Breaking Protocol

[Cmdr Ridire 0]

Aidan follows Deb into the turbolift and slumps against the wall with a low groan. He knows he must have taken quite a bump on the head if he can still hear the ringing in his ears. Not to mention the remaining dizziness and nausea. Truth to tell, he feels like he did the one and only time he rode a roller coaster. Something he was still blaming his sister for convincing him to do thirty years after the fact.

 

As he closes his eyes his gaze falls on Deb's expression. He notes the worry and concern there that she's not even attempting to hide behind a professional mask.

 

She continued to scan the Commander as they entered the lift but once the doors swished closed behind them, she dropped all pretenses of professionalism. This was her husband who was sagging against the back wall of the lift suffering from a linear skull fracture and concussion. He was pale and the tell tale bruising around his eyes was already apparent. Although he never said a word, she knew he was sick to the stomach, dizzy and had a headache the size of Jupiter. Fortunately, there was no indication of bleeding in the brain. Things could have been much worse.

 

Deb looked up at her patient only to find him staring at her. She offered him a weak smile and a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I should have called for a gurney. I hope you don't pass out before we get to Sickbay."

 

He could feel the darkness of unconsciousness trying to claim him even as he struggles against it. Part pride as a man and part desire to not appear weak in front of subordinate officers. Not Deb on the last. She had seen him weak and injured before. But with the Captain also injured he didn't want to seem weak in front of anyone else. The situation was dire enough. Still, some small part of him saw it also as a failure to protect her.

 

As the turbolift slows to a stop he gathers what remaining strength he has for the walk down the hall to Sickbay. As the doors open, Deb guides him by the arm thorough the door and down the hall.

 

Just before the lift doors opened, Deb knew they weren't going to make it. Aidan did his best to regain his balance and walk the short distance to Sickbay. He was able to exit the lift but as soon as they stepped into the corridor, he started to wobble. Her first instinct was to hurry him along but she knew that was pointless. A moment later, his knees buckled and he collapsed. There was little she could do but try to break his fall to prevent further injury.

 

 

His dizziness only seems to grow stronger with every step he takes down the hall. He groans in pain as he lurches against the wall of the cooridor. He feels Deb try to keep him from falling and vainly he tries edging her away from him. His last concious thought is that he doesn't want to somehow injure her.

 

 

Looking down the corridor toward Sickbay, she was relieved to see a couple of security personnel rushing toward them. Silently scolding herself for even attempting to walk him to Sickbay, she moved aside as the burly young officers carefully lifted their XO and hastily carried him into the nearby medical facility.

 

It was protocol for medical personnel to hand off patients with whom they have a "personal relationship." Deb never hesitated to assign another physician to treat her husband. As the entered Sickbay, she quickly approached the chief nurse and asked her to find Merina.

 

"She's in surgery," replied Lieutenant Allen, glancing over Deb's shoulder to see who security was bringing in.

"I need someone for the Commander," quipped Deb.

Gracie shook her head. "You're the only one available. Everybody else is in surgery."

The CMO looked back toward the biobed where Aidan had been placed. She couldn't afford to wait for one of the other physicians to come out of surgery. "Okay," she sighed turning toward him.

"I'll be over to help you out in a few minutes," called Gracie as she hurried off across the room.

 

But Deb didn't hear her. She was now forcing herself to forget he was anything more than a patient with a linear skull fracture and a concussion.