Procedure Day, Part 1

Posted on Sat Aug 31st, 2024 @ 7:09pm by Civilian Alexandra Winters & Civillian Sara Winters & Lieutenant Commander Nash Winters & Lieutenant Eirly Andersen & Lieutenant JG Thivi & Lieutenant Dr. J.R McEntyre, M.D. & Civilian Brunel Winters

1,890 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Helping Brunel
Location: The Sentinel, Somewhere outside of Federation Space
Timeline: MD 16,

The quarters the Winters family were nice, but sterile. Everything in this ship was white, silver, and some blueish shade of gray. Sara and Nash were up early, making sure Brunel was good to go with everything. Since Brunel wasn't allowed to eat anything this morning, Sara didn't feel much like eating herself, mostly concerned with keeping him comfortable.

She stepped into the doorway of the room he slept in the night before to see if he was awake.

Brunel was still asleep, laying on his stomach, his face turned towards Sara. The expression he wore, as he dreamed, looked innocent and peaceful.

Sara smiled and watched him sleep for a few seconds and then stuck her hand into the hallway and waved Nash in. "Isn't he beautiful? Still so young. Alexandra acts so grown up sometimes." She whispered.

“That he is. You know….it’s funny you should ask that. When Eirly came to sickbay to see him after the allergic reaction, I said the same thing. Something about that boy, Sara. I just want to give him the universe, you know? Yes, we have a tremendously smart, beautiful, and precocious daughter who will want for nothing, but having them both here….this is what makes it all worth it. I love you and I love our little family.”

"I love you, too," Sara responded. "I'm so glad it worked out. Getting Brunel. We should get the kids up,"

Sara tiptoed over to Brunel's bed and rubbed his back gently. "Good morning, sleepy. It's almost time to go see the doctors."

When he felt the gentle touch on his back, Brunel inhaled sleepily through his nose, then cracked open his eyes. He smiled a sleepy grin up at his mother, then signed with his right hand, "Morning, Mama.", the voice coming from the dresser, where he had placed his translator medallion.

"Just put on something comfortable, sweetheart. You'll change for the procedure anyway, and be right back to sleep. Dad's getting Alex, and we'll all take you to the Medical Bay, okay?"

Brunel nodded and yawned. He then moved back the covers and sat up, stretching as he did so. When he stood up, he gave Sara a big hug, then made his way his rooms private bathroom, to answer nature's call and get ready for the day.

A sleepy Alex in sweats and t-shirt, hair still tousled from the evening followed Nash out into the main room and she leaned her head against her dad's arm while she waited until it was time to go.

A few moments later, Brunel exited his room, sitting in the hover chair again. While he could walk some without getting too weak, he would follow the instructions of the doctors. Even in his young mind, he knew they wanted the best for him. "Morning Papa, Morning Ally," he said to the rest of his family when he saw them.

Alex left her father's side and walked over to Brunel and smiled. "Good luck today."

Brunel smiled, a little nervously, to his sister. He was unsure of what to say in reply.

“Ok, kiddo…it’s that time,” Nash said as he took Brunel’s hand. “I know you’re nervous, but the best doctors in the galaxy are here to take care of you. We’ll be in the waiting area and be back to see you when it’s over. We love you, buddy.”

Brunel nodded quietly to his father. He then looked from Nash, to Sara, to Alexandra, and signed, "I love you all. Thank you again for both accepting me into your family, and taking such great care of me."

Sara gestured Brunel over to her. "You have to stop thanking us. You are family now."

Brunel blushed slightly, then nodded his understanding to his mother.

"All right, time to go," Sara stood holding the door open for everyone.

The Winters family entered the Medical Bay's small lobby. There were a few chairs, but the actual waiting area was a separate location that they would be escorted to once Brunel was taken back.

"Commander. Mrs. Winters. If you'll please put these on." Thivi handed the couple a pair of visitor's tags. "Can I get you both anything?" It was always good to offer, regardless. What kind of head nurse would she be if she didn't?

“Just take care of our boy….” Nash emphasized.

"Understood. We'll take the best care of him we can give. You have my assurance. Come along, now, you'll be fine, okay?" Thivi smiled and placed her hand on Brunel's shoulder as she walked him further into sickbay.

Brunel looked up at Doctor Thivi and nodded. While he wasn't fond of medical procedures, he had come to trust her, so, he went along without any fuss. He turned his head one last time to look into his family's eyes, before the doors to the procedure areas slid shut between them.

A nurse dressed in a gown with her hair covered by a medical cap approached with a hospital bed that was set to be low to the ground. "Let's leave your chair here, and have you hop up on the bed and we'll take you to see Dr. McEntyre before the surgery. Okay?"

The young teen nodded, then when they entered the pre-op room, nurses showed him how to change into his gown for his procedure. "We can help you or give you some privacy, whatever you like?" An olive-skinned male with features Brunel didn't recognize offered.

"I can do it, thank you, Sir." he signed to the man.

The nurses pulled a curtain to give Brunel some privacy while they continued to make arrangements for everything that would need to go with them to the procedure room.

Dr. Beckett peeked his head into the room where Brunel had just changed for surgery. "I hear there's a brave young soldier in here ready to face a medical procedure head on today," he said cheerfully as he entered the room wearing surgical scrubs, his hair already covered by a red cap. "We're going to give you something to help you sleep, so it'll feel like no time at all has passed while we're working today. I came in to make sure you didn't have any last minute questions before we got started."

Brunel seemed a little nervous suddenly, now that the procedure was happening. "Can you tell me exactly what you will be doing to me, Doctor? Will it hurt, when I wake up?"

"You might have a little headache, but we can take care of that for you if you just say the word," Malcolm said. "So basically your brain is like a computer, and there's a part of your brain that maps out your immune system for you. You don't know it's there - it's not the part of your brain that you can control by thinking or anything," Malcolm said. "Anyway, we've got ourselves a computer of our own, that will help us reprogram the broken parts of your brain. While you are asleep, we're going to remap and heal what's broken there so you won't be sick anymore. And you can eat whatever you want to again."

Brunel looked down as he considered this information for a moment. Then, his young mind, that of a boy traumatized by a life of fear, generated another question. Looking back up at Doctor Malcolm, his face displayed a mixture of fear, worry an hope. "Could...could you fix me....so I can talk like everyone else?"

"You know, that's a different question that we haven't really looked into since no one has asked us before now," Malcolm said with a gentle smile. "But if that's something you want us to look into, let's talk to mom and dad when we get home and we'll take a closer look and see if there is anything we can do. Does that sound like a plan?"

Brunel considered it, then nodded, a bit unsure if it really was what he wanted. "I think I'm ready now, Doctor Malcolm."

Malcolm nodded. "All right then let's get you to the procedure room," He said giving the child a look a coach might give one of his players. The nurses lifted the brakes on the anti-grav bed as Dr. McEntyre walked in.

J.R had been hard at work, scrubbing up for the procedure. His fur shiny and disinfected. Hands held before him he steps out of the scrub room. A nurse from the Sentinel medical staff helped with his gloves, pulling them tightly, making sure they were still secure and sterile. With a nod, the nurse gave him the go ahead that he was good to go. He nods, walking out into the preop room, where Dr. Beckett was with Brunel.

"It'll be like takin' a nap and when you wake up, you'll be right as rain." J.R smiled under his mask, trying to project positive energy in that Feline sort of way, tail swishing happily behind him.

"For now, just relax. You'll be alright, promise. We'll take the best care of you." Thivi said as she approached the operating table. She looked kind of creepy, with her gangly body and mask on, but hey, that's kind of how her people be, right?


* * *
Eirly had been standing back watching the exchange, and her heart went out to them. "Nash, Sara, please be assured that every one of the Medical team is going to take the best care of Brunel possible, so there's nothing to worry about."

“I know, Eirly….I know,” Nash said as he found the nearest chair. He sat, took a deep breath and exhaled. “But….what about you? Are you alright? What happened to you guys out there? You had to know we were thinking about you, the Captain, and Kas.”

Eirly nodded in response, "I'm alright. Like I told Dr. Beckett, I'm mostly just tired from everything that's happened." She was definitely looking forward to more of a sleep than she had last night, not that she was complaining or anything. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, she continued, "We were detained by our lovely hosts here, some more forcefully than others, and given some truth serum before being questioned about our intentions for being there. I'm not sure how much detail I'm allowed to go into, but I can honestly say that I wasn't harmed or anything."

A door opened behind Eirly and a young man who appeared to be a Klingon hybrid stepped through. He spoke with a smooth, warm voice as he invited them to the waiting room. "You can come with me this way, it's more comfortable back here."

"I'm just glad everyone's okay," Sara said as they followed the man into the waiting area.. "I know you all risked a lot."

Eirly smiled softly in response, "It's the least we could do, anything to help."

Nash smiled back at her in return. “We’re all grateful for what you’re doing—what you’ve done. Without your help, and Remy’s, the Atarans would have made Brunel’s existence a distant memory. Now he has a chance to live and grow up with a real family.”


~TBC~

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