A Long Walk To Sickbay

Posted on Wed Dec 12th, 2018 @ 2:21pm by Colonel S'er'in'e & Commander Talia Varen
Edited on on Wed Dec 12th, 2018 @ 2:21pm

Mission: Weathering the Storm
Location: Sickbay

Worse for wear Leo supported by S'er'in'e walked into Sickbay, both looking weak, S'er'in'e's eyes were watering heavily as was his nose. As unpleasant as it appeared he was unable to prevent the appearance of drooling on himself. Through the walk to Sickbay he and Leo had been waving people to avoid them. The fatigue on both dripped from them, S'er'in'e's fur was matted from sweat from a temperature and Leo's otherwise kept hair was in a similarly rough appearance. "Radiation exposure." S'er'in'e managed to get out.

He knew that they would need to be decontaminated first, secretly S'er'in'e hoped that his fur would remain, his skin tingled and it was gradually getting harder to focus on things. Leo however was ablaze with emotional termoil, having done his best to hold the door open against emergency protocol procedures, a stark and brutal reminder of his traumatic past.

"Do we have enough power for a decontamination wash?" Talias voice called out strongly as she came to S'er'ines side to support Leo.

After receiving an affirmative she drew a tiny knife and cut the uniforms from both of them, having no care for either of their modesty.

"Start filling two Rad tanks."

Leo was trying to keep some kind of barrier up otherwise he'd be screaming his torture across the many walls of Sickbay. Leo was additionally plagued by the idea that he may have sent S'er'in'e to his death. When news of the ladder to the second level revealed it was too small for him S'er'in'e had to leap up, pull himself onto the second level. Clearly the builders didn't think of those of larger build when designing the station. S'er'in'e felt an uneasy feeling, he let go of Leo and grabbed part of his cut off tunic and proceeded to vomit within it. That triggered Leo, whose efforts to conceal his results were less than successful and decorated the floor and the front of a nurse.

The nurse skittered away to wash, for he was still radioactive. The sound of their sickness caused Talia to wince in sympathy, her own stomach roiling as she quietly spoke "you have to get into the chamber, so youre safe to touch."

Devoid of the radiated clothing the two walked gingerly to chamber that awaited them. Both were apologetic over the mess they had made but it was uncontrollable.

Once they were inside, water sprayers began to move around them with a gentle whirr. Each of them was soaked thoroughly with water, then soap and water, then water again.

Leo stood, washing himself. S'er'in'e at first was on his hands and feet all feline like. It was clear that it took considerable effort for him to lift himself up and wash himself, his tail hung limp and lifeless behind him.

Once they were clean and the water had sluiced away, the tanks were full enough that both could be submerged in the restorative, well, gel was a better word. It was a biosynthetic gel/liquid that would adapt to the creature in it to cradle them in a weightless pool. It was dense enough to hold the Caitian without any undue pressure on his joints.

Both of the males stood motionless, letting the gel do its work. S'er'in'e took some comfort that the weight was eased on aching and fatigued muscles. All they had to do was wait until it had worked and they were freed. Leo remained silent, his mind closed, his emotions wrought across his face as he fought to keep them contained as if every fresh memory was painfully etched into his mind.

The tanks were rotated until they were horizontal and hooked up to biometric readouts for both of them. Talias fingertips brushed his cheek as she pressed an anti nausea hypo to his neck. Another doctor did the same to S'er'ine but a larger dosage.

Both of them could only lay there and await treatment, headaches were companions of both but it was clear that Leo was far more tense that S'er'in'e. They had no idea of any damage done or lasting effects but they did what they set out to do, stabilize the power system and help keep the station safe and intact.

"Respirare prezioso" she whispered over Leos tank as she began to carefully titrate medications into the gel systems. Starting with potassium iodide, "someone mention to Serine that this will color his fur temporarily."

An idea easier said than done in Leo's case. When S'er'in'e was told about this colouration he replied. "How temporarily?" Then added. "Can you restore it?" Last thing he wanted for him to be seen by too many others with anything other than his snow white fur.

"This one will color it a rusty orange, the next treatment will turn it blue. They can both be neutralized in a few washes. I just don't want you to be surprised by it."

There was no hiding the clear and apparent displeasure at this news, there was no way he would leave Sickbay until it was restored, he would not go home otherwise and have his Mate see him so. He glanced at Leo who seemed to be faring worse, while S'er'in'e didn't know of the cause, did something happen while the door was held open?

Talia sprayed on a glove so her hand wouldn't be stained and dipped her hand in the vat to find Leo's hand and squeeze it. "sei al sicuro Leo. " she whispered to him, his fear drawing the air from the room for her.

Leo stayed silent, only his Imazdi knew of his troubled past but unaware that he'd been so brutally exposed to it again. Leo knew the nightmares would return, Talia didn't. His eyes burned to hers, the look on his face strained as he bottled everything up lest it sweep the room and any other empath in proximity.

Her lips formed the word Imzadi, but there was no breath in her lungs to voice it as she caught his gaze.

"Is he alright?" S'er'in'e asked having noticed the silence, ever since they departed the generator room the Commander had not spoken a word. While S'er'in'e was unaware of why, knowing something was amiss was easy.

"I am not certain. " she answered honestly once she found enough breath to reply. Her fingertips touched his forehead ~Leo?~

~You cannot hide from me, I am a part of you. Please, tell me what happened.~

Leo gave nothing away, said nothing, revealed nought but emptiness. S'er'in'e looked on to the pair as they stood in silence gazing at each other. He knew they could communicate without words, a racial trait which no doubt came in handy at times. "Did the radiation harm him vocally?" S'er'in'e asked as he himself was treated by nurses.

Her warmth upon his skin withdrew as another wave of cool passed through the gel supporting both men. Her chest ached, as she looked away from those empty eyes. "No. Rest, you need not worry about Leo, I will take care of him.~

"I am alive, because of him." S'er'in'e spoke, inadvertently revealing a major clue to Talia as to what had transpired and the depth of the trauma Leo was suffering.

"Can you tell me more?"

"One of the reactors." S'er'in'e was cut off by a cough. "Was malfunctioning, he enlisted my help to fix it. When we arrived the systems were in a state of chaos, safety measures were still in effect but because of the malfunction we could not power down the reactor. The Commander used his experience from a previous posting to opened the door, but safety measures kept attempting to seal it. I ventured inside to repair the damage with his assistance as he held the compartment door open for me."

Her face took on an almost vulcanlike calm, except her eyes which dilated to the point that there was nearly no iris visible. Inwardly she whimpered at the agony Leo wasnt letting her feel.

Leo didn't take his gaze off her, in silence he stared, hard, not a word uttered, an emotion leaked. Like a fortress he was locked, a void of nothing to be felt as his mind tormented him over and over, what ifs, what could have been, what wasn't but might have. S'er'in'e didn't understand the importance of what he'd said, he knew the repair was with considerable risk especially to themselves, but for S'er'in'e he would never know what Leo was going through, what he was thinking or the suffering such silence was inflicting on Talia.

"I'll take care of him. I...know just what to do." She forced a smile, that only quirked up one side of her mouth.

S'er'in'e returned to looking straight up at the ceiling, he hoped the Commander would be alright but only time would tell there. For himself however he hoped there would be no lasting effects and more importantly, his fur would be returned to its snow white visage.

Talia returned to her vigil over the two men, making minute changes to the fluids and monitoring them both for any complications. Late at night, she glanced at Leo and a single tear tracked its way down her cheek.