Medical Masonry

Posted on Wed Nov 21st, 2018 @ 6:06pm by Ahreva Malana & Lieutenant Asa Dael

Mission: Escaped Pantheons
Location: Sickbay

While the Merosian masons and artisans had done outstanding work on Malana and she was healing amazingly well, it had come time for the sentient stone biologist to go in for a checkup. While she outwardly had no issues she suspected that she still had some internal cracks that had yet to fully heal and the best person for that job was Doctor Asa Dael. After all, as a Biologist herself, she knew the general workings but was no healer.

Stepping into the main sickbay, Malana announced her presence. "Doctor Dael? I have a scheduled appointment."

"Of course!" Dael replied brightly. "Come on back, how are you feeling?"

They motioned Malana to their office, Dael's preferred consultation venue. The doctor felt it provided better privacy for discussing what may be on a patient's mind than the open bed portion of Sickbay. Of course some tests and treatments required the medical beds, but at least the initial conversation could occur behind closed doors.

"Thank you, Doctor," Malana followed Asa into their office and slowly lowered herself into one of the chairs. "I feel I'm healing well and the Merosians did exceptionally well at putting me back together... But I'm afraid I may have some internal damage that they missed. I'm also worried that Ashravena physiology may be... Difficult to work with."

The doctor moved around the desk and began scanning the stony woman with their tricorder. As the readings came up, Doc Dael exhibited a slight frown. “Well, your intuition served you well. It does seem like there is a crack along the interior base of your pelvis and also a slight fissure on the inside of your chest. Would you please join me at bed 4? Nothing we can’t patch up. Any other pain areas I should know of?”

The doctor motioned towards the fourth bed along the rear wall of SickBay. It looked slightly different than the other deep scan/regeneration stations. In anticipation of unique needs to the Hera’s unique crew, Dael had equipped granite generators and rock stabilizers to the bed. Also, if needed it would form an airtight barrier and flood the area with an epoxy spray designed to seal any life threatening injuries and allow for better adhesion.

As Malana stood and made her way to the biobed, she thought it over. "My fingers are healing well, but there seems to be some slight discoloration from the Merosian patchwork in a few places, most notably at my joints. It's just cosmetic so I wouldn't normally mention it, but..." Rolling up onto the biobed, she let the thought hang in the air like a stone balloon.

“Nah, nothing wrong with wanting to look like yourself,” the doctor replied, “I can refashion the skin graft tool to replicate your stone-dermis from nearby digits and graft them on using the medical epoxy. Won’t take but a moment, might tickle a bit though.”

Malana heard the doctors voice coming from about three different location in the course of delivering that one sentence as Asa bounced to couple of cabinets nearby to secure the needed equipment. Suddenly their head popped up in view wearing a smile and waggling an unknown gadget in front of their face.

“See? Ready to go, easy as pie.” That said, the doctor lightly held Malana’s right hand, inspecting it and seeing the discoloration she had referred to. A thin red beam of light came from the grafter, scanning the nearby stone. Then the beam turned orange as it replicated a fine layer of stone and affixed it to the discolored areas. After instructing Malana to try to not move, the doctor moved to the left hand and repeated the procedure.

“Right as rain. I’ll give you a wax to use for the next week in case you get itchy or any other odd sensations. It will also help encourage the graft to stay, just apply once per day. OK, so, let’s get to scanning, shall we?”

Without waiting for an answer, Dael was already bringing up the wings of the bed to close in a loop around Malana’s prone form. The doctor was selecting a few buttons at a time and absorbing the readouts. They tapped their hands together impatiently while waiting for the full results.

“My initial readings were correct- there are some deep cracks, no doubt causing you some discomfort. The best way to treat this is going to be a deep sealing spray. I’m going to need to insert a probe, about the size of a wire, into the one crack that has an exterior entrance. We will then release the sealant spray into your core, where it will seek out the weak points and reinforce them, sealing them permanently. The bed is going to put up a force field to ensure no dust or other particles interferes with your healing process, and I’ll be just on the other side, guiding the probe and sending instructions to it. We are going to need to stop and put in additional layers of sealant at different parts of your body. The whole process should take about 30 minutes. Does that sound ok? Any questions?”

The doctors tone was confident and measured, making no effort to conceal that the procedure was involved, but also welcoming questions or input from their patient.

Malana leaned back and tried to repose herself like a good slab of masonry. "My people are not commonly known for emotions at all and are known for extreme patience. Indeed, our first space flight, instead of the usual rockets most races first build, we decided to start off with a space elevator and just use that to go to outer space to launch satellites and orbital craft."

"However, when it comes to medical procedures, I will admit a level of... Anxiety..." The stone woman, even still with the best poker face carved of stone, looked to Doctor Dael. "I will at least do my best to make your work easier and not breathe during the procedure and be as still as the mountain face I was born from."

Asa quit buzzing around adapting equipment to Malana’s unique needs, realizing their excited energy would easily translate to nervousness in others. Mentally berating themselves for not maintaining the calm bedside demeanor they worked so hard to project when treating patient, they came to kneel and be on eye level with the stone faced woman.

Placing a reassuring hand over Malana’s, Asa said, “Hey, it’s going to be ok, I promise. I talk too much sometimes, please forgive me. The masons on Meroset did a great job, we are just putting the finishing touches on. I’ll be here the whole time. And please do breathe, I never expected you to hold your breath the whole time. The system is configured for normal chest movements, just not conducting a symphony. If it gets to be too much, just speak up. I don’t want you feeling distressed.”

Malana squeezed the Doctor's hand lightly. "Thank you, Asa. I'm just used to the slow, steady movements of my people and the fast paced life here with others in the Federation has been a bit of a stressful blur. If I were not so young and adventurous..." Even now, the face of the woman could not crack a smile, but there was a hint of one in her unblinking eyes as she considered her words with all the deliberate intent of a cliff face. "I would probably still be in the biology compound studying Federation databases and being lectured by those so old they couldn't move from their pulpits."

“Now that’s something I know a bit about,” Asa laughed gently, “My people live for age, but they do precious little living during those centuries. We are just two rebels, run away from the old folks, off to see the universe. Guess we just have to look out for another, right? We start when you are ready, not a moment before.”

"Indeed, it seems we are chips off the same stone. Please proceed at your own pace, Doctor. I'm ready when you are." Malana closed her eyes and lay there as still as bedrock - only the specialized medical sensors showing that she was indeed a life form and not a statue laying on the biobed.

Before standing up, Asa gave Malana’s hand a squeeze, and a reassuring pat to the shoulder. Then, while going to get the mediwire needed for the adhesive and sealant spray, Asa spoke softly, “Just going to get some supplies. Computer, please activate privacy curtain at biobed 4.

The holocurtain came down, effectively shielding others from seeing inside the medical treatment area surrounding Malana, but still allowing Doc to move back and forth unimpeded throughout the room. Getting used to walking through what appeared to be a wall had been one of the more surreal parts of Asa’s medical training. Growing up out in the middle of nowhere, the doctor was far more accustomed to low tech brick and mortar.

Mortar! Right, better get extra Mortar! the doctor thought.

“Ok, on my way back now. Feel free to let me know if anything feels wrong. Now I’m inserting a small piece of equipment to allow us to get where we need to start resealing. This may feel a bit strange, but I promise, it won’t be but a moment.”

Asa put the wire in quickly, checking on Malana and smiling periodically to let her know everything was ok. While the doctor did speak throughout, they maintained a calm tone of voice, and made the forcefield surrounding the biobed itself so as not to worry the stone woman with a sense of claustrophobia.

When the sealant began to be inserted, Malana’s vitals spiked slightly, but went back down when Dael told her that the cold feeling was completely normal and would pass shortly. For the next half hour, Doc Dael worked to move the probe wire as needed and seal areas inside the woman that would otherwise begin to crack further in time.

After the procedure was done, Dael sprayed a small amount of epoxy where the wire had been inserted, then said, “You did really great. You can talk now if you like, but I would like you to lie still for another 30 minutes or so just to let everything set up, ok?”

Malana opened her eyes and took in a breath of air so she could speak. She didn't exactly stop breathing... but she was breathing pretty slowly. "That was the weirdest feeling I've ever felt... But I can already tell I feel more whole. Thank you Doctor. While I'm laying here immobile, how have you been? Has your recovery been proceeding well?"

"It's my pleasure. My recovery is well, thank you for asking. The Doctor, our EMH that is, conducted surgery with the help of Counselor Jurot. The first few days were slow going, and I had a bit of a hiccup as some new ways of perceiving energy activated from deep in my genes, but I got through it. Still hungry all the dang time, but I think that will pass eventually. The hardest part is just adjusting to what I chose to do. Still beat myself up at times. How about you? Any bad memories bothering you?"

"As a pacifist, our actions on Meroset were regrettable, but in the end I see them as no different from the course that all life must take and necessary for the continued growth and evolution of all living things. I will live with those memories knowing that I was a small part of a greater wheel of life." Malana said those words with a peace and conviction that seemed to surprise even her. It was a part of her people's way of life and how they saw all other life and was almost inseparable from their ego.

"That is....a really good way to look at it really. I would welcome learning more about your people's philosophy. Tell me, what is your favorite part of your people? What do you think we can learn most from them?"

Malana finally blinked in surprise. It was a slow blink that made it look like time had slowed to a crawl, but a blink nonetheless."I must confess, as a biologist I have studied many species and answered that question many times over the years, but not for my own race. When it comes to the Ashravena we tend to take a very long term approach to everything since we don't often need to eat or sleep or even breathe like most life forms. There are a few researchers that study the passing of the seasons that stand in place for hundreds of years just watching as time passes around them before they make one notation. Indeed, if my people had not decided to reproduce more casually and spread out our research, we would likely still be patiently watching the evolution of species on our own planet and never invented the slowest warp drive in the Federation."

"It sounds like you have an interesting heritage," Dael responded, "My people were the same, once upon a time, I think. My mother mentioned that when we had a home world there was a core population that never left willingly. We spread into the stars very slowly, focusing more on our own society than the rest of the Universe. The Borg changed all that of course, and now we have nowhere to call home. Your people have seen the horrors that lurk in the shadows. I hope they have means to keep your world safe."

Realizing the conversation had taken a turn for the maudlin, Dael switched topics of conversation for the remaining time left for Malana to rest before returning to activity. "Gotta say, it would be handy to not need to sleep so often. What do you enjoy doing in the quiet hours onboard when most everyone is asleep?"

"I normally sit in the lounge or dining areas and read while observing the crew. As a biologist, I find the nocturnal activities fascinating. They differ greatly depending upon a great many things and I find myself wondering what causes a person to venture from the familiarity of their quarters in the middle of the night cycle to shed tears into a triple fudge sundae and stare out at the stars in ten forward, for instance."

Asa stifled a snort with limited success. "Well, I don't have any personal experience in the matter mind, but I'm given to understand that upset over romance tends to do that to people that experience romance. Honestly, I never needed an excuse for a triple fudge sundae, or to stare at the stars. But it's usually a more happy affair for me, not really crying during that. Ok, I'm curious now- do we have any sleepwalkers you have seen?"

Malana tilted her head slightly. "Crewman Daniels wanders the halls every night between 0100 and 0300 on the same deck as the mess hall. He checks inside every emergency locker in the inner corridor religiously, then goes back to bed. It is a strange behaviour that I do not understand."

"Impossible to say really," Asa responded, "Sleepwalking is just this weird thing some people do. If he brings it up to me, there are some options medically, but as long as he isn't being harmed, honestly? Sometimes best to just leave it alone. The treatment can be worse than the illness...just make him tired all the time. You would think it's something we could cure by now, but the mysteries of the brain are as dense as ever in some cases.

"I had this roomate in Starfleet Medical for one semester that would talk in her sleep and review her notes aloud that she took the day before. At first it was annoying, but then it just became an extra study session, so that was ok. She would randomly talk about bubbles and blueberries other nights. I think she just enjoyed the sound of the letter b.

"Oh, look at that!," Dael said, standing up, "This little light means you are all set up! Let me get the bed retracted for you, then you can do a lap around the room and see how it feels." That said, the doctor tucked all the add-on's from the biobed back into themselves, leaving a simple cot appearance with a display at the head. They offered a hand to Malana, hoping the stony woman wouldn't topple them in getting up.

Malana looked at the Doctor's hand for a moment before taking it. "Thank you for your help, Doctor." She then released the Doctor's hand and used both of her own hands to leverage herself up and off the biobed. Slowly twisting and moving in place, she experimented a bit, groaning a bit as she did so. She then walked over to the replicator and back in a much more normal manner. "Yes, I feel much better. I will likely be more fragile than most for some time because of this experience, but this is much better already. Thank you."

"I'm glad to hear it. Come back if anything feels off. Otherwise, check up in 2 weeks, sound good?"

"Sounds good to me," replied Malana.