Burned & Battered

Posted on 09 Dec 2019 @ 12:07am by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Ensign Kelly Khan & Lieutenant JG Daniella Blake

1,714 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Truth and Justice
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 15 || 1815 Hours

Camila staggered out of the turbolift with blood staining the front of her uniform as she carried Ensign Khan down the hall and into a bustling Sickbay. She saw injured personnel everywhere, some still with discs wherever they had hit. There was triage going on on the floors and everyone down to experienced and inexperienced Medical cadets were being put to the test.

The weary Chief of Security looked for a place to put Kelly down and managed it on a cart that had no medical instruments on it, earning a moan from her. "Sorry, Ensign, but best I can do at the moment. I'm going to get you some help."

She looked around, then waded into the mass of people to find someone in Medical blue that wasn't occupied with four people at once.

Dani, who had made her way back to sickbay after her encounter with the others on deck one, was helping triage patients as they filed into sickbay. Like most others, though, she'd fallen victim to the disc shooter, and after being deemed clear, got straight to work. Sadly, the petite blonde still didn't know what was going on exactly, but was sure she'd get answers as soon as someone with that knowledge was able to fill her in.

It didn't take long before she caught sight of Camila, then saw the person she settled on the cart. Without any hesitation, she passed her current patient, a Petty Officer with minor abrasions, over to another nurse, and ran over. "What happened?" Dani asked, scanning Kelly with her tricorder to assess her injuries. "Are you in need of medical attention as well?"

"I'm fine," Camila said and waved the tricorder off. "It's not my blood." She had enough blood on her hands and conscious to last a lifetime and knew the stain on her soul would last forever.

"We've been seeing a lot of burns come in, though, I haven't seen any quite as bad as Kelly's personally," Dani began as she looked at the readings on the tricorder. "Burns to the left side of her torso and head, along with three broken ribs, also on the left side." She quickly ran to grab a hypospray and loaded it with an ampule of Morphenolog, adjusting the dosage to match Kelly's size and weight. "For the pain. I want her to be comfortable before we start on repairs." The petite blonde removed that ampule and loaded another one, adjusting that one also. "This one is Kelotane. It's used to treat burns."

"Do you need me to do anything?" Camila asked while she watched.

Dani nodded her head as she reached for a dermal regenerator to treat the burns, and an osteogenic stimulator for the broken ribs. "As a matter of fact, yes. I need you to help me get her uniform jacket off, then hold her top up just beneath her bust so I can treat the burns on her torso. We're slam packed, and I want to keep things as modest for her as humanly possible. The medications I gave her will keep her from being in too much pain."

"Yes, Nurse," Camila said as she moved to gently get the young Brunette's jacket off, taking extra care around the burned areas. "This area here is stuck...to her," she added with a grimace. "Can you cut that off with a laser scalpel?" she asked Dani.

"Dani," the petite blonde told Camila as she looked around, spotting two things she'd need for the nest step. After going to get them, she looked down at her friend and frowned, grateful she had pain medication in her system already. "I'm sorry, Kel. This isn't going to feel good." With that, she took the scalpel in her hand and cut the jacket away as close to the burn as she possibly could without causing further damage. Tossing it aside, Dani opened the bottle of saline to soak the remaining fabric, then began to meticulously and carefully remove it.

The Security Chief had seen a lot of blood and combat since coming aboard the Black Hawk, but the sight of the badly burned Ensign and the damage she had taken shook her. She wished she could send the young woman back home and convince her that Starfleet wasn't a life for her. She gave a nod to Dani as the extent of Kelly's wounds were revealed. "Camila," she offered quietly. "Now let's get to fixing her up."

Once the remains of the jacket were removed from the burns, Dani reached for the dermal regenerator again. "I'm doing the burns first, because they're prone for infection the longer they're exposed. We don't want that," she said, getting to work. "I can't do much for the hair that she's lost, but she'll be able to handle that herself once she's all better."

At that point, Kelly woke up and gasped for air and threw her arms up as she screamed.

Camila immediately put a restraining hand on the younger woman's arm to push it gently back down. "It's okay, Ensign," she said. "You're in Sickbay."

"Sick...bay?" Kelly asked a bit weakly. "What..what happened?"

"Your console exploded," the Security Chief told her. "Now relax and let Dani heal you. You'll be okay."

"But there was something in my ear..my head!" The brunette said as she struggled to get up again.

"You're free of it," Camila told her as she pushed her down gently again. "Now let Dani heal you."

Dani continued to work on getting the burns healed. "I need for you to be as still as possible, Kel," she said softly. "I'm going to get you fixed up and feeling better in no time. You're safe now."

Kelly looked at Camila with fear in her eyes, then quickly looked at Dani. "I don't think I'll ever feel safe on this ship again," she said softly.

Camila saw the look and took a step back. Here was a person who had seen her kill twice on the bridge and voiced her concern and it weighed heavily on the young Security Chief. "I..I need to go check on others," she said.

"Don't go too far, Lieutenant. I'd still like to look you over," the petite blonde said before she looked back down to Kelly. Dani understood where her friend was coming from. She'd watched two of her fellow officers be murdered right before her eyes, and there wasn't anything she could do about it. Hell, the same fate would have fallen upon her if she hadn't gotten out of there as fast as she did. "I'm sorry, Kel. Life in space is full or all sorts of the unexpected. I'm still not a hundred percent sure what happened exactly, but I do know that some of our fellow crewmen were being controlled by something in their minds. You said you had one. You can shed more light on that."

"They..they were called Dolmoqour," the petite Ensign said quietly with a shudder. "Q-Q-Quinn.." she managed before she started to cry. "He put one in my ear on the holodeck and it took all control from me. I was a prisoner in my own mind and it knew everything I did and used it. Anybody who had one was a slave to it and we couldn't fight it." More tears came from her eyes and she hiccuped.

Dani finished up with the last of the burns and set the dermal regenerator down so she could grab the osteogenic stimulator. With her tricorder in her other free hand, she placed it over Kelly's ribcage and before to repair the broken ribs. "And as such, can't be held responsible for that they've done. If those... Dolmoqour... were in control, none of you are at fault."

Kelly moaned and closed her eyes. "It was horrible," she whispered. "They had full control of my mind and body. I'm just glad mine wasn't mature enough to reproduce and make me infect someone."

The repairs to Kelly's ribs didn't take as long to fix up as the burns did. Dani double checked her work, then set the instrument aside. "You're all set, but I think you should consider seeing a counselor. Most of the crew should," she said, extending a hand to help her friend sit up. "I'm a good listener, but there's only so much I can do."

"Yeah," she said quietly. "That's probably a good idea." She pulled her half ruined shirt down and looked at her bloody ruined jacket. "Uh, do you have a spare lab coat or something I could put over this?"

"Give me just a second," the young nurse said before she walked away. She wasn't gone long before she returned with a clean shirt, one of her own, and handed it to Kelly. "This will help."

Kelly looked around to check to see if anyone was looking, then her spirits fell when she realized the chaos in Sickbay. She quickly changed and tried to muster a smile for her fun sized friend. "Thank you, Dani. I'll get it back to you."

"Keep it as long as you need to," she told her friend, offering her what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

With another half smile, Kelly gave a nod and slipped off into the throng on her way back to the bridge.

Camila stood off to the side helping another nurse until she finished and looked over at Dani. "You can check me if you want, but I'm fine."

"It's a peace of mind kind of thing," the young nurse said as she began to scan Camila with her tricorder. Dani looked up to the Security Chief. "I'm not picking up any injuries. Not ones that can be seen. I would suggest speaking to a counselor, though. I can't make it mandatory, but one of the doctors can."

"That's an idea," the Security Chief said. "I"m not sure how good of one, but it's an idea."

"One, I'm sure will be made mandatory for all personnel that had one of those things in their heads," Dani stated. "Other than that, I think you're free to go."

"I'm quite certain of that," Camila said. "Thanks, Dani." With a nod, she headed off.

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