Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen - What happened once, happens again…
CPT Arianus
(( Radiation Treatment Ward, Deck 7 – USS Artemis-A ))
The silence deepened, filling the room like a heavy fog, as Doctor Bancroft kept staring at the computer screen. His eyes, narrowed and steady, reflected the soft glow of the display that lit up his face against the dim light around him. Ollie had never seen the medical file the doctor was now reading and was quite sure he never wanted to. He remembered, remembered the time he lay helpless in the room like this, thinking he would die. The days that followed, when he was actually dying. All the therapies, tests, scans, and hyposprays, which came after once he didn't. All the fear lingering in the shadows that came in the years to come, the fear that helplessness would come again, knowing he was damaged goods.
The doctor spoke again, differently – something beneath it having quietly, irrevocably cared.
Bancroft: ::softly:: Ollie… Help me understand why this is the first time I’m seeing this, please.
No accusation. Only quiet, unmistakable concern. Trying to understand to what even Ollie did not.
Bergmen: You read where it began. Radiation damaged something in me, changed, shifted a little my mesenchymal cells. ::falls silent for a moment:: Vancouver doctors were able to stopgap what that change was doing to me, that uncontrolled neuroplasticity, and after, my people gave me this…
Ollie reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a hypospray capsule containing barely a noticeable residue of clear liquid, and placed it on the table next to the biobed.
Bergmen: It’s PrE/PoE* prophylaxis. A more advanced version, targeted and personalized, of what’s in the file. This is what is left of a little I had. I felt it was back when we got back on board, growing in me, so I was thinking I could still catch it early and stop it. ::falls silent for a moment:: Karnack crash broke most of the vials. And without enough to complete the whole PoE regime, I needed to ration what I had left and hope I would be able to manage it until we get back to the Federation. ::offers a sad smile, filled with remorse::
Bancroft looked at him with an expression that left Ollie confused, unable to understand its meaning.
Bancroft: We could have… we could have been helping you. I could have been helping you. And now–
The doctor fell silent. Now… yeah, now they were here.
Bergmen: There was nothing you could do for me, not aboard Karnack, doctor. That ship hardly sustained us as it was… (beat) Plus, we needed all hands on deck.
Bancroft: ::softer:: We’re going to get to the bottom of this. I can read what happened. I can see what they tried. Here’s what I need from you: in your own words… what do you believe is happening to you? And why now?
Ollie opened his mouth and paused, saying nothing at first. Then glanced behind Dr. Bancroft and sighed as he glanced back into his eyes.
Bergmen: Why now? I’m not sure. Usually, it’s related to higher or more intense radiation. Maybe Callis Maelstrom irradiated us long enough? Maybe a reaction to those alien transports? I really don’t know how. I just know in the last days… I felt more tired. More irritated. There was this dull pressure, like it was everywhere and nowhere inside me, a more unpleasant feeling than pain. Nothing really special— we were over a week there, with all that stress, all that was happening, I didn’t make much of it.
Ollie looked away and fell silent for a moment.
Bergmen: But then, when we boarded Karnack, I… I saw things that weren’t there. I felt cold… the feeling in my fingers had gone numb. And I knew. This wasn’t the first time this happened after my initial treatment after Vancouver. I knew then it's it. I felt it.
Bancroft: Response
Ollie looked away and fell silent for a moment. Then, slowly, reached into his jacket and put the data rod next to the vial.
Bergmen: I’m not a doctor, Roy, nor do I understand how our medicine works or how can treat it. That's... just a record of tricorder readings as it progressed. Maybe this can help you, Roy?
Bancroft: Response
TAG/TBC
* PreExposure/PostExposure
–
Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1