Chapter 24: Why did this happen?

Notes:

A big shoutout to Pip_n_Flinx for betaing.

"What will be done to stop the bleeding?" Jaal asked. His eyes never left Ryder's sleeping form, as if something bad would happen if it did.

"The source needs to be found."

That's when Jaal's eyes left Ryder. He looked at Lexi, she could see his frustration. The anger was starting to appear too. She couldn't be sure if it was directed at her. "You haven't found it yet? I thought that's why SAM called me."

"Not yet. It needs to be found, and then it could be stopped. The method I'll use to find it is a surgery called Laparotomy exploratory."

Jaal could only blink rapidly in response as he tried to make sense of the word in his mind. Lexi took that as an opportunity to continue.

"Many years ago an Laparoscopy would've been necessary. But this surgery is a smaller one."

Jaal's features told her he was lost. If she had to guess he had a million questions floating in his mind. But he crossed his arms across his chest and his eyes found Ryder again. "Shouldn't this be done on the Nexus?"

"I would've preferred it, but there's no time. The problem needs to be found as soon as possible."

"Will it only be this…" Jaal seemed to struggle to remember the name of this surgery. "...thissurgery?"

"It depends on what I find. I'll keep in touch with you." Lexi squeezed his shoulder. "Any questions?"

But before Jaal could say anything she heard the hospital bed creaked and a moan. Lexi's doctor's instincts kicked in, and before she knew it she was at Ryder's side.

Ryder was awake. Her eyes searched the room frantically. "Wh...Where am I?"

Her voice sounded frail and weak. She was confused. "Ryder," Lexi said slowly. "You're in the med bay. How are you feeling?"

Ryder only stared at her still as confused as she was before. But before she could say another word she let out a groan again. Her face pinched up in pain and she squeezed her eyes shut. While her eyes were closed she talked again, "It hurts." It was barely audible. She sounded confused as if she wasn't sure why.

Lexi only nodded, "I'll give you something for the pain."

"What happened?" Ryder asked while she got a sedative out.

"We're going to find that out, okay?" She walked back to Ryder and gave her the sedative.

"But did something happen for me to be here? I don't understand…" The look of confusion even spread more to her features. "How-"

Ryder stopped as her expression changed into one of pain. When her eyes opened she looked very tired. She blinked her eyes as she tried to fight unconsciousness.

"Don't worry about it. Get some rest."

There was a long pause. Lexi could see the signs of Ryder wanting to protest but her weakness and tiredness won at the end. "Okay, we'll… talk later." Her words were slurring.

In mere seconds Ryder was asleep again.

Jaal looked at her hesitantly. "Will she be okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes," Lexi was confident, "She's just confused."

She went to her desk and grabbed the datapad that held information about exploratory Laparotomy. "If you want to read about it," Lexi turned around and walked back to him, "Here's some information. I'll send someone to keep you in touch."

Jaal nodded. Maybe he didn't know what else to do. "Thank you."

After Jaal left Lexi prepped Ryder for surgery.

Jaal spent his time reading over the information Lexi gave him. Half of it he didn't understand or maybe he was having a hard time focussing. The words didn't make sense to him. It felt like the information went into one side of his brain and disappeared.

After a while he decided to stop. That's when he heard someone call his name.

"Jaal?" It sounded like a woman's voice. But he was too tired for his brain to point out who the voice belonged to. "It's Cora. I have some news about Ryder."

Jaal almost fell from his chair. His thoughts raced wondering what news could it Lexi found the bleed? Would she be able to do something about it?

He moved quickly, opening the door for the blonde woman.

Cora walked in, her expression was unreadable and he couldn't possibly guess what she would say.

"Lexi is still busy," Cora announced. "She sent me to tell you she did the Exploratory laparotomy. With SAM's help, Lexi found it. But…"

"But what?" Jaal almost shouted the words out of urgency. He needed to know.

Cora sighed, rubbing her temple tiredlessy. "Something is wrong with her implant as well. Lexi will need to remove it."

Jaal had more questions but since Cora wasn't a doctor he doubted she had the answers. "Did she say anything else?"

"Yes," she confirmed, "She said Ryder is doing well."

That was something Jaal could work with.

But then he realized something. Why did Cora come and talk to him? SAM could've easily given him the information. "Why are you here?"

Cora smiled as if she expected this. "I just wanted to give you the information personally. And," she added, "I wanted to check up on you."

Jaal hummed his answer. "I'm fine. Just worried."

Jaal couldn't stay in the tech lab anymore. The room was too small and he couldn't focus on his work.

He went to the med bay but he got interrupted by SAM.

"Dr. T'Perro is still in surgery and should not be disturbed," SAM's voice was neutral. Too neutral if Jaal was honest with himself. As if Lexi was busy with a project and not Ryder.

"I know." Jaal didn't even think. What was his plan? To storm in there demanding answers? Instead, Jaal sat next to the close, restricted med bay.

"SAM?"

"Yes, Mr. Ama Darav?"

"Can you tell me how Ryder is doing?"

SAM didn't answer for what felt like an eternity and he had to wonder why. If SAM wasn't an AI he would've thought he was considering what to tell Jaal. "The Pathfinder is stable but still in surgery. Dr. T'Perro will keep you up to date."

That meant there was no new news or that Lexi ordered SAM not to say anything. But he had to know. "Will she be okay?"

"I can only answer that after the surgery is complete."

Of course, SAM couldn't lie. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. That way he could be sure to get good information from the AI. "Let me know if something changes."

Jaal didn't know how long he sat next to the med bay door. But SAM's voice startled him, "Dr. T'Perro is almost done with the surgery."

"Thank you SAM. Any other news?"

"She will discuss it with you."

He wondered if Lexi would call Asher Ryder. He was Ryder's family. He'd need to know how the surgery went. His mind never wandered far thanks to Liam.

"Hey Jaal, any news?"

"Lexi is almost done," he repeated the news he got from SAM. "I'm not sure how it went."

"Mind if I sit with you?" Liam didn't even wait for Jaal to answer. "She'll be okay."

How did Liam know that? Did he know some information that he didn't? "Why do you say that?

Liam only shrugged, "She has to be. Maybe not after the surgery. But she'll recover and be her old self."

"We still don't know why this happened," Jaal more mumbled than saying it out loud. But one look from Liam told him he heard it.

"Look I'm not sure if I should say this…" Liam trailed off and Jaal wondered what was on in his mind.

"If it's about the implant then tell me." Jaal hoped he didn't sound as desperate as he thought he sounded.

"I've never heard of something like this happening. Ever. Something more is going on. It couldn't be the cause behind the internal bleeding"

Jaal needed to find more information, "You've never heard of an implant malfunctioning?"

"No." But Liam's answer was too hesitant. "Not a lot. But I did. Stories, you know." He said it as if Jaal lived on the Milky Way as well. "Never knew anyone using it though. But something more is going on."

Jaal nodded. What else could he say? He couldn't think of what really happened. Could the implant have something to do with this?

"But," Liam said, breaking the thoughts that were swimming in his head, "Lexi will know more. I'll let her explain."

There was nothing else they could do but wait for the med bay doors to open. It seemed to Jaal that they never would.

When Lexi came out of the med bay after the surgery was complete there were a couple of pairs of eyes looking at her, expecting answers. She was exhausted. Lexi not only felt physically drained but emotionally as well. It wouldn't be surprising to her if it showed.

When they studied her their faces turned sour.

"And?" Peebee was about to burst from wanting to know the answers

"Something is wrong, " Liam said before Lexi could say anything, "Look at her face."

"Everything is fine," Lexi assured them. The surgery had gone as well as it possibly could internal bleeding had stopped and the broken implant was out. But the surgery had taken its toll on Ryder. "The surgery went well. She is stable."

They were cheering. She couldn't tell how long it went on. She immediately went to the galley. Lexi needed something to wake her up.

"Hey Jaal, " Lexi found him in the tech room. He looked up from his work. He needed to keep his hands busy with work. That was the best thing he could do for himself.

"What's wrong?" A sudden thought came, thinking that Lexi brought bad news. Their Tempest doctor looked exhausted and none of them was sure when the last time she slept was.

"Nothing, she is fine " she assured him. "You can sit by Ryder if you want. You didn't need to leave."

"No, I shouldn't." By her side he felt helpless. There was nothing he could do. She was stable. That was the important part.

"Okay, the offer is still there." She stopped thinking if she should say something else. "Ryder is going to be okay. I contacted her brother. He's worried but he's glad that the implant is out."

"Was it a problem for a while?" Jaal had to ask. There was a lot of chaos. Chaos wasn't a foe he was fond of. Order was important. Something was still bothering him about what happened.

"Ryder said something was wrong with her implant. She couldn't explain it. But maybe it started to cuase problems like this."

Jaal hummed, "She didn't mention it."

"Because even to herself the idea of that sounded ridiculous. She had no proof. The Pathfinder had something humans like to call a gut feeling."

"A what?" Jaal was confused and he was certain his reaction said as much.

"Humans often say they can feel with their gut. A gut is a human organ."

These idioms were sometimes confusing to Jaal. Why couldn't they be simpler? Couldn't humans just say what they mean? He had noticed some other species have problems with it as well. Not as much as Jaal though. Some words just got lost with translation.

"She'll be in a lot of pain when she wakes up, " Lexi explained even though Jaal hadn't asked. "But the important part is she'll be okay."

"What about the Director?"

Jaal didn't want this whole situation to be blamed on Ryder. She didn't know this would happen. Especially this soon.

"He's not happy. He said it was a waste of credits and time. He called Ryder reckless." Lexi said as if she could read Jaal's mind. Did she know about how worried Ryder is over losing her job?

"That's not true." Someone needed to come up for her. This implant just brought more pain for Ryder.

"He doesn't see it that way." The doctor shook her head. "We did all the tests. But maybe we missed something..."

"I didn't miss anything Dr. T"Perro," SAM replied through the speakers. Sometimes Jaal wished the AI could give them a warning before speaking out of nowhere. "The implant shouldn't have malfunctioned."

"So why did it?" Lexi asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

SAM couldn't answer the question.