The End Of A Story

Posted on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 @ 10:56pm by Lieutenant JG Charlotte Aschail & Captain Abigail Laurens & Commander Ichiko Gail

Mission: Enforced Intermission
Location: Medical Bay, ICS Tantamount

It was cold. That was probably the biggest sensation that she felt, aside from the pressure in her left hand where something was squeezing. She tried to force her eyes open, but barely a crack before she let them drift shut again. Ah yes, Lance was still here, wherever she was. It was a medical facility, no where else could appear so clean and neat. And there was a rabbit there, too, no, not a rabbit... What were they called? Oh yes, Ts'usugi, the race of Commander Gail.

It was a few seconds before she could summon a bit of strength to squeeze her left hand, but even then she knew it did barely more than twitch. Oh yes, it was bad. But now that they were out of the pod, which she didn't remember, perhaps there was hope. She heard a commotion, a high-pitched voice frantically trying to get the attention of one of the medical personnel.

It was Lance, feeling the twitch from her squeeze. "She's awake, she's awake!" He looked frantically at the nurse, "What do we do, what can we do?"

"We keep her with us." the nurse offered, moving to Charlotte's side and bringing up the readouts of the vitals. Orders were given, but they weren't in any language that Lance knew. Doctors, treatments, and stabilizers were on the way. "Call to her, keep her with us."

The readouts showed her heart plugging along, but slower than it probably should be. Her blood pressure was far too low for her own good, but Lance didn't see any of it. Instead, he squeezed her hand harder again, "C'mon Charlie, you can pull through this."

For her part, things were starting to clear up for Charlotte as she fought to stay as conscious as possible, but her thoughts were drifting. "You shot me." She tried to say, only breath and a little movement from her lips came out, no coherent words. Her attempt to smile also failed. Her mind struggled to focus and she gathered herself for a stronger effort, "How's Mica?" She croaked out, somewhat audible.

"Dr. Jeng has made her a priority." the nurse commented, reassuring. "She's in the best hands on the ship. He's the director of the medical department, and the source of her issue is something he's written a review on." a pause, "You focus on staying with us." as another Ts'usugi nurse aide came along with the next batch of treatments to attempt to counteract the massive dose of radiation that Charlotte had suffered.

She forced her eyes open wide, in other words, a crack large enough to see the nurse and aide working feverishly and Lance dominating her available visible field. "Not going nywhre." She slurred, "Go check on our people." She forced out.

"Nope." Lance disagreed, "I'm not going anywhere, I'm with you until you're better."

"Order." Charlotte shifted her eyes, "Nurse?" It was more a plea to the Ts'usugi to get Lance out of there for the time being. She was running out of energy, but she had questions, questions she didn't want him to hear the answers to if they were what she figured.

The nurse gave a nod, then turned towards Lance, "We're going to begin the next round of treatment. Could I ask you to wait in the lobby?" Ts'usugi were always so polite at times, but there was a sternness there. It sounded like a question, but there wasn't much of an inquisitive tone. "The fabricators there unfortunately haven't been updated for your language, but the staff at the lobby can assist you if you want a refreshment."

For a few moments, Lance gave an outright mutinous look first at the nurse, then at Charlotte. He shook his head for a couple seconds before giving her hand a last squeeze and gently placed it with the other one, "I'll go... Check on the other engineers." He looked back up at the nurse with challenge in his eyes, "Then I'm going to come right back to report. Char- Lieutenant Aschail needs to know what's happening to her people."

If it was one thing that was universal, it was duty. The nurse gave a nod, and showed Lance out of the immediate ward before returning back to their charge.

With a nod, Lance turned and left with a glance over his shoulder and Charlotte let her eyes shut for a moment as she exhaled deeply, which wasn't much because her breathing was shallow as it was, then opened them again as much as she could and got right to the point, "How bad?"

"It isn't good." he detailed, even while the next treatment was being administered. "We'll call for your shipmaster, and we can make you comfortable." a wide-spectrum pain suppressant was one of the treatments administered. "Is there anyone else you want by your side?"

This time she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to center herself before reopening them, "No. All on Earth. Lance won't take it well." A medical bliss came over her surprisingly quickly, "Not his fault, he thinks it is."

=== Meanwhile ===

"Pardon me, are you Shipmaster Laurens?" a Ts'usugi dressed in a medical uniform approached Abigail. "I hate to be the bearer of such, but there's a member of your crew that we won't be able to save. Their exposure to the radiation of the Astraea's reactor was too intense. All we can do is ease their suffering." he paused, "They're safe for visitation, if you wish to be there."

"Of course," Abigail rose quickly to her feet, following the medical officer out of the small room she had been in with Ichiko.

=============

The nurse with Charlotte gave a nod, "We always blame ourselves for such, the pain and suffering of others. Your shipmaster has been informed." he offered, "We're not giving up, though." they weren't about to just belly up at this. The next batch of anti-radiation treatments were being administered.

Charlotte knew somewhere that the medication worked rather well, but one of the side-effects was always nausea. She wasn't in any pain anymore, but she at least had the strength to fight the need to throw up, "Any chance for some water?" Charlotte managed the faintest smile.

"Lieutenant Aschail," Abigail's voice was soft as she approached the engineer's bedside, taking a moment to pour some water into a glass and held it toward her, carefully helping her take a sip before putting the glass aside. "They told me they've given you something for pain, is that helping?" she closed her hand over top of Charlotte's, squeezing reassuringly, genuine pain reflecting in her eyes as she watched the younger officer.

"Captain." Charlotte said in acknowledgement, a brief smile and she tried to return the squeeze of the hand best she could, "It is." Her eyes squeezed shut, "I tried, Captain, I really tried. My fault, I knew what I was getting into." Tears began to brim in her eyes. It was almost as if Abigail's arrival actually did herald things, "I did my best. I'm sorry."

Squeezing the other woman's hand again, Abigail shook her head quickly. "No, you have nothing to apologize for," she said quietly. "You did everything you could, you bought us enough time to safely get everyone off the ship," Abigail reassured, unable to hide the tears she could feel welling in her own eyes. "You gave more than you should have," she finally said quietly. "We'll be back at Earth soon, we'll get you transferred to Starfleet Medical, but I'll stay with you until we get there," Abigail spoke softly.

Charlotte nodded, "And tell Lance I don't blame him?" Shad to take a breathe quickly because her breathing was shallow, but there was a hitch in her chest that prevented her from getting a breathe in and she spent a few seconds in a panic while she tried to get air into her lungs. Adrenaline surged through her system as her heart rate spiked.

The nurse aide on standby nearby was fast to move. A brief injection on the side of the neck, and things calmed down significantly. She lingered, to make sure things were calm again, before taking a step away to give Abigail and Charlotte their time.

As her lungs cleared and she was able to get a good breathe in, far too shallow for her own good, "Thank you..." She said to the nurse, then returned to the Captain's eyes as she felt herself drifting towards a sedative-aided sleep, "He won't listen to me, Lance... Blames himself for me.." Her eyes closed as consciousness began to fade.

The nurse took a step forward again, and placed a hand gently on Charlotte's shoulder. To those who knew, such a simple motion carried a weight to it. The nurse was to be there for Charlotte's final moments. Bearing witness to the end of a life. Medical was the first department to see you into the world, and the last to see you out.

The engineer's chest rose and fell rhythmically but slowly and very shallow and as the minutes passed, slowed even more. It rose, then fell, then rose, then fell. Then it didn't rise again.

"Sympathies, Shipmaster. We'll have her prepared with dignity, for the final leg of her trip home." the nurse said softly.

The tears that flowed freely from Abigail's eyes were impossible to disguise as she looked up at the nurse. "I would like to stay with her, please, until she is with her blood kin." She drew in a deep, shaky breath as she tightened her grasp around Charlotte's hand. "Right now I am the only family she has and I won't leave her alone."


*****Epilogue*****

Charlotte's eyes opened wide and she winced as the setting sun glared at her. She had to adjust the brim of her cowboy hat to keep it out of her eyes as she looked away across the pasture, seeing several cows just doing what they did best, grazing the grass to keep it down. Underneath her, the ground trembled as the horse she was riding stamped a foot in apparent impatience at just standing there.

She reached down and rubbed the palomino gelding's neck, patting it twice as she tried to soothe the animal that threw his head towards the distant house and barn, the family's small ranch in the heart of Texas. Charlotte laughed at the motion and shook her head slowly, “I see how it is, Sunshine, you want to get back to get some feed yourself, maybe that apple I snuck in?” A nicker answered her as he stamped his right front again, seemingly more insistently.

Charlotte looked around. Everything was normal, it'd hold until the morning. She readjusted her hat as she turned the golden gelding towards the sun that lay low in the sky, reaching down once more to rub his neck, “All right Sunshine, it's time. Let's go home.”