Medical over due

Posted on Sat Jul 6th, 2024 @ 3:21pm by Lieutenant Calliope Ito & Finley Walker & Lieutenant Commander Oscar McDonald MD

1,541 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Lacertae Mortis
Location: Sickbay | USS Arcadia
Timeline: Just before Shuttle Mission

ON:

Here she was. Calliope Ito standing in front of sickbay. She realized the importance of medical clearance but her mind flashed back to all the time she'd spent there after being liberated from the Klingons. She stood looking at the door and feeling her fight or flight instincts kick in. What was it that her Earth counselor said.....

Slow and steady, baby steps on things that make you uncomfortable.

She sighed. "You can do this."


Finley Walker was walking down the hallway and turned towards sickbay only to find the very person they were thinking about. Fin stopped and watched her staring at the door to sickbay. Having read the file they could only guess what that was about. Calliope's hands were balled into fists so tight that Fin could see the skin turn a pale white from the force.

Clasping their hands behind their back they walked towards Ito. "Lieutenant is everything alright?"

The familiar voice shook Ito out of her haze. "Oh...Walker...what are you doing here?"

Fin's lip twitched. "Getting a medical I guess. Yourself?"

"Yeah, that."

Fin pressed their lips together. "We have to enter the bay for that to happen." There was a moment of awkward silence. "Shall we do that?"

Ito looked at the door and then back at Fin an amusingly harried expression on her face. "Lieutenant?"

"Yeah, okay, I guess...maybe the doctor is busy."

"Do you have an appointment?"

Ito looked startled. "Yeah."

"Ah, then I am guessing the doctor is not busy. They are awaiting you. I on the other hand do not have an appointment."

"Oh well you can have mine." Ito turned.

Fin's hand shot out light lightening and they grabbed her arm. "Now now, you must clear medical before you go on duty right? You just came back from a shuttle mission and that is doubly important. Do you really want to risk it."

Ito was startled by the touch. She looked at Fin who removed their hand from her arm. She sighed. "I guess I should go."

"Come I shall enter with you to see if he can see me as well."

"Okay."

Fin studied her as she seemed to shrink into herself. "Shall I go first?"

Ito nodded.

Fin inclined their head. They entered feeling Ito close behind, very close as if using Fin to hide. "Doctor!" Fin called as they entered.

At first glance the medical bay appeared deserted until a voice spoke up from behind them. "You, Lieutenant, are late," Dr McDonald grumbled as he studied the pair, shaking his head before his piercing gaze fixed on the unexpected visitor. A Vulcan. At least in part, judging by the ears. Once it was unheard of to meet the offspring of a Vulcan and another race, yet Ambassador Sarek's decision to marry a human woman and father a child had brought about a shift in their thinking. Which was understandable. The man was revered and his word carried weight. And an excellent chess player.

What would Sarek do..? he had seen that on a t-shirt once. Perhaps Risa? He couldn't remember exactly where but he had bought one and it was now in a box waiting to be unpacked.

"And you. You, I do not know. You don't have an appointment or I'd have read your file. But you don't appear injured..?"

Fin raised an eyebrow. A most unusual man. "I am new, I am the ship's...chef. I was Starfleet so you can access my records at a glance. I was hoping you had time to give me an exam."

Ito shifted a little. "I can come back. I'm alright coming back."

Fin pinned the doctor with a stare hoping he understood that the Lieutenant wasn't fond of medical. "Nonsense you had an appointment I can wait here until the doctor is done."

Ito's hand on Fin's arm sleep tightened. "I'm perfectly healthy."

Fin kept studying the doctor. "Best let the doctor decide." Perhaps the man could put the lieutenant at east Fin's attempt certainly wasn't working.

Watching the pair, McDonald sighed inwardly. “Lieutenant time is a precious commodity, one I do not like wasted so Bio-bed 1 if you please,” he said, gesturing to his immediate right. “A medical is a painless but necessary part of life on a starship. Provided you are not a med student and it’s not a full moon, I do not bite.”

Picking up a PaDD he thrust it into Fin’s hands, “while you wait you can fill in your details, as I assume you have a name beyond just Chef?”

It was apparently a rhetorical question since he had already turned his back to deal with the Lieutenant. “Just lie back and let the scanners take baseline readings for comparison. Now, any concerns? Aches, pains, fevers, rashes or inclination to break into song for no reason?”

Fin entered their information and kept one eye on Ito.

Ito had made her way to the bio bed and had let the scan run. "I did get back from an away mission...nothing yet." She looked at the doctor. "Why would I want to sing?"

“Why indeed,” McDonald muttered drily. “I will take that as a no. Well, there are no indications so far that your away mission has harmed your health. A quick blood sample for analysis and we will be done.”

"Must we do a blood sample?"

Fin stood up and walked over. "Now then. Lieutenant. Starfleet is quiet serious about blood samples. Since you were with the Gorn it's best we get that out of the way." They motioned for the doctor to take the blood while they had her distracted. "Who knows what parasite you may have picked up."

“Quite,” McDonald confirmed with a nod. “Obviously any unusual symptoms, no matter how minor, means you are back here immediately even if that means you are in pajamas. Am I understood?”

As he spoke he used her attention on him as a distraction of sorts while he drew a blood sample. “Now, stay. I will be back in a moment.”

"I'm really fine....I mean I think I’m fine...." She paused. "Okay I’m sort of fine but totally Gorn unrelated.... I mean it's a small thing, had it for months."

Having taken only two steps before the Lieutenant spoke up, McDonald rolled his eyes in exasperation before turning back, arms folded across his chest and an expectant expression on his face. Why was it most patients made it so difficult?

“Yes?” He prompted.

"It's just the stress of change. Bad sleeping it will sort itself out."

“How long has this been going on for?” He queried.

"Two months. I am sure it will pass."

“Oh, really?” he countered, “and what exactly will be different tonight compared to the last sixty? You surely realize it is not something that is ‘going away’. “

"Well....it might...cause shots don't help."

Fin's lip twitched. "I think, good doctor, she is afraid of shots."

"I am not!"

“Regardless without a cause, there will be no shot. Given your medical scans seem within the norm, we should consider the reason may not be physical at all. Now, with prying ears elsewhere,” he looked pointedly at Fin, “to at least give the impression of patient confidentiality, please elaborate Lieutenant. Exactly when did this trouble sleeping start? And what is the trouble exactly? How severe and is it every night?”

Ito looked at Fin. Who stepped back. "I'll just move over there." Not that it would do anything. Vulcan's had excellent hearing.

She looked at the doctor. "It happened two months ago when I got my orders to ship back to Starfleet."

His expression screamed seriously?! but he settled for an exasperated sigh and shake of the head. “And you of course discussed this with our counsellor?” He commented, already sure of the answer. “I’ll run some more tests but this sounds like it may be more psychological than physical. And believe me, you’d rather speak of these things with the nice Lieutenant than have me dust off my psychiatric residency hat.”

"I'm fine. I don't need to speak to anyone." She said. Sighing she said. "These things happen. Change, lots of change is not good for sleep."

“Not listening to medical advice is also not good for you,” McDonald muttered with a weary sigh. “Since you are still physically fit, I am not making it an order. Yet. However, one week from now, you will be back here for me to take new scans to ensure that remains the case. Understood?”

She sighed heavily. "If I am alive I shall return."

"Wonderful," he quipped, shaking his head as he signed off on the medical report. And they called him grumpy?! "You are free to make your escape, no need to dawdle. Go, before I change my mind. Remember! One week. Don't make me come looking for you."

Ito sighed. "Are you always this grumpy?"

“No,” the physician admitted without any trace of humour, “I’m usually much worse.”

Fin gave a small smile. “Come on Ito, let’s give the doctor some room.”

OFF:

 

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