Ensign Jania Nis - Lingering paranoia
Jania Nis
Jania was at Toxin’s bedside when his brainwaves indicated he was awake. She put down her coffee and smiled.
Nis: Good morning, Lieutenant.
As Toxin regained consciousness, he heard a voice but could only see a dull haze. Though he didn't recognize the speaker, their bedside manner made it clear he was no longer in his quarters.
Arlill: What happened?
Nis: You’re okay now, and you’re responding much better to treatment. That’s what’s important. You received too small of a dose of hyronalin. We hold ourselves to blame. But like we said, you’re getting the treatment your unique biological makeup requires, and you’ll be right as rain in a few hours.
Arlill: My head feels like it was crushed by a shuttle.
Nis: Well, we suspect that’s because you’re very dehydrated. You’ll need plenty of fluids over the next few weeks.
Arlill: A few weeks? Nothing you can give to make that a bit faster?
Jania shook her head. If he had been human, sure, but the uncommon species combination caused all kinds of issues with standard medical doses.
Nis: Oh, we highly advise you don’t drink alcohol while you’re on the Dyson ring.
Toxin nodded, seeming to agree. She knew that hardly meant he would obey, but it was nice to see him at least pretend.
Arlill: I don’t think that will be an issue nurse.
Nis: Great.:: Biting her lip and walking to the counter to grab a bottle of medicine :: By the way, we’re a doctor. :: Before he could reply, Nis started talking again so he wouldn’t feel ashamed of the misstep :: The hyronalin will reduce the short-term effects of radiation poisoning, but you’ll still need to flush your thyroid system. Because of your mixed species, too high of an iodine dose could be dangerous, which is why you’ll need a small dose over the next few weeks. If you drink alcohol, the tablets are more likely to give you nausea, stomach issues, dizziness, all that kind of thing. You might even start salivating uncontrollably.
Arlill: Sorry, doctor. (beat) ::looking around still in a daze:: did my being part Tellarite have anything to do with my messed up treatment?
Nis: Funny, it was mostly your Bolian side that caused the problem. Bolians are more susceptible to radiation. But we have heard Tellarites sometimes have strong resistance to medications, which might cause issues.
Arlill: I was told it might, my doctors growing up were often puzzled by the fact that I even existed.
Nis: Frankly, it’s not right for a doctor to be ‘puzzled’ by the existence of anything in this universe. We must be flexible at all times to do this job, and it’s certainly not something they should be mentioning to a kid.
Arlill: Well, I got used to it, I was a ::finger quoting:: medical marvel. (beat) I would have been just happy with normal kid.
Jania nodded in sympathy. Toxin laid his head back, and suddenly the biobed brain wave monitor flashed from its typical soft blue to a bright red. He was panicking. But his vitals were all normal, so it seemed psychological. After she checked his pulse and pupil dilation, she busted out the tricorder just to make sure he was okay.
She hoped she wouldn’t need to use more hyronalin; she did not want to tell him how close the last dose had come to killing him. But the tricorder also reported he was healthy. Just as she'd suspected; she hadn't needed the stupid thing anyway. Instead of medicine, she cooled his face with a wet towel and got him a tall glass of Bolian tonic water from the replicator.
Arlill: Wait, who reported my problem?
She paused as she brought him the water.
Nis: Well . . . you did, didn’t you?
Jania thought of Dr. Nhoush’s weird tricorder reading. She’d reported he was unconscious before he sent them the emergency message.
Arlill: No I didn (beat) Nevermind, maybe I did.
Raising an eyebrow, Janis considered what she’d heard about Lt. Stendhal. There had been two of them, hadn’t there? And hadn’t Toxin said something about hallucinations in the sickbay earlier?
Nis: You probably just don’t remember. Good instincts, though. So tell us about yourself, sir--how did you end up in Starfleet?
As she chatted with him, she ran various tests--brainwave functions, DNA tests. She even swept him with the cursed tricorder again. All normal. Maybe she was just being paranoid.
Arlill: Response
Nis: Wow, MIT before Starfleet? You must’ve been pretty young. I was young when I picked up Nis here :: patting her belly :: younger than normal, anyway. It was tough--I feel like it kind of ended my teen years a little sooner than all my friends. :: Sighing :: Our. Our friends.
Arlill: Response
Nis: Fair enough. If you do experience any weird thoughts or feelings, you’ll let us know, right?
Arlill: Response.
Nis: Well, we’ll let you get some rest. Remember, don’t drink. Hopefully we’ll see you on the Dyson ring. We’re super excited!
Arlill: Response
(( 06-0330, Deck 6, USS Octavia E Butler ))
Jania put on a shimmering miniskirt with small half-circles of tin. She’d spent nearly an hour on her hair, putting it in ringlets that matched the half-circles on the miniskirt. It was slicked down to show off her spots. She stared at herself in the mirror, singing softly and imagining the fun she was about to have on the Dyson ring.
Suddenly her comm badge, which was still on her bed, came to life.
Computer: =/\= Medical emergency on the bridge. Request Dr. Nis and Dr. Nhoush in Sickbay. =/\=
Her mouth dropped open.
Nis: Oh, you are freaking kidding us.
[End Scene for Jania]
Ensign Jania Nis
Medical Officer
USS Octavia E. Butler NCC-82850
O240108JN2