Medical Emergency - One to Beam Out

Posted on Tue Sep 28th, 2021 @ 12:45pm by Lieutenant Adora (Addie) Hart & Lieutenant Commander James Trallos MD

Mission: Season Two - Incidentals
Location: Sickbay

Before another word could be said, the blue energy beam of the transporter engulfed the panicked counselor and removed her from the turbolift.

Moments later Addie rematerialised in sickbay, stumbling forward, hands grasping for the nearest biobed, gasping for breath as she sank to the floor, sobbing as her whole body trembled violently as she fought to clear the noise, the words, the emotions from within her mind.

A nurse saw the beam in. =/\= Sickbay to Trallos, medical emergency. Report to sickbay right away.=/\=

The doctor had just stepped out of the meeting when he got the call. "Computer, site to site me into sickbay." A blue moment later he was in the center of sickbay. A quick spin around and he saw the Counsellor in a heap on the floor with a nurse and tech around her. He strode over and pulled his tricorder out of his pocket and began scanning her. "Addie, it's Jim, talk to me. What's going on?" He asked as he read scans that were pumping information out into the tricorder.

Addie shook her head, covering her ears with her hands. The voices, the memories were starting to fade away but her breathing was still ragged. The pressure on her chest made it hard to breathe in and she was starting to feel light headed as a result. Everything around her was swimming. The room felt like it swirling. A hand reached from somewhere, touching her shoulder, causing her to start and pull away sharply, looking up, wide eyed.

"You're in sickbay Addie. You're safe. Breath slowly." He said and locked his eyes into hers. "Breath in" He said and took a deep breath, indicating her to follow, "Now out." And he exhaled slowly. He repeated the breathing, trying to help her focus and slow down.

She pulled her knees up, resting her forehead on her knees, closing her eyes tightly, the combination of shortness of breath and anxiety was making her feel utterly sick. Slowly, over many minutes of just trying to focus on the sound of his voice talking to her, her hyperventilating started to slow, though her heart rate remained elevated and her hands remained shaky.

He moved his hand from her shoulder to her hands and felt them cool. He continued reminding her to breath, slowly in deep and longer to exhale in order to calm her heart rate. The scans did not show anything off in her brainwave pattern, so he went with anxiety being her problem and focused on calming her down. After another few moments he spoke again. "Addie, are you with me?"

The few moments were long, drawn out moments with the only sounds were Addie's breaths. Finally she heard the Doctor's voice, really heard, actually comprehending his words. She could feel the warmth of his hand around hers. Looking up she took in the sight of Jim crouched in front of her, the concern on his face as he watched her intently. She nodded slowly, pulling one hand away so she could wipe the tears from her eyes. "I... I don't know what happened..." she said shakily.

Nodding to the nurse, they helped the counselor off the floor and got her laying down on the bed. "You seemed to be having a panic attack. What do you last remember? Any voices" He asked and gently placed a device on her forehead and began taking scans of her brainwave activity for good measure.

The nurse disappeared briefly before returning with a warm blanket, wrapping it around Addie's shoulders. Almost immediately she could feel the warmth seeping into her, offering comfort as she pulled it in tighter, waiting for the nurse to leave again before she started speaking.

"I... I'm not really sure. I left the meeting and Major Griffiths came after me. She yelled and followed me into the turbolift. I wanted to go to my office, she stopped the lift..." Addie paused, gripping the blanket tighter, knuckles visible through the gap at the front of the blanket started to turn white from the pressure. "I could hear all the voices, it wasn't new voices, it was old ones, like memories..." she bit her bottom lip. "I could hear Lieutenant Kale telling Major Griffiths she had tried to kill me, I could hear the shouting, the anger. I couldn't breathe and Major Griffiths had locked the turbolift. I didn't know what to do, the thoughts kept racing through my mind, my head hurt, I felt sick, I couldn't breathe... I asked for a medical transport and ended up here."

The doctor continued his scans while she spoke. Everything kept returning as he expected them to. "While I'm sorry you heard all of that, I am glad it wasn't anything new." He tapped a few commands and looked back at her. "It sounds like you had an Anxiety attack. Brainwave function is normal and baseline, biochemistry is within acceptable levels and only real abnormality was epinephrine levels for obvious reasons." He said as he scanned a new report. "You look good otherwise. While logically, I'm sure you know the Major has absolutely no intention of harming you, the subconscious is a finicky creature." He bounced his head a little. "Of course I realize you know that better than I do, but anxiety does not always let us use logic."

Addie offered a weary smile. "No, that it doesn't," she replied. "I'm sorry, for wasting your time with this silliness," She pushed the blanket away, sliding off the edge of the bio bed. "I'm sure you have much more important things to be doing."

He moved her back with a gentle touch. "Not so, right now you are the most important patient I have." He said and gently corralled her back to the biobed. "I want to keep you here for observation for a few moments and make sure you don't relapse without a trigger." He looked at her monitor and back to her. "If you still want to stretch your legs on a real planet with actual atmosphere, I need to make sure you'll stay up and running. Fair?"

She offered a slight nod and sat back on the edge of the bio bed. "I don't want to miss out on shopping, though at this stage I'm not sure I'll even be allowed." She sighed and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. "No doubt the Major will already have told the Captain what happened."

He chuckled. "I'll see what I can do." He said and pulled out a hypo and loaded it with something. After calibrating the spray he put it in her hands. "A little something for you. You were marked to pair up with Lieutenant Kale and I think that would be good. She is the most familiar with the planet and language so you would have the better time. You both did well in the holodeck together, so I will recommend that."

He indicated to the hypospray. "A little something for the road and planet surface. If things start getting a little overwhelming, dose yourself. Just something to help steady the nerves. Won't knock you out, cloud your brain or anything along that line, just take the edge off and slow things down for you. I don't think you will need it, but I'd feel better knowing you have it on you when you are off ship."

She took the hypospray and held onto it for a moment before sliding it into her pocket. "Thank you, I appreciate your time, I really do." She paused, offering another small smile. "I guess I owe you another dinner then huh?"

He laughed. "That's not necessary." He paused. "How about after we get successful treatment of this problem? Would be a good reason to celebrate."

"It's a deal." Addie slid from the bio bed. "Can I return to my quarters?" she asked hopefully. "I think I'd like to take the rest of the day off and maybe just relax for a while before we go down to the surface."

He nodded and closed down the scanners. "I think that would be a good idea. Everything is good here. Take some time to rest." He offered as he walked her to the door. "Keep that hypo close and don't be afraid to use it. It won't hurt your faculties, just help you control them. Anything changes just give me a call." He ended with a smile.

"Thank you Doctor," Addie replied with a smile, taking a deep breath, her fingers closing around the hypo in her pocket. "I appreciate it."

=/\=

Lieutenant James Trallos MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Pennsylvania

&

Lieutenant Addie Hart
Counselor
USS Pennsylvania