A Painful Diagnosis

Posted on Wed Jan 2nd, 2019 @ 8:55am by
Edited on on Wed Jan 2nd, 2019 @ 8:56am

1,629 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Emerald Road
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Post Rescue

Xavier stood watching Vash rest on the biobed in the intensive injury ward. Through the glass he could see her vitals, all the information he needed to monitor. He had to sedate her, mostly because of the pain she was in and trying to diagnose her, was problematic. Xavier couldn't begin to fathom the ordeal she had gone through but her body was a tapestry that told every sordid detail of it. His inspection of her took the better part of over an hour, from head to toe he recorded every injury internal and external.

The list was extensive, treatment was a challenge especially some of the internal trauma wounds that had gone untreated no doubt as a form of painful torture. Malnutrition, dehydrated was expected, Trace DNA was collected from several Orion males, and some females, most notably saliva from where she was spat upon, struck or any other form of contact, in the males case, from where Vash had been raped. Various fractures to many of her bones, pressure point trauma, muscular damage, but just shy of putting her life at complete risk for them to complete what ever task they had in store for her and the worst injury of all. The forced removal of one eye.

That was going to be a challenge for him to explain to the Commodore, the violation of a loved one was never an easy pill to swallow.

A team of nurses, all female had taken to the task of washing her, cleaning her up. At least making her presentable for when Xavier would call the Commodore down.

It would take a while before Vash would be on her feet, a while before Xavier would let her out of Sickbay anyway. The road to recovery was going to be a long one, it was good that the ship finally had a counsellor because she would be needed for the many families of lost ones and friends, even the injured.

Having moved to his office Xavier sat trying to think of how he would best phrase what he had to say. How would best to deliver the news. Vash had been rescued true but her injuries were severe, her trauma plentiful and last thing Xavier wanted was for Will to start that spiral downwards of blaming himself for not being fast enough.

Vash would be out for a good few hours yet, keeping her still and resting would allow the treatments performed on her to take.

He tapped the computer on his desk opening a channel to the Commodore. "Patrovski to Hood, I'm sorry to disturb you sir but could you come to Sickbay please."

"I'm on my way." Hood stood up and left for Sickbay. With the rescue of Vash he now wanted to know everything. He knew he would face some difficult questions when they got home, but right now that was far from his mind as the Turbolift took him to Sickbay.

When he arrived Will was greeted by a busy Sickbay as marines and engineers were recovering. It was a mess, one he'd put upon the crew, it was hard for him not to blame himself for the suffering they were going through. "Dr Patrovski." Will spoke trying to catch the mans attention having seen him talking to a nurse.

"Commodore." Xavier handed over a padd to the nurse he was talking to and walked to his Commanding officer knowing full well the next few minutes would be incredibly hard for the man. In his career Xavier had seen the effects on loved ones injury could cause, in Will's case he'd have to stand there and hear every gruesome detail of the injuries Vash had sustained.

"Casualties?" Will asked, not that he expected it to be light given the packed sickbay.

"63 dead, most..from the boarding action. 9 from the prior space combat. I have 27 undergoing anti radiation treatments including the Colonel, Major and several others. We needed more space so Acacia is using the shuttlebay as a triage centre. Obviously everyone that boarded the ship was exposed to pheromones, the females I have managed to ease symptoms with medication, headaches mostly. The males will take a little longer but they will recover."

Xavier knew that at this second in time, they were not what was on the Commodores mind. "Could you follow me please."

Xavier lead the Commodore to a room that looked into the room Vash was inside of. Those in the room were female given the injuries it seemed prudent. "The room is under hermetic seal, for obvious reasons." Xavier didn't want Vash's pheromones to distract his medical staff, even though he knew it would be utterly unintentional.

He could see the look of worry on the Commodore's face even if he was trying to put a brave one on. "I wish...there was an easier way to say this but....."

"Speak plainly Doctor." His eyes didn't leave Vash from the moment he saw her. Words failed him, even mentally as he saw her laying there, blame already setting root, had he been faster he wondered what would be different.

Xavier took a breath. "It's bad. Evidence of torture to nearly every part of her body, she was internally bleeding from two places, multiple hairline fractures, muscular trauma, cuts." Xavier rubbed his brow as if this was the hardest explanation he'd had to give, it certainly felt like it. "They...removed her right eye."

But Xavier knew for Will the next part would be the worst blow of all. "There are...signs...of...rape." The word bitter tasting. "DNA from multiple males. Internal bruising, cervical swelling." Xavier didn't want to mention the potential signs of objects being used. Xavier felt like he just sucker punched the Commodore. He felt sick and he was not even the one on the receiving end.

Will steeled himself but as he heard the report it grew harder and harder to keep his composure. If only he'd been faster, pushed harder, done something different perhaps Vash wouldn't be as bad as she was. She'd lost an eye because he was not fast enough, she'd been humiliated, degraded, violated because he wasn't fast enough. "This is my fault." A single tear, one that he'd been fighting since he saw her blazed down his cheek.

"No, no. You didn't do this. You didn't do that to her." Xavier seeing his opportunity to cast a ray of hope. "What you did was get her back. I can heal her, I can treat all her injuries. I'll have to leave the eye to last but I can create a template to show her when she wakes up but you are not the cause of this."

Comforting words but to Will, hollow. "When you were trapped in that chamber Doctor, you're Fiancee was here, watching. She did all she could, even threatened James at phaser point to get you out. SHE...." Will's voice rose. "Was here."

Will turned and walked to the opposing wall, turned again and slowly walked back. "When Vash was taken, where was I?" Will spoke. "As this...." His arm out to the tortured visage of Vash. "Was being done to her, where was I? I...the partner, the lover...where was I to protect her? To keep her safe....isn't that what partners do?"

Xavier knew better than to interrupt. Even his medical training had told him that when someone was grieving to let it play and once exhausted, rebuilt. "You were doing what you do best, what you have trained for your entire service life, you commanded a starship, lead a crew. You didn't sit idle, you followed the clues, did what you had to, went where you needed to and got her back. You didn't give up, and there she is in that room, safe." Xavier replied soothingly supportive.

"She will live, I can treat everything, regrow her hair, heal the bruising. I can heal her as if none of it happened but emotionally, mentally, I can't fix that. That is something the pair of you will have to work on, with time and patience. We have Lt Tara Lithbeth on board, she can help." Xavier added hoping that his words were at least helping stave off an emotional outburst from the Commodore. "You have her back Will, shes going to be angry, shes going to be hurt, shes probably going to lash out at you but she wont mean it. It's not your fault, but she will need you in the coming weeks if not more."

As much as Will didn't believe the Doctor, still intent on blaming himself, he knew deep down somewhere he knew he was right. "I have two of the Mothers in my Brig." The idea of accidents happening to them before they got back came to mind but he dashed it as quickly as it came. For them that was a way out, Will wanted them to suffer, in misery, to have freedom and luxury taken from them. "When will she wake?"

"I've kept her sedated, give her body a chance to settle, her wounds to heal. The less she moves the better her outcome will be." Xavier replied. "I've got her under monitor as you can see on the wall readouts so I'll be notified the instant anything changes and its linked directly to my office." He realised that he'd not answered the mans question. "8-12 hours at least. She's in safe hands."

"The instant she wakes Doctor, not a second later." Will replied, his eyes on Vash laying there on the bed surrounded by nurses doing that which they had trained to do. "Would you excuse me please?" Will pulled up a chair next to the window and sat in it.

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