Poor Jaana (part II)

Posted on 23 Aug 2015 @ 4:06am by Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Ensign Jaana Voutilainen & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Anderson

1,265 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 03 - 1100 hours

[ON]

As Allyndra finished up the physical regeneration on Jaana's liver, all Tuula could do was attempt to comfort her unconscious sister, holding her hand and patting her on the head while thousands of thoughts ran through her head. How could she not have noticed?

Since the moment Jaana came out of the womb seven minutes after her, Tuula had always tried to protect her little sister. On the playground, she would try to protect Jaana from the bullies who made fun of her when she struggled to learn how to read. In high school, she would find her ways of getting revenge on those who were as callous towards Jaana as only teenage girls could be. But now, with tears in her eyes, she realized that she couldn't protect Jaana from her own demons.

And even with all her medical training, Tuula still didn't understand what had happened. Even in her present state, unconscious, frazzled, and breathing through a gas mask pumping anasthesia into her lungs, Jaana was so beautiful. And yet, she couldn't even see her own beauty.

"Are we just about done?" asked Tuula, on the verge of tears.

The threatening tears were hard to hide from Eric as he looked at his boss. Hesitating for a moment, he stepped in closer to Tuula before placing a comforting arm against his shoulder. At least this was something he could help with, "She's going to be ok. This was caught on time that we can reverse the physical damages. The psychological will take more time and work but what matters is now we know and can help."

"Yes, just about finished. Even managed to restore most of the enamel as well. Luckily it had not eroded too far in. I am going to recommend a dentist though to check out things. Alright..." Allyndra pushed the machine to side taking a look at the readings. The ALT, AST, ALK, all were looking much more in line, the bilirubin was still a bit high but hopefully should resolve itself in a few days. "Very good, things are looking much better in liver function. I think we can bring her out of anesthesia. Nurse if you would please keep a look for signs anesthesia distress."

She would as well and she would normally have asked Tuula but this was family here and she had allowed Tuula to stay out of respect of her status in sickbay but did not want to get her involved with the actual process.

The gas was switched and Allyndra made sure that things were looking good there. Eric would keep an eye on the patient and readings as Allyndra brought her up to make sure she had no vomiting or other distress. The last thing they needed was her to vomit and then choke.

As Jaana's eyes began to flutter open, Tuula placed a hand on her shoulder. "Jaana," she said softly, "I'm here."

Confused and disoriented, Jaana looked around, quickly realizing by her surroundings that she was in sickbay. "Tuula?" she asked. "I must have fainted; I was feeling kind of dizzy and..."

Tuula held her sister's hand and tried to hold back tears. "Jaana," she said softly, "I know why you fainted."

Looking up into Tuula's eyes, Jaana could see that her sister knew everything. "I want to be alone," she replied in a weak voice.

"But Jaana--"

"Please, Tuula, I want to be alone."

Tuula sighed and looked up at Allyndra and Eric for guidance. She didn't want to leave her sister's side, and it hurt her that Jaana would ask her to leave. "Okay," she said, a tear running down her cheek as she pushed herself backwards and towards the office. The pain she was feeling for her sister was only magnified by Jaana's request for her to leave, and she began sobbing uncontrollably as she slinked back to the office.

Allyndra could see the pain in Tuula and in some respects though she could see why Jaana would not want Tuula there and the reasons why. She double checked the air flow and readings and then nodded to Eric. "Please continue to monitor and alert me if any change for the worse." She then followed after Tuula and came to the office door.

"Would you like to talk?" It was a simple request but she also expected to be rebuffed. The two sisters would need time to reconnect but she would be there for them just in case.

"This can't be happening," cried Tuula as she looked up at Allyndra with tears in her eyes. "I'm her big sister. Yeah, only by seven minutes, but still. I'm supposed to protect her, but... how could I have not seen this?"

Eric moved his focus to the patient and monitoring her vitals. Although she was no stabilsed and conscious, the next few hours would still remain important in relation to helping the patient pull through all of this; to help her come to terms with the consequences of her actions.

Allydnra moved into the office and took a seat. It seemed a bit strange to be on this side of the desk but that was a fleeting thought. "Sometimes we do not see what we do not want to see. We want things to be a certain way and ignore when it does not seem to fit that."

Tuula sighed. Allyndra could always be relied upon for her wisdom, but it was only minimally comforting. "I guess," she replied in a distraught tone. "I just can't believe that she was going through all this pain... it would have had to been for a while to do so much damage to her body... please, tell me she's going to be all right."

"As I said, physically yes, we got to things in time and we have a much better ability to bring her completely back to health. The mind though is something else. That is going to be harder and on both of you. I served as a Counselor before and this is something that you are going to both have to work through." Allyndra smiled in a genuine fashion and put a delicate hand on the desk. "Know that you both have friends, someone to rely on and I include myself in that statement."

Tuula leaned forwards and placed her hand overtop of Allyndra's. "Thank you," she said, looking into Allyndra's eyes before glancing over at Jaana lying on the biobed. "I'll do whatever it takes to help Jaana. It's the least I can do," replied Tuula, thinking back to when Jaana watched over her in a hospital bed in San Francisco five years ago. Were it not for Jaana spending hours by her side, she didn't know if she would have been able to make it through her ordeal. Maybe, it was time to replay the favour.

"Take your time, but I am going to suggest that she get some extra help with a transfer to a special clinic off ship once we get things settled here." Allyndra got up and headed out of the office to arrange the necessary transfer.

Inside the office, Tuula was left alone by herself. Her mind had been fuzzy ever since her encounter with Jynn, but now, she could think of but one thing: the well-being of her sister.

[OFF]

LCmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (J.G.) Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Anderson
Nurse
USS Galileo
(pNPC Drusilla McCarthy)

Ensign Jaana Voutilainen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galileo

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