Unwelcome Analysis

Posted on Tue May 14th, 2024 @ 6:04am by Chief Petty Officer Virginia Pryce & Lieutenant Dr. Daniel Brasken

Mission: S1 Episode 8: Resolutions
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Date 2371-10-20 at 0300
2080 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Nearly a week had gone by while Daniel worked on this infection. His whole department was tasked with working double shifts and he himself only left the sick bay to create the illusion that he was sleeping. In reality, he was continuing his theorizing in his quarters.

His stamina was impressive by any measure, but even he had his limits and was now relying on medical assistance to continue staying sharp. At the moment though, he hadn’t been sharp enough and his hypo was empty as he went to use it. Thankfully there was no one to witness as he then threw the device across the room from his desk and then heard the small sizzle of a broken circuit being exposed to air.

Daniel just looked at the broken device for several seconds before sighed heavily and pushed back from his desk. Standing he went over to pick up the hypo and then left his room. Even at the late hour he knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid anyone in Sickbay with the all hands on deck mandate he had personally implemented. Still, at oh three hundred, he wouldn’t have to deal with most of the people he dealt with most of the time and so hopefully he would be assumed to just have woken up early.

--

The turbolift doors hissed open and he made the very short walk from them to Sickbay. Still there were the sounds of chirps and beeps that assaulted his ears as he walked in from all the machines monitoring and processing. His annoyance was clear on his face and he went directly to the medical replicator and tossed the hypo in to let it get recycled into a replacement along with the medication.

The Vengeance had gone from a great many doctors on staff to very few and now just one. Of course Lamont and Rosen could have been recalled from the Rynall if need arose and the Gladius had her own staff, but the sudden absence of Mika and another of the nursing staff was certainly felt.

Like the others, Virginia had been hard at work trying to solve the mystery of the virus that had infected their crewmen but to little success. Even with all of her personal experience, the solution eluded her. What hadn’t eluded her was the fact she had developed a certain level of fondness for some of the people on this ship, and that was a rather terrifying prospect. Perhaps it was just the exhaustion that was affecting her good sense. She hadn’t even looked up from what she was doing when she heard the doors, but when she caught Daniel out of the corner of her eye going to the replicator and tossing something into it, she frowned and broke away from the console she had been standing in front of.

“Doctor Brasken? Is everything alright?”

Daniel turned to look at Virginia, his eyebrow raised slightly at the question. Considering everything going on with the planet and their limited resources to find an answer, he figured that the question answered itself. Then again, people all deal with stress in their own way and he wasn’t really that well known of a variable to most people on the crew. He schooled his features into their normal, relaxed state before he answered.

“I am not sure I can calculate the variables to answer that satisfactorily. However, at this moment I am simply dealing with a technical issue with a hypo-spray. I am certain I will have it dealt with momentarily.” Alright, perhaps he had gone too far into his default response. Ilan wouldn’t approve considering their recent conversations. Though he wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about the nurse beyond the professional relationship. Perhaps this would be a good moment to try.

“What of yourself? Is this your standard shift? I have lost track.”

“Did someone replace you with a Vulcan when I wasn’t looking?” Virginia asked with a chuckle and slight shake of her head, but the lingering smile faded as his question finally settled in her mind.

“No, it isn’t. It’s 0300, doctor, and I work the alpha shift with you.”

Daniel’s head turned to check the chronometer. “So it is, and so you do. It has been a rough night and I’ve not really been able to sleep. I was going to see about what I could do about it when I realized my hypo wasn’t working. I suppose I shouldn’t use the replicator and just grab a spare…”

“Have you been able to narrow down the quantum variables on the virus yet?”

“Not yet. We’re close though, I think.” She replied and moved a bit closer to him, the concern obvious on her face. “May I get you something to help you sleep?”

“I will be on duty before I’ll have a chance to reliably get any benefit from it at this point. I was thinking a stimulant would be more productive.” He raised his chin to stop any shadows on his face from making any fatigue he was feeling from being further enhanced.

“We‘ve all been taking those a little too much, really…” She eyed him a bit as he moved his head. “You should really get some actual rest. I can cover things here for a few extra hours and if there’s any real emergency I can call you.”

He hesitated and lowered his chin back down to let her see his actual level of fatigue. “They are relying on me..” He paused and then corrected himself. “Us. I cannot rest yet.”

“And what will they do if there’s an emergency and someone needs to be taken care of, but their chief medical officer is exhausted and prone to mistakes?” Virginia challenged. She’d been in his shoes before of course, she understood where he was coming from, but now it was her turn to give the advice.

“Does this not count as an emergency that requires the full attention of the chief medical officer?” Daniel’s temper flared a bit, though he was far from yelling his voice did take a slight edge as he spoke. Something in the back of his mind told him to calm down, but he was unable to take notice of it at this time.

Virginia didn’t rise to his temper outside of crossing her arms. “At this point, no, it is not a dire emergency. Our people are safe in stasis and you know what exhaustion does to the mind. It could be something simple you aren’t seeing because you’re too tired to see it. You also know perfectly well exactly what I am referencing when I say an emergency that you might not be prepared for.”

The muscles in his arms tensed and relaxed in an almost spasmodic pattern as he processed her words and change of stance in response to his own. He turned away from her and slammed a fist down on a nearby counter top in frustration. The urge to lash out physically was intense and he knew better than to target another crew member for several reasons, least of which was that she didn’t deserve it.

Daniel knew her words were fact and this was a common discussion that medical crewmembers had with non-medical. Everyone always assumed that only they could be the person to fix some problem and if they just pushed a little harder, it would be done. “It would be hard not to know what you referred to with recent events…I do not have to like it, however.”
She jumped slightly when he slammed his fist into the counter and for a split second, her resolve faltered. Terrans and their violence. She regained herself quickly though and simply tightened the fold of her arms and deepened the scowl on her pretty face. “You don’t, no, but you still have a responsibility to this crew to be responsible. You need to rest.”
Keeping his back to Virginia while his jaw clenched and unclenched after a deep breath allowed him the mental gymnastics to believe he was actually in control and that his subordinate wasn’t having to chastise him for a very basic concept. Daniel turned around after he had regained his composure and gave a slight nod, “Admittedly this is bothering me perhaps more than I expected.”

Daniel blinked slowly to allow his tear ducts to have a chance to naturally lubricate his dry eyes and was a bit surprised. With his eyelashes blurring Virginia’s features, taking the sharper edge off her jaw and such, she actually almost looked like Ilan. The truth of the matter is that the one person he had any real connection to in the fleet was in one of those stasis pods. He trusted Ilan and had even come to rely on her for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which was the physical stress relief she was able to provide.

“That’s understandable.” Her body relaxed a bit from how she had been holding it since he seemed to be relenting - at least somewhat. “After everything that has happened, this entire situation is extremely difficult to process and deal with. You aren’t alone in it, though, sir, and the best thing you can do for yourself and everyone else right now is to stop acting like you are.”

The doctor kept his eyes at half mast, allowing for the illusion to continue and imagine that Ilan was the one advising him. He knew intellectually that where the advice came from shouldn’t matter and that facts were facts. Still, the part of him that he worked to maintain control of was having more influence and it was calmed by the distraction. He nodded before opening his eyes again with a sigh. “I’m not sure I can bring myself to use a tranquilizer to help me sleep though, considering the emergency that was alluded to moments ago. I guess I could try and wear myself out in the gym.”

“Does that usually work for you?” Virginia asked, obviously slightly skeptical of his plan. “When did you take your last dose of stimulants? Don’t try to deny you have been, I can see the signs all over you.”

“Hit or miss on effectiveness.” Other methods were much more effective as exhaustion and release of dopamine combined has always worked better. Daniel considered to himself about the second question and knew exactly that is was only a few hours ago, the diminishing returns having caught up with him a couple days ago. Still, he had to make the show good. “Around lunch time”

“Well, you can go give it a try or I can give you something light just to help you calm down and relax. I would be willing to bet good money if you did that you’d fall asleep quickly enough and you won’t be under a strong sedative in case something happened.” The woman offered with a slight smile. “Why don’t you catch me up on where you are on your research and I’ll keep it going while you rest.”

“Very well.” Daniel made his way to the main lab station to bring up the current logs and results that he was working with. His explanation was a bit on the technical side as he was not in a mental state to search for alternative words. As he explained his process and findings (or lack there of) the back of his mind recognized as well that he didn’t want to leave. His isolation had been second nature while working on this problem but until he was here and confronted by Virginia he had not really considered it.

Isolation was safe and easy, but the removal of the one person he had any real connection to on the ship as well as the fleet was having an effect on him. In all reality he didn’t want to leave because at least with Virginia he wasn’t isolated, but also at the same time it meant he wasn’t alone with his thoughts to consider what that meant for him. Perhaps it might be good to go spend some time in one of the crew gathering places and get very very drunk…

END