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A Mirror Shattered #71&72 - "A turn for the worst"-={On}=- [Sickbay, deck 6, USS Pegasus] The transporter room contacted Sickbay before doing their next site- to-site transport. "We have another two to beam in, Sickbay, and they're both severely irradiated." They would make Numbers 2 and 3... most of the other engineers only had mild cases, and the engineer Rogers had been beamed in a couple of minutes ago, unconscious. =/\= "Acknowledged." =/\= Russell replied to the Transporter chief. =/\= "Biobeds 5 and 6 are available for transport. Wait for my signal." =/\= he added. "Computer, place force fields around biobeds 5 and 6 half a second after the transport is complete." The computer chirped to confirm the order. =/\= "Transporter room, engage." =/\= Russell instructed. The two engineers materialized on the biobed. After the transfer was complete the force fields engaged. Russell saw that Lt. Black was one of them. They were both unconscious. He rushed towards the newly arrived patients to scan the severity of the radiation poisoning While Lt. Black was unconscious, Dr. Russell's other patient was still awake, barely. He spoke, his voice a bit weak, determined to give whatever information would be useful. "We used the inoculations.. doctor... but then we stayed.. for several minutes after." 'The inoculations' would be standard emergency equipment in engineering, a stop-gap measure meant to keep the radiation from becoming fatal in the amount of time it took to get out of the room. "Good thing you took the inoculant. That's what kept you alive." Russell said. He applied a significant dose of hyronalin to both the engineer and Lt. Black. "You were very near to fatal exposure." he said to the engineer. "I know... we both did." was William's weak response. "Is the ship out of danger?" But before he could hear or understand any sort of response, his eyes closed and he passed out. "It is safe... for now." Russell said, knowing the engineer couldn't hear him. "It's your safety I'm concerned about." he added softly so no-one could hear him. He scanned them both again. The inoculation was able to stabilize them, but curing the radiation poisoning was another matter. The radiation had damaged their bodies on the cellular level. Russell had now three very serious cases of radiation poisoning in his sickbay. He had injected them all with hyronalin to see if it would have any effect. The only effect so far was that the symptoms of the exposure to the radiation were stabilizing. But to cure the damage the radiation had caused Russell had to resort to more drastic measures. He walked over to the view screen to check on the tissue damage within the three radiation victims. They all suffered severe damage on a cellular level. They had been very near to fatal exposure. He would have to cure the damage using a cellular regenerator. But coming near these patients would cause contamination. Russell came up with an idea. "Computer, create a single force field around biobeds 4, 5 and 6. And activate EMH within the force field" The computer answered affirmatively "Force field activated." and the field appeared around the beds. The EMH materialized within the secured area with his trademark first line "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." "Radiation poisoning." Russell said to the EMH from behind the force field. "Very severely, near fatal exposure. 20cc's of hyronalin used to stabilize. I suggest cellular regeneration starting with Lt. Black." She had been one of the last to arrive and had suffered the most damage from being exposed to the radiation. "Affirmative." the EMH merely replied. The EMH activated the regenerator on the bio beds in an effort to cure the radiation poisoning. Out of the side of the bio beds came the shields to surround the body. Only the heads and feet were sticking out from under it. The device immediately started to repair the cellular damage. Williams had been awake by the time he and Lt. Black reached sickbay, only passing out by the time he knew he was safe in sickbay. His condition was improving rapidly but he remained unconscious. Russell watched the progress of the three engineers closely. The EMH did his work silently, constantly adjusting minor settings to the cellular regenerators. Suddenly the monitor of Rogers' vital signs started beeping alarmingly. His vital signs were dropping fast. The EMH immediately responded to the sound of the alarms. "Patient Rogers is falling into a coma." he stated while rushing over to Rogers. Russell had a tough time watching from outside the protective barrier of the force field. "Need help?" he asked the EMH. He was prepared to take the risk of contamination if it could save another member of the crew. He had a hypo with the anti radiation poisoning medicine ready when the EMH answered "Your help is appreciated but it means you will become contaminated." The EMH saw the hypo in Russell's hands and his algorithms had calculated Russell's next move. "20cc's should be enough not to suffer any consequences from exposure." "Every kind of medical knowledge And a mind reader?" Russell smirked while injecting himself with the suggested amount of medicine. He rushed over to a cabinet to get a cortical stimulator and stimulant hypo's. The low level force field from the contained area allowed him to pass through without deactivating it and assist the EMH. He placed the cortical stimulator on the forehead of the engineer and injected a dose of inaprovaline. There was no reaction visible on the view screen. Rogers' life signs went down for no apparent reason. Russell injected a larger amount of the stimulant without any effect on Rogers. "Come on, dammit!" Russell cursed. He'd rarely done that but this situation seemed to fall out of his control. Rogers wasn't responding to any treatment. "Cortical stimulator, now!" he practically ordered the EMH. But the EMH almost had been one step ahead of him and activated the stimulator. Rogers' body twitched but there was still no change in his life signs. "Again!" Russell said injecting another resuscitative hypo without effect. Rogers' body twitched when the stimulator was activated only slightly less then before. "Brain functions are not restoring. The patient is on full life support." the EMH informed Russell. "Tell me something I don't know." Russell mumbled slightly agitated. "Try it again!" Russell said. The EMH activated the stimulator again. This time it had no effect on Rogers. "Patient Rogers cannot be saved." the EMH concluded. "You give up easy!" Russell sneered back. "Try again!" he said against better judgment. The EMH complied but there was no change. Rogers didn't respond to the treatment. It was over, Rogers was gone. "DAMN!" Russell cursed again slamming his hand on the side of the biobed. "The others are doing so well , what went wrong here?" he asked out loud. The EMH answered "An autopsy is required to find the cause to this. Possible allergic reaction to the medicine in combination with deteriorated body functions." Russell walked over to Williams and Lt. Black. Their recovery was progressing rapidly like it should have happened to Rogers as well. They should regain consciousness any minute now. Kathleen Black blinked and slowly opened her eyes, squinting a little at the light. A blurry view slowly resolved into a ceiling... and she looked around, not immediately recognizing where she was. She tried to shift slightly in the bed and winced. Russell stood between the biobeds of Lt. Black and Williams. He noticed that Kathleen woke up from her unconsciousness. "Welcome back, Lieutenant." he said in a friendly manner not in any way hinting to what had taken place. "How do you feel?" "Confused..." she admitted frankly, focusing on him, slowly recognizing him. "Doctor..." She glanced around a little. "I'm in Sickbay... What happened? Engineering... is... the ship alright? Did we win?" "You were brought to sickbay by site-to-site transport suffering from severe radiation poisoning just in time. The ship's still in one piece." he assured her. "We won." he added not knowing exactly what she referred to. Kitty smiled weakly at that, closing her eyes for a moment, then looking back at him again. "Is... Is Evans alright?" was her next question, and she might have blushed slightly... if she wasn't so pale already. "He may have had the time of his life." Russell said with a smile. "He's been in charge of the ship for a while due to other... circumstances." he added vaguely. "Then he's alright," Kitty said, smiling in relief. Then the smile turned to a slight frown of worry. "My engineers... they all made it out safely? They're alright?" Russell's face turned a bit pale having to tell her the bad news straight away. "Rogers didn't make it." he said with a sad look on his face. "Him, Williams and you were the last to come out of Engineering. Your treatment was going well when suddenly his vital signs dropped rapidly. There was nothing we could do." he said while pointing at the EMH who was checking up on Williams. "Rogers passed out first..." Kitty was beginning to remember. She looked away, trying to blink away sudden tears.. and failing. A few tears had fallen by the time she looked back at him. "If Evans has the bridge... then what happened to everybody else?" Her eyes widened a little as she realized fully that she was third-in-command. "Commander LaBrie has been in here for a while because a console next to his chair exploded. Our new Chief of Security Sulan went berserk and attacked Petrova." Russell told recent events in the short, short version. "While treating Petrova in sickbay, Evans has been in control of the ship. Petrova was very anxious to get back to the bridge." he said. "So she will have resumed command by now." "They need me," Kitty responded quietly. "Don't they... Will I do any damage to myself if I try to get up?" "Not just y..." Russell said but he was interrupted by a signal from the the cellular regenerator. It chirped to confirm that the regeneration cycle had been completed. "Ah, the damage from the radiation has been repaired." Russell said while he deactivated the regenerator. It retracted it's arches and disappeared under the biobed. "You can get up if you want, but be careful." Kitty pushed herself up slowly, easing her legs over the side of the bed. "Careful.. yeah... ohhhhhhh. Was.. there anyone other than Rogers...?" She looked straight at him. "I want to know." "The rest of your crew made it here safe. They've been given a medicine to counteract the effects of the radiation. Most of them are fit for duty again." he said. He turned around and looked at the EMH. "How's Williams doing?" he asked. "He should regain consciousness right about now." the EMH replied. He was right. Williams woke up blinking and shaking his head slightly. "Hey.." Kitty smiled at her fellow engineer. "Take a rest. We'll be fine." She slowly pushed herself up to her feet, took the first step.. and her legs temporarily quit on her. She dropped, trying to grab for the edge of the biobed. Russell saw her making an attempt to walk and failing. He reached out to catch her so she didn't fall that hard. "Told you to be careful." he said with a faint smile helping her up. "Ah... got it.. thanks." She grabbed onto his arm and let him pull her back up.. and then she took another couple of steps. "Do you have something I could use just for a few hours? A cane or something? For balance? I need to get to the bridge... report in or something." "What is it these days with patients barely out of bed returning to duty." he said acting as if he wasn't planning on letting her out just yet. "To take some rest still is very good medicine." he said with a smile. "But I understand, you're probably needed on the bridge or in engineering. I'll get you a cane." he said walking her over to the biobed to cling to. Before walking over to a storage cabinet to get Lt. Black's cane he ordered "Computer, de-activate force field." With a shimmer it vanished. He returned with the supporting item. "Here's your cane. You'll only need it for a couple of hours. You'll feel much stronger by then." Kitty smiled, taking the cane and adding a 'third foot' to her precarious sense of balance. "I'd imagine everyone's trying to avoid leaving Evans with the bridge," she said with a slight snicker. She took a moment to imagine Petrova in Sickbay, with the captain and second officer both out of action... and quirked a weak smile. Her sense of humor had returned. "I'm definitely needed Somewhere," she added. "I rigged the engines to run, made a jury-rig repair. The hum is a half-tone high." "Then get at it, Lieutenant." Russell said with a smile. "But take it easy." he said as he saw her walking out of sickbay. -={Off}=- A sad JP with happy ending by: Lt. Kathleen Black Chief Engineer USS Pegasus & Lt. (jg) Dr. Russell D. Floyd Chief Medical Officer USS Pegasus Also starring: Engineer Williams USS Pegasus (NPC by Lt. Black) & Engineer Rogers USS Pegasus (NPC by Lt. Black) "Damn, I have no dialog in this part..."
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