A Tragic Loss

Posted on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 @ 11:42am by Commodore Samantha York & Lieutenant Lorne Jaxara

771 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: What Lies Beneath?
Location: corridor/sickbay
Timeline: current

ON

Helga Lowe had just finished Beta Shift. It was fairly uneventful, which made the shift seem longer than usual. So, she decided to stop by the lounge for a drink before heading to her quarters.

She'd just turned down a corridor on her near the lounge when she noticed someone lying on the ground, a small pool of blood oozing from his torso. Hel hurried over to him and took his pulse. Weak and thready. His breathing was shallow, but at last he was breathing.

She rolled him over to see what the cause of his injuries was. It looked like he'd been bitten multiple times on the arms, neck and face. She tapped her combadge. "Nurse Hel Lowe to sickbay. I have a wounded officer, Cardassian, male. He appears to have been bitten by a small animal of some sort. There's a fair amount of blood, but he is breathing."

"Transporting now," came the disembodied voice.

In moments, they materialized in sickbay and the man was rushed to a biobed.

Hel immediately went to work stabilizing the man. "Should I notify someone?" she asked the doctor on duty.

"Contact the Chief of Security. The man's a security officer. Bak'ten J'trey."

Hel nodded and went to the main reception area to make the call. "Lowe to Jaxara. Can you come to sickbay please?"

"On my way." Was the only reply. Approximately 57 seconds later, Lorne Jaxara walked through sickbay's doors.

"Can I help you?" He asked, uncertain who, precisely, had paged him.

"I'm Hel Lowe. A nurse in sickbay. One of your men, a Bak'ten J'trey has been injured. It does not look good."

"My apologies, I've only recently taken control of my department. Do you mean to tell me there is a Cardassian IN MY DEPARTMENT?"

"If he pulls through, yes," was the reply.

Lorne refrained from voicing his thoughts about Cardassians in fleet uniform. "The odds of that happening?"

There was a flurry of activity behind Helga. Several people ran back and forth, carrying hyposprays and other devices. She heard the doctor shouting. "Jet does not sound good..."

Suddenly, everything grew quiet and Helga could hear the telltale sound of the biobed monitors recording a flat line. She walked to the door and looked in. They were putting things away and turning off equipment. The patient had not survived.

"Were the injuries so severe then? They did not look life-threatening," Helga asked.

The doctor shook his head. "Some kind of reaction to the bites. There's no sign of poison or other toxin. Shock, maybe. He was pretty far gone when you found him." The doctor shrugged and walked away.

Helga went back to the empty reception room. "Lowe to Jaxara. The odds are 100%. The patient just died. Could you please arrange for the body to be sent home and the next of kin notified?"

A few appealing ideas came immediately to mind as to what the Nurse could do with the vile creature's body. One including the forsaken voles in the mess hall, a target launcher, and a line of ensigns wanting to do target testing, struck him as particularly appealing, though he refrained. He was on duty after all.

"I'm right here. You don't have to use the comm badge." Lorne noted. "And I don't have the slightest clue who is next of kin is, but I'll send them a message about it."

"Hello. My name is Hel Lowe," she replied. "I can look up his records, but you should already have that information. His body will be ready for you tomorrow." The doctors would want to have a chance to run a few more tests, just to be sure they didn't miss anything.

"I'm new to this ship, give me a break." Lorne said. He shook his head. "I'll look it up, and send a message to his... family... know. If Cardassians have families." Lorne added with a mutter.

"Cardassians have families just like everybody else," Hel told him severely. Then, not so sure she liked his lack of concern for someone in his department, she tapped him on the sternum. "And don't ask a physical therapist to give you a break. If she's in a bad mood, she just might give you one. Especially if you disrespect the dead while she is around."

Lorne shook his head, as he headed for the door. "Spend a day in a Cardassian-run 'retraining camp', and see if that attitude keeps itself together." He muttered, as he stepped through the doors.

OFF

Chief Petty Officer Helga Lowe (NPC)
Nurse
USS Orion

Lieutenant Lorne Jaxara
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Orion

 

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