You did *WHAT* with that snowpick? Part 1

Posted on Mon May 22nd, 2023 @ 3:36am by Lieutenant J'airesh Mora-Heath & Master Chief Petty Officer Chuck Finley [Reece]
Edited on on Tue May 23rd, 2023 @ 5:48pm

Mission: Season 6: Episode 2: Survival
Location: The Medical Centre Tent
Timeline: MD tbc
4149 words - 8.3 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

The Medical Centre Tent was full. More so than it had been for the last couple of days. The Commander was doing all he could to save a very much critical patient and colleague of theirs and due to this emergency, there was a diversion of the rest of the numerous casualties across to the side of the centre to allow for Dr Sthilg to have room and clean space to work in.

As requested, J'air, the ACMO, was trying to take up the slack of all the remaining people presenting with wounds, or for further treatment, or even for minor First Aid which hadn't been priority on the first days down here.

Keeping the regenerators charged and the medcorders uploaded and ready for re-use had been charged to Ensign Penn Stiller and her Team which at least left J'air and her colleagues to work through the Triages and then the cases that needed more urgent help, following up with the more routine patients.

It wasn't as easy as it looked on paper, to prioritise without a full examination to make sure no-one was keeping modest about a particular level of pain or symptoms that might have seemed less important than they really were, but J'air was used to it by now and got on with it happily.

She also had to offer back up and planning and any other Departmental Extras that might be required to keep things running smoothly without the CMO for a little while. She made the greatest effort to do this as she felt she would really like to show her true colours in such a serious situation so that she could win her new Boss' trust at this level. She knew he was okay with her competence at the sharp end but here, deeper into the structure of the job, she was intent on getting it right.

So intent that she didn't see the MCPO coming in with a bloodied hand at first. Mags (one of J'airesh's tent-mates and colleagues) called J'air over after just a brief visual scan (and rolling her eyes once she had her back to the patient) Mags withdrew and left him to J'airesh.

"Hi, I'm J'airesh, the ACMO, can you please run me a summary of how this happened, starting with what hurts the most and if you have any numbness anywhere?" she asked, looking straight at the wound in such a focussed way, that she missed out taking in any details of the man himself - outside of his clear medical need.

"Well," Chuck replied as he admired the beauty in front of him. "I was doing some spelunking, deeper in the caves here, and I came across a mineral deposit that could be used in furthering the repairs up on the ship." He paused, then, despite the pain, smiled a charming lop-sided grin. "My name's Chuck by the way."

"Spelunking?" J'airesh repeated looking confused. "Never mind..... so why don't we start with some Analgesic, Chuck? Any allergies - apart from to Snowpicks?" She asked, picking out some generic pain relief from her Med-kit and holding it close to his neck, hesitating for his answer before dosing him. She finally looked up at him and took him in properly. ~He has really nice eyes!~ she thought within a split second as he began his reply.

~Wow! Those eyes are amazing!~ Chuck felt his breath catch when his eyes locked with J'airesh. A soft grin crept across his face, then he realized that she had asked him a question. "Oh, uh..no..no allergies."

J'air felt the electricity too at the same connective moment and couldn't help but look away at the hypospray, administered the pain relief and avoided meeting his eyes again. She felt herself pinken up in a blush which then made itself worse because she had become aware of it.

"Spelunking is where you climb down through caves. Sometimes you even need to do so underwater, wearing scuba gear."

"Ooh, sounds exciting!" she said as she ran her medcorder over his injured left hand, hoping to get a detailed scan of how deep and extensive the wound beneath the wadding and bandages actually was. It was deep, extensively so, and therefore there could be nerve and/or ligament damage. "But then again, not just exciting but dangerous. As you have found out first han...d....." she screwed up her face as she realised that was an unintented pun.

"Sorry... " she flinched. "I didn't mean that to sound so .... uncaring..?" As she spoke she had begun to cut away the bandages slowly and gently just in case it were to still be willing to start bleeding again once the pressure of them was released or loosened. She was concentrating hard, watching for signs or clues but she was genuinely concerned, even if this was perhaps not showing right now.

"This is very deep" she muttered, almost thinking out loud.

Chuck couldn't help but grin a rogueshly handsome grin as he watched the extremely attractive woman stumble on her words a bit. At least he wasn't the only one. He was definitely feeling an attraction to her. "So tell me," he said softly, trying to change the subject. "How is it that we haven't bumped into each other yet on the ship? I mean, I know she's a big girl, however, I definitely would have noticed someone as beautiful as you are."

J'air looked up, rolled her eyes and pretended to briefly run the medcorder over his forehead. "Clearly delirious" she smirked and returned to the layers of bandages. "Did you do this bandaging yourself?" she asked, secretly impressed at the First Aid knowledge and important, life-saving accuracy of the pressure applied and held there by intuitive and skilled application. "Someone, whoever did this, saved your life. There's a good chance you would have bled out without these." Reapplying the pressure she was losing from the bandages as they came off, J'airesh's frown of concentration returned.

Chuck first grinned at her reaction to his words, then nodded as he looked down at his heavily bandaged hand. "Yes I did. I've had some experience with emergency first aid." He decided to be a bit vague there, as he didn't want to startle J'airesh any with his painful history. Down the road maybe...

Turning the medcorder back onto Chuck's wound, she let it sample the blood type and details. It was awkward whilst still keeping the pressure on with one hand and wielding the medcorder with the other hand at the same time, but it was something she was used to doing and she was at ease with it. The results confirmed what she suspected, already quite a high amount of blood loss. She collected up the relevant stats and the monitor on the wall behind the bed started to scroll out a lot of data, all of which made sense to J'air as she put the picture together.

Chuck watched J'airesh work on his hand, as he started to feel tired. The adrenthat had carried him this far was finally ebbing away. He started to slouch more as he sat there. His head started to hurt more as well.

Feeling the pressure to get some more serious and urgent intervention into action now, J'airesh stopped listening to Chuck's reply and called over. "Satti" she called over to her friend. "Could I borrow you please to set up this biobed for i/v plasma for me? I don't have enough hands and it's urgent." Mags responded faster than Satti could and popped out of nowhere. "I've got it," she said and immediately began to set up the bed to receive Chuck. Her fingers began to fly over the LCARS light pads and the BioBed on which Chuck was sitting began to flash with soft but insistent lights.

J'air noted that Chuck seemed to be sitting a little more heavily and more alarms began to claxon inside her head. "Thanks Babe," J'air responded gratefully, giving her friend and roomie a big, full grin, eyes sparkling in appreciation.

Switching her medcorder out for a re-generative tool, J'air sealed off the severed blood vessels in Chuck's hand and made a temporary but sturdy repair to the whole wound. She could do the aesthetics later, she noted silently.

"Could you please lie on the bed, Master Chief?" she asked, all the while, gently guiding his shoulders back. "Up a bit towards the top if you can?" she added as she found him alarmingly easy to manoeuvre.

Chuck felt sluggish in his mind. He started to see pinpricks of flashing light in his vision. "O-okay..." he said softly, the earlier strength in his voice rapidly leaving. "I'm tired all...all of a sudden."

As soon as he was horizontal she flicked more LCARS and raised the bio-arch over him, her fingers speeding like fireflies over the tiny lights as data reeled up more quickly and in larger volumes onto the monitor behind. J'airesh said nothing at all as all her whole mind was working on the results she was seeing and the instructions she was giving to the bio-bed.

She imagined in a micro-second that the bed might be becoming a very comfortable warm temperature as it took control of his lifesigns and regulated any that were below ideal.

"I hope that's comfortable Master-Chief?" she asked at last, finally handing over the "thinking" part of this process to the Bio-bed as she dropped her shoulders in a more relaxed attitude now his vitals were improving. She put the i/v plasma onto automatic so it continued to refuel his system and compensate for the blood loss.

Looking up at Mags, who was still assisting from the bedside, J'air was visibly relieved. Dropping her "Doctors' expressionless mask" for her friend, it was now something that the patient could see as well.

"That was close!" J'airesh mouthed silently to Mags, whose pallor began to return to her normal darker complexion. It was Mags' turn to roll her eyes now, but this wasn't an indication of humour so much as agreement that this *had* 'gone to the wire' and suddenly. Seeing that the MCPO was looking very drowsy - as to be expected with the increased pain relief J'air had the bed administering, and the shock to his system from the lack of blood that she now had it correcting with the plasma, other medications and interventions. She breathed in deeply as his vitals slowly began to creep back over the 'red line' that indicated he was now functioning according to the criteria that passed as "normal functioning".

Looking at him directly again, J'air felt that connection, very much less sharp now as he was heavily medicated but a smile came to her softly. "You'll do," she said with a shrug and a pretence that nothing much had happened. However there was an intensity in her eyes as she added, "but could you please not try to crash on me like that again, it really is inconvenient when rude people try to die on mywatch!" It sounded stern and even a bit as if she was seriously tearing him a new one, but her lips had crept into a slight smirk as he began to be able to focus fully.

Through the medically-induced support, Chuck smiled up at the flame-haired angel that hovered over him. "As you wish...m'lady." His eyes then slid shut and he fell asleep, as the biobed took care of him, while he waited for corrective surgery to his damaged hand.

Deciding that this patient had been through enough for one day and wanting the bio-bed to do it's work in getting him stronger, J'Airesh decided to let him sleep for a while.

It was a couple of hours later, with Chuck's vitals now much stronger and him appearing to stir by his own volition, J'airesh prepped him for the extra surgery.

Chuck slowly woke, at first not remembering where he was. That was when he saw the angel with flame-red hair. "Hey.." he croaked softly, his throat suddenly dry.

"Hiya" the ACMO smiled back at him. "You're getting your equilibrium back," she told him. "I need to do a bit of work on that hand of yours. Is it your leading hand or are you 'right-hand-dominant'?" she asked setting the LCARS to anaesthetise just the left hand from the elbow nerve junctions.

"Don't worry if it starts to feel numb. I'll select out all of your lower arm in case I need to look closer at that wrist while I'm working." She went on but then stopped to look directly at him, waiting to hear what he was going to answer.

As she looked into his face, she took in some of his features. Absently, she put the back of her hand on his forehead in an old fashioned hands-on medicine' gesture that was ingrained in her comfort zone of back up assessment that had been such a basic and instinctive part of her training for all of her early life.

It was reassuring for her but not medically necessary with the Bio-Bed reading out his micro-acurate temperature and more, and sometimes when she just did it automatically, she mentally chided herself. Some patients/colleagues found it "unprofessional".... as her former fiance had been unkind enough to criticise her for it ...... (as if she'd been splashed with icy water, she shivered and frowned at the thought of 'him).... her focus was returned to the patient in a split second and her internal defence against that hurtful memory was to intensify her concentration. As a result the frown stayed for a few more moments.

"Ambidextrous actually," he said as he watched J'air start to prep him for surgery. "Though I do tend to hold my mojitos in my left hand." He grinned softly as he spoke. He then shook his head slightly as he continued. "Not worried about any numbness. I've been through a lot worse than this little scratch.

When she placed her hand on his forehead, Chuck smiled again. Her touch was warm and very gentle. And being this close, he was able to pick up faint whisps of a delicate perfume, which he found very pleasing, plus he was able to look even closer into her beautiful eyes. "How about, after I'm fixed up, we go have a couple drinks? I make quite a few excellent cocktails."

"I like the idea but I think it might be a bit soon for you to be fully healed from 'this little scratch' as you call the near self-amputation of your hand!" she was now relaxed enough about his readings to be able to joke with him. "So, before you start using the hand for twisting bottles open or shaking cocktails you need to think more about the nerves have been cut and damaged quite deeply. I'll do what I can to reconstruct the nerve net in here but you will need to be very gentle with it for several days! That's a lot longer than most regenerated tissues because nerves grow back slowly and without them completely connected and healed, you might damage them more if you do too much too soon!" she explained.

A slight blush formed and then slowly receding in her cheeks as she bantered with him about his cocktail making skills and the prospect of what sounded very much like a date, later. He was forward, there was no denying but he was also very attractive and she had all the hormones in all the right places which was why she had blushed.

As the numbing took up from the elbow downwards, J'air tested the ends of the nerves very gently to make sure she could unwrap the wound and set about sealing it back up, one tiny thin little layer at a time. She expertly regenerated the tiny vessels and pipes in his hand, releasing her own temporary interventions of earlier and finalising an aesthetically preferable job of making his hand look as if he'd never harmed it. Everything went well and, J'air found it satisfying to see the current result. There had been a lot of nerve damage that needed working on carefully and the depth of the cut was a challenge but J'airesh was more than capable of the microsurgery, especially when assisted by her competent colleagues and the technology of the biobed and the regenerator.

She made sure to keep the analgesic from the elbow down topped up and also the mild sedative the bed was feeding MCPO Finley to keep him dozing on and off and helping the time pass without having to render him unconscious again. As it was, there was no extra damage further up than the palm involved and once the ACMO had repaired all the multiple tiny layers of her patient's hand including the whole nerve net and scored bone, it was time to wake him up properly and get him to take a drink orally. Obviously the biobed had been keeping Finley's fluids up intravenously and J'air's nurses had been moistening his lips and tongue to keep his mouth from being uncomfortably dry but it would help his system to recover better if he were to be able to sit up straight and drink something warm and comforting and perhaps eat a light meal, to let his stomach know that his throat hadn't been cut.

J'air stood beside the MCPO's head as he regained all his alertness and faculties. "There, now you should be well on the way to becoming ambidextrous again!" she smiled broadly at him.

"And for being so brave, I think you deserve a nice smoothie. What do you say? A warm chocolate one? A rogleberry and yellow-currant surprise?"

As the sedative left his system, Chuck finally came around. After his brain did its usual 'systems check' he looked around, then up at the smiling angel standing above him. A warm grin slowly filled his face, meeting three twinkle he had in his eyes as he looked at J'air. "I leave that up to my lady's discretion."

"Oh no..... the responsibility!" she pretended alarm. "Surely My Lord has a preference?" she played into the 'my lady' idea and rolled it to include a title for him as well, her relieved, happy grin was genuine. She really liked this patient. He was witty and gritty at the same time. He struck her as a very deep, somewhat mysterious type - perhaps that was her own mind imposing an image of what she wanted to see in him, but perhaps it was instinctively right? For now she couldn't know but since he was going to have to come back to allow her a few more sessions with the regenerator to progress and refine the healing over the next couple of days, she might get a chance to find out more about him. She realised, from the warm feeling that idea was spreading inside her, that this was something she would really enjoy. The blush returned to her cheeks but her smile didn't diminish with it and this time she didn't avoid his eyes as she had the last time when he'd surprised her with a suggestion of 'cocktails later'. Trying to take into account the fact that this MCPO was probably that forward with 'all the girls' and trying not to be too affected by the handsome face and alluring eyes that were clearly a very dangerous secret weapons array for him, J'airesh attempted to 'raise her shields' but it would seem that he'd got in a direct hit before she'd realised she needed to defend herself from his charm assault.

Chuck liked this woman. She had a spirit about her that seemed both strong, yet sensitive too. He found it very alluring. He grinned when she came back at him with the whole 'My Lord' line. It showed that she had a great sense of humor and that was very appealing indeed. He would need to proceed carefully with this woman. She certainly wasn't one that you would seduce and hop in the sack with. This incredibly beautiful, undeniably highly intelligent woman was one that would demand, and deserve, a proper wooing. If he did things correctly, this could be a lead to a passion that epic ballads would be written about.

His smile softened slightly, as did his eyes, indicating that he was interested but wanted to do things slowly, correctly. "Truth be told, my favorite flavor smoothie is the classic strawberries and banana."

"Coming right up!" she grinned. ~why couldn't she stop grinning at this patient......oh no..... ~ she began to blush again. ~OH NO!~ beating a hasty retreat and in the food prep recess she ordered ice chips first, sucking one and tipping another down the back of her uniform tunic. She then tried deep breathing, calming techniques and returned much more her business-self with the smoothie finally. "Here we go" her grin had mutinied and was back disobediently on her face again. She slammed back the *Doctors' no expression mask* as soon as she realised. Hoping she wasn't giving herself away, she added, "Personally I'm a raspberry and cream smoothie girl myself..." well, that didn't come out quite as she expected either. She decided to just remove herself from the danger and returned to checking his stats. She adjusted the biobed and made a big show of being totally concentrated on the readout on the monitor behind the bed.

Chuck was no fool. He knew the reaction he was causing in J'airesh. However, it was still fun to watch. It caused him to feel a smile on his face that he hadn't had in quite a long time. "I might have to try that one day," he replied coyly as his eyes stayed locked on her form, much like a predator stalks its prey. He took a sip of his smoothie, then offered it up to her with a grin. "Care for a sip?"

"No thank you." J'air said, still embarrassed by having revealed too much to him, too soon - more than that, to have given him anything so damning at all. He seemed to be looking at her like a piece of meat - no, that wasn't fair. ~.... paranoia?~ she told herself and the smile came back. "I'm a raspberry girl" she repeated her preference in smoothies and, having finished checking his data and medical status, she handed him back to Mags and the rest of the on duty medics, leaving at a much too quick pace her own liking or comfort.

Chuck watched J'air leave, though, out of respect for her, his eyes stayed above her waist. Well, mostly. He then sat back and gave the other doctor a polite grin. "May I ask you a question?"

Mags looked at Chuck and shrugged. "Sure," she said, expecting something medically complicated.

Chuck took a few beats, looking over at J'air helping another patient. There was a tenderness in his eyes as he watched her. "Is she seeing anyone?"

Mags' eyebrows shot up initially but she recalled them quickly. "You mean the ACMO?" she asked, rhetorically and didn't wait for the answer to that question as she already knew it. "You'd have to talk to her about that but between you and me and the gatepost, we're all of the understanding that since she got burned in her last relationship - she was gonna get married and all - and he cheated, so as far as we can tell from the little she says about it, she's telling us she'd never trust anyone else ever again. The good news about that is that it's highly unlikely she has let anyone in, so no, she's not seeing anyone but the bad news is that she might be true to her word and never let anyone close enough again. Tough one to call, I'd say." She gave him a wry smile and shrugged her shoulders. "sorry" she offered. "probably not what you wanted to hear."

Chuck was silently thinking as he listened. Hearing that J'air had been hurt badly before caused him to feel both more interested and protective of her. "Actually, it does help, thank you," he said soberly. "I had a hunch before. Now I know that she is someone who deserves to truly be treated like the lady she is." A soft, lop-sided grin crossed his face. "What's her favorite flower?"

"Now that I DO know for certain!" Mags grinned, glad that her answers weren't going to all be so complex as the first. "Terran Irises, purple or yellow"


Chuck smiled at Mags, nodding his thanks. He had plans to make, if he wanted to do things correctly here. He closed his eyes and laid his head back on the biobed.

Many plans to make.

~OFF~