Saratoga MedBay
McCoy was busy writing up a report on the procedure he'd just performed. Belzoni and Alyen were busy
tidying up.
The current patient was Petty Officer Brandon Holster from Engineering. Physically very strong he often
handled heavy repairs and today while in the midst of such an endeavor he'd fallen down a Jeffries tube.
Always determined to finish what he started he would have stayed to complete the repairs if he hadn't been
practically dragged to sickbay by Lieutenant Patariki.
After reluctantly submitting to an exam he'd learned that he'd suffered an arm fracture. He had undergone
a session with an osteo-regenerator and now sat on a bio bed with his family beside him. Normally quiet
and soft spoken he was the complete antithesis of his wife, the loud, boisterous Maria Holster, who was now
trying to reassure their anxious daughter.
"You worry too much, mia hija," she said as she put an arm around Natasha. "You always have."
"Your mom's right," Holster said gently. "Dr. McCoy says I'll be just fine so wipe that frown off of your
pretty face."
McCoy, for his part, had no intention of wiping the frown off of his face; he was scowling thunderclouds.
"Yeah, you'll be fine," he practically shouted. "No thanks to your idiocy!"
Belzoni shared an amused Here it comes look with Alyen.
"What in blazes were you thinking!?," the doctor bellowed. "Telling Patariki that you'd finish repairs first
and come to see me after your shift!? You'd just fallen a story! A person can break something falling off
of a one foot step ladder! You always come to sickbay immediately after an accident! I'll decide if you need
it or not!"
Sheepishly Holster tried to explain. "I'm sorry, Doctor. But at the time I was just a little sore and I didn't think
I needed-"
"I do the thinking when it comes to anything medical on this rustbucket! And I'll tell you what you need and when
you need it!"
McCoy's tirade was broken by a sudden gasp and then a loud crash as Alyen dropped the tray he'd been holding.
The young medic clutched his head. "Shylea!" he gasped.
Emotions and sensations poured through their Bond.
*A flash of startlement…
A surge of shock and horror…
Sudden physical exertion mixed with desperation…
Something hard slamming into her body…
Shock… horror…hysteria…mixed with relief…*
Frantically he reached out to his lifemate. *Beloved!*
He was only vaguely aware that everyone in sickbay was talking at once.
"Mr. Alyen?"
"Crewman?"
"What happened?"
"Tuskaro? What's wrong?"
"What the hell's going on!?"
He felt rough hands, Dr. McCoy's, grabbing his shoulders. "Tuskaro! Talk to me! What happened?"
He seized on to the physical contact even as he felt his lifemate's mind-touch enfold him. "Shylea…" he managed.
"What happened?" the doctor asked again, pressing for information. "Is she hurt?"
"She…" the Nlian swallowed, desperately struggling for focus. "I felt her fear…her horror. Something terrible's
happened." He began to shake as he felt his lifemate's faint, jumbled response. "She trying to let me know that
she's alright…But she's not, she's in shock and in pain. I have to go to her!"
At that moment McCoy received a call.
'Doctor McCoy. Doctor McCoy please acknowledge.'
Everyone in the room knew that it had something to do with the Nlian's lifemate and apprehension gripped them all.
McCoy hurried to and snatched the nearest comm unit. "McCoy here," he replied.
'Lieutenant M'Ress, sir, I'm on the surface. There's been an accident. Trisha Deerhorn fell out of a nine story window.'
Natasha gasped in horror.
'She's alive; Crewman L'Naym caught her but they're both badly shaken. Trisha's screaming; she definitely has
a broken nose and probably other injuries. L'Naym's bleeding from where she fell back and hit the road and she's
showing signs of shock. Please get to the transporter room ASAP.'
"On my way." Snatching up a medikit and bellowing for Alyen to follow him, McCoy made for the door.
As they hurried to the transporter room McCoy could tell that although the Nlian was struggling to maintain his
professionalism he was frantic with worry about his lifemate. "Keep it together, Crewman," he said brusquely.
"You're no good to anyone if you lose it."
"Yes, Doctor," Alyen managed.
When they reached the transporter room, McCoy noticed that Crewman Dalin was in charge. A good choice he thought
off-handedly. The Risian was outgoing and flirtatious, but calm and confident about anything pertaining to work.
They both stepped on to the transporter padd and beamed down.
Moments later they arrived at the coordinates and were greeted with the sight of a large crowd gathered by a road
at the base of one of the dwelling trees.
Among the crowd Petty Officer Oak was trying to restrain a frantic Deerhorn. "Calm down, Monica," he kept saying.
"You have to let the doctor examine her before moving her."
L'Naym was sitting on the pavement, clutching a shrieking, bloody faced Trisha and shaking violently. M'Ress was
kneeling beside her with a hand on her shoulder, speaking to her quietly. The Caitian looked up with relief as the
two approached. "Hurry, Doctor. From what she's told me she didn't so much as catch Trisha as the child fell on her."
Scowling and ordering Alyen to keep back for the moment, McCoy knelt beside his patients and brought out
his instruments.
"Trisha, "L'Naym gasped, her dark skinned face was unnaturally pale and tear streaked. "You have to check
Trisha first."
"I'm the CMO here," McCoy snapped. But he did scan the little girl first. "She's got a broken nose all right and she
bit through her lip. She took some heavy bruising when she fell on you but aside from her nose nothing else seems
to be broken." He managed a brief twitch of his lips. "And just from hearing her set of lungs I'd say she'll be fine."
Deerhorn was at last allowed to approach and retrieve her daughter. After managing to convince the shaking Nlian
to relinquish the child, McCoy focused all of his attention on L'Naym. "Your left clavicle is fractured and so is your
right third rib. You've got contusions on your sternum and you took some heavy bruising." He frowned as checked
behind her. "You've also got some nasty scrapes on your back." He noted her trembling and gently squeezed her
right shoulder. "And you're definitely in shock," he said softly. "We need to get you both back to the ship."
Alyen was finally allowed to approach. He hurried to his lifemate and enfolded her in a gentle embrace. "Beloved…"
"I'll be all right," she whispered. "I just need you to hold me."
"Don't hold her too tight," McCoy instructed. "Saratoga, five to beam up."
Notes
Mi hija= 'My daughter' in Spanish
