Running in Idle

Posted on Thu Oct 6th, 2022 @ 11:26pm by 1st Lieutenant Dr Vanessa Gallo MD (Brennan) & Petty Officer First Class Hannah Matsson (Hayes)

Mission: The Rise of the Valkyrie
Location: Infirmary, McMurdo Station
2248 words - 4.5 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Lu'car, the boy that had been brought onto the artic base to be dealt with by those 'in the know' about extra-terrestrials, continued to recover. At this point, a civilian psychologist had been employed to keep the kid busy; sometimes by letting him indulge a passion for guitar that had come out of nowhere, or with a few games of Connect Four.

Either way, the continued analysis that Dr Gallo and her team had placed the boy under had continued to unnerve her; the presence of Naquadah in the boy's system had continued to plague him. His spells of unconsciousness seemed to come and go at this stage, but the the metal persisted in its attack on the boy's autonomic system. Any time anyone asked Lu'car how he felt, he told them he was fine, but he also told them he was tired. So very tired. Watching the boy of only around 16, hooked up to intravenous systems, from the observation lab of the isolation ward, Vanessa shook her head in disgust as this kid from another world was busy suffering in their medbay.

Gallo looked to PO1 Matsson, a corpsman who had been assisting with Lu'car's ongoing treatment. The Petty Officer had been running some tests. Vanessa folded her arms as she watched the boy interact with the shrink who'd been assigned to him.

"Y'know, Corpsman, it doesn't seem fair," Vanessa sighed.

“No ma’am it doesn’t” Hannah offered a warm, comforting smile. “I’m hoping we might be able to get some help in the form of Scarlett Hayes, our Chief Archaeologist. She has Naqueda in her blood too, though she doesn’t seem to suffer any ill effects. Maybe there might be something in her medical records, or previous tests that might give us something to go on.”

"Quite possibly. She would be the only person we know that has the presence of such a substance in her blood," Vanessa said. The Doctor rubbed her eyes. "At this stage I'd just like to know how and why he has Naqueda in his bloodstream. It's obviously caused him harm. Let's call up her records and have a look, be on the lookout for any reference to loss of consciousness, dizzy spells, that sort of thing. It's a shame she's off-world, we could've just asked her."

“True” Hannah nodded as she walked over to the cabinet containing the medical records. “From what Scarlett has told me, her mother was a Tok’ra host for a short while.” She pulled out Scarlett’s file laying it out on the nearby desk. “Here it is... it seems Scarlett’s mother was heavily pregnant at the time, when the symbiont... Shani, died she was absorbed into not only Scarlett’s mother’s body but into Scarlett’s as well.” She paused surprised to find ream after ream of tests throughout Hayes life. “I can understand regular testing, but was there really need for this much of it? She must have grown up feeling like a human pin cushion, or lab rat!”

"Life as a medical wonder, eh? I'd like to think that we've moved on from those times, but any oddity is put under close scrutiny, as Doctor Hayes would've found out. As our friend Lu'car will also find, no matter what we do to protect him." Vanessa continued to watch the boy for a few more moments, then she noticed Matsson display an inquisitive look. "Found something?"

Hannah offered a shrug of her shoulders. “I’m not 100% sure, there are similarities between the levels of Naqueda in both Scarlett’s and Lu’car’s blood. We know how Scarlett got hers, I’m guessing as a host Lu’car’s body is being adapted to suit his symbiont? Perhaps they need a certain level of Naqueda to survive, either that or there could be something wrong with his symbiont.”

"Could be likely. If there was something wrong with the symbiont, we'd never know, we just don't have the data to make any judgement on it. It doesn't help that Lu'car hasn't been overly forthcoming about his condition," Gallo shook her head, "He changes the subject every time we try to talk to him about how he's feeling and what it could mean. It's like he's afraid to tell us why. I would like to think at this stage we've proven we don't want to hurt him. What could he possibly have to hide?"

Hannah shook her head. “I have no idea! We know so little it doesn’t help us to help him. Maybe we should just try and win his trust some more, maybe then he’ll open up to us.”

"Maybe," Vanessa nodded. After having worked on the boy's case for almost twelve hours, she dropped into a chair and let out a tired sigh as Hannah continued her research. She watched the boy through the observation window, frustrated that the psychologist had instructed everyone to stay away from Lu'car. He certainly wasn't getting anywhere.

Hannah had been looking at the computer specifically at details regarding Naqueda. “Did you know that Naqueda reacts violently with Potassium? The human body needs Potassium for normal function. If the two were to interact it could make Lu’car very.... unstable, in an explosive sense.”

Gallo turned slightly in her chair and cocked her mouth to the side. She checked Lu'car's nutrient chart and shrugged. "Well, his food plan did include a banana at lunchtime, but there's certainly not enough in one of those to turn a kid into a naquadah bomb."

Hannah grinned. “True! I’m just grasping at straws really. I have no idea what’s truly going on.”

"Damn this. I'm going in there to talk to that kid." In a huff, Vanessa stood up. She stormed over to the sealed glass quarantine door and looked over her shoulder, "You coming? I need someone to stop me from punching that psychologist in that big ol' shanzole of his!"

Hannah smiled. “I’m coming, if only to stop you from being too hard on the poor kid. He’s been through a lot, he’s probably terrified.”

As Gallo and Matsson entered the quarantine ward, the attending psychologist, a stuffy Air Force Major, got to his feet. "I thought I made it abundantly clear to you that you were not to come in here while I was practicing unless it was medically necessary."

"Oh, this is 'medically necessary', Doctor, take a hike," Vanessa said, keeping her voice down for the boy's sake.

"I don't need to remind you who outranks who here, First Lieutenant," the Major stated. He too, trying to keep it down.

"Oh, you don't need to remind me, but this boy's treatment is my priority, pal," Gallo stated. "Right now, a game of Connect Four just ain't cutting it."

The Major bristled, smouldered, burned with the fury of a thousand suns and the presence of a mouse not wanting to terrorise the child any more than he had been. He could sense the arrogant Army MD across from him was in a similar state of mind.

"You can't make me leave this ward," The Major spat.

"You're right, I can't," Gallo grinned. She looked behind her, then back to the Major. "But Petty Officer Mattson behind me is a Navy Corpsman. They're made of tougher stuff than you or I. Ain't that right, Corpsman?"

“Yes ma’am!” Hannah stepped up folding her arms across her chest to make herself look tough. “Now if you’ll excuse us Major?” She motioned towards the door.

"I'm going straight to Colonel Lane with this!" The Major snapped. With that he stormed off.

"Puttana," Gallo muttered under her breath.

"I heard that!" The Major called as he left the ward.

"Well," Gallo let out a sigh of relief. "That was easier than I expected."

“Yes, it was!” Hannah grinned.

"Let's check in with this guy, though," Vanessa's demeanour softened somewhat as she came alongside Lu'car. "Hey buddy, how are you feeling?"

"Not... not the best, still," Lu'car replied.

"Lu'car, this is Hannah, she works with me, Colonel Raynor and Lieutenant Brennan," Vanessa said, ushering the Corpsman over. "She's a healer, like me."

Hannah smiled as she approached Lu’car. “Hi Lu’car, I’m here to help. You must be pretty fed up being stuck in here huh? Hospitals can be some boring places! Trust me I know!”

"You do?" Lu'car responded, cocking his head to the side a little.

“Well I...” Hannah paused for a moment. “I’ve been in and out of hospitals and even an institution. I had an abusive boyfriend when I was younger, he used to hurt me. He went so far as to physically...assault me, I was in a mental institution for a long time. I had my brother to bring me back from where I was. I was also involved in an explosion a few years ago, I was badly burnt.“ she showed him part of her scarring. “So you see I understand what it’s like, you don’t have anyone to be your friend, so I’d like to volunteer if you’d like that?”

"Thank you," Lu'car replied, managing a smile. He was sad to hear the woman's story, in some ways it confirmed what he had heard about the brutality of the Tau'ri. It reminded him of what he had endured at the hands of those who had controlled him since he was a young boy. "I have been lucky to meet some... pleasant humans since I have been here. You have not been what I've expected."

“You expected us to be cruel to you?” Hannah shook her head. “We promise you no one will harm you Lu’car. Granted your being here must feel like you’re being kept prisoner, that’s because those on this planet who don’t know about all of this would fear you. There’d be mass panic.”

"I understand," Lu'car said. "I only expected the worst because of what I had been told about the Tau'ri. Your wars, massacres. Much of it not any better than the atrocities committed by the Goa'uld. I did not know what to expect. Instead, I have been met like kindness."

Hannah nodded. “There have been wars in this planet’s history, it’s not a perfect society by any means but we’re a young world that’s still growing. We’ve got a long way to go, but the people here at the SGC are trying to expand our knowledge, to make new allies and friends. Will you trust us to help you?”

"Yes," Lu'car smiled. A moment later, alarms began to blare, the boy's eyes rolled back and he went limp. His head slumped into the pillow as the display showing his vitals gave the two medical officers information that they didn't want to see.

"Oh boy!" Vanessa shouted, jumping to her feet as the quarantine ward lit up like the Griswald's place at Christmas. "BP has skyrocketed again. Pulse is at 100... 110... climbing." She held out a small flashlight over the hospital bed. "Hannah, can you check his pupil dilation. Let me know if you get anything."

Hannah nodded. Jumping to her feet she pulled her pen light. “This is odd, pupils are equal and reactive, no signs of pressure on the brain. What in the hell is this!?”

"Damned if I know, but his brain is still functioning properly and that's all that matters right now. I've got an idea to stop it," Vanessa replied. "I'm going to restrain him. I need an autoinjector prepared, 0.2cc epinephrine, 0.1cc potassium chloride."

Hannah nodded and went to prepare the autoinjector. Returning a few moments later she hung onto it for a moment. “What’s the plan?”

"Call it a hunch, but if we use the potassium to inhibit the function of the Naquadah we might be able to stop this episode, the adrenaline is there so he carries around his system." Vanessa stated, prepping to inject the solution into the kid's bicep. "Let's get to it."

Hannah nodded, handing over the injector. “Fingers crossed this works!” All she could do was standby ready.

"Here goes nothin'," Gallo whispered as she shot the concoction into the boy's arm. "Are we seeing anything, Hannah?"

Hannah stood nervously monitoring Lu’car, for a few moments nothing happened. “I don’t think... wait!” She looked at the readings on the bedside monitor. “It’s working! Readings are stabilising!!” She smiled as she looked at Vanessa.

"Thattaboy," Vanessa said, breathing a sigh of relief. She watched as the boy's vital readings went back to baselines on the medical display. She stood back for a moment and caught her breath, wiping the perspiration from her face. "Potassium. Who'd have thunk it? Good catch, Corpsman."

Hannah grinned and shrugged her shoulders. “Well I wasn’t thinking Potassium would help, but obviously it does. So now all we have to do is find out what’s causing this in the first place.”

"We can't keep shooting him full of adrenaline and potassium. Once is probably enough. However, once he has stabilised, we should give him a slow IV of potassium chloride if his levels are low." Vanessa said. Then, a team of medics showed up in the observation room with a crash cart. Vanessa laughed. "Better late than never. Wanna get lunch?"

OFF

|Gallo and Matsson will return in... Double Trouble