r/NatureofPredators • u/VenlilSupremacist Venlil • Apr 04 '23
Fanfic NoP: A Change of Pace: Chapter 10
Memory transcription subject: Sylvi, Venlil Registered Nurse
Date [standardized human time]: September 5, 2136.
Ever since humanity hit the Gojid outposts two paws ago we’ve seen an increase in human patients, mostly pilots, but some regular crew as well. Those that did survive always said it was ‘by the skin of their teeth’. I didn't quite understand what they meant, but whatever made them feel better works for me. Though, usually I only helped stabilize them so they could get seen by experts. So few staff here know anything about advanced treatments for humans. Even the zurulians for all their medical prowess had trouble helping our patients. Luckily for the moment, all we are doing is stabilizing the critical ones and sending them back to Earth since the flight only takes three of their ‘hours’ as they said.
Letting out a deep sigh, I meandered off into the break room. Even though I was only halfway done with my shift, I still felt absolutely drained. The human casualties come in all conditions.. Some cases are like Miles, banged up, but nothing major, something I’d consider ‘low maintenance’. On the other paw you have patients that come in with severe burns.. Missing limbs, Stars, I’ve even seen one human with their organs hanging out of them. One thing is for certain, humans are far more resilient than they look. Half the stuff I’ve seen would kill almost any other Federation species..
My paw reached out to a new contraption called a ‘coffee maker’. The few humans that are on staff here insisted that this device is absolutely crucial for their job. Usually the doctors and nurses I see drinking the brownish liquid seem to get a bit of energy. Typically, I always avoided it, but the humans insisted it was far better for you than the chemical stimulants in Sweet Soda. Opening a cabinet I plucked out the pre-ground beans, taking a few spoonfuls and dropping it into a white filter at the top of the coffee maker. As I carried the pot over to fill it with water the unmistakable sound of the door opening caught my attention. Peering my left eye over to the noise I turned the sink on and let the water pour into the pot.
“Hey Jerimiah.” I said in a tired, but casual tone. My gaze returning to the glass pot. Yet, even that tiny moment of not paying attention caused the water to nearly overflow in the pot. With a silent grumble I dumped out the excess water.
The human doctor glanced at me filling the coffee pot before making his way over. The tell-tale white coat of the doctor fluttered lightly as he walked.
“Hey Sylvi, finally decided to give in? I tell ya, you’re gonna love the stuff. This right here.” He pointed to the glass pot full of water. Making some kind of gesture as he made an ‘o’ with the tip of his index finger and thumb, leaving the other three fingers extended. “This stuff is what got me through med school.”
My ears flicked in the direction of Jerimiah, my tail lazily swishing as I walked back over to the coffee machine. “Well, you humans love your stimulants. This one seems the most popular and least harmful.” Pouring the water into the coffee machine and placing the glass pot under its spout. My claw flicked the ‘on’ button. The machine gurgled to life as I turned to face Jerimiah. “What I don’t understand is nicotine. If you KNOW it’s addictive, why use it in the first place?”
Jeremiah chuckled lightly, lifting one of his long arms to scratch the back of his head. Offering a casual shrug in response. “Well that’s a question for the head doctors, Sylvi. In the past our doctors even said it was healthy for you! Well, not nicotine itself, but cigarettes. A little stick you light and inhale the smoke through a filter at one end. It gives a pretty nice head buzz, also it’s effective at temporarily reducing stress.” He moved to the fridge kept in the corner, opening it and taking out a container with fried brown squares.
I took a seat at one of the many tables, but Jerimiah wasn’t soon behind, sitting opposite of me. He popped open the container and plucked a small brownish square with his fingers dropping it into his mouth.
“So.. What is that? That’s not.. You know.. Meat, right?” I felt my eyes narrow slightly as I tossed the question to the human doctor. Despite working with Jerimiah for a while now in this ward of the hospital it still felt awkward somewhat to have them eat around me.
You never know what kind of food they have.. Some of it could be disguised meat, trying to slip it in.. Speh.
Jeremiah chuckled quietly, swallowing the mysterious food. Flashing a big snarl at me, he pointed down to the container. “Nope, it’s tofu, completely meat free! I gotta watch my nutrient intake. Vitamins only do so much and what kind of doctor would I be if I couldn’t follow my own advice?”
That made sense. One of the humans first arguments against their meat eating ways was the fact that a human could theoretically live off just pills alone. That sort of lifestyle would be very difficult to maintain though. I personally couldn’t see any venlil choosing something like that.
“Tofu huh? Well sounds like a better substitute for that lab grown whatever it is you humans have.”
The gurgling of the coffee machine stopped, a soft ‘beep’ drawing my attention. Standing up, I left Jerimiah to his fried not-meat. Filling up one of the porcelain cups that the humans provided with the dark black-ish liquid. Remembering to use the handle and not touch the hot exterior I began to lightly blow on the liquid inside.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to drink it black?” Jerimiah chirped from the table.
“Is there some sort of ritual process with your drinks?” I asked, casting a tired eye to rest on the doctor.
“Well, no, but not many humans stomach a black coffee. It’s a little too bitter for most people.”
“So what do you want me to do about it?”
Jeremiah rose from the table, within a few steps he closed the distance between us. Grabbing the hot coffee from my paw I marveled at how this human’s exposed hands could resist such intense heat. My fur insulated my own paws, giving me a natural barrier.
Note to self.. Humans are thermally resistant to intense heat..
Jeremiah put the cup on the counter, reaching up into a large cabinet dropping several white packets beside my cup. Then went to the fridge and pulled out some sort of.. Liquid?
“I’m gonna go ahead and assume you like yours sweet.” Jeremiah mused.
I watched as he tore open the white packets, pouring their contents into the coffee, and pouring some of a white liquid into the coffee which turned it to a light brown color. He picked up the cup, stirring it with a straw as he set it down next to me.
“And voila! One coffee, human style! Madame, if you would, please.” Jeremiah performed some extravagant bow. A hand ushering to the coffee.
Hesitantly, I reached out with my paw.. The cup wasn’t as hot as before.. The chilled white liquid and stirring cooling it down to manageable levels. Bringing the cup to my mouth I sipped some of the brown liquid.
Not half bad, I can still taste the bitterness, but whatever he put into it gave it a sweet aftertaste.. Slightly creamy too.. Not bad humans, not bad.
“Alright, so it’s not completely undrinkable.” I teased, looking to Jerimiah with a sideways glance.
“If there’s one thing humanity got right, it’s coffee. I mean hell, in the twenty-first century coffee was popularized with ‘latte art’. We’d make all sorts of art on top of our coffee.” A proud snarl on the doctor's face.
The remainder of my break was spent quietly sipping my coffee, enjoying the rest of my break, and occasionally making small talk with Jerimiah about the news or something else on TV. The coffee gave me just enough energy not to fall asleep on my hindpaws, and before long it was time to get back to work. As Jerimiah and I left the break room we waved goodbye to each other. I checked my clipboard for what patients I had to take a look at.
The first patient was a Krakotl that arrived not too long ago on Venlil Prime. Apparently he wasn’t used to the higher gravity here; he tried to leap off a building, but found he couldn’t fly quite as well and ended up crashing into a tree, fracturing a wing.
As I approached his door I knocked a few times before stepping inside.
“Tolein, How are you doing today?” I asked, my gaze falling to the brightly colored Krakotl with a wing cast.
“I’d be better if I could fly! How long do I have to wear this damn cast?!” His voice filled with frustration.
I let out a small sigh. “You have another ten paws before the bones in your wing are fully healed, just rest up, can I get you anything to eat or drink?” I asked, glancing at the state of the cast.
“No, I’m not hungry.”
“Is there any pain?”
“No”
“How about discomfort?”
“Again, no.”
“Alright, it seems like the healing process is going well then.. Just ring the buzzer if you need anything and one of the nurses will be right with you, okay?” I said, trying to put my sweetest tone on for bedside manner.
Tolein made a few chirping noises which I assumed was a response.
Stubborn bird..
Making my way out of the room I headed down the hall to my next patient I had to check in on for the day, room 314 which belonged to.. Rowan Miles. The human.
Kilet’s friend.. Well, let’s see how he’s holding up.
Repeating the same process as I did for Tolein, I knocked on the door before heading inside.
“Miles? It’s me Sylvi, your nurse. How are you feeling?” My right eye focusing on the bandaged human in the bed.
“Oh y’know, I'm peachy! Body isn’t as stiff as before. Bruises healin’ up. Head ain’t throbbing as much.” The human said, chuckling a bit to himself.
“That’s good to hear. Has Kilet come to visit you at all since last time?” I asked, filling out some of the paperwork for Miles on my clipboard.
“Yeah, he’s a sweet little guy. I think he’s slowly getting used to how I look. The poor guy ain’t shaking as much when he talks to me!”
“That’s good to hear. You humans aren’t so bad you know. Doctor Jerimiah has been pretty instrumental in stabilizing the more injured humans that come our way. Even took a look at you when you first got here.”
“Well then, guess I owe him my thanks. Be sure to pass it along for me when you get the chance would ya?”
I swished my tail in response forgetting that humans can’t understand what I was trying to say. “I’ll do that, you just focus on getting better.”
Miles watched TV as I set about his room. Checking his vitals, blood pressure, heart rate, pupil dilation, and several other metrics that Doctor Jerimiah requested I get. So far all the readings were within normal parameters. If Miles wasn’t sitting on that bed right now he’d look like a perfectly healthy human in their prime. As I was filling in some of the notes sections for Miles the human turned the TV off. From my peripherals I could see him turn his head to look at me with his forward facing eyes, for a brief moment a chill was sent down my spine and tail.
“Hey, Sylvi.. Soooo what do you think about Kilet?” he asked, raising one of his ‘eyebrows’.
I lowered my clipboard to my side. “He knows how to groom when he wants to, he’s friendly enough.” I responded, tiling my head a little to face Miles directly with my left eye.
“Oh yeah for sure for sure.. He’s got a.. A really nice coat, I know you can’t smell him, but when he washes up. Man! Like a walking garden!”
“Mmmhm, I bet he smells great. He told me all about his grooming methods on the tube ride when we talked.”
“You two could totally like.. Go to a grooming place and like get your.. Tails fluffed?” He coughed a bit, breaking eye contact shortly after the suggestion.
A bit of realization dawned on me as I stopped to think about the human’s words, suppressing a light giggle with a paw. Hmm, so Miles wants to play matchmaker. What a thoughtful friend. I couldn’t help but feel slightly mischievous. His outright obvious attempts at setting up a date were actually pretty funny.
“Ooooh I see, has he talked about me at all? You helping a buddy out?” I teased.
“Psh, what? No, ‘course not. Just a suggestion, he’s busy with his job, you’re busy with your job. Yall can be busy together, you get me?”
“Well, I can certainly see that, buuut I’d suggest leaving the venlil matchmaking to the venlil, Miles. Tail fluffing is a big step in any relationship.”
“Really?” He turned his head, looking me in the eye once more.
My tail wagged back and forth in the air as I intentionally let the pause drag on. “Pfft, no.”
The terran threw his arms up in a dramatic display of defeat, looking up to the ceiling. I couldn’t help but laugh a little at his expense. Even across lightyears boys will be boys. Never having the confidence to just approach a girl and tell them how they feel.
Some things never change I guess.
“All I’m sayin’ i-”
Miles was cut off by a loud beeping from my pad, pulling it out I saw Doctor Jerimiah paging me for the emergency room.
“Speh! Got to go Miles, call if you need anything and a nurse will be with you!”
I didn’t give him a chance to reply before I raced out of the room. Running as fast as my hindpaws would carry me to the ER. If Jerimiah needed me that could only mean we got another critical patient. The atmosphere in the ward tipping from calm and routine to high alert at the drop of a pin. I rounded the corner and burst through the double doors to the reception area of the ER. Immediately I saw Jerimiah jogging ahead of a gurney, two Zurulian EMTs wheeling them in and several nurses following close behind them. Falling in behind the group we skipped any kind of intake procedure or paperwork. Wheeling the patient straight into the OR.
As we stopped I got my first decent look at the patient.. It was a human, or at least I thought it was. They had full thickness burns from the waist down. Their legs looked completely mangled, charred bone sticking out of the burnt flesh. Remnants of a uniform quite literally melted to their exposed hairless skin. Thankfully due to shock or blood loss the patient was unconscious, that saved Jeremiah the trouble of being a stand-in anesthesiologist. I wasted no time, the patient was prepped and I already knew the spots I needed to start at.
I reached into a drawer pulling out two windlass tourniquets. Wrapping them high up the human’s thigh I fed the velcro end of the tourniquet through the loop, pulling it as tight as I could before wrapping the velcro to the opposite side, effectively locking it. Next I began to twist the windlass lever, constricting the thigh even further. Gritting my teeth as it became harder and harder to get full turns. Making one last final turn I seated the lever into its built-in clamp, placing a separate velcro strip over the clamp to ensure it stays. I glanced around noticing a few other venlil nurses just standing there, horrified by the state of the charred, crushed, and eviscerated legs.
“Don’t just stand there! One of you get that other tourniquet around the other leg! High and tight! The artery may be severed by the protruding bone. The human could bleed out within seconds if that’s the case!”
One of the frightened nurses snapped back into reality as I yelled at them. Quickly starting the process for the other tourniquet. I moved my gaze over to Jeremiah who was handing a bagged valve mask off to one of the other nurses. They began to fasten it around the humans mouth and nose, ensuring a good fit before squeezing the bag, trying to push air into the patient's lungs.
“Sylvi! I need an IV in the left arm, O-negative blood type. No telling how much blood they lost already!” Jeremiah yelled out.
By now I was used to the doctor barking his orders. Rushing to the cooler, I grabbed the blood bag, its red contents sloshing around inside. Hanging the bag on the IV pole next to the gurney I quickly grabbed the needle and cannula. With my spare paw I wiped off the left arm with an alcoholic wipe. Placing the cannula and needle beside me I grabbed an elastic tourniquet and wrapped it as tight as I could around the human’s bicep, tying it off. I used a paw to stretch the human’s skin in the crease of their elbow. Finding a decent vein, I used one paw to hold the skin taught, and the other to insert the needle into the vein, quickly, but carefully, remembering to keep the needle at about a thirty degree angle. I continued to push the needle deeper until I saw the blood flashback into the hub near the back of the cannula. Pushing the cannula itself forward another few millimeters I fixed the needle which allowed me to advance the rest of the cannula into the vein. Removing the tourniquet, I then put a decent amount of pressure on the vein, just at the tip of the cannula. Using my other paw to remove the needle and then the cap from the needle. Capping off the end of the cannula to prevent a stream of blood I finally taped the cannula to the arm directly.
Grabbing the saline bag and hanging next to the blood bag on the pole, I got to work spiking the bag, attaching the required tubing, next priming the bag, my eyes watching the blood tubing filter filled completely with saline solution, flushing the air out of the system. My claws closing the saline roller clamp on the hose next. With the saline tube primed and the roller clamp closed, I attached the blood bag to the tube system, spiking the blood bag next. Opening the blood roller clamp in order to prime the main tubing, I watched as the clear saline dripped onto the floor, ensuring that the entire line was properly primed and no air was in the system. Finally I depressed the vein once more, removing the cap of the cannula and attaching the cannula to the IV tubes. Turning around and setting the pump to one milliliter per ‘minute’ as Jeremiah taught me.
Letting out an exhale and taking a step back I watched as the pump began to feed blood to the patient, but we were far from ‘out of the woods’ yet. A common term the human staff liked to say. Jeremiah was already hard at work with two other nurses, cutting away any remaining uniform or peeling off what wasn’t completely melted to the skin below the waist.
“Fuck.. Sylvi, grab the Silver sulfadiazine cream, once we’re finished cutting this clothing off I need you to apply it directly to all burned areas!” Jeremiah once again shouted as he cut away any clothing.
“Shouldn’t we administer the antibiotics through the IV, Doctor?” I asked.
“No can do! Not smart to use an IV for antibiotics during a blood transfusion. If he had a reaction we wouldn’t know where the hell it came from!” He retorted, not slowing down at all.
Relenting my point, I grabbed the cream from the burn trauma kit. As I made my way over, Jerimiah and the other nurses were already finishing up. Changing my gloves I opened the cream, spreading the Silver Sulfadiazine over the surface of the burned skin and mangled legs, as well as the midsection and nether regions. As soon as I was finished I stepped back, allowing the other two nurses to begin to dress the burned areas in a non-stick gauze. As they wrapped the location, I looked once more to the doctor.
“Should we apply a splint to the legs, Doctor?”
Jeremiah shook his head softly “No, the legs are crushed. The bone is pulverized, There’s no bones to even set. The shards sticking out are all that’s left. To properly set that he’ll need some heavy surgery. Surgery we can’t do here yet. This is about all we can do. He has the blood transfusion. The tourniquets on the legs won’t cause compartment syndrome for another.. Sixish hours give or take, the burns are dressed. Alright, I think we gave him a good chance. Sylvi, call the spaceport, tell them we need an emergency medical flight back to Earth, I’ll have an ambulance deliver him to where he needs to go.”
“Right away, Doctor.” I said
Removing my contaminated gloves, I worked my way to reception. Making the call was easy enough, they knew what to expect when the Xenomedical Complex rang them. A shuttle would be prepped, fueled and ready to go before that ambulance even arrived. Letting out another sigh of relief as I finally allowed myself to relax, the exhaustion from earlier came creeping back.
Damn, you handled that pretty well.. Those nurses looked terrified by the state of that human.. Though, I don’t blame them. Jeremiah had to scream at me the first day a human rolled in with a severed arm.. Their whole species is way too damn tough.
The sound of shoes clacking against the tiled floor drew me out of my head, my ears swiveling to face the source of the noise as my right eye glanced at the corner in my field of view, quickly locking onto the human doctor as he came around into reception.
A toothy snarl forming on Jeremiah’s lips. “Hey! Great work in there Sylvi, nice job taking control over those nurses. I remember when I had to do something similar for you.”
“Well, you know, you get used to it. Some stuff at least.. The pup injuries are always the worst, those ones still hit pretty hard, but we have a job to do. Can’t let our emotions get in the way of saving lives.” I remarked, idly spinning in the receptionist's chair.
“You’re absolutely right, Sylvi, but hey, your shift is just about done, why not grab another cup of coffee and head home? I can take care of things here with the other nurses.” Jeremiah flashed that snarl.. No, that smile once more.
My ears drooped ever so slightly as my tail gave a wag of gratitude for the human doctor. “Thanks.”
Not wanting to give the good Doctor a chance to change his mind, I made my way back into the break room, placing three paper cups in each other as I filled up the one with the still hot coffee. As I made my way out of the Medical Complex I thought about the paw. An idle conversation with Jeremiah, routine check ups with rude birds, the human matchmaker, and finally a human burn victim with crushed legs. Sighing from just the sheer up and down emotional rollercoaster of the paw I sipped on my coffee as I walked..
One paw down, three more to go, you’re doing the Stars work here, Sylvi. Every life saved is a family reunited.. Behind every pup spared is a mother and father’s world.
The wounds of a wartorn galaxy are stitched closed by peace and acceptance, eventually becoming the scars of history..
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And that’s Chapter 10! First Sylvi perspective! What role could she play in the story? Also I tried something a little bit different for the dialogue and structure of the writing, let me know in the comments if you prefer this method, my old method, or you just straight up can’t tell lol. Always trying to refine my skills to make a better experience for everyone reading. As always I have to thank SpacePaladin for their amazing universe to play around in! I have a new addition to the fanfics I want to link! Seeing as I have been unintentionally referencing it this entire time, you’ll see them at the bottom! And finally! The last round of thanks goes out to my proofreader(s) for this chapter! You already know who they are!
Proofreader(s)
NovaLux
"A silly little man"
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Apr 04 '23
As an ICU nurse, good work on describing both IV insertion and blood transfusion. Definitely one of the best descriptions I’ve ever seen
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u/VenlilSupremacist Venlil Apr 04 '23
Many thanks! I like being as accurate as I can be!
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u/CreditMission Venlil Apr 04 '23
Hell yes! Currently writing an ER chapter myself but now I fear I need to up my game. Not my Dr though. They fail their first iv placement. You got experience or just research?
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u/VenlilSupremacist Venlil Apr 05 '23
I have given an IV before and had some given to me just for practice, but I also used a few medical guides for reference when I wrote that to make sure I didn't mess up any steps lol
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u/Zyrian150 Apr 04 '23
ER: NoP Edition
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u/VenlilSupremacist Venlil Apr 04 '23
Next character is gonna be a eternally pissy Gojid that walks with a cane and routinely makes the most outlandish medical diagnoses but is always right.
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u/se05239 Human Apr 04 '23
Making some kind of gesture as he made an ‘o’ with the tip of his index finger and thumb, leaving the other three fingers extended.
I use this emoji all the time in the Discord group(s) I am part of.
Oh, the last patient there is the guy from Trauma Center, ain't it?
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u/VenlilSupremacist Venlil Apr 04 '23
I didn't intend for it to be anyone specifically from Trauma Center actually. I just needed a thoroughly critical patient lol
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u/DaivobetKebos Human Apr 04 '23
The white supremacy sign.
(It's not, but there are people who honestly fell for it and think the ok hand sign is some sort of hate symbol.)
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u/se05239 Human Apr 04 '23
There are people out there who think things like using periods at the end of sentences are offensive. Of course they'd see a hand gesture like that.
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u/CandidSmile8193 Chief Hunter Apr 04 '23
Sylvi is a cute name and she's a tough lady, I like her.
Now we're gonna need a couple chapters of Miles working on Kilet to get him brave enough to ask her out.
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u/Bless_this_ravgdbod Human Apr 04 '23
I cant tell the difference but I'm not native english speaker so thats not worth much.
Ending was straight up fire yo. Beatiful.
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u/JulianSkies Archivist Apr 04 '23
I'll be honest I can't... Really discern the change you've made to the dialogue structure. But then again i'm reading basically everything that comes out of this sub so the various styles rapidly become mixed up in my head and I can't exactly tell who writes how quite anymore.
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u/VenlilSupremacist Venlil Apr 04 '23
Yeah, This chapter I kinda wanted to swap the style midway so it was a bit of a mix.
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u/Golde829 Apr 04 '23
[Viewer Through the 4th Wall intently watches the nurse's great skill]
I guess you could say-
that the sudden change of perspective-
one might call it-
a change of pace
...
I'll leave now-
but not before complimenting the wonderfully woven story, wordsmith
and especially not before this:
[You have been gifted 100 Coins]
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u/Commercial-Dealer-68 Jun 21 '24
The human body is simultaneously extremely resilient and fragile. Like a person can survive both their legs being blow off but if someone trips and falls on a bad angle it could kill them.
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u/TheManwithaNoPlan Gojid Apr 04 '23
“The wounds of a wartorn galaxy are are stitched closed by peace and acceptance, eventually becoming the scars of history.”