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 (20) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
The tests showed he needed a few more days to heal, and those days went much the same. PT, research, Sisnil resting but getting ever more restless.

Then the day came his tests were normal enough to do the procedure.

~ Zoi

They were in Sickbay, that afternoon, after a hard session with PT when Dradvia gave him the news. She scheduled the proceedure for the next morning. She knew Sisnil wanted it right away, but she wanted to get a good night’s sleep and be rested before she attempted it.

She even took a sleep aid that night. She hated drugs and it made her physically ill taking it, and she would pay later for the mental and physical consequences of it. They were a price she was willing to pay for Sisnil.

The next morning, right at the beginning of her shift, Dradvia was scrubbing and Kgnan helped Sisnil get settled on the biobed with the surgical frame.

Dradvia walked over in her red scrubs, “Alright, I’m going to put you under. Remember. When you wake up your telepathy will be very diminished because we took the Psilosynine. It will replenish, and it will take about 3 days before we know what kind of results you will have.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. He reached for Dee’s hand. “I trust you,” he said. Then he settled in. “I’m ready, Dee.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia squeezed his hand and then picked up a hypo and pressed it to his neck. Seconds later, Sisnil was asleep.

The proceedure was straight forward, but far from easy. First Dradvia had to inject the Nanosurgeons. Small nanites that would be able to do the work directly yo the cells. She guided them into his Paracortex to extract the Psilosynine from the paracortical gland. She didn’t know how much was needed for the damage to his occipital lobe. She wanted enough, but was afraid that taking all of it would damage his paracortex and telepathy. None of the research indicated that.

When she saw his gland was already beginning to produce more Psilosynine she breathed a bit easier and extracted another CC. The benefit of Nanosurgeons was that the likelihood of a brain bleed was almost 0 because there were no cuts, incisions, or probing done. They were as small as cells and could go anywhere.

Guiding them from the controls on the surgical frame, Dradvia sent them into the occipital lobe. She engaged batches of them to each area of damage, injecting the Psilosynine into the damaged brain and nerve tissue. It was a slow process as she looked for each and every microscope sign of damage.

When she was done, she recalled the nanites, counting them one by one, having Kgnan count them, and the computer. All of them were accounted for, deactivated, and returned to their locked storage.

Dradvia stood over the viewer, checking and rechecking both areas of his brain to be sure there were no complications from the proceedure. Eventually, all she could do was let Sisnil wake up and wait and see.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

As Sisnil woke some hours later, he felt oddly cold and disconnected from the world. Like none of it was real. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see blurs of shapeless light. Then he remembered about his eyes, his brain, the procedure.

But for the first time, he felt truly blind.

There was a sense of blankness, emptiness. He couldn’t sense anything, from anywhere. He could hear, the soft beeps and boops of the medical equipment, the sound of fabric, like somebody moving around. Was someone there? He couldn’t feel them at all. Like an inanimate object, like an android or robot or something.

And he couldn’t tell who it was. His body tensed, his heart rate increased. His breath rate increased. He wasn’t quite fully aware, it was harder to orient himself without his vision. And the drugs had him groggy and sleepy.

~ Zoi

The increase in his heart rate and respiration made the monitors beep faster. That brought Dradvia’s attention. She stood and leaned over him. “Sisnil? It’s Dee. Can you open your eyes for me?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

His eyes were open. He tried to focus on the dark shape over him. “Dee? You’re there?” He asked. There was a tone to his voice she’d never heard before, like he was on edge or nervous.

~ Zoi

“It’s me. I’m going to take your hand alright?” She reached down and wrapped her hand around his. It broke her heart to hear him so upset. “Here are your glasses. I’ll slip them on.” Very carefully, using one hand she slipped his glasses into place. “Hi, Cap’n.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“It’s like you’re a hologram or recording.” Sisnil said, that same tone to his voice. “Like you’re not really there.” He squeezed her hand. As she slipped his glasses back on and he could see better, he smiled a little. “Hey, Dee.”

~ Zoi

She smiled and squeezed his hand. “Hey.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek shyly. “Remember it will be disorienting until your Psilosynine levels come back up. Are you feeling up to an update?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Disorienting doesn’t even cut it,” he murmured, shaking his head. At her question though, he nodded vigorously. “Tell me everything.”

~ Zoi

“It went well. I had to take most of your Psilosynine, but your Psilosynine levels are already regenerating at a normal rate. It will be a few more hours though before you start to sense anything. Your occipital lobe and optic nerve have absorbed the Psilosynine. The less damaged cells are already showing healing.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “So it went well.” He said and squeezed her hand again. “Told you you could do it.”

~ Zoi

“Oh dear. Are you one of those? That always has to say ‘I told you so’?” She laughed softly. “Yes, you did. It took longer than I expected which is why you are so groggy. I had to give you extra sedative.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Hmm. Yeah, I am.” Sisnil said. “When can I leave sickbay? I…” He tried to speak to her telepathically, realized he still couldn’t, and instead tugged on her hand to pull her closer.

~ Zoi

“Hang on.” Dradvia pressed a button and he could hear the static of a force field. “Privacy field. What is it?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I can’t sense anything at all, Dee. And without my sight I can’t really tell who or where anyone is. It’s..... Freaky.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia had no idea how he felt; though, she tried. “Let’s get you up and eat something. You had extra sedative, so I want to make sure you are fully awake and steady. I don’t want you to fall on the way back.” She raised the bed and took down the field. “Alright?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Okay. …Dee? Don’t let go of my hand.” Sisnil said as he slowly got off the bed. He quickly felt dizzy and sat back on the bed to avoid falling.

~ Zoi

“I won’t.” She couldn’t imagine how alone he felt right now. “Sit back. Here,” Kgnan handed her a glass of water that she pressed into his hand. “Drink. Kgnan is going to the mess to get you something to eat.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil drank some of the water, sitting back against the bed. He squeezed her hand gently, as if to check she was still there. “Okay. Just stay here,” he said again.

~ Zoi

“I am,” she squeezed his hand reassuringly. She watched him for a moment. “Would it be easier if I gave you something to make you sleep. Just until your levels come back up?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Let’s just wait till we get to my room and see,” Sisnil said. He blinked a little bit, “I have an awful headache.”

~ Zoi

“Lay back,” Dradvia took her tricorder and ran it over him. “Well I was messing in your brain a lot. Here,” she loaded a dose of acetaminophen into her hypo and gave him a dose. “Let’s see if that helps. I need you to recline back and let your blood pressure level out for a few minutes, alright?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil lay back for her. That was all it was, a reaction to the surgery. He closed his eyes and waited. “I’m starting to feel more awake.” He said. “That’ll help, right?”

~ Zoi

“It will.” Kgnan arrived with the food. Dradvia squeezed his hand, “I’m right here,” and let her hand slip away so she could take the tray. Kgnan was really wonderful, he remembered what Sisnil usually asked for and brought it. The man was totally attentive to his patients. Dradvia grabbed the glass of juice and set it in Sisnil’s hands. “Drink this first. This and food will help too.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil made sure to thank him. He was an outlaw, not a jerk, after all. He started drinking the juice, holding the cup in one hand, and reaching for Dee with the other.

~ Zoi

Kgnan liked Sisnil. He took no crap, and he was kind to Dradvia. Kgnan was older and had no romantic interest in Dradvia at all. His point of view was purely from a man who had a younger sister.

Dradvia squeezed his hand and then set hers against his side, “So you can have both hands to eat.” She pulled the rolling table over so he could reach the tray. “There.” Kgnan had added something for her too. She picked it up and nibbled the sandwich. Not super hungry, but she was glad Kgnan had thought of it.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“No, Dee, don’t let go,” Sisnil said abruptly, with more fear than he’d have liked. “Please.” He glanced at Kgnan, then looked back to Dee. “I can’t feel you.”

~ Zoi

“Okay,” she took his hand again, and after a moment she laced her fingers through his with a soft flush. She ate quietly, just being there with him. She would talk, but she wasn’t sure what to talk about.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

It was deafeningly silent to Sisnil. The sounds of others’ hushed thoughts was missing from his perspective of the world, and it was unsettling. He squeezed her hand gently while he ate with the other. “You know, there are Betazoids that lose their abilities… I don’t know how they live like that. I think I’d rather be dead.”

~ Zoi

“This proceedure was developed to help Betazoids that lost their telepathy. To try and restore some of that ability,” Dradvia said. “I read there are Betazoids that are considered super sensitive. They hear and feel everything all the time from birth. They can’t ever tune it out or ignore it. I read it is louder than normal conversation.” She also read they usually died in childhood.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer