| PHD #350: Pictures and Hammers |
| Summary: | Vandenberg visits Khloe in sickbay, doing her volunteer nurse thing. Wade and Andrea visit, too. |
| Date: | 11 Feb 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | Aftermath of the Swarm |
| Players: |
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| Sickbay - Deck 10 - Battlestar Cerberus |
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| Being able to accommodate combat casualties requires room, and the Sickbay has it. Beds line each side of the room with privacy curtains strung up and readily available. Large vaulted lockers hold access to the supplies at the far end of the area. Nearer the front, a Petty Officer sits ready to dispense simple items like ibuprofen and aspirin. Further to the rear is an area prepped twenty-four hours a day for emergency surgery. To the side are a set of double doors that lead to the Recovery Ward where patients can recuperate. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #350 |
Not really recovering any longer, but still heavily bandaged, Captain Vakos sits on an examination bed, dressed in her off-duty greens. She bears large white square patch bandages covering the worst of deeply reddened skin, from her shoulder down to her elbow, and along her side past her hip based on the puffing out of the right side of her tanks. Her hair is tied up in a loose ponytail, apparently not having much need or desire to braid up her hair since her crash landing yesterday.
Vandenberg volunteers in Sickbay. She's no professional nurse, but when she has free time and especially when she knows someboday down here, she will come down. Moonlighting as a nurse isn't hard though she's no qualified member of medical. Bedpans, catheter bags, basic biometrics. The little stuff. Natalie makes her way over to the Captain, sporting her duty greens and a clipboard with something underneath. Something flat. "Hey, sir," she greets, trying to keep her smile under control. "I'm just here to visit. Maybe glean a little bit of information from you so I can fill out these charts. What happened? I know we had some bad activity last night but.." No AAR yet. Just rumors to circulate.
"If there's no AAR yet then it's probably best I don't discuss too many details," Khloe says in way of greeting to the blonde Marine. "However, we were attacked by Raiders. A lot. We lost some pilots, and a few others injured, myself and Lieutenant Devlin, included." She nods towards the recovery room. "I'm one of the lucky ones. Second degree burns."
It was worth a shot. Vandenberg motions for Khloe to hold out her wrist, reaching for it to take her pulse. "Yeah, I was going to go see your other pilot next. Really sorry to hear about your losses, skip. I know how hard that is, even if its something you just swallow." A tough pill, indeed. The Marine doesn't comment any further. She moves on with her basic questions. "Other than the burn, do you feel achy or otherwise fatigued?"
Khloe does hold out her wrist - her left one. If Khloe is hurting physically or emotionally, she's not showing it right now. "You mean burns. Plural. Other than feeling like a sunburnt piece of leather I'm fine. I just need to get out of here soon before I lose my mind. I've things to do, even if I'm on restricted duty." Antsy Poppy is antsy.
Van counts down the pulse and makes a note on the chart. "This is part of your exit interview, sir. I'm sorry but there isn't anything I can do until an actual Doctor has time to speak with you. After last night.." It might be a little bit. She makes a few more notes about the woman's physical responses to questions. She reaches into her pocket to remove a thermometer and motions for Khloe to turn her head. Its going to go in her ear. "Any stomach cramps? Feel ill? I know you said you are fine, sir, but I need to ask. Sorry for all the questions. I know how you feel about getting out of here."
"No, I'm fine," the Viper jock insists, sitting as still as she can while temperature is taken and pulse is read. "That's fine, Lieutenant. I know it's not your job to dismiss people." A pause. "But there is a ton of camera footage that needs parsing. Every life and every wounded soldier needs an answer."
Natalie makes another notation after the thermometer beeps. She glances over Khloe to make sure the woman isn't hooked up to anything before making a few quick signatures. "I wish I could help, Captain. But there's nothing I can do in any reasonable time - and trust me if I could, I would." She looks back to the Viper Captain and gives her a weak smile. "Look, sir, I just heard you were down here. I didn't know what kind of shape you were in so I wanted to bring you a pick-me-up in case it was bad. Here." She slides out a frame and a photo. Speaking of cameras. Its a camera still from one of the Marine SecHub cameras near an unidentified hatchway - the timestamp cropped out. Its actual good quality, too. Up front is Khloe with several Viper pilots behind her in a manner of getting dressed - the implication is an emergency scramble. They all look fired up and confident. Mid-stride, the line of pilots nearly ten long stretches behind their leader who looks ever-intent. "Saw this from a scramble about a month back. I thought that it captured who you are. At least, from what I know of you." Ahem. She swallows and looks back to her clipboard. "So, uh, final question: On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst, how bad does the arm hurt?"
Andrea arrives from the Deck 10.
Andrea has arrived.
Before Khloe takes the photo, there's a quick creasing of her brow. It's as if she's not quite sure she likes what she sees. Fingertips reach out to trace down the border before slipping around it to take it from Natalie, eyes searching the contents of the photo. Finally, after a long pause, she glances up sharply at the marine. "You're using the sechub cameras to… take pictures." It's a statement, and not a question. "Well, I'm not sure I approve of one half of our armed forces taking peep shots at the other half, but… considering that it's from you, I'll consider this a compliment." That's her long-winded and dry way of saying 'thank you', perhaps. The picture gets looked at again, and then tucked beside her on the bed. "Five," she answers the last question.
Wade arrives from the Recovery Room.
Wade has arrived.
Awkward. "Its..hard to explain, skip. We monitor everyone anyway. It creeps me out and I like to put it to good use. And you don't really seem like the type to pose. But you're welcome, sir." If its taken as a compliment, then we escape unharmed. All honors rended as intended. "Five. Huh. Alright, sir, well that's all I have. I'm going to give this information to one of the Doctors and hopefully he can get you out of here in the next hour or so. If you've got any questions, just cry out in pain and someone will most likely come running." A joke? She takes a step back before turning to head off to the next set of patients.
The hatch opens and in walks Andrea, looking tired and disgruntled after a long CAP. Spotting Khloe she walks over with a smile. "Aren't you out of here yet, captain? Because frankly, you can have your frakking squad back anytime."
Khloe's eyes narrow as she watches Vandenberg move off. There's a clear sign of frustration on her face, but after a moment, there's a slight curl to the corner of her mouth. Fingers probe the edge of the photo as if she were considering taking it up again, but once Hosedown enters, she's quick to fold her hands in her lap. Wince. Ow. "I'll hopefully be discharged in the next hour or so," she tells Andrea. The Knights SL is dressed in her tanks and fatigues, with her reddened shoulder and upper arm bandaged up with large white squares. It's evident she's got bandaging under her clothes as well.
And here comes Wade, also after CAP. He recently took a shower, which is good given that he didn't got to do that after the Chaos that attacked Cerberus. His attention is placed on Vandenberg as she steps outside and he offers a nod to her "Lieutenant" There is no harshness to his words on that one. He looks at Hosedown now and smirks "What, you ran for it as soon as we got back" Aaaand, now he looks at Khloe, offering the woman a faint smile "Hey Captain, I see you are already getting ready to leave? Did you threat medics in order to accomplish that?" Smile grows a little more.
Vandenberg has left.
Andrea walks up to the bedside and rests her hand on the bedside. Her earlier frustration is replaced with concern as she looks her captain over. "Wow, you had it a lot worse than you were letting on back on the deck. How is everything? And," she pauses… "how is Bubbles doing? Is she okay?"
"No, but I am a waste of valuable bed space here," Khloe answers Wade. "I can just as much get my bandages re-dressed on a schedule and return for necessary salve and other medications, and perform my recouperation in the berths." Everyone knows she won't be resting in her bunk, that's for sure. To them both, she says, "Bubbles is doing as well as can be expected. She's recovering, but it'll be a long road."
Wade sports a bigger smile at the fact that Bubbles is going to be ok, even if it takes a while to recover "I'm glad to hear that, she gave me quite a scare, actually." He takes a deep breath and looks at the Recovery Room "I'll visit her in a moment." Now, as for Khloe's first words, he says "Always Self-suficient" He nods to this and adds "Still, you gotta be careful Captain, with the recovery process I mean. If not done properly, it can slow things down for you"
Andrea nods. "Its what we thought it was, then. I'm glad to hear she's recovering." She looks up at Wade. "Probably best if I didn't go in if Decoy is in there. If he's not, by some chance, let me know, will you?" Then back to Khloe. "Yeah, you take care of yourself, sir. The Knights need you 100, asap. Substitute teachers are making a mess of things."
Khloe shakes her head. "I believe he is. And you should stay clear of him until I've had a chance to talk to him. Which reminds me, once I'm out of here, you and I need to have a talk." Naturally, all that said for Hosedown's benefit. She looks neither peturbed nor angry… well, not more than usual, anyway. And for Wade, she shakes her head. "I'll be fine. Remember who you're talking to. If doctors say X, I will do X."
Wade opens his mouth to say something to Andrea but Khloe replies already. Now, he looks at Poppy and nods "Aye, I always have in mind who I'm talking to, Captain by the book." he smiles a little bit at this and then takes a deep breath. By doing this, he winces a little bit and moves his hand to the back of his neck "I should get this looked at, I need to be cleared if I'm to go to work on the Vipers at the Deck." He runs some silent numbers and shakes his head "We have quite a few birds affected by this encounter"
Andrea chuckles to herself, a bit bitterly. "Yeah, CAG sent me note saying something similar. Just let me know when you're ready to talk, sir, and we'll do it. Her too, as soon we can, between all these CAPs we have to cover. I'd send Decoy a note to remind him to cover his, but I'm done being the Saturday Morning villain for today. You saw the schedule, Wade, give him a reminder when you are in there, please?"
"Don't worry about squadron duties, Hosedown. I'm out of here shortly." Impatient Khloe is impatient, as she glances around, apparently looking for a doctor. Of course, none to be found. Sigh. "Of course, when a doctor finally signs off on me, that is." She nods to Wade. "Keep me updated as to how the birds are shaping up. Smash them together if you have to; we need as many able machines as possible, even if they look like junkyard scrap."
Wade looks at Andrea and nods "Don't worry Hosedown, he won't forget" Faint smile is offered to her and then he looks at Khloe "Will do so, Captain. I'll keep an eye on your girl, help to bring her back in shape" And now, he remembers "Oh! Which reminds me…I remember you once mentioned that if you could be helping on the Deck, you would…so…" He opens one of his pockets and takes out a hammer "Get well present, of sorts…" He offers the hammer to Khloe and she'll see that two words were burned on the handle, using a nail 'THE CAPTAIN' "Now you have something to bash birds…./or/ people with. Score"
"Stay well, sir. I'm going to get some rack time before my next CAP." Andrea smiles at the hammer, and puts a hand on Wade's arm. "Thanks," she says to him, meaningfully, and heads for the hatch. "I'm going to try to get some sleep before next CAP. Let me know when you're ready for that talk, sir." And she heads for the hatch.
Khloe accepts the hammer, raising an eyebrow while turning it over and seeing the lettering. "You know, Drips, this is what my therapist back on Canceron would call 'an enabler.'" She gives a soft snort, and sets it beside her, atop the face-down picture that Vandenberg had given her moments before. "Thank you. I'll hang it up above my locker so that the Nuggets fear me." She nods to Andrea as she departs.
"Bah, therapists…" says Wade, showing a bit of an amused smile at that "It's a symbol" And now she mentions that she'll hang it to scare the Nuggets "Exactly. Not that I think they are not scared enough but still, there's always room for more torture and horror. He looks at where the hammer rests now but doesn't ask anything at that picture or…thing that is there as well. "So Captain, how long until you are back in the Cockpit? Those wounds look like they are going to take a bit to heal." He shakes his head at this and adds "I can't shake the feeling that it's not the last time we see our friends with the war marks."
Andrea leaves, heading towards the Deck 10 [Out].
Andrea has left.
She shrugs her good shoulder. "A week, with pain. They want to ensure I'm not going to contract any infections before I get back into a flight suit. It'll be painful but I'll be able to operate and fly CAP."
Wade nods in silence as he listens to Khloe and then says "Well, your bird will be ready by them" he smiles at this and takes a deep breath "Alright Captain, talking about fixing things, I should go put on my pretty orange overalls and do some stuff at the Deck, I promised the Chief that I would go help the Deck crew." He offers a soft smile and adds "So get better alright, I want to see the fear in the Nugget's eyes when they see you again" He offers a quick, easygoing salute and adds "I'll see you later, Captain" and with that, he turns around and makes his way towards the exit.
"Steady hands, Drips," is Khloe's parting farewell - often one not said by her, also.