Mysteries Wrapped In A Conundrum
Studying the rather basic x-rays that she was able to get of Nuri's body before the surgery and after, Tian frowns slightly. Something was definitely off-kilter in ways that she couldn't quite put her finger on. There seemed nothing else wrong with Nuri due to the virus -- her heart notwithstanding, she seemed in perfect health otherwise. But Tian could see something in the scans of her head -- Nuri's brain tissue was far more dense than it ought to be. She was worried that the virus was perhaps building what amounted to a tumor in Nuri's head. Leaving them on the desk, she headed into the room they'd set up as a recovery room to check on her patient.
The sounds and smells of the medical bay, such as it is, are not exactly familiar. A rustling of material indicates movement nearby, and a gentle hand takes Nuri's wrist, cool fingers on her pulse. Despite having machines that can do all that, Tian has a tendency toward more hands-on kinds of actions. Noting the flickering of Nuri's eyelids, she remains in line of sight of the girl and gives her the space to awaken while giving her a comforting voice to wake to. "You're going to be okay, Nuri. Don't be afraid," she says softly. You never know how much someone is going to actually comprehend when waking from unexpected blackness. "I'm Dr. Grace, and I've been taking care of you. You've been ill."
"I remember you from the clinic," she says as she strains her move her head, but eventually gives up. She smiles a little. "What happened? I remember arguing with my father, then... that's it."
As the girl gains coherence, Tian moves closer. She hadn't wanted to be right in Nuri's face when she opened her eyes. "You had a heart attack," she says calmly, her gentle fingers smoothing the girl's hair off her forehead. "Gave your father quite a scare, young lady," she offers in a teasing tone. Her dark eyes held Nuri's. "You're going to be okay, though."
Nuri looks a bit puzzled at this. She moves one hand to lift the sheet covering her chest, but doesn't have the strength. "I feel something on my chest. Can you show me?" she asks in a weak voice.
Tian pulls in a slow breath and nods slightly. "I will show you, after we talk about saving you, Nuri." She put a hand atop the one Nuri kept trying to lift, gently lifting it to lay it across the bandages. "We had to take some desperate measures. Your heart was badly damaged. You required a transplant." Her tone remains gentle and matter-of-fact as she explains the situation.
Nuri looks a bit puzzled at that, then closes her eyes and lets out a slow breath. "A heart transplant?" He eyes seem to dilate slightly. "A heart transplant in these conditions would be contra-indicated. The lack of basic supplies, sanitation, and chance of infection, also the patient.. I am not in a position to receive the post operative care I would need." She blinks a few times, a little surprised at herself. "Whose heart? Who was the donor?"–––
Always the worst part. "It was most assuredly not the best of conditions," Tian replies with a faintly rueful tone, filing away the tone and cadence of Nuri's words such as contra-indication. But the fact that Nuri understands the situation may make things simpler. She deals with the hardest part first, meeting Nuri's gaze head-on. "While we were struggling to save you, one of your cousins passed away," she say softly. "I'm sorry, Nuri."
Nuri whispers something to herself in a language Tian doesn't know. She looks up at her and seems conflicted. "I am grateful. It must have been serious to go that far. I've had pains in the past, but nothing like this. " Then she looks a little chagrined. "I don't mean to question what you did, but am I going to die? I don't have anyway of getting paramomycen, propoxin, apocydeveral,, or even any polyversatril. Our water and food has high levels of bacteria and amoebae, even the flies lay their eggs in the necrotizing flesh of any wound. People die of cuts here. How long will I have?"
There is a moment of pause as Tian studies the girl, who is more self-possessed even under these conditions than anyone this age she's ever met. "That will depend on the choices that you and your father make, Nuri. You've already outlined the problems you face remaining here. I cannot promise an outcome regardless of your choice -- but at this time, I feel the best option would be for you to travel with me -- with us -- for a while. Until you're fully recovered from the transplant, at least."
Nuri's face lights up at this. "I want to live..." Then she blushes a bit "...and I want to leave. Allah works in strange ways. A heart transplant to give me a life transplant." Her smile belies her serious condition and is infectious. "You would take me with you? Won't I be a burden? You must have much to do in your clinic. So much work. I'd be in the way." She makes these arguments but she is clearly excited at the prospect.
Tian squeezes the hand she is still holding firmly, unable to keep from grinning back. She is perhaps a little relieved at this reaction. "The Verse works in mysterious ways, that is certain," she murmurs in agreement. "You let me worry about the logistics of taking you with us. Right now, the main thing we have to do is speak with your father. I worry that the idea of you leaving will break his heart, but I also want to reassure him that if he allows it, I will make sure you are okay." Speaking the words aloud brought home the commitment she was making, but what choice did she have? She could not save this girl from what had already happened and leave her to die here of simple infection.
"He will agree. Since my mother died, he hasn't know what to do with me. He tried more than once to marry me off, but..." She smiles somewhat conspiratorially, "the other families always changed their minds. " She looks around the room, there is makeshift heart monitor built form an old oscilloscope, an intricate bent wire sculpture to hold her intravenous drips, what appear to be TV trays set up to house instruments. "In our people's legends was a man John Frum, he brought items from the gods to help our people. These we now know were lost cargos or crashed vehicles from more sophisticated societies. They would use these things in unintended ways, but they were very valuable. It looks like John Frum has visited your clinic." She laughs and holds her hand to her chest, wincing in pain as she does.
Tian glances around at her makeshift recovery room and chuckles as well. "It does, yes." She returned her gaze to Nuri and couldn't help shaking her head. "You, my girl, are going to be a challenge, aren't you?" Her tone says it's a compliment, though. "Let's talk with your father and see about settling his mind, okay? We'll have plenty of time to work out the rest as it comes." She squeezes Nuri's hand again, and then releases her. "Don't play with the bandages, and don't move around too much. Having your chest cracked open is traumatic to the body, it needs rest."
As she strides toward the room she's using as a makeshift office, Tian rubs the back of her neck absently. Nuri has entirely too much knowledge for one who grew up here in the backwoods. Hell, she had more current medical knowledge than some medical students Tian has worked with. It was bothering her on a number of levels -- could someone with an eidetic memory perhaps have memorized any and all books she ever got her hands on and not simply regurgitate the material but understand it and make the kind of connections and even diagnosis that Nuri had as she woke?
And if not, where in the world was she getting her information? Was it possible that the plague was the cause of the extra density in her brain and that in this particular instance, at least until it was entirely out of control, it was offering more synaptic connections? Or even expanding the brain's abilities in other ways? There have been urban legends of telepathy, so-called 'Readers' , was it possible that somehow that's what was happening -- either as a result of the plague or just naturally? That she was picking up on Tian's own knowledge unconsciously? That seemed quite far-fetched. But... there was little that Tian could do about following up on the question until a real hospital was available.
In the meantime, she had a parent to reassure and a captain to speak to regarding the situation.
Return to Episodes | Season One | Firefly-RPG Homepage | Crew Page |
