Medical check-in

Posted on Sun Mar 31st, 2024 @ 4:18pm by Lieutenant Lanna Alexander & Lieutenant Commander Oscar McDonald MD

954 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Lacertae Mortis
Location: Sickbay

Walking into Sickbay Lanna looked around curiously, she had to admit she was highly impressed with the ship as a whole. Walking across to a grey haired man in medical uniform she smiled warmly. "Excuse me, you must be Doctor McDonald?"

Suppressing a sigh at the interruption, briefly wondering when his office would be back in action, McDonald set aside the supplies he was indexing to study the woman now standing opposite. He gestured in her direction, his brain working to put a name to the face. Snapping his fingers a few times it suddenly came to him, “Ah! Of course. Alexander,..yes?”

Lanna nodded. “That’s me! Lanna Alexander, the new Chief Counsellor.” She smiled warmly. “Do you need a hand? I’m more than happy to help.”

“I believe with so many new crew you will have more than enough of your own work to keep you busy,” he noted. He paused, grudgingly adding, “but thank you for asking.”

And they said he couldn’t play nice.

“My pleasure” Lanna smiled warmly. “And you are quite correct, I will have plenty of work ahead of me. Speaking of which I thought I’d best check in for my medical, if it’s not inconvenient of course.”

"I believe the biobed in the far corner is working, the rest may decide you are a Tellarite suffering from Bendi Syndrome," McDonald quipped, gesturing behind her to the area in question. "Get comfortable, I will gather what I need and be with you in a moment."

Lanna nodded, walking over to the biobed she made herself comfortable to await McDonald’s return.

As he gathered his equipment, McDonald glanced up as the doors to Sickbay opened and more engineers filed inside and began to fan out to attack the many issues he had spent an hour distracting. Yes, some things were perhaps petty but if he didn’t demand high standards who else would, hmm?

A flash of blue amid the red caught his eye and he simply nodded towards his office before heading towards the waiting counsellor. Activating the biobed he stood at the foot of the bed, arms folded as he studied the readings for a moment before nodding to himself. “Vital signs nice and strong, and not a hint of Bendi Syndrome,” he added wistfully. “Generally, how are you feeling?”

“Generally pretty good” Lanna offered a smile. “With my abilities it always takes me a bit of time to adjust to being in new places, but having a husband whose a Doctor helps a lot.” She paused. “Jarin and I have talked about trying for another baby, it took a little while for me to get pregnant with our son. The doctors we saw put it down to my being a hybrid more than anything else.”

His eyebrows raised a little in surprise, unable to imagine anyone serving aboard a Starship and coming to the conclusion that this was a suitable environment for a child, let alone add another. “If needed, we can arrange consultations,” he advised as he scribbled notes on a PaDD. “While I have been researching your people, it has not been with a view to helping you conceive and more focused on general health and emergency care.”

He turned his back as he prepped to take a blood sample, “once I have this sample, we will be done,” he confided as he set to work, perching on the edge of a stool as he watched the small vial fill. Setting it aside he rolled up his sleeves, pursing his lips and nodding to himself as he consulted the readings he had taken.

“Beyond what seems to be signs of minor sleep deprivation,” he announced, “it is a clear bill of health. “

Lanna nodded. “Thank you Doctor, I get the feeling you don’t entirely approve of raising a child aboard a starship?” She gave him a curious look. “I know it’s a restricted space, but the opportunities to learn out here are worth it I think.”

“To learn?” He almost laughed as he shook his head. “Apologies Lieutenant but that is imagining a perfect galaxy. The Klingons, the G …the Gorn …. That is not even the start of the dangers involved in the exploration of our galaxy. I pray such things stay clear of you and yours, but in my personal opinion, children should not be on board a Starship.”

He knew as many people would hate his point as agree with it. And yes it was old fashioned perhaps. But he had seen so much death, particularly during the war. And now… he quickly pushed aside his worries about their missing CO as he pushed back his stool and stood. “As I said, just my opinion. You are all good to go and I’ll upload your medical clearance to your personnel file.”

Lanna nodded, not commenting further on the point regarding children. “Thank you Doctor, I appreciate your help.” She smiled warmly before heading for the door.

“Anytime,” he said as he watched her go. As the doors closed, he sighed as he heard someone clear their throat. “Before you say it, I already know how delightful I am.”

“Oh, believe me I know,” Chloe O’Connor replied with a somewhat amused smile, “But now that you’ve made a new not a friend, care to tell me why I’m here?”

“That will take a little while. Did you bring that single malt?”

“Of course. I always pay my debts, you know that!”

“Good,” he nodded as he steered his guest towards his office, “Because it is a difficult story to tell otherwise and I am going to need your help…”

OFF

 

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