Stuck on You, Part 2

Posted on Wed Jan 24th, 2024 @ 4:06am by Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant JG T'lenn
Edited on on Tue Jan 30th, 2024 @ 4:52am

1,550 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Artifact or Artifiction
Location: Deck 12, Science Lab 7
Timeline: MD: -6 Days to Launch, After Part 1 1230 hours-ish

[Part 2 ON]

"Odd," the Bajoran noted, her sharp brain working away to decipher this information. "I was starting a headache, too. Not as sharp, but it was on the way. I wonder...if these bracelets are causing it. When you leave the space of the other...you get sick. Like a Vulcan mind meld but...I don't know still if it's a romantic thing or something...more sinister." She sighed deeply. "Where IS medical?"

Just as Vila said the words Dr. Malcom Beckett walked in followed by Nurse Charlotte Dawes. "Dr. Beckett here. What's the emergency?" The doctor asked, his thick Scottish accent filling the room.

Charlotte, a petite blonde woman in her early twenties took out a medical tricorder and waited for direction.

"Well. The Commander and I were sorting through Artifacts, and these things attached themselves to us," she said, holding up the arm with her bracelet. "Do you think that a laser scalpel could help remove it for further study?" Vila asked as sweetly as possible. She wasn't about to tell this man that they were messing around. She was a PROFESSIONAL!

"Go on, take a look then," Beckett said to Nurse Dawes.

Charlie walked toward Remy with her medical tricorder, while Malcolm took out his tricorder and began scanning Vila.

"Hi, I'm Charlie Dawes, I'm a nurse," Charlie said as she was scanning the First Officer. Charlie's voice was comforting, her demeanor non-assuming yet comfortable.

Vila nodded. "Commander Lorut Vila, Chief Science Officer," she said. She didn't mention the Second Officer part-it probably wouldn't look too good if BOTH leaders were thought of as "those women who got temporally linked messing around like kids."

"Alright, whatcha seeing over there, lassie?" Dr. Beckett asked of the nurse.

"The bracelet is definitely giving off some sort of energy reading. I'm showing that Commander Johanson's cortisol levels have been dropping since I began the scan, her blood pressure has been leveling off as well. It was a bit high when I began my readings. Her dopamine levels are rising steadily," Charlotte reported, still reading the open tricorder.

Dr. Beckett nodded. "Aye, I'm seeing the same thing over here. Let's get ye both to Sickbay so we can run some more tests. See what's goin' on."

Vila sighed deeply. "Alright, doc. Lead the way," she said. She made a face at Remy, and a whimpering, whiny noise.

Once they got to Sickbay, Charlie and Beckett took Vila and Remy to an isolation room and placed on a bio bed. Charlie turned Remy's on, and began reading the bio signs. She took out her tricorder to confirm. "Dopamine levels still rising, Doctor."

"Aye, was feart of that," Beckett responded. "Get me 5 cc's of a Dopamine inhibitor, Claratromine, will ye? Let's try that."

Charlotte prepared the hyposprays and handed one to Dr. Beckett. "Me first," Remy interrupted. "If this goes wrong, I want you to try it on me first."

Vila rolled her eyes a bit. "Start with whoever. I survived the Occupation. If the Cardassians didn't kill me, Remy, the Hypospray won't," she said. "So dramatic! Still, I guess I appreciate it," she said. She did, really. The leaders should never ask others to do things they wouldn't do themselves.

"It would be a good idea to compare the two of ye, one with the shot, and the other without," Dr. Beckett agreed. "Nurse Dawes, go ahead and give Commander Johansen the dose."

Remy looked at Vila. "We have no idea what these things are doing to our brains, Vila. But I'm starting to feel a little..." Remy stopped. She had spoken without thinking because she didn't want to finish the sentence in public. But then again these were medical professions trying to help, should she give them information. Her brain was too euphoric to think, the dopamine levels increasing more rapidly because of the biobeds put them in close proximity with one another.

Charlotte shook her head. "No change, Doctor. The levels seem to be increasing more rapidly than earlier. I'll have a technician run the numbers."

Vila sighed, but nodded. "A little...frisky?" Vila suggested. "I feel it, too," she said. She normally wasn't, she just made a lot of dark jokes. Firmly in menopause, her need to be constantly in love had long fallen away. "Hey, Doc? Perhaps if we were separated a little," she suggested. "Like...magnets, you know? If you separate one and put it upside down, they're not attractive anymore," she said. Her own brain was a little slow, and she hoped she was making sense.

"Aye, let's move ye to the next room over then. See if that helps," Becket confirmed. He turned to one of the technicians in the room. "Find out who's on board that specializes in languages or archaeology, 'n get 'em down here with a UT that can make sense of this script," Beckett said, showing him the symbols on Lorut's bracelet. "Whoever ye find can bring a friend if they can help."

"Right away, Doctor," the medic said leaving the room.

"Okay, down you go," Beckett said, putting out an arm to assist Lorut off the bed.

Remy moaned as she leaned back. "Am I going to get fired for this?"

Charlotte shook her head. "I'm sure we'll get this figured out soon. We'll get someone down here to figure out how to get these off."

Beckett kept holding his arm out for Lorut. "Can you walk okay, or do we need to get you chair?" he asked.

"Well, we'll BOTH be fired, so that's a plus," she took the doctor's arm as she stepped down. "My, aren't you a sweet one, doc?" She said, with a flirty smile. "I can walk fine...I think." She said, taking a step. "Yes. For now. As we get further out, who knows?" She said. Something was triggered in the deep recesses of her mind, where she stored facts about things she'd learned over the years but only needed to access in times like this. And given her age and current predicament, her brain wasn't as fast as it was when she was twenty-two and absorbing the information. "Actually, Remy, maybe you should resign. It'd be HILARIOUS to stick this mystery captain with Ben," she said.

"Oh yeah, so funny," Remy said dryly. "Bad time for me to go back to lab work." Remy leaned her head back against the table as Vila and Dr. Beckett stepped out and another medical officer stepped into her room. Remy lifted her head up and looked at Charlotte. "What's going on? Is it working?"

Charlotte watched Remy's readings on the biobed for a few seconds. "It's slowing, but your levels are still pretty high. How are you feeling?" Charlotte asked. She reached for a PADD in case she needed to take notes.

"I feel good, but not right. I don't know how to describe it, but it's like I could topple over or crash at any second. Like I'm on the edge of something." Remy struggled to put words into what she was feeling. There was a euphoria, an unstable one. Yes that was it. Made more unstable since Vila left the room.

"Vila? I have to find her," Remy said.

"She's fine," Charlotte assured her. "Just lay down for a bit. We need to run some more tests."

In the next room Dr. Beckett started reading Commander Lorut's bioscan as soon as she had laid down on the bed. "Your dopamine is leveling off here. That's a good sign. Let's see how your other vitals are doin'. How are ye feelin' there lass?" Beckett asked.

"Uh...weird?! Like I did after I had my son," she said. "Um...the dopamine levels in your brain increase and it's...nice." She said. "But also...I feel like maybe my center of gravity is off somehow. I don't have the words to describe it," she said. She HATED that-she was a scientist, she needed to be able to succinctly and exactly say what she meant. "At least I guess it's good news that the dopamine is leveling off, but...I will crash soon," she said. "Do you think it'll affect my organs? It took me...awhile to get the bone marrow transplant-I was nearly thirty. I only did it because a doctor on one of my ships let me know that the organ damage was already pretty severe, and...well. I needed to be here for my kid," she explained. "I was inoculated with Orkett's at the labor camp. I didn't get it really badly, but my sister died from it, and my oldest brother was VERY ill for a long time," she said.

"Don't you worry, dear. I'm not seein' anythin' that would lead to organ damage. Blood oxygen levels have remained good. Blood pressure is slightly elevated, but that's understandable given the stress you're under," Beckett assured her. "We'll take good care of you. I promise."

Vila nodded. "Excellent, thank you," she said. "If you don't mind, I will just...close my eyes." Vila was used to living parts of her life in "flight or fight", so she wasn't as affected as Remy was.

>> To Part 3 >>

Commander Remy Johansen
First Officer
USS Imperator

Commander Vila Lorut
Second Officer, Chief Science Officer
USS Imperator

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