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 Ensign Dradvia (Medical Officer) in So… This Is It
Posted by… suppressed (33) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
“I don’t know, Dee, I don’t know,” he said softly. “We just have to wait, right?”

~ Zoi

“Wait and handle the symptoms as best we can. And I have to be very precise in dosing and timing.” Dradvia leaned closer, gently rubbing his hand. It’s okay if it’s too much, if you want to escape the pain. It’s okay if you need to share it. She wouldn’t say those things aloud and have others hear, but she thought them anyway.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He took a shaky breath. “It would hurt, Dee. You’d feel what I do, all of it.”

~ Zoi

“I know. I have no idea how much, but if it gives you relief… I just worry what will happen to you when you stop.” Would the shock kill him? Would the relief help? Or would that damage his telepathy, giving the poison room to do more damage?

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I don’t know what will happen,” Sisnil said. “Just that the pain is so intense, I can barely think.”

~ Zoi

“Then you need to go back to sleep. That way you aren’t aware of any of it.” Dradvia shook her head before he could protest. “There is no legitimate reason you need to choose to suffer.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I just woke up.” Sisnil said. “Going back to sleep is giving up, going backwards. I won’t do that.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia gave him a look like she was trying to explain something to a stubborn child. “It is not going backwards to do what is making you better. It will move you forward through your recovery. Straining your body and pushing beyond what it can handle will move you backwards.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded, a small movement of his head. “I just don’t want to sleep.” He said. But his voice was tight with pain.

~ Zoi

“I know.” She rubbed his arm, again being more openly affectionate than normal. “I miss talking to you. I just want you to get better.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Her unusual affection almost worried him, but he really liked it. “I do too.” He said softly. “I have to be there for you. To protect you.”

~ Zoi

It wasn’t a conscious thing. Dradvia wasn’t aware of it. It was a subconscious instinct to make sure he knew how she felt. To ignore her own discomforts, trauma, and fears for him.

Dradvia wanted more than anything for Sisnil to be around to protect her… it was a strange sensation for Sisnil when her thoughts and emotions just locked up. There was love, affection, the need for him to be around to protect her. Her thoughts had been swirling somewhere but they just stopped. Like an old digital video disk paused on a single picture of a scene. There was something underneath it she wasn’t ready to face.

Both her hands slipped around his, holding it. “I thought that was my job. When you’re sick or injured, I worry about staying safe, not you.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil was aware of those kinds of thought-walls, the minds defense against things it could not yet face. He didn’t push. He smiled up at her. “What about when I’m both?” He asked, with a pained, stressed, weak version of his playful grin.

~ Zoi

It drew her in, that grin of his. She wished he could hold her. She was scared, though her mind couldn’t admit that. “Then you get me all to yourself for the duration. I keep us safe and I get to take care of you.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil desperately wished he could hold her. But he suspected that would be a bad idea on many fronts. “You do an excellent job of that, taking care of me.”

~ Zoi

“I try. Even though you hate it most of the time.” Dradvia grinned and her eyes danced at the last part. He hated it, but she thought some of it was for her benefit. To tease her. At least she let herself believe that.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

It absolutely was. He didn’t know what he’d do without her. “Well, maybe hate is a strong word…” He said, smiling again. It seemed like his pain had decreased a little.

~ Zoi

Dradvia laughed but it was so quiet he would only know because he sensed her amusement. “Irritating, grating, annoying? Are those better?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Maybe sometimes but I prefer endearing, adorable, caring,” he said gently. He took a deep breath, and then, “I just don’t like to look weak, and if you need care, you’re weak.” He shrugged, wincing a little, “I guess I’m saying this because I feel like death.”

~ Zoi

Oh the gossip that would spread out of sickbay over the blush the heated Dradvia’s cheeks from those words. She bit her lower lip and glanced down, shyness and warmth filling her.

“I know. I understand. You’d rather be in your quarters where no one can see. I wish I could make that happen, but I can’t. There is no magic pill I can give you to hide the symptoms.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “I know. And you won’t let me go there because there are far more resources here.” He looked at her and squeezed her hand, again, it was a very light squeeze, “At least you are here.”

~ Zoi

“Of course, I am. There is no where and no one more important.” Fer fingers flexed gently at his squeeze. “I need the resources here. I can’t set that up in your quarters.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He nodded. “I know. If I’d had that heart incident in my quarters…” He looked up at her. “I don’t like it, but I understand it.”

~ Zoi

The sound of the alarm stopped Dradvia’s reply. Again she sprayed the numbing agent on his neck before taking the blood sample and putting it through the computer. The nurse who was assisting this shift stood beside her as they waited. They were tense, hoping, but trying not to be discouraged.

Sisnil would almost be lighted headed from the intense relief he felt from Dradvia alone. It was working. There was now more antidote in his system than poison. The nurse was an older woman, but not elderly. She had the feeling of grandmother about her though. She wrapped a arm around Dradvia’s shoulders and squeezed.

The nurse grabbed Dradvia’s PaDD for her so she could check the dosage measurements. Dradvia prepared the antidote and then two additional hypos. When she finally came back to him, she was smiling. She pressed the hypo to his neck and then gently rubbed the spot to disburse the medicine. Her face came into full view as she leaned over him, “It’s working.”

She kissed him, very briefly, caught up in the giddy relief and happiness that he was going to be alright. “I can give you higher doses of pain medication and Bromocriptine now. You’ll see a huge difference.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Thank the gods,” he breathed in relief. He kissed her. She was gentle and he’d missed it so much he smiled as she pulled away. “See? I told you, you weren’t failing anything.’

~ Zoi

She was uncomfortable with the praise. “You aren’t out of the ocean yet. The effects in your nervous system are still extremely risky. We won’t know the full effects or damage for… well for a long while. It could still cause a cardiac incident or stroke. But, the odds are much lower now.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“So? That’s not your fault,” Sisnil said with confidence. “And if I do, you’ll be there. I’ll be fine.” He smiled, “So I should be able to do more on stronger meds, right?”

~ Zoi

“Maaayyyybe,” Dradvia drew out the word. “The meds will make you more comfortable. But I still can’t let the forcefield up more. The tremors start. You won’t feel them as painfully but that doesn’t mean they aren’t bad. Keeping your nervous system calm is the best way to minimize any long term damage.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He let out an exhasperated sigh like a child. “Come on, Deeeeeeeee I want to hug you,” he complained, looking up at her.

~ Zoi

Her face got even redder, and a couple of the staff paused to glance their way and then quickly move on. Dradvia figited with the hypo in her hand. She wanted him to hug her too. “Let’s get these other meds in you first and see how you feel. Then maybe we can try lightening the forcefield a bit more.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Okay, then do that.” He said. “I can’t get better if I can’t move, no?”

~ Zoi

Dradvia gave him both the hypos and then sat down on her chair. “Yes you can. Right now not moving is what will get you better. Later, moving will be key. So much so that you will hate me for other reasons.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Oh?” Sisnil grinned. “How so? Is that a challenge?” He asked and smiled at her.

~ Zoi

Dradvia gave him a funny and confused look for a long moment, and then shook her head with a hint of a grin. “No, I’m serious. You’re going to need intense physical and occupational therapy to recover from the nerve damage. It will hurt and some days even tiny things will feel impossible.” And she would nag him the whole way. She wasn’t a PT but she knew if she didn’t go with him he wouldn’t do it. Or, well maybe he would because if he didn’t he would always be physically weak from now on.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

It depended on his mood and motivation and will to complete the PT. It would be hard and those things would be critical to his success. His ability to recover also depended on the extent of the damage, but that was something that needed to be looked at later.

He smiled one of those cocky smiles of his. “Can you see me giving up on anything?”

~ Zoi

Deadvia smiled and shook her head, “No, that’s why you will recover. But you hate taking orders.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I give the orders,” Sisnil said with another little shrug. “Never was very good with following other peoples’.”

~ Zoi

“Well, you will have to. You’re intelligent, but you aren’t a doctor or a physical therapist. Just like I’m not a programmer or a fighter.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil grinned sheepishly. “We’ll see about that.” The increase in meds was helping his pain level, and she could tell both by looking at him and his indicators. He still seemed tired, weak, sickly, for lack of a better word, but his pain level was coming down some.

~ Zoi