Major Medical

Posted on Sun Oct 21, 2018 @ 7:00pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Major Victor Crowe

944 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Plaga Navis
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: 10 minutes later...

Nicole's expert ears could hear the din before the doors to Sickbay even opened. She steeled herself and stepped in front of the sensor. The doors opened and she was assaulted by a raucous group of soldiers taking up most of the standing room in her Sickbay.

Her staff was up to their ears in marines as they tried to conduct pre-boarding physicals. She threaded her way through the crowd until she found her head nurse three men deep. "Maggie," she said.

"Doctor," Maggie said, relief clear in her voice. "They all showed up at once to report in for their physicals. We've gotten through most, but--" she gestured around. "It's social hour."

"All right, listen up!" Nicole shouted, her voice rising above the din. Those around her went quiet, prompting others to as well. "Everyone who has been cleared for duty needs to clear out now!"

There were some chuckles and a few grumbles, but they slowly began filing out. As they finally cleared, Nicole took a breath and wrinkled her nose. "Up the air circulation," she said to a nearby medtech. As he nodded and rushed off, she looked around the room. "Finish up and clear out in five," she said, her voice making it clear she wasn't to be defied.

She turned back to Maggie. "I want full workups. Blood, DNA, everything. If they have a mole, I want to know where."

"Yes, Doctor," Maggie said.

Nicole checked the chronometer on the wall. "Nine minutes, forty-seven seconds," she said, counting off in her head. She picked up a tricorder and prepped the only free biobed.

Vic entered the room and scanned for danger, as was his habit. So, this is the lair of Ms. Congeniality! he thought as he inwardly grimaced. He looked at the doctor, who was waiting patiently by a biobed. "What's up, doc?" he asked with just a touch of sarcasm. "The last time I was in bed with a doctor in the room, I was having a delicate procedure done..."

Nicole smiled. "Yes, I've read your file," she said. "A bold move having it elongated to a full four inches." She stepped out of the way and her smile dropped. "Get on the damn bed."

"Sweetheart, four inches is an accurate measurement for the circumference of the tip! The procedure I was referring to was the nerve grafts in my thigh. Exploding Cardassian grenades tend to sever limbs, but thanks to combat medics and physicians I still have all four of my limbs!

She flipped her tricorder open and sighed as Maggie brought a lab tray over. She ran the tricorder along his frame slowly, scanning straight through to his core while Maggie collected blood and epidermis samples. "Any recent injuries or illnesses not in your file?" she said.

Crowe mimicked her sigh, then adopted an annoyed glance. "Well, I have this annoying ringing in my ear anytime someone feels the need to be an asshole, or assumes that all Marines are neanderthals."

"Mark him down for frequent tinnitus," Nicole said to Maggie.

Vic took a breath then continued. "Would it surprise you to know that Marines regard most doctors in Starfleet Medical with respect? Not too many people are willing to run into a heavy firefight to retrieve Marines shot to shit, or pieces of Marines lost as a result of the aforementioned firefight." Crowe held up his hand, stopping the doctor's scan. "Look, Doctor, I don't know what crawled into your shorts and gave you a case of raging bitch-itis, but neither my troops, nor myself did it. So, if you can curb the sarcasm and snottiness, I can promise that I will treat you and your staff with the respect you are entitled to, and not the respect you deserve." Vic let his eyes bore into hers, conveying a silent warning to drop the subject.

Nicole's eyes flared red for an instant. "It might surprise you, Major, to know that neither myself, nor any staff that I've worked with have regarded marines on the whole as neanderthals. Nor do we assume you all refer to senior officers as 'sweetheart.'"

She took his hand and peeled his fingers off of her arm, pulling his grip back without much effort and bringing her probe down to his leg and hip. She raised an eyebrow and ran it over his arm. "You said a combat medic did this procedure? Didn't happen to be an Andorian, did it?"

"Yes'm. Jovial kinda guy!"

"Use of the medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve, pattern of the microsuture scars, and the realignment of the nerve clusters in your arm are some trademarks of Doctor Krovar. He was briefly assigned to my department when I was Chief of Surgery at the Rigel Medical Academy Hospital. Very competent Doctor. I advised him while he was developing this technique. It was impressive. I'm glad to see it working. Your neural rate is almost optimal."

Crowe blinked in surprise, then nodded appreciatively. "He learned well. No trace os stiffness at all." There were times when Vic felt like an idiot, and this was one of them. "Doctor, I am glad you're aboard."

"Reserve judgement for later," Nicole said,dryly. "You're cleared for duty, Major."

"Thanks, appreciate it!" Vic rose from the bed and replaced his uniform, adjusting his 3P Marine phaser pistol at his hip. He opened his mouth to say something, but turned and abruptly left the exam area. "Crowe to MCC: get the senior Marine officers together. It's time for our introductory powwow!" he said as he tapped his com-badge.

JP

Lt. Nicole Anderson
CMO

Major Victor Crowe
Marine CO

 

RSS Feed