A long overdue checkup

Posted on Fri May 14th, 2021 @ 12:55am by Lieutenant Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Lieutenant Aurora Vali & Lieutenant JG Sarah Wilson

Mission: Trapped in Time
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Current

*Bonnie, Naprem, Aurora and Sarah have a chat*

Overruled, Bonnie had wanted a private chat in the observation lounge. It would have been serene, calm, and free of extra bodies, something Naprem didn't need anyway. In fact, if she were right, they would be able to save everyone on the ship in a state that occured minutes after their arrival in the wormhole, instead of years. It was difficult enough as it was to explain, but all she needed was a few bits of information from Naprem to understand the severity of the timeline and their effect on it.

Obedient, she took Naprem by the hand and walked her into the lift, allowing Aurora to follow her in. She felt her hand being squeezed tighter as the lift moved, it's subtle background pulsing a new experience for the young girl. Everything was as a new experience for the young girl.

Having arrived on the bridge after being called Aurora now followed Bonnie and her new friend to the lift. It was obvious Naprem was attached to Bonnie, something that would prove invaluable.

Down in sickbay Dr Sarah Wilson was in full genetic workup mode, with a complicated screen with genetic coding in front of her she was working on the makeup of Aurora's child, trying to brainstorm any complications that may occur. The rest of the sickbay staff were busy doing routine physicals or maintenance so the space was relatively quiet.

Walking into Sickbay, Aurora smiled as she headed over to Sarah’s office and peered around the doorway. “Knock, knock, Bonnie has brought a visitor to see you.”

"Oh hey," Sarah looked up from her study at the new arrivals. Taking in the young girl her eyes widened a little.

"Well hello there" she smiled, trying to ease any tensions. "My name's Sarah, what's yours?"

Naprem went all silent and hid her face behind Bonnie, so Bonnie spoke for her. "Her name is Naprem and as far as I can tell she's been through a lot. I found her surviving alone on the freighter, apparently years after when the rest of the crew perished. She has the body of a 12-year-old, but her mind may be that of a seven or eight-year-old, so be gentle." she said quietly to Sarah.

Then so Bonnie didn't leave little Naprem out of the adult conversation and feeling like everyone was talking about her, like she often felt, she knelt down and addressed Naprem directly. "Naprem, this is Sarah, a doctor, and this is Aurora, a counselor. They are here to listen to you in order to help you." Naprem's stomach growled and you could clearly see the embarrassment fill her face.

Sarah knelt down until she was at eye level, a much less imposing position for a young child. "Would you like something to eat?" She asked, being careful not to advance towards her. She took out her tricorder and showed it to Naprem "This is a scanning machine, it won't hurt you but it will tell me if you're sick. Would you like to look at it first?"

Naprem wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt, which was three sizes too big and could easily have been her mother's, before nodding and smiling. A sign she was ready to come out of her shell if but a little bit. She reached out for the tricorder, familiar with the way it looked. "I know this."

"That's great, why don't you have a look at it while I get you a bowl of hasperat" Sarah replied as she handed over the tricorder. She rose and returned a moment later with a small bowl of the Bajoran staple dish, warm but not hot so as to not overwhelm the young girls' starving body.

She thumbed the tricorder in her hands as though she had touched one like it many times over the years and understood what it would do at her touch. Bonnie knew she couldn't do much, not without authorization codes, much like the state she had left her own in. She smelled the hasparat and almost immediately lost focus on the tricorder. "May I?" She asked.

"Of course, how about we sit you up here so you can rest the bowl on your lap. Eat up and I'll just take some readings with the tricorder. Would you like Bonnie to sit next to you?" Sarah patted the padded top of the biobed.

Naprem grasped the bowl as though the real food was a dream that may never come again. She nodded and allowed Sarah to help her onto the bed. Bonnie smiled at the progress and sat on the bed next to her, deciding that between the scanning and the food, now might be a good time to ask a few questions.

Bonnie looked to Aurora, then to Naprem as she ate. "Naprem, can you tell us anything about what happened on your ship? About the crew? You mentioned Bernoff, a friend of yours?"

She didn't answer right away, so Bonnie looked to Aurora for some gentle counselor-like prodding.

Aurora offered Bonnie a smile as she pulled up a seat. “Naprem we need your help we’re trying to help save your ship, and those onboard it. Do you think you could help us do that?”

Sarah busied herself with running a full series of scans whilst Bonnie and Aurora kept Naprem occupied with food and questions. The poor child was severely underweight, malnourished and her cells showed evidence of temporal trauma.

Nodding after several moments of stuffing her face, Naprem opened up between bites. "Bernie took care of the crates until the Prophet got him. He was too heavy to move so I left him lay where he worked and he let me eat." She said before shoving another bite in.

Sarah vanished for a few moments, returning with two hyposprays. She showed them to Naprem before continuing.
"These are injections, they don't hurt at all. This one is to help your body digest normal food again, and this one should help the temporal trauma to your cells."

"Before Bernoff they took the others, all but Ma and unkkie Doge. Even the Major who was taken in his sleep. Ma lasted. She protected me until..." She hesitated. "Until she knew the food was almost gone."

Curious, Bonnie asked, "How long were you alone?"

"I counted the sleeps. Though when Ma left I missed some. 308, I think, yes 308."

"Naprem..." Bonnie started, but the little gorl who was licking her fingers, interrupted.

"Nappie. Ma always called me Nappie. You can too if you'd like."

Bonnie smiled a heartwarming smile. "Okay, Nappie it is. Do you have any idea what started all of this? Why your ship may be trapped in a bubble?"

She hesitated, a shiver of fear on her face. "Ma said the Prophets did this. She said someone would save us, someone, special. Are you someone special?" She asked Bonnie who was too stunned to reply.

Sarah replicated another light meal for the young girl and continued her treatments, doing as much as she could to help her body recover from this experience. The body she could deal with, Aurora and Bonnie would have to help with the mind.

"Do you recall anything special, anything at all that could help us recover your family and friends?"

She stopped eating for a moment and thought hard before speaking, "There was a flash of light. Unkkie Doge was upset. Ma was upset. The passengers made them mad. But then the Prophets came. They tested us. They pretended to be students, but they were bad students. But then they told us they would freeze us until help could arrive, but they were bad at that too." Her eyes were distant as she was drawn backward into the past.

"Nothing was normal. Ma said parts of the ship weren't safe, were bad, off-limits. I remember screaming." She started to grow teary-eyed. "Lots of screaming from the woman passenger." Tears filled her eyes.

Bonnie turned and wrapped her arms around the girl, "Shhh. It will be okay now. No more screaming. Nothing here is going to hurt you anymore."

Aurora folded her arms across her chest. “That’s enough questions, for now, Naprem needs to rest or we just risk traumatizing her.”

"She's healthy enough to leave without being monitored too much. I'd prefer she stay with either of you so she's not alone though" Sarah gathered her tools and the empty bowls of food.

Bonnie looked to Aurora, "Do you think she can stay with you for the moment? I want to get in on the staff meeting. Based on what she has told us, I might have something to offer them." She knew Naprem had sort of imprinted on her from hearing her voice for so many years, but if she could have just a little time there was a chance she would see her Ma once more.

“Of course!” Aurora nodded offering Naprem a warm smile. “I’m sure we can have some fun.”

Backing away from Naprem a step or two, Bonnie caught a look of 'where you going, don't leave me' and so she offered reassurance. "It will be alright Nappie, I'm going to go and help some other friends of mine try and rescue your Ma, and your uncle. I tell you what though, my friend Aurora here, I'm sure she would love to hear you tell her all about your time over there and maybe," Bonnie gave a knowing wink, "she'll introduce you to some other children here on the Liberty."

Naprem sighed heavily but then nodded. She had been alone for so long, she was used to it. She just didn't want to be abandoned any longer. Bonnie gave a smile to Nappie and Aurora then headed out to join the staff in the conference room.

Aurora looked down at Naprem. “Nappie what’s say we go get you a bowl of ice cream? I think you’ve missed out on enough. When we’re done you we can watch some old Earth cartoons and have plenty of fun.” She offered Naprem a smile, “I’m not going to go anywhere I promise.”

Naprem took Auroras hand as she slid off the biobed and walked with her towards the door. The last thos that could be heard as they passed through was the sound of a little girl on the long road to recovery ask, "What's ice cream?"

TBC