Waking up

Posted on Mon Mar 2nd, 2020 @ 3:05pm by Commander Tienn Iteela & Commander Sokanon It'kla & Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Yamaguchi-Solusar & Fleet Captain Torilla Yamaguchi & Director Tienn Gyce

Mission: Mission 41: The Changing of the Guard
Location: Various Locations - USS Roanoke
Timeline: 1000Hrs - 12th August, 2391

Lieutenant JG Kameron Yamaguchi was still wearing his starfighter command uniform as he had found out that morning that his and Elizabeth's transfer requests had come through unusually quickly and now he knew his wife was at home, packing up their home are they were preparing to leave for their next assignments.

Tienn blinked her eyes open slowly. "Hello... Kameron... Have you come to hurt me?" she inquired bluntly.

Kameron blinked as he realized that Tienn was awake. "Computer dim the lights over biobed nine by eighty percent." before he shifted his attention to her. "What...Oh god no.. Tienn... You're a hero..."

"I can't see.." Tienn turned her head to the sound of his voice.

"I know.." Kameron responded softly before he tapped his combadge. "Yamaguchi to Sokanon, Doc. Tienn is awake?"

"I'm on my way." came the response as Kameron paused. "Yamaguchi to Benice." he paused a moment as she responded. "Tienn is awake.. she's asking for you."

"I'm on my way now," Gyce replied as if a huge stress had been lifted off her shoulders.

Tienn slowly blinked her eyes. "Whats happened?" she nervously licked her lips "Why can't I see...?" she asked softly.

Kameron regarded her. "Well." he gently took her hand in his own.
"Your eyes were destroyed during the final explosion.." Kameron responded quietly. "Your ears were being worked on while you were out."

Tienn turned her head towards where the sound came from as the taller Caitian came in. "Easy Tienn.." Sokanon said softly. "I'm going to give you the once over."

Tienn nodded. "Okay.

Kameron watched the two interact as the door opened and in came Benice. "Kameron..." Tienn asked. "Thanks..."

"Tienn... You are respected here... You have friends and people who care about you... I just wish you'd see it."

"You're safe," Gyce insisted as she came in and took Tienn's hand very warmly.

Tienn touched her destroyed eyes which had a simple wrap page of bandages wrapped around his head., mostly to cover her eyes with her left hand. "Gyce... Whats going on? They won't tell me anything. Well except Kameron here."

Kameron smiled. "I'll let you have the room to yourselves.." he said to Gyce. "Beth and I are heading planetside for a week... April gave us her log cabin for a week and we're off to get as far away from civilization as we can." Before anyone could stop him, he gently pushed a lock of Tienn's hair out of where her line of sight would have been, if she could see that is, then he sighed. "Get well soon Tienn... " and with that he took his leave.

Sokanon nodded. "Since you're awake Tienn, we need to discuss your eyes... I can't heal the damage done..."

"I assume we are talking about implants, prosthesis, or a neural interface?" Gyce fielded gently as she squeezed Tienn's shoulders encouragingly.

Sokanon nodded. "The best option would be to simply replace your eyes with prosthesis." she explained. "They will allow you to see earlier and sooner, also they will allow you to see sharper and clearer then before with more color choices then you had before... I can have you new eyes crafted in a couple of hours and do the operation this afternoon... and with a little luck, boot you out of here tomorrow.." Sokanon explained. "If.. you are willing to do it that is..."

"Willing?" Tienn inquired. "What are the side effects?"

"About as much as you'd expect from having a foreign object inserted into your body, and possibly minor headaches through the initial adjustment period." she paused as she realized how dirty that statement sounded but she pushed on. "The only real side effect is that your body might reject the prosthesis but we will be using cloned tissue from your eyes... to create the prosthesis in the first place so the chances are very low."

"I think you should go for this, Dear." Gyce did not want to seem pushy, for this was Tienn's decision, after all.

Tienn nodded. "I'll do it... I want to be able to see where I'm going.. otherwise I'll spend more time in here then I have any right to." she responded. "When do we start Doc?"

"I start right now... and you... well you remain here and talk to Benice, while we work." as Sokanon retrieved her medkit. "This might be a tad unpleasant, I apologize."

"We need a vacation," Gyce sighed as she relaxed into an embrace with Tienn. "Just the two of us."

Sokanon was gentle about the matter as she lifted the bandage, the Caitian was clearly repulsed by what she saw as she took her samples, then she lowered the bandage back over her ruined eyes. "Thank you Tienn... I can work with these... I will be back soon." and with that the Caitian turned and departed.

"I remember when I woke up in a Vulcan hospital, back when I first got hit with a bioweapon," Gyce began after a long silence. "I saw my buddies one by one lose all feeling in their body and I feared I would join them, given the numbness that started to show up in my right leg."

Tienn turned her head. "Will you?" she asked softly. "join them, I mean?"

"Maybe.... maybe not," Gyce admitted with true fear in her voice, but squeezed Tienn's hand for moral support. "My brain was flooded with neural radiation to prevent any further damage. And I know that there will come a day when I can no longer walk because my leg will fail me. But I pray to the Prophets and work hard every day in the pool to prolong that eventual fate."

Tienn wanted to cry but she couldn't. "I've watched you... " the younger Bajoran admitted. "Oddly enough, I find it... relaxing." and yet she was admitting this while she was horribly vulnerable. "I sometimes go to the gym to do my paperwork as well as work out." she added.

"I just wanted to let you know that in some ways, I understand the fear of the unknown. You can talk to me anytime if you need to," Gyce promised and kissed Tienn on the forehead.

Tienn smiled. "Alright.." she paused. "I love you." she slipped out softly.

"And I, you," Gyce admitted with a huge blush. "I don't want to rush into this though. In a healthy pace, to know you."

"I've never had anyone want me...like you." Tienn responded softly. "I don't want to wait.."

"The psychologist in me says that after your traumatic experience, you want to hold tight to the things that make you feel safe, because you are very understandably afraid," Gyce spoke softly as she caressed Tienn's back. "I do not want to rush for your hand... But I will be here for you. And if you feel this way after you've recovered fully, I promise to revist your request, My Love."

Tienn was expecting her to turn her down outright but she nodded her head. "Alright." she admitted. "I understand."

"I do love you, Tienn. Saki made me see that," Gyce laughed in memory of that pool day. "And I want us to be together too... Just I want to know both our feelings are feelings, and not reactions to what happened in the hangar pod."

"I know... The system was damaged.. I told Kameron and the three wounded he was with to get on the pad. I said he had a young child who would need him... I then shot him..." she admitted softly. "to save his life..." she paused. "Then i activated the system knowing I wasn't going to come back.... I was hoping that maybe someone would be alert and pluck me out of where I was.... then I realized no, I was going to die.." Tienn explained. "I knew that if I thought about it, I would have... maybe done something else." she paused a moment. "but the explosion destroyed the life support so I figured why not... I went back into the hanger because I wanted to try and find a fighter that was flyable... the explosion took out the hanger forcefield... and out the hanger I went... along with everything else.."

Gyce hugged Tienn in a way that suggested she did not want to let her go. "Second guessing yourself is not a game you need to play here. Because you'll never find peace. And the one good outcome for me, is that you did survive."

"No... I'm not second guessing myself... I just question why Kameron would think so well of me considering that I shot him." Tienn explained.

"Kameron doesn't think highly of you because of how you saved lives.." Elizabeth Yamaguchi responded with a soft smile. "Kameron thinks highly of you because you saved lives.. including his own.. Thanks to you.. I still have my husband and my future children... one of them will be named for you..."

Tienn opened her mouth then closed it as Elizabeth smiled. "Food for thought. Now.. can I get you guys anything?"

"I think Tienn might like a glass of iced jumja tea. With a straw, if you don't mine," Gyce spoke pleasantly.

"I do... yes." Tienn responded. "Also can I get my usual lunch too?"

"Sure." Elizabeth turned to Gyce. "What about you?" she asked with an impish smile.

"I'll have what she normally gets," Gyce supplied as she kissed Tienn on the cheek once more.

"Alright." and with that Elizabeth went over to the nearby food replicator as she asked for two hasperats, one with extra spice and one with normal spice, also she requested two iced jumja teas. "Alright.. here you go." she commented as she placed them both on a nearby side table. "Tienn normally has hers spiced so its volcanic.. so I went for a normal one for you Benice." she explained as she gently took Tienn's hand and guided her to her food. "Easy Tienn... I'm going to help you with this okay?"

"I feel like such an invalid."

"Don't worry... It'll be okay. Its a temporary thing.."

"I imagine you and Doctor Furban will have something to bond over as well," Gyce spoke hopefully to Tienn.

"Being blind." Tienn responded as Elizabeth gently assisted her with her food. "I'm Sorry Lieutenant." she said to Elizabeth who gently rubbed her shoulder. "No. its okay... " she responded with a smile. "Soon you'll have your new eyes..and then you won't need to worry about it."

"Okay." Tienn responded as she began to eat her food, with Elizabeth assisting her in silence.

"If ever there was a breakthrough, it would be you having a dialogue with Furban. I'm told she's not easy to converse with," Gyce spoke with envy.

"Well... she's not as bad as her reputation suggests.." Tienn responded. "Torilla Yamaguchi's doing I imagine." as she smiled. "Think if I started hitting on the Commander... think I'd get anywhere?."

"Nope." Elizabeth smiled evenly. "She gets very choosy about who she sees on a romantic basis... but you might get somewhere with me though." her smile widened. "That's if... you're okay with it.." she said the last part to Gyce.

"I am not," Gyce confirmed in a deadpan. "I like monogamy a lot."

"Oh.." Elizabeth didn't sound disappointed in the least as she smiled cheerily. "Well fair enough... it was worth an attempt right" as she gently guided the glass of iced tea to Tienn's lips. "Easy Iteela..." she said in a gentle and soothing tone.

"With the right person, sure," Gyce shrugged off. "If that is your preference. For me? I am faithful to only one mate."

"Then I will not try further." Elizabeth responded. "Let me get that for you." as she gently took the half empty glass from Tienn's hands.

"If you're really interested in someone, it's generally best to tell them." Gyce pressed gently to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth smiled as she gently helped Tienn. "Oh?" she paused. "I've not had much of an interest in women... but I'll admit to being curious.." she paused. "How does one tell Nalla that one is interested.. considering she's seeing my mother. Don't you think that's a little... odd?"

"She does strike me as phaser shy," Gyce nodded in agreement, then sipped on her tea.

Tienn sighed. "Elizabeth... the best approach honestly is subtle and gentle, don't go in phasers blazing... Besides... she's presently seeing your mom... Let it be for awhile until after your mother leaves... besides, you got other things to worry about."

"I guess I do." Elizabeth agreed quietly.

Tienn continued gently. "Elizabeth, there is nothing wrong with wanting to know what its like with being with a woman, but... make sure you talk to your husband about it and get his input... and talk to other members of your family too.." she paused. "I'll be around so I can share my experiences, maybe it'll help you." yet she was blind and feeling horribly vulnerable.

Elizabeth smiled as she nodded. "Sure. but not at present.." as she gently rubbed the other woman's shoulder. "I know the doctor has you booked in for surgery for your new eyes, then we'll give you the ability to see again..."

"I can't wait.." Tienn admitted.

"You got the silver star for your heroics.." Elizabeth added with a soft smile.

"What... ?" Tienn asked softly. "I thought I was..."

"Getting booted out of Starfleet?. No... You've made yourself into a hero Iteela, you saved over three hundred lives with your actions... including Kameron.. and Tom Lasky."

"I had to shoot him..." Tienn admitted.

"I know, he told me." Elizabeth's smile lost none of its luster. "Thanks to you... I will have my future children.."

"Sometimes shooting people is a good thing," Gyce laughed happily.

Tienn sighed. "I'll try not to make a habit of that..." she responded.

"You just rest up. And when you're able to get out of here, you and me will go to New Holland for some TLC," Gyce promised as she gave Tienn another kiss on the forehead.

"Sounds good." Tienn responded with a smile.

Gyce finished her meal not long after, and made sure to hold Tienn's hand until it was time for her girlfriend to have her new eyes.