Rub Some Dirt in It

Posted on Tue Jul 19th, 2022 @ 5:19pm by Lieutenant Christoph Ivers & Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant JG Karen Lamont
Edited on on Tue Jul 19th, 2022 @ 5:21pm

Mission: S1 Episode 3: Phage
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Mission Day 2 at 1645
1518 words - 3 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Omar Ayal had only wanted to serve the Empire. To make a difference in even the smallest of ways. His family was nothing of note, but perhaps through service they could be elevated... that was the hope at least, but now they were here. He had received a call to transport Lieutenant Ivers back from the Lovarr and he did so without question. His attention was focused completely on the console in front of him and he greeted Ivers with a "Welcome back, lieutenant." When a groan and a heavy, fleshy thud was the reply he received, Ayal looked up and immediately yelled in alarm as he saw the bloodied, battered form of the officer he had just transported. "Shit! Shit shit..." He panicked and started to step away to go to Ivers, but what could he do. He hastily slapped at his chest, missing his commbadge twice but landing on it the third time. His hands flew over the controls as he delivered his message with a frantic note. "S-Sickbay this is Petty Officer Ayal in transporter room one. I just beamed Lieutenant Ivers back from the Lovarr and he... he's in really bad shape! Request permission to transport him to sickbay immediately!"

"Permission granted, Mr. Ayal," Dr. Karen Lamont responded. She noted the frantic tone in the Petty Officer's voice and her own was concerned, but remained calm and professional for all that.

Christoph was only vaguely aware of the scenery around him shifting again and then the bright, blurry lights that suddenly dominated his vision. He closed his eyes slowly, letting out a wheezing breath as he tried to will himself the strength to get up. "Mad..." He choked out and opened his eyes as much as he could. "Maddie..."

"It's Dr. Lamont, lieutenant," Karen said gently as nurses helped him into a biobed as she worked the controls. "I need you to hold still for me, ok? It looks like you got pretty badly banged up." She walked around towards him with a tricorder running, taking readings.

"Uh huh." Christoph agreed and gave a ragged, gurgling cough. Even if he wanted to move, he really couldn't at the moment. He opened his eyes and then thought better of it, closing them again. "Ow."

"As rough as it seems, there's nothing here we can't treat fairly easily," Karen said. "There's just a lot of it. Would you like something for the pain before we begin?"

"Yes, please." He coughed again and managed a weak smile on his bloodied, slightly disfigured place. "May look like it, but I'm not really a masochist."

Karen nodded and reached for a hypospray. She injected it into his arm. "That should make you feel better," she said. She then walked over to a counter and returned with a mask connected to a tank with a small device connected to the top. "This is for your breathing and to help with your trachea. It's non-intrusive. It just goes over the mouth and nose. Try to keep breathing normally." As she spoke, she affixed it, holding to his head with small straps. The treatment was based on internal pressure so, briefly, before the painkiller fully took effect, it likely felt like he had a bit too much air. "It might feel you're breathing too deeply. It's supposed to feel like that. Just breath normal."

He initially shied away from the mask, not wanting something over his face (it just seemed like a bad idea in his mind), but where was he going to go? He gave a grudging sound of acceptance, settling his head back down and tried to breathe normally. The sensation of getting too much air startled him, but luckily for Christoph, the painkiller began to finally hit and it calmed him into compliance.

The doors to sickbay slid open and Madeline Cassiel walked through with a sour look on her face. “Doctor is- oh fucking hell. Christoph?!” She barked out in alarm, hurrying over to where he was being treated but stopped short. At least she seemed to have enough mind to give Karen room. “What happened?” She asked Christoph and then looked up to Karen. “What happened?” She was frowning, obviously pained to see him like this.

"He'll be able to tell you in a few minutes," Karen said. She realized she hadn't inquired into how exactly he had come by his injuries. She normally only did so if it was important for treatment. Some things tended to stay discrete in the imperial service. She looked down at her patient and then looked up again at Madeline and her evident distress. "He'll be fine. He has a lot of injuries but none of them are serious." As she spoke, she retrieved an osteogenic stimulator which she carried over to her patient's bedside.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Madeline asked in earnest, still staying out of the way until she saw Christoph reach his broken and bruised arm out toward her. She stepped closer and touched the seemingly uninjured top of his head.

"I think he appreciates your presence," Karen said. As Madeline touched the top of Christoph's head, Karen gently took the hand extended to the other woman and lowered his arm. She carefully checked her scans, making sure the bone was not in a poor position, then she pressed the osteogenic stimulator against the arm. With the painkillers, the sensation was merely a dull tingling sort of feeling as the break was mended.

Madeline gave a small sound of agreement, looking at Christoph a moment more before turning her attention to Karen. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure we've really properly met in more than passing. Not like we have been busy or anything." She gave a rueful smile. "Doctor Lamont, right? I'm Madeline Cassiel."

Karen laughed. "No, not like we've been busy. It's nice to meet you, Madeline. I'm Karen," she said, relaxing the formality, but she did continue to work as she talked. Most of the broken bones could be handled with the osteogenic stimulator but she frowned over one in the shin. She spoke gently to Christoph now. "Even these days, it's not always possible to avoid a reduction before healing a break. With your current pain medication, you should feel a dull ache for a couple of minutes. If it hurts worse than that, let me know, ok?"

Christoph opened one eye to look at her and even managed a small grin. "Doesn't sound like my idea of a good time, but okay." He nodded while Madeline just shook her head and rolled her eyes at the semi-flirtatious quip Christoph had given Karen even in the state he was in. Men wouldn't be dissuaded at any point.

"Just imagine what it was like in the 20th century," she said, even as she carefully adjusted the bone, pressing gently but quite firmly as she set it. She double-checked it was in place before fusing it with the osteogenic stimulator.

"No I don't think I would like tha- ow." Christoph grimaced briefly then gave a long sigh.

"Just rub some dirt on it, Christoph." Madeline said and pat the man's shoulder lightly. "Though if you had a cast maybe you could get people to sign it for you."

"I don't know what that is and I don't want to." He grumbled in return and closed his eyes again.

Karen replaced the osteogenic stimulator with the dermal regenerator, going over the more superficial wounds now. Healing the skin. "I'm almost done."

“Thank you.” Madeline smiled at Karen as she worked and looked back to Christoph. “Since you’re feeling chatty now; what happened?” She watched his expression shift and become frustrated and in response she arched a brow.

“Training accident got out of hand. It happens.” Christoph sighed. “I wasn’t as careful as I should have been in that situation.” He then looked down to Karen. “Doctor, am I going to be able to leave today?”

"No, you're going to need to rest," she answered him.

“Ah, hell.” Christoph sighed deeply. “Fine. Fine. I know better than to argue with doctors.” He lifted his hands slightly in surrender so he wouldn’t be berated by either woman.

Madeline just rolled her eyes and shook her head again. “I am going back to work then. We can talk more later.” She looked to Karen once more and gave a smile. “Thank you, doctor. If he gives you any trouble just call for me.”

"I'll pass it on to Dr. Rosen," she said with a friendly smile. "It was nice to meet you."

“Don’t gang up on the patient.” Ivers objected with a smirk. “In all seriousness, thank you.”

“I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll come see you later.” Madeline said to Christoph then looked to Karen, giving a smile and a polite nod before she left sickbay. She would learn what really happened later, but she already had a pretty good guess. She would have to keep a close eye on that. It could be troublesome.