The Broken- Remembering
Posted on Sat Mar 18th, 2017 @ 11:13am by Commander Hades,MD & Major General Thomas Jackson & Lieutenant Commander Holly Gillo & Lieutenant Shrivol Thr'elanon & Master Warrant Officer Gaius Aquila & Master Sergeant Atlee Micklin
Edited on on Sat Mar 18th, 2017 @ 11:14am
2,505 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Episode 94 - Return to Rashanar
Location: SB400 Medical
Timeline: MD01 1225 hours
Hades had left sickbay in Braxton's capable hands. He now headed back to his quarters to rest. He had seen neither hide nor tail of Shrivol and he was starting to worry but that was a story for a different time. Today Hades would take the rare lull in casualties and appointments to catch up on much needed sleep.
As he walked towards his quarters he thought about all this patients. Particularly Gaius Aquila. He was so happy to hear the man was better. Hades looked up and saw Gaius and Holly across the way. Their eyes met and he could tell that they were taken back to many days ago....
Flashback to the MEU's Return
Titus and Octavian were nervous. The docking area was placed off limits when the Marine task forces returned, so they did not get to greet their father in the usual fashion. What made them nervous was the fact that Giaus has not contacted them yet. This was not like him.
Titus tried to contact him on the comm system to no avail. Octavian then made a long distance transmission to Holly. It was a longshot, but the link was made between him and Holly's ship. =/\=Commander Gillo, are you there?!?=/\=
=/\= Yes Titus I am here...is there something the matter?=/\= Holly was very concerned at this point looking at the comm knowing full well that the boys did not contact her while she was at work unless there was some sort of an emergency going on or something was wrong.
=/\=Holly, Father has not returned, or messaged us yet. We are getting worried.=/\=
Holly's hands flew over the controls of her station to look up where the marine transport was and what was going on as far as station reports on the marines. It wasn't till she got down to the part that there were some wounded and still in sickbay that things started to click in her mind. =/\= I am sure that he'll contact you soon. They just got back from the field and are still in sickbay at the moment...probably hasn't been cleared yet to leave. I'll be with you both in a few minutes once the relief officer comes. =/\= Holly was not sure if this was acceptable to the boys but she was doing her best to cope with them as the reports were telling her more than what she wanted to get into while she was in operations.
Titus and Octavian both sat down after talking to Holly. In both their minds, some bad thoughts were beginning to take shape.
A while later
Micklin walked into Ops, where Holly went after her ship returned to tie up loose ends.
Micklin then spoke as soon as he had her attention. "Um...Commander Gillo, we need to talk."
She looked right at him and then spoke quietly, "I know. We can do that on the way to the Aquila quarters. Got two very concerned young men in there that are going to need someone to lean on...can tell me what has happened on the way."
"Very good Sir," was all that Atlee could respond with.
As the two made their way to Giaus' quarters, the two conversed.
"Chief Aquila took a bad hit during the fighting. They are still performing surgeries on him since our return."
“Thanks for letting me know why the two boys are a bit distressed at the moment. They are use to receiving a greeting from their Father when he returns from service.” There was a bit of a concerned look on her face as she spoke as she knew that surgery could be rather difficult to predict the outcome.
When they opened the door to the Aquila Quarters, the two teenagers greeted the pair, with tears in their eyes. "Is our Father in Elysium?" (The Roman term for Heaven).
“No, he's still here with us...just fighting and the Doctors are helping him fight. That's why he is not able to speak to you right now. I am sure once they got him well enough he'll be asking for you both real soon.” It was then she offered her services to be hugged onto if they so desired to do that.
And they took full advantage of those services. After a while of cheering up on Holly's part, Micklin spoke, "Commander. Would you and the boys want to drop by Medical, or would you prefer to stay here?"
"That will be up to these two young men as to what we're going to do." Holly said looking over at the boys not sure what they were wanting to do. She knew when it came to their Father it would be best for them to choose what to do rather than to tell them what to do.
It took a few secoonds for Titus and Octavian to look at each other, then nod to Holly, "Ready when you are," Titus said.
Holly looked right at Micklin and spoke to him, "Looks like we're going to sickbay."
"Yes Sir," he replied. And the group went to Medical.
Medical Department
Surgery 2
Giaus spent the voyage back to Star Base 400 in stasis die the the extent of his injuries. He took a direct hit into the chest from a Klingon disruptor. Due to his armor absorbing some of the energy, plus his above average physical condition, he survived his injury. Yet he sustained major damage to his heart, as well as other vital systems. He was now on full life support, awaiting surgery.
Shrivol looked over the readings, he was happy they had a few artificial hearts on standby. This was the ninth time Shrivol had to install one, but they never had they went as planned. "Okay, Giaus, we are ready to start." Shrivol looked at the aides as they started the sedation process on Giaus. "Here goes everything. Doctor Hades, is the heart systems still reading normal?" He asked, mainly due to experience when some of the artificial hearts had a failure immediately prior to surgery.
Hades looked at the read outs. "Yes. So far so good. There have been a few fluctuations but everything is reading normal for now. I've been compensating and adjusting."
"Good, a few fluctuations aren't bad especially with a procedure like this." It seemed like hours which it could have been. With Gaius chest cavity opened up Shrivol was able to retrieve the injured heart. "I am surprised he survived." Shrivol said to everyone. A nurse handed Shrivol the new heart and for what seemed like more hours was able to connect it. "Doctor Hades, how are the readings? I am concerned about his blood pressure."
"It's dropping!" He stepped over to the bio bed letting the nurse take his place. He watched the alarms start to beep. "Shri! We're loosing him!" Hades injected Gaius with a hypo hoping the man would respond.
Giaus was in a world of his own at this time, dreaming of a picnic outside of Capua in Rome. Holly and the boys were having a grand time. He was oblivious of the reality around him.
"30 CC adrenaline." Shrivol went into a different mindset, this had happened to him several times when performing this procedure. "Cordical stimulator." Shrivol ordered as a nurse applied it to Giaus' forehead. "Clear and shock now." the nurse activated the stimulator and nothing. "AGAIN!" Shrivol ordered and then the new heart started functioning. "Damn, I hate this thing." He said, outloud. "Dr. Hades, readings?" He asked.
Hades heart was pounding. He checked the readings. "Still shaky but getting there. "Maybe one more dose of adrenaline but lower. I'd say 10 CCs."
Shrivol took a moment to decide, he started to sweat slightly. "Yes, just 10 CC's." He finally replied, in reality it was only a second or two, but it felt like an eternity.
As Micklin, Holly, and the boys made their way to the Medical Department's entrance , Thomas arrived at the same time. Jackson was not surprised to see Holly and the Aquila Boys there. "Titus, Octavian." The boys were so nervous that they only managed to quietly say, "Uncle Thomas." Jackson looked at Holly, "How are you holding out?"
Holly looked at Jackson and spoke to him, " I am holding up as well as can be expected." She then offered him a small smile before keeping track of where the boys were at.
The boys were a year past the age on their home world, where they would be considered adults. They were both 17 years old now, and as they waited, they kept their composure like men.
Jackson managed to say, "Understood," as he wondered if he or Holly should ask about Giaus' statues. "Let's check on Giaus."
The group made their way into medical reception, where he saw orderlies, and a couple of nurses attending consoles. When one of the nurses shifted her attention to the group, Tom looked at Holly, giving her the opportunity to ask the nurse her questions.
Holly looked right at the nurse and smiled before approaching her and speaking to her, " Do you know how Gaius Aquila is doing? I have his sons here..."
Hades had just come out of surgery. Shrivol was finishing up. He heard Holly's question. "You are Mr. Aquila's family?" He asked.
She looked right at Hades when he spoke, "We are his as much as he is ours. I take it you just got done working on him?"
Hades sighed. "We did. Doctor Thr'elanon is just finishing up the surgery. Would you like to follow me to the post op office and we can talk there."
Holly nodded and gestured with her hand for the boys to follow, "That would be most wise." She then smiled a bit at Hades again.
"Maybe the boys want to wait here so that when Mr. Aquila comes out they can see him." Hades said.
She looked at the boys and spoke to them both, "What would you like to do? If you want to stay out here know that if anything goes wrong I'll be out in seconds."
Titus made eye contact with Octavian. "He may be our father, but he is your man. We will wait."
Jackson elected to accompany Holly.
Hades, Jackson, and Holly walked into the post op office and sat down. "This was a difficult surgery. " He looked at the young woman. "Would you like some water before we cover the extent of his injuries?"
Holly shook her head, "No. I'm fine. I've heard about it all by now." She then lightly smiled at him.
Hades looked at Holly. He didn't believe in pulling punches. "He took a direct Klingon disruptor to the chest. We had to put him in stasis until we got back to the space station. There was major damage to vital organs and most of it was repaired. His heart...well we have had to put in an artificial heart that will have to be monitored. We'll have to keep him on life support for now but he should make a recovery. He will have to retire."
Jackson looked at the doctor. "Doctor, there are many in Star Fleet, and even the Marines who remain on duty with artificial hearts. Admiral Pichard had one for all of his post academy career." Thomas knew that being medically retired would be a death sentence for Giaus.
Holly spoke after Jackson spoke up, "Like the Major General has stated there are many examples of Starfleet letting people work with medical devices serving as vital organs. Retiring him medically based on what you have spoke about, Doctor, would not be logical nor would it be advised." Her way of verbally expressing that in his culture their duty was their life. The only honorable way of getting out of it would be old age or death. It would shatter Giaus to have to leave the core and Holly wasn't about ready to let the Doctor do that to him.
"I'm sorry Holly, Mr. Jackson, I will be filing my report to the Admirals and Starfleet shortly." He sighed. He thought of himself and how his job was the only thing holding him steady through his own health issues, issues he tried to hide more and more each day. "Alright. Listen....There might be a way."
Jackson leaned forward, "I am all ears Doctor." Images of Giaus' sons leaning over him with his own gladius in their hands did not thrill him.
Holly had that look on her face that often came when she didn't want to let anyone in on what she was thinking, "I am listening as well Doctor."
"He'll need time off to rest and heal. That I will insist on. WO Braxton has some physio experience and experience with artificial hearts and training the body to adapt to it. I will speak with him about getting Mr. Aquila on a program. Mr. Jackson, with your permission of course."
"Of course. I also feel that Aquila's above average physical conditioning will help him in this situation. They just don't pass everyone into MARSOC." Jackson replied.
"Alright. So he'll need rest and healing for a while and then we'll start with a the physio therapy. I'll get Doctor Thr'elanon to approve the treatment as well and we'll get him up and about. In the mean time he'll need all the support that he can get. This will be difficult for him and there are risks to starting PT early. I'll be counting on you all to help me keep him relaxed and in bed, at least for a little while." Hades said. He was already making notations on the chart.
"Thank you Doctor," Jackson said, then he waited for Holly's response.
"It won't be easy but if there is no movement to remove him from service I think that he will be alright with this." Holly responded before adding, "I just hope this all works or you are going to have one angry man on your hands." She then offered a slight smile.
Hades laughed. "Ms. Holly I have doctors as patients Marines are pussy cats compared to doctors. Alright I will write it up as a temporary leave to recover but I will put a note should he not cooperate and take care of himself as per doctors orders it could be permanent. If nothing else it will scare him into line." Hades said.
Thomas nodded his approval.
Hades snapped back from the memory, he waved, smiled, and headed back down towards the habitat area. Fifteen minutes later he was back in his quarters. Hades tossed his jacket onto the sofa and eased his tired bones into the chair. ....
[OFF]
OOC: Hi all this is an old one but didn't get posted. It's been adapted to a memory post. :)
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