Surgical Chatter (Abbey's surgery, part 2 of 4)

Posted on 21 Sep 2014 @ 7:50pm by Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Lieutenant Olsam Mott

926 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 09 - 1310

ON:

Fully decked out in a surgical mask, gloves, and smock, Tuula pulled herself up alongside Abbey. "All right," she said, holding up a hypospray. "I'm going to give you the anasthetic now. Start counting down from one hundred."

Abbey huffed and started coutning "One, two three, four, five, six, seeven, eeeight, niiine" Her victory of counting up was short lived as she never made it to ten before passing out.

Olsam smirked. They never made it to ten.

Under the careful supervision of Dr. Mott, Tuula monitored the patient's biosigns. Sure that the patient had dozed off, she reached for her laser scalpel. "All right, lets do this," she said as she steadied herself to make the first incision. With Abbey out like a light, she made the first incision from the pelvis up along the spine and dug in.

"This is a bit of a complex procedure," she said as she traced the laser scalpel up her spine, careful not to go too deep. "It shouldn't be too difficult though. It's just a matter of repairing any damaged vertebrae and relieving any pressure on the spinal cord and the discs. Dr. Mott, can you hand me a retractor?"

"Sure," Olsam said, handing over the retractor. Before she'd even gotten the device in place, he asked in a shockingly even everyday tone, "So, Tuula, where is your baby?"

"My what?!" asked Tuula, utterly shocked at the question, hesitating and waiting for his answer before inserting it fully.

"Your half-Bolian baby," Olsam said. Looking around at the nurses, he quickly added, "Not mine, of course. Petty Officer Zuwtt's. He said you were pregnant with his child when you left in the middle of the night and refused to ever see him again. I was just wondering where you've been keeping that baby because I know a lot about what happens on the ship, and I don't remember anyone mentioning a half-Bolian baby."

"You talked to that... that..." Tuula was at a loss for words. "I can't believe you went behind my back and talked to that Denebian slime-devil about me." Wildly gesticulating with a retractor in one hand and a laser scalpel in the other, the nurses wisely backed away to give her a little room. "I don't have a child, least of all with that Benzite mudsnake."

Olsam seemed unflappable in the face of her flailing, though it was probably more abject ignorance than bravery. After that outburst, he was beginning to question her choice in men. First, she dumped a Bolian, which in and of itself was absolutely unthinkable. Bolians were renowned for being the kindest, most romantic, most virile lovers in the galaxy. Then apparently she had some sort of highly inappropriate relationship with a Benzite mudsnake? Now she'd moved on to a jarheaded man...

"I felt I had a responsibility to straighten him out in the name of Bolarus," he explained, looking a little wary of the laser scalpel now, "but when I arrived in engineering I discovered I wasn't presented with all the facts! He said you left him, abandoned him, and completely rejected him. And that you were pregnant when you left? Oh... Wait. Were you just fat at that point in time? I've made that mistake before. Maybe he was just confused."

Underneath her surgical mask, Tuula's jaw dropped. She shut off the laser scalpel and placed it on the tray, mostly so that she wouldn't be tempted to use it inappropriately. "I don't think that's any of your business, doctor," she replied in a stern tone. Of course, she knew that all the information that Mott needed to figure out her story was right there in her medical file, a medical file that Dr. Mott had access to.

Somehow, Olsam managed to look like the more offended party. "It most certainly is my business, doctor! You're my colleague and my student. It's important that I know the truth about your ex-boyfriends and babies and weight loss successes. I don't tolerate half-truths and deceit on my watch, Dr. Voutilainen. Why, I was moments away from contacting the Ministry of Culture on Bolarus IX about Zuwtt before I found out he's a perfectly normal Bolian. If he'd been found soiling the good name of Bolarus, he could have received..." Olsam looked seriously taken aback for a moment, struggling to draw in a breath to continue. "...an official writ of censure."

"An official writ of..." Tuula sighed and shook her head. A hundred official writs of censure wouldn't be enough for him. But in front of a partially opened up patient and surrounded by her colleagues was the last place she wanted to have this discussion. "No. I'm not talking about him now. My horrible choice in men six years ago is my business and mine alone." Clenching her fist, she took a deep breath. "I have a surgery to perform, but if you're curious, doctor, you can find everything you want to know in my medical file."

"Oh, I'm curious all right," Olsam said with no small amount of attitude, as if that alone was enough to justify questioning her during surgery and, later, digging through her medical files. He turned his attention back to Abbey and said a bit haughtily, "Yes, you do have a surgery to perform."

OFF:

Lieutenant Olsam Mott, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (J.G.) Tuula Voutilainen, M.D.
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Crewman Apprentice Abbey Wyatt
Scientists Mate
USS Galileo
(Pnpc Jake)

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