Posted by Lieutenant Tandra Mika (Counselor) in Complications and Simplicity

Posted by Lieutenant Hannah Lori Asimina (Asst. Chief Medical Officer) in Complications and Simplicity

Posted by Lieutenant Tandra Mika (Counselor) in Complications and Simplicity
Posted by… suppressed (37) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Jason and Hannah had talked about this. Their story and their…baby. Their life together. Ok’jiv knew something was up when Jason had identified himself. She took the care of her patients seriously and no one would get anything out of her. Alexis wouldn’t tell, and if she did, by accident, it would be so wrapped up in technical medical jargon no one else but her would understand.

Now she had to talk to Mika. And she really could use someone to just talk to. She pressed the chime and waited.

Hannah

The door opened and Mika smiled. “Hannah… I noticed your name on my roster for today. Come in.” She said, stepping aside and gesturing to a chair. Then she sat down as well. “How are you doing?”

~ Mika, CNS

Hannah smiled and sighed and…groaned. “Morning sickness sucks.” She moved over to a chair and sat down, wrapping her long sweater coat around her. “And I’m cold all the time.” She curled herself tiredly into the chair. “Something has happened and it’s wonderful, but I’m also, well, it’s a lot to adjust to.”

Hannah

Mika chuckled. “All pretty typical pregnancy stuff. You can always ask if you need something to help with it.” Then she gave Hannah a confused look, “Something wonderful? That sounds good. What happened?”

~ Mika, CNS

“Oh, I have asked. I have a hypo for it and a B12 supplement. I got hyperemesis gravidarum. I had to have a fluid infusion. The meds are helping a lot.”

Hannah pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her hands and tucked them under her arms. “Ummm…well,” Hannah blew out a breath, “You know about me and Daniel, about him being gone so long. Well, while he was gone, I met someone else. It only lasted a couple of months, but it just didn’t work long distance. We tried, but…” Hannah tucked a stray curl before covering her hands with her sweater again. “He ummm…Tandra it’s crazy. He came on board the Saracen the day before I left for Oed. We umm…well we reconnected,” Hannah grinned and blushed slightly. “He’s here on Oed now. Ummm…it’s his baby!” Hannah suddenly blurted it out in a hushed whisper and covered her face with a quiet laugh. But she sounded surprised, happy, and bewildered.

Hannah

“Oh!” Mika smiled a little bit, Hannah seemed happy but Mika was being cautious. “How are you feeling about the baby’s father not being Daniel?” She asked. “How are things going with your boyfriend?”

~ Mika, CNS

Hannah sighed, “Honestly, I think if it was anyone but Jason I would be upset it wasn’t Daniel’s. Also relieved. I don’t know how much Daniel told you about his work, and I’m not asking. But you did know the type of work he did.” Mika had to. She had to have had enough clearance for that at least to be stationed on the Saracen. “I was really afraid, you know, that his work would follow us. It is one thing for me to have to look over my shoulder, but my child too?” Hannah breathed deeply. “I mean I know that something could still happen, but I feel safer.”

Mika nodded. She “enjoyed” a higher clearance level due to needing to counsel the officers station on Saracen.... Sometimes, higher clearance wasn’t exactly a pleasant thing. “I knew the type of work he did, sure.” She said. That was the most she could say, and she knew Hannah knew that.

“Things are…well strange. I mean Jason is here, and I know there is emotional risk rushing into something else, but we are having a baby together. We are feeling things out, seeing where we are now, but we are connected now, no matter what. I…I have been staying with him the last few days. I was really sick because of the hyperemesis gravidarum and Dr Fayth gave me a few days off, and he asked me to stay until I felt better.”

Hannah

Mika nodded. “I’m glad some good came out of this news for you. I do hope you’ll be careful about rushing straight into something else so soon after… everything else, but if you’re doing okay, that’s what’s important. Staying with him is going alright? And how are you doing with everything else?” Of course, by everything else’ she meant the baby, the hyperemesis, Daniel’s disappearance, the transfer to Oed… All of those sorts of things.

~ Mika, CNS

“Well staying with him is…well I feel like a guest. That’s me and not him though. He has been wonderful. He wants me to move in with him, and that was before he knew about the baby. I have my own room or we share, it’s up to me. It’s hard to be ‘sensible’ about it. I have always been comfortable with him, and now with a baby. Staying with him has been easy. Jason doesn’t push, but he’s there. He got me to call my parents. I hadn’t told them yet.”

“Oh…everything else…I feel guilty being off because I was so sick. My transfer happened so fast because Dr Fayth needed me here. So I am making sure to take care of myself so it doesn’t happen again. I am enjoying the work though. I really like it here, even without Jason. Going to the ships and orbital stations and back to the planet is hard though. It really makes me nauseous.”

Mika nodded. “Take care of yourself and that baby first, Doctor Fayth can handle covering Medical. I help out too, sometimes.” She smiled, “I’m glad you’re liking it here, that’s good. It’ll make your transition easier. If the trips to the ships and orbital stations are too much, you can always ask to be left off them until you’re done with the pregnancy. I’m sure Fayth or I would do that for you.”

“Mika, I feel guilty about Daniel. I waited, well except for those months with Jason, five years for him. I know we talked a little when I first arrived, but I was angry, and maybe still a little, that he left like he did. But also…I couldn’t feel like I do about Jason, even just that one night where I was so…alone and just needed someone. I couldn’t have done that if I was still really in love with Daniel. I feel a lot of guilt and regret.”

Hannah

“Sometimes Starfleet and couples… Don’t really go together,” Mika replied, “We have to make choices for our careers, or because of the nature of our jobs, things… happen. Five years was a long time to wait for him. You can still love him, and still want to move on with your life.” She hoped that didn’t sound too cold.

~ Mika, CNS

“I know. It’s why it didn’t work out before with Jason and me.” Hannah sighed and sank sideways a bit, resting her head on the chair. “I’m having a hard time with it Mika. I waited and waited and it felt like it was all worth it when I found him again, but it wasn’t. Things had started changing and I knew that was always possible. I don’t think I had accepted that though.”

Mika nodded, listening, but with nothing to add. Just happy Hannah was talking through it.

“I know he was never going to put me before the job. I was okay with that, I knew that and now I am really angry at him for it. And I keep thinking what if he isn’t dead, and he is trying to get back to me and I’m not there?” Hannah looked over at her, “But he didn’t come back to me last time. He was done with his assignment, he had come back and he never reached out to me. He had been back 2 years before chance brought us back together. 2 years I didn’t have to wait for him. 2 years wasted!”

Hannah

“It isn’t worth waiting for someone who may not come back even if they can. I know you know that, but I also know sometimes hearing it helps. Would he have come back at all if it weren’t for chance bringing you back together? Being angry with him for that is a justified response. But don’t let it distract from what you have now.”

~ Mika, CNS

Hannah sat up, feet soles of her shoes hitting the floor with a thwump, and she leaned forward. “That’s it thought! He didn’t! He saw me at starbase 212. I saw him! A glimpse and when I went to check he was gone. I thought I had mistaken someone else for him. But it WAS! He walked away, Mika! He didn’t even have the decency to walk up to me and say ‘I made it, I survived, I’m okay.’” Hannah got up from the chair, her sleeves shook back and she was signing rapidly as she spat out the words. Her anger making her voice less enunciated and a little harder to catch. “And do you know what I did when I found out the truth, 2 years later? I forgave him, I believed the lie. He said he thought I had moved on because I was having lunch with another officer! As if having a friend was reason to never speak to me again. That I was laughing was reason to walk away from me. I forgave him!” She threw her hands up in the air, “I was so STUPID.”

Hannah

Mika sat calmly, letting Hannah get her anger out. It was getting difficult for Mika to understand her as her words became less distinct, but she was getting most of it. Had Colter even cared for her? It sounded more like he’d strung her along all those years, and that made her angry for her friend. But in her CNS mode it wasn’t the time to mention or bring that up right now. “Being forgiving is never a bad thing. Being too forgiving… Can get you in trouble. You learned that lesson the hard way. You’re going to need to give yourself time to work through it all.”

~ Mika, CNS

Hannah shook her head, her hands flying about, obviously ranting in a very desicriptive manner. “It’s not the forgiveness, it was the deception. I knew what Daniel’s job was. There were things he could tell me and things he couldn’t. I knew that, but I’m not stupid Mika. It’s not hard to fill in the blanks. Just all the little lies about stupid things. Like he would get a call and instead of saying ‘I need the room,’ he would make up some story. He had to go to the bridge, or sickbay called they needed me when they didn’t, or he couldn’t sleep so he went for a walk. Or the WORST he would take the calls with me in the room when I had my implants off. Like I was too dumb to know he was talking to someone. He promised he wouldn’t leave again, we both knew it was a lie and he kept insisting. He had a choice but he chose to leave me again.”

Hannah sat back in the chair and rubbed a hand over her face, “The first time he was gone, I wrote him every week. I told him everything about my life, my career, everything. But I didn’t send them because he told me not to, that they wouldn’t reach him till he got back anyway, so keep them for him. He knew everything, well almost, but he told me nothing. And he acted like it was a long vacation with bad travel plans. Then…then we got sent on this rescue assignment. Waring factions, it was dangerous, but they needed medical aid. He and I were both assigned to go. Do you know what he told me? That he would do what he had to, and I might not like it but he wouldn’t apologize for who he was. That I couldn’t understand what was required of his position. I lived with that knowledge for FIVE years!”

“I knew he was killing people, manipulating them, tricking them, putting an end to whatever the specific threat was in anyway he needed. I knew that while I was home in my bed, alone waiting for him, he was probably in someone else’s. Especially if he thought it would help him get whatever it was he needed. Or just to ease the lonilness. I had to be okay with it and not think about it too much.”

“Then he comes back and acts like the five years I was alone was nothing for me. That my life had just stayed at a stand still. That there was no danger or risk or hard choices that I had to make. Then he gets promoted to XO and he gets to have me at home, but he got to enjoy all the women making passes at him. I was supposed to be okay with it, because he always came back to our quarters. But he let them, he enjoyed it, and he encouoraged it. I wasn’t supposed to be hurt about it. And then…” Hannah laid back and closed her eyes. She was making herself sick to her stomach.

Hannah

Mika let her rant. She needed it. But then she was quiet for a moment, and then she said, “I think we should switch gears for a while here. Let’s let Daniel go for now.” Hannah was making herself sick and stressing herself out. “Let’s focus on the future, on going forward. Jason got you to contact your parents, right? How did that go?”

~ Mika, CNS

Hannah shook her fist at the wrist, in an up and down motion at Mika. Sign for ‘yes’. She took a slow but shallow breath. “I don’t think the baby likes me being upset.” She dug in her sweater pocket and pulled out a piece of hard wrapped candy and popped it in her mouth. “Ginger and citrus candy. Jason got them for me.”

Hannah stayed laid back, hands on her stomach. “It was…well my dad lost his temper. Ranted about Daniel being scum. Demanded I go home. That I resign so they could take care of me. Went on about it for about 10 minutes before he paused long enough that I could explain about Jason. Then he was giving Jason all kinds of fatherly grief. It was…stressful. Why do dad’s do that?”

“My mom thinks Jason is very charming. He had her convinced when he started signing with her instead of speaking. She even made my dad stop grilling Jason. My parents are both very excited about the baby. My mom has found all my baby things and packed them up. They are going to come and be here when the baby is born.”

Hannah

“That sounds great! I’m sure your dad will come around to him.” Mika said. She smiled, “You sound excited about the baby. What kinds of things is your mom sending? Everything is looking good with the baby medically?”

~ Mika, CNS

“I think my dad will. He seemed to by the end of the call. Jason was polite and respectful but my dad didn’t scare him and my dad knew it. Dad never liked Daniel so…” Hannah shrugged, her dad had jumped to a conclusion…a sound one, but incorrect. He just needed time to switch gears.

“Mom? I have no idea. There is no telling what she kept. And the whole colony is excited. They may need a cargo vessel for their trip, just for what everyone sends. This will be the first grandchild for our little colony. Everyone is claiming it.”

“I am trying to be excited. I mean…I am.” Hannah turned her head to look at her. “I feel bad, Mika. It’s not fair to the baby. When I thought it was Daniel’s, I was so depressed and scared and angry. Now…I’m not. At least not about the baby. Even if Jason and I don’t work out, I know I won’t be alone raising it. He will be a good dad. I feel like it’s okay to be happy about it now.”

Mika nodded. “Being a parent with no support from the other parent can be very daunting. A lot of new mothers feel that way. I’m glad you’re feeling a little better about it.”

“Everything seems okay. Heart rate is good, growth is on target. Other than the Hyperemesis I’m fine. I had Dr Fayth take a DNS sample. A friend of mine is a geneticist. Jason and I decided to have the panel done. Since I was born deaf if the baby has something similar, we thought it would be good to know ahead of time.”

Hannah

“That’s great that everything is looking good.” Mika smiled. “It is good to know ahead of time. I’m sure you and Jason will do fine regardless of the results of the panel.”

~ Mika

Hannah had set a hand over her chest while she talked, rubbing over her sterum. She blinked a couple of times, her eyes squinted. “Mika…I feel dizzy…my chest feels funny.” Like she couldn’t quite catch her breath. Was she having another panic attack? She thought about sitting up but quickly decided that would not be a good idea.

Hannah

“Hannah? Deep breaths, okay?” Mika stood and opened a drawer nearby, pulling out an emergency med kit. From the med kit she pulled a scanner and started scanning Hannah. “Just breathe for me. Slow breaths.”

~ Mika

Hannah nodded slightly, closed her eyes and focused on breathing. On Mika’s tricorder her BP registered 135/87. Not dangerous yet but it should be much lower, and her heart rate was rapid, but slowing.

Hannah

“Okay, Hannah? We’re going to go down to medical, just to make sure everything is okay. I’m going to call someone to help get you there.” She set the tricorder down and used the hospital’s comm system, =/\= Medical team to Mika’s office ASAP. =/\=

~ Mika

That didn’t sound good. Wasn’t it just an anxiety attack? Her hands waved back and forth signing ‘what’ but Mika didn’t know a lot of sign. Hannah took another breath, “What?…what’s wrong?”

“Your blood pressure is a little high. I’m just going to have you taken down to medical to be safe.” Mika said, keeping her expression as relaxed as possible in order to keep Hannah calm.

=/\=On our way, Lt.=/\= Less than a minute later the medical team was coming through her office door. “Lt Mika?”

Hannah

“Take Lieutenant Asimina down to medical. She’s pregnant, 18 weeks along, BP 135/88, HR 103 and slowing. Baby’s heart rate still looks stable but I want to get ahead of this before it goes any worse.”

~ Mika, CNS

The medics nodded, one took the readings off Mika’s tricorder and the other helped Hannah move to a stretcher. “I can walk. I’m starting to feel better.”

“No, Lt. I don’t want you getting dizzy. We want you to keep feeling better. You can just ride for the moment. It’s just down a deck…floor.” The medic helped ease her back and turned on the antigrav buffer and started taking her out. Hannah hated this. Stupid pregnancy. She was fine really. Ugh…at least it was a short trip down to medical and they got her on a biobed.

Hannah

Mika went down with them and stood next to Hannah’s biobed. “How are you feeling, Hannah?” She asked. She was worried for her friend but she had to keep an eye on the time. Today was supposed to be another busy day.

Hannah breathed deeply and slowly after they helped her onto the bed. She laid back, totally embarrassed. She was supposed to be working, not be the patient. “I still feel a little off. Like…I can breath deeply, but I have to work at it.” Talking made her breaths shorter, so she stopped and just concentrated on being calm.

Mika stepped out of the room to intercept the doctor and nurse arriving to take care of Hannah. “Lieutenant Aveli, Nurse Maeda. The patient is Lieutenant Hannah Asimina, thirty-two, eighteen weeks pregnant. She was having a session with me upstairs when she stated she felt dizzy and her chest felt weird.”

“My scans revealed a BP of 136/88 and a heart rate of 103 and dropping. Baby seems stable. I know it’s a little early for it to present, but I’d also like to check her for preeclampsia, just to be safe. If it’s a simple case of gestational hypertension then all the better but if something is wrong I’d rather know early.”

The nurse headed into the room to greet Hannah. “Hello, Lieutenant. I’m Nurse Maeda. How are you doing now?”

Hannah opened her eyes and gave the nurse a weak smile. She recognized her. “I think I’m doing better. My chest doesn’t feel like my heart is racing anymore. I’m short of breath though.”

“Let us know if it gets worse, okay?” Maeda said, glancing at the monitor for her O2 saturation. It was still normal.

Adaril nodded. “Understood, Lieutenant.” The medical staff was used to Mika’s occasional helping out or meddling with medical cases. He checked Hannah’s medical records and Mika’s scan results, then headed into the room. Mika followed him into the room and resumed her place next to Hannah’s bed.

Adaril knew Hannah, not well, but they both worked medical and had spoken previously, so he smiled, “Hey, Hannah. We’re just going to run a few tests to be sure everything is okay and going to stay okay. Is that alright?”

~ Mika | Aveli | Maeda

Hannah waved her fingers slightly. “Hey, Adaril.” She nodded, “Yeah, of course. I’m fine, just running a surprise response drill. Gotta keep y’all on your toes.” She grinned, making a joke of it, but she closed her eyes, like she was tired. Did she need to tell Jason? She wasn’t sure.

Hannah

Adaril and Mika smiled. “How polite of you, our team needs it,” said Adaril, trying to play along. He nodded to Maeda, “5 milligrams labetalol, via hypo. Also draw labs and send it down to the lab. Check her BP every 5-10 minutes and tell me if it doesn’t go down.” Then Adaril smiled at Hannah again, “We’ll have you here a few hours and then you should be on your way.”

Hannah nodded, “Thank you.”

Mika looked down at Hannah, “Do you want me to stay for a while?” She asked.

Hannah shook her head, “If you could for a little while, that would be great, Mika, but I know you’re busy.”

“I can stay for a while. You booked a whole hour remember?” Mika said and smiled.

Hannah nodded, “Thank you.” She looked really worried and upset, but was trying to be calm and relaxed. Set an example. “Maybe we should discuss how I can stop myself from causing this to happen again.”

Mika laughed, “How about I teach you some deep breathing exercises?”

Maeda, the nurse, left the room and returned with a hypo loaded with the correct medication. Dialing in the dose she gave it to Hannah. Then she switched to one of the blood collection hypos and drew the blood sample Aveli asked for. Then she left the room again.

~ Mika | Aveli | Maeda

Hannah turned her head so Maeda could give her the medication and then take the blood sample. She sighed. “Since I am going to be here for awhile, I’ll be late leaving. Could you get me a comms padd or call Jason for me? He’ll worry.”

Hannah

“Borrow mine,” Mika said, taking her comm off her belt and handing it to Hannah. While they were waiting for test results, Maeda periodically came in to check on Hannah.

~ Mika

Maeda let her sit up a little. Hannah tried calling Venice, Justin, and Kevin Consulting. The receptionist refused to put her through to Jason. His secretary said he was in a meeting and to call back later. Hannah convinced her to take a message, but the woman only took her name.

Mika had to take the PaDD back to answer a call for herself, but then handed it back to let Hannah finish calling who she needed to.

Jason had given her his direct comm, but she didn’t want him to think it was an emergency and interupt whatever he was doing. She didn’t feel she had much of a choice though. So she sent a recorded message in sign.

Hannah handed the PaDD back to Mika. “Thanks.” She put her head back and frowned. “Not how I wanted to spend my afternoon.”

Hannah

“I know… But better safe than sorry, right? I’m sure it’ll be nothing the hospital can’t handle,” Mika said, trying to help keep her calm.

~ Mika

Hannah nodded. “So…deep breathing? Maybe if I calm down they will let me out of here sooner? Everything is fine.” Hannah was trying to be light hearted.

Now that she was done with her message the nurse made her lay back further.

Hannah

Mika gave Hannah her best doctor stare. “You know they’ll let you out when they’re happy with your BP. Deep breathing might help though, and never hurts, so why don’t we?”

~ Mika

“I know. I promise not to be a bad patient.” She sighed, “I’m not the only patient anymore, right?” Hannah nodded, “It can’t hurt, so I’m willing. Teach me wise one.” Hannah grinned slightly.

Hannah

Mika laughed, “I don’t know about wise, but okay,” she said, and then she spent the next while teaching Hannah breathing techniques to help keep her calm.

~ Mika

Hannah followed Mika’s instructions. It gave her something to concentrate on rather than worrying about the lab results that hadn’t come back yet. It also had the benefit, after a bit, of making her tired. It didn’t do much for her blood pressure, but did help her relax.

Hannah

Mika kept it up until Adaril came back. When he returned, he stood by the foot of the bed. “The meds dropped your blood pressure, but we’re going to have you wear a monitor to make sure it stays that way. Your baby is doing just fine, the heart rate dropped a little, but it’s still in the normal range.” He smiled, “Everything looks good and healthy so far.”

~ Mika | Aveli

Hannah nodded and blew out a breath. “Thank you, Adaril. How long do I need to stay? When can I go back to work?”

Hannah