Breakfast was going to have to wait

Posted on Wed Oct 2nd, 2024 @ 3:06pm by Lieutenant Fang Lee & Lieutenant JG Zai & Lieutenant Chloe O'Connor MD

1,465 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Lacertae Mortis
Location: Zai's Quarters | USS Arcadia
Timeline: Current

ON:

Fang paced the small room. Sickbay, he needed to get Zai to sickbay, the fever had been raging all night. He ran his hands through his hair and then slapped his communicator. "Lieutenant Lee to Doctor O'Connor."

Having taken just a step out of Sickbay, mind set on a some breakfast, Dr O’Connor gestured for the other medical staff coming off duty to carry on without her. Promising to catch up she crossed to the intercom, curious to know why the Lieutenant was seeking her out. “Go ahead, Lieutenant…. Is everything alright?”

"No...Zai has a fever, he's been burning up all night. He's ... lost consciousness now and is pale. I'm...worried."

“Where are you?” She queried. From his description it sounded serious and she knew Fang’s dislike of doctors would mean he did not call on a whim.

"In his quarters. I'm trying to keep him cool but it's not working" Feng dipped the cloth in cold water as he spoke and ran it over Zai's face and neck. "The water is heating just from the cloth I'm using." Here was a pause. "Please doctor. He...I don't want him to die. I am... afraid," It was something Fang hadn't admitted in a long time.

Promising the engineer that she was on her way, she terminated the coms link and was in motion, With a detour to collect her medical bag she was true to her word, the doors opening almost as soon as she touched the chime. “Where is he?”

Her eyes swept the dimly lit interior, eventually falling in the bed where Fang was crouched over his friend. She wasn’t sure he had even heard her enter. Reaching for her tricorder she crossed the room, eyes fixed on Zai. His complexion and the perspiration spoke of a clear fever. “Fang?”

When he didn’t immediately respond she frowned and gently touch the engineer’s arm, ensuring he was aware she was there. “Fang, it will be okay. Can you tell me anything about when this started? Had he been feeling unwell?”

He had not heard the doctor come in, that disturbed him but less then Zai's condition. It was like all his senses were fixed on Zai. "We had dinner and were talking and he kept zoning out. I thought he was tired. Then we went for a swim in the rec pool and...he kept getting out of breath so I walked him back here and then we were watching a video. He looked pale I touched his forehead to wipe the sweat and he had a fever. I used Capellen methods cold cloth, drinking cold water...he got better and then just hours ago it got worse. About... an hour ago his vision got blurry and then he passed out. I tried to wake him...he did not want to go to sickbay this morning...I." He swallowed. "Zai never gets sick." He gently swiped the hair off Zai's forehead. "Why is his body burning up? I should have ordered him to sickbay yesterday."

Chloe listened while she worked to take readings to compare to those from his oh so recent physical. She considered what he said, narrowing down a list of possibilities but still left with many options.

“You aren’t responsible, Lieutenant,” she assured the engineer as she opened her medical kit and produced a stethoscope so she could listen to his heartbeat and breathing. Fang’s description suggested a strain on Zai’s respiratory system but without tests it would be impossible to tell.

Considering for a moment she loaded a hypo-spray, “this will ease the fever but it isn’t a magic wand. We need to identify what is causing this and for that I need him in sickbay,” she explained as she administered the medication while still listening to Zai’s chest.

Fang had stopped back but still kept his hand on Zai's.

As the hypo hissed and the medication raced through his system Zai managed to open his eyes. He looked at Chloe briefly then turned to Fang. His eyes widened. "W..." He coughed roughly and sat up. Fang was beside him in a second hand over his shoulder supporting him. The coughing fit stopped and Zai lapsed unconscious again.

Fang bit his lip and lowered the man gently onto the bed. He noted a small dark spot at the corner of Zai's mouth. It wasn't blood...he touched it end brought it to his nose. "Son of a Razor beast! Doc can this happen if he's been exposed to the ships airflow coils?"

Chloe frowned, “possible… but don’t you have respirators to make sure you don’t inhale anything dangerous?” Engineering was not her thing by any means. “Although even then, even a tiny break in a seal could be enough…”

She had seen first hand how something so small, so innocuous could snowball into something tragic. She adjusted her tricorder, brow furrowed in concentration. “Okay, I know you hate sickbay and all but honestly, he is not going to get better on his own. We need to clear out his airways and frankly his whole body seems stressed. It could just be the infection but regardless, he needs rest.”

Putting in a call for a team to join her for a patient transfer to sickbay she glanced over at Fang. “You can wait here if you’d like. I can keep you updated. Besides, if it is what you think, Zai may not be alone. All the PPE should be checked to make sure other engineers aren’t at risk. And any defect may be hard to find… I think they’d likely need your help.”

It was an out, a way to ensure he could be helpful while also avoiding his fear of doctors and medical bays. She just didn’t know if he would take it.

He gave a nod. "You're right we have equipment but he was down there and some of the symptoms. I'll find out." He stood and then he sat back down gently cupping Zai's cheek. "You better not have gone in there without a suite cause I swear I will flip out to the next level." He looked over at Chole. "He can't die. He can't." There was an agonized plea in that, that Fang was not even aware of. He looked back down at Zai his thumb stoking Zai's cheek. "You hear that. You can't die Zee."

“I assure you nobody has any intentions of letting that happen,” Chloe said softly, her voice a calm against the worry of the engineer.

Fang gave a nod. He curled his hand around Zai's. "He hasn't slept well in days, he seemed somewhat rattled after his lunch with the counselor the other day...He won't tell me about it and I've noticed something else."

“Tell me,” Chloe encouraged as she draped the stethoscope around her neck.

"As of late he's been rubbing his chest where his heart is. I know that he has some pre-existing issues but...he's never told me what and I'm worried about it. Plus I could only get him to eat one meal the last few days." He looked up at Chloe worry etched on his face. "He..." Fang looked away and then shook his head. "I'll leave him to you Doctor. I'll go to engineering and check the suits."

“Thank you. I promise we will take good care of him.”

He gave a nod. "Fang Lee to Henderson."

=/\=Go head sir=/\=

"Get me the airflow coil maintenance logs for the last week I want to know who went and who was on safety check. I want the logs of everything on my desk before I get there in five minutes."

=/\=But...sir that will take=/\=

Fang's hands balled into fists and his body shook with barely suppressed rage.

"DO NOT TEST ME I want those logs now!" He yelled before he cut of coms and fists clenched headed out of Zai's quarters before he punched a wall. Images of Zai helpless and uncurious building a blinding rage in him that he hadn't felt in a long time and an angry Capellan was a sight that had even scared the Klingons when he and his team had been captured.

The outburst while perhaps not entirely unexpected did make Chloe jump a little, and she was grateful her patient not Fang had witnessed her reaction. Taking a deep breath to settle her own nerves she glanced up as two medical technicians and one of the nurses arrived. “Nice and gentle, let’s get him to sickbay and feeling as good as new,” she instructed as she packed up her medical bag.


Breakfast was going to have to wait.

OFF:

 

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