Chapter 82 Nightmares
Kara's low moans rose to fearful shouts that brought Sharon to her side with a nurse only seconds behind. The two women tried to hold Kara down as her thrashing threatened to topple her from the bed. That only seemed to increase her panic and she fought them, eyes still shut and yelling incoherently as she writhed within their grasp.
Into that chaotic scene Cottle entered.
The doctor assessed the situation and picked up a partially full glass from the side stand. Without pausing, he tossed the contents directly into the face of the struggling woman and watched as Kara's eyes snapped open at the impact of the cold water. Confused shock had her blinking at the looming faces and she instinctively shrank away from them, the panic still driving her gasping breaths.
He waved both women to released their hold, and they stepped back, quite willing to turn her over to the doctor's care. Kara jerked from his touch as Cottle reached forward to check her pulse. With a quirked eyebrow he refrained from insisting on examining her, instead, assessed her condition with experienced eyes only.
Deciding that she was medically in no danger despite the physical evidence of shock, he tried to calm her, "Captain Thrace, you're in sickbay on Galactica. No one's going to hurt you, now." Without breaking his gaze with Kara's, Cottle directed a command to the nurse, "Jenny, go get some dry linens for the Captain." He sat on the edge of the bed, seeing again how she recoiled from his presence. After clearing his throat, "So…you want to tell me about it?" he asked. At her silence, he sighed. "Ok, we'll let it go for now."
When the nurse hurried in with clean sheets he stood and pulled up the nearby chair, "Have a seat, Starbuck, and let Jenny change the bedding." When she didn't budge, just flicked a fearful glance between Athena and himself, he rubbed his forehead, perplexed by her regression. While he'd been prepared for the nightmares, this whole episode worried him. Her protracted panic seemed off-kilter, and a memory he couldn't quite pin down told him he was missing something.
Turning to his second patient, "Lieutenant Agathon, I'd like a word with you," He handed her a robe and twitched his head indicating for her to come with him. Sharon followed the doctor to another curtained room with a rumpled bed minus its occupant.
Seeing the direction of her eyes, he confirmed, "Yeah, been staying here the last two nights. Kinda thought there'd be trouble. You seemed to have things in hand last night when I looked in, so I went back to bed." He moved over to the side stand and took a fresh pack of cigarettes from the drawer, pulling one free but not lighting it as he turned again to the young officer. "So, what's different about tonight?"
Athena ran her unencumbered hand through her hair before raising tired eyes to his. "Not sure. Only been asleep for a short time when I heard her cry out. She woke quickly last night, but tonight…well, we couldn't seem to break her out of the nightmare. And the way she's still freaking out? It's like she's terrified of us. I've never seen her like that with you before."
"Noticed that, too." He rubbed a finger alongside his nose, again having that niggling feeling. Tapping the unlit cigarette on a tray, he decided to do some research. Not tonight, though. Shifting his attention back to the dark-haired woman before him, he noted the dark circles under her eyes. "The Admiral and I had talked about letting Starbuck go back to the officer's quarters. But with these nightmares…especially the way she reacted tonight…" He shook his head. "Now, you're well enough to release back to that husband of yours. Probably get more rest than staying here," he said.
"Kara's not ready yet. If you put her back in the bunkroom while she's having these dreams, she'll just start skipping out at night like she did before," said Sharon, absently adjusting the sling strap where it was rubbing uncomfortably along her shoulder. Shaking her head in an unconscious echo of his, she said, "Let us stay here a little longer. Give me more time to work with her."
"Ok," Cottle agreed, then, "Guess we'd better get back. See if Jenny had more success getting her to cooperate than I did." He rather suspected that Kara's fear had been centered on the fact that he was a doctor and Athena a Cylon.
With a wave for her to precede him, he shuffled back to see Jenny putting the final folds to the bed sheets while Kara stood off to the side, arms crossed about her chest. At least she looked less inclined to bolt now. Her complexion reddened as he and Athena returned, and she quickly dropped her gaze from theirs.
"Got it from here, Jenny," he dismissed the nurse with a nod. Leveling his evaluating gaze on his problem patient, he was relieved to see that she had shaken off the intense fear that had gripped her earlier. "You. Into bed," he pointed from Kara back to the freshly changed sheets. "I'll give you something to help you get back to sleep, for tonight only." Cottle didn't miss the relief that briefly flickered across her drawn face. Kara silently downed the pill he handed her and crawled back into bed as ordered, and then promptly rolled away from the two pairs of worried eyes, all without saying a word to either.
Cottle gave a resigned shrug in response to Athena's unspoken concern. He closed the curtain behind him and headed back to his own bed, doubting that sleep was as likely to return to him as easily as to his medicated patient.