift caused the drop? How could we even test that? Safely? Without risk to others?’ The risk to herself wasn’t considered just discarded.

Fayth

“It’s a hypothetical model I was kicking around in my head,” he said, answering the question about the drop. “As for testing, I’ve no idea yet. That was one of the reasons why I hadn’t brought it up. A hypothesis is worthless if you can’t test it.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I guess we might have the first test out of the way. But it’s still only a hypothesis, and a bad one, if we can’t get a reproduction on it. And there’s a bunch of other stuff before it goes into theory.” Of course, she knew all that. Good medicine started in good scientific practices, and heavens knew how much of her own lab time she had. it still bore repeating.

Sharah nodded still pouring over the data while they spoke. “A hypothetical that seems to lean strongly for a hypothesis that needs testing…but how?” She was more contemplating to herself. It was hard to not be personally drawn into it and to remain analytical about it. It was the first real… development…piece of data that she had had in a few years. The last time had been when she had been so sick from that parasite.

“I’m still considering a counter hormone. All things exist in balance, or should. Right? Or a filter maybe. I’ve wondered maybe the gland isn’t the problem, but that your body just isn’t producing any counter-balance.” He frowned. In truth they’d need a lot of blood work and testing to even know if that was true. They’d be looking for a chemical, or rather a lack of it, that nobody’d thought to look for. If it was a real thing in the first place.

Mark

Her mind was now in research mode, and with Markus so close, holding her, the noise was minimal. “That is a possibility. We would need another Betazoid telepathy though, or…” She looked up at him and paused. Her features softened and she set the PaDD down. Then suddenly she hugged him, pulling him close. ‘I’m sorry I worried you.’ Discussing her vitals and the implications has distracted her for a few moments, calmed the panic, but the experience was upsetting and she could feel how worried he had been and still was. ‘Thank you for being here, not leaving me alone.’ Deep affection and more importantlylove flowed from her.

Sharah

He held her back tight, his arms around her like bands of gentle iron. ‘It’s okay. It wasn’t intentional. And you’re welcome. Where else would I be, love?’ For a solid minute at least he just held on, holding her tight. It was good to have her in his arms. Sure he could have curled up with her in the bed. Picked her help and held her any time. but … this was different. And he realized then he’d been holding his breath in some way. Slowly he let go of it and relaxed, just taking comfort in her, her presence, and that she did indeed seem to be alright.

It was a momentary vacation from similarly being in research and analysis mode, and as much as he enjoyed working on those puzzles, there was something pure about leaning into her, and the two of them.

Mark

It was pure, undemanding, and comforting. Just to exist, to breathe, to hold on in that moment. She moved, but didn’t let go, so he could sit, drawing him down so she could curl against him. There were a lot of questions, a lot of possibilities to consider. They would take time, and didn’t have to be addressed now or tomorrow. There would be no easy nor quick answer. Right now, as much as that short diversion answered immediate questions, they needed this.

She let the comfort of his presence soothe and allowed the quiet to let the memory surface. ‘It was horrible and frightening, Markus. It was overwhelming in a way I don’t ever remember experiencing before. There was no rising above it, or ignoring it, or even treading water. I was drowning with no way out. It was consuming me, ripping pieces of me apart. I was losing me, in the midst of the mob.‘

Fayth

Mark nodded, listening, holding her close as best he could. At first it was all he really could do. There wasn’t much to say to that. But then at least a small spark came to him. ‘But it seems you did, though. Enough to gain control back and do something about it.’ He ran his fingers through her dark hair. There was still an echo of her fear and pain with her contact, and so much more. It was an experience that was almost beyond him in some ways. things he might never experience. But he could listen, and know that it was real for her, for sure. And that, he could empathize with any day.

Mark

It did seem that she’d managed to do something about it. The ethical and moral questions could be argued for ages. The more practical questions were how had she done it and could she control it. She didn’t even remember doing it or what she did. Right now she just wanted to go home. Her mind filled with thoughts about it. Their bonsai trees, the small garden outside their ground floor quarters, the various brick-a-brack of two lives meshing together. Mostly she thought about how they would lay on the couch, Markus holding her, the universe shrinking to just the two of them. The blanket they kept there because they so often fell asleep watching one movie or another. It was a safe space, the only space that had ever felt like home for her.

She laid there, her head on his shoulder, one arm reaching across to hold onto his forearm. She made herself focus on the peace his presence brought, ignoring the fear and pain the experience had brought. There would be plenty of time for that later. She dozed a little out of pure mental exhaustion. Sharah was having a hard time being the patient. Normally it didn’t bother her much, but it reminded her all too much of those horrible times she’d been hospitalized when she was a child and no one really knew what was wrong with her or how to help her.

She was kept for another 6 hours of observation and then told she could go home, but not to return to the hospital for another day. They really couldn’t afford that with everything that was going on, and the condition of her patients. Dr. Eraras and Dr. C’tain wouldn’t hear of it, she was more of a risk to the patients if she returned unwell. They had her wear a medical monitor (that brought back memories of the Viking) and if there were no instances of strange psilosynine levels or unexplained changes in her blood pressure she could return to work the next day. “You can page me if you need anything. I can even come by and check on you later if you want,” Ilena offered. She had quarters on the Fleet complex like all officers did. “You can take her home now, Cmdr. Woods.”

Sharah