Medical oddity

Posted on Thu Mar 23rd, 2017 @ 6:49pm by Lieutenant Sara'draphia T'eseri

Mission: All the Kings Men: Wargames
Location: Medical

"We need a doctor, stat!" the corpsman said as the group were pushing the gravbed through the doors of Medical. The petty officer corpsman was on the bed, astride the prone Bajoran figure, bent over and pumping downward in sharp, rhythmic thrusts while also counting. "Breathe!" he ordered. A Marine rushing to keep pace with the stretcher carried by four other Marines squeezed a bag attached to a small triangular mask places around the Bajorans nose and mouth.

Without wasting time, the corpsman continued the chest compressions. "Over there," he said, indicating the empty bio bed with a nod of his head.

"Analyzing, clear the patient," a stern, patrician voice said. The corpsman sat up straight, hands in the air by his shoulders. "Clear," he said, giving the verbal command that would cause the AED device to continue its job.

"Shock advised."

The corpsman looked around, making sure everyone, including himself, was clear of the patient. "Clear!"

The Bajoran's chest hitched once. "Pulse not found, continue chest compressions."

The corpsman slid off the bed, "On three," he said, looking around for the medical staff to give the report.

Half asleep in her office, Sara was disturbed by the commotion outside. Slipping into her white Nissari uniform, she quickly walked out to see what was going on. Finding several Marines in her sickbay, Sara hurried over to them, "Report soldier," she ordered, pulling out a medical tricorder.

"Thirty-four year old Bajoran male, physically fit and no chief chronic complaints. Acute illness and was found unconscious with blunt head trauma," Hannah indicated the clotted cut on Beihn's head, "known to have 'felt under the weather' however, patient was found in state of severe dehydration most likely caused by severe emesis and encopersis. Upon discovery, patient suffered cardio-pulmonary failure, two shocks administered, CPR ongoing." Hannah indicated Sanger should give the two breaths.

Processing the information she was given, Sara quickly turned around and looked for a clear surgical bed. "Alright, bring him over here," she said, walking over to an empty bed and activating the controls.

Though, confused as to why they should move the Captain, Rogers made quick work of picking up Beihns and moving him from the one bed to the next, lying him out flat and then stepping back to be out of the way. As much as he wanted answers, and wanted to take some sort of action to end this situation, he also knew that he and the others needed to stay out of the way to let them do their job.

As soon as the patient was on the bed, Sara activated the surgical arch and began her scans. As soon as the arch closed, life support kicked in, keeping the man alive, "how long has he appeared ill? Did these symptoms appear suddenly or gradually?"

"Sangar?" Rogers said, bringing the corporal forward to answer the questions.

"He's not been feeling well for a couple weeks now," Sangar said, keeping his focus forward and away from the glare Rogers was giving him. At Beihn's orders he kept the true nature of the illness a secret. "He thought he was getting better, said he felt better, but then have a downturn. Nothing like this though! And he felt good for a couple days! Just last night I spoke with him and he seemed okay, not feeling well, but okay."

"Hmm" Sara said, thinking over this new information as she read the scans. Not noticing anything on the initial scans, Sara looked up at Rogers, "I'm not sure what I can do for him. I'll keep his fluids up, but I've never heard of this sort of thing before."

"But," Rogers said, feeling small again. Feeling like he was about to be taken back to the group home, having somehow allowed himself to believe this home was going to be permanent. "But you can help him, right? You can fix it? Using one of these things?" he picked up a tool at random.

"I'm not sure" Sara replied, turning her attention back to the continuing medical scans, "I can't see anything that would be causing this. His blood looks clean, there's no blockages in his........wait, that cannot be right," she said, changing the scan from microscopic to genetic.

"What?" Rogers asked as he tried to see what it was she was seeing on the monitor, though he had no hope of actually understanding anything not spelled out in common parlance. But, deep down, he felt if he saw what the problem was, then he could fight it. "What are you seeing?"

"I don't know, give me a moment, please," Sara said, her fingers moving across the display before her. After a few moments, Sara stopped. "Oh no, you poor man."

Oh no, you poor man, was never a good phrase to hear from a doctor. Rogers wasn't aware that he was also being crowded by others trying to figure out what was going on - what was being seen. The other Marines were giving glances that promised swift and painful violence against their corpsman who was trying to create space for the doctor to work. If it weren't Hannah, that promise might have been fulfilled.

"It seems that Mr Beihn has been exposed to a genetic virus. It's rewriting his DNA in an attempt to replicate itself, but it seems that the virus wasn't completely finished when it was released." Sara said.

"What do you mean released? Or unfinished? What are you saying, doctor? Just fix it." Rogers looked over the available equipment. "This is Starfleet, we have the most advanced medical technology available. Here," he said, again grabbing something at random to hold to her. "Just innoculate him from it or eradicate it or..." He trailed off, at a loss for words. Swallowing hard. "Doctor, just fix it."

Taking the item, Sara set it down on a nearby table "I'm sorry Mr Rogers, but this isn't going to be remedied so easily. It will take a great deal of time to figure out how to defeat this virus, let alone how to repair the damage, especially as I have no knowledge of this particular field of medicine. I only hope Starfleet Medical has someone with the proper training."

"Clear the room," Rogers said, more of a loud, muttered whisper, while he stared at Beihns.

"But, Lieutenant..." one of them started.

Rogers turned, eyes flashing with misplaced anger. "Clear this room five seconds ago!" he snapped before taking a deep breath. However, the Marines stiffened as if called to attention, then with a smatter of 'yes, sir' they turned to walk out. Rogers glanced to Hannah who shrugged, then turned to follow them out. It was only after they were gone that Rogers turned back to Beihns. "I'll be ordering an Honor Guard to stand by while he's here, don't even bother trying to get rid of them. I don't understand how he got sick. Who else is going to be affected? Do I need to get the entire command down here to be cleared again?"

Rogers spoke rapidly, letting the words fall out. It was like being returned to the foster home all over again. And...and...he wasn't ready to take over, even for the few hours of the wargames! He didn't want to take over, not like this! He'd have to inform the captain.

Giving a sigh, Sara tried to explain, "I'm sorry, but as I said I'm not an epidemiologist. I have no experience in this area of Medicine. If I were to attempt to remove this virus myself, I would be putting his life in greater danger than if I did nothing, and having two of your hair triggered Neanderthals standing around isn't going to change that face. Right now, the best thing for you to do is to notify the Marine XO that he or she should take command for the foreseeable future."

"'Hair triggered Neanderthals'?" Rogers asked, staring at the doctor. "I'm sorry, Doctor, that a bunch of us are under stress finding a man we love and admire near death over an illness we thought was minor. So yeah, maybe we're not acting our 'Fleeter' best, but we've managed to remain civil in our interactions and not result to insults."

That was it. Indignation. Anger. These would allow him to hold it together. He had to hold it together now. At least until this last round of war games and they returned to base. Or until he got back to his office, which was likely as long as he could do it. But first, she was right, the XO had to step up. And the ship's captain had to be informed. All of which fell to him. "Take care of him, Doctor," Rogers said, turning on his heel and walking out of Medical while the anger still flashed through him.

Slowly releasing her clenched fist, the blue energy gradually dissipated, Sara let out the breath that she was holding. She knew that he had a point, finding their commander in such a state wouldn't have been good for moral, but this was her sickbay and she wasn't about to be bossed around by anyone, not even the Captain. Turning her attention back to her new paitent, Sara got to work treating what symptoms she could find, hopefully allowing this man to live for a while longer.

End

Lieutenant Sara'draphia T'eseri
Chief medical Officer

First Lieutenant Christian Rogers
Marine Company Executive Officer