Gotta check this out

Posted on 16 Jan 2010 @ 2:27pm by

1,821 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: M3: Shore Leave
Location: Sick Bay
Timeline: Current

ON:

A grin curled on Don's lips, when he saw the reminder that he needed to go for a physical. He hated them, like any other crew member, but, depending who the CMO was, of course, it might be an very rewarding experience. He had been meaning to go without the reminder, but now as good a time as any and he made a prompt U turn to go to sick bay.

Walking into the medical facility, he placed a smile on his lips and squeezed past a very friendly nurse, looking around. "I am looking for the CMO," he said casually, craning his neck, but at long last giving the nurse his attention.

"She is in her office, Sir," came the answer from a very sweet looking junior nurse, obviously her first Starship assignment.

Don smiled again and made his way to the office, knocking on the side of the open door to get her attention. "Doc?" he said. "Can I join the queue?"

Without lowering her padd, Vanya raised her eyes, "If there is one, you would appear to have joined the wrong end of it," she observed, finally laying the padd on her desk with a click. She let her gaze do the work for her before she continued, gleaning rank, department, and a broad assessment of general demeanour from his body language. "What can I do for you, Commander?" she asked still seated.

"I am supposed to report for a physical," he said, smiling and assessing her at the same time. "Commander Killian," he said stepping forward, extending his hand. He knew she would know who he was, but he was being polite anyway. "If you have the time for that physical," he added.

Vanya rose and extended her hand across the desk, leaning forward to grasp his for a moment, "Well, Commander Killian, I have such a queue of eager clients that I'm not sure I can fit you in right now."

He glanced to the back as if he was looking at a long line of people. "I understand, but I bribed my way to the front," he begged jokingly.

She smiled, and shrugged for effect, because unless she was suffering from delusions, she was not exactly overwhelmed. "So what do you do, Commander Killian?" she asked with a smirk as her head was turned. He thought she knew who he was, and so she was inclined to pretend that she did not.

"Well, my main function is to keep the CO on his toes," he said. "And the crew happy," he said grinning, crossing his long legs casually as he leaned against the door. "Anything I can do for you?" he asked.

Vanya linked her fingers together and straightened her arms, pushing her palms out, "You can start by removing your jacket, and hopping on that biobed, Commander Killian." As she said is she slackened her fingers and extended one arm in a gesture of direction. "Once we're done, I'll let you know if I believe you're fit to give that sort of direction."

Don quirked his brow over his left eye and pushed himself away from the door frame, walking leisurely to the bed and hopped on effortlessly. He opened his color and removed his jacket, putting it down next to him. Linking his fingers and his shoulders back in a natural good posture, he sat there there waiting, a tiny smirk around his lips. Though his attitude was laid back and relaxed, his body was in direct contradiction to that. Scars across his upper chest told the story of a deep wound received on the battle field, where no sick bay was nearby. Years of hard training and discipline had etched his muscles into definition, making it seem like it had always been that way. 'I am ready Doctor," he stated.

It was a routine procedure, the physical rarely showed up anything that was not already known; for Vanya it was more an opportunity to assess the personality of her charges, rather than their physical state - she had found that knowing that was an advantage if they did ever need medical treatment, giving her an insight into how they would react - it helped to distinguish between the hypochondriacs who visited sickbay for a cut finger, and the stoics who would not seek help until it was a priest they needed rather than a doctor.

As she set the biobed to make its background scans and raised her tricorder to male her own she continued to talk, asking him not about the obvious and with today's medical technology uneccessary display of the scars of past conflicts but about more general matters, “So how would you say the general state of your health has been since you last physical … ten months ago, unless your record is out of date?â€

"Ten months?" Don said mock surprised, smiling. "I am trouble free," he said omitting the fact that his shoulder bothered him from time to time, putting it down to wear and tear. "And you Doc, How have you been keeping?" he asked. Even if it sounded like a witty question to ask the Doc, he was genuinely interested.

"I've been keeping very well," Vanya replied as her tricorder pipped. "Not even a twinge?" she asked laying it aside.

"You find your quarters all in order?" he asked wondering if he should tll her about the shoulder or not. I had been bugging more lately, but he hated complaining. "My shoulder does bother me a bit lately," he said. "But not all the time," he added quickly with a lame smile. "I don't want it to hamper me in schooling," he said. ~And it does~

Vanya placed one hand between his shoulder blades and with the other took his elbow, "Tell me if you feel anything," she said as she raised his arm, manipulating the joint.

Everything was fine, till she moved it backwards. "Uh... there," he said, and hid the flinch with a grin.

As she repeated the motion Vanya replied to his earlier question, "My quarters are adequate, that's the thing about starships - very few surprises on that front. Hmmm, how long has this been bothering you, or rather did you suffer a particular injury or event before you first felt the symptoms?"

He pulled his face a bit, trying to remember exactly when it started. He had two passions, horses and rock climbing. And chances were good that he was doing either one of those when it had started. "I had an gruelling eventing competition and went rock climbing after that, I don't know, I think it started after that weekend," he mused.

Vanya reached for her tricorder again, refining the settings to get a more accurate reading, "and you just went on climbing, eventing and sparring afterwards. How long ago was that, Commander Killian?"

"About two months ago," he said.. "Ok three, but it wasn't as troublesome then, it only became a bit worse lately..." he added. "So what does the readings say?" he asked with a toothy grin, hoping it would soften the blow that was sure to come.

She placed the tricorder aside, "You've got a stress fracture, Commander, in the scapula, and evidence of damage to the rotator cuff - that's the combination of muscles that keep the head of the humerus in the glenoid fossa, probably a result of continued activity without treatment."

"Ouch..." he responded. "But I never fell or anything.." he countered. "I worked hard... whoa.. " he said as the realization hit him. "The scapula, how did I get that right?" he asked but tying to think himself. Oh wait... I did fall in the arena during the warm up. It was nothing, a soft landing, I mean, another rider cut in front of me, while I was going onto a jump...could *that* be the cause?" he asked with disbelief.

Vanya nodded, "Its very common in the small bones in the feet where there is a lot of sustained pressure, sometimes people get unlucky and a trip in the corridor can spark the same thing in the leg - with you, its hit your shoulder." She spoke as she quickly prepared a hypospray.

“That's for the muscular swelling,†she said as she administered the dose, “I want to see you again in thirty six hours, if that has done its job, and the inflammation gone down I can put the fracture right … if not I might just have to get my scalpel out.†With great effort she prevented herself from clapping him on the shoulder in the pally manner she was sure his friends did, and it would have hurt him each time they did it.

"But I can ride, right?" he asked. "Or no?" he said when he saw the answer in her face. "Okay, Doc " he consented. "I will wait. I'd rather obey than invoke your wrath," he joked.

"Wise move," Vanya said, with a grin as she checked the general chart. "Avoid putting any further stress on it during the next thirty six hours, especially when you notice that it isn't hurting any more - that's your first indication that the medication is working. This sort of thing can be put right in seconds if you come soon enough, just you hope that that two or three months you gritted your teeth haven't led to any further damage. OK, you're good to go."

He flashed her a genuine rather relieved grin as he hopped of the bed and started to put his jacket on again, "Thank you Doc," he said. "i will behave. Now, are you good to go? Any supplies that are slow I can chase," he asked, not as a favour, but it was part of the more administrative part of his job to see that the departments were all ready.

Having tucked the hypospray into a pocket Vanya curled her fingers on her hips, "I haven't finished the inventory yet, too many eager strangers dropping in to catch up on long-missed physical exams, but I'll let you know if anything's amiss."

"Please do and if any other asshole comes in here to check out the Orion woman and give you this little crap," he said and indicated a minute amount with his fingers, "call me. I will sort them out," he said tongue in the cheek.

Vanya raised an eyebrow, "Oh, I think I can handle myself, but if I need anything from you, I'll be sure to call you."

"Of that I am certain, Doctor," he said grinning and then sobered a bit as his grin turned into a smile, jokes aside. "My door is open, if you need me, even for a break, I keep a couple of real beverages in my office," he invited. "Other than that I will see you in 36," he said.


OFF

Lt Cmdr Don Killian
XO

Lieutenant Vanya
CMO

 

RSS Feed