And so it begins

Posted on Mon Jan 13th, 2020 @ 9:12am by Lieutenant JG Heather De La Rosa {Kelea-Salik} & Senior Chief Petty Officer Fernando De La Rosa [Taylor]

Mission: Casperia Prime - A lesson in relaxation
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: 2 hours after 'A Little Escapism'
1534 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Heather’s withdrawal had seriously begun, from the minor tremors her body had progressed to more violent ones, her forehead and body were soaked with perspiration, and now she was starting to have hallucinations. The call had gone out to both Tallia and Fernando from the nurse watching over Heather, her bed was empty and Heather was huddled up on the floor in a corner, trembling and crying.

The nurse was trying to coax Heather to let her help but she wouldn’t let the poor girl get anywhere near her.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!!!” Heather shouted at the top of her lungs but her voice was quite hoarse. “LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!”

Fernando arrived first. he had gone to his quarters for a bite to eat and a shower when the call came through that Heather was having acute withdrawal symptoms. he hurried back to Sickbay and saw Heather huddled up in the corner crying, screaming at the nurse. He approached her slowly, "Heather, it’s me Fernando. Do not be afraid, I'm here to help you my shattered rose." His voice soft and he hoped comforting at least enough to get Heather to let him help her and get her back in bed.

Heather looked up but at first in her delirium she saw her master. In fear she shook her head. “No..I’m not...going back! You’re not...taking me master! You...you can’t make me!!!”

Fernando shook his head, he heard the fear in Heather's voice. "No, no Heather it is me Fernando. You know the one Tallia calls Cassanova." He inched closer to her but made no move grab her, he didn't want to make a bad situation worse. "Let me help you, get you back in bed."

Heather’s gaze suddenly changed to a softer one, this time it wasn’t her master she saw it was Jason and he was right there for her. “Jason?” Tears ran down her cheeks before she suddenly dived into Fernando’s arms holding him tight. “I never thought...I’d see you again!!” She looked up still seeing Jason as her lips met Fernando’s in a passionate kiss.

Fernando reacted instinctively, his arms came up and around Heather to hold her even as she called him Jason. He pushed the stab of hurt away knowing Heather was seeing her XO and going through severe withdrawal. He was surprised by the sudden passionate kiss and he kissed her back though not as passionately. He took her hand, "It's good to see you again Heather." He said acting as he hoped Jason would. "Lets get you back in bed so you can rest properly."

Heather nodded her eyes still firmly fixed on Fernando, still seeing her love Jason for the moment. Walking back to the biobed with Fernando’s support she sat on the edge of the bed for the moment. “F...Fernando?” Heather looked around wondering what was going on. “What’s going on?” She touched her lips with her fingers at the sudden memory of a recent passionate kiss.

He nodded and smiled as he sat beside her, "You had a rough go just a few minutes ago, yelling at the nurse." He said gently. "You listened to me so I could get you back to bed." He smiled softly as he saw her touch her lips. "You um thought I was someone else."

Heather nodded. “I...I’m sorry! I thought...you were Jason.” She lay back down on the biobed still trembling and shaking. “We...fell in love, he...helped me keep my mind clear...of the drugs.”

"It's alright Heather. I am glad you had Jason to help you." Fernando replied, "I wish I was Jason." He added quietly.

Heather smiled. In the short time she’d known Fernando she’d come to like him, even care for him. Was love true if under the influence of drugs? That she didn’t know. “Fernando...” she propped herself up and reached out a shaking hand to touch his cheek. Moments later her lips very gently touched his in a soft kiss. “You...are you and I...wouldn’t change that for anything!”

He nodded silently at her words. His eyes closed and kissed her hand. Then as she kissed him and he returned the kiss with equal gentleness. he had grown quite fond of Heather in the short time they had come to know each other.

Heather slowly moved back onto the bed to lie down, she felt like hell. “If I...if that happens again, don’t let me call you any other name.” She could feel something happening she didn’t know what. “Fernando I...” moments later her body went into the strongest seizure yet, the nurse ran over quickly grabbing something and placing it in her mouth to stop her from biting her tongue or lips whilst under the influence of the seizure. She looked around for the sleep inducer but couldn’t see it, she had no choice but to wait for Tallia’s arrival.

"Sssh." Fernando replied, "It is alright Heather." He assured her but he was touched by her thoughtfulness. She was about to say something else when her body was racked with a strong seizure. He scrambled out of the way for the nurse to work, all while looking for Tallia.

The nurse did her best breathing a sigh of relief as Heather's seizure finally stopped, removing the mouth guard from her mouth she was checking Heather's readings when Tallia walked into Sickbay.

Tallia entered sickbay with her lunch, immediately dropping the box onto the floor and running to Heather, "Okay, someone tell me what the hell happened?" She demanded, taking readings with her tricorder as she did, "Get me 10mg of lisinopril, nurse, her blood pressure is spiking to damn near stroke levels."

"Yes, doctor." Nurse Walton nodded, running quickly to the replicator and back, a small pink pill in one hand and a cup of water in the other.

Tallia took the pill and cup from Walton and held them out for Heather, "Heather, it's Dr. Strode, I need you to take this for me, okay?"

Heather wearily nodded and with Fernando's help managed to prop herself up enough to take the small pink pill before lying back down. Her hair was wet with perspiration from her seizure, it felt cold when she lay back on it.

"I had to call for help Doctor" Walton looked at Tallia. "Heather had some hallucinations, I found her sitting in the corner over there." She pointed to the far corner of the room. "She wouldn't let me anywhere near her, it took Lieutenant De La Rosa to finally talk her around. Once he got her back to bed Heather had another seizure." She looked at Tallia.

"I'd normally prescribe anti-seizure meds, but they'd counteract some of the detox drugs we've got her on." Tallia said, running her hand through her hair in frustration, "And I'm not sure it would help anyway, these seizures aren't going to stop until everything is out of her system."

Heather looked wearily at Tallia. "How...long will it take?" She just wanted to feel well again.

"As it stands, possibly weeks." Tallia sighed, "But there's something we can try, something that will be risky but maybe turn weeks into a matter of hours. It's called ultra rapid detox..."

"Doctor, that's very risky." Walton said, shocked that a respected surgeon like Dr. Strode would even consider such a thing, "She could die and you would lose your license and maybe go to jail..."

"And if we don't she's going to die." Tallia replied pointedly, "Period, the end. I'll risk my license to save her life."

"Doctor, I can't be a part of this." Walton replied, "It's dangerously irresponsible, I'm going to have to report this to Dr. Sthilg."

"Fine, you do that, and it's Tango, Alpha, Lima, Lima, India, Alpha, Sierra, Tango, Romeo, Oscar, Delta, Echo." Tallia fired back, "Make sure you spell my name absolutely correct in your report. Oh, and one more thing, piss off out of my sickbay."

"Doctor, this is highly..." Walton began, she couldn't understand Dr. Strode's anger when she was trying to help the doctor regain perspective.

"Why are you still here?" Tallia asked, an eyebrow raised, "If you're not going to help me, piss off, no further discussions needed."

"Doctor this is an unethical risk." Walton retorted, she was losing it with this woman.

"And it's not your choice." Tallia shrugged, "Or mine for that matter. It's hers. Heather, what do you say?"

Heather had listened to every word the nurse had said. "No, I won't risk your career Tallia!" She looked at the nurse then back at Tallia. "We carry on as we are."

"And that's your choice, which I'll honor." Tallia replied, the patient always had the last say so; she was the doctor, but Heather was the boss.

"Thank you Tallia, I do appreciate that you're trying to help me." Heather offered a brief smile as she rested back on her biobed. She was tired, her body was tired and she just needed to rest.

{OFF}