An Entry From the Personal Journal of Simon Tam
An Entry From the Personal Journal of Simon Tam
Author: rhian_morwenna
Summary: Simon reflects on a day aboard Serenity
Word Count: 687
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Serenity Crew
Genre: Drama, Angst
Pairing: light Simon/Mal undertones
Warning: graphic descriptions of surgical procedures, very mild slash undertones
Spoilers/Timeline: Post Objects in Space, before BDM
Disclaimer: The characters and the ‘verse are Joss’s, I’m only playing in his sandbox.
This was written as a pretty quick character study for Simon. The woman whose imagination I’m a figment of is an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) with many years experience, so she has seen a lot, and I can tap into her knowledge of all things medical. This is your final warning that the medical descriptions, are realistic, but not too graphic.
Needless to say this piece is un-beta’d. I lost my two beta readers to real-world concerns, so if anyone is interested in beta reading for me, I’d be happy to return the favor, create custom icons/wallpapers or whatever is deemed a fair trade. (Yes, She’s a professional graphic designer, too, besides being an EMT.)
Posted to the_pretty_fits, ff_fanfic, fireflyslash, and shiny_vests.
Today seemed to be yet another routine day on Serenity. Mal, Zoe, and Jayne had gone out to drop off some cargo and when they came back, this time Mal had taken a bullet, and it was serious. He was bleeding profusely from the wound in his leg, which meant a major vessel had been hit.
Jayne the man-ape had managed to slow the bleeding enough to get Mal back to Serenity alive. I instructed Zoe and Jayne to put Mal on the Med-Bed and to get his boots and pants off of him immediately. I grabbed one of the pre-prepared surgical trays I had made for situations exactly like this one. I ordered Jayne out of the infirmary immediately, and after Zoe hooked Mal up to the monitors, I sent her out, too. She shut the door behind her, letting me work in peace.
The bullet was still lodged in Mal leg. The bandage was still holding the bleeding at bay, giving me a chance to start an IV to get Mal’s blood pressure back up. Then I went to work on Mal’s leg. The injury was to his distal femur. I probed the wound track, and found the bullet. Fortunately, it had not fragmented, nor had it hit the bone. It was resting next to the femoral vein, and nicked on its way through the tissues. In one hand I had a pair of forceps, ready to remove the bullet. In the other, I had a coagulant strip to lay over the vein, as soon as the bullet was out of the way. The only thing preventing Mal from bleeding out in the infirmary was that bullet. I don’t think he’ll ever understand how lucky he was this time.
As I gripped the bullet and pulled it out, I slipped the coagulant strip into place over the vein, dropping forceps with the bullet on the tray and grabbing another instrument to finish smoothing the patch over the vein. I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment, as I held the strip in place for a couple of minutes, to give it time to bind. Back on Osiris, I would have had an assistant surgeon or two, and several nurses. Here on Serenity, I’m lucky to have Zoe or River to assist me.
Once the strip bound to the vein adequately, I cleaned the wound track of any other debris, and began the process of closing it, monitoring Mal’s vital signs the whole time. His blood pressure was low, but within an acceptable range. His pulse was high, compensating for the blood he had lost. Mal was strong, and all I could do was give him more saline anyway, Wash couldn’t spare any more of his own blood for a transfusion for another month. At least Wash was a compatible donor, he had already saved Mal’s life more than once.
I cleaned the wound then cleaned my hands, before changing Mal’s IV bag. I sat down finally, to rest after an hour of surgery, and monitor Mal. So now I’m sitting here, writing this on my datapad. Mal will be spending the next couple of days in the infirmary, even if I have to sedate him. I don’t care how angry he’ll be with me on the second day if I have to sedate him to keep him in here, he’ll push himself, and we both know it.
I gave him an injection for pain, since I have no idea when he’ll wake up. I settle on the bench on the side of the infirmary, which sometimes serves as a second bed, and try to relax. Writing helps me to do that sometimes, and I’m the only one who will ever read this anyway. He’ll never know how close we came to losing him today, how close I came to losing him. That’s something I couldn’t bear, to lose him. Not as a doctor loses a patient, either. As someone loses a friend, or someone who is something more. He’ll never know we all came close to losing him today. And I doubt he ever will.
Author: rhian_morwenna
Summary: Simon reflects on a day aboard Serenity
Word Count: 687
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Serenity Crew
Genre: Drama, Angst
Pairing: light Simon/Mal undertones
Warning: graphic descriptions of surgical procedures, very mild slash undertones
Spoilers/Timeline: Post Objects in Space, before BDM
Disclaimer: The characters and the ‘verse are Joss’s, I’m only playing in his sandbox.
This was written as a pretty quick character study for Simon. The woman whose imagination I’m a figment of is an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) with many years experience, so she has seen a lot, and I can tap into her knowledge of all things medical. This is your final warning that the medical descriptions, are realistic, but not too graphic.
Needless to say this piece is un-beta’d. I lost my two beta readers to real-world concerns, so if anyone is interested in beta reading for me, I’d be happy to return the favor, create custom icons/wallpapers or whatever is deemed a fair trade. (Yes, She’s a professional graphic designer, too, besides being an EMT.)
Posted to the_pretty_fits, ff_fanfic, fireflyslash, and shiny_vests.
Today seemed to be yet another routine day on Serenity. Mal, Zoe, and Jayne had gone out to drop off some cargo and when they came back, this time Mal had taken a bullet, and it was serious. He was bleeding profusely from the wound in his leg, which meant a major vessel had been hit.
Jayne the man-ape had managed to slow the bleeding enough to get Mal back to Serenity alive. I instructed Zoe and Jayne to put Mal on the Med-Bed and to get his boots and pants off of him immediately. I grabbed one of the pre-prepared surgical trays I had made for situations exactly like this one. I ordered Jayne out of the infirmary immediately, and after Zoe hooked Mal up to the monitors, I sent her out, too. She shut the door behind her, letting me work in peace.
The bullet was still lodged in Mal leg. The bandage was still holding the bleeding at bay, giving me a chance to start an IV to get Mal’s blood pressure back up. Then I went to work on Mal’s leg. The injury was to his distal femur. I probed the wound track, and found the bullet. Fortunately, it had not fragmented, nor had it hit the bone. It was resting next to the femoral vein, and nicked on its way through the tissues. In one hand I had a pair of forceps, ready to remove the bullet. In the other, I had a coagulant strip to lay over the vein, as soon as the bullet was out of the way. The only thing preventing Mal from bleeding out in the infirmary was that bullet. I don’t think he’ll ever understand how lucky he was this time.
As I gripped the bullet and pulled it out, I slipped the coagulant strip into place over the vein, dropping forceps with the bullet on the tray and grabbing another instrument to finish smoothing the patch over the vein. I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment, as I held the strip in place for a couple of minutes, to give it time to bind. Back on Osiris, I would have had an assistant surgeon or two, and several nurses. Here on Serenity, I’m lucky to have Zoe or River to assist me.
Once the strip bound to the vein adequately, I cleaned the wound track of any other debris, and began the process of closing it, monitoring Mal’s vital signs the whole time. His blood pressure was low, but within an acceptable range. His pulse was high, compensating for the blood he had lost. Mal was strong, and all I could do was give him more saline anyway, Wash couldn’t spare any more of his own blood for a transfusion for another month. At least Wash was a compatible donor, he had already saved Mal’s life more than once.
I cleaned the wound then cleaned my hands, before changing Mal’s IV bag. I sat down finally, to rest after an hour of surgery, and monitor Mal. So now I’m sitting here, writing this on my datapad. Mal will be spending the next couple of days in the infirmary, even if I have to sedate him. I don’t care how angry he’ll be with me on the second day if I have to sedate him to keep him in here, he’ll push himself, and we both know it.
I gave him an injection for pain, since I have no idea when he’ll wake up. I settle on the bench on the side of the infirmary, which sometimes serves as a second bed, and try to relax. Writing helps me to do that sometimes, and I’m the only one who will ever read this anyway. He’ll never know how close we came to losing him today, how close I came to losing him. That’s something I couldn’t bear, to lose him. Not as a doctor loses a patient, either. As someone loses a friend, or someone who is something more. He’ll never know we all came close to losing him today. And I doubt he ever will.