Posted by Civilian Sisnil Zoi (Intelligence Consultant) in So… This Is It

Posted by Ensign Dradvia (Medical Officer) in So… This Is It

Posted by Civilian Sisnil Zoi (Intelligence Consultant) in So… This Is It
Posted by… suppressed (87) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It seemed like a typical day. Dradvia was up early for her shift. She really enjoyed the work. The routine and the hope. It wasn’t like before where her patients were more likely to die no matter what she did. Now she knew she could make them better. Not that anyone came in with serious ailments.

Everyday Sisnil was waiting for her to have breakfast. She didn’t have words to describe how it made her feel, but it was a wonderful feeling knowing he got up early just to spend time with her. He was always waiting after her shift too. Usually with Simon. Dradvia had to remind herself constantly that Simon wasn’t hers. She was just as attached to the kitten as she was to Sisnil. They were everything to her.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

It made Sisnil happy to do so, mostly because of how good it felt to make her feel better. Some days ago, the ship had been ordered back to Star base to assist in an ongoing investigation. Today they’d be arriving on base. Sisnil had left a note in his quarters, sure Dee would find it. This morning, he’d acted as though everything was normal. What was a little odd was when he turned up in the middle of the day looking for her.

~ Zoi

Dradvia finished with a patient and then walked over to him. “I still have a couple of hours, and no busy work to let me wander about the ship.” She was slightly disappointed in that. When she was doing the odd health maintenance things around the ship, Sisnil would join her. She always volunteered because she got to spend more time with him. She had to ask though, just in case, “Are you feeling okay?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled, “I’m fine, Dee.” He said. It was easier this way. The letter he’d left would explain everything. But this was his in person goodbye, even if he wasn’t going to tell her directly. He gave her a quick hug. “I was just really bored and wanted to say hi.”

~ Zoi

Her arms slipped around him and she hugged him tightly. Over the last few weeks, since that horrible nightmare, she’d slowly been able to return his shows of affection. She wasn’t comfortable initiating any displays of affection. She loved the way he hugged her though. She sort of craved them now, but she was careful to not show it. Dradvia shook her head, “Morris really should give you something meaningful to do. It’s just insulting.” She squeezed him again slightly before stepping back. “Maybe you can do one of your training programs until I’m off?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “Good idea. Look for me in my quarters if I’m not here, okay?” Sisnil said. “I just might overshoot the time and I usually shower afterwards.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia nodded, “Okay, I will.” The door opened admitting another officer who looked like he hadn’t been so careful in his own training program. “I have to go.” She hated it, she’d rather stay and talk with Sisnil.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “Go, make people better. Uhm…” He leaned in and kissed her. “Bye, Dee.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia blinked at him in surprise, her cheeks flushing. “I’ll see you in a little bit.” She bit her lip nervously - shyly, “I love you, Sisnil.” Then she turned as the nurse called her away.

Something about the way Sisnil said it, left her anxious the rest of her shift. She told herself she was worrying over nothing. Still, when her shift ended and Sisnil wasn’t there her stomach dropped and she felt a tremor of panic. Stop it. He said to meet him at his quarters. She took a deep breath and left sickbay, heading toward her quarters. She stopped outside her door. She’d just check on him before she changed. She turned and stepped across the corridor and pressed the chime.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

There was no answer. From inside, she could hear Simon playing.

Dradvia decided to check the shared refresher. She wasn’t trying to be creepy, but something just felt off. No one was in the refresher though. She returned to his quarters. She could ask the computer, but Sisnil liked keeping the computer guessing and not knowing. She pressed the chime again.

---

Down on the Starbase, Sisnil was at the rendezvous point. So where was his ride…? He looked around. There was nothing abnormal here. It was the part of the Starbase where shady dealings went down. Security was known to skip this area frequently, and there were a lot of less than visible places.

So, it was exactly the sort of place Sisnil expected to get picked up from. It was the right time… Where were they? He was starting to get nervous, which was unlike him. He was reading the minds of those around him and he heard no mention of anything relevant.

Then there was an arm around his neck and a rather large pointy knife held towards his body. He struggled and kicked, but his attacker was big and strong. “Let… go of me!”

“Empty your pockets.” Said the gruff voice. He couldn’t do that. Couldn’t allow anyone access to his comm. He shook his head. “You dumb? You give me what you have you live. Simple as.” Sisnil shook his head again. Giving up that comm meant endangering Dradvia and his own ship. He’d never willingly do it. Loyalty was too deeply ingrained into him.

“I’m Syndicate. They’ll have your ass if you hurt me.” He said, his voice strained by the muscular arm around his neck.

The man laughed and shook his head. “I don’t think they’ll be troubling me.” He said with certainty....

---

Still nothing. She was being unreasonable, panicking over nothing, but she couldn’t stop the building panic. She just had to make sure. “Computer, Medical override, Dradvia 9-alpha-3-7.” The door slid open and she stepped inside, bending low to grab Simon so he didn’t run out.

Just as Dee was entering his quarters, she felt a stab of fear, pain, panic that wasn’t hers. The wisp of a cry for help.

~ Zoi

Dradvia gasped and crumpled to her knees. She held Simon close to her chest. “Sisnil?” she called out. Something was really wrong, she could feel it. She made herself stand and look around the room. She already knew he wasn’t there though.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

There was a letter on the desk in Sisnil’s small, technical handwriting that said “Dee” on the envelope.

Her hands shook as she picked it up. She didn’t need to read it. She knew. Sisnil had left. Dradvia knew he would, but it still hurt. She cuddled Simon. He’d left Simon too. She supposed Sisnil thought he would be safer with her. “I’ll do my best, Simon.” She opened the envelope and read it, though it made her sick to do so.

Inside, it said he was taking the chance to go as they had discussed, that he loved her more than anything and it broke his heart to leave her this way. That he was heading down to the Starbase. At the end, it said he’d keep in touch the best he could.

He had been saying good-bye. That’s what was off earlier. At least… at least she’d told him one more time that she loved him. It would have to be enough. She swallowed down the pain. If he was still nearby he’d feel her heartbreak. She wouldn’t risk changing his mind.

There was another flash of pain and panic.

---

Sisnil couldn’t keep a good connection going. His condition was critical, he could tell. He could barely keep his mind clear enough. But if he wanted to live, he needed to tell Dee where he was and he didn’t have a comm to do it with. The bastard had stolen it.

All he had to do was project to her an image of where he was. Anything that could help her find him. He pressed a hand to his wound. There was something wrong, though. The pain was spreading through his body like there was acid in his veins. He was beginning to feel hot despite the blood loss. He put all his focus into reaching her.

---

It hurt. She didn’t expect it to physically hurt so much. She closed her eyes tight against the pain and tried to breathe.

With the flash of pain came words, faint but ‘audible’ in her mind. Dee… Hurt… On Starbase… And then the description of things he’d seen or that were around him.

~ Zoi

Dradvia’s eyes snapped open. Sisnil? =/\=Dradvia to Sisnil.=/\= But all she heard was an echo of her voice from his fleet issued combadge on the desk. He’d left it behind. She grabbed it and set Simon down. She ran across the hall, grabbed her medkit, and ran to the airlock. She had to be calm though. She couldn’t panic. She couldn’t act like anything was wrong.

She left the docking ring and tried to figure out where he might be. She stopped at a map of the station layout. She could only guess. It never occurred to her that she shouldn’t go on the station. That the Syndicate was coming for him, and she was running right towards it. He was hurt. Sisnil? Sisnil please talk to me. Where are you?

She passed a side hall, and something about it made her skin crawl and her stomach rebel. She paused and looked down it. The feel was … well somewhere the Syndicate would like. She swallowed down her own fear and moved down the narrow corridor.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

There he was, laying against the wall, breathing labored, eyes closed. There was a puddle of his own blood around him, soaking his clothes. He held a hand against his upper abdomen in the middle. He was pale, skin sweaty.

~ Zoi

Dradvia slowed, taking it in, even though she wanted to run to him. She looked around. No one seemed to be around, but she knew that couldn’t be true. Why hadn’t she thought to change into civilian clothes first? She hurried over and knelt beside him. The kit flipped open beside her and she removed her tricorder and a vascular pad to put over the wound. It worked much like a pressure bandage but better. She took his hands and moved them, cutting the shirt away. “Sisnil, let me see.” There was a strange sticky substance around the edges of the wound. The puncture was deep and he was bleeding out. She took microclamps and with a wince because she knew it would hurt, she reached into the wound to clamp off the severed arteries. Picking up the tricorder she ran it over the wound trying to identify the substance.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil whimpered and flinched away as if he didn’t quite recognize her at first. But then his eyes opened a little bit as if to confirm she really was there and he relaxed a little. He winced and bit his lip as she worked to stop the bleeding. The substance was an organic compound, produced by his body in response to a chemical that the tricorder couldn’t identify - it wasn’t anything common.

~ Zoi

It felt familiar though, she wasn’t sure why though. Sisnil was in too bad a shape to worry with it now. An organic compound. It was sending his body into panicked survival mode. His immune system was haywire, but she wasn’t sure why. And he was bleeding. She pulled out his combadge and slapped it to his shirt. =/\=Dradvia to Wolverine. Medical Emergency. Two to beam directly to sickbay.=/\=

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Dee,” Sisnil said weakly, but whatever he was going to say, it seemed like he was having trouble finishing it.

“It will be alright. I promise.” She took a swab of the substance around the wound and then a small.blood sample. She put them in the kit as she placed the vascular pad over the wound.

Each slightest touch made him squirm and groan. “Can’t promise that.”

=/\= Acknowledged Ensign, prepare to beam up. =/\= Came the reply, and then in a swirling flash of lights, they were both back aboard the Wolverine, in Sickbay.

~ Zoi

“Prep the surgical frame,” Dradvia barked. It was so unlike her that everyone gaped before surging into action. “We need plasma and Betazoid type Z blood. 2 bags at least. High pressure push. He’s going into hypovolemic shock.” As they lifted him onto the biobed, a nurse connected the life support systems. Dradvia opened her kit and passed the two samples to another nurse. “Med lab, now. I need to know what they both are.” She passed through the surgical scrubber and walked up to the bed. She set her eyes to the viewer and began cleaning the wound so she could suture it.Maybe someone would call Tessan. She wasn’t sure she could do this. She couldn’t lose him, not at her hands.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Unfortunately, Tessan and the Captain were down on the Starbase, dealing with the reason the ship had been called here in the first place. Dee wasn’t the only doctor on board, but she was the only one Sisnil would willingly let anywhere near him.

As they lifted him he groaned and cried out like they were killing him. As the machines connected they showed his vitals were struggling, he wasn’t entering hypovolemic shock, he was already well in it. And he had a spiking fever, the Betazoid equivalent of 105.

She had to stop the bleeding, “Inaprovaline 70ml. Get the blood infusion pack going, now.”

The nurse took the samples to the med lab. It wouldn’t be too long, but it wouldn’t be instant either.

Cleaning the wound was challenging, as the sticky substance had turned crusty and stuck to the side of the wound. Not only that, the wound still seemed to have that substance oozing out of it.

It wasn’t going to be easy. She would have to start with the deeper damage and seal it, then go back until she knew what it was.

Sisnil was out of it, both from shock and fever, but as soon as she touched the wound he jolted and weakly squirmed as if to get away.

~ Zoi

Dradvia paused and leaned down next to his ear, where no one could hear her. “Captain Zoi you will hold still. The greatest pirate in history wouldn’t flinch.” She wanted to calm him and it came out in that authoritative tone he liked. “I promise, you will be fine.”

The words seemed to register with him, but he whimpered in response. His pain readings were high.

She straightened back to the viewer, “Kayolane 175 ml.” It would sedate him and keep him calm. Then she focused the viewer on the arteries and began the autosuture.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

The meds took effect quickly and he began to calm. He was having trouble staying conscious but he was afraid, terrified, that if he blacked out, he’d never wake up. The auto suturing was going well, but it seemed to be hurting more than it should. The sedation was helping but he was still showing signs of severe pain.

~ Zoi

“Drechtal Beams.” He shouldn’t be in pain. The beams would allow her to block the neural impulses from reaching his brain and recognizing the pain. The surgical nurse handed them to her. Dradvia placed them, but before she continued she had to take a breath. She couldn’t fall apart, she couldn’t panic. She couldn’t fail him.

She placed the beams and went back to suturing. “Stats.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

That seemed to help, blocking pain signals from reaching his brain. They had started pushing blood bags and it was helping his vitals look better. The suturing seemed to be going fine, easier now that Sisnil was in less pain. He was beginning to regain some consciousness, though the meds Dradvia had ordered kept him calm and a little sleepy. “Dee?” He asked. He sounded a little better than before.

~ Zoi

The nurses looked from her to him and back. Dradvia briefly set a gloved hand on his shoulder where he could feel it. “Hush. Go to sleep. You’re going to be fine.” Her voice was firm. She took another breath holding back the fear.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He flinched at her touch as if even that hurt. “Tell the truth.” He said, summoning all the sternness he had. It still sounded weak. “Can feel your fear.”

~ Zoi

She paused looking at him as he winced. She ran the scanners over him again but found no injury there. Something tickled her memory. She set a hand on his cheek this time. “You will be fine if you let me work. Your body is under a lot of strain. You need to sleep. Let the medicine work.” The suturing was going better, but there was still a long ways to go.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

His nerves showed signs of damage and over reactivity. His fever was still high. He shook his head, he didn’t want to sleep. His body was shaking a little, almost as if he were shivering.

~ Zoi

Why wasn’t the sedative working? She couldn’t give him more in this state. He should be passed out from hypovolemic shock too. And pain. She looked at the scans again. Nerve damage and hyperactivity, fever but no infection… the crusty residue at the wound from the body’s immune system.... The memory came back vividly. The doctor on Lokhar’s ship had used a poison like that. “I need the results of his blood work, now. Don’t come back without it. Cool the bed to help lower his temperature. Keep an eye on it and adjust the ambient temperature around the bed accordingly.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

The sedative was working, but it wasn’t putting him fully to sleep. Dradvia might remember that the way this poison worked, could prevent loss of consciousness. It was intended to be extra cruel.

~ Zoi

Hodgson supposedly had an antidote but Dradvia had no idea what the poison was called. It was a slow agonizing death, but it gave her time to find an antidote. “If you won’t sleep you, must be still. I can use a restraining field if it helps.” She didn’t want to do that, it would make him more strained. She wished she knew how to use Medical Nanites. They could clean the wound. She shook her head, focusing on the sutures. So much damage…

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil shook his head, he didn’t want that. It might be necessary if he couldn’t hold still though. He tried to let her work. He was lucky, really, that stabbed where he was, the blade hadn’t severed the main aortic artery that descended through the abdomen, nor severely injured his stomach or liver. She just needed to keep cleaning the oozing stuff out of the wound as she sutured it.

~ Zoi

The nurses had to help her keep the oozing cleaned away. Eventually she was able to remove the clamps and restore the blood flow. That had gone quickly. It had to, but there was still so much to do, and in ways he was getting worse. Was she doing everything she should?

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Dee…” Sisnil’s voice floated across the room. “Don’t second guess yourself.” There were breaths between his words. He looked awful, but with blood flow restored and less bleeding, the shock was beginning to subside.

~ Zoi

She couldn’t listen; it was too distracting. She would worry more. She patted his shoulder, but remained focused. She shouldn’t be doing this. She was too emotionally involved. Sliced edge by sliced edge, layer by layer, Dradvia sutured steadily.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

It took a long time, but finally the wound was sutured safely. Sisnil’s vitals were holding steady. But he seemed out of it, like he might be less oriented than he was before.

~ Zoi

Dradvia checked his vitals as the surgical frame was removed. The rest of Sisnil’s clothes were removed and she placed a vascular pad over the wound to help aid his healing. =/\=Dradvia to Medlab. Where ate my results?=/\= Sisnil was worse not better. She needed to remove the Drechtal Beams but nothing seemed to help. He could get worse if pain meds didn’t help.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

=/\= Med lab to Dradvia. It’s echtallin poisoning. Not something you see very often. =/\= they replied to her. “Dee…” Sisnil sounded weak and tired.

~ Zoi

Having a name for it, didn’t make her feel better. She knew what it did. =/\=Is there an antidote?=/\=

She set a hand on his shoulder again. “I’m right here. Try to rest. I know it hurts.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

=/\= A hydrolyze treatment, so, yes. =/\= the lab tech told her what to synthesize. It was a compound that would neutralize the poison, but do it too quickly and it would react with the poison instead and kill him. It had to be given in multiple doses per day for several days. Sisnil shook his head. “I won’t…” He sighed in pain and tiredness. “If I… don’t… you know… Try to tell Noril for me.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia started to turn for the computer, but his words stopped him. She turned back and placed both palms gently on his cheeks. “Sisnil, look at me.” She thought as loud as she could. She didn’t know really how to do it. You said I am the best Doctor in Star Fleet. Keep believing that. You aren’t going to die. I promise. You can contact Noril yourself. Stay still. Follow me with your mind. I have to synthesize the antidote. Just concentrate on me.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled. She didn’t know what she was doing but it was adorable she was trying. “I hear you.” He said. He tried to focus on her. I can’t make a connection like I normally do. You’d feel my pain and I won’t allow that.

~ Zoi

She shook her head, I’m a big girl, I can handle it. She stood up straight and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly as she stepped away. She was just in the edge of his field of vision as she stood over the computer. She was reading over the information on the hydrolyze treatment. She was scanning dosages while she ordered the computer to synthesize the compound. She was looking for side effects with the hydrolyze as well as the echtallin poison. Could she give him anything for the pain? He needed it. She couldn’t keep the Drechtal Beams in long term or risk paralysis.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Pain medication that blocked pain signals should work, but it had to block the pain signals, because the pain was directly from the nerves. Side effects of the treatment were liver or kidney toxicity, heart problems, numbness, and a whole list of other things. The dosing information was there, describing how to decide how much to give, when, and how.

The poison itself was like nervous system acid, damaging and burning the nerves, causing central nervous system dysfunction, which explained his body’s temperature fluctuations. There was the potential for long term nerve damage and organ damage both from the poison itself and the effects of the central nervous system dysfunction. It would cause pain too, and only a specific type of sedative would be able to put him to sleep, because the way it acted to put him to sleep was different than most others. It was intended to be a slow, agonizing death as the poison slowly dissolved the nerves and the central nervous system slowly shut down.

Sisnil shook his head. “No.” He shifted his head so it was easier to see her, wincing as he did. He frowned as though in deep thought. “Dee, whatever… happens to me… isn’t you fault.”

~ Zoi

It was if she didn’t save him. It was if she did this wrong with the dosing. She studied the dosing instructions and wrote down the schedule for dosage and how often. She didn’t like all the side effects, but it was better than him dying, wasn’t it? She pulled a vial of the recommended pain killer and slipped it into a hypo. She walked over and pressed it to his neck so it would start working quickly. “This is going to help with the pain. It won’t remove it completely, but I can remove the Drechtal Beams.” She concentrated on that for the moment. She was careful and precise making sure she didn’t cause any damage.

The computer trilled indicating it was done synthesizing the antidote. Dradvia hurried over to the table and pulled the vial from the dispenser. She slipped it into the hypo and then checked her notes. She checked the calculations again. What if she calculated it wrong? She had to double check her work, it was too important not to. She took several slow breaths and then looked over the information again, checking her calculations. Then nodding she dialed the hypo and walked back over.

“This is hydrolyze. It’s going to counteract the poison in your system. It’s a long process. 5 doses a day for 4 days. The,” Dradvia didn’t want to tell him the side effects of the treatment. She didn’t want him to choose not to take it. But it wasn’t right for her to make that decision for him. “The possible side effects are severe.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil set a hand on her wrist. His fingers were still cold though he was clearly doing much better since getting the infusions. “I’ll be dead in four days if I don’t take it. Are any of them worse than death?” One of them was death, some people just… died anyway, but there was maybe a 20% chance of that.

~ Zoi

“Hydrolyze can cause liver or kidney toxicity, heart problems, numbness. Echtallin poisoning has the potential for long term nerve damage and organ damage.” She didn’t want to tell him that, but he deserved to know, to make an informed decision. Though she could argue he was in too much pain and the way the poison affected the body to say he couldn’t be in a clear state of mind to make decisions.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He looked at her, fixing his gaze on her with one of his intense stares. He didn’t seem as focused as he normally would be. “You want me to take it. I will, Dee, you don’t have to convince me.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia shook her head, “I just want you to have all the information.” It wasn’t really a matter of life or death. It was a matter of death and quality of life. It was possible there would be no long term side effects. They had caught the poisoning very quickly. The wound had been viscous though. She pressed the hypo to his neck and injected the antidote. “You may not feel a lot of difference the first few doses.” She didn’t know, but considering it had to be given so slowly that was a good chance.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded and closed his eyes. “Don’t know how long I can take the pain.” He said. “It’s echtallin? If I don’t take it the pain will magnify. People beg to die on this.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia nodded, “I know.” She’d seen it. She’d stayed with people all the way to the end that had been poisoned with it. Watching Sisnil go through that would kill her. “I’ve given you pain meds. These work differently. They break up the chemical signals in your nervous system. It will work a bit different, feel different as well. But the pain should be less. It’s the only one that makes a difference with this. There is a sedative that would work. That might help, if you can sleep through some of it.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil shook his head. “No, I can’t go go sleep.” There was that paranoia in his voice. His body shivered again and he groaned. “Every move hurts so much.“

~ Zoi

She hated this. “I know it does. I wish I could do more.” She set her hand over his. “You can sleep. I promise you’ll be fine. I’ll be right here…” Her brow furrowed, “well, I’ll have to go check on Simon for you later. I’ll come right back though.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil jumped, and winced, as if he’d just remembered something really important. “Simon! He needs food. I left him with some in case… Well, but he, he needs me.” He briefly entertained getting up, but quickly dismissed that idea and settled down on his own. He scrunched his face. “I can’t think that clearly.”

~ Zoi

“He’s okay. I was with him…” she stopped not wanting to say after he left. “He still had food. I’ll check on him later. He’ll be alright. I’ll take care of him until you’re better.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. It looked like the pain meds were making him tired, but the poison still wasn’t letting him sleep. “I’m sorry, Dee. I shouldn’t have… done… what I did.”

~ Zoi

She shook her head, “You did what needed to be done. Are you cold or hot?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“No but I- where are we, anyway?” He asked suddenly. “Hot. I feel hot.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia folded the blanket back and dropped the ambient temperature of the bed to help cool him. “We’re on the Wolverine, in sickbay.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“When can I rest in my quarters?” He could trust the privacy of his quarters. Not that of anywhere in Sickbay.

~ Zoi

Dradvia shook her head, “Not any time soon. I’m sorry.” She knew he would feel better in his quarters, but his health was too fragile at the moment. He needed the security of the biobed to keep him going until his body was healed enough.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Hmph.” He said, eyeing Dradvia, but there was a muted version of his normal playfulness in it. “You’re still worried about me.” It wasn’t a question, this poison didn’t affect his telepathy.

~ Zoi

“I am.” There was no point in hiding it. “Until the poison is out of your system, things can shift quickly. You need to stay where you can get immediate help. That’s here, in sickbay.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Hm.” He didn’t try to argue or fight that. He was scared he was going to die, but not willing to admit that. He patted himself gently. “I was stabbed. I’m okay?”

~ Zoi

“It was deep, but whatever they used didn’t hit anything vital. You lost a lot of blood though. The wound has been cleaned and stitched, and we’re giving you blood and plasma. There is a vascular pad over the wound to help speed the healing.” Dradvia was worried too, but the Federation had more resources than Lokhar’s ship.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Okay.” He shut his eyes again. “Everything’s gone, Dee. The comm, my PaDD, a few other things.”

~ Zoi

The PaDD was what she was most worried about. “We can replace them. Should… do you want me to call security. Have them look for the person?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil frowned in thought. What was least suspicious? Having them look or not having them look? He couldn’t think clearly. “I.... don’t know.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia had to file a report anyway. She wasn’t sure what to do. “That’s okay. I’ll take care of it. Are you still hot?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “Feels like summer in the Ataric desert…” He said. He still seemed not fully aware and oriented.

~ Zoi

Dradvia erected an environmental field around the bed and dropped the temperature inside several degrees to help cool him off. “That should help. Do you want some ice?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I want you to stay here.” Sisnil said, shaking his head. “Don’t go anywhere. Please.”

~ Zoi

“I can have a nurse go get it.” She held his hand as carefully as possible. “I promised didn’t I?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “Promised… Yes you did.” He wrapped his fingers around her gently. It was a very soft touch. “Thank you.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia rubbed her thumb over his hand. “Always.” She asked the nurse to go get ice water and some Italian ice. She picked a flavor she hoped Sisnil would like.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil tried to squeeze her hand, but it hurt his, as if he’d squeezed a spiky chestnut. He used his free hand to wipe his forehead. “I feel like I’m baking to death inside.”

~ Zoi

“Okay, I’m going to turn the temperature down more.” She turned it to the coldest she could and it still be safe. “I’ve got some ice coming. That should help.” He needed to cool down. What else could she do? He couldn’t get up, not yet.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

His body shivered more the more she turned the temperature down. He winced and stifled a sound of pain, trying to act tough. “It’s getting worse, Dee.”

~ Zoi

“Okay,” she turned the temperature back up a bit and pulled the blanket up. “Wait here.” She got up and crossed the room then came back with a PaDD and sat down. She pulled up all the information on how to treat echtallin poisoning and care foe the symptoms. Specifically the fluctuating body temp.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

It was caused by central nervous system dysfunction. Basically the body couldn’t tell what temp it currently was or needed to be and continuously tried to correct for a temp differential that didn’t exist. Bromocriptine could be used, but didn’t always work. “Judicious” doses of morphine could be used to stop an episode, but since he was already on pain meds, that could be dangerous. Otherwise, the only treatment was environmental - blankets or ice.

~ Zoi

Morphine was out. Judicious meant dosages that would quickly make him addicted. She knew Sisnil wouldn’t want that. She loaded a dosage of Bromocriptine into the hypo. “Here,” Dradvia pressed it to his neck, “this should help the symptoms.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded and let her give it. He squeezed her hand even though it hurt. “I deserve this.” He said softly. “This is how so many in the Syndicate die.”

~ Zoi

“Stop that. No one deserves this. It hurts, but you won’t die.” They had the antidote. He just had to make it through.

Besides if he deserved it, how much worse did Dradvia deserve?

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“You were a slave, Dee. It’s different. I know, you like to excuse my actions by saying I didn’t have a choice. But there was no Lokhar hanging over my head.” Sisnil took a couple of breaths. “You deserve a happy life.”

~ Zoi

She looked at him like he was daft. “Oh really? No one hanging over your shoulder, no consequences or pain waiting for disloyalty? Not the same name perhaps, but they were there. A choice between survival or death, between disloyalty and saving your brother? Those are not choices.” She didn’t know why she was arguing with him. He wasn’t ready to see it, and he was too incoherent for such heavy conversations.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Well…” She was right, he was too incoherent for this. “If I’m not culpable because there would’ve been consequences- this, really.” He gestured to himself, wincing lightly, “then why do you blame yourself?”

~ Zoi

That one hurt, and she flinched. “Because I didn’t save her.” Not consequences - punishment and coercion.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“You couldn’t, that’s not your fault.” Sisnil said. “She made her choice. You freed her from daily hell.”

~ Zoi

“And you keep your brother from living a daily torturous hell. That’s no different.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Then you can’t keep blaming yourself for Kryssa.” He normally wouldn’t push so hard. He wasn’t thinking clearly.

~ Zoi

A sharp ache filled her chest. “We all have regrets.” She looked up and stood as Cmdr Morris came in.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer