Getting Caught Up

Posted on Fri Aug 16th, 2019 @ 3:59pm by Lieutenant Mona Gonadie & Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Lieutenant Asa Dael
Edited on on Sat Aug 17th, 2019 @ 4:34pm

Mission: Mudd on the Souls of Mankind
Location: Main Sickbay
Timeline: 2396

It had been late when the Chrono away team had been rescued and returned home to the U.S.S.Hera from where the Runabout Danu had crashed. Lieutenant Sonak had been attended to first as the Vulcan Science officer had suffered the most severe injuries in the crash.

And while Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox also had her share of injuries to be attended to, the red-headed Romulan lingered a little longer at her office as the Chief of Flight Control stuck around to file her report on the mission. But she was also hoping to stall slightly as she was hoping to not burden her best friend and Chief Medical Officer, Asa Dael with yet another of her medical crisis's. But after running out of paperwork after only a few minutes and beginning to notice that the painkillers from the rescue ship's med kit were running out, the Lieutenant made her way to sickbay.

Sickbay itself was largely empty when Dox arrived. As a part of her failed disguise for their time traveling mission, her usually short, curly red hair had been cosmetically extended back to a long mass of red curls that she had pulled back into a bun not unlike her hairstyle when she first joined the crew. Half of her face, shoulder, and upper arm were wrapped in bandages from plasma burns and there were dermal bandages on her right forearm and neck. Looking around, she didn't see any personnel initially as she called out quietly. "Hello?"

"Welcome to your home away from home," Asa called, peeking their head up from calibrating a biobed.

"I have the ladies regular room ready and waiting for her, if she would be so good as to follow me. .." Asa concluded with a wink and a grin, pointing Mnhei'sahe to biobed five.

Tissue generator already whirring in their hand, the doctor started with Mnhei'sahe's neck, using their free hand to deliver a pain blocker.

"We seriously have got to stop meeting like this, Min. You aren't.....taking unnecessary risks out there, are you?" The last question carried an unmistakable note of concern. Although Mnhei'sahe was prone to injury, Dael also knew she was prone to self-destructive habits in the past and they were worried those old patterns might be finding new ways of expressing themselves on away mission.

The Romulan pilot didn't need to guess why Asa was asking that. She had no delusions about her own lingering psychological issues and Asa was also her counselor. Frowning slightly, Dox replied. "No. Mudd got the drop on me in Montana. Got an agonizer on me and I went down like a first-year cadet. Sliced my arm open to bleed me and reveal the 'insidious alien threat' to the locals then put his knife to my throat. I was completely aware, but couldn't even move until Rita stopped him."

There was anger and frustration in the young pilot's voice. She always struggled to prove her worth above and beyond the requirements of a helm officer and felt like her failure in the field would reflect poorly on her. But she tried to change the subject. "The burns were the helm of the Unlucky Lady blowing up in my face. THAT I can't take any credit for, even subconsciously."

With a conciliatory smile Asa brushed a quick familial kiss to a safe spot on Mnhei'sahe's forehead and said softly, "Can't blame a person for checking though, can ya?"

Smiling awkwardly, Dox shook her head, conceding the point to her friend. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't."

The burns and scraped were simple enough to heal. While not life-threatening, they would have proven intensely uncomfortable left untreated. Tissues healed, the doctor delivered high dose antibiotics important for anyone recovering from a burn and set about gently rubbing in a soothing cream that would numb the sensitive nerves of Mnhei'sahe's recovering arm, neck, and face- forestalling the itching sensation that would shortly take over soon otherwise.

Speaking softly the doctor said, "You aren't going to feel much in your arm, neck or face where the burns were for the next couple of days. But considering it's that or itch like you just rolled around in poison ivy, I don't think you will mind. Honestly, Min. They did great treatment in the field, but you really did get banged up on this one. No more of that, you hear? We can't afford to lose you around here.....I can't afford it....."

Their voice trailed off with a slight hitch at the end. Dael was not as confident in their abilities of late, having lost not just one but three patients in as many months. They had never dealt with that as a physician before and was experiencing a bit of a lack of faith in their own abilities.

Noticing the shift in tone, Dox scooched back up tona seated position. "Asa... What's happened?"

Sitting down heavily on the nearby stool, Asa rubbed at the back of their neck with both hands for a moment before responding.

"Petty Officer Rua was found face down in her quarters two nights ago by Carrott. He rushed her here and we did all we could, but she had a major aneurysm burst, so we had to do an emergency C-section to save her child...I tried to save her but it was like her entire body was rejecting the presence of the fathers DNA in her system. Her blood turned to sludge before the end....it was terrible. If she had told me the truth....maybe.....but no, I can't know that. All I know is my patients just keep dying and I can't help but feel like it's a failure on my part. Maybe the Hera would be better with just an EMH...."

"Paeros!" Dox replied strongly, with the Rihan word for 'nonsense' that Asa had heard from her friend many times who perpetually had a hard time sticking to speaking federation standard when upset. "I'm so sorry, honey. That's horrible. But... There's nobody else I've ever met that's a better doctor than you, Asa. And I've met a LOT if doctors. There's nobody who cares like you do. Nobody with greater compassion."

Leaning over, Dox pulled her friend towards her into a hug. "I know you. If there was anything that could have been done, you would have done it. I know it and you know it."

As Dox felt her frail El-Aurian best friend all but shudder in her arms, she held on tighter. "It's okay, Asa. Just let it out."

“I know, at least my head knows, but my heart just hurts Min. We have seen so much loss of life in the last few months, and I just want it to stop. I want to heal people. See them grow and thrive.....not just die over stupid reasons like disagreements and secret paternity. Rua had a minotaur, you know. And not one of Hera’s….it’s a girl minotaur, meaning Zeus probably has been messing around with the crew. Who even knows where to start with that, right?” Asa murmured.

"A Minotaur?" Dox was slightly surprised, but only slightly. After all, she and Asa were also close friends with the embodiment of Death herself and as such the unusual was rapidly becoming quite expected for the red-headed Romulan. She leaned back just enough to be able to look at Asa in her arms without letting go. "If... Zeus... is actively messing with the crew in some way, the Captain and Rita will know where to start with that. That's their job and there's nobody better at it. But the baby... Minotaur or not... how's she doing? Is she healthy?"

With a bit of a smile for Dox’s stunned expression, Asa wiped their eyes and moved to pull up pictures of their newest fuzzy companion on the Hera.

“Are you kidding me? She’s going to make the replicators run dry she’s going through so much synthetic breast milk. We got enough from Rua to determine the formula and enriched with Iron per Hera’s recommendation….and that kid can EAT. I guess that shouldn’t really be a surprise though, she’s got a lot of growing to do. John, Carrott that is, has already brought her in to show her off as she could support her own head almost immediately after birth. She loves a good snuggle, but if you aren’t careful her little horns will poke you in the eye. John found that out the hard way. Amy, his wife, is already so completely love in with her that you would think it is her natural-born child.” Asa said, happy to report on the loving nature of the young minotaur’s new family.

"So, the baby is healthy and clearly happy and so are the new parents..." Dox said with a smile, releasing Asa from their hug. "You have consulted and continue to consult with the galactic expert on Minotaur's to make sure the baby is getting all the care she needs and then some, and had this ship for a family. I think that answers your implied question of 'Who even knows where to start with that'? You do."

Looking Asa more seriously in the eyes, Dox smiled. "What happened was tragic. Horribly tragic and I wish that you didn't have to live with that pain. But it wasn't your fault. I know it's not the same, but sometimes the helm blows up in your face and how we keep going is in what we do next and who's there to help us up when we fall. That baby has the best doctor in the fleet... and John and Amy and Hera and this entire crew."

"And you've got me and Rita and Mona and everyone else." She finished with a smile.

"Yeah," Asa sighed, shifting to sit side by side with Mnhei'sahe and rest their head on her shoulder. "Speaking of doing our best.....how's marriage treating you? Everything still roses and rainbows with your bird?"

Letting out a contented sigh, Dox leaned into her best friend. "It's good. I hope it's good. I missed her the whole time I was gone, so I guess that says something. Definitely wanted to get patched up before I saw her though. If you think you don't like seeing me hurt, you can imagine how she reacts."

Which was when Mona finally made her entrance, after having stood in the corridor for what felt like hours, though it had only been for a few minutes as the pair spoke with each other. "There's a reason I keep a medkit in our quarters and preen on you like I do, you know."

Without any hesitation, the brightly plumed Miradonian threw her arms around her mate and planted a big kiss on her lips. "It may be the pregnancy hormones, but I could sense when you got back to our time, came aboard, and got to sickbay. Weird, right?"

Leaning backs slightly, still in Mona's soft arms, Dox shot a glance to Asa, then back to her wife and bond-mate with a shocked expression that stretched into a wide grin. "Wait... pregnancy hor... really?"

Mona glanced to Asa with a wink. "I guess I get to break the news then. Passed out in the Banshee from exhaustion and found out... I'll explain that later... Congratulations, mom. We're going to be mothers and Doctor Dael will be delivering our three chicks in about... Nine months? Give or take?" She looked to Asa for confirmation, since Miradonians usually gestated for six, but Romulans for twelve, so the mix should hit somewhere in the middle, but not always.

"9 months....give or take a few weeks should be about right," Asa replied, then with a wink to Mnhei'sahe, "Just enough time to build on to your nest, eh? I call dibs on arranging the shower."

Leaning back slightly, Dox looked a little flushed but still with a hint of a grin as she chuckled lightly as she tried to process all the information. "Three? And... and everything's okay? They're... okay?"

"Everything is perfect," Asa cooed, trying to pass along calm vibes to their jittery friend. "Mona might be a bit....tetchy.....every now and again, and you darn well better give her whatever massage she asks for. So, in other words, yeah, she's a perfectly normal, healthy pregnant person." The last was said with a huge smile beaming on Asa's face.

"Pregnant... you're... we're going to be..." Dox repeated in an almost dream-like haze as the information seemed to float around her head like a fog. "I... I almost can't believe it."

As the reality slowly penetrated her thick, Romulan skull, Mnhei'sahe Dox chuckled slightly, which cracked into tears that rolled down smiling cheeks. She pulled Mona back in towards her even tighter with one arm, then grabbed her best friend Asa Dael with the other arm and pulled her into the hug as well as she began to cry in spite of herself.

Tomorrow, she would have time to be her usual, self-doubting self. To begin second-guessing herself and running through all the ways she feared she would mess up motherhood, but at that moment, she didn't care about any of that. At that moment, she knew nothing but joy.