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Day 02 [1130 hrs.] Social Visit to the Lost

Day 02 [1130 hrs.] Social Visit to the Lost

[ Simon Tovarek | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Nicole Howard, Rihen Neyah

After the Senior staff meeting Simon had a few more matters to attend to before he made his way down to Sickbay. The symptoms were manifesting after the meeting as he had returned to his Drone workshop. It started with an itch in his eyes and eventually lead to distorted vision. Acknowledging the symptom directly, Simon took no chances to further compromise the safety of the crew and he made his way down to Sickbay. That's where he was exactly as he could see the controllable chaos around him. There were the patients with similar or different symptoms like him, yet there were also still the post surgery and more heavily injured crew members from after the bodged mission at Starbase 84.

Simon took this time to pay social visits to all the injured members of the science department. Be it with enough precautions of his own to not infect anyone else. Wearing a mouth mask he did his rounds with everyone, the good thing about quarantine was that he didn't have to get called away for something in the science department. The fact that he had passed on his CSO role to Vivian Martin also helped for that matter. Some science members had asked him if he didn't regret the choice or wanted to know the how and what behind it. He assured all of them that he'd still keep an eye on the department and that Vivian Martin was an excellent choice to replace him.

After a while he spotted the odd looking isolation bubble around a familiar face which he imagined was long lost. As he approached closer he could recognize the field as a medical decontamination field. A precaution to probably keep Nicole Howard away from any infections that were now rampantly roaming throughout the ship. He took a chair from a bit further away and sat it down next to the biobed of Nicole as he tried to figure what he could say to the former Chief of engineering. Their bond and contact had been very limited at best if non existent. Yet here they were, two former department heads in an overcrowded Sickbay.

He placed the seat down at her right side, perfectly in sight of her so she didn't have to move or sit up or move herself too much. "Good morning Lieutenant commander." he started as he figured he ought to introduce himself first to the red haired woman "My name is Simon Tovarek. As of this morning the assistant chief science officer aboard the ship." he said with a certain control in his voice. Loud enough, yet not too loud for everyone in Sickbay to hear. "I heard you went through hell and back... I wish you a speedy reco-" his sentence broke off as he read the signs from the biobed. His mouth remaining open as he looked up to the woman's eyes "Either way, how are you feeling?" he continued as he leaned back in his seat while observing the engineer.

Re: Chapter 26: Social Visit to the Lost | Day 02 [1130 hrs.]

Reply #1 –
[ Nicole Howard | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Simon Tovarek, Rihen Neyah

Though at last out of the private room, the operating room she had been told, Nicole was not at all very certain how she felt. The doctor had put up a forcefield to keep out anything that could cause problems for her in her current situation. She was in a seated position, the biobed having a ben in the middle and another around her knees to keep her from sliding down. The result was she looked like almost anyone else, just sitting and resting.

It did not help her state of mind that there were so many faces about, so many people who she was not sure if they knew her or not, or even if she was supposed to know them. She thus avoided eye contact with anyone, instead she held a PADD with some technical specifications on it on some of the newer equipment on the ship. She had requested it because for some reason she had wanted it, but as her eyes moved over the information she found she could not focus on it. So she sat and pretended to read it, just looking at the pictures and catching a word or two here and there.

And then someone walked up to here and sat down. In vain she searched her mind for anything about this stranger, but came up with nothing. She was grateful when he introduced himself and she made a mental note to try and remember him, even if she was not certain if or even how long she would remember things for. Part of her worried that nothing that happened now she would remember in even a few days.

"I have been informed that I did go through quite a bit," Nicole said doing her best to smile. "Though I can only recall some vague details of my life at this point." She wasn't certain if this was a person who she should talk to about this or not, but she felt that she needed to talk to someone and, well, he was there. "So I can't say much about how I feel right now. Maybe lost, scared, a bit alone, but I am not in any physical pain." She smiled at that, as if it were some sort of joke and maybe with the degree of emotional pain she was in, being in no physical pain was a bit of a joke.

Re: Chapter 26: Social Visit to the Lost | Day 02 [1130 hrs.]

Reply #2 –
[ Simon Tovarek | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Nicole Howard, Rihen Neyah

Simon took the liberty to glance over at the biobed readings and the digital chart attached to it. Nicole seemed willing enough to talk and he smiled faintly at her that she at least had no physical pain. From what he could read, the woman had indeed been through quite a lot and he could only imagine how she'd manage on in the aftermath of the tragedy.

"Well, you don't have to feel alone anymore." he answered with a smile as he tried to not sound too cheesy "I'm confined to this area as well for now so I figured I might as well do some social visits while I'm at it," he paused for a second before continuing "As for lost and scared... I think it's rather normal to be lost and scared when you're being brought off ice." he answered, trying to cheer her up a bit. He nodded over at her PADD "You seem to be busy with work already I see." he smiled as he wondered if she should strain herself with the complexities of engineering already.

He could tell something was off, however he couldn't just place it. "What are you working on?" he asked her curiously as he seemed to be a workaholic himself. His eyes traveled over her posture again, despite her sitting up position it felt unnatural as he diverted his eyes once more to the redhaired woman's eyes.

Re: Chapter 26: Social Visit to the Lost | Day 02 [1130 hrs.]

Reply #3 –
[ Nicole Howard | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Simon Tovarek, Rihen Neyah

"I was just going over some of the design schematics of the ship's systems," Nicole said glancing down at the PADD, offering a half hearted sort of smile. "I've been told I was once Chief Engineer of the whole ship. I was hoping that if I looked these over I would remember something about it." She sighed and pressed the power button on the PADD.

From her current position she was able to reach the small table that was also in the decontamination field and she set the PADD on it picking up the small bottle of water that was there. She took a sip from it and held it in her hand. Because of her condition she could not lean forward so her reach was limited. She had at her disposal a control that would lower the bed so she could sleep, the PADD with some bits of data to amuse herself, a bottle of rater and it's dock that was capable of refilling it should it be empty, and that was about it.

Her memory had begun to return, or maybe it was best to say that she could at last remember some things, a few details about her life. None of it was very recent though. If asked she wouldn't even be able to say how she had gotten on the ship or even when she had joined the fleet. All of that was still lost. But she knew her favorite type of ice cream and she could remember the face of the man she assumed was her father.

"Not really workin' though..."

Re: Chapter 26: Social Visit to the Lost | Day 02 [1130 hrs.]

Reply #4 –
[ Simon Tovarek | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Nicole Howard, Rihen Neyah

Tovarek kept his eyes on Nicole as she turned the power off on the PADD before placing it on her small table. "I remember you being appointed as Chief engineer while I was just in the labs. Some say there's a curse on the title Chief  Engineer." he paused as his mind brought him back to Tatiana Marlowe. One of the Chief Engineers that followed after Nicole her injuries. The fact that she had perished as well, seemed to strengthen the idea of a curse resting on the department heads.

She could probably see the change of emotion on Simon's face before she mentioned that it wasn't working. Simon looked back up in her eyes and he smiled before he nodded "Well, what did you expect honestly though. Recovering patients shouldn't be having design schematics or Ship systems to view over." he said softly,  with a bit of a playful tune to it. "If you wish I can ask Thea to transfer some literature to you. Nothing heavy though... Just some novels or shows that you can just watch to keep the mind occupied without pushing it to remember things. You know, grant it some rest and maybe without pushing yourself you'll start to remember things without it?" he suggested.

The idea to take her on a stroll through the ship was resting on the tip of his tongue. Yet it would probably be against the Sickbay regulations to do so, thus he formulated it differently "Maybe you need to get out of Sickbay... Change of scenery perhaps. Not by schematics, but with eyes and ears... Perhaps ask Thea for a virtual tour of the ship, where you can use the camera systems to look around or use archive footage to do so?" he suggested "You know, explore the ship so to speak without having to leave Sickbay. When I'm better and you're allowed out of here... Maybe we can do the tour for real?" he suggested with a smirk, trying to keep the mood light and not too serious.

Re: Chapter 26: Social Visit to the Lost | Day 02 [1130 hrs.]

Reply #5 –
[ Nicole Howard | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Simon Tovarek, Rihen Neyah

It was all she could do to shrug at the offer of something to read. "The thing is I don't think the schematics do the job because I can remember all of that stuff. I mean I remember how most of it works and even how to repair it, but it's like the rest of it is just... not there," she intoned softly. It was her key frustration, that she knew the technical, but there was nothing personal. She wouldn't know even her own family if they walked in to see her, yet she could repair a power conduit with ease. She was lost.

"As for leaving sickbay, I'm not sure I'll be able to for a long while. I know the doctor is worried about my condition and moving me is gonna present some difficulty.. what with my legs being..." she paused and looked down at her logs, covered by the blanket as they were. She could mostly feel the blanket on her feet, the warmth on her toes, but it seemed like she could not feel the bed so much behind her knees. Some places seemed to feel just fine, others weren't so good at it. She looked back to him and it occurred to her that he might not know about her condition, why she was trapped as she was.

"I can't walk. I'm not sure if you knew or not, but I can't move anything below my belly button. And I can't feel some bits below there too, some bits I can, some not so well, and some not at all. The Doctor says my spine was really badly damaged and he did what he could, but without all the supplies he needs he can't do much more." He tone was soft and mostly emotionless, with just a hint of pain and even some frustration. "Not sure where they would put me even if I could leave, I mean I bet what were my old quarters are already taken up. One man falls and another takes their place kind of thing."

Re: Chapter 26: Social Visit to the Lost | Day 02 [1130 hrs.]

Reply #6 –
[ Simon Tovarek | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Nicole Howard, Rihen Neyah

With a faint nod Simon acknowledged what the former chief engineer said. "I'm not a medical officer, but I do know there are reported cases where people with severe trauma do suffer from amnesia to some point. In some cases that amnesia dissipates in due time," he paused and looked over at Nicole before carrying on "So, I wouldn't give up on hope yet. Who knows what your mind might return to you over time. However, like most things, and especially in engineering I imagine... Straining the machine won't help it, might stray you further away from your end goal. Effectively even breaking the whole thing as a whole." he answered her, not blaming her for trying to remember the know how and things she wanted to know. He'd probably do the same in her scenario if not more maniacally.

As she mentioned her legs Simon placed his hand against the biobed bubble. Almost forgetting about the risk of contaminating her yet stopping just in time. The gesture to hold her hand there though, yet his eyes latched on to hers as he tried to make eye contact "Nicole... I'm sorry to hear that..." Paralysis from below the navel was a nasty condition even in this time and day. Of course there were enough tools and such to help people in her situation, yet their possibilities were limited. Simon weighed his words, not wanting to offend or upset her. He could already hear in her voice that she was frustrated and hurt.

"Doesn't mean you aren't able to retain some self control though. I'm sure that with permission I could convert one of the walkers they have in medical to something more like a hover chair for you. At least you'll have the ability to go and venture where you'd want to go at any given time." he offered. Considering he was still working on the drone program, Simon could easily tinker the hover chair in some of his spare time. The idea of letting Nicole help with it crossed his mind, It wouldn't be rocket science engineering, yet engineering at it's core though "If you want you could even help along, if you'd feel like it of course." he added to it "After I get better that is and we both can get the hell out of this prison ward." he tried to lighten up the mood.

"As for quarters... I'm returning back to my own quarters from before I was a department head. At my own choice though... I suppose I could try and convince the quartermaster to give you an adjacent room? You're an officer of Starfleet after all right?" he smiled. It would also grant Simon easy access to her if the need should rise. However, in hindsight he wondered how much he'd actually be in his quarters as he was a workaholic at heart.

Re: Chapter 26: Social Visit to the Lost | Day 02 [1130 hrs.]

Reply #7 –
[ Nicole Howard | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Simon Tovarek, Rihen Neyah

"Oh, it's not to bad being here, Doc's just a little worried that if I leave to soon I'll damage his handiwork and you know how that guys can be," she replied with a smile, she left out the part where she wa just guessing that this was mostly just normal for the Doctor. She was trying really hard to keep it casual, to not make it clear how stressed she really was. At the very least she wanted to convince herself that she was ok, that things were not as bad as they seemed to be.

"As for the chair, it might be easier to reconfigure a hover lift system from one of the hover lifts from one of the cargo bays and modify the heck out of on of the spare bridge chairs from the Deck 8 cargo hold, that is unless the bridge has seen a lot of wear and tear since I got... Well since last I knew," she said after a moment's thought. She knew all those details well. At least in her mind she knew what was where on the ship. She knew that if a chair needed to be replaced how to unhook it from the deck plating and where to find a new one, she even knew how to attach it when it got there. That was all technical and she knew the technical very well. She was after all a damn fine engineer in her own right, or at least she had been.

"I would hate to take needed supplies from medical, I mean after all they just got done patching me up as best they could. I can't fault them for anything really. I was pretty badly broken and they did what they could. I guess I'm just lucky to be alive really," she said with a shrug. "I mean the Doc says I should recover a bit at a time and my memory might come back, but I guess part of me is happy that I get to start fresh, like I get to start at page one and define myself brand new like." She smiled and shrugged.

"As for getting quarters, I am pretty sure I am still and officer, not like I'm gonna lose my commission or be demoted for being injured. I mean according to my record I'm still Lieutenant Commander, so I should still be eligible for Officer's Quarters. I can't say much about it because I don't remember my quarters when I was Chief Engineer let alone my quarters before that."

Re: Chapter 26: Social Visit to the Lost | Day 02 [1130 hrs.]

Reply #8 –
[ Simon Tovarek | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Nicole Howard, Rihen Neyah

"Ah, well... human engineering is better done by medical than us I imagine." he answered with a faint smile as he didn't know how far the treatment had been successful. He imagined they'd have found more prosthetic material at Black Opal, though spinal damage would always be a pain. He had seen articles pass by from it during his days on Earth, yet he didn't know enough about it to realize what exactly the extent was of it, or if Nicole actually got a new spine.

The rest of her words made him smile as she saw things so optimistically "A fresh start can always be handy. things did change though around here... And I don't mean to discourage you, just know that a lot of people are starting on this ship with a fresh plate. We've had new crew members from two star ships join us. So you might actually meet a few people that weren't around during your previous time here." Simon tried to explain as good as he could. He really didn't want to demotivate her, yet she'd need to know that if she started to recall things, the people around her might be different due to the influx of new personnel.

"Well, you'll still get officer quarters. Just not the extra large department head accommodations. Either way, officer quarters do grant us with enough commodities. Although I do think there might be some tinkering needed to make it wheelchair accessible." he thought out loud before looking back at Nicole. "Either way, you're an engineer right? I'm sure you'll figure it out somehow." he answered with a smile as he looked around and checked if he knew anyone else that he'd be familiar with.

Re: Day 02 [1130 hrs.] Social Visit to the Lost

Reply #9 –
[ Nicole Howard | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Simon Tovarek, Rihen Neyah

"I suppose that can all be worked out after the Doc releases me from Sickbay. For now all I can really do is make half assed plans and hope they work out ok," Nicole said with a shrug. SHe was trying to not get defeated by all she could not get done right now. Right now was simply a waiting game and trying to keep herself from getting too depressed by the weight of it all, a prospect that was easier said than done.

But she was grateful to have the company she did have. She took a deep breath and another sip of her water. It seemed she was almost always thirsty these days, though it did mean she had to go to the bathroom more often, an affair that required her to either wet herself or call over a nurse to help her to a bathroom nearby. Both options made her feel so pathetic.

She refocused herself and did her best to look not nearly as crappy as she felt inside. She wanted to at the very least not have people worry about her, she had quite enough of that already and did not feel like any more anytime soon. She wanted to stand on her own two feet, figuratively speaking at least.

"But let's not talk about all that right now. Tell me what's been going on. Or at least tell me about the ship and the people on it. I don't remember any of it and it sounds like even if I did it would do little good because it has changed so much. I mean I know the technical stuff, but even that feels like it's changed a little since I went under," she said doing her best to smile and seem more at ease than she really was.

Re: Day 02 [1130 hrs.] Social Visit to the Lost

Reply #10 –
[ Simon Tovarek | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Nicole Howard, Rihen Neyah

Simon nodded understandingly as Nicole wanted to talk about something else. She wanted to know what had been going on and Simon was at a loss of words for now. What exactly did she know and what didn't she know. "Well, I'll start at the beginning, things you'll have heard perhaps and probably some new things. Either way, maybe if I tell you the entire story all over again, you might understand things more easily." he suggested before he started off.

He started from the very beginning, their escape from Earth and the Sol system, up to Niga. He explained her what had happened at Niga, in short and what he had gathered from the scientific reports that had been made. He didn't go too much into detail about it all as he arrived to the chapter of Calamity, the dreaded ship that had caused Nicole's injuries. He spoke further about the parasites that became more apparent with Sonja Acreth as a pinnacle of it. The coming of Harbinger and how sideways things went after they had celebrated their union. He proceeded with the destruction of Calamity and the plans for the assault of SB 84, with Opal before that and the various encounters with the Task force that was hunting them down. Essentially, he ended with the battle of Starbase 84. The joining of Resolve and Orcuss personnel and her awakening.

"That's pretty much it really... The whole story so far... Does it help you remember anything? I mean, it's a lot to digest in one go." he asked her as he looked at her through the bio containment field.

Re: Day 02 [1130 hrs.] Social Visit to the Lost

Reply #11 –
[ Nicole Howard | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Simon Tovarek, Rihen Neyah

As he spoke Nicole just listened. The story, or rather the chain of events, made it clear to her how small her little tragedy was in all of it. She could not help but feel especially small and broken in the face of it all. And to make matters worse even since the moment when she had fallen at the hands of, well a hologram she had been told, but she could barely remember it straight, it seemed like so very much had happened.

She had vague feelings of memory, but could not tell if she was just imagining the tale she was told or not. That alone scared her a little. As if her mind could trick her with a bunch of imagined memories and it would all be ok. Maybe that would be better. Only not really. They wouldn’t be real, would they. The whole thing made her head spin, but she did her best to listen to him, to try and focus on the details so she could retain at least some of them.

It seemed they were fighting some great threat and she could remember none of it, it was all a vague blurry nothing. Yet she knew that he told her the tale in hopes it would spark some memory. But all she felt was so very small and so very broken.

She wanted to cry, but she would not allow herself that.

“Sounds like a lot has happened,” she said doing her best impression of someone who did not want to curl in a ball and bawl their eyes out, it was not entirely convincing. She took a deep breath and as it shook with the repressed cry she did her best to act as natural as possible. “I mean, I bet you guys have been super busy.”

She felt as if she were holding herself together by a string and she could fall apart so easily, but she also knew she didn’t want yet another person seeing her cry. She didn’t want people to see her as that weak. So she tried to be strong in the face of it all. Because she had to be strong. She would be.

Re: Day 02 [1130 hrs.] Social Visit to the Lost

Reply #12 –
[ Simon Tovarek | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Nicole Howard

"Busy might be an understatement... A lot of... Fear, tension..." Simon stopped as he noticed Nicole's demeanor. He doubted if it would be constructive to continue talking about all the anguish the ship had suffered over time. Time she had been placed in stasis. He observed her body language yet could make nothing out of it, which left him none the wiser.

Simon remained silent for a bit as the people around him seemed to be going all over the place. The quarantine had made Sickbay rather loud, frustrating loud even to the scientist who preferred silence much more to this. He glanced over his shoulder and sighed softly as he pushed his fingers against his temples. "Anyway..."

"I should probably try and get some work done concerning this viral outbreak. Medical is understaffed as it is... I'm sure they can put a former chief science to work with something." he smiled faintly, perhaps his headache would increase if he focused on work, perhaps it would pass. Perhaps he'd pass out as he hadn't eaten a thing in days...

His face scrunched together for a second "Nicole... I'll take my leave here if that's alright with you. If you wish though, I'll come back later for another chat if you haven't been moved out already." he smiled friendly, though she could notice the fatigue hitting him pretty badly now.

Re: Day 02 [1130 hrs.] Social Visit to the Lost

Reply #13 –
[ Nicole Howard | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Simon Tovarek

Nicole nodded, of course he had things he needed to do. It seemed most people on the ship had something they needed to be doing. Well, she didn't. At least she didn't have anything she could think she needed to be doing. Her condition wasn't going to get much better or much worse anytime soon, unless she caught whatever the sickness that was going around was.

"I understand. You try and take care of yourself. Maybe later, once they let me out of this place we could do lunch or dinner or something. Something more social and less talking in sickbay," she said with as close to a genuine smile as she could manage. In truth it was pretty close. The thought of looking forward to getting out of there for lunch or diner did in fact give her something to look forward to, which in it's own little way cheered her up a bit. "You take care of your science stuff and I'll take care of my... stuff." Her smile only faltered there for a moment.

She felt stuck, part of her wanted to be alone, and yet another part dreaded the thought of being alone. But she could not escape either right now. People had work to do and she had no right to keep them from it. She just didn't want to feel so alone.
 
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