No Longer Whole
Posted on Wed Oct 23rd, 2024 @ 12:08am by Lieutenant Lynsi Mason & Lieutenant Commander Decan MD PsyD
Mission: Wounds
Lynsi's eyes opened slowly to the blinding lights of an infirmary's intensive care ward. Or at least that's where she thought she was. Her head was still very groggy. The last thing she remembered was doing maintenance inspections when she heard a loud bang. Then everything went dark, and she woke up here.
After a moment, as her eyes adjusted, she realized that she was, in fact, lying in a bio bed. Her head was pounding, and she had a sharp pain in her right arm. She tried to sit up, but realized that she was restrained by a scanner assembly positioned over her torso.
What is going on? she thought, struggling to actually put words together. All she emitted were some grunts as she strained to sit up.
A large Saurian man, named Franklin, in a nurse's uniform stood at the scanner controls. "Oh, you need to sit still." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her waking had caught him off guard. He quickly pressed his commbadge, "Doctor, Lieutenant Mason is awake." He reported.
Mason stopped struggling, though it was not necessarily by choice. She still felt weak, and the large Saurian had no trouble holding her down.
Within a few moments, the figure of a Vulcan man appeared at the end of the bio bed. "Lieutenant." He said in flat greeting. The Vulcan man pulled a Tricorder from his pocket and made a few passed over her. "How are you feeling at present?" He was studying the readouts on the scanner.
"Like I was hit by a torpedo, Doc," Mason replied. Her whole body was aching. "I've certainly felt better. What happened? Last thing I remember I was doing maintenance inspections. Then I woke up here."
"You do not remember?" Decan asked, his eyebrow lifted into an inquisitive arch as he continued his scans. After a moment he set his tricorder aside. "It would seem that there was an explosion in the Hanger Bay. You were severely injured." He spoke very flatly. "When the medical teams arrived you had just been freed from a large piece of debris. You had lost consciousness and a significant amount of blood. Your arm was not, however, salvageable. You will be pleased to know that the amputation was without issue."
Mason's eyes grow wide and she tries to sit up again. "Amputation? What do you mean amputation? Are you saying that I lost my arm?" For someone who was used to being calm, cool, and collected, there was hints of panic in her voice. Her breathing grew heavy and her head grew light as the beginnings of an anxiety attack formed.
"That is correct." Decan said, reaching for a hypospray of something to help calm her, but not sedate her. He swiftly pressed it to her arm and allowed the medication to take its effect. "It is unfortunate that your limb could not be saved. We did our best to create a prosthetic that would approximate your former appendage. The surgeons took great care so visible scarring is minimal, but the dermal regeneration will have to be done gradually over the course of the coming weeks."
Lynsi started to calm down, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the reassurance that a prosthetic was created, or because of the hypospray. Either way, she laid back in the bed and stopped fighting against her restraints. Although her breathing was still heavy, her breaths were at least slowed. "Okay. Okay. That's all there is to it then. There was an accident. I have a new arm. No big deal." Her breathing slowed further. "How soon until I'll be cleared to fly, doc?"
"There was significant nerve damage, which the surgeons repaired in surgery, however it will take time and intensive physical therapy before you will be cleared to return to duty fully." He spoke with little inflection. "That said, we cannot guarantee that your fine motor skills will not be affected by this trauma." Decan took a moment to take in Lynsi fully, he knew his news was unfortunate especially to someone who depended so heavily on her motor skills in her work.
Lynsi was now confident that it was the hypospray that was calming her down. "So, there's a chance I may never be cleared to fly again? Surely I heard that incorrectly, Doc."
"That is, unfortunately, correct." Decan still spoke flatly. "I can understand how that would be dismaying to you. If you'd like I can assign a Counselor to you, to assist you in working through what you're feeling."
Mason leaned back into her pillow. Despite the hypospray, there were still a million different thoughts bouncing around in her head. And she didn't have the slightest idea how to make sense of them. For the first time in a long time, the cool and collected fighter pilot was lost and felt as if she was left without a purpose. "I think that would be a good idea..."
Lt. Commander Decan MD PsyD
Chief Medical Officer
Starbase 332
Lieutenant Lynsi Mason [P:Von]
Deputy Commander, Air Group
Airwing SVW-17
