Crushed By A Bulkhead

[DrDMatthews 0]

A Joint Log by Shane Tayjer, Russ Eckert and Gracie Allen

 

If there had been any doubt about this young engineer's talents, they were laid to rest as Lieutenant Gracie Allen scrolled through Mr. Shane Tayjer's medical file. It wasn't the first time Gracie had dealt with a fabricated body part. But this particular patient had a very unique prosthetic right arm. This one was built by the patient himself.

 

His real arm was lost years ago, a victim of Species 8472. Even with all of the lifelike prosthetics available today, many amputees dive headlong into deep depression over the loss of their body part. Not Shane Tayjer. He designed and fabricated a new, robotic arm complete with a neural implant and sensor pads on hand and fingers. It may not have looked like the real thing. But it was functional and much stronger. Most importantly, Shane Tayjer seemed quite fond of it.

 

The arm itself seemed okay. But the shoulder frame it fitted into was bent. Gracie decided that was the least of Shane's problems. The engineer said he had the schematics in his quarters. The frame could be repaired or even replaced with an entirely new one. She would put in a request for an engineer to work with the medical team to resolve that problem.

 

Right now, Gracie was far more concerned with the plasma burns covering Shane's face and left arm. A few were relatively minor but most were second and third degree. The presence of eschar surrounding many of the burns was most worrisome. That was a sure indication the subcutaneous tissues had been badly damaged. These were the types of burns that used to leave terrible scars. But such was not the case anymore. However, the sooner they were treated, the less likely these gruesome looking wounds would become infected.

 

"You've suffered burns on your face and left arm," said Gracie softly. "Some of them are pretty serious. I'm assuming these are plasma burns."

 

Shane turned his head toward Gracie, "Yes, my post at battle stations is next to a small plasma line, which overloaded and ruptured when the starboard nacelle exploded. How long will it take for them to heal?"

 

"That depends," answered Gracie with a wry grin. "If you cooperate, we should be able to discharge you from Sickbay in about a week. If you don't.....well.....who knows how long you'll be stuck with us." She activated a sterile field and used a hand held tricorder to scan the worst of the burns. "Even after you're discharged, you'll have to take it easy for a while. But I don't see any reason why you won't be healed up enough to bug out of her in five to seven days."

 

The chief nurse paused a moment to glance around the expansive room, obviously looking for someone. "We'll have one of our plastic surgeons do the actual work. There won't be any scarring so don't worry about that." She returned her attention to her patient and glanced at his prosthetic arm sitting on the nearby table. "In the meantime, you said you have the schematics for your arm in your quarters. Could you authorize someone to bring that to us. I'd like to get our prosthetics experts started on fabricating a new frame for it."

 

"Uh, yeah I have a friend in Engineering who I think could help. He's actually the guy who got me off the ship.", Shane paused for a sec, "Um, by the way, I had a bit of a random question for you. Do you have family back home that you keep in communication with?"

 

The question took her by surprise. "Not really," she replied nonchalantly.

 

Grace Allen was born and raised in the hills of south central Kentucky. She'd left the area as soon as possible choosing Starfleet as her escape route. She'd been on this particular ship since the day it launched. Even though she still had a few relatives in Kentucky, she considered the Reaent her home and the crew her family.

 

"I guess you do and that's a good thing," continued the nurse quickly. "Is there anyone in particular you would like to send a private message to? And....what's the name of that friend of yours in engineering?"

 

"Oh, Wade Knight." replied Shane, " I was actually thinking about a message when I asked you that question. I've been trying to compose a message to my family back in the Sol System, but I can't think of what to tell them. I mean, I haven't spoken to them in weeks so what am I suppose to say? Hi Mom, Dad, I've been behind enemy lines, sucked into the Gamma quadrant, had my ship blown out from under me, burned by plasma and crushed by a bulkhead. What's going on with you? My poor mom would have a heart attack."

 

Gracie dutifully noted Mr. Knight's name in the file as Shane explained his quandary. "Starfleet will notify your family that you've been injured," replied Gracie, genuinely touched by the young officer's concern for his parents. "But those notifications are very generic. It's a good idea for you to send a personal note letting them know you're okay."

 

She looked up just in time to see Dr. Russ Eckert heading in their direction. Russ was the plastic surgeon she wanted to work on Shane. And the first thing he would do was put his patient to sleep. "Under the circumstances," continued Gracie hurriedly. "I wouldn't give your family any details beyond you were injured during an incident in engineering. You'll have time to fill in the blanks when you see them again."

 

Dr. Eckert nodded to Gracie as he approached and immediately introduced himself to Shane. "Where's his right arm?'" asked the doctor.

 

"On the table," answered Gracie.

 

Russ glanced in the direction Gracie pointed and nodded. "I take that will be replaced."

 

"Just the shoulder frame. Mr. Tayjer has the specs in his quarters. We'll get them up here and start the fabrication process in a few minutes."

 

Eckert used a magnifying lamp to closely examine Shane's burns. "Okay," he announced, taking a step away from the biobed. "These can be repaired. Once we're finished, you'll never know they existed. But....it's a painful process so we're going to let you sleep through it."

 

Shane sighed and laid back on his bed, "Alright, I'm ready."

 

 

It only took a second for the engineer to fall into a deep, drug induced sleep. It took considerably longer to gently remove the charred skin from the most serious of the burns, insure they were properly sterilized and apply the base on which Shane's new skin would grow. Russ and Gracie worked silently for the most part, speaking only when necessary so as to remain focused on the delicate job at hand. Finally, an hour and sixteen minutes later, the last of the plasma burns were bandaged and Dr. Eckert stepped away from the biobed.

 

"Make sure he gets plenty of painkillers when he wakes up," ordered Russ.

 

"Don't worry, he'll be in happy land for a good while," assured Gracie. "In the meantime, we'll get started on his arm."

 

"Good idea," remarked Eckert as the two walked away. "He should be ready to leave Sickbay in about a week. It would be a shame to send him off without his right arm. With all the repairs we have, I'm sure he's going to need it.

Edited May 11, 2009 by DrDMatthews