This Won't Hurt A Bit

Posted on Fri Jul 30th, 2010 @ 5:23pm by Commander Michael Evans M.D. & Lieutenant John Forest

Mission: Episode 1.2 - "A House Divided"
Location: Main Sickbay
Timeline: MD16, 1530 hours

ON: [[USS Pandora, 2XO's Office, MD16, 1530 hours]]

Michael hefted the stone in his hand absently, the cool weight of the tapered white speleothem that had once been a small stalactite was reassuring; plus it gave him something to do with his hands as he looked out his viewport at the planet below. He'd spent the day flicking through medical reports, science reports, intelligence reports (ones he could get his hands on anyways), away team reports, and anything else that might give him a clue about what was wrong with those blasted Romulans in his sickbay. Now his eyes were a little blurry and he had the beginnings of a headache. He rubbed his face and sighed.

He knew what he needed to do. Iluvar hadn't exactly said "no," though he hadn't exactly said "yes" either when he mentioned it in the meeting. Contact with the colony had been unhelpful in a very... benign (yes, that was an appropriate word) sort of way. Reports had been conflicting: some said there were more cases like the ones in his sickbay, some said there weren't. In a way he figured the colony would disapprove if he asked them for permission to go ahead; but in a way he figured they might not, as nonplussed as they seemed to be about the whole situation. Better not to ask, he decided. In fact, it's time to do something. Without further thought he placed the stone on his desk and strode out the door.

[[Main Sickbay]]

Michael marched in and stopped abruptly inside the door, then relaxed and assumed a more nonchalant manner realizing that he looked like a 'man on a mission.' He looked around. Winchester should be on duty right now.

Margaret turned from the tray of medical devices back to the ensign sitting on the bed next to her. Noticing Evans at the door, she nodded slightly to acknowledge that she saw him and then finished with the ensign. "Go ahead and take the rest of the shift off and try not to lift anything heavy for a few days."

Nodding, the ensign smiled and jumped off the bed before leaving.

"Hello, Margaret," he greeted her with a faint smile. "I've just been going a little stir crazy. I've come to relieve you." He kept his tone matter-of-fact but straightforward, as if he might actually be going a little stir crazy (which really wasn't too far from the truth).

Margaret smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, there's only so much office time you can have. Have you gotten anywhere in *your* search?" she asked, motioning towards the two romulans.

Michael rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the Romulans. "No, not really. I was hoping that spending some time here might give me some inspiration." He couldn't help not quite looking at Winchester.

Margaret nodded and shrugged. "Fair enough." she replied. "It's been a fairly quiet afternoon, just one or two people since I came in. Is there anything you'd like me to do before I head out?"

Michael paused for a moment, as if in thought, then shook his head. "Nah. Just go enjoy the extra hours off-duty," he said, managing a smile.

Dr. Evans watched her leave, then checked to be sure he was alone in sickbay before he wheeled an instrument tray to a cabinet, loaded it neatly with supplies, and parked it between the two Romulans. He selected an instrument and began.

The procedure did not take long. After a few short minutes he'd successfully retrieved tissue samples from the brain of each patient. They wouldn't miss it and would suffer no ill effects from the lost tissue.

The problem was that people, that is any sentient being, seemed to have a problem with anything involving the removal or alteration of their brains, whatever form they took. Understandable, of course, but not necessarily logical. His acting without requesting permission might cause a few issues that would need to be smoothed over later (or consequences that would need to be accepted), but better to act now and deal with the consequences than to risk the likely denial of his request to perform this biopsy.

He put the equipment back where it belonged, then took his prized samples into the medical lab. He was relieved in a way; quite nervous in another. He placed the first sample into the scanner and began the sequences. Data flashed. Images scrolled. There! Right there! He whooped in victory, then contained his enthusiasm as he rechecked. Yes, right there; that was the problem.

Too small to be picked up by the noninvasive scans, and too like the surrounding molecules was the cause of all their sweat and trouble: a prion. The protein-like structure of the prion was extremely difficult to destroy without affecting the surrounding tissues. It slipped into a cell and took over control of some of its functions, but not all of them like many viruses do. It was a rare but insidious little bugger that physicians galaxy-wide pulled out their hair over (or tentacles, or scales, or whatever the particular species had).

He slipped the second sample in and, sure enough, it was there too. He could hardly contain his excitement, but didn't want to tell anybody just yet. He needed to run a few tests first.

An hour passed. Then two. Nurse Caceres (NPC) had checked in on him, as had Dr. Haelen, but he waved them away saying something about just wanting to work alone for a while with only his thoughts for company. Haelen looked at him a little oddly but had not argued.

After several hours had passed he was to be found running his hands through his hair in perplexion. He'd found the prion but now needed to find a way to neutralize it. But there was something different, something wrong with this particular prion. It was... off somehow.

"I need a second opinion," he thought, "but not a medical opinion." He sat up with a sudden thought, then gathered the samples and his data. He called in the duty nurse to baby sit the patients, then left for the science labs.

OFF

A Joint Post by:

Lt. Commander Michael Evans
2XO/CMO
USS Pandora

and

Lieutenant (jg) Margaret Winchester (PNPC)
Chief Surgeon
USS Pandora
Played by: Lt. John Forest