Waking up the one-legged man

Posted on Sat Oct 13th, 2018 @ 8:26am by Commander Sthilg & Lieutenant Tate Sullivan Ph.D.

Mission: Season 2: Mission 2: Just Breath
Location: Elysium Sickbay
1603 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

"Sickbay to counsellor Sullivan", Estelle said. "Tate, I could use your help. We've got a recent amputee, I'd love for you to come around when he wakes up, which we can do when you arrive."

"Thanks for keeping me in the loop," Sullivan returned over com. "I'm on my way."

***Main Sickbay***

As promised, it didn't take long for Tate to arrive as requested. After being directed to a biobed by a nurse, Tate spotted Estelle and offered, "Hi. Thanks for calling on me. How can I help?"

Estelle waved her over towards a wall console, bringing up the patient's file. Ensign Justin Case, operations department, one year out of the Academy. "I don't know how he'll take this, I just thought we could use a professional on hand. I'm not nearly as good dealing with psychological trauma as I am with the physical variety." She pointed to the entry on the leg wound. "From what those who brought him in told me, he was trying to dive under a closing bulkhead, which saved his life. But he wasn't quite fast enough, so the rest of his leg is floating out in space now. He's physically fine, and we'll give him a new leg, but he doesn't know yet. I left a stump above the knee, he's looking at several months recovery."

Tate listened carefully, frowning involuntarily as she did so. This was never an easy situation for someone psychologically, even in an age when limbs and organs could be replaced more easily. Starfleet members understood the possibility of dying while serving, but rarely did they consider being disabled or physically changed by it. "I appreciate you bringing me in as support." She didn't need to add that not every doctor would have considered someone's psychological needs. "Are you planning to wake him up or do you expect that to happen naturally?"

"I can wake him up now", Estelle said. "Thing is, I've had people with lost limbs before, and some of them really don't take it well. He's lucky, though. We'll be able to restore full mobility, with time, and he won't have to leave the service either. Well, at least not on surgical grounds. He'll need to make a decision whether he'll want a biomechanical prosthetic or a cloned replacement. I'll ask him, but not before we can be sure he fully understands his situation." She smiled at Tate. "And that, I think, you're better at determining than me."

"I think that's a solid plan," Tate replied. "The most important thing is not to rush the information. He's obviously going to want to know what happened, but we need to be mostly listeners as much as possible, especially right now when he's likely to still be disoriented. I'm ready when you are," she added, mentally steeling herself for what was to come.

"Good", Estelle said. It was during one of those rare moments that she was actually capable of being serious and professional. She grabbed a hypo and walked to his bed, injecting him at the neck.

It took a few seconds and then Justin's eyes opened. "Uh.." was the first sound, followed by him clearing his throat. He realised he was lying on his back, and staring at the ceiling of a medical bay, yet not that of an Intrepid class. "Did we make it?" he asked. "Is the Eclipse still in one piece?"

"Yes, and we're all out of danger", Estelle said. "You got knocked out half-way through the fight." She looked at Tate, not wanting to give him too much of a report as by her instructions.

"How are you feeling, Justin?" Tate asked, gently putting herself in the other man's line of sight. She hoped she had been assisting with triage long enough for her mere presence in sickbay after times of battle wouldn't ring alarm bells.

"I'm..." he blinked a few times. "I'm not sure. I don't feel anything, but my vision is a bit blurry."

"That'll pass, give it a few minutes", Estelle said. "You've been under heavy medication to keep you stable through the battle. It'll have to be processed out of your system, and the antidote is currently working its magic."

"Magical therapy?" he grinned. "And you two are the fairies?"

Tate just chuckled, gathering her words and hating having to deliver bad news to someone who clearly was in reasonably good spirits. She hoped such a personality would carry him through this. Her laughter trailed off and she offered, "Justin, you are medically stable and are going to be okay, but I'm sorry to say I have some difficult news. I'm not sure how much you remember about why you were brought to sickbay, but from what we were told by those who brought you in, your leg was badly injured as you were diving under a closing bulkhead. It was severed below the knee, in fact." Tate stopped there, knowing it would take time for the words to register.

He looked at her, unsure whether she was pulling his leg. Though, if it was in fact gone, that would be difficult. He sat up on his elbows and looked down at himself. "Well, shit. That is damn inconvenient." His eyebrows drew closer together as he tried moving his foot the way his brain remembered it but nothing happened. "You're gonna give me a new one, aren't you, doc?"

Estelle nodded. "Yes. In time, you'll be good as new. I can promise you that. It'll take a while, though."

"There goes my idea of inviting you fairies to a dance", he remarked as he lay back down. He took a deep breath. "I remember there was a hull breach, and we were all scrambling for the next section before it was sealed off. But I was the last one, at least nobody died."

Tate wasn't sure if he was truly looking on the bright side, or simply putting up a brave front. If the latter was the case, she had to wait since she wouldn't get to the truth in this moment while there were too many others about and the news was still fresh. "I think it's great you're focusing on the positive and your overall recovery," Sullivan offered. "That kind of perspective is important for moving forward, but I also want you to know it's perfectly normal to struggle with this kind of news emotionally. The doctor will be able to help you heal physically and you will recover, but we understand it won't exactly be the same emotionally for you, at the very least, and I just want you to know we are here to support you every step of the way."

"The question is, how long will this take?" he asked. "I've worked very hard to get assigned to the Elysium. If this puts me out of action for more than three months, they'll send me somewhere else." This was a prospect Justin did not cherish.

"I can't say, at this point", Estelle said. "All I can say is that you'll make a full recovery, but there are many factors that govern how long it'll take."

"I won't lie to you," the counselor offered. "What lies ahead for you won't be easy, but one of those factors that will help determine your recovery has to do with your attitude going forward. If you can stay as positive as possible, it will help you heal not only emotionally, but physically as well. I don't expect that will happen for you immediately, as you will need time to grieve this loss, but moving forward, it will help to stay hopeful. We're going to give you all the support and information you need," Sullivan reassured.

The man shook his head. "If I can stay on the Elysium, I'm good. I can do physical therapy with the new leg, maybe do some desk duties until then? I mean, there's a lot an operations officer like me can do from the comfort of a chair. You needn't send me away, do you?"

The unmistakable sound of the chief MD echoed as he walked over to the trio. "I'm sure you'll be back on your feet in no time, ensssign. Your new leg is growing as we ssspeak. It's going to take a while to grow, but it'sss ssstarted. " The Gorn said in his most reassuring voice.

The concern in the young man's voice was enough to cause Tate to place a hand on top of his. "We are not going to send you away. I meant what I said. We're going to give you all the support you need and when you're ready, you can return to work," she added. "I'd like us to keep talking too."

"Yes, I'd like that, too", the young man responded. "Thank you. And thank you, doctors. I do have one request, though... can you release me from sickbay? I can walk on crutches, or use a hoverchair. Just lying around here, that's nobody's idea of fun."

Estelle looked at Sthilg. "I'm thinking tomorrow, what do you say?"

"Yesss, I think that would be okay. Though you will ssstill be monitored", the big Gorn responded.

"No cameras in the bathroom, though", Estelle added.

"That's a relief", Justin stated.

"Just remember not to push yourself too hard," Tate reminded. "It's completely normal to get frustrated, but remember, don't be hard on yourself. This wasn't your fault."

Justin nodded. "No dancing for a while, got it." He looked at the doctors and asked, "Can you give me something to make the itching stop, though?"

Estelle nodded. "Sure, just a moment..."