Aegis Medical - Quarantine in the Dip Wing

[Isabeau Delevan 0]

"...showing marked improvement as toxicity levels have fallen and no longer present a future danger to the patient or surrounding environs, although further tests will be needed to see if any permanent damage has been incurred. The 3% solution of Trellium-A and saline has successfully bound itself to the resin molecules that have wreaked havoc in the patient's bloodstream and were successfully vacated through his urinary tract. Dr. Hawkins' digestive system has been successfully repaired-"

 

"I am laying right here. I can hear every word you're saying."

 

And sounding a bit grumpy about it, Isabeau thought, although the English accent certainly dressed it up a bit. She checked her watch. Right on time. She enjoyed that kind of predictability in a patient, especially one that she'd had to wrest from the Grim Reaper's greedy clutches. Pausing her recording, she set the tricorder on the workstation and stood up, turning immediately and walking the few steps that brought her to Dr. Daniel Hawkins' bedside.

 

"Good morning, Sunshine," she smiled brightly, noting bloodshot blue eyes narrow at her from below thick black brows as a ferocious frown creased a forehead made just a little too broad by a receding hairline. His long, black hair, shot through with grey, was captured at the base of his neck in a ponytail to keep it out of the way. The hair, coupled with the full beard, gave him the look of a mad scientist. Or a cranky pirate. Or, she supposed, the geoarchaeologist that he was.

 

"I'm not on the Colony." The lights were too bright, and he looked around, noting the equipment placement, before squinting back up at her, recognizing her as one of the physicians who'd been doing the pre-flight physicals. She hadn't done his, and he was rather glad of it as he gritted his teeth against her too cheerful tone. His head was bloody well killing him!

 

"Computer, lower lights thirty percent." Isabeau picked up a medcorder and sensor wand. "No, Dr. Hawkins, you're not on the colony. You're back on Aegis, as you may have guessed, and I have no doubt you are still feeling the effects of having been gravely ill. I'm Isabeau Delevan and I've been treating you."

 

"We all came down with a fever..." It was easier to focus with the lights not so bright. He looked at her sharply, trying to remember, struggling to sit up. "Hannah...Dr. McDowell? Dr. Asgar? The others?"

 

"Easy now, be careful," Isabeau cautioned gently. "You had surgery not so very long ago and are still healing." She dropped the medcorder and scanner, placing one hand on his arm, while using the other to tap the bed controls to elevate his head and shoulders to a more comfortable position. "They're still on the colony and from what I hear, they're doing very well; they were in much better shape than you and Dr. Kryzanski."

 

"Jenny? What's happened to her?" Daniel tried to think when he'd last seen her. In the lab, going over the latest scans? He remembered bringing her tea and soup. She had looked like the very devil. He looked at Delevan and shook her hand off his arm. "Is she dead, then?"

 

"No, she's going to be fine! In fact, she's already been removed from the quarantine area and is resting, getting her strength back. She's got an upper respiratory infection but it's being treated." Isabeau picked up the medcorder and sensor wand again. "I need to run a couple of tests, Dr. Hawkins. I know you have questions but I need-"

 

"What happened to us? What the hell do you mean, quarantine? Is it some kind of virus? How soon can we get back?" Daniel flopped back, his frustration evident, and then he pressed his hand to his abdomen, suddenly aware of a flare of pain. "Damn it! What is wrong with me?"

 

Meeting his blue glare calmly, Isabeau once again set the medcorder and sensor wand aside, answering him quietly, "All of you were exposed to Trilithium resin, but you and Dr. Kryz-"

 

"Trilithium resin! My God, that's astonishing and very-" Daniel bit off what he was going to say and eyed Isabeau. "What's being done about that? The Colony has shielding..."

 

Isabeau eyed him right back. "Yes, Trilithium resin. Been there for at least 250,000 years near as our Science team can tell." He did seem surprised, Isabeau thought but did he seem surprised enough? She recalled her conversation of a few weeks ago with DJ. That the Colonists seemed more like a search party than anything else.

 

"Yes, a quarter of a million years, a good long time in some respects, in others...a blink of an eye," Daniel answered impatiently, and then repeated his question. "Can it be contained? Is the colony still viable?"

 

"Well, I'm sure property values are still plummeting as we speak," she replied sarcastically, "but our Chief Engineer is on the case. If it's solvable, he'll figure it out." For the third time she picked up the medcorder and sensor wand, and activated both before he could interrupt her again. "I'm curious as to whether or not your cerebral cortex has suffered any permanent damage," she mentioned absently, while running a quick scan to check his visual acuity. "Now that you're awake I can run the neural tests to rule that out."

 

"Hmmm...?" Daniel was pondering what it would mean if the colony had to be shut down. Hannah had spent a long time putting this together, and to be so close... "What? Is there a chance of that?" He'd just realized what she said, and he renewed his glare at her. "You're just curious?"

 

Isabeau tossed the medcorder on the table next to the biobed and smiled at him, flipping and deftly catching the sensor wand a couple of times before putting it with its teammate. "Well, I've never seen trilithium resin poisoning before and I've got to tell you, there's not a heck of a lot about it in the database." She tapped the bed controls and keyed a request for a hyperencephalogram to be followed by a neural imaging scan, as she whistled under her breath. "I may even get a paper out of this!"

 

"Paper! Are you joking?" Daniel was appalled.

 

'Yes."

 

"What kind of physician are you?" Daniel raged at her and then caught himself up short. "Yes, what?"

 

"Yes, I'm joking," Isabeau replied with a grin, "And I'm a terrific physician and better surgeon." The bed chirped that the first of his scan results were complete.

 

"Well, I have only your word for that, but based on this damn headache and bloody pain in my belly..."

 

"Now, now, Dr. Hawkins. Don't go making snap decisions," Isabeau replied cheerfully, while looking over the new data. "Your headache is the result of your blood pressure being elevated—although it's come down quite a bit; you suffered cardiac arrest and that sort of thing tends to leave a mark for a couple of days after the induction procedure. And the pain in your abdomen?" His hyperencephalgram was perfect, she noted with delight and mentally crossed her fingers that the neural scan would be, too. "I had to repair what was left of your digestive system—and you can rest assured that your intestines are a thing of beauty, and no doubt a joy forever. Well, for as long as you live anyway and treat them right. Fiber and all, you know what I mean." She winked at him and then looked back to the bioreadout.

 

"I...uh, thank you." Where was her boss...? Lepage his name was. Maybe a second opinion wasn't a bad idea, Daniel thought, and then looked at Isabeau warily as the bed dinged again.

 

"You're very welcome," Isabeau replied warmly, and looked to see what the results of the neural imaging scan were.

 

Daniel watched her face, trying to read her expression as she looked at the screen and tapped at it.

 

Comparing this scan with the one taken during his physical last month, showed that Nick's solution and the aggressive follow up treatment had managed to stem and reverse the neural damage wrought by exposure to the trilithium resin. For the first time since he'd been brought aboard, Isabeau felt that certain something inside her relax. In almost all ways she was an optimist but when faced with a case as serious as Daniel Hawkins had presented, she knew that the odds were often stacked against the patient. She was careful not to proclaim victory too early; Death liked to play his little tricks. Hah, this time he could eat her dust!

 

"Well?" He saw her smile as she looked from the computer and as he met her eyes, he knew and he no longer thought a second opinion would be necessary.

 

"You're going to be fine, Dr. Hawkins." She loved saying that. It never got old. It would never get old. Today, she was victorious. She had battled and he had won.

 

"It's Daniel, Doctor." He leaned back and for the first time wondered just exactly how close he'd come to not making it. She had a breezy way about her but he suddenly realized, looking and listening to her, that he'd been very close, and the thing of it was, he couldn't really remember even being that sick. Just the coughing and confusion...

 

"Ok, Daniel it is." She smiled as she tapped the bed controls and adjusted his medication. "Now that I've been able to run those tests, I can give you something that's going to make you a lot more comfortable. You'll fall asleep and I can just about promise that the next time you wake up, you'll feel a lot better."

 

He could already feel it working, and he relaxed, thinking she was moving further away but then realized the bed was being lowered and she hadn't moved. She would be here when he woke up; he was convinced of that, because she would make sure he woke up. "I guess I owe you my life."

 

"Oh, no need to guess, Daniel, you do, and you know what the Chinese say," she teased gently as she watched the bioreadout, making sure the pain medication went about its business.

 

"I've made worse bargains."

 

Isabeau glanced down at him in surprise and then smiled, he was out for the count. Hopefully, by the time he woke up again, they'd have some real information from the colony.

Edited June 9, 2009 by Isabeau Delevan