All your eggs in one basket

Posted on Mon Jan 3rd, 2022 @ 9:23am by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant Ayana Hillis & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant Commander Shoniara T’ghann-Travis Dr & Petty Officer 1st Class Amethyst Reece

Mission: Sinister Intentions
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Returning from the planet

Dex and Jon materialized in sickbay. Jon was dying and there was not a moment to lose. Dex shouted, "I need surgical team one and help to get him onto a surgical intensive bed NOW.”

Jon struggled to stay conscious. "Dex.... save Callie" He gasped. His eyes closing for a moment before opening. "Please."

“Do not worry Jon, Callie is in good hands. Sam is looking after her. Now just you let me look after you. You will be going to sleep for a while whilst we mend you. She ran her hand across his forehead. Everything will be well.” She set his sedation to increase so he became unconscious momentarily.”

”Everything is ready Doctor” Amethyst looked towards Dex ready to assist where needed.

“Thank you Ameythyst, can you keep an eye on his vitals, and monitor his sedation? I want him unconscious but not too deep. He has no neural trauma but we all know it can develop.”

She said loudly “We are not loosing this officer people!”

The surgical clamshell snapped shut over him and the bio diagnostics commenced. They were all in the lower amber, red zones. “He needs 4 units packed cells and 5 plasma. We need to commence metorapan treatments for his fractures . Dr Perrim will you set his fractured wrist and relocate his femur please, also he has a right heamothorax due to his rib fracture.” The clamshell began to repair his lacerated spleen and kidneys and reinflate his lungs.

She looked over at Sam, are you all right? How is Callie?”

"Yep, she's keeping me busy" Sam retorted as she focused her attention on her own patient. It seemed that today was going to be a loooooooong day.

Dex tapped her comm =/\= Dex to Captain Shran=/\=

~ Bridge ~

Shran had just returned to the bridge after a stroll through the ship and a conversation with Celes when the comm chimed. He looked at his comm badge in an almost annoyed fashion as he remembered he had reactivated it in the turbolift. "It never rains..."

"...but it pours" said Celes in an ironical fashion as she left his side, a smirk on her face.

Shran hit his comm badge, =^=Go ahead doctor. =^=

=/\= Captain I have to inform you that Commander Grayson is a patient in sickbay his condition is serious. I found him in the brig following a fight between himself and the prisoner T’Vall. T’Vall is dead sir, by his own hand he took poison. I left him there with the Brig Officers, they were not in there with them at the time. The scene is untouched but I did confirm T’Vall’s death prior to leaving with the Commander, we are working on him now. He is not conscious. =/\=

Shran's antennae stood straight up and he looked flush, his anger palpable. =^=Understood=^= he said through gritted teeth. =^=On my way doctor, Shran out.=^= The Andorian looked in Ayana's direction, she was moving quickly to his side.

"I want whoever was on duty replaced immediately. You have an investigation to undertake now." It was obvious that Shran wanted very much to do something that he shouldn't at this moment. He turned to return to the turbolift, "Celes, you have the bridge."

~ Sickbay ~

Sam stepped back for a moment, waiting to see if any more alarms sounded in the next few minutes before she dared to move forward with the treatment. Hopefully they could move forwards.

Dex stood back for a minute to assess the situation, Jon’s spleen was not repairing as it should do, massive infection was setting in so she made the decision to remove it. “Sam, I am going to have to remove his spleen” she knew it was surgically difficult but she was going to have to do it. “Amethyst can you set up for a splenectomy please, and as quick as you can. We are also going to have to start medication for massive infection.” She knew the Captain was on his way and wanted to be able to answer his questions but she could not wait long.

Amethyst nodded. “Right away Doctor” she quickly moved to collect the tray of equipment Dex would need to use, setting it up ready before bringing over a tray of hypo’s with various antibiotics on.

Suddenly there was the shriek of an alarm. Dex had to check whether it was Callie or Jon. It was her patient, she ran back to his side. Her knowledge of trauma made her suspect something else was going on inside Jon. “Belay that Amethyst, I need a pericardial tray stat I am going to have to go in and have a look. I think there is a problem with his heart.”

She looked around for Shran and figured she would be able to give an accurate answer to any questions he might have whether she had her hands inside Jon or not. She gowned up as the team put Jon on total circulatory arrest . She dissected through his skin and muscle with her exoscalpel, then used a tactile exploration from the right atrium of his heart revealing a long laceration extending down his inferior vena cava. Surak! she thought, she was sweating more than a plaka beast. It had been years since she had performed this procedure and her patient had not made it.

“Amethyst can you replicate me a 6CM plain polytetrafluoroethylene tube I am going to have to graft this bastard”

Amethyst nodded and disappeared for a moment, she soon returned with the tube in a sterile bag. She unwrapped it ready for use.

“Damn it Jon you have to live for Callie! Do NOT let T’Vall win.” She exclaimed and held her breath. She slipped the graft over the Hagar dilator and introduced it into his inferior vena cava, It fitted like a glove and she began to breathe once again. After suturing it in She slowly reduced the bypass until his heart began to fill again. She felt elated, it was something when you held someone’s still heart in your hand.

She closed up quickly as the surgical clamshell induced CPR.
It shocked his heart four times before it retained its electrical rhythm and began to beat on its own. “Amethyst please watch his pressures, I would expect him to begin to maintain his own blood pressure in a few minutes. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be back to remove the Commanders spleen.

She walked outside sickbay and stood and leant against the wall breathing deeply, centering herself for a few minutes. Several people passing looked at her and she realized she was still in her surgical gown covered in blood. “Move along people, it’s sickbay, it’s what we do!” She said loudly.

Jon floated above his body, he was dying. Dear Dex was doing her best to save him but it didn't look good. He looked to where Sam was taking care of Callie. He floated down to place a ghostly kiss on Callie's lips and hoped she knew what he had done to save her. "I love you Callie now and forever." He whispered in her ear, when he felt a tug and was drawn back to his body. It seemed the fight to save his life continued.

The ghostly kiss had an unexpected response, alarms rang out before all settled again almost as if Callie had felt the kiss, and heard Jon’s words.

Amethyst kept a watchful eye on the readouts, last thing she wanted was for anything else to go wrong. She smiled as the readings started to gently return to a more normal rhythm, at least as normal as it could get given Jon had a spleen that was about to be removed.

Dex reentered sickbay, she saw Sam still working on Callie with her team and began to feel a sense of rhythm and peace to her working world. The determination to give 100% of themselves to their patients was heartening and palpable. She went up to Amethyst took her bloody glove off and put her hand on the nurses shoulder. “Thank you for you help and expertise, I could not do this without you.” Then the moment was over, “come on let’s have a look at this spleen.”

She walked over to where Jon lay and re gowned for the surgery which she hoped was the last he would need. She bent over and whispered in his ear “I know you can hear me Jon Grayson, you are going to live and have a wonderful life with your Callie.

She opened him up making a retrograde incision. She noted with luck he only needed a partial removal. As the spleen does not grow back it gave him a little bit extra to fight with as the spleen is an important part of the immune system, also filtering and removing old red blood cells. Once she had dissected it from the pancreas she checked his other organs, pancreas and stomach. One more visual check and she closed. “That’s it Jon we’re done, it’s up to you now.”

She set the biobed alarms and relied on Amethyst to keep a watchful eye on him. She went into the office and replicated herself an Earl Grey and sat down in Sam’s chair. The next thing of course was the post mortem on T’Vall, the Captain would want it done by the book, that is why she left the body in the brig in case he wanted to view the scene. She resolved to wait for him whilst keeping an eye on her patient.

Jon in his ghostly form followed Dex into her office and sat in
the chair across from her. "Thank you Dex. Thank you for what you've done and the effort you've made. You are an amazing doctor and person." He got and moved to stand next to her and as he did, he dropped the gold chain he wore around his neck into her pocket. "Something to remember me by." As he kissed her cheek and smiled at her.

Shon thought she must have dropped off for a minute, or perhaps had one of those waking dreams that one has when they are beyond tired and the brain says sleep but the situation says no. She felt something like a breath of air across her cheek, she brought her hand up and held it there for a second. Something in her mind made her think of her patient lying there. “Jon” she said softly. She knew she felt something more than friendship for him, but his heart belonged to Callie and Callie’s to his. They were bound together.

She sighed and put her hands in the pockets of her coat. In between the usual detritus contained in them her hand felt something else. She withdrew it to find a gold chain in her hand. It was not hers she knew that. She was just about to get up to enquire as to whether one of the staff had lost one, when she sat down again. She knew whose it was! She had seen Jon wear it, it was his, but how in Surak’s name had it got there. Somehow she knew and put it round her neck it felt warm as she tucked it out of sight.

Jon smiled as Dex put on the gold chain he had dropped into her pocket. "Looks good on you my friend. You keep it." He told her as he followed her outside.

She went back out “How is our patient doing?”

Amethyst looked uncertain. “To be honest he’s not getting any worse, or any better as yet. He seems to be hovering between for now.”

Dex nodded, “put him in isotrophic restraints for 12 hours then we will begin to wake him.”

Amethyst nodded. “Yes Doctor”

She walked to the biobed next to Jons. How is she doing Sam?” She asked “is there anything you need help with?”

"I'm nearly done I think" Sam mused as she wiped the small beads of perspiration from her brow. "I managed to repair most of the damage but there's some hinkiness going on that was inhibiting treatment. We'll need to run a full genetic series once I've finished" Sam explained.

Jon had returned to Callie's side and placed his hand atop hers. "I know you can hear me Callie, so I'm telling you this straight. You are coming back to me. You are my wife, you are the woman I love. Henry needs his mother and I need you. We were torn apart before but never again. Your place is next to me and mine is next to you, So stop giving Sam a hard time and help her out." He placed a ghostly hand on her forehead and gave her another kiss. "Wake up and you'll get a lot more." He teased.

Callie slowly stirred, her eyes slowly opened and she offered a smile to the figure of Jon she could see standing by her bed. “I’ll...hold you...to that, Jon.”

Jon smiled down at her, "That's my Callie and I always keep my promises especially where kisses are involved."

Callie smiled, as she started to become more aware of her surroundings she suddenly realized Jon wasn’t at her bedside. “Jon?...Jon!?...where are you??”

Sssh Callie. don't overexert yourself. I have to go for now. But I'll be back, I promise."

Another biobed alarm screamed as Jon’s blood pressure dropped into the red zone. Dex sped back to her patient. “Surak what now Jon” she said through gritted teeth. She checked his wounds, none were bleeding, his heart was doing well. She checked his latest labs. “Amethyst please increase his 2 hourly broad spectrum antibiotic to hourly overnight. And give him another unit of packed cells.”

Amethyst nodded. “Understood, I’ll get right on it.” She had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

Dex smiled at her, “after you have done that please go and get yourself something to eat and a rest away from here. I will be staying as well. Go on you deserve it.”

“Thank you Doctor” Amethyst smiled warmly. “It’s been a long shift, I appreciate it.” Once she was sorted she made one last check before heading out of Sickbay for a break, and some food.

Jon moved to Sam, his best friend and currently working on Callie. He came to stand next to her looping a ghostly arm around her shoulders. "Samantha Howard my best friend and the best doctor in Starfleet. I know you'll keep Callie safe." He took off his academy ring and dropped it in her pocket. "A token of my respect and friendship." He finished by turning her face and kissing her lightly on her lips. "Thank you for always being there for me Sam. You are a true friend."

The doors to sickbay opened and Shran walked in and viewed what looked like controlled chaos. "Somebody tell me what is happening" he said somewhat exasperated.

Dex saw the Captain and headed wearily over. “Captain, I found Commander Grayson and T’Vall in the brig with no officer present. I am presuming the Commander dropped the forcefield for whatever reason. They fought, it appears T’Vall took poison although I have not yet performed an autopsy. The Commander sustained, broken ribs, punctured lung, fractures to his wrist, compound femur fracture, lacerated spleen, kidney contusions and a tear in one of the major arteries in his heart. I had to remove his spleen and put a graft into his vena cava. There have been a couple of times when we thought we had lost him but I would think he will survive. I have him under restraints and sedated for 12 hours, after that we will begin to wake him."

Shran nodded his understanding of the assessment thus far.

"As for Lieutenant Raven Grayson I know initially she had a placental bleed from a fetus that was impregnated in her by T’Vall. Her body initially accepted but then rejected it hence the bleed. We also think she had had some DNA manipulation, much like we found on the Breen planet. Callie’s mind is fractured but until she is conscious we cannot assess it more. Apparently before he died T’Vall told him that ‘Kohlinar’ was the key to unlocking her mind. I have not even begun to look into that. I think that is about all so far Sir. Do you want to ask me any more questions?”

Shran looked around and remained quiet for a few moments. "So my people will live, though they are both in for a rough recovery, is that correct? I assume Jon will require additional surgery to give him a synthetic spleen, and possibly additional replacement organs depending on how things go, is that a correct assessment? And your initial assessment is that T'Vall died of poison." Shran walked over and looked at Jon who was laying on the biobed unconscious and he stared at him. "Get him better doctor. He has a lot to answer for regarding this I'll have to inform JAG regarding this situation. That won't be an ideal situation." He turned and began moving towards the door, "I have to see what Ayana has found with her investigation. Just get him healthy again."

Jon stood shoulder to shoulder with Shran. "That's a mystery isn't it sir? I mean Kohnlinar could be the delete key to free Callie from T'vall's 'instructions' or she could already be free with him dead. She knew me but oh wait, you don't know that yet but you will when she tells you." Jon looked at his friend and mentor. "I'm sorry I disappointed you but I had to do this. No amount of questioning was going to get us the answers we needed."

Dex sighed, “yes sir, your assessment of the current situation is correct. If everything goes well in his recovery I would expect him to be awake tomorrow and up and about in his own quarters within a week. If we had not recovered him immediately we would be without him right now. We were very lucky. I will have a report on T’Vall within the next few hours. If there is nothing else sir I will return to my patient?”

An exhausted Dex returned to Jon’s side after stopping by for a visit with Callie. She tried to connect with her mind but all she head was confusion but she noted Callie was thinking about a visit from Jon. She kissed her on the cheek, “dream on my friend and I will see you in a while. I will have the secret to free you if needed. We all love you, Jon will be fine if I have anything to do with it.”

Jon finally began to stabilize. She pulled up a chair with her PaDD and began to write her reports prior to T’Valls autopsy. She looked at Jon. “You know Jon I wish I had a love like you and Callie have. To do what you have done for someone you love.” She shook her head and tears came to her eyes. She put it down to her extreme exhaustion and carried on with the report. She nodded off for a few moments and realized she had to get out of sickbay for a while.

After a visit to her quarters, a shower and a fresh uniform she headed to the mess. Ordering a plate of egg and chips and a large Earl Grey she chose a seat by the window. It was quiet as by the ships chronometer it was the middle of the night. She ate like it was going out of fashion and then went back for another order, not what she usually ate but it was delicious. She wished again for someone to talk to about her feelings, her brother was here but he was wrapped up in his feelings for Sam. She smiled and was happy for both of them but another feeling of loneliness swept over her. She put her feet up on an opposite chair and began to research everything she knew about Kholinar.