Aftermath - Part Two

Posted on Sat Feb 1st, 2014 @ 7:58pm by Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Ophelia Payne & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Piper Medical Center

* * * Piper Medical Center * * *

When Solis and Earl materialized in Piper’s transport area, the place was already a hotbed of activity. Medical techs swarmed in and began to transfer the crash survivors into various suites depending on their injuries. Kiere looked in and her instructions were rapid and to the point.

“You two, get scrubbed. Dr. Harding is in with the chest wound now. You can take care of the rest.” Then she took off at a run.

Pausing as he stripped off his field jacket, Earl looked up in time to see only an empty doorway. He started to grumble something about young folks running around like a house was on fire. The words ‘whippersnapper’ and ‘danged fool’ were in there. He stepped into the decon chamber and waited while the machine did its job. Stepping back out, he was in mid-rant, “...and who says ‘scrub up’ anymore?” He frowned at Solis, as if blaming him.

“That was Kiere.” Solis stripped off his bloody shirt. “She oversees --” His words were cut off as the chamber door sealed. Moments later he stepped out. “--and even Doc Harding pays attention when she speaks from what I’ve seen. Ready?”

“Work together or separate? The plasma burn fellow should be first, let the nurses take over on the shock victims.”

“Agreed. All they need is a little monitoring. This fellow, however, concerns me.” Solis slipped into the waiting scrubs, then stood patiently as one of the nurses tied his hair back. “Alright, lead the way, my friend.”

Turning away from his friend, lest he find a pair of scissors to trim off that ponytail, Earl led the way to the operating theater. “Were you close enough to the Admiral to hear the story on these people?”

“Only that their shuttle crashed down. One of them mentioned a small explosion. Judging from the pilot, I think it started there.” They reached the operating room and with a few directions to the nurses already there, they set to work.

Silently, they worked for several minutes, pulling melded fabric and skin away and debriding the remaining tissues. “From the looks of him, I’d guess this fellow was close to the source of whatever exploded. Look at this,” Earl muttered disgustedly, tossing a section of fabric into a waste pan with a wet splish. “What sort of mechanical failure does this - a ruptured liquid fuel tank? I thought I had read that the Archadians weren’t this far behind in their technology.”

“These aren’t Archadians,” Solis answered. He fell silent as he began some deep tissue regeneration. “Archadian males are much smaller. Come to think of it, the one fellow who was coherent didn’t say where they were coming in from. You’re right though, this looks odd to me. Then again, I’m no engineer, just the patch-up guy.”

Earl paused in his ministrations and leaned in close to the patient’s arm. “Hmm. Looks like he might have had some sort of body art here. Blue lines. The rest of the image must be on this,” he snipped off more fabric and laid it aside.

“Once the nurses finish with the others, maybe we can get some answers. At least find out if there’s anyone we need to notify on this one and Harding’s patient. Their shuttle was trashed, and with the shape these two are in, they will be here a few days.” Solis laid down the regenerator and adjusted the overhead light to get a close, real-eye view of his work so far.

“Right, and we’re to let the Archadians have access to them.” Earl nodded, concentrating more on what he was doing than on what he was saying.

“If they want them, though it appears to be a shuttle malfunction, I’d be surprised if they bothered,” Solis answered. Satisfied, he began to close up the outer areas of the wound on the man’s side. “How much longer for you?”

“Just another minute or two here,” the older doctor answered. He glanced up from his work to see the patient seemingly staring at him; it gave him a start till he realized that the fellow’s eyes were simply open, but he wasn’t awake or aware. “Just this patch to go and then we can put him the recovery ward for observation.”

Solis finally put down the regenerator and let out a long breath. “Done. And may I say, it’s good to work with you again.” He rubbed his eyes a moment, then moved away to let the nurse begin clearing away the tools. “I wonder how Harding’s getting along.”

A moment or so later, Earl followed Solis, leaving the patient in the nurses’ capable hands. “I haven’t met Harding yet.”

“We can take care of that now, if you like. I’m sure he’ll want an update.” Solis led the way out to the cleanup room.

* * * Piper Medical Staff Lounge * * *

Dr. William Harding leaned back against the counter and rubbed his eyes. It had taken his whole bag of tricks, ably assisted by the resident doctor from the Imhotep center and more nurses than he could count, but they’d done it. The pilot from the crash was now free of the metal in his chest and was sporting a new artificial heart. It had been touch and go for a while there and now that it was over, his adrenaline surge ran out leaving him utterly exhausted.

“Here, drink this.”

A male voice he placed as Solis pressed a warm mug into his hands. He opened his eyes to see Solis and a man who must be Dr. Earl Crane. He gave them a tired smile.

“Thanks. All done?”

Earl nodded, sipping from his own steaming mug. “The plasma burn victim is doing fine; the other injured was just minor and the shock victims are resting,” he said, looking up at Harding. “Earl Crane; you’re Doc Harding, I presume.”

“I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you Dr. Crane. I’ve heard of you of course and I’m glad you’re here.” Will sipped his coffee before speaking again. “And thanks to you both for jumping in to help out.”

“No problem,” Solis answered. He sat down on a sofa, deposited his mug on the coffee table, then reached up to loosen his hair.

“I am unsurprised you’ve heard of me,” Crane said, letting his ego show and cutting a look at Solis. “Your nurses are well trained, good sir.”

“My thanks to you. Given our residence here on the absolute frontier, they have to be. They work hard and I’ll admit I am demanding but we take good care of them too. There’s no telling what will turn up here from one moment to the next.” Will sat down and stretched out his legs before him. “I’m glad to hear your patient’s recovering. The pilot is a very lucky man. He’s got a new heart and is going to be our guest for a few days. Whatever blew in that shuttle packed a hell of a wallop.”

Solis nodded. “We were discussing that too. Whatever was in there was burning awfully hot to sear skin as it did on our patient.”

"Hotter than a typical engine mishap in my experience," Earl opined. He could do that: he had the years of experience to back him up. "Unless the tech in this area is far different from our own."

Harding nodded. “They are locals, at least local by a couple of days. From a planet in Dendrian space, but that’s not unusual here. We’ve become the crossroads of the frontier and routinely get people from far more distant sectors than that. I know it will be in your report, but was there anything else unusual?”

"I wouldn't call it unusual, but our burn victim had body art. I set aside the fabric and schmutz to have a tech run a scan. Maybe she can get an image of the tattoo," Earl answered.

“Very well, and I’ll keep you updated on the progress of the rest. You’ll be called if needed and thanks again for your assistance.” Will pushed his mug aside. “I think we could all use a good night’s sleep.”

“You can say that again,” Solis agreed. “Earl has some making up for lost time to do too.” A smile crossed his face and he winked at Earl.

"As do you, my friend," Earl winked. "Doc Harding, good to meet you and glad I could be of help. Good night, you two." Earl set his mug in the recycler and headed out to find Eh'lana.

“I think that’s my cue too.” Solis stood and patted Will on the shoulder. “I’ll check in tomorrow.” He retrieved the elastic hair band from the arm of the sofa and slipped out.

Several minutes later, Ophelia looked into the lounge. “You need to take your own advice, Will. Go home. Have a drink. Get some sleep.”

“I am.” Will rose and dropped his mug into the recycler. “See you tomorrow Ophelia.”

“Have a good one.” She watched as he strolled away, then checked out herself and departed as well.

*******************
Lt. Commander Earl D. Crane
Grumpy

Lt. Commander Solis
Back In The Saddle

Lt. Commander William Harding
Taking The Night Off

Kiere
Keeping The Troops In Line

Lt. Ophelia Payne
Mother Hen