Colonial Fleet Hospital Terra

[J Castorious, CMC (Ret)]

Where the military goes for its boo-boos!

[J Castorious, CMC (Ret)]

Pulling up to the Emergency Entrance to the Fleet Hospital, J stops the hummer quickly, causing Elea to brace herself against the dash. J jumps out of the vehicle, yelling to a nearby Medic.

"YOU!, Get that chair over here!"

The medic grabs the wheelchair and rushes over to the vehicle. J opens the door to get Elea out, all the while Elea is trying to regain her composure. She decided to let this play out, let J have his little moment before she lets him have a more fitting one. Elea gets into the chair as the medic wheels her into the ER, J running ahead barking orders to the Staff.

[Dr. Elea Kaun-Castorious, Surg]

The ironic hilarity of every moment left Elea speechless, and gasping for air - she had laughed so hard, she couldn't catch her breath, and each time she tried, she make a squeeking sound as she inhaled.

A medic quickly placed an oxygen mask on her face as J lowered her on to the wheelchair. A young resident named Chippy (how on Terra he ever got that name is a story for another time) listened to Elea's lungs with his stethoscope and diagnosed her with respiratory distress calling for immediate intubation to gain control of her breathing. He guessed that she had a foreign body in her lungs since the had just been out to dinner earlier.

As Chippy reached for the airway cart and prepped to insert a tube down Elea's throat, the medics lifted her up from the chair then laid her out flat on the gurnery.

Elea threw out both her hands to stop any further treatments then squeeked out " S S S T O P!"

She jumped off the bed, finally took a deep breath then said "I'm pregnant!"

[J Castorious, CMC (Ret)]

At hearing Elea's words, J did what he could only do under the circumstances-he fainted, in typical J fashion, bumping his head nicely on the left corner of the wheel chair, giving himself not only a nice bump, but a 2 centimeter gash on his right temple, sufficient to require at least 5 stitches. One of the medics immediately rushed to J's side, all the while Elea trying to get up from the gurney to attend to her husband, the laughter though almost being too much for her at times.

[Dr. Elea Kaun-Castorious, Surg]

Elea held her husband's hand somberly as Chippy put in the final stitch.

"There you go, General Castorious. That will do it." He cleaned up the blood and applied Capricillin ointment to the sutures then discharged him under Elea's care, just in case there was a deeper head injury and J forgot who he was.

Elea smiled at J then kissed his cheek.

"Well, at least we didn't waste a trip to the ER."

[J Castorious, CMC (Ret)]

Coming back to the real world shortly after the last stitch is placed neatly, J looks around the ER, then at Elea. Trying to figure out what happened, he has this confused look on his face.

"What happened? All I remember is you saying something about...PREGNANT? What? I mean, how...? Ok, I know HOW it happens, but, I mean? Really? Oh wow! I'm gonna be a daddy again! I need cigars! Ooohh! My head hurts. Who hit me and why?"

Chippy looks down at J and smiles.

"Well General, it seems the announcement caught you by surprise and, well, you went down, hitting your head on this wheel chair, so we had to give you a few stitches. You'll be fine. I'm releasing you to the care of your wife. Do you know who and where you are?"

"I'm Commodore Horatio Hornblower and this is the HMS Pintafore. Hell yeah I know who I am. I'm J Castorious and this is the Colonial Fleet Hospital on Terra, now can I go home?"

"Certainly Sir, whenever you are ready. I just need you to sign these release papers."

J took the pen offered and signed the release forms. Getting up off of the gurney, he held Elea's hand as she helped him. Thanking the ER Staff, Elea and J walked out towards the parking lot to head home for a much deserved celebration.

[Dr. Elea Kaun-Castorious, Surg]

As J helped Elea into the secret service vehicle, Elea turned around to see the ER staff staring at them both, and smiling from ear to ear every one of them.

"J, I think we made an impression." Elea said as she chortled petitely.

[J Castorious, CMC (Ret)]

J, still feeling a bit woozy from his graceful fall and somewhat shocked by Elea's news, looked at her, then the ER Staff, then back at Elea.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, impression. Like the one i made in that wheel chair with my head. I'm sure we'll see it posted on TerraTube soon enough. Well my dear, shall we head home?"

Looking at the young Lieutenant standing there, J smiled.

"You know the way, correct?"

"Yes Sir."

"Well, let's head there then. Please have someone drive our vehicle to our home Lieutenant."

"Already taken care of Sir."

J nodded, then climbed into the vehicle after Elea. The vehicle, along with the escort, headed to the Kaun-Castorious home.

[Dr. Elea Kaun-Castorious, Surg]

Elea collapsed into the plush seats, exhausted from the last few hours. She noticed the vehicle had a refrigerator so she reached in and found a Caprican Sprite to wet here thirst.

"No more caffeine for me ... again." she said drinking her bubbly clear soda.

"Aaaaaaah!" she mimicked Colonial TV while holding the can up to her like a commercial model. "So very refreshing."

[J Castorious, CMC (Ret)]

On the drive home, J felt the dull pulse of his comm unit. He pulled the device out of his jacket pocket and read the one word message.

Trouble

J sighed, loud enough for Elea to take notice and give him that look that only a wife can give to her husband. Leaning forward, J tapped the Lieutenant on the shoulder.

"Take me to my office, then take my wife home. And have the escort clear the way for us."

The Lieutenant nodded and spoke into the mic, directing the escort to begin clearing what little traffic there was from in front of them. At this speed, they would reach Marine HQ in a few minutes.

[Phineas Doral]

Smiling a wide grin, Phineas waited for the comm link to come to life. Seconds later, he could hear the sound of dead airwaves, then a sfot voice informing him he was ready to go. Sitting at his desk, which was covered with dust and debris, Phineas began speaking.

"My fellow citizens, this is President Doral. I am happy to announce that I have returned to my office and am currently preparing to oversee the defense of the planet and the impending assault on the invading Cylons. I know many of you have wondered where I have been and I apologize for leaving. My departure from the government center here in the capital was necessary, so as to lure the cylons into believing we were on the run. That is not and was not the case. We are very much here, Terran and Colonial, soldier and citizen. Together, we will wipe the cylons clear from this planet, our home. Tragedy has once again been brought to not only us but to our Terran brothers and sisters. Most of our civilian ships and quite a few of our military ships have taken the necessary precautions and have jumped away. Soon, they will return to us. I ask that anyone who hears this message and is near the city of Sparta to go there now and assist in the recovery efforts. Many have died there and many more are wounded. For now, please know that our gallant military is not only fighting the cylons but beating them back. We will win this fight and we will win it as one. May the gods shine their blessings down upon us, So Say We All!"

[Dr. Elea Kaun-Castorious, Surg]

"Dr. Kaun!"

The nurse hurried to the door of the call room.

"Dr. Kaun!"

Elea's head began to spin, her body aching and vision blurred as she awoke. Alarms began ringing in her ears.

"I'm up!" She paused looking around the room then grabbed the phone. There was nobody there.

"Dr. Kaun. You have a patient in room 7."

[Dr. Elea Kaun-Castorious, Surg]

Plastic Surgery Fellowship Duty Roster: 29 hour rotations:

Saturday 0700 - Thursday 28:59: Elea Kaun-Castorious, MD FACS
Friday 2900 - Wednesday 0659: Rendre Krumb, MD FACS

[Dr. Elea Kaun-Castorious, Surg]

"Oh this is nothing to worry about, little Pluot. The doctor will fix you right up," her father in the Terran uniform and side arm expressed with sympathy to the little angel to whom he devoted his entire life worth of struggle and war to protect. He was a Captain. Aide de Campe. His little plumb, a nickname derived from her first baby picture smashing food about her face and the table in front of her, had taken quite a spill from a stairway making a deep and unnerving cut across her forehead and over her beautiful little nose.

Elea prepared her instruments while the nurse injected the first sedative, and pain medication. She then reached for and turned a silvery knob that began releasing a pleasant smelling gas into the oxygen that fed into a tiny little children's mask resting over her mouth.

"Ready, Doctor." She announced as they each checked her vital signs for any change with the powerful anesthesia called Capri-Saarron.

Elea turned the magnifying lenses over her eyes then moved the tiny needle holder, and even smaller needle, inside the curved-shaped laceration. Not a puncture would penetrate her supple, china doll skin to prevent visible scaring. She moved quickly but carefully drawing the tiny needle in and out, almost imperceptibly to the Human, or even Cylon eye. With one last pull she drew the tissues together until only a tiny drop of blood oozed out of scant line where the edges of the skin once revealed her inner muscles. One of them re-attached with a Coddle-bonding technique during suturing.

"Aune! Done!" Elea spoke softly but enthusiastically to her parents. She nodded to the specially trained nurse to cease the anesthetizing gas that flowed into little Kellara's froggy mask. Her parents smiled as Elea wiped the drop of blood away then applied a thin layer of Supragel to seal and protect, the injury, and the new microsutures.

[Dr. Elea Kaun-Castorious, Surg]

Elea turned to the parents and nodded as she moved to leave the room.

The Captain, still holding his daughter's hand stood up from his chair.

"Thank you, Doctor. Thank you."

Elea smiled then closed the door, heading directly for her next assignment.