Waiting Until

[DrDMatthews 0]

Presented by Debbie Matthews & Brian Smith

 

 

 

Debbie hated surprises....especially surprises like this one. Granted, the entire crew was at risk. But for one particular officer, death was an almost guaranteed certainty. The grim reaper had come to collect Lieutenant Xavier Crispin. He couldn't have chosen a more inopportune moment.

 

In all her years of practicing medicine, Debbie had seen only one other case of Calkins disease and that was "after the fact." She was in her last year of residency at NYU when the hapless patient, an elderly Rigelian, arrived at the hospital's emergency center. He'd been dead for at least three hours.

 

The deceased was a prominent member of the Rigelian diplomatic corps, a long time assistant to the ambassador. He was extremely dependable so his colleagues were understandably alarmed when he failed to show up for an important meeting. The ambassador sent someone to check on him. By the time he arrived at the hospital, he was well beyond resuscitation. The sad fact was, even if he'd come in earlier, there was no treatment for Calkins disease.

 

Calkins was extremely rare. Patients developed fast growing tumors, usually located in one or both of the frontal lobes of the brain. More often than not, the tumors would appear and overwhelm the patient in a matter of days...in some cases, overnight. Calkins tumors resisted every form of treatment. The disease was considered terminal until a couple of years ago.

 

Resources for developing new treatments for Calkins were extremely limited primarily due to the fact the disease was so rare. However, during the past two or three years, a couple of research facilities had managed to develop experimental therapies that were proving quite promising. But it was slow going. From what Debbie had read in the journals, their progress was handicapped by a lack of patients who survived long enough to receive the new drugs. This, along with ongoing financial problems, caused Debbie to wonder if either of the programs were still up and running.

 

She never thought she'd have to concern herself with this particular question but here it was....lying on the biobed in front of her. Xavier Crispin had been perfectly healthy just a few weeks earlier. Now, he was dying from a huge Calkins tumor located in the right frontal lobe of his brain. Debbie was struggling to overcome the shock of the diagnosis. She had to think clearly and quickly if she and her team were going to erase Lt. Cripsin's name from the grim reaper's collection list.

 

Others quickly gathered around the unconscious patient while Dr. Smith ran the scans again. Debbie could tell from his expression that Brian couldn't believe the diagnosis. She understood how he felt. She was having a difficult time accepting it as well. She also knew the diagnosis was correct. The symptoms were all there...the seizures, the nose bleeds, the unbearable headaches, and the graphic picture of the tumor which seemed to be growing by the minute. It would only take a few seconds for Brian to confirm it. The real question was, what to do next.

 

Debbie stepped back, took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. She couldn't remember off hand where those research facilities were. She was fairly certain one was in the Sol system but that was days away. Crispin wouldn't survive more than a few hours. She looked up as Brian Smith approached.

 

He shook his head slowly. "It's definitely Calkins," he said quietly. "I never thought I would see a case like this, especially on a starship."

Debbie bit her lip and pondered their next move. "How much time do you estimate he has?"

Brian shrugged. "Definitely less than a day. Maybe as little as three or four hours. That tumor isn't slowing down."

Matthews nodded and took a step closer to the biobed. "I agree. We can't do anything for him here so his only hope is one of those research facilities."

"I've read about them," said Brian. "But I don't remember where they are."

"Neither do I," quipped Debbie. "But wherever they are, they're too far away. We can locate them later. Right now, pump Lt. Crispin full of antibiotics to guard against secondary infections. Then get him into stasis."

There was no need to explain further. Brian Smith nodded solemnly. "I'll get right on it."

 

With that, Dr. Smith quietly and efficiently issued orders to the team while Debbie kept watch at the head of the biobed. Within twenty minutes after collapsing just inside Sickbay, Lieutenant Xavier Crispin was diagnosed, stabilized, prepped and placed into a stasis unit. The medical team stood silently as the technicians moved him to a far corner of the room. The unit would be carefully monitored until....

 

Until what? wondered Debbie. Until they find someone to treat him? Even if they deliver Crispin to one of the research facilities, there was no guarantee the experimental protocols would be effective against his tumor. Were those clinics still operating? What would she do if the programs had shut down? What was the alternative?

 

There was no alternative. She and her team on the Reaent were helpless and that was the part that hurt the most. There was nothing more they could do but keep Lt. Crispin alive so someone else could decide if he would live or die. If the facilites were no longer operating....well....they would cross that bridge when they came to it. She reminded herself to take one step at a time.

 

The whole situation left a bad taste in Debbie's mouth. There was only one good thing about it....at least the grim reaper would go home empty handed....for now anyway.