“Small routine checkup – Engineer’s Physical”

Posted on Wed Feb 3rd, 2021 @ 11:46am by
Edited on on Wed Feb 3rd, 2021 @ 12:25pm

Mission: The Thorion Conundrum Mission Brief
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: After Promenade Incident

[On]

–Leto Corridor on the Way to Sickbay–

Lieutenant Dougherty strode confidently along the hallway. Unfortunately striding confidently tended to cause things to bounce, and her male crewmen tended to notice, even if they pretended not to notice. Her large mess of curly red hair, which had a gravity all its own, bounced down her back as she walked to sickbay.

“Damn numbing agent,” she muttered to herself. “My nose tingles, and I won’t be able to smell for another 3 hours.”

–Sickbay–

“Excuse me,” Jamie said as she saw a human in science colors. “I’m wondering if you know where the doctor is. I need to confirm she received my medical file and prescription.”

Samantha turned at the sound of a voice behind her. She was sporting a lab coat over a teal blouse; with her slacks it could be easy to mistake her for a Starfleet officer. She saw the tall, well-endowed woman and blinked. She realized the woman probably mistook her for a member of the medical staff. She finally smiled and shook her head. “I wish I could help you out, but I’m actually here to get a checkup myself.” She struck out her right hand. “Doctor Samantha Blake, Geologist, and all-around party animal.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Jamie said with a smile as she took the proffered hand. “I’m Jamie Dougherty, the Assistant Chief Engineer on board. I might’ve been chief, but I was a little late to the party. I got held up by a few Orions,” she chuckled. “I’m a bit of a party animal myself. Let me know if you want to go get into some trouble sometime,” Jamie said with a conspiratorial tone, a flick of her eyebrows (OOC: kind of like Ryan Reynolds does when he’s being sarcastic). Jamie gave the doctor a once over with her eyes as she said that.

Samantha grinned mischievously while giving Jamie a wink. She enjoyed having a good time with a friend who could keep up with her. “We still have one night left in port. We could make it one the station would never forget.”

“Well, ladies first,” Jamie said, making a theatrical gesture of her hand towards the CMO’s office, bending forward, letting her mass of red curls fall forward as she did. She looked up with a smile as Blake got called.

The doctor’s assistant came out; an intelligent quadruped emerged from somewhere in the back. ‘She’ spoke with the universal translator that was a part of her commbadge attached to her collar. =/\=Who was first?=/\=

Samantha gestured to Jamie. “A ship’s engineer takes precedence over a scientist who studies rocks.”

Jamie gave a nod and a wink to Blake as she left the room. ~She was cute, too bad I’m not into women anymore~ Jamie thought as the doctor called her in for a routine checkup.

–Sickbay – physical–

The quadruped led the way back into the main part of sickbay. Doctor Laith stood over the central/surgical biobed programing some settings to hir specifications. S/he looked up. “Lieutenant Dougherty? I am Doctor Laith, but everyone calls me by my middle name, please feel free to call me Doctor Tamara.” S/he smiled warmly.

Meanwhile the quadruped nodded, =/\= I’ll leave you in the capable ‘paws’ of our lovely doctor, don’t worry, s/he won’t bite.=/\= ‘She’ departed to parts of sickbay beyond.

“Will do, doc,” Jamie smiled. She jumped up on the biobed, which let her endowments jiggle a bit before settling down. She swung her lower legs back and forth, hands grasping the edge as she leaned forward a little towards the Doctor. Her huge mess of red curls slid forward a little as she watched the Doctor get ready. “So, I don’t know if you read my full file…there were a few, uh…redactions and amendments…”

Tamara cringed at the use of the shorthand, ‘doc,’ s/he didn’t know why, s/he just hated that term. S/he tried to hide hir reaction, however. “I’m sorry, I’ve only been here less than 24-hours. We’ve had one physical or another back to back all day today.” Tamara smiled, hir tail wagging lightly. Hir race wasn’t as shy as others, s/he didn’t try to hide it as s/he admired the Lieutenant.

“Yeah, well, Starfleet wanted me to keep all that stuff on the down low, to avoid ‘morale issues’ as they say,” Dougherty replied. “Suffice to say, this isn’t the body I had two years ago. If you can keep that to yourself, that would be great.”

“Lieutenant, I’m a doctor, not a gabby-gums, you can trust me, anything you have to tell entrust me with is safe with me, unless I’m compelled to divulge something for the safety of the crew or the ship.” S/he said practically with a practice s/he’d rehearsed many times over hir many years of service.

“The only constant is change, right? No use moping over the past, dwelling on it, you know?” Jamie replied. “Besides, if I stopped to think about it, I’d collapse into a puddle of tears. Bellringer ladies tend to have sensitive psyches like that, but enough about me. How’s my health? Theoretically I should be practically perfect in every way, if you believe the genetic engineers.”

Tamara frowned and hir tail drooped. “Well if you need anyone to talk to, my assistant doubles as a counseling aide and morale officer. She’s a good listener and really easy to talk to… (though I may be a little biased.)

“I’ll keep that in mind, Doctor,” Jamie replied with a nod, tussling a mess of her red curls as she did. “So, I’m a perfect specimen as usual?”

Tamara smiled, “hmm, that is still to be seen…” S/he teased. Taking up a PADD, s/he accessed Jamie’s records. “Hmm… it seems like you’re missing a few booster shots and one or two new inoculations you’ll need for this sector.”

“Ugh, shots,” Jamie replied with a scoffing sound. “I’ve had more than enough on Bellringer but do what you need to do. I’m a big…kid… I can deal.”

Tamara smiled; s/he was starting to warm up to this one. She seemed to have a warm, happy outlook on life. “‘Bellringer’ you’ve used that word before, what does it mean… other than one who rings a bell?” S/he listened as s/he turned and bent, holding hir tail high in a friendly posture, and retrieved a hyospray. S/he programed it as s/he listened.

“Sorry, I got used to saying it while we were in therapy,” Dougherty said in response. “Bellringer Station was an old genetic research facility that the Federation closed down about 30 years ago when the USS Stargazer found it, it was being used to experiment with human DNA; counter to the laws preventing genetic enhancement. Somehow the Orions got wind of it, and its research, and set up shop in there. They just needed some poor unfortunate suckers to experiment on, and they found a relatively defenseless shuttle of freshly graduated cadets…mine. So, after we got rescued, we were all the Bellringers.”

The doctor listened attentively offering active listening by nodding. “I see, so, how do you feel now about doctors and medical equipment, particularly surgical equipment? Would you be all right if I wanted to use the surgical arc to get better, more detailed scans for your physical? Would you like for me to invite my assistant in here? She could be able to help you relax a bit better.”

The Lieutenant thought for a moment. The doctor did need to know about her, despite her reservations on being probed. “Sure, go for it. I’m not really a fan of doctors and all their equipment, no offense. Imagine being given a series of drugs that causes your entire body to feel on fire, but being unable to pass out from the pain, and feeling your bones growing and grinding together into powder, things shrinking in or growing out. That’s what we all went through, and why we’re all a bit hesitant about the doctor’s office. I know you’re not them, but despite the year or more since, the past still leaves its scars that we carry today.”

“Actually Lieutenant, I’m sure I can get what I need from some basic bio-bed readings and some high res. tricorder scans. We could even forgo the bio-bed if you need, it will just be later today before I will get everything compiled and filed for my report.”

Tamara smiled. “If you need, I can invite my therapy assistant, Tamara in here, she can help distract you from what’s going on. She’s a really good listener, and when she’s doing her job many find her very distracting.

Jamie smiled, "I appreciate it. I might take you up on that sometime soon. But if I'm all good, I have an appointment with the warp core."

Jamie waved with a smile, looking back at the doctor as she left. She sashayed out, unconsciously swaying her perfectly shaped rear as she left the sickbay.

[Off]

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A post by:

Lt Jamie Doherty
Chief Engineer

Dr Ayasha Laith
Chief Medical Officer