Rivers of Regret

Posted on Thu May 29, 2025 @ 3:04pm by Doctor Aurelia Sol
Edited on on Thu May 29, 2025 @ 7:50pm

1,749 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: 1. Trouble Brewing
Location: Emergency Department, Icarus Hospital
Timeline: Stardate 20409

‘Code Blue to ED 1. I repeat Code Blue to ED 1. Rapid Response to-’

Aurelia didn’t bother to listen to the rest. She was on her feet in seconds, leaving a blustering Trill to gape after her. He had an impressive toothache, something that she could revisit after initial assessment of their newest coding patient.

Before she could make it in the room, a gaggle of nurses stood at the ready. The scene was chaos, machines screaming that vitals were plummeting and action needed to happen fast. It took one look for the doctor to know what had happened: an explosion. The girl was littered in burns, scratchy patches of skin indicating that the wounds were infected and had, at some point, tried to heal.

“ABC’s everyone! Now.” The blonde didn’t have to elaborate further, her nurses checking airways, ready to assist breathing, and looking for causes of loss of circulation. Seeing the little dark haired girl, shaking from shock and perhaps even septicemia coated Aurelia’s stomach in dread.

She couldn’t help it. She’d been a doctor for as long as she could remember, but this never got any easier. Hearing the whining wheeze of something so small tugged at her heartstrings more than she cared to admit. Though she didn’t see the logic behind children, that didn’t mean they weren’t desirable, any less precious. “Call a Code Sepsis. Now. And someone get a trach kit. Stand by.”

A blast injury typically had five stages: primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and quinary. All were vital. With the wet gasps Aurelia heard, it was more than likely the girl had BLI or worse PBLI. Time seemed to simultaneously speed up and slow down. “Don’t trach. Let’s see if it’s fluid in the lungs first. Do we have readings on the scan?”

Fuck. Why didn’t this get easier? Why didn’t the results make it less stressful? Her lungs hadn’t collapsed, and despite being septic everything seemed doable. But there was something… gnawing at Aurelia. Was it the fact that this girl had waited, potentially forfeiting any aspect of living a normal life? Considering how she’d been brought to the ER, that might be the case…

The doctor felt her legs shake. Partially from exhaustion and mostly from adrenaline. Two hours passed before they got the girl stable enough to bandage wounds, and Aurelia hadn’t left her patient’s side until she was entirely sure the Cardassian wouldn’t code again. Well. She assumed it was a Cardassian. The ridges on the face and overall tone of skin indicated that the girl was primarily of said race, but something… was off.

Most Cardassians had a reptilian bridge that spined down the nose, with prominent pinched features that spoke for themselves. But this girl… had a more muted facial structure. Despite the tiny inflections of shrapnel that glittered her face with tiny cuts, Aurelia could tell she was something else entirely.

“Dr. Sol.” A nurse cleared her throat sheepishly. Azure eyes slanted over, pulling Aurelia from her assumptions. The blonde sighed, pinching her temple and nodding. “Hit me.” It’d become a custom for the doctor to take any ‘Dr. Sol’ news with a grain of salt. After all, if she didn’t she’d be climbing back in the bottle before her shift was over.

The nurse shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. “The social worker for ED 1 has been asking to see-”
“Social worker?” Aurelia cocked an eyebrow. “Already?” Not to insult the Federation and its efficiency, but a social worker arriving the day of an incident was rare. Especially during these times.

As she looked at the little girl sleeping soundly in her bed, Aurelia felt her frown deepen. She rubbed her face thoughtfully, brow knitting together as she watched the little one sleep. The girl had to be around eight years old, nothing more than a tadpole to the Doctor. “Bring them to the triage room. I have a few questions for whoever brought her in.”

Of course, said social worker was left to cook while Aurelia caught up on her charting. It’d taken longer than she liked, but it was a welcome distraction from the charred visceral that was her youngest patient. She’d already called trauma with no response. It was typical, and if it weren’t for the fact she had her hands full downstairs, she’d personally walk up there to offer lunch and a good ear-bending to whoever was over that mess.

“Dr. Sol.”
Aurelia didn’t even bother to look up. “He can wait.” She grit out evenly. The nurse sighed, nodding. “Give me a moment. Tell him I’m on the way.” The doctor paused, giving an apologetic look to her nurse. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me. I have a lot on my mind.”
The nurse gave an ominous scoff. “Just wait. There’s about to be a whole lot more on your mind.”
“Great.” Aurelia muttered, shaking her head before stalking off to the triage room.

“Hello! I’m Dr-” As the blonde opened the door, she couldn’t hide a shocked expression. There, lounging in the spare chair, was a Bajoran. A beautiful, feminine Bajoran with eyes that spared no kindness and a sneer that dripped with disdain. “Oh. I’m sorry. I’m here for-”
“Hanu. The girl’s name is Hanu.”

An awkward silence fell over the room, Aurelia processing the situation. She knew this was the Federation, anything was possible. But a Bajoran being a Cardassian’s social worker seemed… like a violation of ethics. “Hanu. That is a beautiful name.” The doctor plastered a smile on her lips, pulling a stool from the nearby desk and plopping down.

“Well. Hanu gave me quite the scare! She-”
“When will she be ready for travel?” The Bajoran cut in, holding a hand up to silence the doctor.
Aurelia bit back a laugh. “I’m sorry? Are you asking me when a critical patient, who’s suffered from blast lung for multiple days without timely treatment will be ready to leave my facility?” She quirked a slender brow, her smile fading to a pointed frown.

The Bajoran didn’t blink. “Do I need to repeat my question? It seems like a waste of time. Or do you not know the answer?”
Aurelia could feel her frown turn into a glare. “It depends. At this point, with the antibiotics and treatment plan we have her on, it could be a week. Depending on the depth of therapy needed, more. But that can be arranged elsewhere.” The one thing Sol couldn’t stand was an unfeeling twit. This Bajoran was proving to be both.

“No.” The Bajoran crossed her arms, expression stern. “You have two days.”

This time, she couldn’t help herself. The Doctor barked a laugh. “Where are my manners? I didn’t catch your name. Let’s try this again. Better yet, I don’t need your name. I don’t waste my time on the little things. Hi. I’m Dr. Sol. I’m this patient’s primary care provider at this moment. I’m the reason she’s breathing. And if I tell you it’s a week, strap on a feedbag and take off that saddle. Because it’ll be a week.” Aurelia crossed her arms, leaning back on the stool with a cold smile. “And if you don’t like that, well I reckon you can bellyache to your superiors and they can come and get her. But this is my ER, and the only sheriff here is me.”

The Bajoron straightened, silver earring glittering as she tucked an ebony strand of hair behind her ear. “You hear me, Doctor. I will go to your superiors. I will make this your problem. And you have two days.” She stood, flipping her chair as she stormed from out of the room.

A dull throb had begun behind the blonde's eyes, blood pressure beyond high from the encounter. It was as if she was already feeling the headache she’d caused. Carefully, she got up and straightened the chair to its original position before cracking her neck. “Aeyers is going to kill me. And I need a damn drink.”

The shift ended quickly after that, and Sol had holed herself up in the tiny studio the Federation provided. It was cozy, a stark contrast to the sterile environment she called her true home. Of course, she’d made her living space a monument to the things in life that made her happy, a childlike wonder she'd missed out on entirely. Her house was something out of a storybook, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit she enjoyed the drastic but simple decor she’d chosen. It wasn’t as if anyone would ever see her private quarters.

At the moment, she was curled up on a velvet setee with a glass of wine, fingers tangled in a book about ancient medicinal treatments. It was the only way she could relax, especially since she knew her head was about to be on the proverbial chopping block. Aeyers wasn’t known to be the most temperamental man, and he certainly wasn’t known to endure the likes of Aurelia.

If anything, she’d made a point to try and stay off his radar. But something about today… Well. It’d landed her smack dab in the middle of it. Her gut was telling her something felt wrong about all of this. All she could do was wait for the girl to wake up, ask more questions, and provide the care her station required.

Of course. The social worker being Bajoran opened a whole other can of worms. Aurelia couldn’t attest to the entire history of the Federation’s relations with said species, but she knew things were shaky. And after today, they were more than likely about to be as sturdy as a two-legged mule. Pouty lips pressed against the wine glass, dragging across the cool surface as she stared into her book. Aeyers… Hopefully he wouldn’t get wind of this little foul up. At worst, he’d send a crony to handle it for him. That’s all she could hope for.

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