Slow Burn: Part 1

Posted on 12 Oct 2014 @ 11:04pm by Commander Scarlet Blake & Lily Blake & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Crewman Corealina Vipsania & Lieutenant Aria Rice

2,457 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 1 - Blake's Quarters
Timeline: MD 10: 2300

ON:

The young girl was just looking at the prone form on the floor, her head tilted as she mused and her teddybear tucked under her arm.

When Lily Blake had come out in the night for a drink, she'd happened upon her mother, sprawled across the floor of the living room. The young girl had proceeded to tip-toe her way through a treacherous sea of tribbles to try and wake her Mummy up, but she was still not moving.

And that was unusual. Her mummy always woke up.

Biting her lip in thought, Lily moved to grab the chair from the desk, pulling it over to the main computer display on the wall. Climbing up with a soft grunt of effort and a look of concentration, she hit the button that her Mummy had shown her to use to talk to the lady in the ship.

"Erm...I think I need a doctor, please?"

After a beep and a moment to redirect her request, the comm automatically opened with the Sickbay. After a moment of silence, Lily wondered if she was meant to talk first. "Hello? Is there a doctor in there?"

"This is sickbay," Lina frowned where she was standing in sickbay, at hearing a child's voice. "Is everything okay, darling?"

"Um..." Lily thought for a moment, trying to think on her words to get it right, holding Beorn close. "My Mummy won't wake up. She's usually very good at waking up when I bounce on her, but even that doesn't work. Maybe she is poorly?"

"What's your name, sweetie?" Lina asked, motioning Wylde over. "So we can come and see your Mummy." She reached out for the medical kit. Unconscious female, not reacting to physical disturbance. Did not sound good.

"Oh, Lily Blake!" the girl replied with a smile, speaking to the computer display that the voice seemed to come from. "And this is Beorn..." she lifted her bear, as if she'd be able to see.

In Sickbay, Alexion's brow pulled into a frown as he looked to Lina, folding his arms tightly in his anxiety. 'XO's child' he mouthed to Lina.

Lina smiled gently, nodding. "I am going to beam over to your quarters, Lily...with Doctor Wylde," she said and tapped her combadge. "Computer, transport myself and Doctor Wylde to Commander Blake's quarters. Medical Emergency."

In the minute it took for the transport to go through, Lily had moved to stand by her mother, guarding her with her bear held close and to her chest. "Shoo, shoo!" she pushed two stray tribbles away that were getting dangerously close to her mother's still booted feet.

Lina moved quickly over to the unconscious woman and her daughter, kneeling. "Hello..." she smiled and touched Lily's cheek. "It's okay, we are here now. Can you be a big girl and maybe contact...whoever spends time with you when your Mummy is on shift?" she asked, even as Wylde moved to Blake to check her.

"Okay, I'll talk to the lady in the wall," Lily nodded seriously, moving off back to the chair. There was concern in her voice, but not fear. Afterall, the doctor probably just needed to wave the magic wizard stick thing to make her better.

Alexion glanced to the girl, making sure they were out of her view and earshot. He was knelt at Scarlet's side, his tricorder already open and taking readings. It took a minute to gather all the information, but Alexion was looking over Scarlet himself in that time, even reaching out to feel her skin and her wrist.

Scarlet's eyes blinked open and she looked around with confusion. She took a sharp breath at seeing the doctor and nurse, but it was like her mind was clouded and she couldn't concentrate. Trying to push herself up to sit, her body was sluggish and difficult to move, like she was in a dream. Her left arm didn't want to work with her and fell back half limp at her side. "What...what's...?" she stopped and took a breath to try and get the words out properly. Even that was difficult.

Lina touched Scarlet's shoulder, to still her. "You're okay, we are here to help. You need to stay still, Blake," she said firmly, looking over at Wylde. "We will take care of you."

Alexion nodded, licking his lips as he leant close to her. He reached to touch the side of Scarlet's face where the muscles were struggling and weak on one side. "Okay, Commander, we are beaming you in to Sickbay," he assured, tapping the badge just as the door opened.

Aria looked at the scene for a moment before forcing herself to smile. She walked to Lily and touched her hair. "Want me to braid your hair and read you a story? Looks like your Mummy is going to get to go to sickbay and be pampered by the doctors and nurses."

"Wave the magic wizard stick?" Lily smiled as she jumped from the chair into Aria's arms, giggling as she wrapped arms and legs around her.

Aria nodded, holding her close. "Yes, something like that," she said, watching the doctor and the nurse disappear with Scarlet. She smiled, looking over at Lily. "Come on, poppet...let's have some hot cocoa and do your hair. And then story and back to bed."


Sickbay

Alexion moved around the surgical biobed, shaking his head as he looked across to Lina, his features holding his trademark deep frown of both concern and concentration. "Do we have any recent head injuries on her record?"

"No," Lina said as she frowned, considering it before moving to the list of those that had been on the away team. Treating Markos' head injury had made her think of it. "She was on the Away Team, but I have no records of her being treated."

"I think we must have missed her head injury, there's a haemorrhage on the brain," Wylde shook his head with concern as he moved around the other side of the bed, looking up to the large screen with readouts scrolling up. "I am trying to pin point the actual bleed. She is unconscious again, make sure she stays under..." he nodded to the tray of hyposprays and vials.

Lina nodded at the words, moving automatically to get the screen to block the view to the patient. She moved to get the hypo, pressing it against the unconscious woman's neck. She looked at the readouts, but focused on her vital. "She's stable, but her oxygen level is low," she said, reaching for another hypo in order to help her blood carry more oxygen.

Alexion nodded with approval to her. They hadn't worked much together yet even though they were on the same shift, but she was proving to be calm and focussed in her work. He pulled over another more complex scanner, setting it up around the First Officer's head, his eyes narrowing as he worked on trying to isolate the exact point of the bleed, even though the pool of gathered blood on the brain was making it difficult. "Got it," he finally let out a long, tight breath, pushing the scanner back out of the way with little care. "Help me get her on her front..."

Lina moved to the patient, taking a firm hold. "One, two...three..." she said and together they turned Blake over. She looked at her vitals, taking a breath. "We should move quickly, Doctor Wylde."

"Trying," he replied lightly, carefully positioning her head so it was steady with the side of her face resting against the pillow, to give him access to the back of her head. "Stabilise her head so I can work on her."

Lina nodded, moving to do as told, taking a deeper breath before releasing it. She looked at him, a small smile pulling at her lips. "Patient is ready, Doctor Wylde."

Alexion gave a slight nod, meeting her eyes for a moment, but in truth, he was weighing up his options. He brought up the isolated, damaged area on the biobed screen for them both to see. "It is a subacute subdural hematoma..." he used a finger to circle the narrow layer outside of the brain where blood had collected and was putting pressure directly on to the brain. "We have a number of days of bleeding already on her brain and it is causing the malfunction..." the question was, how best to proceed when they didn't just need to heal it, but also relieve that blood pool already there and already causing pressure on the brain. "And possible damage," he added grimly. "Get me the neuro-stabiliser and the bio-electric field generator," he gave a slight nod, brow furrowed in thought as he pulled his uniform jacket off and rolled up his sleeves. "We can stabilise her brain functions before we do anything."

Lina nodded, moving to get both instruments, automatically setting them for him. "In my experience, once the bleeding is stopped and the blood drained, the patient can make a full recovery," she said...an honest thought if nothing else.

"Let us hope that will be case," he agreed with a frown. She was right, most often it could when caught early enough. It purely depended now on how much bleeding had caused how much pressure for how long on which part of the brain. And providing they could actually heal it of course. "You are in charge of the stabiliser, and the generator if needed, I will stop the bleeding," he said firmly, taking a few moments to pinpoint the exact, minute area of damage that was actually bleeding, tilting his head as he adjusted his sights on the image to get the more precise and complex vascular regenerator in place.

The areas were so minute, the scale so great and the surrounding area so sensitive and vulnerable that it had to be exact, and the error for judgement was slim to none. His hands were steady as he watched the magnification with a focussed stare. He took a breath in, slowly, and only when he was letting his breath out, so on the steadiest part of his hearts beats did he activate the delicate regenerator, holding the beam in place, his lips parted as he worked and refused to give in to the urge to rush it.

Lina's hands were steady as she kept the stabilising tools at work and only adjusted them in line with the patient's changing condition, her eyes both on Blake's vitals as well as her brain activity. Both kept steadily and her oxygen levels had improved after the hypo. This was why she was a nurse. Because she could do this, without any real emotional connection to herself.

It took several long moments to heal the torn blood vessel, Alexion preferring to proceed slowly, surely and carefully rather than ending up having to do the job twice because of a shoddy job. He didn't do shoddy. He eventually switched to the cellular regenerator, taking his time to ensure there was a complete heal and not just a partial, immediate fix. "Repaired," he finally replied, his breathing coming back at a normal rate as he straightened up from having been bent over her, shaking his head with a frown. "There is a lot of blood in there, it is causing a lot of pressure on her brain. We will have to drain it, there is far too much for natural reabsorption."

Lina nodded as she smiled weakly, moving efficiently as she got the tray ready. "All ready, Doctor," she assured, checking quickly over the vitals again. She expected they would improve rapidly once the blood had been drained.

"Thank you," he said quietly, glancing to the tray for a brief moment to pick up the instrument with a quick hand. He leant down close to his patient again, parting her hair as he pressed it against the skull. He frowned with concentration as he moved it delicately, steady but firm, until it was attached and he started to work on the small panel carefully until the blood slowly started to drain.

Lina kept an eye on the vitals, smiling gently. "Pressure is being released...her vitals are becoming stronger," she said, in order to keep him updated on the progress of the patient.

"Good, good," he murmured, his eyebrows lifting in place of nodding his head, not wanting to move as he continued to relieve the pressure. "Now?"

"She is growing stronger," Lina said, with clear relief in her voice as she watched the vitals. "Nothing here hints of any damage to her brain that is endangering her life."

Alexion let out a soft breath of relief, healing her over before stepping back. "Then try switching the stabilisers off and see if she can remain stable alone."

She nodded, doing as told. She counted the seconds before smiling, nodding with relief. "Her brain is taking over...she is stable. Breathing has improved dramatically, Doctor Wylde."

"Good," he let out a long breath, stepping back to watch Scarlet with a frown, shaking his head softly. "I am inclined to let her sleep and wake naturally."

"I agree," she said and moved to pack away the equipment now that she was stable and recovering. "It will be better for her to wake up naturally...her brain will sort it all out. Properly...make what is needed into a dream and the rest...well. She will remember what she will remember."

Alexion nodded in agreement, looking across to her with a small smile at her agreeing with the approach. "Perhaps you would keep watch while I go and speak with her child's minder?"

"Yes...of course, Doctor Wylde," she said and smiled gently, taking a blanket to gently cover Blake, so she'd be more comfortable. She seemed relatively comfortable on her front anyway. "Her daughter might still be up and worried. They are not silly at that age..." she stopped and looked at him before bowing her head. "You did good work, Doctor Wylde."

Alexion shook his head with a half smile. "Only with your help," he said firmly, nodding back to her before walking off at a quick pace, forgetting to put his jacket back on. He made his way to the First Officer's quarters, pressing the chime with a frown. At least he could put their minds at rest.


TBC:

ENS Aria Rice
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

SWO Alexion Wylde
Doctor
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

CN Corealina Vipsania
Nurse
USS Galileo
[PNPC Rice]

Lily Blake
Civilian Child
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

RSS Feed