Inbox: Pumpkin Hollow

[lovinglefthand]

An In-Character inbox for First Aid, chief clinician and surgeon at the Winterbottom clinic.

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[theresalwaystheview]

Bart's eyes turn up to him, clearly taken aback by the reassurance. His lips part and adam's apple bobs slightly as he swallows down on the tightness in his throat.

"I...no, you're just being kind. I know that I'm in over my head, here. It's why I'm glad to have others with more experience than I've got to ask for input from. Without your help I wouldn't be able to offer much at all."

[lovinglefthand]

First Aid's visor dims, his version of a frown. He knows this is his just desserts for all the mistakes he's made, but... "I wouldn't make up or exaggerate something like that, Bart," he says quietly, trying not to sound hurt. "Not about medicine. It's too important to be sentimental about."

He looks down at Bart's notes. "Needing to collaborate with others on a case like this isn't anything to be embarrassed about. Actually, on my Earth it'd be normal. For a surgery like we were just talking about, there could be as many as eight people in the room while it was going on. The anesthesiologist, the head surgeon, his assistant, nurses to monitor the patient...and for a burn patient, there'd be even more specialists coming in and out. Trying to do it all with just the two of us, plus Sally...if it weren't so necessary, I'd wonder if we'd gone crazy."

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart's hands twist together, fidgeting now that he's not handling anything. "In my time it was common for there not to be many collaborators on these decisions when it came time to actually perform the necessary surgeries. There were automated methods that only required someone to be there to oversee. I've been having to learn all of it from scratch, more or less. A biologist shouldn't be a doctor but the principles of the former can be applied to the latter, obviously. That, and the common sense measures of my era are far beyond what the general population here is up to date on, so I've got the leg up that means it can be applied to others' education. Doctor Watson has been able to avail himself of my notes and ask questions, though I haven't been able to tell him everything I can remember. I don't want to give him any information in error without checking with others."

[lovinglefthand]

"You're from a very advanced society," First Aid reminds him gently. "But for most of human history, do anything of note as a team was the norm. You've been wonderful in gathering data on the island and helping Dr. Watson get up to speed, and now you're being equally wonderful in collecting this data and bringing it to people who can help your patient. Bart..."

First Aid sighs through his vents. "Being able to get relevant information from a patient is a useful skill. So is knowing who to take it to, so you can build a team with complementary skills to get the patient the care they need. Can you imagine what would have happened if Touya had walked into Dr. Watson's office, and you hadn't been there? If he was still working off a late 19th century knowledge base? I'm not sure plastic surgery had even been invented yet."

He ventures to pat Bart on the shoulder. "I can't make you believe it, but that doesn't mean it's not true. You're doing good work here, Bart."

[theresalwaystheview]

"The unfortunate downside of being from a time so much more advanced is that old treatments that would have been available in times like this have been lost, while I am lacking in the material to make my knowledge base particularly useful outside of the theoretical. I'm trying to remedy that, but the need far outstrips the ability to fabricate it all. I need stainless steel and titanium tools, but I make do with copper. Even then, people aren't just going to take it from me that I know what's better for them. The old women with their gout that have decided my recommendation of varied diets is just silly nonsense and potatoes suit them just fine because potatoes suited their fathers just fine..." Bart huffs and draws his hands down his face, letting himself slouch in place.

"I want to do right by him. I want this to work. If we can make those breakthroughs just imagine how many lives we might save when the barrier is lifted."

[lovinglefthand]

"I'm pretty sure there are stubborn old people and uncooperative patients in every time period," First Aid points out with a gentle laugh. "You can't make people accept care, you can only offer them options and education. Isn't there a human saying about that, 'you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink?'"

He gently rubs Bart's back, accepting some of his weight when he slumps in place. "Touya's interested in accepting help, so let's focus on him for now, okay? It's so noble of you to want to help everyone, but sometimes the best thing to do is to put your head down and focus on the steps right in front of you, you know?"

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart huffs a small laugh, not quite managing a smile at First Aid's apropos assessment. When he opens his mouth again, it's with a curled lip and a thick Scottish accent, recounting one of the logs that his fathrr had left behind:

"I turned 80 years old last week. I thought I had another 80 in me, but marooned on this planet there's nae swappin' out of my liver when the old one fails. Here, I'm mortal."

Then he lapses back into his own normal, gentle speech pattern . "I have been. As much as I want to be useful, I seem to be failing more than I'm accomplishing. If I focus on just this one thing for a bit, then...then it should be better."

[lovinglefthand]

First Aid sighs quietly. "I don't have the highest opinion of your father," Understatement, "But that's still a terrible way to go. He must have been so scared before the end, whether he admitted to it or not."

He probably didn't. Personalities like that think showing vulnerability is the worst thing ever. But that doesn't mean he wasn't feeling it.

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart's hand curls against First Aid's forearm, his shoulder against the other's side. "He'd never been truly vulnerable before. He tried to maintain this absolute death grip on control in spite of his rank meaning nothing at all and his orders making no sense. He was terrified, and bad at not showing it. I...I don't know if he ever really loved me, but it was hard, watching him spiral out. I want to hope that he didn't suffer when the leviathan attacked. Drowning is such a terrible way to die..."

[lovinglefthand]

First Aid gently strokes his back. "You feel that way because you're a better person than he was," he points out. "You cared, whether or not he did. That's a noble thing, Bart."

He sighs quietly. "I wish it hadn't happened that way, but I'm glad you got away from him. You deserve so much better."

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart laughs quietly, hollowly. "That may be so, but it feels bloody terrible."

The gentle gust of warmth from the sighed exhaust at least earns a small tilt of a smile. "I'm making better for myself here than I think I would have been able to back there. I would have made a lot of money, and almost certainly been deeply unhappy. I'm not a corporate sort of person."