Stardate: 80130.23
-=Following the mission briefing=-
Zander left the conference with the senior staff feeling a slight bit edgy. After all this was the first mission of the Sera's crew. He found it a bit of a challenge considering that this would the considered the ship's shake down cruise. It seemed a bit, harsh.
He knew that the senior staff was well seasoned, but there were still many raw recruits manning some of general staff positions. He know that they would be well trained but even the best training does not prepare one for the inevitable butterflies that were to come with the excitement of the first mission.
He made his way over to the tactical station and the ensign manning it started to stand. Zander halted him with a raised hand. "Keep your post."
The ensign nodded and got comfortable in the chair again. "Aye sir."
Zander looked over the young man's shoulder and surveyed the reading on his console.
*Ha, Young man.* Zander thought. *He is at best a year or two my junior, if that.*
"I just wanted to make sure everything is cool here before I am off to my 'favorite appointment' of my day." Zander explained.
The ensign nodded. "I got it under control sir." He had not missed Zander's sarcastic tone. "What is so exciting about this appointment sir?"
Zander turned to leave. "Nothing much really, just the dreaded fitness for duty physical."
The ensign smiled as the Tactical Chief departed. "Enjoy, sir."
=^= Sickbay =^=
Zander strode through the door to sickbay and practically sighed. He hated sickbay, he hated physicals, and he was not all that fond of doctors either. He hated this aspect of Starfleet.
He transferred here from another active position so he could not understand why Starfleet always wanted a physical when posts change. It is not like they could not simply upload his most recent medical file from Phoenix 7 station. This was simply a extra hassle as far as Zander was concerned.
Terasha was in her office, going over the medical files of the crew. For some reason she still didn't understand, Starfleet required a physical whenever someone transferred from one post to another. Now, she wasn't shirking her duty, but what was the point? Couldn't doctors just download the most recent medical file from the last posting? With so many transfers, she'd be busy for days. She decided she'd handle the senior staff, and let the LMH do the rest.
Her antennae wiggled as she sighed.
The doors to sickbay opened and she heard the footsteps of someone entering.
*There's my first one now.*
Zander scanned around the room and located an Andorian wearing the typical lab coat of a ship's doctor.
He walked over and forced a smile. "Lt. Blakeslee reporting as ordered for my fitness for duty physical."
"I've been expecting you, Lieutenant Blakeslee," said Terasha. "Please go to biobed number one, remove your uniform, and put on the gown that's on the bed. My nurse will be with you after you've changed."
He glanced over at the bed and grinned sheepishly.
*Gown, looks more like a napkin to me.*
"Ok Doc." He turned and make his way to the bed. He disrobed and put on the 'gown' that was provided. Feeling the common draft from the south pole he figured he'd be better off sitting on the bed, so he hopped up onto the bed and occupied himself by quietly whistling as he waited.
Nurse Kathy approached the biobed, but stopped just outside the drawn curtain. "Are you decent in there?" she asked. Hearing his response, she entered.
"Hello, Lieutenant. I'm going to take your vitals now." She moved a medical tricorder around his body for a few moments. "Everything looks good. How has your health been?"
He shrugged "Fit as a fiddle, same as I was 4 months ago when I had my last one of these."
He sighed. "Sorry, it just that I do not like..." He struggled to find the word. "...sickbay."
"I see," said Kathy. "You'll have fun with the Doc." She chuckled. Seeing his expression, she explained.
"Because modern technology is so advanced, a complete physical can pretty much be done in five minutes, with a medical tricorder. However, Doc tends to be old-fashioned in some ways. She's going to give you your exam, hands-on." Kathy smiled.
Zander's eye brows rose. "Oh, she might want to be careful, I have been away from my wife for over eight months now." He grinned. "I might enjoy that too much."
Then his expression got serious. "Wait a sec, are you serious, or just pulling my chain?" He was suddenly worried that he was going to like sickbay even less then before.
"Have you ever known an Andorian to not be serious, Lieutenant?" asked Terasha, who had joined the duo at the biobed, her antennae leaning forward slightly. She held up a small instrument.
"Do you know what this is?" asked Terasha. "It's called a stethoscope. It was invented on Earth in 1816, by René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec. I'm actually going to listen to your heart and lungs." She walked behind him. "This may be cold."
Terasha pressed the diaphragm against Blakeslee's back.
"Take a deep breath and let it out slowly."
Zander did as instructed. He waiting until the doctor was done listening before he spoke again.
"So, is everything thumping the way it should be?"
"Yes, it is," said Terasha. "Your heart is strong and your heart rate is normal. Your lungs are clear." Moving in front of Blakeslee, she draped the stethoscope around the back of her neck and picked up a small, rubber-tipped hammer.
"Please cross your legs." After he did, she hit his knee with the hammer. "Reflexes good. Now, the other leg."
Zander did as instructed. "I did not know that I was going to be hit by a hammer."
Once the doctor finished he clapped his hands. "OK. What's next good doctor?"
"Lie on your back, Lieutenant," said Terasha. She began pressing on his stomach, probing his abdomen. "No tenderness or unnatural growths. Please stand."
As Blakeslee stood, Terasha put on a pair of surgical gloves. Reaching below his gown, she pressed upward in his crotch area. She then grabbed him. "Turn your head away from me and cough."
Zander leaped away instead of coughing. "Hey, now wait one second." He stood at arms length. "Ummm, heh, you don't get to do that to me until after you buy me a drink." He held his hands out to his sides. "Like, what the hell?"
Terasha glared at Blakeslee, her antennae twitching from side-to-side.
"Lieutenant, I assure you, I am being completely professional," said Terasha flatly. Behind her, she heard Kathy doing her very best to stifle a giggle.
"As my nurse told you, because our technology is so advanced, physical examinations have become nothing more than a few minutes of scanning by a medical tricorder. Medicine has become mechanical and impersonal. There was once a time, when doctors could tell what was wrong with someone, simply by touch.
"When I was a soldier in the Andorian Imperial Guard, we often had nothing but basic medical supplies to treat a wounded comrade, if no medic was available. I once saved someone, simply by covering his wound with sulfa powder, then bandaging it with strips of cloth torn from my uniform. Because of this, when I chose to become a Starfleet doctor, I vowed that I would bring back the hands-on way, the personal way, of taking care of my patients. What I just did, was check to see if you may have been developing a hernia. Since it was too uncomfortable for you, I won't do it." She removed the gloves, tossed them into the recycler, and cleaned her hands.
"If you'll follow my nurse, please, we have one more test to complete."
Zander swayed side to side then followed the nurse apprehensively. "Sure, Doc." He leaned forward towards Kathy. "Um, this next test wouldn't happen to include some sort of probe would it?"
Kathy laughed, a broad smile covering her face. "No probes, Mr. Blakeslee." She handed him another gown.
"Please put this on so the opening in back of the first gown is covered. Put on your boots, then follow me. You get to run on a treadmill."
Zander did as instructed and put on the extra gown and his duty boots. Once his was dressed Kathy lead him over the small treadmill. He glanced down at his outfit and then back at the doctor and nurse.
He shook his head. "You guys aren't recording this are you, I mean for personal use or anything." He stepped onto the treadmill. "I feel like a lab rat."
"We're keeping it in case we ever need to blackmail you," said Kathy with a bright smile. She leaned close to Blakeslee and whispered. "Terasha is an excellent doctor. What she's doing, really is professional and for your good, though a bit unconventional."
Zander eyed the nurse then smiled. "OK, Crank it up."
After Blakeslee stepped onto the treadmill, Kathy tuned it on.
"Here we go!"
Chief Medical Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
LT. Zander Blakeslee
Chief Tactical Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012