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Day 01 [0830 hrs.] Patched Up

[ Lt. Cmdr Hathev | Main Sickbay| Recovery Room 08 | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Tae

She felt horrible.  Even though she had managed to get a few hours of sleep after Cross’s visit, the lack of proper mediation in over three days wore on her.  Kate had been kind enough to provide her with a PADD last night and Hathev had used the time to read and work through the ships logs and reports since the fight in Sickbay.  That there would have to be another memorial ceremony was obvious she keyed a note to the Captain offering her assistance in the inevitable planning and organizing.

Checking the clock, she noted it was just past 08:00.  Dr. Leux had said he would try to be in by now to see to whether or not she could be released.  Given the demand for the resources of the sickbay facilities, it was logical to assume she would be released, but she was not so naive to assume she would be released to full duty.  Even though her duty included mostly desk work and was not physically demanding, she anticipated that if she were permitted to return to her quarters, she would still be expected to rest.  That too was logical.

She found her thoughts dwelling on Cross and their recent encounters.  If she were one of her own patients she would advise caution and remind herself that not all answers needed to be had upfront, that part of the purpose of the journey together was to find those answers together, even if those answers were not the preferable result.  For all the progress the had made together, there was much more to address and while she welcomed Cross’s return to her side to escort her back when she was to be released it also brought her trepidation.

The sense of trepidation itself… the feeling of nervousness also was a new sensation, one she would have to continue to deal with.  If she had learned anything of the past few days, the sense of emotion within her would not be put back behind the same walls she had been able to employ before that meld.  It all seemed to come back to that mind meld.

She shifted in the bed, careful not to aggravate her injuries any more than necessary.  There was much to do; for herself, for her relationship with Cross, and for the crew as a whole.  But first she needed to be released.

OOC - Also tagging @Auctor Lucan for the reference to Ives. 

Re: Day 01 [08:30] Patched Up

Reply #1 –
|Lt Arven Leux  | Main Sickbay| Recovery Room 08 | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @P.C. Haring

Arven entered the Recovery room where Hathev was convalescing. he was all tact and professionalism as any on-duty medical professional could be after pulling such a long shift. He looked beaten down and worn out, the muscular trill moving with a bit of a slouch, but he still had a casual, charming smile on his face that reached his eyes., the violet orbs seeming to shine with friendliness and understanding. When he spoke up, it was with calm, soothing tones to his voice. "Good morning Commander, or do you prefer Counselor? I hope that you managed to get some rest. I understand that it can be difficult to heal in a place where bad things happened. I know that all too well, so I do want you to tell me how you're feeling, physically and emotionally."

Arven's words and tone were polite and professional, honestly caring. But Hathev was a Counselor, an experienced one from what he'd read in her file. She was likely to pick up on the careful phrasing and the slight tensing of his words when he used the phrase 'heal in a place where bad things happened' there were specific earmarks of survivors of trauma, and those signs were as plain to read as the spots on his face.  Still, Arven was holding himself together admirably, even after nearly twenty-four hours of duty. Taking a seta on a stool next to Hathev, he shifted slightly, holding up his PADD to hide the tired yawn from Hathev. That and the maneuver gave him more time to peruse her recent file before speaking again, which he wouldn't do, quite curious about Hathev's assessment of her injuries and healing process.

The wounds she'd suffered by no means the worst he'd seen even in the last few days, but the fact that she was a Vulcan helped. He'd felt that the hardy constitution of that species certainly had aided in her not slipping into death's door. He regarded the woman pleasantly, violet eyes flicking from the PADD to Hathev's face and back again, never off her for more than a few seconds. While Arven was by no means an expert at reading Vulcan body language, he had noticed the slight twitches that showed that he didn't have complete control of her emotions. And just like him, she was holding it in admirably. But he had to ask, so with the delicateness of voice that only medical professionals and empaths could manage, he spoke gently, the tone of his voice intimate and trustworthy.

"You can tell me about anything that's bothering you, Commander. I know all too well that not all injuries are physical. I'll tell you a bit about me if that helps." Arven had a gentle smile then and found himself unconsciously massaging his shoulder where the tattoo was, the reminder of his days as a POW that he'd had marked into his flesh. He wanted to say so much and needed to ask Hathev, but he didn't yet know if she felt that she could return to duty.

Re: Day 01 [08:30] Patched Up

Reply #2 –
[ Lt. Cmdr Hathev | Main Sickbay| Recovery Room 08 | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Tae 


Hathev turned off the PADD and set it down when Dr. Leux entered the room.  She adjusted her position, careful not to agrivate her injuries further, but just enough that she sat upright.  It was not a comfortable position.

“Greetings, Doctor,” she said as he entered.  “Either is accurate, therefore either is acceptable,” she said in reply to his question about how she would prefer to be addressed.

It was curious, his comments about healing in a place where ‘bad things’ happened and she wondered if he was attempting to assess her psycological state, an ironic reversal of roles for a Vulcan counselor.  The question was, however, professional and appropriate especially given everything she had experienced over the past day and a half.

She held her silence, considering her answer to the good Doctor, when he clarified that she should feel free to speak about not just her physical but also her psychological health.  Under normal circumstances as both a Vulcan and a mental health practitioner, she would have said very little until she could see someone who was not a member of the crew for assistance.  However, given the circumstances, logic dictated she needed to alter her expectations.

“From a physical perspective,” Hathev began, “I am experiencing ongoing pain.  The medications I have received are helping, as are the bandages. But the physical mending of the torn abdominal muscles will need time to fully heal and strengthen despite the surgery performed.  There are more than a few meditations I can perform to aid in the overall healing process.”

She pulled the blanket tighter around her chest as a chill came over her.  She was almost always cold on board ship and even after so many years in the service, she still had not grown accustomed to the colder ambient and had long since come to the conclusion that she would not ever adapt.

“Psychologically speaking,” she continued.  “I am well.  It would be illogical for me to attribute any stigma to the Sickbay as a result of what transpired here and to me.”

She let that answer lay for a moment as she gave one final consideration and made her decision.

“That said, Doctor.  I must report that I have been finding it difficult to maintain my emotional suppression.”

The cat was out of the bag now as the saying went and she could only hope that Dr. Leux would follow a logical course of treatment and discuss this with her fully before making a recommendation and issuing his medical orders.

Re: Day 01 [08:30] Patched Up

Reply #3 –
|Lt Arven Leux | Main Sickbay| Recovery Room 08 | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @P.C. Haring

Arven took a casual stance while Hathev was speaking. While he was making notes on his PADD, paying particular care to Hathev's word choice. Most of what she was saying was in line with what he expected, though. The bit about ongoing pain wasn't unusual based on the injuries she'd suffered, but checking the most recent doses of painkillers she was on wasn't cause for concern. At least not yet anyway. If that continued, it would be. "If the pain continues after three more days, come back and let me know. We'll take another look to find the cause of it."

He frowned, taking a look at her chart for a moment, noting the last time a nurse had changed the bandages. "If you allow me, I should check the injuries, and it's about time for another treatment. Now, I need you to be on light duty for the next week or so, maybe longer." That being said, Arven gives Hathev a quick scan with a medical tricorder, though he did still want to examine the woman's injuries visually. What he saw only reaffirmed his decision to put her on light duty.

He was focused enough on the medical scans that he nearly missed her comment about finding it difficult to maintain emotional suppression. That was highly unusual, and he does take a seat on the adjacent medical bed, considering hathev for a moment. "I can't say that I know what that's like, but I understand psychological trauma all too well. I have my own experiences that I need to discuss with you at some point in the future." he pauses then, considering Hathev for a long moment.

 "Do you feel that this loss of emotional control is due to a psychological or physical component? If it's physical in any way, I can see about assisting in that. If it isn't, I can make you an appointment with a counselor."  He certainly saw the irony of suggesting that a counselor speaks with a counselor, but that was certainly one option. If the problems she was having couldn't be regulated artificially, that was one thing. If the issues couldn't be 'fixed', then that was a wholly separate matter. So Arven just sits there watching and listening to Hathev, idly making some more notations to her chart on his PADD.

"After we finish your treatment for the day, I'm going to discharge you, but I want you on bedrest in your quarters for the next day. If you must attend to any duties Commander, then I would ask that you remain seated and not to tax yourself in any way." His tone of voice, while pleasant, was firm, making clear that this was a Doctor giving orders, and it wasn't a suggestion of any sort.

Re: Day 01 [08:30] Patched Up

Reply #4 –
[ Lt. Cmdr Hathev | Main Sickbay| Recovery Room 08 | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Tae 

Hathev shifted in her bed and offered herself up for Dr. Leux’s examination.  Matters such as privacy and modesty were secondary considerations, and even if they were not she still wore the medical brassier she had been fitted with.  Although little more than a tube top, it did it’s job to keep her modest while providing Dr. Leux and other medical personnel with the direct access they needed to tend to her injuries.

“You may proceed with whatever examination or treatment you deem necessary, Doctor.”

She acquiesed to all of the Doctor’s requests as it pertained to treatment, and listened as he spoke about psychological trauma and questions about her loss of emotional control and pushed down a wry smile as he offered to make her an appointment with a counselor.

Who would I trust to counsel me when the entire department reports to me?

“Forgive the irony, Doctor,” she replied.  “But counseling will not be necessary.  My difficulties with my emotional control are not a result of my injuries.  I have been experiencing difficulties since before we left Aldea.  While we were under repair, I engaged in a therapeutic mind meld with a patient.”

That had the advantage of being true.  The meld with Cross had been intended for therapeutic reasons, and he had been a patient at the time.  Confidentiality covered the incident.

“Despite my precautions, I was unprepared for the emotional…intensity I experienced during that meld and there was a…backlash.  Since then, I have been unable to exert complete control over my emotional state.  I do not believe my state will prevent me from performing my duties as I have been able to attend to my duties without difficulty for the past two weeks.”

She continued to lay as still as possible, giving the Doctor as little resistance as she could while he worked on her.  It was not the most comfortable of experiences, but it was preferably to the potential alternatives she could have been forced to endure.  Not everyone aboard ship had been as lucky as she had. 

Luck.  What an interesting construct.

“I will follow your medical instructions, Doctor,” she vowed.  Even if she did not want to do so, the discomfort of her healing muscles, would force her to.  “Most of my duties require me to sit regardless and are not physically taxing, so I anticipate no difficulties in adapting.”

She looked at the scars on her belly, exposed by the removal of the bandages while Dr. Leux worked on her.  “Am I correct in my belief that I will be required to report back here over the next few days for supplemental dermal regeneration?”

She was no physician, of course, but what knowledge she did have told her that a single dermal regeneration treatment often was sufficient for fresh wounds., but wounds that had scarred over could require multiple treatments to properly heal.  She would, of course follow his treatment plan.

Re: Day 01 [08:30] Patched Up

Reply #5 –
|Lt Arven Leux | Main Sickbay| Recovery Room 08 | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @P.C. Haring

Arven was busily going over Hathev with a medical tricorder, and while Hathev still wasn't in the best of shape, she was doing better. Trauma always took time to heal, especially the kinds of wounds she'd sustained. The process of healing aided by modern medicine was indeed proceeding swiftly. That brought a smile to Arven's face, but he had things that he wanted to speak about with Command Hathev, and now was a perfect time to lead into that.

"You may not need to speak to someone, Counselor, but I do. I'd like to set up regular appointments with you to discuss certain skeletons in my closet. The backlash that you mention from the mind-meld, though, sadly, there is little that I can do to suggest a particular course of action there. I don't need to explain that mind-melds have as much of a psychological and physiological component. So if you wish to speak about that with me as well, then you can. But I do want to make appointments with you once you're back on light duty, which will be after we're done today." Arven smiled at that, went over to a medical cabinet, grabbed a small bottle of pills, and offered her one from the bottle. Even when asking for help since he was doing so while working, his voice only cracked slightly. That spoke to the control that he had over himself. While Arven had problems, they always took a back seat to his work.

"Anti-biotics that also promote healing. Take one a day for ten days. If you don't feel good after that, let me know. But I want you back then anyway, and every three days before. By the way, Commander, you're on light duty, no more than six hours a day, and minimize your physical activity for the next six days, and avoid gas-inducing and overly spicy or acidic foods. During your check-in six days from now, we'll discuss resuming physical activity at that point." Arven's voice never wavered as always, and he was a polite and professional Doctor. Arven even managed one of his charming smiles as he checked the wounds where the bandages were.

After finishing his visual inspection, Arven takes a dermal regenerator and makes a few passes over the worst of the wounded area again. Smiling to himself now that the worst of the wounds were closed, and it looked like they'd finally stopped leaking, he extended a solid hand for the Vulcan to take hold of.

"Alright, Commander, let's get you out of bed and back to your Quarters. If you'd like, I can take you there. Or I can have a medical or nurse aide take you there. Either way, I don't want you using the transporter for a week, and I want a medical staffer nearby for the next day or so." He had a no-nonsense, almost old-fashioned air to him. While Arven had never met the illustrious Doctor McCoy, that didn't mean he hadn't seen the man speak in recordings.

Re: Day 01 [08:30] Patched Up

Reply #6 –
[ Lt. Cmdr Hathev | Main Sickbay| Recovery Room 08 | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Tae‍ 

Hathev resisted the instinct to make a comment about who was the patient and who was the physician in this scenario.  Leave it to a Trill and their love of emotive life to want something from her when the Vulcan was being held together with…well she did not know exactly what was holding her insides together.

“Feel free to avail yourself of my public calendar and schedule an appointment as you see fit,” she said as Arven moved to the cabinet, her voice trailing off.  “Once I have established a duty schedule,” she finished, a slight edge in her tone.

She took the medication perscribed to her, and nodded as he provided his instructions for what she could and could not do for the next few days.

“While I appreciate your offer of an escort, that will not be necessary.  Lieutenant Commander Cross has agreed to come and ensure I make it back to quarters safely.  Feel free to page him at your convenience.”

She paused and considered the instructions.

“One question, if I may Doctor.  Why restrict me from using the transporters?  I find the ship’s arboretum to be quite rejuvenating and therapeutic.  I may wish to avail myself of it’s environment when I begin to walk in order to regain my stamina.  I would think a shuttle transfer from vector two to vector three would be more rigorous than a transport over, would it not?”

Re: Day 01 [08:30] Patched Up

Reply #7 –
|Lt Arven Leux | Main Sickbay| Recovery Room 08 | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @P.C. Haring


Arven nodded to Hathev, giving the counselor a polite smile. While his actions might have been a bit illogical, He had wanted to discuss joint appointments since it seemed a good use of time regardless. He shrugged a little at that and smiled at Hathev.

"I think I'll let you give the good news to Commander Cross if you don't mind. This sort of news is always better when it comes from a friend. I'll handle the paperwork side of things. But as to why I'm restricting you from transporters. They take you apart and put you together exactly as you are." Arven's voice took on a more severe timber then, after being more than perfectly pleasant suggesting that Hathev give Cross the good news. And his gaze shifts from being wholly friendly to one of a strict medical professional giving orders.

"Simply put, that does not benefit the healing process in any way. You have so many different medications playing with your biochemistry right now and your body's metabolic processes that it would be irresponsible to do anything to alter that. And we're talking about shuttle rides in orbit from vector to vector. Inertial dampening fields take care of any acceleration. Unless we're expecting any combat, you'll be fine. at the absolute minimum, do it only in an emergency." Arven wasn't messing around, and it was clear that this was indeed an order from a doctor to a patient, not a suggestion. While using transporters was usually safe, there were enough malfunctions and issues to give him pause when dealing with severely wounded patients, even those in recovery.

"Do I need to remind you of the 'Tuvix' incident that Voyager reported?" Arven lifted his eyebrow then. While it wasn't medically relevant to anything in Hathev's case, it was something that Arven had studied briefly and liked trotting out as a cautionary tale regarding 'dangerous use of transporters' as he saw it. So Arven just stared at the Vulcan and had a look on his face that seemed to ask if there would be any further argument.

Re: Day 01 [08:30] Patched Up

Reply #8 –
[ Lt. Cmdr Hathev | Main Sickbay| Recovery Room 08 | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Tae‍ 

((With Input from @Tae ))

Hathev arched an eyebrow at Dr. Leux’s response.  In her experience, she had not heard of an incident where injured and infirmed were made worse by the use of a ship’s transporter.  During the war, and the attack on Earth in particular, rescue personnel had used transporters to great effect to evacuate the wounded to proper medical facilities and the rationale provided by the good doctor was transporter phobic.  He would not be the first physician to have such qualms.  Still, she was neither a medical doctor, nor was she an engineer and as such it stood to reason there were doctors and engineers who were far more versed in the potential medical issues of any given piece of technology.

“I am aware of the ‘Tuvix’ incident, Doctor and from my understanding, that incident was caused, in part by a malfunction in the transporters imaging systems.    I do not see the relevance here, nor do I agree with your logic in issuing this directive.”

Leux started to respond, but Hathev put her hand up, stopping his response before he could deliver it.

“That said, you are my physician and I have agreed to follow your instruction.  My complete understanding is not required in order to comply with your directives.  Is there anything else I should know before I make arrangements to return to my quarters?”

Arven seemed put out by not giving his explanation, though a smirk seemed to die half formed.

“No commander, you should be good to go. But as always if you have any health concerns, please let us know immediately. You're stable, but not wholly out of the woods. Don't aggravate your injuries."

Or your doctors.

The man's sardonic thought went unsaid and he'd kept things professional. While Hathev might be back in as little as a day, Arven hoped he'd done the right thing.

The doors closed behind him as he departed, leaving Hathev alone with her thoughts once again  For a Vulcan who once held an appreciation for her solidarity, being alone was a curious sensation.  But it gave her time to consider things as she sent a note to Cross that he could come to collect her at his convenience.

It seemed a bit premature to discharge her, given the nature of her injuries, but given the stress and strain on medical staff and sickbay resources and therefore it was logical they would discharge her prematurely.  In that regard, she would have had more time to convalesce wherin she would not be using the transporter either.  Perhaps she had never heard this instruction due to a protocol of which she had been previously unaware that now was relevant due to her early release.

Regardless, she had her instructions and some time to herself while she awaited Cross.  Hathev carefully shifted her position and turned her attention back to her PADD to investigate just how Vulcan Love Slave ended up on the device.

-FIN-

((OOC - Also tagging  @Ellen Fitz‍  ‍ for the reference to Cross))
 
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