Check Up

Posted on 11 Jun 2013 @ 2:40pm by Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley
Edited on on 11 Jun 2013 @ 2:41pm

1,791 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 07 - 0900 hrs

[ON]

Victoria Crawley was in a foul mood. She hated seeing doctors; loathed was actually a better term. She found them intrusive and invasive, always sticking things in your face, poking and prodding you everywhere, and asking questions that they really had no right to ask. But then, she'd never liked going to the doctor; she was actually afraid of doctors as a child.

So having to have a physical exam before starting her work was definitely not her idea of a good time. She clutched her PADD close to her chest. If she had to have a physical, she might as well try to get some work done; if anything, it would take her mind off of it. The doctor probably wouldn't be too happy with her, though. Still, it was worth a shot.

She stepped off the lift and into sick bay, stony-faced but calm. She went over to where LTJG Andreus Kohl stood and addressed him.

"Sir, I just transferred over from the USS Venture. I was told to see you for a physical exam?"

Working at a free-standing LCARS console, Andreus Kohl had both of his hands braced against the edge of the console. He tilted his head up at the sound of Victoria's low voice. The sight of the lithe woman brought a glowing smile to Kohl's face. He glanced down at his display, tapped the screen thrice, and looked up again.

"Lieutenant Crawley, hello," said Kohl brightly. "Welcome to Galileo. My name is Andreus Kohl and I am certified as Nurse Practitioner. I will be taking a health history and performing a physical assessment as part of your preventive health care. This will also add to the record of your baseline health condition, which will be important should you become ill in future."

Smiling tightly, Victoria responded, "Sounds great. Anything you need me to do?" He seemed like a very agreeable man, and from what he said, it sounded like it might not be so bad. She stopped clenching her fist, which had curled into a ball as soon as she had entered sickbay. There were little half-moon imprints tattooed to her hand now.

While he nodded at Victoria's question, Kohl swiped his fingertips across the LCARS panel. He paused what he was working on and he logged out of the console. Raising a hand, he pointed one finger at a biobed on the other side of sickbay. "Can I ask you to sit on that biobed there?" Kohl asked.

She bit her lip to avoid saying something she'd regret and nodded, doing as he'd asked. It's not like he had done anything to make her distrust him; he was just doing his job, after all. Taking a deep breath, she placed her hands in her lap and tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. Just get this over with, she repeated over and over to herself. It woun't take long. She smiled at the doctor when he turned her way, trying to be as accommodating as possible.

Following Victoria to the biobed, Kohl trailed a good three feet behind her. As he moved around the biobed and worked its operational controls, he was mindful to maintain that radius of personal space between them. He touched the biofunction monitor, and a holographic privacy screen errected between the two of them and the rest of Sickbay. As Kohl prepared his medical tricorder and scanner probe, he asked, "What can you tell me about the kind of work you did on your last assignment?"

She cleared her throat. "It was a research position back at Starfleet HQ. I was only assisting, and even then, I was mostly doing clerical work. We were studying hyperthyroidism and trellium poisoning in Vulcans, trying to find a way to reverse the neurological damage they caused. We weren't very successful, though."

Making notes on the interface of his tricorder, Kohl took note of the environmental factors at Starfleet Headquarters and he accessed the physical demands analyses related to a medical researcher. He smiled at the delicately-framed woman and he asked of her, "Did you participate in a medical surveillance program, while you were there, to monitor any symptoms of exposure?"

"Yeah, we all did. Nobody had any problems, that I know of," she said, her hands resting limply in her lap.

Nodding at her answer, Kohl took note of it on his tricorder. He lifted the sensor probe and he edged closer within Victoria's personal space. He waved the sensor probe closer, as the tricorder and biobed began taking their own sensor readings. "Do you think," he asked conversationally, "you will be able to continue that research aboard Galileo?"

"I don't think so. I don't have any of the research notes with me," she looked at him apologetically.

Nodding at her words, Kohl shared a sympathetic frown with Victoria. It didn't last long, though, as an expression of curiosity came over his features. He looked down at his tricorder and up again. "Generally speaking," Kohl asked, "How do you feel lately?"

"Pretty good; a little bit stressed from all of the sudden changing around, but it's a good kind of stress. I'm enjoying it." Just thinking about the coming weeks on this ship made her all fluttery and excited. She smiled at the doctor. "By the way, how long have you been assigned here? If you don't mind my asking, that is."

"I don't mind at all," Kohl replied. He even shrugged as if to ask, why would I mind?. Before he answered, Kohl touched the tricorder to adjust the medical scanners and began taking additional readings. Looking to Victoria, he said, "I transferred to Galileo on..." --he had to think about it-- "Stardate 66374.9. Mind you, I did take some shore leave time on Vega Colony between then and now. I'm not sure if that counts as time served." He smiled diffidently and dropped his gaze down to his tricorder, thinking that an odd thing for him to have said.

"I'm sure it does," she reassured him. "So, how have you enjoyed your time here? Do you think you'll stay here a while, maybe permanently?" She eyed the tricorder with suspicion as she said this.

"Captain Saalm and Starfleet Command will decide how long I stay, I imagine," said Kohl. He clutched his tricorder between both hands and he let his arms go limp in front of him. Kohl offered a lopsided smile to Victoria, when he said, "But I came back. Our first mission was-- it was violent. I lost myself in shore leave to recover. I started planning a new life for myself, a new start, but I came back to Galileo."

A worried look passed over Victoria's face. "Are all missions that violent?"

"I wouldn't say they're all violent," Kohl said. His answer came quickly and confidently, and he gave his head a gentle shake. Then he stopped and he chewed on his lower lip. "Well, Galileo is a new ship. This is only her second assignment, and I have already survived a shuttle crash and a cave in..." Kohl's voice went flat when he realized how that must sound.

Victoria's eyes widened. "That sounds...intense. Actually, it sounds like it might be kind of fun, depending on the circumstances, of course."

"You'll fit right in," Kohl said without a moment's hesitancy, and he gave Victoria an ironic smile. "Now, then. Can you tell me a little about your diet? And do you consume any medication or narcotics?"

She smiled back at him. "I usually tend to eat whatever is fast and healthy. I'm not a huge fan of greasy food; it just tastes weird, so I'll normally just get a granola bar if I'min a hurry or a salad. And as for medication, the only thing I'm taking right now is Xanax for panic attacks."

Kohl nodded at Victoria's words, looking up from his tricorder longer after she mentioned the medication. "Are you attending counselling regularly to managed the panic attacks and the medication?" Kohl asked.

"Yes, I'm going to see Lt. Blake tomorrow, and I'm hoping then that we can come up with some kind of schedule. Thankfully, the medication has kept the attacks at bay for the past year or so, so hopefully that pattern will continue here." Come to think of it, she couldn't clearly remember the last time she had a panic attack. She prayed that that meant they were dormant or, even better, gone forever.

"I'm going to take a blood sample now," Kohl said. He set aside his tricorder on an instrument tray and he lifted an empty hypospray. "As well, I will submit all of your test results to be reviewed by a doctor."

She bit her lip again and nodded. Victoria hated needles, she always had. Better to get it over and done with. She stuck out her arm and looked at the floor, concentrating very hard on the pattern in the carpet.

"You won't feel a thing," Kohl said softly, when he pressed the rounded tip of the hypospray against her neck. As he began to draw the blood, Kohl spoke to Victoria of work to distract her. "If you were to reach out to your research partners on Earth, and they could transfer over their records, would you have any interest in continuing your research project? Perhaps even taking more of an active role than clerical support?"

"Sure! I'll ask about it. That would be fantastic, actually. Is it something you would be interested in? I can ask them to send you a copy as well." She was grateful for the distraction. She wasn't too fond of blood.

Kohl put the hypospray to rest on the instrument tray, and he nudged it out of Victoria's line of sight. "I would be terribly interested in working on that with you," Kohl replied. "I haven't done a lot of research for the sake of research since graduation, but I have been floating the idea of cross-training all of the medical staff in Life Sciences with regularity."

"Great! I'll be sure to get it to you, then," she said quickly, ecstatic.

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Lieutenant Crawley," Kohl said. "Especially given you're in exemplary health. Your vitals signs match your baseline records from your last exam at the Academy."

"Thank you, lieutenant," she said, getting up from the table and shaking his hand vigorously. Grabbing her things, she strode out of sickbay and went off to explore the ship.

[OFF]

Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley
Psychologist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Andreus Kohl
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

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