The Doc Aint Havin A Good Day (Part 2 of 4)

Posted on 17 May 2012 @ 1:52pm by Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Lieutenant JG Brayden White Ph.D.
Edited on on 17 May 2012 @ 6:01pm

3,276 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Sickbay
Timeline: MD06 0715hours

Previously....

Shaking her head, Pola smiled gently, "If you could that's be great. Ive already played with the idea of scheduling you in maybe 2-3hours every few days during our busiest periods. As I mentioned before, your priority is counseling but at this rate I maybe forced to make use of you. Well...it also depends on how badly you butcher my ankle aswell." Smiling up at Brayden, showing she was teasing, the Doctor suddenly bit back a cry of pain as an Ensign knocked against her foot. Feeling slightly faint from the knock, she raised a hand to her head. "I knew I shoulda broke out the emergency transporter codes. Are we nearly there yet?"

And now the conclusion...

[ON]


"Just about," he said, rounding a corner and taking her into sickbay. He eased her onto a biobed and started a lower quarter scan while he grabbed a couple spare pillows from empty beds to help her sit comfortably, looking in her eyes. "When was the last time you slept?" he asked, brushing his hand gently over her head. Every injury he'd had growing up, his father had brushed his hand over Brayden's head and the simple touch had done more to sooth him than most drugs. When he'd had children of his own, Brayden had found the same thing worked with them, and later with his patients in the field.

Slightly disconcerted by being fussed over, Pola was taken by surprise when Brayden moved his hand across her hair. She wasn't used to people fussing over her with her parents having never been around....it felt nice. Reminding herself she was his boss, the CMO grabbed the biobed monitor and swung it around so they could both view the injuries in better detail. "Right Brayden. Is the damage as bad as we thought? Will I live to dance another day?"

He watched her reaction, quirking a brow slightly as he turned to the monitor. Some doctors couldn't stand to be the patient, he thought, but it was more than that. There seemed to be a systemic, ship-wide antagonism towards any kind of interdependency. No one wanted to talk about their problems; no one wanted to go to someone else for help. At least she'd called him instead of trying to limp her way to sickbay herself. "Torn tendon. Same as before. That metorapan should be kicking in by now. Do you typically need a higher dose?" he asked gently as he unslung the bags from his shoulders.

Shaking her head, Pola pulled herself up abit more on the biobed. It was still weird to be sitting on this side, being a patient. "No, the dosage you administered has kicked in. There's still some twinges, like when that Ensign hit it but otherwise my body seems to be handling the pain threshold better."

He let her be for a moment, retrieving the tools he'd need - a steri-field generator, stasis generator, hover lift, auto suture, sub-dermal scalpel, anetrizine hypospray, and dermal regenerator, and setting them up along side the biobed. "If you could roll over on your stomach, please?" he requested. "We can make this as quick and painless as possible. And you'll be able to see the monitor more easily."

Pausing for a moment or two as this started to become more real, Pola took one last look at Brayden before nodding her head. Slowly moving her body, so as not to jar the foot, the Doctor lowered herself, placing her weight on her arms, until she was flat on her stomach. Pushing one of the pillows out of the way, Pola replaced it with her folded arms, resting her cheek on her forearm, her face looking at the monitor.

Carefully, he lifted her calf and positioned the hover lift beneath it to prop her foot up without putting additional strain on the tendon. Then he initiated the stasis field around her lower leg to keep her from moving during the procedure. "How are you doing?" he asked as he set up the steri-field and programmed the monitor to display a magnified view of her ankle tendons.

Placing her concentration on the monitor, Pola was suddenly stricken by how vulnerable she was right now. The power to fix this was out of her control. It could be weeks before she was back to full strength in the foot and it would be months before she could try ballet on it again. Reaching out to the only thing which felt familiar right now, the Doctor grabbed Brayden's arm as he moved up to her side. "Thank you."

"You're going to be fine," he told her. "You didn't really need both feet anyway, right? Kidding," he winked. "Just relax and breathe. It'll all be over soon enough. When did you start dancing?" he asked as the steri-field generator blinked green and its warm glow expanded around her foot and ankle. He sprayed 20 ccs of anetrizine down the back of her ankle and waited the requisite forty-five seconds before it took affect, sterilizing the sub dermal scalpel while he waited.

Feeling a loss as Brayden stepped away, Pola closed her eyes, placing her arm back under her head. She was starting to wish she had someone here with her, just to hold her hand. It seemed very silly but she really wasn't used to being in this vulnerable position, the person lying on the bed instead of being the person administrating the care. Listening to his questions, the Doctor focused on them and not on what was happening. "Um...I'm not certain in all honesty. My first memory was my Grandmother standing me on her feet, waltzing me around the room...It seemed to spawn from there. Have you ever danced? It's wonderful. If you need to vent frustration, or if you feeling alone it can be a distraction, even to bring a friend or a date along it can be fun teaching then dances such as a barn dance or a line dance." Realising she was rambling Pola figured, given the current situation, it would be ok.

"I did a little poi on the circuit. And I liked watching hula, never tried to learn it myself." He touched the back of her ankle with the blunt end of the scalpel, watching her. No reaction. "Did the requisite waltzing at my friends' weddings. Ever done the chicken dance? That one I'm very good at," he murmured as he carefully cut the skin on the back of her ankle and double tapped the foot pedestal to bring up a macroscopic view of the torn tendon. He dropped the scalpel in a sterilizing tray and began the process of reconnecting the achilles' tendon with the auto suture. It was meticulous work, but routine. "Do you think that a part of the reason you like to do it is because it reminds you of that time with your grandmother?"

Starting to shake her head, Pola stopped herself remembering that she couldn't risk movement. "That's only a small part of it. I do it as it's a reminder of how to escape. It's a reminder of me being able to find a joy and happiness in simple steps which focus my concentration, give me a new lease of life." The Doctor tried to figure out why she was being so open, this wasn't usual for her. Maybe her opening up to Jonathan last night had left her raw. "Do you have family Brayden?"

"You can move, I've got your leg in a stasis field," he reassured her, keeping his gaze focused on the monitor. "Family, yes: two brothers, a sister, three kids. My dad's still puttering around giving lectures on neuroscience to med schools. What about you?"

"My grandmother died a number of years ago. I've just my Mum and Dad left but they are on the USS Lincoln, on a deep space voyage last time I heard. I haven't had any contact from them since my grandmother's funeral." Pola made that statement very matter of factly. This was the second time in only hours she had repeated this story and is was disconcerting. She'd made a mistake trying to talk to Jonathan earlier, why would now be any different? "Three kids? I didn't realise you were a father."

He heard the slight hesitation in her voice as she spoke about her parents. She missed them, that was plain. But he couldn't split his focus between her ankle and her heart without risking one or both. So he talked about what he knew and put her story on the back burner for the moment. "I don't know that I really am," he said wryly. "I haven't seen them in years. Not since I took left Earth with Starfleet. Oh, I see them on vidscreens from time to time, but not very often. And I do my best to make sure I touch base with them at least once a week, but... there's more to being a father than just donating genetic material." He narrowed his eyes, twisting his twist to access a particularly hard to reach portion of the tendon. "They're good kids, though. The oldest, Ayati - she just started Starfleet Academy this year. Going into the family business."

"What has she decided to study? Or is she just going in general and will decide after first year?" Pola moved her forehead against her forearms as a tear fell down her cheek. Brayden didn't realise how much more of a father he was to his kids then her parents had been to her. To love a child was often more than enough. Contact and updates mean nothing unless the love was there also.

"Medicine. She wants to be a medical officer. Like me, she says, only 'real Starfleet'," he chuckled quietly. "Maybe if you ever get a spare second, you wouldn't mind writing her a message. Or sitting in on a call? Helpful hints on getting through; I never did the official Academy route. Neither did her moms." He rotated his foot, changing the angle of the view on the monitor and tightening in on it. "Are your parents in the medical field too?"

Smiling slightly at Brayden's request, Pola rubbed her eyes against for forearms. "I'd be delighted to help Ayati in anyway I can. I don't doubt though that if she is anything of a Doctor her father is she will very easily go places in Starfleet. A Doctor's world really is an oyster."

Thinking of her own parents caused the tone of her voice to lower again. "My father is a Doctor also, specialising in trauma medicine and has been known to be a field medic when the situation requires it. He current holds a rank of Lieutenant. My Mum, she's a surgeon specialising in Thoracic Surgery. She's also a Lieutenant. They are both very focused on their careers as Doctor's I believe." Even though her parent's made no effort to contact her, Pola knew people so was able to follow her parent's careers from a distance, watching them in life. At the end of the day, they were her parents.

"Sounds like they're pretty accomplished. They must be really proud of you, being Chief Medical Officer of a brand new ship when you're... what? Twenty-five?" He knew she had to be older, but he knew from one sister and two female best friends that it was always better to round down.

Laughing, Pola shook her head. "Are you trying to flatter me Mr. White? Try twenty - eight and you'll have it." Pausing for a moment, she thought over his statement about her parents and felt the tears start back up."I wouldn't know if they are proud or not, as I mentioned earlier they haven't been in contact with me in a number of years I'm afraid."

Brayden paused, holding his hands very still as he glanced up. Her voice sounded suddenly muffled and clogged and... he found her head buried in her arms. "Are you okay? Pola? If the anesthetic isn't working, I can give you a mild sedative. Nearly done, now, I promise."

Nodding her head, Pola wiped away her tears and propped her chin on her forearms in order to stare straight ahead. She was thankful they were tucked into a back corner, last thing her staff needed to see was their boss having a mini breakdown. "I'm fine thank you. The anaesthetic is fine, getting going as you are Brayden, your doing a good job."

The sound of her voice with her head raised and the careful movement of her hands over her face. Tears. He'd touched a nerve, all right, but not a physical one."You did ask for webbed toes, didn't you?" he joked lightly, getting back to work. Oh, they had things to talk about, but it wasn't fair to put her through the emotional wringer when he had her at his mercy like this.

Grateful for the change in conversation, Pola attempted a weak smile. Even though Brayden couldn't see her face he would be able to tell her mood by her tone. ""I don't know...do you think it'd get me a man? If so...webbed feet away."

"Men over overrated. Take it from one who knows," he murmured, keeping the mood light as he finished the last of the auto sutures, setting the tool into the disinfection tray and grabbing the dermal regenerator to close the incision. "You should want the webbed feet for yourself." He paused dramatically as the dermal regenerator did its work. "Although I'm not entirely sure why. Extra nerve endings in your toes, I suppose, if you have a foot fetish? Swimming faster?"

Pola winced at the choice of words, "Foot fetish? I'll leave that one with you if you don't mind. How about we leave the feet as they are? I'd like to know I'll be able to dance ballet again." Smiling slightly, Pola watched the monitor, seeing that Brayden was just finishing up closing the site of the incision.

He cleared his throat, eyeing the freshly healed ankle. There was barely any bruise to speak of, and that would be gone soon enough. "Now, I'm warning you right now, you're going to think you're fine. But you still have to wear the stasis boot when you're walking. I trust you to be smart about deciding when to stop using it. You know the rules. Exercise it without weight the first few days, soreness is okay, but if you feel any pain at all, back into the boot. Ready?" He nudged the monitor back to her so she could see the back of her ankle. "You'll be dancing again in a month. Maybe less if you're smart about the next few days."

Listening to her colleague, Pola sighed internally as she realised he was right. Thankfully the phrase boot was a little over exaggeration. The boot was the same as a normal shoe. The heel contained a power source which ran a statis field to keep the foot immobile and to absorb the shock of normal walking movements, protecting the injured area from impact but allowing the wearer to use the foot as normal, with just a slight limp showing evidence of an injury. The only one thing she'd need to be mindful of is making sure she didn't fall over, it'd be fun trying to get back up.

"Yes Sir. You planning on house visits to make sure I'm behaving?" Manovering herself very gently, Pola twisted so as she was lying on her back, able to look up at Brayden, "Can I have my lollipop now?"

"I only make house calls when requested. Otherwise people tend to get lazy." Brayden grinned, her words reminding him that there was actually more that he could offer her, "What you can have is breakfast and coffee. Amazing coffee. In your office. Don't want to make anyone jealous. You can eat while we wait for your boot to replicate. I know you're perfectly capable of fitting it yourself, but I've come this far. I'd feel like a slob if I didn't finish the job." He slung his bags over his shoulders again and offered his arm. "Hobble with me?"

Moving herself to the edge of the biobed, Pola placed her hand against Brayden's arm, transferring her weight on the left side to his arm. Managing to get to her feet, the Doctor let out the breath she'd been holding. "It's gonna be fun getting out of bed in the morning I think. Might have to sleep in my uniform do I can just pull the boot on first thing."

"At least then you'd be sleeping," he said, looking at her with a half-teasing grin that didn't quite match the sober concern in his eyes. In her office, he helped her to sit down and then retrieved the takeaway container and sealed coffee from his bag, setting both in front of her. "Enjoy," he encouraged her as he went to input the specifications of the stasis boot into the replicator.

Collapsing onto her chair, Pola smiled graciously before moving toward the food, slightly shocked at the vast quantity there, "Um...did I inturpt you having company for breakfast or go you just enjoy your food Brayden." Laughing, Pola couldn't deny she was hungry as she dived in.

"I enjoy food. And I guess our chef likes an audience," Brayden laughed. "The funny thing is, that's only half of it. I ate the other half of those portions before you called. Just woke up this morning and there was a banquet in front of my door." He grinned, coming back to sit across from her. "Turns out I made a friend - try not to choke," he laughed again, watching her thoroughly enjoy the meal. "And so have you, I hear."

Slowing down as she realised she was eating very fast, Pola blushed slightly. "I guess the exercise, the drama and the pain have built me up an appitite. It's nice to see my body still reconises it's morning though, the Beta shift can sometimes mess with you mind like that." Pushing some of the scrambled eggs around her plate, the Doctor glanced out her window, noticing her people on Alpha shift had already arrived and seemed to be settled in for a day's work. "What do you mean so am I? I think I missed something you said when I concentrated on the food." Laughing, Pola diverted her attention back to Brayden.

"You've made a friend." He took a sip from the coffee and put it back beside her. "And... drama?" he asked with a small tilt of his head.

Realising her mistake too late, she was reminded why she'd choosen Brayden as the ship's counsellor, he was very quick to pick up on the smallest of items. "Drama...I guess it's just been a long night of rehashing memories I'd pushed into a box and hadn't thought about in awhile but people keep saying things lately which seems to be unraveling the packaging."

"Or maybe you're just ready to start opening the box again," he said, folding his arms on her desk. "Are you?"

Sitting back in her chair, Pola suddenly felt an overwhelming tiredness rush over her as she lost her appitite. "Well you've already prodded the box while you were operating on me, what do you think?"

[TBC]


Lieutenant JG Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo


Brayden White Ph.D. (pNPC Kestra Orexil)
Counselor
USS Galileo

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