Dazed and Confused

Posted on 14 Aug 2016 @ 4:24am by Ensign Quinn Mackie & Lieutenant JG Daniella Blake

1,412 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 6 || 1130 Hours

Dani took a second to pull in a calming breath as she stood over the biobed while she ran scans on a young man that was brought in only moments ago. He didn't look to be too much younger than she was, and wore the pips of a Cadet Senior Grade. Did Kelly know him? And, if she did, did she know he was injured? For that matter... where was she? There were so many questions plaguing the young nurse's mind presently, but she shook her head to rid herself of them so she could focus on what she was doing. The longer he went untreated, the worse the damage would be.

As the readings for a concussion displayed on the screen, she was getting an idea of what she's need to treat him. Setting the medical tricorder down, the young woman grabbed a hypospray and loaded it with a vial of Trianoline, then set it to distribute 0.4ccs of the percussive medication. It seemed sickbay was administering quite a bit of this particular medication, but considering everything the ship's personnel had been through wasn't all that surprising. She swapped the vial out for one containing Hydrocortilene, set it for its required dose, then placed it to his neck.

Now, she held her breath and waited. Was he going to wake up? Would she need to wake him up? Her mind played over so many different scenarios, and she found herself shaking those thoughts from her mind just as she'd done with the first ones.

The eyelids fluttered, and even just a crack a millimeter wide was enough to flood Quinn's dark vision with bright light. It pierced not just his vision, but his aching head as well. A groan escaped his mouth as he forced his eyes closed to save himself from the pain.

"What...?" he whispered, trying to come out of his forced slumber. He wondered why he was asleep. It wasn't like him to fall asleep on--

The computer core! Intruders! His eyes shot open, filling his vision with the piercing light, as he tried to sit up. "Intruders!" he called out instantly. "They're in the computer core!"

"Easy, easy," Dani said softly, placing her hand against his shoulder to ease him back down onto the biobed. She adjusted the hypospray in her hand to give him a second smaller dose of the Hydrocortilene, hoping it would be enough to ease the headache he was experiencing. His reaction to the lights, and the groan that escaped him told her the previous dose was not enough to ease his discomfort. "I'm pretty sure all of that is being taken care of. Right now, we need to get you fixed up."

The fact that he remembered what happened before he bumped his head was a good sign, but it wasn't enough. "Can you tell me your name?"

The medication was certainly starting to take effect, but it was not an instant fix. He did not resist the nurse's gentle urge to lay back down. "Quinn," he said. "Quinn Mackie. Engineering and Operations cadet."

"Other than your head, do you hurt anywhere else?" Dani asked.

"I feel like I got stabbed in my shoulder," Quinn replied. "The last thing I remember was trying to get away from some intruders and find some cover."

Dani picked up the dermal regenerator and began to move it over his shoulder. She couldn't even begin to imagine how scary a situation like that would have been for him, but then, everything about their present mission was scary. "Do you remember seeing how many of them there were?" she asked. It was unlikely the intruders would make their way to sickbay, but in situations like the one they were currently in, it was impossible to know that for sure. Maybe when there was time, she'd start phaser training just to be on the safe side.

"Two or three," Quinn said slowly, trying to recall. "I didn't get much of a good look before..." He sighed, adjusting how he was laying on the bed. "How'd I get here?"

"Some of our staff brought you in," the young nurse replied, still moving the regenerator over his shoulder. She was beyond thrilled he was awake, talking and able to remember things. "You haven't been here very long, either. How are you feeling currently?" Although, she knew he wasn't going to feel one hundred percent right away, but as long as he felt a little better, it was a step in the right direction.

"Aside from the headache?" Quinn asked rhetorically. "I feel like I'm living in a fog at the moment. The shoulder's feeling better though."

Dani set the dermal regenerator down and turned her attention back to her patient. "As much as I know you're going to want to get back out there again, you're going to have to sit tight for a little while so we can monitor you. It all depends on what the scans reveal when I check you again shortly. Can I get you anything?"

"Water would be good," Quinn said with a smile, not exactly keen on the idea of being stuck in sickbay when the ship was in the middle of a dangerous moment. He tried to tap his badge, only to rudely realize that it wasn't there. "Oh, can you let Kelly know I'm here?"

Nurse Blake grabbed him some water, then came back to help him sit up slowly so there wouldn't be too much pressure in his head. "Kelly? You're..." Suddenly she realized who she's actually been treating as she gave him the glass. "Yes, I will let her know. I promise."

Quinn thanked her for the glass before taking a drink of the water. "I'm... what?" he asked, before taking another drink, this time a smaller amount.

"You're Quinn. I didn't make the connection before you mentioned Kelly," Dani replied, standing close by in case he needed her. "She's talked about you before."

He lowered the glass and looked at Dani. Now that she'd mentioned his name was familiar, he assumed there was something... familiar about this nurse, even though they'd never met before. With his hand still gripping the glass, he extended his index finger and pointed it at her. "Fun sized friend?" he asked, almost hesitantly. He didn't remember the name, but the moniker was impossible to forget.

"Yes," she answered, unable to help but laugh at that. "Daniella Blake, but I prefer to go by Dani. It's nice to meet you Quinn, though, the circumstances are pretty horrible. I'm not too sure where Kelly is in all of this chaos, but as soon as I hunt her down, I'll let her know. How's the head feeling now?"

Dani, that's right. Quinn knew the name had to have been something simple. He smiled before taking another drink of the water. "I think the Gremlins are calming down," he told her.

"That's a good thing," she said, picking up the tricorder again to run another scan. If things looked okay, she planned to send him on his way. Dani had a feeling he was going to be on the mend, which meant he'd be able to get back to work. That seemed to be what a lot of people making their way through sickbay wanted to do. For some, though, it was going to take a lot longer for that to happen.

"What do you think, Dani?" Quinn asked, after finishing the glass. "Am I going to make it, or am I more beat up than I thought?"

Dani smiled. "I think you're going to make it. You're all clear, but if you start to feel any dizziness, nausea or anything abnormal, you come back here, okay? I'm not kidding. I'll set Kelly loose on you."

"She'll do that all on her own, I'm afraid," Quinn replied, carefully sliding off the bed. He had to at least get back to the computer core to see if there was any residual damage. "And I promise I'll be back right away if something goes wrong."

"Then you're all set, and I'm holding you to that. Anything that doesn't seem right, you're right back here," Dani said, trying to give him the stern nurse look, but she just wasn't that good at it.

Quinn couldn't help but smile at her look, but he did his best to stifle his amusement. "Yes, ma'am," he replied with a nod before leaving.

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