Chapter Ten: Anticipation
After nearly three weeks, the heart was ready for implantation, and Bashir scheduled Bedru's surgery for the next day. He had asked Dr Gibran to assist him, but while the doctor had accepted, he had realized Bashir asked him more out of courtesy than anything else. He had noticed the slight shift as soon as they boarded the station. On Krishnial and even on the ship, Bashir had deferred to him; here, Dr Bashir was clearly the one in charge.
Currently, he was familiarizing Dr Gibran with the Federation equipment in anticipation of the next day's surgery.
"Do you typically put both hearts on bypass?" Bashir questioned after going over the standard bypass procedure with the doctor.
"No. I'm sure you're aware that it can take some time after restarting a heart for it to settle into a normal rhythm; when you have to restart both at once it's even harder to get them in sync, and you run more risk of dangerous patterns. We typically pace the heart we're not working on, and have a team standing by ready to resuscitate and go to bypass if necessary."
Bashir nodded. "That's what I surmised. Do you have questions about any of the other equipment?"
Dr Gibran shook his head. "No, I think you've covered everything."
Bashir smiled and rested a hand on the man's shoulder as he accompanied him out. "Then I look forward to working with you tomorrow."
oOo
Late that evening, Bashir made a last round of the infirmary before going off duty for the night. When he entered Bedru's private room, he saw the faint reflection of light from the boy's wide-open eyes.
"Why are you still awake?" he questioned lightly, glancing briefly at the monitors before crossing to his side.
"I can't sleep," Bedru admitted.
Bashir sat on the edge of the bed. "Scared?" he questioned, lightly squeezing the hand that had inched its way into his own.
"A-a little."
"Don't worry; you'll come through fine."
Bedru sighed. "Have you…ever done this before?"
"A heart transplant? No, but Dr Gibran has, and he'll be helping me. And I once took a piece of metal out of a heart without putting the patient on bypass."
"Is that harder than a transplant?" Bedru asked, sounding more interested now than scared.
"Well, riskier, anyway; most doctors wouldn't have attempted it." He smiled slightly, remembering how nearly he had come to blows with a medic who, not knowing about his enhancements, had thought him crazy. But Bashir had pulled rank, operating with his limited equipment in time to save the man's life. He had never been sure afterward that that particular medic didn't believe he had god-like powers of healing.
"Then I'm not scared," Bedru insisted. "I just…can't stop thinking about it."
"Well, you need your rest, so I'm going to give you something to help you sleep."
"Dr Julian?"
"Yes, son?"
"Will you…stay with me until I fall asleep?"
Bashir brushed the hair back from Bedru's face. "Of course, son. You just relax now; I'll take care of everything."
Next chapter coming next week!
A/N: I read that the first open heart surgery really was performed before bypass was invented, so there's no reason Bashir couldn't do it! Barbie
I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!
Please note that I have internet access only once a week, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. (I also have a chronological list of my stories, so you can see where they fall on my timeline.) Thanks for your understanding! Barbie