Unavoidable Encounters - Part II

Posted on Sat 25th May, 2013 @ 4:01am by Commander Jasmine Collins-Keller & Commander Mikaela Locke

1,266 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Deck 83 - Infirmary
Timeline: MD-05

[ON:]

Aside from the routine psych appointment, a visit to sickbay were usually the thing that Mikaela Locke hated the most about the commencement of a new assignment. In fact, it was the thing she hated most about any part of any assignment.

For this reason, her steps along the corridors of deck eighty-three were somewhat laboured. As others bustled around her, overtaking her as they journeyed from one part of the station to another, she proceeded at a crawl, mentally preparing herself to what was to come.

And it wasn't that she had any fear of the outcome of the impending encounter, rather, it was the encounter itself. The prodding and poking, the scanning and the inevitable questions, the answers to which would almost always be in her file, if only the attending physician could be bothered to look.

She arrived outside the infirmary entrance and paused, briefly, steeling herself.

"Here we go..." she muttered to herself as she took a step forward, allowing the automatic doors to slide open before her. Taking a couple of paces in to the room, she glanced around and caught the attention of the nearest medical technician. "Excuse me," she began, politely, "Is the CMO here?"

Rhiannon smiled. "Well the CMO has five minutes left on her rest period but if you want to have a seat, she'll be here shortly." Rhiannon being the Medical Officer on duty was used to others asking for the CMO. With everything Nyx had been through over the last few days, she was under orders by Rhiannon and Kell to nap each day for at least two hours until she was completely back on her feet. "If you're injured or ill, I can get things started." She offered.

"Um, no. Neither," Locke replied, surprisingly, finding herself having to think about the question. "I'm Lieutenant Mikaela Locke, I'm reporting for my pre-assignment medical exam." She glanced around the room and shuddered a little, internally, at the stark, clinical look of the room. "I'm happy to wait, if it helps," she lied, conscious that postponing the appointment would merely prolong the agony.

"That won't be necessary." Rhiannon grinned. "I'll get started on the preliminary scans and Doctor Nyx can take over when she arrives." Rhiannon walked over to the first bio bed and picked up the medical trichorder. "Why don't you come and have a seat?"

Mikaela slowly crossed to the bio-bed that the young woman had indicated and gently pulled herself up, and took a couple of deep breaths, preparing herself for the scanning and prodding which was to come. She watched as the woman who had met her continued her initial preparations. Mikaela placed her in her late twenties - certainly older than she was - and, by her junior-grade lieutenant insignia, that probably made her a doctor rather than a nurse. This was good.

"Any medical history Doctor Adanyxia should be made aware of? Broken bones, permanent scarring, illnesses with lasting effects?" Rhiannon asked as she tapped orders into her console for blood tests she knew Nyx would ask for.

"I once broke my arm in a skiing..." she paused, choosing her wording carefully, "Incident," she finally said. "And if by 'permanent scarring' you are referring purely to the results of medical procedures... Then no."

"Scars of any kind, in the skin; superficial or otherwise." She smirked. "Some stubborn ones prefer to wear their battle scars as badges of honor in stead of using the dermal re-generator to negate them." She made a not on the PADD that would become the woman's permanent medical record. "I'm looking for distinguishing marks so you can be identified if necessary, although I hope never to have to resort to that." She made her comments in the chart. "I'll get Nyx for you now."

Rhiannon left the room and in a few moments, Nyx entered.

"Good afternoon Lieutenant." Nyx came in. A young Marine walked in behind her and moved to the far corner of the room. He stood as inconspicuously as he could and tried to give the pair their privacy. "This won't take long." She smiled as she picked up the PADD. "Rhiannon says you look to be in good health. I'm going to do a bioscan with the trichorder and we'll be just about done."

"Thank you," Mikaela replied quietly, still mulling over whether she needed to discuss her tattoos with the red-headed doctor who was busy scanning her. Since they were noted in her record that, she assumed, her two attending physicians would have accessed. Figuring that do bring them up would only prolong the encounter, she chose not to, instead, just remaining still and quiet, allowing the doctor to complete her scans.

As she scanned the young woman, Nyx made mental note of anything she saw out of the ordinary. "You have several tattoos." She mentioned flatly. "Do they hold meaning for you?" She asked trying to be personable with her patient. She had three of her own; one tattoo was a mark of ownership that had been put on her by the one man that had just tried to murder her. It meant she'd been someone's property. Another tattoo, that of two links in a chain one with her name and the other with Kell's. The two of them had got the tattoos together just over a year ago after Kell had professed his love for her and had linked their minds when he claimed her as his Imzadi. The third held no special meaning but was a brightly colored flower just inside her hip bone. She'd gotten that one after a long night of drinking and dancing when she was seventeen.

Locke smiled to herself and raised half an eyebrow as the doctor mentioned her tattoos. Clearly her intention not to discuss them was not as realistic as she had imagined.

"Not really," she replied coyly, "A couple are the result of... um," she hesitiated as she decided the best way to phrase her confession, "Well, let's just say I don't remember getting them."

Nyx smiled. "As are the tattoos for most." She finished up the scan. "I have a very good baseline Lieutenant. You're in very good health so unless you have anything for me. We're done here." She smiled.

"Thank you, Doctor," Mikaela replied, trying hard to disguise her relief that the appointment was not going to be drawn out longer than was absolutely necessary.

She slid herself down off the bio-bed and flattened down her tunic. Despite her initial misgivings, and her continued resolve to spend as little time in the infirmary as possible, she had found herself warming to the doctor.

"Look," she began, almost embarrassed that she was putting herself out there, "I'm new on the station and..." She tailed off, not really knowing how to conclude the sentence that she had began.

"Yes?" Nyx eyed the woman patiently. She hadn't seen any medical issues and wondered what the woman might need. She'd help her of course, any way that she could.

"Never mind," Locke concluded sheepishly, before quickly heading out of the infirmary, regretting that she had even considered letting her guard down.

Nyx watched her leave and felt confused by the young woman's behavior. She let it go for now but would be paying closer attention if she saw the woman again.
[OFF:]

---

Mikaela Locke
Chief Communications Officer

&


Doctor Nyx
Chief Medical Officer

 

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