A considerably more deadly hiccup

Posted on Sat Jan 12th, 2019 @ 3:18am by Captain Taliserra Tigran & Ensign Amanda Turell & Lieutenant Galatea Polaris
Edited on on Mon Feb 25th, 2019 @ 5:19pm

Mission: Negotiations and Apothecaries
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: 25th feb 2395

ON:

Amanda walked through the doors of sickbay rubbing at her neck, she'd woken up sore and stiff and had no idea why.

Galatea hadn't slept through the night. She had been bandaging wounded and to top it off people were coming in complaining of several symptoms that wouldn't have been odd if there weren't so many. She looked up as Amanda walked in happy that her arm was intact. "Ensign what can I do for you?" She asked with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Don't worry doc, I haven't dislocated it again." Amanda replied as she sat herself down on a biobed.

Galatea had had a few people show up looking rough today. It was as if the entire ship was getting the flu. "Tell me what's going on," Galatea said grabbing a tricorder and logging PADD.

"Woke up with a really stiff neck and my left arm felt pretty numb." Amanda started to explain. "That happens sometimes when I sleep but it usually goes after a few minutes but it still feels weird and I've been awake for a good couple of hours."

Galatea looked over the tricorder readings. The symptoms were familiar. She wished she had a moment to think clearly but this had not been the first case that had come in. This one was just a bit worse then the ones so far. "Alright let's get you laying down." She hit the light over biobed four. "I need to run some tests."

"Alright doc." Amanda lay herself down on the biobed.

Galatea brought up the control panel on the wall and the readings started immediately. Her lips pursed as she studied the readings. "How long did you say this was happening for?"

"About 2 hours, I woke up feeling like this." Amanda replied.

Galatea sighed, Amanda hadn't been the first to come in with these symptoms. She tapped the display above the biobed. "I can give you a hypo that will ease the symptoms but it is temporary. I would like you to stay here though." She pulled a hypo and started twisting in the dose of elixir.

"Stay here?" Amanda repeated. "You are starting to worry me doc, what is it?"

She pressed her lips together, "Perhaps I am being overly cautious but there are many people with your symptoms here. Something isn't right." she pressed the hypo to Amanda's neck.

Just as the last of the hypo's hissed the door opened and more people came in. She watched her staff directing people to bio bed after bio bed. "We have..."

Just as she was about to finish her thought the door opened again and in staggered Elijah. "Gali..."

She watched him sway and with a motion of her hand two nurses were at his side. "Over there." She pointed to the bed next to Amanda.

After Elijah had been placed on the bed she turned back to Amanda. "It appears we have an epidemic and until I know what we are dealing with you must stay here." She tapped her comms as she continued taking readings, =/\= Polaris to Commander Tigran. We have a problem. Can you conference me in my office? =/\=

=/\= On my way doctor. =/\= Taliserra replied. she was a little confused but whatever it was must have been important for Galatea not to explain things over the comm system.

A few minutes later Taliserra stepped through the doors into sickbay. "Doctor Polaris." She called out before seeing the unusually large amount of people sitting or laying on biobeds.

Somewhat frazzled Galatea turned. "Follow me." She said leading them back through the masses and into her office. As the door swished shut she turned and said, "We have a problem....a big problem."

"Tell me Galatea." Taliserra said easing herself down a little uncomfortably onto the edge of the desk.

"My sickbay is bursting at the seems. I will need a cargo bay. Over the last few hours I've had several people coming in with similar symptoms. It looks like we have a nasty buy spreading through the ship." She sighed the strain of hours of work without stopping showing, "It seems that some are worse then others."

"How bad is it?" Taliserra asked although if Galatea was requesting a cargo bay convert it must be serious.

"Stiff muscles, aches, pains, runny nose...if lucky. There are some with muscle inflammation and one ..." She had to swallow past a lump. "One with a inflammation of the brain and an infection setting in. Whatever it is I can't prove it but I think it's airborne." She rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Airborne.." Taliserra repeated. "it's going to be hard to keep it from spreading. Do you have any idea what disease it is yet, can we cure it?"

Galatea shook her head, "No. I thought I had a handle on it but the regular treatment didn't...." Before she could get anything out Hunter entered the office without so much as a chime. "We have another red!"

Galatea gave Taliserra an apologetic look. "I'll be back."

Taliserra pulled herself up, she wasn't anywhere near a doctor but wanted to help anyway she could and get a look for herself how bad it was.

Galatea entered what they called the assessment area, a quarantined area by itself, really a spare office converted for medical triage during outbreaks. She'd been happy she'd made that choice to do that.

The nurses set about adding a protective layer of clothing on Galatea As Galatea came close to the bed her blood ran cold. "Eli..." It was so low and whispered. She switched to telepathic communication. ~Eli can you hear me?~

His wild blue eye locked in on her, his raven black hair was matted with sweat. ~P...Pain...hut.~

It was all he could get out before a seizure took him. "Ten CCs Of Terraquinamine! Now!" It was a known calming agent for Betazoids. She pressed the hypo to his neck. Her hands worked in a blurring motion hitting buttons pressing hypos and noting readings. When Eli was calmed only then did she speak as she wiped the bit of blood that trickled from his nose. "Nurse, severe swelling of the brain, possible infection. I need him kept in a medically induced coma and monitored. Every three hour administer these." She handed the woman and PADD with a lit of medications, "They must be given exactly twenty seconds apart from one another. Repeat every three ours."

"Yes doctor you said that." The nurse replied. Galatea looked up at the woman feeling to deflated to chastise her. "Put him in section red. Vent the room and clean it for the next patient."

She exited the zone got decontaminated by the computer and stripped her used smock and mask her eyes filled with tears that she tried to blink away.

"How is he Galatea?" Taliserra who had been watching from outside asked, it didn't look too good for Elijah.

She shook her head to clear it a it. "He's in bad shape. I'm asking for a favour. Can I take Edwards? With the two of us I think we might be able to combine our experience. I won't loose anyone to this."

"Use whoever you need to Galatea, we need to cure whatever this is quickly though." Taliserra said hoping it would be a simple thing to cure "We are already overdue to meet the Kurai party and we can't risk bringing them onboard if we have an infection onboard but we also can't risk letting the ceasefire run out."

Galatea sighed, "Alright." She tapped her com. =/\=Doctor Polaris to Doctor Edwards. Can you please meet me in Lab three.=/\=

"I will leave you to it doctor, keep me informed." Taliserra said as she headed towards the door, it was easier to leave the professionals to it rather than keep pestering them.

Galatea gave a brief nod as the CO left.

Taliserra left sickbay, her mind racing about how this disease going around the ship would complicate things, where it could have come from and how many of her crew were going to become infected.


OFF:

Commander Taliserra Tigran
Commanding Officer

Doctor Galatea Polaris
Chief Medical Officer / Counselor

Ensign Amanda Turell
Sec/tac Officer [npc Taliserra]

CPO Hunter Payton
Head Nurse [npc Galatea]

Ltjg Elijah Alexander
Asst Chief Sec/tac [npc Galatea]