Are We Human, or Are We Dancer?

Posted on 07 Jul 2012 @ 8:23am by Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Lieutenant Aria Rice

1,823 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Sickbay
Timeline: MD7 2330hours

[On]

Leaning forward in her chair, Pola pressed the heel of her hands against her eyes as she rested her elbows on the tables. Thankfully her shift was almost over and if she was lucky enough the last 30 minutes would be relatively quiet. Letting out the breath she had been holding in a long slow movement, concentrating on the motion to try block the dull ache in her ankle. It had been such a long day, it was starting to feel like it would never end. After very little sleep, so many meetings, transfer of scientists and a whole lot of medicals she figured this must have been her busiest day ever. Add to that the fact she still had to see Brayden, she wasn't even certain what time she would get to bed at.

Ensign Aria Rice had asked a nurse who she was going to see for her medical...and had been sent to Dr Pola Ni Dhuinn. She was led to the office and let inside, the nurse giving her a gentle pat on her shoulder that Aria found slightly...well...patronizing. But hey ho, she just smiled to the woman. "Doctor?" she asked, with hope. "I'm Ensign Aria Rice..."

Not having heard anyone enter the office, Pola looked up with a start at the woman addressing her. Quickly climbing to her feet, wincing as the movement caused a stab of pain in her foot, she attempted a smile at Aria. "My sincere apologises. It's been a long day, I'm normally more awake than this." Smiling softly, Pola moved around to the Ensign's side, indicating for her to follow her out into the main sickbay.

Aria followed her, studying the woman's back for a long moment. "That's okay, it's been a bit of a long day for me anyway, Doctor..." she said and smiled warmly.



As she reached the far side of sickbay, Pola picked the biobed furtherest from Dru so as not to disturb the sleeping woman, indicated for Aria to take a seat, she balanced her hip against the unoccupied biobed behind her, so as to keep the weight off of her ankle. "Long day? I hope they haven't started already working you too hard." Smiling gently, Pola glanced down at the PADD she had picked up in order to glance through the Ensign's medical notes.

She smiled gently as she kicked her legs, staying where she was. "Just been constant from morning until now. Shuttle flight, change shuttle, meeting people...drop by my quarters..." she smiled warmly, studying the doctor for a long moment. "I feel like collapsing on my bed and pray my roomie doesn't snore."

Grinning, Pola kept her eyes on the PADD, "The one advantage of being senior staff on this ship, I get a room to myself and my own double bed." Looking through the girls notes, Pola was happy to see that for a security officer, Aria seemed to be quite accident free. "So tell me, first and foremost is there anything medical you wish to bring to my attention?"

"Nope! Healthy and whole!" Aria smiled warmly as she held her eyes, her own warm. "No complaints. Except the standard girly things that nothing can be done with because it is how nature works."

"Hum....is there one thing in particular about it which is causing you the most trouble? Cramps? Flow?" Sitting back, Pola knew it was a sensitive topic for most women and so she was glad that Aria could feel comfortable enough to even bring it up.

"Cramps. Not the flow, that I can handle," she frowned and shook her head. "There's times I haven't been able to stand properly at duty because it hurts so bloody much..."

Frowning at this, Pola started to read through Aria's notes, "Has any other Doctor's recommended more long term solutions outside of medication? If the cramps are that sever, we can look at alternatives."

She met her eyes with a small smile. "My last doctor said 'it comes with being a woman'...so I thought he knew nothing," she said and watched Pola, kicking her legs.

Resisting the urge to curse, Pola placed her hand against the woman's arm, "Noone has to live with that amount of pain, no matter what the cause of it is. I promise you we'll get this sorted out. I may not be able to fix the modd swings but the pain I can help you manage if you'd like me to. Anyway...us women need the moody part so the men know when to keep out of our way." Pola smiled softly before moving to pick up a PADD.

She smiled at that, watching Pola with shining eyes. "Hey, I try not to be moody. I mean, sure...I get to be it now and then, but that is life..." she winked and let out a breath. "Am I healthy apart from that?"

Refocusing her attention on her tricorder, Pola ran the instrument across the officer before setting the scans to upload to the biobed monitor. "If you give me moment or two, Ill be able to give you an answer to that question. While I awaiting your scan results, was there anyother questions or queries which you had? Or anything further you wanted to bring to my attention?"

"Nope, all dandy apart from that," Aria said and smiled warmly, watching her closely. "So...I take it I am okay? I hope I am okay...I feel okay!" she chuckled nervously.

Bringing up the scan results and looking them over for a few moments, Pola turned and smiled at Aria, "Well I must say that everything is going well with everything else. There is just one thing though. Nothing to worry about right now, but something I'd like to look at closer. Have you ever suffered from anaemia, or any iron deficiencies?"

"Not that I know of," she admitted as she smiled gently, shrugging. "But then again, there was a time in my life where I didn't give a damn..." she blushed, her eyes warm and bright.

Biting her lip, Pola reminded herself she was the ship's Doctor and not the ship's counsellor. Her instinct was to try see if the girl wanted to talk and second instinct was the one she needed to move forward on, concern the young woman might have a history of not looking after her physical health. The girl's reaction was also a mystery, she seemed happy with the memory. Choosing to take a soft approach, Pola smiled, "Hum....is that feeling of not caring something which I need to be worried out as your Doctor?"

"Nah, just teenage rebellion," she said and smiled to her. "You kow...out all night, eating junk food...that sort. Wouldn't be surprised if all my insides were all weird..."

"Hum...was excessive alcohol involved? If so i can do more intensive scans on your liver to ensure no permanent damage is there, otherwise your body looks fine in all honesty. As I mentioned earlier, my only slight concern is your iron level. I might give you a supplement for that and see how you manage with that. It could be a once off but it's best to knock it on the head now than to leave it." Pola smiled as she updated the notes on her PADD.

"No, just bad food and too long nights with no sleep," she said and smiled widely, watching the Irishwoman. "My liver is fine. I come from Marine stock, Doc!"

Laughing, Pola walked over to the replicator in order to prepare the supplement she would need to give Aria, "You do realise that that doesn't fill me with confidence Aria? Even though I haven't much experience with Marines I've enough to know they are usually getting into trouble which sickbay has to help clean up."

She smiled warmly as she held her eyes, arching an eyebrow. "But doc..." she said, her eyes warm. "I am a good girl now. Wasn't always, but now I am here to learn, to...to make a difference. And besides, if I amdrunk then I can't walk on my heels..."

Recalling from her file that Aria was only 23, Pola tried to figure out how there was only 5 years between them both. She tried to figure out if she'd even been like the Ensign, an almost innocence about her which was refreshing. "Hum...I wouldn't let the XO see you in heels, he likes to be a spoilsport and would propable find some regulation against them." Pola laughed as she finished preparing the hypospray.

"Hey, it would only be off duty," Aria said and smiled warmly. "Killer heels...I bet you'd love them, you look like a girl who likes to dress up and have fun..."

Blushing slightly, Pola finished administrating the supliment and took away the hypospray. "I prefer casual and comfortable I'm afraid. You'll find me in flats before heels unless I'm dancing." Pola smiled shyly at the officer.

Aria smiled as she watched her, her eyes shining. "Dancing! Now that is something really fun if you ask me...what do you dance?"

"Anything and everything really. I'm abit limited at the moment after injuring my ankle.." Pola pointed down at her foot, "...but before the injury I loved to dance. Ballet was my favourite but ballroom, line, barn, irish, salsa...you name it and I've probable tried. Do you dance yourself?"

She nodded as she watched her. "I did ballet. And I still dance...a bit of everything, like yourself," she said and smiled warmly. "We should go dancing one day, you know. Hit the ship, shake things up..." she winked and nudged her. "We can do it slow for your ankle's sake?"

Smiling, Pola nodded her head, "That'd be very nice actually. Ballet will take a back seat for me for awhile given this injury but definitely there is a number of other dances I'd love to have a partner for. Any suggestions for something to take it slow with? That doesn't involve heels?"

"Hm..." she considered it for a long moment before grinning. "Apart from hip-hop? To be honest, something easy like freestyle. Avoid the latin!"

Grinning, Pola threw Aria a wink, "How about Belly dancing? The hip hop would still be very weighty on my ankle."

"Sure, but you don't have much of a belly to shake," she teased and let out a breath. "Am I cleared, Doc?"

Grabbing a nearby PADD, Pola updated the Ensign's file with the treatment she just adminsitered and pressed her thumb against the scanner to sign off, "Off you go Aria, you're all good to go. Don't forget to follow up with me on that date."

"I will...promise!" Aria grinned and jumped down, her eyes shining as she practically ran out, waving.

[OFF]

-------------------------------

Lieutenant JG Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

&

Ensign Aria Rice
Security Officer
USS Galileo

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