Enter: Stage Right Part 3

Posted on Tue Oct 1st, 2024 @ 11:25pm by Lieutenant Commander Toulaine & Lieutenant Muffy Harrington

1,170 words; about a 6 minute read

Enter: Stage Right Part 3
Joint Log
Lieutenant Commander Doctor Toulaine
Lieutenant Muffy Harrington
USS Roddenberry

Begin Log

Toulaine stepped back up to Alice on the table and went over her work again with eyes that had been able to rest for a few minutes. “Remove suction for a moment.” She said and took a look again at the spine. No bleeds and the blood was starting to fill the cavity again. “Start suction again.”

As she waited for the blood to empty, she started with the rib cage first and adjusted it slightly so it would allow for more room. Then she started to massage the heart carefully back into its proper place within the chest. She felt when it seemed to click into place, like it knew where it belonged and now it was more than willing to return to its home.

The lungs took a bit longer to massage and gently coax back into shape and into place. They had seemed to light being closer together and higher in the chest than normal as if they got more protection in the new position. But the body always knew how things were supposed to be. So after a little more coaxing, she was able to get the lungs into the right place behind the rib cage.

One of the nurses watched what Toulaine was doing and murmured that she had never seen this kind of procedure before. Toulaine looked at her and nodded. “You probably haven’t.seen anything like this as most surgeons are in too big a hurry to do it this way. The body knows what goes where and how it is the most efficient order, so when they are jumbled like this, and you have time, this is the best way. When you force them, then you have to keep coming back and monitoring them to make sure they are staying in place. We have time, we do it this way.”

As more room was made, and more organs were going where they belonged, those watching we glad that they didn’t have to look for bleeds for the organs being forced. That was when Toulaine started to swear in Andorian. The appendix was pulsating. “Scalpul” She called out and reached for it and felt it in her hand and went in and as carefully as she could, she removed the appendix and tossed it in the bucket set next to her to catch waste from the surgery. “That was closer than I like. At least I caught it before it ruptured.”

Finally, all she had to move were the miles of intestines, large and small. It took an hour to get them to twist and turn into the right channels in the body. Finally, everything was back in place where it should be. Then she had those with her look to make sure there weren’t any bleeds she had missed. She ran a scanner over everything as well, and didn’t find anything. Those with her couldn’t find anything at all either. Then she had everyone check for sponges and such inside the body cavity and when it was found to be empty of things that didn’t belong there, she felt better.

She started closing up. Getting the dermal regenerator, she started to pull together the inner layers and fix the slice she had made through the skin and muscle and other tissues. Then she moved onto the muscles and carefully rejoined them. Making sure to take the time to join the nerves as well. It was just as important to feel things from the inside, but also from the outside. To finish up, she closed the skin and made sure there would be no scars. She cleaned up the area and then tiredly nodded for the nurses to move Alice to post op to wake up.

Going into the washroom, she tossed the soiled scrubs into the hampers and got a clean set and pulled them on and went out to find Ian and Muffy. They were waiting in the waiting room just outside the operating theater.

“Well, Toulaine, you have impressed all these medicos. I think they would offer you a job, if you wanted it.” Muffy said, nervous and afraid of what Toulaine would say.

Toulaine stepped to Muffy and rested her hand on her friend’s shoulders. “It’s okay, Muffy.” She then looked at Ian and Muffy together. “She is in post op, recovering, basically we are waiting for her to wake up. She came through like a trooper and she will be fine. I fixed her spine and put things back in place, where they belonged. Her appendix was about to rupture, so I removed that. What happened was all her organs had been squished up into a cavity way too small for them and they were tired of the extra strain on them and were shutting down. There was also a bacteria picked up from somewhere, probably the farm and the animals, that was making her so sick. She is on some rather powerful antibiotics to deal with the bacteria and her organs have been put back in place, so I have fixed what was wrong with her. I also taught those with me a few things about surgery and care for patients.”

Ian sighed. “Can I go sit with her, Toulaine?” He asked, relief making him almost cry, but he really wanted to see his wife.
Toulaine nodded and notified the nurse at the door to let Ian in to sit with Alice, she then sat down next to Muffy and leaned against the wall. She closed her eyes. “How long, Muffy?”

Muffy looked at the chrono on the wall. “9 hours, Toulaine. What do you need first, water, food, pain killers, or sleep?” She said softly.

“I can’t move right now, Muffy. But I do need food and drink. Can you get me something?” Toulaine said, her voice creaking from lack of sleep.

Standing up, Muffy got a nurse to sit with Toulaine and then went to the hospital catering center and ordered the cabbage soup that Toulaine loved so much as well as some iced tea, another weakness that Toulaine had and took both back to her. The nurse left when she saw Muffy returning.

“Toulaine, I have you some cabbage soup and iced tea.” Toulaine opened her eyes and looked and then smelled the soup and sighed in pleasure.

Taking the soup with a smile, Toulaine looked at Muffy, knowing she didn’t have to say anything. It didn’t take long for Toulaine to finish the soup and the iced tea and sigh again. “Muffy, that really hit the spot. I think I can hold on now until Alice wakes up.”

Together, they waited for news that Alice had woken up. In post op, Ian sat next to Alice and held her hand and spoke to her softly and quietly. It was a holding pattern for now.

End Part 3

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