Robin's Good News

Posted on Mon Apr 6th, 2015 @ 2:04pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicolao & Lieutenant Commander Robin Swift M.D., PhD

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Piper Medical Center

* * * Piper Medical Center * * *

Nico and Carter appeared with Drusilla in the emergency area of Sickbay in a swirl of blue. As soon as they were whole, bedlam erupted. Nurses appeared, medical equipment was brought out, scans were done, and Dr. Harding swooped through it all like a great blue-robed bird, barking orders. In moments it all seemed to evaporate as Dru was whisked away to the ICU, leaving Nico alone. Even Carter had vanished. The departure of the medical staff seemed to have sucked all the sound out of the room, leaving him a little off balance, and Nico stood, taking a few seconds to adjust.

“Nico?” The voice belonged to Kiere, the young woman he recognized from the main check-in desk. “They’ve taken her to ICU. There’s a waiting area just outside if you want to come with me. We need to inform Counselor Swift as well.”

“I’ll do it.” Nico turned and followed her out of the room.

* * *

Once the chaos had settled down and the medical staff was in with Drusilla, Nico tapped his comm badge, reflecting that it had already gotten a workout and Dae had just given it to him.

“Nico to Counselor Swift.”

A few moments passed before a reply came. =^=Go ahead, Nico,=^= Robin said, sounding like someone had stolen his new puppy.

“I hope I’m not interrupting a session but I have news. We have Dru. We’re at Piper now, just arrived so I know nothing at all yet but she’s alive.” Relief had given way to a new worry as he paced in the waiting area and talked to Robin.

=^= Get the--MOVE! =^= was blasted over the communicator as Robin was apparently running like a bat out of hell down the corridor. =^= I’m on my way! MAKE A HOLE! =^= came the proper reply and then cut off. He had been sitting around doing nothing so far and wasn’t going to miss Dru’s recovery. And he didn’t even seem to mind that he had shoved a few people to get past them.

A hole? Nico shook his head as he closed the channel and finally smiled. The serene Counselor had finally gotten into a real lather. Nico turned to watch out down the hall, expecting a cloud of dust any moment.

It didn’t take Robin long to get there. After shoving a younger crewman into the wall face first, then trying to run backwards and apologize at the same time, which caused him to fall on his ass, he had enough sense to check her location in Piper. His offices were on deck 366. Dru was located in the Intensive Care Unit on 365. And after one long, agonizingly slow ride on the lift up, he bolted out the door.

Now it may seem that one deck up is nothing, but this is an Immense Class starbase. One deck is enormous. By the time Robin made it halfway through the ring, then cut through a mid-section, then into the ICU...he was covered in a flop sweat and looked like he needed oxygen for himself.

Sucking wind he said, “Where is she? What…” he had to pant a few more times, “is happening?”

“Easy there Counselor. Catch your breath. I don’t know yet, they are still in with her. Have a seat and I’ll tell you what we do know. And why didn’t you transport here?” Nico motioned to a chair. “Sit.”

After a few moments more of panting, Robin unfastened his tunic and wore just the undershirt. “Damn. I’m flustered. And me getting here is not an emergency, Nico, you know better than that.” Sweat was starting to drip. “I’m so out of shape. Be a doll and get me an ice water? Then fill me in.”

As Nico rolled his eyes and smirked, heading to the replicator, he heard Robin add, “And a towel!”

“Sure thing.” Nico returned with a towel, a glass of ice water, and a mug of coffee for himself. Once Robin was situated, he sat down beside him, sipped his coffee and began. “Ensign Carter and I had started out down below. She had a complaint up on deck 41 about a stench and so we went up to check it out.” He paused to drink more coffee. “It was a storage hold and when we got there it was horrid. Dead body smell. When she opened the hatch, it turned out to be just that - and it was the Cardassian. My Cardassian. I estimate he’s been dead about two days and whoever did it? Did a thorough job. It was messy.”

After a long gulp of the water, Robin waved him on. “Yeah, yeah, your friend is dead. That’s good. Tell me about Dru! Was she latched to the body or something?”

“He was no friend of mine.” Nico’s voice grew rough, then he relaxed. It suddenly occurred to him that Security, if they knew his past ties to Daro, might suspect him. He brushed the thought aside. He could deal with that later. “We had closed up the hatch when a call through that they had finally found Dru’s bio signs on Deck 42. When we got there, she was sealed up in an escape pod. It stands to reason that she’d been put there by Daro, so that means a couple of days in that pod with no food or water. The air was too thin too, and her fingernails were starting to turn faintly blue. Pulse was steady, however. We transported here immediately.”

It was obvious that Robin was getting misty-eyed and he made no attempt to cover it and just dabbed at them with his towel. “And the doctors haven’t said anything yet? If she’ll live? If she was abused?” Another dab or two. “Nico, she’s more than just my aide. She’s truly one of my best friends on this station. I’m sure you know that, but that’s why…” He made a gesture to his tear-filled face and wiped more tears that had genuinely started to flow.

“I am more concerned about neural damage. She had been wearing a disc they use to block bio scans and it keeps telepaths from sensing them too. She had pulled it off - it was lying beside her when we got in. The pain is horrific if you remove it when conscious. Been there done that.” Nico realized he might have chosen to soften that bit of news a little but too many years in the field had him used to cutting to the chase. He tried make up for it. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. We got there in time and that’s what matters.”

Robin nodded quietly and looked down at the ground. “She’s alive. That’s the best news I’ve had in ages.”

“Me too,” Nico whispered.

**********************
Counselor Swift
Nicolao
Waiting It Out