Ratings: Okay this one deals with some nasty
stuff: implied sexual violence, implied
violence, etc. Also the story is moving
toward homosexual content.
You have been warned.
2 – Shaky Ground – 2
Think! Julian think; you are a doctor after all. Just push to the side the fact that this is your friend, or that you had desperately hoped that this wouldn’t happen. You can’t help him by sitting here worrying. He needs your help. That’s why you became a doctor in the first place: to help people. Well, push your feelings to the side and start helping your patient.
“Julian?” Jadzia queried cautiously.
“I’m okay. I just needed to gather my thoughts.” Julian replied soberly as Jadzia’s voice shook him out of his contemplative state. “Aphasia, we need to determine the severity. Also, we need to find a way to communicate with Garak fast because of his other medical conditions. In his weakened state he could do himself considerable harm if he panics.”
“Okay.” Jadzia listened intently but wasn’t sure what she could do to help.
“You don’t mind playing nurse do you? I would prefer not to have more people in here right now. It could be very stressful for Garak. He doesn’t seem to mind your presence.”
“Not at all. Just tell me what you want.” Jadzia replied glad for some direction.
“Thanks, can you get me that medical scanner? It seems I am stuck here for the moment.” As Jadzia went to get the device Julian thought better of his direction. “Actually, if you could bring the whole cart over here it will save you some running.”
While Jadzia was getting the cart, Julian looked back at his patient. It was plainly evident that Garak was still confused and frightened, but he seemed to be focusing all of his concentration on Julian. It seemed to help him remain calm.
Julian decided that talking would help him focus on the task at hand. “Aphasia can affect people in many different ways. I need to figure out which ways it is affecting Garak in order to figure out how to communicate with him short term. And then I will need to figure out an effective treatment for him.”
“So, Aphasia affects a person’s ability to speak? Hear?” Jadzia was clearly trying to comprehend the situation.
“Well, yes and no. Like I said Aphasia has many different forms. It can cause problems with speech, writing, reading and listening. But, the symptoms vary greatly, as do their severity.” Julian rattled on, the clinical explanation calming.
He began to attach a monitoring device to Garak’s forehead, but stopped at the reaction this evoked. A small whimpering sound and the shudder that accompanied it was a plaintive plea. Julian sat the device aside for a moment and focused on calming and distracting the Cardassian. “It’s okay. The device won’t hurt you. It will help me figure out how to help you.” Julian cooed in a comforting, singsong voice. The words might not be understood, but the intentions of the speaker seemed to be getting through. Garak visibly calmed and Julian began to slowly stroke the ridged forehead. This proved to calm the man further. Carefully Julian reached back for the device he had tried to place earlier, and without Garak’s noticing managed to put it in place.
“Okay, now that we have that done, we can begin to ascertain the extent of his communications abilities. Jadzia, will you please try to get Garak’s attention by speaking to him only. At the moment he seems transfixed by me so I can’t be the one that tries to gets his attention.” Julian looked up at Jadzia as he finished.
“Okay, does it matter what I say?” she queried.
“Yes, you need to say things that are directed to him only and require action to respond too, not words. He may be able to understand you, but not respond vocally.”
“Alright, I think I can do that.”
“Also, don’t use any motions or inarticulate sounds to attempt to get his attention.”
“Okay, should I start now?”
“Whenever you are ready.”
“Okay. Garak, will you please look at me?” a moment passed without any discernable response.
“Garak, look at me.” again no response from the Cardassian.
This exercise continued for the next ten minutes with the same result. Jadzia let out a frustrated growl, and Garak looked at her with an expression of surprise on his face. Jadzia wasn’t sure what was surprising to the man, maybe he understood the frustration behind the sound and didn’t understand where it came from. She figured that if she wasn’t able to understand that someone had been trying to get her attention for minutes, and just understood the frustration behind a sudden sound it would surprise her too.
“Julian, Garak is Garak’s last name correct?” Jadzia thought that she had an idea.
“Yes.” Julian responded with bewilderment.
“Do you know Garak’s first name?” she continued enthusiasm building in her voice.
“It’s Elim, why?”
“Well, I imagine that he was called Elim as a child.” Jadzia explained. At hearing his name Garak turned to look at the Trill. Neither Jadzia nor Julian noticed as they were so wrapped up in there thoughts. Jadzia continued with building enthusiasm, “Well, childhood memories are very potent, maybe words from childhood would be too. For example the name you were called as a child.”
“Well, maybe. It can’t hurt to try calling Garak, Elim.”
Garak had been trying to understand the sounds the trill was making until he heard his name a second time. He immediately refocused on Julian. “Immm. Immm. Immm.”
At the sound from Garak both Jadzia and Julian looked at him.
Jadzia spoke first, “Elim?”
Garak looked at her again.
“Elim, do you understand me?” no response.
Then again the sound, “Immm. Immm.” This time accompanied by a hand motion towards his chest.
“I think he recognizes his name, and is trying to say it.” Julian replied.
“I think you are right. At least it’s a start.”
“Yes, a start, but now we need to see if we can find some more words that he can understand and/or say. Also, we need to try reading and writing. He may be able to do those things fine. Even if he can’t I need to get a recordings of his brain activity while attempting them. That way I will have the clearest possible picture of his condition.” Julian sighed. It was a start, but a small one. It hurt to see his eloquent friend reduced to whimpering and incomplete words. He stopped that line of thought before it overwhelmed him again.
…
After two hours of attempting to determine Elim’s communication abilities, they had a rough system hammered out. It consisted of a lot of hand motions, very few words, and some inarticulate sounds. Garak’s wonderful drawing abilities helped with communication as well. This was discovered when after making a few attempts at writing, to no avail, Elim drew a quick sketch of a glass of water. Jadzia proceeded to get the requested water, which was drunk eagerly. It was rough communication, but all concerned were tired and Elim had become distressed again, so Julian decided it was time to stop for a while. They would be working on the problem for some time to come.
Julian was having a hard time with the quiet moments while his friend needed him so badly; he decided to evaluate Garak’s recovery. He grabbed a scanner off the cart Jadzia had brought him earlier. The scans showed that Garak’s body was healing albeit slowly. His blood pressure was still to low for comfort, the damage to his lower digestive tract along with the anemia and recent brain hemorrhaging all contributed to the problem. The hemorrhaging had been stopped, but there was still a lot of damage to the lower digestive tract. This damage meant that Elim was going to be on a liquids only diet for a while still. Julian decided that he would program the replicator to make a liquid that contained all the nutrients that Garak would need later today. He observed that the amount of swelling around the site of the lacerations to the brain was continuing to subside. The only other concern was repairing Elim’s muscular damage. He had begun the process onboard the Defiant, but the damage had been extensive.
Julian was certain that Garak would be confined to bed for at least a few more days. After that he would have to reevaluate Elim’s condition, but hopefully he could start Garak’s physical therapy. It was going to be a long time before Elim recovered physically, but Julian was now confidant that the recovery would be successful. It was Garak’s mental and psychological recovery that was in question now.
“Jadzia, could you replicate me a sandwich. I was on my way to the Replimate when you called earlier.” Julian still had to remain close to Elim, but he realized that he wouldn’t be much help if he didn’t eat properly. Every time he tried to move off to get something Elim whimpered and reached out to keep him close. He decided that it was best to stay and comfort Garak for now.
Jadzia returned with the sandwich, but Julian was so absorb in looking at Garak’s scans that he didn’t notice. “Spot.” Elim said quietly startling Julian out of his studies. They had determined earlier that this was the word Elim used to mean Jadzia.
“Oh, thanks, Jadzia.” He took the proffered sandwich. “I hope you don’t take offense to the name? He really can’t help what he says, for him spot is Jadzia.” The last was said apologetically.
“I don’t mind. I grant you the comments about the spots do get old sometimes, but it is easy to say and very descriptive of me, as I am the only Trill on the station.” then a half smirk lighted her face, “Besides, can you image how much I will be able to tease Garak about this once he gets better.”
“I’m sure that will make the name worth while.” Julian responded, momentarily being drawn from his somber state, but it was over quickly. “You know he may never recover from this.”
“I think it is a little soon to be getting morose. Look at how much he has improved in a few hours. Besides he has the best doctor in Starfleet at his side.” Jadzia tried to lessen the doctor’s melancholy.
“I know, its just overwhelming. It’s the tiredness speaking.” Julian admitted.
“Well, is there anything that you need to be doing right this instant?”
“Other than being here for Garak? No.”
“Why, don’t you get some rest then?”
“I can’t leave Elim right now!” Julian was affronted by the suggestion.
“I’m not saying you have to. Why not sleep right here?”
“I…” Julian had no idea how to respond to the suggestion. He couldn’t think of a reasonable argument against it.
“Elim is half asleep himself, and I get the impression he is trying to stay awake to make sure you don’t disappear on him. If you go to sleep next to him it will be reassuring.” Jadzia knew appealing to Julian’s strong drive to help his friends in anyway possible would clinch the argument. “Plus, you will be right here if anything changes.” Garak only barely responded to the use of his name, a testament to the truth of Jadzia’s statement.
Julian knew when Jadzia was not going to take no for an answer, and this was one of those times, “Okay, you win. I’ll get some sleep.” He carefully settled on the bed next to Garak, making a point not to bump him, fearing that it might cause pain or distress to his friend. Elim, however, seemed content to have Julian lying next to him. Before Julian could really get comfortable Elim reached over and encouraged Julian to move closer. He put an arm around the Cardassian in a lose embrace, but didn’t immediately fall asleep. Julian fell asleep to the sounds of Garak’s soft snores some time later. Jadzia watched the two sleeping soundly for a while before heading to ops for her shift.
…
Julian was awakened a few hours later by Garak’s frantic movements and a series of inarticulate sounds. Elim was still deeply asleep and it seemed having terrible dreams. Julian reached out to try and wake is friend while at the same moment Garak gave a violent jerk. This resulted in Julian hitting himself in the mouth hard. But, he was too concerned about Garak to notice the damage; he had to stop the thrashing before the current injuries were exacerbated. He reached out and put his hand on the Cardassian’s shoulder, careful to avoid touching any of the lacerations there, “Elim.” He shook the shoulder slightly, very aware of both the physical and mental condition of his patient. “Elim.” this time a little louder and with a slightly harder shake. “Elim, wake up. It’s just a dream. Your safe now.” Julian shook the shoulder harder than he would have liked, but the blood that was beginning to show through the sheet made him realize that he had to wake Garak up fast.
Elim woke with a start and a terrible scream. “Elim.” Julian said in a firm yet gentle voice as he reached out and touched the teardrop-like protuberance on Garak’s forehead. Elim focused on Julian, “Jul. Jul. Ju… ul. Jul.” Elim grabbed Julian into a tight embrace, holding on to his friend like a lifeline. He began to tremble and tears ran down his face, soaking the chest of Julian’s uniform.
Julian murmured softly to Elim while continuing to rub the undamaged areas of his head, “It’s okay Elim. I’m here. I won’t let anyone hurt you. You’re safe now. Your safe.” Julian was making slow patient efforts to calm Garak, but moving slowly and calmly was the last thing he wanted to do. The sight of the growing bloodstain on the sheet at Garak’s back was bothering him. He wanted to jump up grab his scanner and work to fix the problem, but he knew the actions would just scare Garak more. His mind was racing, thinking of all the possible sources of the blood: the lesions on his back and thighs, re-tearing of part of the rectal cavity, a completely new injury.
After a few minutes Garak’s trembling had subsided and the sobbing was reduced to intermittent snivels. Julian decided that he could chance moving about a little to find the source of the blood at this point. While continuing to murmur to Elim he shifted up towards the head of the bed and curled his head and neck around to see Garak’s back. He then slowly moved the sheet back away from Elim’s body with his free hand. It became evident that the source of the blood was one of the worst cuts on the back of the thigh. Julian was relieved that the blood was not indicative of worse problem, but also desperately wanted to stop the bleeding.
By the time Julian had determined the source of the blood Elim had quieted down completely. Upon closer inspection Julian discovered that Garak had fallen back asleep. The exhaustion had got the better of Elim. He slowly eased himself off the bed and retrieved a regenerator from the cart by the biobed. Luckily there was only the one open wound; the others had remained closed from Julian’s previous treatment of them on the Defiant. He spent the next few hours continuing to heal the damaged nerves.
…
Later that evening Julian woke Elim gently and gave him the completely balanced nutritional drink he had just finished programming into the infirmary replicator, complete with bendy straw. Julian wasn’t sure that Garak, being a Cardassian, would appreciate the gesture, but he had included the straw anyway. After finishing part of the drink Elim went back to sleep. Julian then began eating his own dinner, another sandwich. “You know I’ve heard something about to much of a good thing. Don’t you think sandwiches for two days straight qualifies?” Jadzia had returned from her shift in ops.
“I think that you are more than right, but sandwiches is about all that the food replicators in the infirmary makes.” Julian half grinned.
“And, you just couldn’t wait long enough for me to bring you something better.” Jadzia smiled.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to…” Julian trailed off. “Anyway, I needed to get Elim his dinner, so I figured I might as well.”
“Next time I’ll bring you dinner.” Jadzia was surprised that the comment seemed to fluster the doctor. She thought that his little crush on her had ended years ago. If not then, certainly after she had gotten together with Worf. Oh, well, something to think about later. “So, how was the nap?”
“Okay, short.” Julian was tired, but mostly concerned about Garak. He just wasn’t sure how he would be able to help his friend get through the trauma if they couldn’t find a better way to communicate. “Garak had a bad nightmare. His twitches and spasms woke me up. He had reopened one of the lacerations on his leg before I was able to wake him.”
“Is that where the blood on your lip and the sheets is from?” Jadzia was concerned about both Garak and Julian and needed to find out more about what happened.
“Yes, he jerked in his sleep while I was trying to wake him. In the end, he managed to cry himself back to sleep. I just rubbed his head and spoke soft, comfortable sounding words. It was all I could do.” Julian shrugged, defeated.
“I’m sure it helped.” Jadzia replied fixedly. “You are doing a lot, more than you probably realize. I’m sure things will get better.”
“I hope so Jadzia. I hope so.” Julian responded in barely a whisper. He was intently looking at Elim.
“I think you need some rest. Perhaps in a bed of your own this time, so it isn’t interrupted. I’ll be here if Garak needs something.” Jadzia smiled encouragingly.
“Thanks Jadzia. You’ve been a great friend, to both me and Garak.” He smiled slightly at her.
“How could I not be?” she smiled in return.
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Constructive criticism welcome. Remember, this is a first draft so be kind.
I acknowledge that Elim Garak, Julian Bashir, Cardassia, etc. are the property of either Paramount or CBS, not entirely sure which due to the changes in 2006. The story is however mine, and done solely for entertainment purposes.
COMING SOON:
Chapter # 3
