Medical Mystery - Pt 2
Posted on Thu Feb 12th, 2026 @ 12:22am by Commander Jennifer Baldric & Lieutenant Sarah Wilson & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & Lieutenant JG Olivia Voight & Lieutenant JG Rowan Hale
1,134 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission: Beholder
Rowan looked at Batel again, really looked this time.
“She survived centuries of being useful,” he said quietly. “Let’s see if she can survive being a patient.”
Aurora had been hanging back simply observing, to say this case was fascinating was an understatement. “I can’t even begin to understand what this woman has been through, to be a statue, a protector and now to be human again.”
Olivia was off in the small area that was set aside for basic food prep that wasn't done by the replicator. She pulled out two small containers of clear broth. One was a beef broth and the other was chicken broth. Olivia wasn't sure which would be tolerated best by their patient, so she decided to heat up a small amount of both and go from there as needed. After making sure both were heated up, Olivia transferred each over into their own thermas container to keep them hot for an extended period of time. She also grabbed a couple of small cups with lids to take with her back over to where their patient was located.
Grabbing a small rolling style cart out of the corner, Olivia loaded it up with the cups and thermas' that had the clear broth soups in it and headed back towards the patient. "Soup is ready for whenever initial exam is complete, sir" Olivia said as she came back. She held up the two thermas'. "I wasn't sure which version would be preferred, so I did up a small amount of beef broth and a small amount of chicken broth. Both will stay hot for a few hours. Once a small amount is poured into one of the cups, they will cool down for better tolerance for our patient."
Dr Sarah Wilson emerged, having finished with her previous patient, a young officer with a dislocated shoulder from a holodeck accident, now mended and released on light duties.
"Oh my..." she breathed as she took in the scene. Recovering Batel had been a seconday mission objective, wishful thinking almost considering the current circumstance. See she was in good care of Hale and Voigt, she turned to Savar and Kit who were waiting patiently. "Alright you two, take a seat, let's get you both checked out"
Rowan didn’t look away from Batel as Aurora spoke, but he inclined his head a fraction in acknowledgement. “Human again is an assumption,” he said quietly. “Alive is what we can confirm. The rest we’ll earn slowly.”
He shifted his attention back to the monitors as Olivia set the cart nearby, the faint scent of warm broth cutting through the antiseptic tang of Sickbay. It grounded the room more than he expected. Rowan nodded once at her report. “Good. Leave it covered for now. We’ll offer it when she’s ready, not before.”
Batel’s breathing had evened out, shallow but consistent. The stabilizer was doing its job, or at least not interfering. Rowan adjusted the biobed’s field parameters manually, narrowing the tolerance just enough to give her body a firmer sense of boundary. Less drift. Less argument with gravity.
Rowan watched as Olivia poured a small amount of broth into one of the cups, letting it cool. He watched Batel’s face carefully as the scent reached her. A subtle reaction. Not rejection. Interest, maybe, or memory.
“That’s good,” Rowan murmured, more to himself than anyone else. “Your body remembers hunger. That means it remembers being alive.”
Olivia noticed the very slight reaction as well and had a thought of something that she could try to see if it would help a little more. "Just had a thought," Olivia said. "I'm not sure of the reaction, but it couldn't hurt to try."
She knelt down in front of the cart, opening one of the storage drawers searching for a specific item. "Found it," Olivia said more to herself than anyone else. Standing back up, Olivia opened up one of the small sponges that was attached to a short stick. Once opened, Olivia dipped the sponge end into the cup of broth to let it soak up a small amount of it. Once it had soaked up a little of the broth, Olivia pulled it back up slightly tapping a little on the inside of the cup. Olivia then stepped a little closer to the bio-bed, she slowly and carefully placed the now damp sponge against the lips of their patient. "Sometimes adding a little moisture to the lips will help memory recall."
Sarah watched from the nearby biobed, taking her time to make sure Kit and Savar were 100% healthy before returning them to duty. The tachyons in their systems were declining at an expected rate, leaving no contraindications of anything untoward that remained behind.
" You're both cleared, I believe the Captain has called an emergency meeting in her ready room to discuss any strategies regarding the containment of the Vezda now that the Beholder is...once again with us" She chose her words carefully in case Batel was listening.
Aurora smiled as she looked towards Savar, she was as worried about him as she was Batel. She gave him a nod of her head, whilst on duty they had to maintain a professional demeanour even though she hated it.
Batel stirred slightly, licking her lips as though to experiement with this new sensation. "Where am I?" It was barely more than a whisper, but with eyes barely open she was coherent enough to know this was no longer the prison.
"You are safe now," Olivia said. "You are in Sickbay on a Federation Starship." Olivia felt it best not to say the name of the ship right away and possibly make things worse. She felt it best many of the questions that Batel had might be best answered by the Captain. "Right now our focus is to get you stable."
"This isnt the Enterprise" it was a statement of fact, one that meant she understood she was somewhere else and not being told the whole truth.
Rowan watched the exchange without intervening. Olivia hadn't rushed to fill the silence or correct the assumption. She hadn't reached for reassurance or rank or an explanation. She let the question hang where it belonged. That told him more than any vitals readout could. Batel wasn't disorientated, she was orienting. And this wasn't a medical question anymore. Rowan made a quiet note to himself and stayed where he was. Some answers required a different uniform.
"I know you must have many different questions," Olivia said softly. "All of your questions will get answered in due time. Right now, my main focus and that of the others here in Sickbay is to ensure not only your well being, but safety as well."
TBC
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