Picking Up The Pieces

[DrDMatthews 0]

It only took a moment for the shock to wear off. Debbie Matthews picked herself up and quickly glanced around the room. Her brand new plants were on the floor and so were half of the medical staff.

 

      "They could have waited a couple of hours," mumbled Debbie, retrieving one of her new peonies. "But oh no! We're out for two minutes and somebody's got to rock the boat." She shoved the plant back onto a nearby shelf and again turned to survey her little domain.

 

      "Everyone okay?" shouted Debbie.

      Her staff responded with assorted grunts and groans. She assumed those were positive replies but kept her eye on them all as they regained their footing and brushed themselves off. She caught sight of Brian Smith cradling one arm.

 

      "Let's get ready, folks!" called Debbie. "I'm sure we're not the only ones on this ship who got tossed around."

 

      Roco Studly stood beside her, rubbing his left elbow. "What happened?"

      "I don't know. But I'm going to find out. In the meantime, call in all off duty personnel. We only had a few seconds to prepare for whatever that was. There are probably fifty or sixty broken bones on this ship right now and their owners will be paying us a visit shortly.

      Studly nodded and hurried off to put out the all call. Debbie noticed Kyle Mills examining Brian's arm. She walked toward them while attempting to contact the bridge.

      "+Bridge+ This is Matthews. What was that?"

      There was no immediate response. Debbie was about to comm again when a voice she didn't recognize replied, "+Matthews+ Some sort of shock wave. Expect casualties."

      The comm abruptly ended. "Expect casualties?," mumbled Debbie. "Now tell me something I don't know."

 

      She quickly forgot about the bridge officer's remark as the calls started coming in from one deck after another. Most of the injuries were relatively minor. The patients were able to bring themselves to Sickbay. But it seemed Deck 8 was especially hard hit. At least seven people on that particular deck were down with injuries serious enough to require medical transport.

 

      Debbie approached Kyle and Brian. "Kyle, get up to Deck 8 and see what's going on. I have a report of seven injured up there. They may need transport to Sickbay. I'll take over here."

 

      Dr. Mills nodded toward Brian Smith's arm. "It's broken...not serious though."

With that, he was off to Deck 8 leaving Debbie to repair Brian's arm.

      "It's not serious," echoed Brian. " I could probably fix it myself."

      Debbie scanned the fracture with her medical tricorder. "It will go faster if I do it. And we need you functioning with two good arms as quickly as possible."

 

      A disembodied voice suddenly called out. "Engineering and Medical, prepare for an away team."

 

      Debbie frowned. Patients were streaming through the front doors. Still others were sprawled on various decks throughout the ship. Now the brass wanted medical personnel for an away team.

 

      "An away team?" questioned Brian as Debbie worked to knit his broken ulna back together again. "An away team to where?"

      Debbie shrugged. "Let's find out. +Bridge+ This is Matthews. I need specifics on this away team. Where are we going and what should we expect?"

      Another voice replied. "+Matthews+ There has been an explosion on the USS Cairo. Expect casualties."

      The CMO and her assistant looked at each other for a moment. "+Bridge+ Thank you. Notify me when and where you want the medical team."

 

       Debbie quickly returned to the task at hand. They both knew the explosion on the Cairo must have been massive to have produced a shockwave strong enough to shake the Reaent that hard. The damage on the Cairo could very well be catastrophic.

      "I'm sorry, Brian. We've run out of time. The bone is in fairly good shape but it's going to be awfully tender. Come with me."

      She led Dr. Smith across the room to one of the storage cabinets. Retrieving the appropriate brace, she carefully wrapped it around Brian's arm.

 

      "This should help keep the ulna in place until it finishes healing. Go find yourself a painkiller but make sure it won't dull your senses too much. I'm afraid you're the one going over to the Cairo. Choose a good nurse to accompany you and take extra supplies. Be ready to leave on a moments notice. And whatever you do, keep in touch."

 

      With that, Debbie left Brian to finish up. There were now forty-six patients in Sickbay and more on the way. Fortunately, the injuries appeared relatively minor. Debbie could only pray the same would be true for those aboard the Cairo.