Lt. Cmdr Robin Hopper: Recovery
Robin Hopper
((Sickbay – USS Artemis-A))
As she watched Nathan leave, a conflicted guilty feeling writhing within her, Artemis’ chief medical officer approached and entered a few brief commands on the biobed arches control panel. The tightness in Robin’s chest began to subside once again, replaced by the now-familiar dull ache.
She shifted her gaze to Adea, his hands folded over the top of his cane. He looked so serious, so grave – but then, she supposed that made sense, given the circumstances they all found themselves in. Still, it made her miss Ikaia and their friendly, uneventful, medical check-ups. No doubt he’d have some stern brotherly words for her now, and the mess she’d made of herself. Still, Adea was leagues better than the EMH, in her book.
Scratching together enough breath to speak, Robin asked Adea a question that had been weighing on her mind. She couldn’t fathom going back to sleep – not now, with the thought looming over her that she might not wake up again. She had to be present, alert…
Hopper: …Awake?
Adea: For now. I will have to put you back under for the procedure. ::he could sense she wasn’t comfortable with that, so held up a hand:: It’s for your safety.
If she had been in better shape she might have argued. But the good thing about arguing with a patient in her condition, she supposed, was that ‘talking back’ was not a very appealing option. It seemed her choice had already been made for her.
Hopper: Want to… see… what… first?
The CMO raised an eyebrow, then rested his cane near the head of the bed, giving it a little push and sliding the biobed out of primary sickbay.
Adea: I can do that for you, but not until we get somewhere private. I will have to cut off your uniform, and I don’t think you want to display that to the general public now, do you?
Hopper: ::Wheezing:: Least of my… problems…
Adea’s eyes flicked downwards, and he gave her an empathetic smile.
Adea: I won’t lie to you, it is bad. If you were a human, I would be having this conversation with your next of kin. But Kraal has done good work, and I should be able to remove the shrapnel with a minimum of fuss.
Her next of kin. The thought of her mama learning that the Borg had killed her daughter, decades after murdering her brother, was heartbreaking. Even Kerilyn would probably shed a tear or two… Robin furrowed her brow, hoping beyond hope that her sister hadn’t somehow been caught up in this whole mess – that she was still safely on Tellar Prime.
The doctor pushed the biobed through a doorway, which slid shut behind him – the din of the rest of sickbay hushing behind the privacy screen. Robin did her best to remain pragmatic and calm, not to panic, as she’d been trained to do, but it wasn’t easy. A couple of nurses entered a moment later and began the final preparations.
Hopper: I’m… ready…
Adea: Response
As the bloodied uniform was carefully cut back, away from the metal shard, Robin fought the urge to squeeze shut her eyes and grind her teeth together. Instead, she forced herself to look down as well as she could, and with the doctor’s assistance, she was able to get a look at the damage.
The piece of metal was probably a good seven or eight centimeters wide, but thin, like a blade. Around it, patches of dried blood that hadn’t stuck to her uniform were scattered over a mottled purple bruise, closer to the colour of grape jelly than skin. It was macabre, but somehow seeing it made it feel less threatening, as putting it into real perspective allowed her to quiet her imagination from running wild.
Hopper: I can… do this…
Adea: Response
((OOC - Feel free to describe as much of the surgery as you like, but since it indicated she’d be knocked out, I am skipping ahead!))
((Later, Recovery Wing))
Robin sat up in her biobed, sipping on a cola-flavoured bottle of water one of the nurses had replicated for her and slowly reading a copy of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None.’ Honestly, it was a terrible choice for reading material in the aftermath of all that had happened; A psychological murder mystery. However, it wasn’t her first time reading the novel and there was something oddly comforting about already knowing all the twists and turns.
The strangers gathered on Soldier Island had just discovered Mrs. Rogers’ body and were beginning to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death, when Robin noticed Dr. Adea approaching once more. She set the PADD down and offered him a wearied smile.
Hopper: ::Tired:: Hiya, Commander… Thank you for stopping by again. I appreciate the updates.
Adea: Response
Hopper: I squeezed some information out of Kraal. He tried to tell me things were looking up, but I pulled rank and put the screws on him a little… He said something about a “not insignificant affect on healthy lung function?”
Adea: Response
TBC
