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side - sim: Another New Doctor

Posted May 23, 2023, 10:50 a.m. by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) (Lucas Foxley)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in side - sim: Another New Doctor

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aasrel Izei (Chief Medical Officer) in side - sim: Another New Doctor

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in side - sim: Another New Doctor
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Bethany grumbled as she stared at the empty hypo in her hand. Of course Ryley had left to parts unknown. When this mission was over, she’d hunt him down. Assuming he hadn’t crossed the Klingons or someone else by then. Of course she didn’t blame him, who would want to stay on this suicide mission.

He was the only one who made this whole thing bearable. She slapped the hypo into her hand as if it would dislodge more medication to be dispensed. Like it was an old Heinz 57 glass ketchup bottle. But no good. It was empty. Now she would have to go to sickbay and explain to yet another doctor what was wrong with her, and hope they read whatever Ryley put in her file. She might really lose her temper if the new doc told her it was all in her head and turned her away.

She left her quarters and made her way to sickbay and entered and looked around. She stopped the first person she saw, “I need to see the doc.”

Gadi, CoS

“Of course,” said the nurse she’d stopped. Then she made a face, like she didn’t really want to bother ‘the doc’ on duty. The new CMO… had not made a great first impression upon his arrival in Sickbay. No, he was already known as moody and snappy.

She led Bethany back to a biobed. “Have a seat. There doctor will be right with you.” Then, with what might’ve been a grimace, she moved off towards the CMO’s office.

Bethany sat on the biobed and gave the nurse a smile, “Thank you.” She had a headache again, and she was dreading have to explain again.

From the direction the nurse had gone came a betazoid doctor, about the same height as Bethany, with short brown hair, carefully styled with some kind of gel or mousse. His right hand remained behind his back, a PaDD in his left. “Lieutenant Commander Gadi? Is that right? What brings you in today?” He asked, scowling down at the PaDD and then looking at Bethany with a look of forced positivity.

~ Izei, CMO

Great a Betazoid. Here would come the attempts at contact and no reaction from her, no recpricle sharing of one’s thoughts and feelings. Then the questions and offense, and then when she explained, pity and dismisall, if she was lucky. Bethany schooled her reaction and burried her feeings deeply. At least she had managed that training. “That’s me doc. Your predicessor put me on a medication cocktail, and I ran out. I’m supposed to take it twice a day.”

Aasrel was far from mastering the art of judging emotions from one’s face and body language rather than intrinsically knowing it through empathy. And so he entirely missed her disdain of other Betazoids. He gave no reaction to her at all. “I see.” He stated dryly, as he read what was supposed to be in the cocktail off the PaDD.

A betazoid… Aasrel had the issue of other Betazoids expecting telepathic and empathic contact, it had only happened once or twice and it was incredibly uncomfortable. He’d lost his abilities a handful of months ago, and it still felt as though a big part of him were missing. He felt disconnected and lonely and disoriented. He avoided reminders of it. “How long have you been out?”

“I took my last dose this morning.” Bethany really wasn’t a bad patient, so she wasn’t going to wait to get a refill. She also knew though the cocktail was a bandaid on a stab wound. It wasn’t going to keep her going for forever.

Bethany held out the small medical box with the empty vials and hypo. Her records would show that Dr Ryley has put together a cocktail to clear the excess psilosynine out of her blood stream. The full report would show she reported headaches and lack of sleep and a constant elevated heart rate. She’d attempted cutting caffine and sugar intake, and extensive meditation routines. None made a difference. She was kept in medical for observation. Ryley found that she also had an elevated white blood cell count and a persistant low grade fever. She was also violently scratching in her sleep (under the use of an alpha wave inducer) along her arteries and viens. Ryley found that her paracortex was dormant (which was normal for Bethany) but her glands had started producing an excessive amount of psilosynine, an since it wasn’t used it was seeping into her blood stream. Causing an autoimmune response. Gadi’s human half was trying to kill her Betazoid half.

Gadi, CoS

Could she sense his discomfort, borderline panic? She hadn’t mentioned it, if she had. She hadn’t mentioned anything about it. Oh, phew, right there. Despite her overproduction of psilosynine, her empathy and telepathy weren’t functioning. The entire paracortex was dormant, the same as his own. Maybe he could hand off this case…? There were other doctors aboard. Maybe he could do that.

Aasrel took the box into his right hand as he finished skimming the report. The plastic of the case clinked against a metallic structure attached to his hand that extended up his sleeve. His gaze flicked toward it at the sound, and then quickly away.

“You have an autoimmune disease.” He commented offhandedly, as if uncomfortable. “I’ll get these refilled for you.” He barely said anything else to her. Barely looked at her. Then he was gone, disappearing into the bustle of the sickbay.

Well at least he didn’t comment on her ‘disability’. Bethany had done just fine without her ‘Betazoid heritage.’ She had no desire to regain it or fix it. Honestly if someone could wipe out her Betazoid genetics without killing her she’d do it. She despised it and everything it represented. The metallic piece of his arm didn’t phase her. Bethany actually had experience with those reclaimed from the Borg. That didn’t phase her at all.

He refilled the vials and loaded up the hypo for her. He had a duty to treat her. There was no choice. This autoimmune condition, an undefined autoimmune condition caused by her split heritage, was going to kill her if answers weren’t found. He didn’t want to think about it. What if she was able to recover her abilities, but his were gone forever? The thought burned in his mind and he had to push it away.

With a deep breath and then a sigh of resignation he returned to her biobed nearly fifteen minutes later. “Apologies for the delay.” He handed her the medical box, the vials and hypo stored neatly inside. Then he stood for a moment, as if debating with himself. “What… What was doctor....” He glanced at the file again, “Ryley investigating as a cause for this condition? How have these meds been working to treat it?”

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany didn’t think it had taken all that long. “Thank you, Doctor. I didn’t mind waiting.” Bethany shrugged, “I don’t know. He said he was going to do some research and decide what type of tests to run. He…disembarked before he did. The meds help I guess. I’m still not sleeping like I was before but it’s better and my heart rate is lower. I still get the headaches and low grade fever.”

Gadi, CoS

“Research regarding how psilosynine works and how it reacts with our paracortex is sorely lacking.” As Aasrel had recently discovered. He sighed, reading the file a little more closely. He needed to maintain professionality. Hide his emotions. He wasn’t good at that. Hiding emotions did not come naturally to betazoids. “Your paracortex is dormant, yet your body still produces psilosynine.” His was dormant, yet his body failed to produce psilosynine.

Well her body had never produced it before. So that was new, but she refrained from commenting as he seemed deep in thought. That was what was so weird about it. She’d been fine until she boarded the Asimov. Then suddenly her body started producing a neurotransmitter it couldn’t use. Wouldn’t her father be so happy. His disappointment of a daughter might redeem herself.

Was it possible their answers were intertwined? They had the same problem, with opposite causes. Of course, if he was able to get the rest of his implants removed he was still sure it would fix him. He was desperately hoping it would. If it could be discovered what was wrong with him, or rather what had been done to him, it may be possible to intentionally do it to her. It would stop the production of psilosynine. Or, conversely, if it was discoverable why her paracortex was dormant, it may lend answers to his predicament.

Aasrel tapped and swiped on the PaDD multiple times as he pulled up a chair and sat, expression pensive… and perhaps a little bit hopeful? He accessed his own medical file, then pulled up hers, comparing their test results, running a hand through his hair as he thought, focusing hard now. It revealed the metallic plate in the side of his head momentarily. Something he went to great lengths to hide, his hair carefully styled to keep it from being visible.

“I want to rerun the psilosynine levels test. Actually, I’d like to redo all the bloodwork. I also want to redo the paracortal function test, the full EEG and do an MRI of your brain. I want full detailed scans, too. And I’ll take a few blood samples to look at the antibodies attacking the psilosynine.” He said, sounding much more like his normal self. Confident and sure and thorough.

Bethany shrugged off her jacket so she was wearing just the tank top, “Go for it doc. Whatever will help you figure out what is wrong with me. Those tests take a while though, don’t they? When you do you want me to come back or should I set up someone to cover my shifts in the morning and stay now?”

“Wherever works better for you. You can get them done sooner so the results come in or if you have something important to do we can schedule another time.” Aasrel would prefer sooner, but he wasn’t going to make her.

Perhaps until he had an answer to the dormant paracortex test, he could stop the antibodies attacking the psilosynine. Or perhaps the antibodies were also attacking the paracortex, and that was why it was dormant? He needed more information about the human factors in her blood.

He’d already had the same tests done on himself, and he intended to get them all redone for himself. Then compare the results and paint a bigger picture. He’d already read every study known to the Federation on paracortexes, telepathy, empathy, and psilosynine back on the Lexington but perhaps there were a few he could revisit in the meantime.

He returned his attention to Bethany, giving her a grave look. The same look he’d been given several months ago (and numerous times since). “There’s a chance, and a pretty good one, that your telepathy and empathy are.. n-not recoverable.” He stuttered slightly over that part. There was a terrible feeling in his gut. A truth even he wasn’t ready to face. That he’d been avoiding for months.

Aasrel continued, hoping she wouldn’t notice. “In fact I have an idea, but it would mean you would not regain those abilities.” He let a silence stretch for several moments. For a betazoid, usually anyway, that was grave news, as it had been for him.

“There is still a chance we could recover it, a chance there’s an answer for us. If I find how the paracortex works, what tells it to be dormant, then there’s a chance we can simply.... turn it back on, in layman’s terms.” There was a verbal slip there, referring to an answer for both of them. He didn’t want to give her false hope, but he was unable to call it the chance in hell it was, because that meant it was a chance in hell for him, too.

And Aasrel would never stop trying.

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany shook her head. “There is nothing to regain, Dr Izei. I have never had telepathy. My paracortex has always been dormant, and I have never produced psilosynine in my life. At least not until this started. There is nothing to regain. I function just fine without it. I came to terms with the fact I am a disabled Betazoid. At this point in my life I very much doubt I could adjust to having telepathy. Just make my human half stop trying to kill my Betazoid half.”

Gadi, CoS

Aasrel blinked and then checked the file again. Oh. He should’ve read more closely instead of making a fool of himself. “…Apologies. Then that won’t be a problem.” He seemed disappointed. “I still want to rerun those tests. It should help if we can stop the production of psilosynine, but knowing why you suddenly started producing it will help.” And even still, if she could suddenly start producing it, couldn’t he? Or could whatever had been done to him be the answer to how to cure her?

~ Izei, CMO

Bethany nodded. “I am more than happy to let you run any tests you need. I just don’t want you to feel your efforts failed if you are trying to restore something that never existed.” Bethany had not missed how he had said a cure for ‘us’. She didn’t pry though. It wasn’t her business unless he wanted to share. “I can be back in an hour. The department is mostly settled into the new ship. I just need to let my Lt know he is in charge.”

Gadi, CoS

He nodded and then shrugged. “Your file wasn’t explicitly clear. I am aware now, I’ll add an additional note for myself. Have my staff page me when you return,” Aasrel replied. Suddenly he seemed cold and distant again, though he still had some hope in a double answer. “The refill of your meds should last you a month.”

An hour later, Aasrel was back to doing other work around sickbay, meeting his staff, getting things organized, and generally settling in. He kept an eye on the time, knowing he was expecting Lieutenant Gadi back.

~ Izei, CMO


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