Noone Saw This Coming

Posted on 24 Apr 2012 @ 5:26am by Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy & Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Captain Jonathan Holliday

3,876 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: Counsellor's Office/Sickbay
Timeline: MD3 1900hours

[ON]


Watching as John left her office, Dru smiled to herself. She really seemed to have made headway with their XO...once she managed to break down that business side of him; there was a nice kind guy underneath. At the end of the session he had been smiling and laughing, a side the counsellor felt he needed to not be afraid to show a little bit more. She found she was looking forward to meeting him tomorrow night and even to visiting Mars with him, but in the meantime she had this double date to get ready for.

As she turned around, a sudden dizzy spell descended over Dru alongside a blinding pain in her head. The headaches she had been suffering from over the last few days seemed to have come back with a vengeance. Losing her balance, Dru reached out to grab the table to try to keep herself from falling but her hand just grabbed air. As her head impacted the corner of the same table, Dru's last though was Lirha before everything went black.

As the doors closed behind him, John began making his way back towards the turbolift. He definitely felt a little enter that he had managed to get some of his emotional weight off his chest, but still it felt unusual to him to have allowed so much of his soul to be laid bare to an officer under his command. As he reached the door, he felt it would be best to check in with the bridge before turning in for the night. Stopping just shy of the doors he tapped his chest, expecting to feel the familiar texture of his combadge under his hand but instead felt nothing but his uniform.

Looking down, John saw a section of command red uniform that he did not usually lay eyes on during the day, and confirmed that his combadge was indeed missing. Thinking back, he realised that when Dru had tossed the small stuffed seal to him, it may have been enough to throw his badge free. Sighing he turned back on his heels and jogged back to the counsellor's office, tapping the door chime, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

As no reply came, John tapped the chime again, hearing the familiar bleep from inside the room, but no reply.

"Lieutenant, you in there? I think my combadge came loose earlier...mind if I come in and find it?" he called through the duranium door, hoping that she would hear him...but still nothing came. John was certainly uncomfortable now, and decided there was only one way to proceed.

"Computer, release door 236 Alpha, security authorisation Holliday Omega 4-9-7"

With its usual bleep, the computer recognised his high level access code, John watched as the door slipped open and headed inside. Seeing no sign of the lieutenant, he moved towards the couch, looking to see if his combadge was visible, assuming that Dru had simply slipped out whilst he was further up the corridor. As he moved his eyes from left to right, the XO saw something he didn't expect, his college slumped against the small table ahead of him, her eyes closed, her forehead bloodied and bruised.

Instinct took over and Starfleet training leapt to the forefront of his mind. Looking of the sofa seat beside him, he caught the metal glimmer of a combadge and reached out, grabbing it quickly and attaching it to his chest, activating the tiny communication relay as he did so.

"Holliday to Sickbay - medical emergency - transport incoming!" Slapping the badge again, he redirected his signal to the only place he knew could help now.

"Transporter Room - two to beam to sickbay - now!" as he finished his sentence, he wrapped his arm around McCarthy's neck and watched as the glimmer of the transporter beam enveloped them both...

As the message came over the comm, Pola jumped out of the chair at her desk, grabbing the nearest tricorder. Running over to the intensive care biobed, she waited only seconds for the patient to materialise. The transporter was set to automatically transport any patients to this location as the assumption was made if a person couldn't get into sickbay under their own power, then there must be something more serious happening.

As two bodies materialised, Pola moved to the woman who's eyes were closed, seeing the blood on her face. Starting a scan she kept her body angled towards the man, but her focus on the patient. "Ok. Move her to this biobed for me and tell me what happened? What condition was she in when you found her?" As she waited for the man to move the patient, she directed the next statement to a nurse hovering over her shoulder. "I need 20cc's of inaprovaline to get her stats stable and someone get me a dermal regenerator to get this bleeding stopped."

"I'm damned if I know Doc" John replied as he picked up the lieutenant's limp body as the transporter finished its duty, and ferried her the short distance to the main sickbay biobed, slowly releasing his grip as if he were lowering a baby into its cradle.

"I'd just left her office, came back because I'd forgotten my combadge and this is how I found her, I had to override the doors just to get inside for that!"

Taking the hypospray handed to her by a nurse, Pola pressed it against the woman's neck, watching the monitor for the vitals. "Damn...she's becoming bradycardic. I need 5cc's of chloromydride now!" Taking the dermal regenerator, she handed it to the man.

"I don't know who you are right now but I need your help. Press this button and hold this over the cut on her forehead. Don't mind the bleeding, it's not a bad cut, head wounds bleed the worst."

Following instructions John took the device and began to pass it over the wound, watching as the small wounds began to see together, and after a few moments they had been restored to their former state. John knew he was no doctor beyond the standard medical treatment all officers were expected to know, but he felt he still had to help a fellow crew member in need.

Without waiting for a response, Pola started scans on the woman's head, trying to isolate the problem. The scans were showing a depressed skull fracture to the front of the head which was causing pressure on the frontal lobe. It was also becoming apparent that the force of the bang, had sent the brain into the back of the skull, resulting in bleeding and swelling developing to the occipital lobe.

Swearing under her breath, Pola grabbed pressed a button on the bed and activated the surgical support frame. "I need an osteogenerator and an exoscalpel stat." Turning to the man and watching him repair the head injury Pola laid a hand on his arm. "This could get a little messy. If you want to leave now might be the best time."

"I'm your XO Doctor, John Holliday....I'm no surgeon but I've got a strong stomach....just do what you need to....or would you prefer me out of here?"

Pola bit her lip but realised she didn't have time to waste and she could do with the help. The nurse needed to fetch the equipment and medication and all other staff seemed to be occupied with other patients right now.

"Ok so John. I need you to move up to the top of her head and hold her steady. I'm going to need to try repairing the part of her skull which is applying pressure on her brain. I need to do this by trying to straighten the skull. I then need to make an incision in the back of her head because I need access to her brain to stop the bleeding. We might be so advanced we can perform miracles but when it comes to the brain we are still on shaky ground."

Grabbing two sets of surgical scrubs, Pola threw one at John and started to pull the other onto herself. Turning to the nurse still hovering behind her she issued some more instructions, "I need another 5cc's of inaprovaline on hand in case she deteriorates again and also get me a cortical inhibitor and protodynoplaster which I will need once the surgery is complete."

Turning back to the bed, she looked at John straight in the eye, "Last chance, are you sure?" Pulling on the surgical hat and a set of glasses, Pola grabbed the exoscapel and osteo regenerator.

By this time the commander had managed to find his way into his own surgical gown. It was true he felt enormously out of place, and normally would have made a break for the door by this point. That said, he never thought that he would have ended up serving on a science vessel and confessing his inner demons to that ship's counsellor. Something told him that if it was him who had collapsed, Dru would have hung around as moral support, and John felt the least he could do was return the favour by steadying his colleague's head.

"Like I said doc, I'm no medical officer, but I am her XO, it's either me, or I wake the captain."

Pola nodded her head, suddenly glad she had a strong XO on board the ship. The XO was one of the most important people and even though she herself hadn't got much contact with him, he was still important. Turning her focus back to the woman on the table, Pola took a breath. "Ok this may sound strange, but I need you to talk to her. If she knows you it'll help keep her calm, even if it may seem strange, or even if you think she can't hear you. If you need to look away, do but whatever you do, don't jerk her head, keep it still. If you feel you can't talk to her then talk to me. Tell me what you know about her, who is she or even tell me about you. Just keep talking, it'll help you sit through this as well."

John furrowed his brow at the mention on talking to an unconscious patient, he was well aware that some people end up speaking to loved ones for hours at a time when they were in a coma thinking it actually achieved something, but the commander was less than convinced....nevertheless, a medical order was an order, and he was damned if he was going to break protocol. Taking up position at the top of the biobed, he laid his hands on her forehead and held it steady as he spoke.

"Well then, err, Lieutenant..." John gulped as he thought through his sentence. He felt correct using her rank now, the position of authority he held giving him some solace.

"I'm ordering you to get through this....you know full well how much paperwork I'll end up having to do if something happens to a senior officer....plus who else am I going to drag off to Mars?"

Watching John, Pola moved to the patient's side, using the exoscapel to make an incision in the skin in order to reach the bone, allowing access to the bone causing the increased intracranial pressure on the woman's head. The Doctor's worry was that is the pressure wasn't released it would result in the patient going into a seizure which could be fatal at this point given the rest of the injury to the brain. Concentrating on the point at which the incision was being made, Pola changed the frequency of the exoscapel in order to allow her to make the incision into the bone. Once a tiny sliver of the bone had been cut away, Pola checked the vitals on the bio bed monitor, watching to check for a change in brain activity. Where the activity in the neurological paths had been rapid, this started to decrease, not to normal levels but a decrease indicted the incision was working. Taking the osteo generator, the Doctor moved it alone where the hole in the skull was present, watching the bone started to knit back together. Once this was done, Pola passed the dermal generator over the skin until no mark was left. All the time watching the monitor and listening to John as he spoke, the Doctor moved her arm to wipe away the sweat forming on her forehead. "One down, one to go."

"No time like the present then Doc, don't let me stand in the way of medical progress....I need my senior staff on their feet" John nodded to the doctor and smiled in appreciation of her work. It wasn't unusual for modern doctors to work quickly, but the speed that the latest member of the medical team on the Galileo had operated at gave John more than a little confidence

Again moving to wipe away the sweat, Pola moved down to stand at the patient's side. "Ok, I need you to move up here in front of me. I need to place the patient on her side. The surgical frame will help hold her in place but same as before, if you could help hold her and just talk to her it would be of help."

Taking the surgical frame, Pola moved it into place and waited for John to help her. Her focus right now was in trying to help the patient, she didn't even know the girl's name but there would be time for that after. It was easier to focus on the task at hand when she could stand outside of it and allow John to take care of the personal. She didn't mean to seem cold and distant but it's the best way she knew how to do her job in an emergency.

"Understood" John acknowledged as he was given his next set of orders, and quickly set to work levering the small framed Lieutenant onto her side, feeling as the frame quickly came into play and did its job perfectly.

"Any idea of a prognosis? I need to report this to Commander Saalm and I'd rather have a decent idea of what's going on before I do so?

Adjusting the height of the biobed so her eyes where level with the back of the patient's head, Pola readjusted the monitor showing the vitals so it was in clear view. Picking up the excoscapel again, Pola starting to repeat the procedure to open the skull as she had at the front of the head. The only difference this time was that not only did pressure need to relieved but she also needed to stop the bleeding before a hematoma occurred which would result in further complications. "I'll tell you what John. Let's deal with the issues we have here first and then I'll be happy to sit down with you after and I'll even help you file the report. We can call it a date." Despite making the joke, Pola's face only conveyed worry, she was using the humour to try soften the situation, it was easier to try focus John on the patient and general information, it took too much concentration too try explain it right now and to try simplify the terms. As Pola opened the skull she realised thing where not going to be simple, a hematoma had already formed.


"Understood....you just....do what you need to do, and as soon as I can get out of your way I will do..." John was becoming more than a little disturbed at the sight of one of the ship's senior officers in such a state. There had of course been major advances in the field of medicine since the turn of the 24th century, but some things just couldn't be done any better than they were centuries ago.

Hearing the nerves in John's voice, Pola kept her hand steady as she attempted to remove the blood clot without causing any further bleeds. She had a funny feeling this might happen, thus why she'd tried to keep him talking and tried to keep the mood light.

"Tell me about this girl. Who us she? What do you know about her?"

As Pola managed to get the blood clot loosened she found what may have caused the fall resulting in the head injuries. It was evident that a subarachnoid hemorrhage had occurred in the back of the brain. Blood had started to accumulate in the folds of the brain matter which had built up. It was something easily missed unless it was looked for. Pola felt sorry for the woman, a side effect would have been severe headaches, nausea and a stiff neck. She may not have had all of the symptoms, it looks like the fall may have agrivated the slow bleed, causing the clot to form. Taking the dermal regenerator, Pola started to repair the area of the bless, staying alert to the monitor readings.

"Watching the doctor's hands, John couldn't help but be in awe of the work she was performing. The ability of medical staff and engineers alike to perform their duties which involved such delicate and complicated motor skills had always been something he had never been able to replicate himself. At the thought of being asked to speak about the Lieutenant, John was susprised that he didn't really know a great deal.

"Apart from what's in her service record? Not a huge amount....Lieutenant McCarthy is our ship's counsellor...good with people, terrible with a phaser....has a stuffed toy seal on her desk for counselling sessions, pretty good at calming down an XO who got overly angry with a tactical training program....."

John couldn't help but smirk to himself as he remembered the little seal that had essentially saved Dru's life...had she not decided to throw it at him, he never would have lost his combadge, and never would have come back to look for it. It was strange that the smallest things could make the biggest changes in life.

"Apart from that, well, I hadn't gotten around to knowing her well enough, nothing more than what I had to know as her boss anyway..hopefully I'll get the chance if modern medicine is anything to go by"

Smiling slightly, her concentration on the work infront of her. Satisfied the dermal regenerator had stopped the bleeding, Pola stepped back to take a brain scan of the patient's brain which was updated to the monitor. Taking a quick glance before then enlarging the areas of the frontal lobe and occipital lobe. Satisfied the bleeds were under control and the pressure relieved, Pola turned to check the neurological levels of the brain. Finding them slightly elevated, Pola made the decision this would be fine for now until everything else was treated. During back to the patient, the Dictor picked up the osteo generator and dermal regenerator in order to repair back the skull and skin layer. "How about yourself? You seem to be taking a keen interest in your sen...."

"Shush!" John barked without warning. It was not usually his preference to simply shout orders at his subordinates, but this time something had gotten his attention. For the past few minutes, he had been able to feel the gentle tickle of McCarthy exhaling against his fingertips as he held her head and neck, but it occurred to him all of a sudden that the sensation he had almost become accustomed to had vanished.

"She's not breathing..." He muttered darkly, as the computer's natural instincts kicked in and began to sound the standard high pitched alarm that indicated something was amiss.

As Pola listened to John, she hit the monitor to turn off the alarm blaring before hitting a button to lower the biobed and set the surgical frame so as the patient was in her back. Checked the monitor Pola realised she had to work quickly, the patient's airway seemed to have collapsed and she couldnt breathe. Activating the stasis field, the Doctor placed the patient into suspended animation until what was required now could be replicated.

"Damn, damn, damn...How could I miss that?!?"

Resisting the urge to hit something, Pola walked over the the replicator unit in order to create a breathing tube and mask. "Someone get me 10cc's of inapprovaline." She knew the oxygen was connected through the biobed and with all of this they may have a chance to stabilize the patient, the Doctor would need to deal with the remifications after.

Letting go of her head as soon as the stasis field engaged, John looked down at his colleague, now appearing almost frozen in space and time as he breathed a sigh of relief. The stasis field was not the ideal answer, but at least it would prolong her life long enough for more complex medical care to be provided.

"Doc I'm no...well I'm no Doc....but that can't be good, right?"

Rubbing her face in her hands in frustration, Pola took a quick moment before moving herself back into action. Taking the equipment back to the bio bed and taking the hyospray from the nurse, the Doctor connected the tube to the oxygen outlet on the biobed."No, it's not good....The neurological levels dropped suddenly, I had been monitoring it and they had been high, they'd started to reduce to normal levels as I carried out the repairs....her brain had been coping but it's like it decided to just give up." Pinching the bridge of her nose. She then dropped her hand and looked John in his eyes, "Basically her brain isn't creating sufficient energy to be able to keep the the body breathing on its own.....The only thing I can think of is that her brain is gone into shock from the levels of injuries an has gone into hibernation....a coma."

Walking back over to the biobed, Pola looked down at the the patient she now knew was Counsellor mcCarthy, she still didn't know the woman's first name but she would find out. "Im going to have to ventilate her and after that, it is a sit, monitor and pray scenario...The brain is still an organ we know so little about..I've done the repair I can, I can't see anything else we can do."

"Good work doctor....I....I need to report this back to the Captain....do me a favour, keep me apprised of any developments."

Grabbing a hold of his scrubs, John tore them away from his body and threw them into the waste disposal. He knew that the CO would need to be informed of this, but he wasn't exactly sure how to bring up the incapacitation of a senior officer in the middle of their first mission, he guessed he would just have to bite the bullet. Rubbing his head, he spoke not another word, and headed out into the corridor.

[OFF]


LtCdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Cheif Counsellor
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Pola N Dhuinn(Pnpc McCarthy)
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

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