Beg, Steal or Borrow – Refuge: Part 2
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Isha t'Vaurek
Post Details
IC:
OLD: Shocked that Isha's iron resolve and steely reserve were as smashed as the rest of her appeared to be, Chelsea dropped to her knees beside her friend, shot the analgesic into her and then wrapped her gingerly into a gentle hug, holding her close until the worst of her sobbing subsided.
NEW: ~Her own SON! Pah-Wraiths!~ Chelsea's head tried to imagine but her mind reeled and refused to go there.
"Isha, it's over, you're safe now." she comforted softly, little above a whisper. It was all she could think of to say because she had no idea how such a betrayal would have affected someone from so strict a society as the Rihannsu but with such passionate depths.
She didn't really know if *it* was indeed *over* but she *did* know she wasn't going to let Isha out of her sight again until someone who could protect her properly was here. By that, the only person she could possibly mean would have to be Raedheol, but her thoughts were rushing too fast to acknowledge that right now.
Chelsea had learned from her friendship with Isha that despite the required publicly impenetrable façade that the Rihannsu were required to wear, when Isha gave her love and affection, it was as deeply and passionately as any of the more demonstrative races, perhaps more so. She shuddered at the thought of the devastation that her friend would have endured.
For a doctor, Chelsea was emotive enough to tug against her Hippocratic oath on occasions. Sometimes, she thought some beings fell outside the classification that demanded she preserve life at all costs and at the moment Isha's brother-in-law and her son both qualified as one of those who, if they were in cardiac arrest before her right now, she might not manage to negotiate a deep-pile rug to get to them.
Shaking her head to clear that unpleasant thought, Chelsea tried for Isha's sake to be positive. ~Perhaps her son was coerced, or maybe tricked into it?~ she thought.
In the few seconds it took her to think these thoughts, Isha's first flood of tears began to subside and Chelsea took a moment to offer her a disposable handkerchief before gently releasing her from the hug she had enforced upon her.
Isha gazed at the object Chelsea had placed in her hands, ignoring the fact that her hands were trembling, "I'm being rather pathetic, I think. I didn't mean to embarrass you ... definite breach of protocol ... Hmmmm, that was not such a good idea," Isha said as she sniffed and blew her nose and lowered the handkerchief into her lap revealing rather a lot of green blood. "If he's broken my nose I swear I'll kill him," she added.
Chelsea's words were firm in a fervent denial. "You are NOT being pathetic Isha! Few could possibly have endured so much, let alone without flinching. I know you, I'm completely convinced that you didn't even give them the satisfaction of a wince, yet your ribs are cracked and broken, your arm is so badly bruised I hardly know how you can lift it, your nose is not broken no, but you have suffered a concussion and your cheekbone is fractured. Your collarbone too."
"To be honest, I don't know how you weren't screaming in pain!" she finished, carefully regenerating the worst and most critical injuries as she was speaking. "You really are the most enigmatic person I have ever met, Madam Ambassador!"
Chelsea added the title as a mark of the respect and admiration she had for her friend but also a means to lighten the mood and make her smile.
“Enigmatic … stubborn more like it. I gave up, Chelsea, I saw no other option, what was the point of getting up if I’d only get knocked down again?”
"Sometimes that's the only wise thing to do. We have a saying that one can lose a battle but return to win the war. On occasions the only way to effect an overall victory is to concede a little on the way." Adams replied in loyal defence.
"Your brother-in-law had better be dead already, that's all I can say. Because if he isn't, he'll wish he were if either Raedheol or I get hold of him! For what he has done to you he has to be a monster of the worst kind. And to think I thought Rh'vaurek was..... well.... less gentle than he could have been. Thank the Prophets I didn't cross your family instead of him, I'd have found myself sporting more than a bruised arm, wouldn't I?!" Chelsea ranted, working on the next most serious of Isha's injuries as she finished the first.
As the words left her lips it suddenly occurred to Chelsea that in her anger against Isha's treatment at Nniol's hands, she had just revealed a snippet of information that she had previously intended to keep between herself and the Arrain. ~Pah Wraiths!~ she swore internally ~perhaps Isha will be too upset to pick up on that?~ she hoped and quickly changed the subject.
"I assume your son in custody on the Station? Or is he on the Freedom?" she asked as she moved to another injury and had to ask Isha to lift her arm slightly. "Up a little please, and to the left?"
As she followed Chelsea’s instructions Isha watched the doctor’s expression change, “Fveirrolh escaped,” she said, her thoughts elsewhere. “They have my husband’s brother though I’m sure he’ll tell them only what he wants them to know.” Gingerly Isha placed her fingers on Chelsea’s device and moved it aside, she wasn’t sure how much she could say about that pair, “Would you like to explain what you meant about Rh’vaurek?” she asked.
Chelsea allowed her regenerator to be moved but simply reapplied it to the next damaged area, there were more than enough cuts, breaks, cracks and bruises to keep her working.
"I didn't *mean* anything. I wasn't intending to tell you about it, because I felt that relating it makes what happened seem so much worse than it actually was at the time. I was so angry at Nniol for hurting you and I have repeatedly wished Raedheol had been here to protect you, so my mind has been comparing the only two Romulan men I know." Chelsea explained, never once stopping her ministrations.
Isha nodded, “he’d have emptied the first storage locker he found and locked me in it, until he’d taken the ship,” Isha said in tone that implied she might not be one hundred percent serious. “Well, maybe not, but he wouldn’t have allowed any nonsense from me. It puzzled me, the way you said it – Rh’vaurek is accustomed to violence and you implied that he hurt you, I cannot imagine why he would have cause …”
"There is no mystery to it at all. It simply didn't need to be given the importance of relating it, to be honest. But now that I have mentioned it, some time ago, before the picnic, Rh'vaurek and I had a disagreement over a patient. That woman I told you about, Iawain something... anyway, I failed to give him the benefit of the doubt. In retrospect he clearly had superior knowledge of how dangerous she was and in his attempt to convince me that I was being unjustly judgemental of him, he took hold of my elbow very briefly but firmly. I believe that, in his intensity of conviction, he was unaware of the strength of his grip. That's all. It was an accident that was quickly put right with a regenerator." Chelsea decided that making any form of mystery of this would only make it seem worse so she came right out with it, without further prompting.
Iawaain again! What was her part in all this? Isha wondered as she looked into Chelsea’s eyes. If Rh’vaurek had hurt her, then he meant to, but Isha decided that Chelsea did not need to know that, nor did she need to know that by the time they made the trade Iawaain was in a much worse condition than Isha was now.
“You ought not to let him bully you,” she said, “he’ll abuse it terribly if you let him think he was right – it quite upsets the balance of power. Still, he should never have allowed you to go near her.”
"I was involved with Iawain because I was sent for to administer medical aid, as is my job." Chelsea stated, a puzzled look on her face now. "Why wouldn't I be called?"
”The more pertinent question is why would you be called,” Isha said choosing her words with care, an implication that allowed Chelsea to draw a conclusion was perfectly acceptable whereas to state an outright fact about the woman’s status was a security breach. Rh’vaurek was going to be angry enough with her without adding to the list. “she could have been kept stable without treatment until she could be removed to Romulus … there must be a number of romulans with medical training among the populace of the station … why not one of them?” Isha bit her lip and quickly released it again with a slight gasp.
"Well, I suppose it *was* the first time a Starfleet medic had been called *inside* the Embassy, that's true, but ..... " she began to think about this herself now.
Coming to a point at which she had to change medical tools, Chelsea sat back on her haunches and rummaged in her med-kit thoughtfully.
”Would it be easier if I removed this?” Isha asked plucking at her robe, “I was quite unable to dress … I don’t think I’ve ever …” she didn’t finish the sentence. Where was her anger, her indignation? All Isha felt was hollow; alone and at the mercy of strangers. “Continue, please,” she said softly.
Applying the device to Isha's ribs and another to the far side of her body, Chelsea activated the gravi-splint field and adjusted the controls so it supported the damaged ribcage comfortably.
This involved some moments without conversation and when it was done, Chelsea sat back again and ran the med-scan back over Isha to ascertain the level of success and progress she had achieved.
"Would you like me to stop here? I can resume in the morning when you have had time to recover a little, or if you can bear more, I could reduce some of the more superficial but visible bruising to your face and arms?" she offered a choice for the next stage.
”Do it now. I’ve waited long enough. Even that klivam wasn’t cruel enough to deny me medical treatment,” Isha said. “I just couldn’t bear the thought of becoming a spectacle for their amusement. I’ll be ok,” she breathed.
To be Continued ...
A JP between:
Romulan Diplomat Isha t'Khellian
&
Lieutenant Chelsea Adams
ACMO - DS5
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Isha t'Vaurek
Post Details
| Title | Refuge: Part 2 | |
| Mission | Beg, Steal or Borrow | |
| Author(s) | Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Isha t'Vaurek | |
| Posted | Fri May 22, 2009 @ 5:34pm | |
| Location | Isha's Quarters | |
| Timeline | c. 19:45 |
OLD: Shocked that Isha's iron resolve and steely reserve were as smashed as the rest of her appeared to be, Chelsea dropped to her knees beside her friend, shot the analgesic into her and then wrapped her gingerly into a gentle hug, holding her close until the worst of her sobbing subsided.
NEW: ~Her own SON! Pah-Wraiths!~ Chelsea's head tried to imagine but her mind reeled and refused to go there.
"Isha, it's over, you're safe now." she comforted softly, little above a whisper. It was all she could think of to say because she had no idea how such a betrayal would have affected someone from so strict a society as the Rihannsu but with such passionate depths.
She didn't really know if *it* was indeed *over* but she *did* know she wasn't going to let Isha out of her sight again until someone who could protect her properly was here. By that, the only person she could possibly mean would have to be Raedheol, but her thoughts were rushing too fast to acknowledge that right now.
Chelsea had learned from her friendship with Isha that despite the required publicly impenetrable façade that the Rihannsu were required to wear, when Isha gave her love and affection, it was as deeply and passionately as any of the more demonstrative races, perhaps more so. She shuddered at the thought of the devastation that her friend would have endured.
For a doctor, Chelsea was emotive enough to tug against her Hippocratic oath on occasions. Sometimes, she thought some beings fell outside the classification that demanded she preserve life at all costs and at the moment Isha's brother-in-law and her son both qualified as one of those who, if they were in cardiac arrest before her right now, she might not manage to negotiate a deep-pile rug to get to them.
Shaking her head to clear that unpleasant thought, Chelsea tried for Isha's sake to be positive. ~Perhaps her son was coerced, or maybe tricked into it?~ she thought.
In the few seconds it took her to think these thoughts, Isha's first flood of tears began to subside and Chelsea took a moment to offer her a disposable handkerchief before gently releasing her from the hug she had enforced upon her.
Isha gazed at the object Chelsea had placed in her hands, ignoring the fact that her hands were trembling, "I'm being rather pathetic, I think. I didn't mean to embarrass you ... definite breach of protocol ... Hmmmm, that was not such a good idea," Isha said as she sniffed and blew her nose and lowered the handkerchief into her lap revealing rather a lot of green blood. "If he's broken my nose I swear I'll kill him," she added.
Chelsea's words were firm in a fervent denial. "You are NOT being pathetic Isha! Few could possibly have endured so much, let alone without flinching. I know you, I'm completely convinced that you didn't even give them the satisfaction of a wince, yet your ribs are cracked and broken, your arm is so badly bruised I hardly know how you can lift it, your nose is not broken no, but you have suffered a concussion and your cheekbone is fractured. Your collarbone too."
"To be honest, I don't know how you weren't screaming in pain!" she finished, carefully regenerating the worst and most critical injuries as she was speaking. "You really are the most enigmatic person I have ever met, Madam Ambassador!"
Chelsea added the title as a mark of the respect and admiration she had for her friend but also a means to lighten the mood and make her smile.
“Enigmatic … stubborn more like it. I gave up, Chelsea, I saw no other option, what was the point of getting up if I’d only get knocked down again?”
"Sometimes that's the only wise thing to do. We have a saying that one can lose a battle but return to win the war. On occasions the only way to effect an overall victory is to concede a little on the way." Adams replied in loyal defence.
"Your brother-in-law had better be dead already, that's all I can say. Because if he isn't, he'll wish he were if either Raedheol or I get hold of him! For what he has done to you he has to be a monster of the worst kind. And to think I thought Rh'vaurek was..... well.... less gentle than he could have been. Thank the Prophets I didn't cross your family instead of him, I'd have found myself sporting more than a bruised arm, wouldn't I?!" Chelsea ranted, working on the next most serious of Isha's injuries as she finished the first.
As the words left her lips it suddenly occurred to Chelsea that in her anger against Isha's treatment at Nniol's hands, she had just revealed a snippet of information that she had previously intended to keep between herself and the Arrain. ~Pah Wraiths!~ she swore internally ~perhaps Isha will be too upset to pick up on that?~ she hoped and quickly changed the subject.
"I assume your son in custody on the Station? Or is he on the Freedom?" she asked as she moved to another injury and had to ask Isha to lift her arm slightly. "Up a little please, and to the left?"
As she followed Chelsea’s instructions Isha watched the doctor’s expression change, “Fveirrolh escaped,” she said, her thoughts elsewhere. “They have my husband’s brother though I’m sure he’ll tell them only what he wants them to know.” Gingerly Isha placed her fingers on Chelsea’s device and moved it aside, she wasn’t sure how much she could say about that pair, “Would you like to explain what you meant about Rh’vaurek?” she asked.
Chelsea allowed her regenerator to be moved but simply reapplied it to the next damaged area, there were more than enough cuts, breaks, cracks and bruises to keep her working.
"I didn't *mean* anything. I wasn't intending to tell you about it, because I felt that relating it makes what happened seem so much worse than it actually was at the time. I was so angry at Nniol for hurting you and I have repeatedly wished Raedheol had been here to protect you, so my mind has been comparing the only two Romulan men I know." Chelsea explained, never once stopping her ministrations.
Isha nodded, “he’d have emptied the first storage locker he found and locked me in it, until he’d taken the ship,” Isha said in tone that implied she might not be one hundred percent serious. “Well, maybe not, but he wouldn’t have allowed any nonsense from me. It puzzled me, the way you said it – Rh’vaurek is accustomed to violence and you implied that he hurt you, I cannot imagine why he would have cause …”
"There is no mystery to it at all. It simply didn't need to be given the importance of relating it, to be honest. But now that I have mentioned it, some time ago, before the picnic, Rh'vaurek and I had a disagreement over a patient. That woman I told you about, Iawain something... anyway, I failed to give him the benefit of the doubt. In retrospect he clearly had superior knowledge of how dangerous she was and in his attempt to convince me that I was being unjustly judgemental of him, he took hold of my elbow very briefly but firmly. I believe that, in his intensity of conviction, he was unaware of the strength of his grip. That's all. It was an accident that was quickly put right with a regenerator." Chelsea decided that making any form of mystery of this would only make it seem worse so she came right out with it, without further prompting.
Iawaain again! What was her part in all this? Isha wondered as she looked into Chelsea’s eyes. If Rh’vaurek had hurt her, then he meant to, but Isha decided that Chelsea did not need to know that, nor did she need to know that by the time they made the trade Iawaain was in a much worse condition than Isha was now.
“You ought not to let him bully you,” she said, “he’ll abuse it terribly if you let him think he was right – it quite upsets the balance of power. Still, he should never have allowed you to go near her.”
"I was involved with Iawain because I was sent for to administer medical aid, as is my job." Chelsea stated, a puzzled look on her face now. "Why wouldn't I be called?"
”The more pertinent question is why would you be called,” Isha said choosing her words with care, an implication that allowed Chelsea to draw a conclusion was perfectly acceptable whereas to state an outright fact about the woman’s status was a security breach. Rh’vaurek was going to be angry enough with her without adding to the list. “she could have been kept stable without treatment until she could be removed to Romulus … there must be a number of romulans with medical training among the populace of the station … why not one of them?” Isha bit her lip and quickly released it again with a slight gasp.
"Well, I suppose it *was* the first time a Starfleet medic had been called *inside* the Embassy, that's true, but ..... " she began to think about this herself now.
Coming to a point at which she had to change medical tools, Chelsea sat back on her haunches and rummaged in her med-kit thoughtfully.
”Would it be easier if I removed this?” Isha asked plucking at her robe, “I was quite unable to dress … I don’t think I’ve ever …” she didn’t finish the sentence. Where was her anger, her indignation? All Isha felt was hollow; alone and at the mercy of strangers. “Continue, please,” she said softly.
Applying the device to Isha's ribs and another to the far side of her body, Chelsea activated the gravi-splint field and adjusted the controls so it supported the damaged ribcage comfortably.
This involved some moments without conversation and when it was done, Chelsea sat back again and ran the med-scan back over Isha to ascertain the level of success and progress she had achieved.
"Would you like me to stop here? I can resume in the morning when you have had time to recover a little, or if you can bear more, I could reduce some of the more superficial but visible bruising to your face and arms?" she offered a choice for the next stage.
”Do it now. I’ve waited long enough. Even that klivam wasn’t cruel enough to deny me medical treatment,” Isha said. “I just couldn’t bear the thought of becoming a spectacle for their amusement. I’ll be ok,” she breathed.
To be Continued ...
A JP between:
Romulan Diplomat Isha t'Khellian
&
Lieutenant Chelsea Adams
ACMO - DS5