Medical Exam: Here's the offer...

Posted on Sun Jun 2, 2019 @ 10:53am by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson

2,242 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Plaga Navis
Location: Secondary Module - Deck 3, Main Sickbay, USS Victory

T'Mira headed towards sickbay. She hated this part of checking in. Each person was to go through the CO, the CMO, and the Counselor. It was a triple threat that left her feeling drained. She had been on edge for a while now and this was doing nothing for her nerves. Putting on a clean and pressed uniform she'd decided to get the exam over with. She wondered how long she could delay the counseling session.

The thing that made her feel better was that she had read up on the CMO. It had been a habit of her trade. She never met with anyone unless she knew what she could about them. There wasn't much just what was on her file but it was still better then going in cold.

She steeled herself and entered the medical bay. "Doctor Anderson?" She called out to the doctor not seeing her in the main bay.

"She's stepped out," Ensign Cromwell said, coming over at the call out. "I'm Maggie, her head nurse. How can I help you Lieutenant...?"

"I am Lieutenant T'Mira. I am here for my on board exam, as I am the new Chief Intelligence Officer," she said. She waited. She knew on some ships that the head nurse did these exams herself and then had the doctor clear the results but it all depended on the CMO and the regulations. She stood still and tall with her hands, in very Vulcan fashion, clasped behind her back holding a PADD that held her previous medical exam on the Mercury and not the one that she'd just had on the station. That one would remain a need to know exam and nobody, most definitely, needed to know.

The doors opened and a storm stomped in. "Pig-headed, stubborn, pain in the--who are you?" she said, her eyes narrowing. She noticed the ears and an eyebrow went up. "My apologies for the emotional display," she said, setting her jaw. "Your name, and department, please?"

"Greetings doctor. I am T'Mira, Lieutenant, Chief Intelligence Officer, recently assigned to USS Victory" She turned fully to the fire ball that had entered. She was used to outbursts. She tilted her head to the side. "Pig-headed? Were you in the company of a Tellarite? I know that humans find that the shape of their faces and the set of the nose reminds them of the Earth animal known as pig. Where was this pain...were you able to assist?"

Nicole's other eyebrow raised. "All right, Lieutenant, why don't you lie down and we'll get your exam finished." She walked over to a biobed and set her black bag down next to it, pulling out her tricorder and looking expectantly."

Fascinating that the doctor ignored her questions. She lifted herself onto the biobed and laid her head on what constituted as a pillow. "You are Lieutenant Anderson, 28, born on Rigel five, five foot six inches about 120 pounds at last recording. You are brown haired and your eyes are fascinatingly blue. I admit the photo in your file does not do you justice. I am impressed with your record I have studied it and the records of this crew. Impressive group. You will find I am in excellent health; the exam is not necessary." She hoped the doctor would take her word for it but had read in the file that the woman was stubborn. That might just make her run every test in the book. She suppressed a sigh.

Nicole's face was like stone. "One hundred eighteen," she deadpanned. Part of her wanted to chalk the conversation up to typical Vulcan-like behavior, but something was rubbing her the wrong way. She nodded to the padd in the woman's hand. "Can we set that aside, please?"

"Apologies. This is my last medical exam from the Mercury." She handed the PADD to the doctor as she studied the woman. "One hundred and eighteen. Noted."

Nicole's eyes narrowed as she brought the tricorder's probe up to the woman's head and began scanning. "Maggie, two vials worth please," she said without looking up from her tricorder.

Maggie turned and picked up a subdermal extractor and fitted an empty vial to it. "Hold still," she said, pressing it to the woman's arm and removing a small sample of copper-colored blood.

Nicole watched the readings. "Why did you bring me your medical records?" she said, idly.

"Standard Starfleet protocol. Section 351-2 of the personnel transfer regulation. Each transferring crew member will make available records containing their previous medical history to the doctor. Said doctor shall verify that records match those that were transmitted by previous medical officer. It is a fail safe of sorts." She watched as her green copper based blood swirled into the tube and looked back at the doctor. "Your race is human. May I ask..." She thought about her last conversation with Ward. "May I ask you a couple of questions Doctor?"

"As soon as you answer mine," Nicole said, turning to her, her ice blue eyes boring in. "Protocol is you have a copy made available for verification with Starfleet Medical, not delivered by hand. Why did you bring me your records?"

She studied her. "Make available implies bring doctor. Yes, some choose not to, and only do so when asked by the receiving CMO. Logic would dictate that saving time by bringing the records would free the doctor from asking; I have done my part doctor."

Nicole's eyes narrowed again. A lifetime among Vulcanoids gave her a unique perspective as she studied the other woman's face. "All right," she said, pulling a stool and sitting down. As Maggie took the second sample, Nicole nodded that she should give them a moment.

Once they were alone, she cross her legs and folded her arms. "Proceed with your questions."

"You are listed as human. Your alabaster shading and rather hypnotic eyes would lend to another heritage. I am fascinated by xenobiology, a hobby if you will. Can you account for these traits, are then evolutionary?" The one thing about T'Mira is she had no boundaries. She, in fact, had no filter. She asked what was on her mind, she spoke what was on her mind and she was very tactless at times without being aware of it.

*Great, another Yarin,* Nicole thought. "Anemia, pale skin is not that uncommon among humans, nor is blue eyes," she said smoothly. Granted, it's less common among brunettes, however they are traits from my mother's lineage. She's from Great Britain on Earth where pale is a rather traditional look."

"Hmmm" She tilted her head. "I see. Fascinating." She lowered her head back down. "Doctor I must make you aware of something."

"Oh?" Nicole said, her radar on.

"The lights above are uneven. While they are all separated roughly 6.37 centimeters apart the one on the right is 5.91 Perhaps a call to engineering might help with that."

"Oh not at all," Nicole said. "I have them placed exactly where I want them for proper lighting. Not every spot in Sickbay requires the same amount of light so I like the overlap so I know where I'm looking. Anything else?"

The non-uniform placement would have driven T'Mira mad. "I see. No, I believe I am fine." She sat up. She studied the woman. The Anemia comment and the way her eyes looked told T'Mira that the good doctor had something to hide. Being an intelligence officer she could see that but she wouldn't push it. She had her own issues she wished to hide. "Doctor. There is something that I wish to speak with you about."

"Given that's what we've been doing, I'll assume you mean something personal," Nicole said, dryly. "My office." She stood up, taking her bag and the padd, and walked across Sickbay to her desk, standing aside for T'Mira to follow. As the Vulcan sat down in a chair, Nicole sealed the door and sat behind her desk, dropping her bag, and crossed her legs again. "You have my attention."

She looked quiet uncomfortable for a Vulcan. "I have been having issues as of late. I...have trouble staying asleep. I will sleep briefly, then wake and have trouble getting back to sleep. Is there something that you many be able to recommend?"

"Several," Nicole said. "Has anything happened to you, illness, injury, et cetera, that hasn't been noted?"

She would say nothing of the good doctor's report on the starbase. "In my line of work injury is a given. I have been injured several time throughout my career. This started about two months ago while on Vulcan." She thought back to her encounter at the pillar.

Nicole wasn't in the mood to dance. "What happened two months ago on Vulcan that was different from the day-to-day activities you'd been performing before that?" she said.

If she said nothing out of the ordinary that would be a lie and she didn't lie. If she told the truth the doctor would have her locked up tight. For an intelligence officer she wasn't handling this well. "I met someone while on a meditation journey who assisted me with my meditations on life. It was an enlightening experience." She thought a moment. "Could a diet change cause sleeplessness?"

"I didn't detect any gastrointestinal issues," Nicole said. "What did you eat that was out of the ordinary? And what was the meditation for?"

She wondered briefly if the doctor ever considered a job in intelligence. Her interrogation skills were above average. "I have been eating less, overall. More of the food being Vulcan. Before that I had adapted to eating Bajoran food during my rehabilitation. The meditation was for centering and a logic booster of sorts."

"Rehabilitation from....?" Nicole said, holding up the padd T'Mira had brought.

She thought a moment. There was no way to avoid this truth. "Four years ago I was sent on a classified two year mission. My team and I were ambushed in our second year after the successful mission just prior to the point we were to return to Earth. I, and another team member, were injured while providing an opportunity for the rest of the team to leave safely. We were held for three months before Starfleet pulled us out. By that time the injuries were severe and those that had healed were not healing correctly. We were treated on a federation medical ship and then taken to Bajor for more care." She relayed the information as pure fact as if recalling something distant yet there was a hint of emotion, her eyes, normally a grey shade seemed to swirl with hints of colour to them the only indication of emotion, something her Vulcan countenance would not betray.

Nicole sized her up for a moment, looking directly into her eyes. "All right," she said. "Here's the offer: I'll prescribe something to help you sleep. You will detail every injury and treatment not in your official record. I don't need names and places, just what happened to you. You will also speak with our ship's counselor regarding your sleep issues, and you will report back here once a week until this goes away. Do you agree to these terms?"

No she thought. But did she have a choice? This was a new chance, a new start. Trusting people was not in her DNA as it always lead to her being let down. The only one that hadn't let her down was her half brother. "Alright. I shall agree to your terms. I however do wish to state, for the record, that I do not understand how the counselor will be able to help...I...dislike counselors."

"A Vulcan who dislikes emotional analysts," Nicole drawled. "What a surprise. Well, as Doctor Sanders has explained to me many times, the purpose of a counselor is precisely to help when others don't understand things. So, meet with her and I'm sure she'll find something you need help with. In the end, I'm sure you two will get along famously." She laced her fingers and gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

T'Mira stared at her. She quirked her head to the side as she did when confused. "May I ask a question doctor?...Other then the one I just did and the one now."

"Go ahead," Nicole said.

"Why should we wish to be famous? Or did you mean we would collaborate together on getting something famous?" She'd lived with humans a long time but never got the hang of their phrases. They confused her more often then not.

"Famous-ly," Nicole said, stressing the last syllable. "Adverb. Describing how well you will get along. You'll do fine," she said. "Now, you have paperwork to do, as do I. Is there any other way I can be of assistance?"

"No." She said. She tilted her head to the side and studied the woman. "Doctor you are a formidable woman. If I were a human I would be intimidated." She turned and headed towards the door.

Nicole smirked. She wished she'd been bluffing about the paperwork, but her time was split between the lab and Sickbay, and she was going to be in her office for some time. She sat back and sent a message to Camille telling her she'd be a while and she'd tell her all about it later. And that she loved her.

 

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