Medical Probing

Posted on Wed Aug 30th, 2023 @ 8:26am by Lieutenant Commander Damien Maillet

1,015 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Season 1, Episode 1: Wanted: A Few Brave Men
Location: Medical Deck

Lieutenant Commander Damien Maillet’s first day aboard the station was scattershot. He had lots to do; many places to go, and people to see.

He knew most officers disliked the various arrival duties, but he thought maybe he might meet some new friends as he flitted between various offices.

Next was the medical deck for an arrival checkup. “Allo? Docteur? he called as he walked into a triage room.

Having been busted several time pumping her music through the speakers usually used for the Comms at extreme volumes, Heather had been forced to resort to an old pair of headphones and a small multimedia device. The result was she could hear nothing of the outside world. Instead she sat at her desk and worked on forms while blasting out her eardrums bad enough a lesser officer would be bleeding from the ears.

Damien found the diminutive doctor, looking at the contents of her desk and distracted by noise so loud that he could make out the lyrics from three meters away. Mon Dieu. How could someone be so callous with their hearing?

He gently leaned down to try to catch her eye, offering a warm smile.

"Holy shi-!" Heather said suddenly noticing that she was not alone in her office anymore. She quickly pulled her headphones off and did her best to act like she hadn't had the crap scared out of her. "Erm, hello! How can I help you?"

Her best acting did not convince the Chief Comms Officer, who could only laugh. "Sorry, Doctor. I'm here for an arrival check-up. Damien Maillet."

"Ah, of course. No I've been having troubles with the medicomputer all day, ain't been working right since I got here. Anyway it means I have'ta do scans the old fashion way. Now we can do the quick and easy way or the full mediscan," Heather said with a shrug. "Your choice."

"The full mediscan won't electrocute or stab me in any way, will it?" Damien asked. "I've had bad experiences so far with gravity plating, three doors, and a food dispenser. The mediscan is the best choice but if it's going to stab me with needles I'd rather do the easy one."

"Needles? Really?" Heather asked raising an eyebrow. She didn't even think she had any needles in stock. They weren't used very often as the hypospray did the job without damaging skin. She picked up her tricorder and began moving the scanning probe over him. "So, any medical conditions I should know about?"

“Nothing long term,” he answered. “I caught choriocytosis along with most of my crewmates three years ago, but I was told there would be no lasting effects. That’s the most sick I ever got. I try to stay fit, though I’ve not seen if the station has a gym yet.”

"Okay, well I ain't to happy with that, but I think your doc is right and there shouldn't be at lasting effects," Heather said with a sigh as she continued her scan. "Ate you getting plenty of good exercise? Eatin' right?"

“I try,” Damien said. “An hour on the treadmill or stationary bike or rowing machine with an audiobook is an hour well spent, Doctor,” he added with a smile.

"Good fir the body isn't always good fir the mind, be sure you're getting plenty a good rest too," Heather replied with a smile and nod. She did like to hear that her patients were getting plenty of exercises, but she also wanted to make sure their downtime was spent well too. She snapped the tricorder shut and tucked the scanning wand back inside it. "Well, I can't find anything wrong with ya. But we could always do a more detailed probing." She giggled menacingly.

Damien laughed nervously and slowly backed away. “I don’t think probing is necessary,” he said. “Wait, you’re joking, right?”

"I don' know... Maybe," Heather teased threatening. "I mean a simple scan didn't find anything, maybe a more detailed, probing, scan might." She tapped her chin.

He still stepped backward, a giant bead of perspiration seemingly manifesting on his forehead. "Hehe, why don't I just tell if you I start feeling any symptoms of anything?"

"What fun would that be?" Heather asked with a laugh. "Nah, don't sweat about it. I'm just giving ya the works. Gotta have some fun somehow."

Damien hung his head, ashamed he didn’t see the joke for what it was. “That we do,” he agreed. “While I’m here, I should ask whether you have any specific needs for the Comms department.”

"Ya, louder speakers in my office, somethin' t' rattle my bones a little," Heather replied giving him a wicked grin. "But, an, I'm good. I know how to hotwire it myself."

“We should do it together,” Damien said. And then he immediately got flustered, realizing how it sounded. “I mean—we should upgrade your speakers together! Because…the station’s so broken. You might know how to do it anywhere else, but here you shouldn’t trust that it won’t blow out the speakers all over the deck.” His face was beet red at this point.

Heather could not help but smile as her cheeks turned a little pink. Something about the fact that he got all awkward made her feel awkward. "We could do it," she blurted out. "I mean we could do the upgrade. That would be nice."

"Okay!" he said, excitedly. Maybe too excitedly. He tried to scale it back. "Next week. You get the speakers you want, and I'll look into the comm system on the deck. I'll also do a check of the soundproofing some time when you're off duty." He gave her a smile. "I'll bring some sandwiches too."

And with that, he left sickbay, not realizing that CMO Honey would actually be reassigned before they could do the installations.


Posting by (In order of appearance):

Lieutenant Commander Damien Maillet
Chief Communications Officer, Deep Space Station K-9

Lieutenant Heather Honey
Former Chief Medical Officer, Deep Space Station K-9

 

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