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 (76) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Sisnil nodded. “I don’t know either. The antidote isn’t something you generally come across outside of high quality hospitals and medical labs.”

~ Zoi

“No, it’s not. And the poison isn’t exactly something you see in polite society,” Dradvia said. “Are you still cold?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Yes. Like I’m standing outside in a blizzard in my birthday suit.” Sisnil answered. “It’s not something the Syndicate even regularly uses. Partly due to difficulty in getting it, but still.”

~ Zoi

“Then it wasn’t a common thief,” Dradvia already knew that, and so did Sisnil. So who and why did someone do that. The Syndicate? Did they think he had betrayed them? She turned the temperature up on the bed slightly. She reached into the cabinet under the biobed and pulled out a pair of socks. She moved to the end of the bed, moved the blanket, and slipped them onto his feet before covering him back up. “Let me know if that doesn’t help.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“It feels like it’s lined with nails, but it’s warm.” Sisnil said. He shook his head to answer her comment. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t even think they expected us to believe that.”

~ Zoi

“Probably not, but then who hired him?” Dradvia wasn’t aware of what the man said to Sisnil, but she did know that his life meant he had enemies. “I’m sorry I can’t make the pain stop completely.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil remembered most of it, but he couldn’t make any sense of it right now. “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” He smiled at her. “You’re doing everything possible.”

~ Zoi

“I’m trying. Dr. Tessan might have some better ideas, but I know you don’t want Tessan.” It was another 15 minutes before she could give him more pain medication. With everything else in his system, she didn’t dare give it to him early.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil read her thoughts. “Come on, Dee, what’s the worst that could happen?” Sisnil said and smiled.

~ Zoi

“You could die.” The fear was so obvious he didn’t need to be an empathic. “Echtallin reacts lethally with everything, even the antidote, which is why you have to take so many doses over so many days.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Oh.” Sisnil hadn’t expected that. “So how do the pain meds, whatever else, and the sedative work then? Without fatal interaction?”

~ Zoi

“The pain meds break down the chemical signals being sent through your neurons that tells your brain you are in pain. So the more you move and fight, the faster the medicine gets used up. The new broken down chemicals can cause all the impulse signals to break down if it builds up in your system, which is why the timing and dosage has to be so precise.”

“The Bromocriptine is a beta blocker. It is what is helping your body regulate your temperature and autonomic systems. Beta blockers stop or slow the production of hormones. In this case the ones telling you, you are too hot or too cold.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

The sedative was similar reasoning. The poison prevented the brain from taking up chemicals that made someone feel tired, while also having stimulant effects that made it impossible to sleep. The sedative used a different way to put him out, but when it broke down it reacted with the poison in a way that could accelerate its effects.

Sisnil nodded as she explained. “Tell me, Dee… How likely is it I survive this?”

~ Zoi

Dradvia didn’t know. She hadn’t looked at that part; she couldn’t. She was already emotionally compromised in his care. She picked up her PaDD and read through the file.

Sighing heavily, “65%. Of the 35%, 80% did not begin treatment for the echtallin poisoning until day 3 of exposure. The earlier treatment starts the higher the rate of survival. None of the recorded cases have been treated as early as you are. So that increases your chances.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil grinned, “See? Told you I was fine. Aren’t you glad you looked that up?”

~ Zoi

A small smile teased the corner of her lips and she shook her head, “You’re always right, of course.” No she wasn’t glad, but she wouldn’t acknowledged that to herself so Sisnil wouldn’t pick up on it either. “Knowing you, you’ll just charm the poison out of your system.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Of course I will,” Sisnil said, “What have I been trying to tell you?” He said and grinned. His charms and smiled didn’t last long though, before long he seemed less high in spirits.

~ Zoi

His grin made Dradvia’s stomach flutter. He was incorrigible and irresistible. She thought so anyway. About the time his smile faded the alarm on her PaDD went off again. She walked across the bay to a cabinet, input a code, and then pulled out a vial. She tapped something onto a data PaDD attached inside the door and then locked the cabinet back.

“Time for pain medicine.” She set the hypo to his neck and pressed. “Give it a few minutes and the pain should start easing.” Another beep sounded from his otherside. A nurse came over with another bag of fluids and dradvia replaced the empty one on his infusion unit. “The extra fluids will help flush the everything out of your system.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“It’s… I mean, the pain is bad, but Dee, I’m just nauseous.” Sisnil said, looking up at her. He glanced at the infusion unit, he hadn’t even realized he had one. It was a show of trust in Dee that he just closed his eyes and nodded.

~ Zoi

She finished making notes on her PaDD and then flipped back to the notes about treating the poison. “I can give you Emetrol. It works by coating the stomach lining and reducing stomach contractions. So it won’t interfere with anything else I’m giving you. There are no drug interactions or side effects.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “Okay. I don’t wanna throw up. That sounds… Unpleasant right now.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia went back to the same cabinet and returned with another vial. She loaded it into the hypo. She walked around to his otherside and administered it on the opposite side of his neck. Just to give the other spot a break. “That should start working quickly.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded again. “I miss Noril, Dee. He… He and I, we’d share the pain. All of it. It made it easier to bear.” He popped an eye open and looked at her, “and before you offer, no, I won’t do that to you.”

~ Zoi

“If it would help, I’d do that for you.” There was no point in pushing. He wouldn’t do it, but she would do that for him. She’d endured agonizing pain, so she could take some of it for him. “I wish I could bring him here for you. I wish there was a way. If it would help, I can ask Morris to let me.” She held his hand. “We’ll try again.” What she didn’t say was to get him back to Noril. Dradvia didn’t think he should try reaching Noril through the Syndicate again.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“You endured pain at the hands of cruel people, Dee, but I can’t do that to you. Not willingly.” There was that intense stare of his again. “You think the Syndicate is behind this.” He stated, frowning.

~ Zoi

He was sick and dying (okay so she was doing everything to save him, but he wasn’t on the positive side yet), and he was thinking about her and her care. It made her feel cherished, cared for. She met that gaze of his. “I don’t know, but it would stand to reason that their communications aren’t secure. Sisnil, this poison is rare and hard to get. It has to be sought out, and you said it’s not cheap. This poison isn’t used by common criminals. The wound was viscous. You weren’t stabbed by a mugging gone wrong, they wanted to make sure you bled out. You were their target. They knew you would be there.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“No one knew I was going to be there, except one person, and we’ve had each others’ backs for years,” Sisnil said, but there was a note of uncertainty in his voice. She could see a spike in anxiety based on his vital readings. He was obviously thinking, and it was scaring him. “He put me in a chokehold, Dee, he… I never saw a face… Never saw him coming. No one knew.”

He’d been afraid before, but he’d never had a panic attack and that was where he was headed. And it hurt. But if the Syndicate was involved, then he could never see Noril again. Never. Not Noril, not Vash, not his ship nor his crew. His life as he knew it would be over. Not only that, once the Syndicate was done with someone, they never stopped hunting them. Sisnil knew, he’d done it for them. Dragged ex-Syndicate members back, kicking and screaming.

~ Zoi

“Calm down. Deep breath. All we know for sure is their comms were compromised somewhere along the way. Until we know it is better to not assume.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil took a deep breath, but it did little to help his anxious vitals or calm him. “My encryption is rock solid, Dee. No one reads my messages that isn’t intended to. It had to be. To protect you and Noril.” He tried to sit up, but the force field was still over his lower abdoment and his legs. “Anything I send Noril can’t be opened by my Syndicate contact, and anything I send my contact can only be read by her.” He looked at her, he wouldn’t normally go there, but he was scared, “What if it were Kryssa? What if she were at risk?”

~ Zoi

Dradvia set a hand on his shoulder. “I would be scared too. But come on Sisnil, no encryption is foolproof. Your whole career is bases on that. Maybe they didn’t breach it, maybe they just recognized your coding. It’s kind of like a finger print, right? They could trace the signal. Maybe they were watching your contact because they know she’s associated with her. Maybe she slipped up and said something.”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t be worried, but until you investigate more, don’t come up with disasters.” She held his hand again, “Isn’t that what you tell me?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“It is, but they couldn’t trace the signal, I made sure of that. I don’t know, Dee,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I’m a danger to him. If… if this plot had succeeded he’d be safe.”

~ Zoi

“Well,” Dradvia took a deep breath, “We let them think you died. I’m sure Morris is willing to engage in some misdirection. After we will find a way to let Noril know the truth.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Then get me a PaDD, I need to falsify records, set up a report, put out a press release of a body found, station security reports.” Sisnil rattled off.

~ Zoi

“Okay, but you have to promise to wait to ‘publish’ it until Morris comes back. He needs to know for when people come asking,” Dradvia said. She ended up having to get a nurse to go get one m, so she didn’t have to leave him alone in Sickbay. In the meantime she commed Cmdr Morris to come back to sickbay.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Okay. And Dee? Not even Starfleet can know. Trust me. The Syndicate has Starfleet moles.” Sisnil said. He took a few more deep breaths but it wasn’t really helping. “Don’t even think about getting me with the sedative.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia gave him that look. “I won’t, yet. But if you don’t calm down, I won’t have a choice. I’ll do it, even if you get upset with me.”

“As for the other, that is between you and Morris.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil shook his head, “I can’t, Dee, I’ll sleep for hours and we need to do this now. I should’ve done it right after it happened, but I didn’t know.”

~ Zoi

“Sisnil,” Dradvia sat and held his gaze. “You weren’t coherent enough then. And reality, based on what I read and what I know of the poison, we could say it was 3 or 4 days before you died. The investigation was kept quiet because of the violence but now it’s murder.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Okay,” he said. He was clearly not on his best game now. Why hadn’t he thought of that? “Where is that PaDD?” It wasn’t said rudely, but from a place of fear.

~ Zoi

The nurse came up just then with it. She handed it to Dradvia and moved away. “Right here.” She gave it to him. Everything he did would have to be double checked. He wasn’t capable of higher level thinking at the moment. Too much pain, the poison, and panic.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil took the PaDD with a soft grunt. He set it up over his legs and set to work. He could write everything and have it ready once Morris was up to speed. But all the movement was making him hurt, and the poison and the pain made him lightheaded, ill, and out of it. As he was stubbornly working away, despite the keyboard feeling like it was made of hot coals, his fingers feeling like shredded meat.

~ Zoi

Morris arrived, and Dradvia gave him a brief summary of what was going on. She told Sisnil she was going to check on Simon for him and would be back. He wasn’t due for any medications soon.

Simon was lonely and pitiful when she got there. Dradvia picked up the letter and tucked it into a pocket. She fed Simon and then took him with her to change into a clean uniform. She hid the letter and then took Simon home. She found the mouse toy she had bought him and set it up so he could play.

When she returned, Sisnil was not doing well at all. True to her word, Dradvia promptly gave Sisnil the sedative, even if he got mad at her.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Dee, no, I’m still working,” Sisnil said as he felt the hypo against his neck. “I have to finish this. I can’t sleep now.”

~ Zoi

“You’re going to go into cardiac arrest. Your body can’t handle any more. I’m no programmer, but even I can tell there are mistakes in that. Cmdr Morris can keep working on it. I have to make fake Medical files too. So, sleep or I’ll be reporting a real fatality.” That was the truth, and the fear in her was real. He could be mad, at least he would still be alive.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He was beginning to feel the effects of it, but he was trying to stay awake. “Morris can’t do what I can. Dee… Please. I’m okay.” He wasn’t okay at all. He was sweating, his temperature going up, his K12 could tell her how much pain he was in, his vitals destabilizing. His hands were shaking - not just because of everything else, but a tremor. His body’s strain was helping the poison eat away his nervous system.

~ Zoi

“No,” Dradvia said softly but firmly. She took the PaDD from him. “You’re done for now.” She was forced to give him a cardio stabilizer and more Bromocriptine. There was nothing she could do for the pain unless she used the Drechtal Beams again.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil looked like he wanted to argue, but he couldn’t. His condition was taking a toll on him, the sedative putting him to sleep. Finally he conceded with a sigh and opened his hand for hers. I’m sorry, Dee. Don’t go anywhere. Please.

~ Zoi

She set a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be right here.” There was no way she could leave now, not for anything. He was too unstable. If he kept it up she would have to keep him sedated.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded tiredly. Then his eyes drifted shut, and his breaths began to even out. His body temperature dropped but his body continued to sweat. His heart rate remained unstable. His pain readings were high enough he was lucky to be asleep. His muscles twitched and his body shook gently with tremors.

~ Zoi

Dradvia covered his body in the force field again, lowered the ambient temperature, and bathed him to help stop the fever chills. There wasn’t much she could do. As the different medications came due, she administered them. Pain, nausea, Bromocriptine, and the antidote. As the sedative wore off, she administered that again.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

His condition was maintaining. Not better, not worse. But there was a short window between the first dose of sedative and second when he groggily woke. “Dee…?”

~ Zoi

“I’m right here. Don’t move.” She set a hand on his shoulder and leaned over him so he could see her. “You aren’t doing great. Your body is really fighting. It needs all your energy for that.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He looked up at her and smiled a little. “Hey, Dee.” Then a long, tired breath. It hurt, a lot, but he didn’t want to say anything. There wasn’t anything to be done. All over his body he felt a painful burning sensation. It was the nerve pain. “I’m so tired…” He sighed.

~ Zoi

“I know. Let the medicine work. Go back to sleep.” Dradvia hated this, but there wasn’t anything more she could do. Medically induced coma was out of the question given how the poison worked. She had just finished giving him the 4th dose of antidote before he woke up. He should be feeling some difference. Had she missed something?

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He would be starting to improve, if his symptoms hadn’t gotten worse when he got upset. But extreme anxiety caused the nervous system to overreact, and when a malfunctioning nervous system overreacted… This was the result. Most people died in 4 days, and there was little evidence or anecdote to show what happened if one were to live longer than that. The early treatment meant he’d likely survive, but what would survival look like?

”…You’ve sedated me again, haven’t you?” His words were a little slurred as the short window of awareness was closing. He’d be back to sleep very soon.

~ Zoi

There was a firm nod of her head, “I have to. I know you don’t like it, but your anxiety attack has slowed your progress. I have to keep your nervous system as calm as possible.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

There was a tiny nod of his head. He opened his hand for her to hold without moving his arm. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and them gave Dee an odd, but adoring look, “I love you, Dee.” Then he was asleep again.

Dradvia slipped her hand into his, holding as gently as she could. “Love you too, Sisnil.” The duty nurse overheard and smiled, Dradvia was self conscious, but was too worried for it to bother her.

His readings began to improve for a short time, but then began to struggle. Then the biobed alarmed. He’d gone into cardiac arrest. He was breathing, if laboured, but he needed immediate help.

“CODE BLUE” echoed through sickbay. Dradvia called for medication, corticalstimulators for his neural activity, and several other things. She fitted him with a forced air breathing mask and connected him to full life support. “Call Tessan and Morris.” Panic and fear flooded her. He couldn’t die.

Normally, one didn’t dream when in sedated slumber. But dream-Sisnil wasn’t aware of that. Maybe it was more actively-dying-Sisnil.

He was with Dee, in his quarters, laying with her in bed. “I love you, Dee.” He said.

“I love you too,” she said back, and gave him a long kiss.

Then the scene shifted, and suddenly he was on Albatross, on the bridge. His whole crew was there. Noril, in his spot next to the center chair on his left. Nathan in his place on Sisnil’s right. Their pilot at the help. Eli manned one of the stations. Even TJ was on the bridge, manning tactical. Vash took her normal bridge location. There was a young boy, too. Sisnil wondered who he was, why he was there. But everyone seemed to know him. Everyone simultaneously turned around and smiled at him.

“You’re the best Captain, Sisnil,” Nathan said.

“You’re stubborn as hell, but I’ve always like you,” Eli said.

“Your ship’s in tip top shape and I get paid well,” TJ said.

“I love Noril, but you’re my best friend.” Vash told him, with one of those smiles and looks of hers.

The boy was silent. Sisnil’s mind simply didn’t know anything about him.

“You’re my brother, Nilly, I’ll be there for you for eternity.” Noril patted his shoulder. “I missed you.”

Sisnil smiled. “Well, lucky you’ve got me then, isn’t it? Let’s move out.”

~ Zoi

On the Wolverine, Dradvia was working frantically to stay in front of each problem and stabilize Sisnil. The cardio stimulator was working constantly to keep his blood and heart working. The Neural Modulator was ineffective in stopping the muscle spasms. Dradvia switched to the Neuroelectrical Suppresser. It was supposed to stop pain. She didn’t know if it would work against the echtallin. Something had to work.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

It didn’t stop the spasms, though they did slow. His K12 indicated a reduction in pain. The cardiostimulator managed to restart his heart but his numbers were far from stable. He needed intensive care to keep it that way.

~ Zoi

The surgical frame was left in place along with the life support frame. The only thing Dradvia could do at that point was wait. I’m here, Sisnil. Come back. Fight. Fight to get back to Noril and Vash and your crew. Fight for Simon. He needs you. I need you. I love you. Come back to me, even if it’s to leave me behind. Come back.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Slowly, his vitals returned to something stable enough he wasn’t in immediate danger. As the sedative wore off, he regained consciousness, groggy and confused. He used telepathy instead of speaking. Dee? I feel terrible. What happened?

~ Zoi

Dradvia stood so she could move closer to him and lean over where he could see her. Her finger tips traced around his face. Something must be wrong because she was so reclusive with physical contact. “Sisnil? Can you open your eyes?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded, but it was a tiny movement. His eyes popped open slowly. He looked at her. She was scared, concerned, worried. It was overwhelmingly present. “What’s wrong, Dee?” He asked, going for nonchalant, but his voice was husky and soft and it didn’t really work.

~ Zoi

He was talking to her, he was awake, some of the tension went out of her. “You went into cardiac arrest. You’re stable now, but your cardiac and nervous systems are struggling.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I did..?” Sisnil asked, as if confused. “Will it happen again?” He asked. But there was no way to tell that for sure. It was no wonder she felt so worried. He opened his hand for her like he’d done before. “I feel… weak. My head could be full of molasses.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia swallowed. She wouldn’t lie to him. “I don’t know if it will, but it could. If we can’t keep you calm, your nervous and cardiac systems will start overworking again and could give out. The weakness is expected both from the poison and the cardiac arrest. THe molasses feeling is a side effect of the sedative and the attack.” He’d had five treatments, but he was worse. She was failing him.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. Then he looked at her. “You are not failing anything, Dee.” He wiggled his fingers. “Take my hand.” Looking at her again, he went on, “We knew what echtallin is like. We knew the antidote can take days. It’s the nature of what happened to me. Don’t go blaming yourself. It won’t help me or you.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia slipped her hand into his, her fingers lacing with his. “I just wish I could do more. I know it will take time, but it shouldn’t be getting worse.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“It isn’t your fault that it is.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “Do you blame yourself when a patient with a terminal illness dies?”

~ Zoi

“No, but I still hate it. But this has a cure if I do it right.” Dradvia’s hand squeezed his hand. “You have to get better.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

It hurt, but he didn’t say anything, he appreciated the care. “It most likely has a cure if you do it right.” He closed his eyes and took a few seconds to breathe. “There is a force field, isn’t there?”

~ Zoi

Dradvia nodded, “I had to. You were thrashing and twitching and it was sending your nervous system into shock. I know you hate it, but it’s necessary right now.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “I couldn’t move if I wanted to anyway.” He said, and he must feel awful if he was willing to admit that. He squeezed her hand, but it was barely a change. “If, uh… I don’t… You know, come back, next time… Use that signal I gave you. Tell Noril. Please.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia didn’t want to agree. She wanted to deny that wouldn’t happen, but she wouldn’t refuse either. “I will, I promise. I’ll find him and make sure he knows.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He smiled. “Good.” There was a short pause and then, “What about my work?”

~ Zoi

Dradvia shook her head, “Cmdr. Morris has it. I did my part. I’m sure he’ll come talk to you about it, but I’ve had to keep you sedated.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “I see. I don’t suppose you’d let me look, huh?”

~ Zoi

Dradvia shook her head, “No. Even the smallest stimulation will send your nervous system into stress. It seems easy to you to program, but it uses a lot of brain power. Besides, Morris has that PaDD. He couldn’t work without it.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Hmm.” He wasn’t pleased, but he didn’t have energy to fight. “Okay.” He took another long breath. “Are you going to put me to sleep again?”

~ Zoi

“I’ve already given you the sedative. You can be mad at me later. It’s keeping the strain off your heart.” Dradvia would stand there and let him yell at her or ignore her. She didn’t like being sedated either. But she was desperate.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He nodded again. No wonder he felt tired. “So I’m gonna fall asleep again soon.” He rubbed the back of her hand again. “Dee, I.... I saw something.”

~ Zoi

“You will.” It also made him unaware of the pain for a little while. Dradvia stared down at their hands. The movement of his thumb drew her gaze. She looked back at his face. “What did you see?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“You.” He said, looking up at her. “And… My crew. Everybody, at their bridge stations. It felt like he was there, Dee. I could feel Noril.”

~ Zoi

Her? She was on his ship? A wish for what wasn’t possible? She smiled at his last comment. “Maybe he was. Your range with Noril is more than significant. Maybe he was close by.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer