Battle Wounds (Jada/Tess) (COMPLETE)

[Tess tLhoell]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay] (subsequent to S1M5 Part II)

Even after the station was declared safe what was left was pure chaos and devastation. To the station itself and to its people, physically, mentally and emotionally. While the mental wounds needed much time to heal, Tess was relieved to at least be able to do something against the physical injuries.

The incoming flow of patients kept her from realizing what had happened, how close they all had been to death. It would come sooner or later, though for now she was thankful for anything that kept her busy. Sickbay had been a bloody mess and after they had been trying to save those with life threatening injuries a group had started to clean the treatment area so they would be able to take care of the following patients in something that was worth being called sickbay.

Tess fortunately have had the opportunity to clean herself up a little from the blood of various persons, including that of Dosi's and her own. She would have preferred a shower but that would have to wait until later.

One good thing to be involved in treating the patients was that she knew who had survived the attack. To her relief one of them seemed to be Jada - well, nobody would bring her down so easily. Tess stepped up to her and tried her best to offer a small smile, but it looked tired and worn out. But her joy to see her there was genuine. "It's good to see you", she said to the Orion woman. Under these circumstances it really was a good thing to say that to an injured person. "You are next. Right over there." She gestured to one of the bio beds that had seen today as many patients as never in the whole time before. She waited for Jada to stand, staying next to her to help if she should need support.

[Jada]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

Jada was a shocking mess, her face and uniform soaked in several kinds of blood, her green skin marred with orange-brown bruises, including signs of strangling, and with plenty of scrapes, gouges, gashes, and a laser burn, the worst hastily bandaged by the field medic. Her eyes were badly bloodshot, orange-red even to the irises. This was especially vivid against the black paint on her eyelids and the black leather skullcap helm and half-mask she wore to unnerve her foes. But more disturbing still was the shell-shocked, thousand-light-year stare in those eyes, hinting of all she'd seen and done.

At a glance, it was clear she was in serious need of medical attention, injured as much as some who were already dead. But she'd waited, kept working and fighting, until long after the worst cases and the rest of her unit had been treated. Jada could never put herself before others. Grunting hoarsely 'Okay.' Jada moved stiffly but stubbornly to the biobed, trying to hide a limp. But rather than get on or ask for help, she pulled her little snake out from under her uniform jacket and laid it on the bed. The snek waved his head around almost with a look of concern. 'I think he got hit in the fight. Can you take a look, doc?' Jada said, voice rough and faint, trembling. She'd never admit to needing help either.

[Tess tLhoell]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

Tess had to swallow hard when she saw Jada. She very well didn't look better than one of the corpses she had seen today - so many of them. She alraedy lifted her hand to help her walk over to the bio bed but Jada wanted to go on her own. Tess thought prepared to at least help her up onto the bed, but to her surprise she pulled out a little snake - ah that must be the pet she had been hearing of - and let it slither onto the bed.

All about the Orion woman said she was in a state of shock, traumatized like every single one of them on that day. She thought it was that which made her suggest the snek for treatment before herself. Tess looked at the animal and then back at Jada. She looked like she would collapse any moment. "Of course, I'll have a look at you pet", she assured her and gently rested a hand on Jada's elbow to be able to react quickly should her legs give in suddenly. "But I want you to sit down first." She patted the bio bed next to the snake before grabbing a tricorder and setting the settings on scaled reptiles.

[Jada]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

'Okay.' Jada agreed, stiffly lifting her butt onto the biobed and sitting beside the snek. But when she did, Snake tried crawling into her lap to comfort her, his forked tongue flickering across her hand. 'S'alright, hun, I'm okay. Let Doctor Tess take a look at you.' Jada whispered lovingly to the serpent, shifting him back to the bed. She pulled off her jacket – the bruises stretched up and down both her tattooed green arms – and wadded it into a warm bed for Snake to lie in comfortably, and gently held him there, stretched out for examination. The small snake had taken a few bumps and shakes while inside Jada's jacket during the fighting, but she'd protected him well. But his tail was limp and kinked with a minor injury.

[Tess tLhoell]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

Tess watched as Jada moved to sit on the bed and shortly afterwards took off her jacket to make it comfortably for her snake. For a moment Tess' eyes were drawn to the deep black ink tatoos on the Orion woman's skin. On her right forearm there was something written, she assumed it was Orion scripting. While Tess was interested in other cultures and knew quite a lot about it, basics in any case, she was not familiar with Orion language.
Above that, on her right upper arm, was a Starfleet chevron so Tess assumed that it might be a list of her assignments or something like that.
But what caught her attention most was the - to her - lovely looking depiction of a curled caterpillar which looked like it was about to turn into a butterly - or not? She wasn't so sure about it, it was hard to see it from where she was standing - the design making it look like a maze.

Focusing back on Jada and the snake she found it quite heart-warming how lovingly Jada dealt with the pet that probably most people would have trouble to build an emotional connection to.

She understood how important it was to Jada although she as a doctor would have preferred to get to Jada's injuries as quick as possible. Scanning the reptile took only a few seconds and Tess knew what was wrong with him. "The head is okay", she assured Jada because she had been worrying about it. "The last three vertebras are broken." It was easily noticable because of the kinked tail. "Nothing dramatic. He'll be okay in a minute."

Tess turned away to pick up a bone-knitting laser, adjusting the settings to such tiny bones like these of a snake. "Could you please distract him a little so he won't start to coil while I treat him?", Tess asked friendly as she glanced at Jada briefly with a small smile. She  then carefully but firmly took hold of the tail above the part that was fractured and straightened it gingerly before she started to use the laser. It actually took less than a minute with such small bones. "Here we go." She put the laser aside and then turned to Jada, hoping she was soothed now that her pet was taken care of.

"Okay, now it's your turn", Tess said. Finally. She asked a nurse that came by to get Jada a glass of cold water which she brought while Tess was scanning Jada with the tricorder. It showed a whole list of injuries, multiple of them serious that Tess didn't know what to take care of first - the head concussion or the snake venom and bleeding in her eyes.

Asking the nurse to prepare a hypospray with an agent to neutralize the venom, Tess took a more detailed scan of Jada's brain, making sure the concussion hadn't caused a hematoma in the brain. It hadn't but the concussion was severe.
The nurse brought the hypospray which Tess took from her and then gently took hold of Jada's arm. "This is an antidote for the snake venom in you system", she explained as she administered it to her. The nurse who had thought for herself also had brought eyedrops to ease the burning pain Jada must feel in them. Tess took them and spoke to Jada. "Tilt you head back please", she said so she would be able to drop the plain fluid in there, leaning forward slightly to hover over the Orion woman.

"How do you feel right now?", she asked her in a soft tone while she administered the drops into her left eye first before turning to the right one. "Anything you feel most noticably."

[Jada]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

Off her feet at last, with no more work or fighting to be done, Jada's adrenaline began to slip away. She felt so tired and hazy, and it was getting so hard to think straight. She focused on Doctor Moreno's words and her ministrations of Snake, growing worried at the injury, then relieved to hear the injured tail was treatable. 'Oh, good.' she breathed out. It had been a risk taking Snake with her, and especially fighting with him, but she couldn't have beared to leave him behind when the station could've been destroyed, and and she had to have him with her for company and inspiration, and his venom. He was her partner in battle. And he'd saved her life once again.

'Okay.' Jada held his body and head in place while Tess treated his tail, stroking his nose and chin soothingly, but she was filled with anxious concern all through the procedure until it was done. 'Thank you, doctor.'

And then Tess wanted to treat her. 'Ah, it's just a flesh wound.' Jada deflected, trying to seem unconcerned, despite the pain and discomfort and the extent of injuries. 'You've probably got others more in need.' she tried. It was harder to argue any better, her head was so clouded. She had her cluros to keep, a reputation as a duranium-hard Thiratin warrior to uphold, both to her Dosi enemies and to her own Starfleet unit. It had seen her through the battle, helped her defeat T'Ombe, and helped her stay alive against all odds. She couldn't back down from it and admit her weakness, not now, not ever. She'd only come into Sickbay for Snake. Really. But Moreno and her nurses were getting to work, and Jada was unable to resist. She knew she needed help, she just couldn't say it. She was tired, so tired, but the stimulant from the venom was keeping her awake, as it had for hours through the aftermath and the search for Tidu Tekin, and would keep her awake and alert for many more. 'Well, if you insist...'

She leaned back, submitting to the hypospray and the eyedrops. But as the antivenin rushed through her bloodstream, it awakened her deadened nerves, and full feeling came back. It was pins and needles at first, irritating pricks and tingles that grew to feeling like ants crawling under her skin. Then pain, lots of pain, all her injuries felt at once, from the red fire in her eyes to the laser burn to the cuts and so many bruises and microfractures. 'Cruk!' Jada swore explosively. Her whole body tensed against the agony, muscles taut like steel cables, her fingers gripping the biobed so hard she left dents in the casing. 'At least my eyes feel better!' she answered through gritted teeth, keeping her cluros even now though sweat beaded on her green skin. This was still not the worst pain she'd felt in her life.

[Tess tLhoell]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

At Jada's comment about it 'being just a flesh wound' and that she had others to treat Tess gave the Orion woman a disbelieving side-glance. She tried to remind herself that this might be part of self-image she wanted to maintain. "Indeed I have but I always try to treat the most urgent cases first, which is you", she said mildly and was glad when Jada gave in to the treatment.

It looked good at first and Tess was about to continue with the treatment of the head concussion when she noticed something was happening. Jada tensed up notably and her face was a grimace of pain. The venom seemed to have acted like an anlagesic and now that its effect was neutralized Jada felt it all at once. And seemed to not lose her sense of humor - or was it sarcasm? Tess wasn't sure.

Acting quickly, she rested a hand on Jada's unharmed shoulder - or at least the one without the laser burns - and pushed her back gently, indicating for her to lie down. "Nurse, I need 4 cc's of Hydrocortilene here." While Tess waited for the nurse to comply she looked up at the bio bed monitor that was bleeping multiply, the scanners picking up Jada's vital signs now that she was lying on the bed. One bleeping sound was for the increased heart rate of Jada, no doubt caused by the pain. The other was the K3 indicator that showed the level of pain a patient was experiencing, getting its data from brain scans that focused on the region of the dorsal psterior insula. Normally the K3 indicator didn't show on the monitor, it only became visible when a certain level was exceeded.

Tess took the hypospray from the assistant and administered it to Jada's arm, her eyes focused on the pain indicator which should drop now. "I'm surprised you've made it this far", Tess spoke to her softly while she prepared a more detailed scanning of her head to determine how bad the concussion was. "Most other's are not that ... resilient." She wasn't sure this was something to compliment someone about but Tess felt like it should being said.

[Jada]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

At Tess's direction, moving stiffly, Jada laid down on the bed, first making sure to roll the jacket up with Snake safely inside and setting it beside the biobed pillow, close to her head. On her back now, Jada felt powerful pulses of pain, her strong body wracked with blows felt anew all over again. She felt sure she ought to be up and fighting, or doing something, anything, hating to just lay here and take it. On her world, if you were hurt, you had to move, to fight, it was the only to stay alive. Now, all she could do was deal with it. It was the price she paid for the snek venom, she'd known it long before the battle with T'Ombe, but part of her hadn't expected to have lasted this long, had expected to be dead now like so many others, whether from a Dosi cleaver or the venom itself.

'I'm Thiratin, doctor.' Jada grunted out, her nerves afire. 'Other Orions say we're unkillable. Or just too blood-minded to die.' She glanced down at the hypospray, having not felt it go in under the pain. In her fight-or-flight reflex, she felt wary. 'What's that?'

[Tess tLhoell]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

Tess met Jada's wary gaze and looked back at her calmly. "That was an analgesic. The pain should subside any second now." She glanced up at the monitor to watch if the K3 indicator was dropping.

"Thiratin?", Tess asked, partly out of curiosity and partly because she wanted to keep Jada busy to maybe distract her from the treatment and the pain a bit. With some it worked, with others not. "Is that the name of the place you were born? Or some kind of clan name?"

Tess leaned forward to take care of the laser burn on the woman's shoulder next. She grabbed an instrument that looked like a knife or scalpel and showed it to Jada. "Just to cut open your top so I can treat the wound at your shoulder", she explained so she won't think Tess was going to attack her with the knife ... we already had that.

Tess cut the burnt strap from her top and pushed it aside just as much to have free access to the burn. A nurse had brought the supplies she needed earlier so Tess just needed to turn away slightly to grab what she needed while she waited for Jada to tell about her origin if she wanted. In the meantime, Tess started to apply a slight greenish looking cream on the burn, dermaline gel, that should make the burning sensation subside and also had a cooling effect.

[Jada]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

'Nozama is my clan name.' Jada said, her voice tight. After the analgesic, the pain was starting to ebb, fading from her whole body and localising to just the injured areas. There was just still rather a lot of them. 'Thirat is my home planet. Hot, humid, high gravity, vast jungles. It's a hard world, but beautiful.' she described dreamily. It could've been the painkillers taking hold, further robbing her of agony and alertness, yet she was fighting it still.

She nodded to the knife, knowing she could trust Tess, and let her cut away her uniform, exposing her right shoulder and toned musculature. There was the laser burn, torn open by the subsequent fighting and bleeding, and surrounded by fresh bruises. But it wasn't the first injury here: three old scars ran down onto her shoulder blade, like she'd been clawed by a beast from behind.

The cream was cool and refreshing, and Jada looked to Tess, clearly a little out-of-it now. 'Ah. You have nice hands.'

[Tess tLhoell]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

"Does it have a meaning?", Tess asked when Jada told her her clan name. "Or translation?" She glanced up at the pain indicator which sank slowly but still remained at a higher level than Tess would like to see it. She might give her another shot of analgesic after she had treated the shoulder if it didn't improve then.

While she cut open the top she listened to Jada telling about her home world and smiled at the woman at the description. "Home always is beautiful", she agreed.

She noticed the scared under the nasty burn. Jada seemed to have quite a lot of them too. She considered suggesting to her to remove the scars. But just like it was with Rayek Jada might have wanted to keep those scars on purpose. "Beautiful but also dangerous as it seems", she said in regards to the scars.
Tess still was thinking to just ask her when she was distracted by Jada's comment about her hands. Tess smiled softly. "Why, thank you." She noticed her becoming a little out of it, the kind of analgesic she gave her tended to do that but it was what helped most against the pain.

"Tell me more about your home world", she said as she grabbed the hypo once more to give her another smaller shot. She then grabbed the dermal regenerator and adjusted the settings on it to the degree of burns Jada had suffered before starting the treatment of the wound.

[Jada]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

Her head flopping back into the pillow, Jada sighed and tried to think where to begin. It was something of an effort to focus, but home was something she could bring clearly to mind, and remembering helped with the pain. The drugs were making her open too. 'If "Nozama" has a meaning, we've forgotten it, but we've had it... thousands of years.' Trying not to move her right arm, she waved her right hand toward the tattoo on her left upper arm. It was a stylised maze-like design vaguely depicting a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, but the more one stared, it seemed as if the butterfly was turning into a caterpillar, or both, in an endless cycle. It might be a beautiful butterfly, but it had a clear sting in the tail. 'Our clan insignia. The Thiratin sting-fly. Lays its eggs in carcasses. Most Orion clan totems are animals... that others would call pests, vermin, bottom-feeders. Sting-fly, dung beetle, worm, and the wing-slug for all Orions. Creatures people scorn and try to stamp out, but which always survive, no matter what.' The regrowing skin and flesh was itchy and made her wince as it tugged at her muscles.

[Tess tLhoell]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

As Jada spoke about it, Tess briefly glanced over to the tattoo she had noticed earlier. The stoory about how they chose their clan totems sounded reasonable to her. "I think it looks beautiful", she commented what she had been thinking before when she had looked at it.
Moving the dermal regenerating device slowly up and down the wound - there was quite a lot new grown skin to see - she said. "I don't want to compare you to vermin, but its hardy qualities you seem to have."

Her eyes wandered over to her right forearm. "Is that Orion scripting?", she asked interested while she kept working on Jada's wound and once it was done she picked up the small jar of dermaline gel again to apply it to the fresh skin and tissue there. "I'm sorry, if I talk or ask to much just tell me to shut up", Tess said as she looked at Jada with an apologetically small smile.

[Jada]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

'Thanks... It was done the hard way – wooden needles, by hand, sticking in the pigment.' Jada went on about her clan tattoo, keen to talk. 'Foraged all the materials myself. Then I was laid up in the tattooist's hut for a full day. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap; I can still hear it now... I got good at enduring pain after that. And noise.' she chuckled dryly.

She shook her head to Tess, responding with a grin 'No, it's good. I can hardly lay here not talking to you.... Yeah, it's in Kolari, Orion writing.' She glanced down at the list on her right forearm: columns of neat text in Kolari script, with a 2D barcode like that used by scanning devices at the bottom. Jada was little hesitant to explain; most Federationen were uncomfortable about that kind of thing, and her pride in it. Jada ran finger down the list. 'My Starfleet service record... and my slave history. And that's me.' she said, jabbing at the barcode. 'All done with a tattooing machine, much quicker.'

[Tess tLhoell]

[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

Tess winced at her words as if she would feel the pain she was describing. "I can't imagine someone doing this voluntarily", she chuckled. In medicine everything had been improved to cause next to no pain for the patient and if that was unavoidable it the doctor's job was to make sure to keep the pain at a minimum. She did see thought that Jada spoke of it with pride.

Tess pulled back her hand after she had applied the gel to Jada's wound at her shoulder and looked at her right forearm more closely. The scripting wasn't very familiar to her but she liked the neatness of it. She then looked at the barcode. "What was that for?", she asked quietly.

While she waited for her to reply she decided what to take care of next. The broken rib wouldn't do much for now as long as Jada didn't move. She decided to go for the bleeding wounds frist to keep them from getting infected. Moving to Jada's legs where she had several deep cuts she took the scissors to cut off the legs of Jada's pants, working carefully around her thighs to have access to the cuts there before she soaked a wipe with antiseptic. "Despite the analgesic that might hurt", she informed her because she always did and then carefully started to wipe the dirt and dried blood off the wounds.