Medical Rounds

Posted on 13 Apr 2025 @ 1:02pm by Chief Petty Officer Katja Becker & Lieutenant JG Nusien

2,761 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 21 - Helix
Location: Sick Bay
Timeline: MD 05 - 1300

[ON]

There were a number of patients in Sick Bay. Thankfully none of them were seriously injured. That was something that Nusien was rather happy about. When he had little work to do it meant that all was well. Despite this there were a few patients that were held in Sick Bay overnight for observation. It was now time for rounds and get report on the patients. Nusien decided that he would attempt to get to know those under his command by doing rounds with them.

He looked about Sick Bay and found Chief Petty Officer Becker hard at work. She was someone that Nusien had not had the chance to speak with as of yet. There was no time like the present. "Chief Becker would you accompany me on rounds please?"

Katja had spent the last fifteen minutes or so trying to troubleshoot a hypospray that wasn't correctly delivering doses. It wasn't necessary really; there were other devices she would substitute it out for but at this point it was a matter of pride. She wasn't about to be bested by a souped up syringe, dammit. She had just begun to curse its entire lineage when the CMO's voice cut through the red haze of annoyance. "Rounds?" She parroted, but then her brain cells caught up and she put the hypospray down and turned to face Nusien. "Ja. Of course, sir." She responded as she walked across the space towards him with more than subtle limp.

Ever since the polar death march the 'Bastard Chief' took them all on a few days ago, her bio-prosthetic leg had been giving her more grief than usual.

Nusien noticed the limp and cocked his head. "Are you alright Chief?" He knew about her prosthetic as he was familiar with everyone's medical files. He had never noticed her walk with a pronounced limp before though. "Is there anything I can do?"

Katja looked down to the aforementioned leg and then back to the doctor. "Ah...my leg. It's given me grief ever since they 'bolted' it on. But, I just finished up a mandatory team-building exercise on Remidia...it's been more temperamental since then. I've been told my body is rejecting the thing, which would track. Never one to do things the easy way." She smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes which looked tired and pinched.

It didn't take a Counselor to see that the woman hid the pain and hid it well. However, Nusien also knew better than to push issues like this with people. "Very well. Just know that if you need anything please do not hesitate to ask. I think it may be time to check in on our patients and with any luck free up some beds. After all an empty Sick Bay is a good Sick Bay." Nusien laughed at his joke.

"A quiet sick bay in any event, sir." Katja responded with with a good-natured expression and even a small chuckle. Medical personnel were a superstitious lot. For those foolish or brave enough to utter the 'Q' word, often-times such utterances were associated with the day becoming anything but sedate.

It was rather amazing how proficient she had become at showing one face to those around her while inside...well, it didn't matter. A few more hours and her duty shift would be done and she could get off her leg and maybe get something into her that would make her forget the sorry state of her life in its current state. "What all do we have in-house today?"

"There is Ensign Coslar who is recouperating from a minor repair to his anterior cartoid ligament. Lieutenant Chel has a pain in her right tusk. Tellarites can have a lot of tooth issues so that is something we are going to have to look at. But, perhaps the most important is Lieutenant Reilly and her baby. Delivered in the wee hours last night. So, that is something good to come out of the chaos." Nusien smiled again. Edosians had a tendency to smile with their whole face. Nusien was no different. "Come. The sooner we get started the sooner we can knock off and get some fun in." He motioned toward the door that led to the observation ward of Sick Bay. "Since I am still new here, I hope you don't mind me asking. But, I am curious what made you want to get involved in medicine."

Katja nodded at the current census list. Not too busy of a day, actually. Routine...mundane. Given just how badly her leg was feeling, it was preferred. "I assisted the ship's physician on Ticonderoga where I was born. Nothing too indepth, really. Drawing up hyposprays, helping to wrap sprains, those sort of things. The Dominion War broke out and I wanted to help - felt called to, actually. Starfleet apparently saw my part-time job as adequate pre-qualifications to become a combat medic." She shrugged. "I was good at it, too good, maybe? Got myself sent to the front lines, embedded with a Marine special forces detachment. Picked up some interesting souvenirs...and after the war? Well...it changes people, ja?"

Nusien could see the slight pain hidden behind her eyes when she said that it changed people. He also thought back to his own experiences with the Dominion War and came to the same conclusion. "I would agree that war changes people. I too found medicine in the aftermath of the Dominion War. I did not see any battle on the frontlines. But I was an engineer on an Edosian frieghter during the war and we had our share of encounters with the Dominion. It was those encounters that brought me to Starfleet and medicine. I think that it could be a person's want to bring healing to a galaxy torn apart." He held a PADD in one hand and gestured with his other two hands as he spoke.

"Perhaps it starts out that way, but once you get stuck in it life becomes quite simple...it all boils down to survival." Sofie watched his many limbs work independently and yet somehow in tandem with one another, like a well choreographed dance of sorts. Four limbs--with one sketch--were enough to handle...six? Well...it was an interesting thing to watch.

"I must commend you. I never served on the frontlines of a war. I am sure that takes a toll on someone." Nusien began as they arrived at Ensign Coslar's bed. The Ensign was sleeping peacefully so Nusien began the required scans without waking the Ensign up. "Now that the war is over. Have you thought about becoming a Doctor perhaps? Continuing your exploration of medicine as it were."

...I am sure that takes a toll on someone... Nusien had no idea.

"The war never ended for me, Doctor Nusien. I've been happy to hang on; I'm no good for anything else." She chuckled softly. "I'd be no good at being a doctor. That's big-brain level. Why, I'm barely domesticated."

She glanced down at the small data padd that held pertinent information for the current patient. "Coslar's vital signs have remained stable overnight; no additional pain medications requested. Will need to arrange PT for them; but they should be able to be discharged from sickbay today unless you see something additional to be performed, sir?"

"Nothing additional. Discharge when he wakes and we will make sure that he returns for further evaluation and PT." Nusien made sure to sign off on the orders on the PADD.

As they left Coslar to sleep and made their way to the next patient Nusien spoke again with a smile. "Sometimes a little non domestication is all Sick Bay needs."

"It's all about trying to keep us from going completely feral, sir. A balancing act, for sure." Katja was amused. She had never met and Edosian before...who knew they had a rather robust sense of humor? "Next is Chel, Lieutenant. Tusk pain. We've performed Q4Hour Arcadian clove oil soaks and nursing reports that Chel's pain has improved. She had a febrile episode last night and her heart rate is creeping up. I recommend advanced imaging of her tusk and max/face. Could be a brewing abscess that we didn't see on the initial exam."

"Agreed. Order a complete workup on the tusk as well. We would hate to have to pull the tusk. After all it is a Tellarite's pride and joy." This time it was Nusien who smiled. It appeared to be somewhat awkward as Edosians have large toothy mouths. "It may be a cavity. Tellarites are known for their dental issues. But it is the fever that most worries me. Run a microbe test as well. I want to see if there is an infection. Best to give a dose of antibiotics as preventative." Nusien plucked a hypospray off the tray and administered the drug. His thoughts at the moment dwelt on the Chief. She seemed to be a rather interesting individual. Unlike most anyone that Nusien had met in his travels. "We need to be feral sometimes. If not everyone upstairs on the Bridge gets all the fun."

Katja barked out a single laugh before forcefully coughing in an terrible attempt to cover up her unfiltered response at the unexpectedness of his humor. Or at least she thought it was humor. It was humor, right? Giving up, she continued to chuckle. "Oorah, Doctor Nusien!" She answered enthusiastically. "Er, ah, yes sir - a complete workup. I will inform you when the updated imaging is available for review." She took additional notes on this patient. The 'to do' list for this shift was starting to grow. A full day was a good thing. Too busy to think was how Katja liked things. "Saved the best for last. Lieutenant Reilly with newborn. Both had an uneventful night. All vital signs stable."

The smile and small amount of humor left his face and was repleaced with a look of wonder and a small amount of sadness. Nusien stood in silence as he watched the mother and baby resting confortably. There was a twinge of sadness within him. He missed his children, his mate Paret and all that he set to the side to persue this life in Starfleet. After a time he spoke whistfully. "Up on the Bridge they speak of new life and new civilizations. But it is us, we medical professionals who actually get to witness new life. This wondrous miracle that we all share regardless of species. If I have the pleasure to teach you anything during our tenure together here, please allow it to be that. Do you have any children?"

"I didn't get much opportunity to see new life during the beginning of my career. Maybe new ways to end it, sure...but life? I guess you're right. Never considered it that way." Nusien's question about children threw her. It was not something she had expected--and she should have. What a foolish oversight on her part. The happy-go-lucky mask slipped, ever so slightly. "No sir. No children. I'm not fit to mother anything."

Nusien smiled again. "You say that now but perhaps in time that would change. I can tell you that the most rewarding job I have ever had is being father to my twenty children. That is small by Edosian standards. I hope that one day you will become a mother. Just seeing you with the patients tells me that you would be a good mom. I don't want to be pushy so I will just leave it there."

"Twenty. Children. Sir?" Katja's innards twisted at the very thought. She wasn't sure what brought up this topic of conversation, but given his prodigious family, it would be natural to want to talk about that kind of thing, right? Not that her 'parents' had been stellar examples of anything like that.

"Hah. Well...I'm currently missing a whole lot of pieces necessary to the process of reproduction, sir...but I'll keep your opinion in mind." She looked up considering when the last time she had even had sex...well that was an easy answer, before she had gotten herself blown up. So...a lifetime ago. Too long.

"Anyway...do you have any orders for Lieutenant Rielly today?" Yes, best to get things back on track.

Nusien could tell that he may have overstepped with the conversation. Edosians were notorious for just saying what was on their mind. They often did not pay attention to the subtleties of conversation. This was something that Nusien learned on the fly as it were. He decided that it be best to follow Katja's lead and return to discussing the patients. "When she wakes a standard medical exam. If she is okay, and I suspect that she will be, she can be sent to her quarters with her baby. In three weeks she should return for a check up on the newborn."

As he looked at the sleeping baby Nusien found himself missing his family more and more. In fact there was a slight twinge of regret for leaving them back on the homeworld. "Chief. May I ask you something personal?"

Katja finished jotting her notes down, and looked back to Nusien, instantly suspicious. However, never one to back away from an uncertain outcome, she quickly and confidently gave her answer. "You may ask, sir."

"Do you believe a starship to be a safe place to raise a child? I often wonder about that. With everything that we go through on a daily basis." One could tell that there was a small amount of doubt as to why he was even in Starfleet in his voice.

Her face went through a number of small expressions once she realized the question was not as personal as the imagined it would be. "You're asking someone who grew up on an antiquated freighter if a starship is safe? I mean...I survived, ja? I didn't get blown up on a ship...in my opinion planetside is far more dangerous." Katja huffed out a breath of air. Her answer seemed flippant; and he deserved more candor than that.

"Doctor Nusien...where there is love and commitment to a child, it is a place they can flourish. Here, aboard a starfleet vessel...good food, clean air, medicines...it would have been a paradise to grow up on here versus Ticonderoga. Sure, there are risks involved, but...that's life. No place is absolutely safe."

She looked to the newborn, and smiled softly at the small sounds the little being made in its sleep. "There will be more children out here, it's kind of inevitable - there's not much to do but the 'mission,' and everyone needs some sort of...release. I guess it would be logical to take you up on your offer for obstetrics training."

Nusien turned to Katja after being lost in thought while looking at the newborn. "Perhaps you are correct. Love and caring is what a family needs to survive more than anything. Let us make a deal. I will teach you of obstetrics and perhaps you can teach me a little more about people." He raised a hand before she could inturrupt. "You may not be a counselor and you may not feel that you are a people preson. But you seem to have a unique sense of how people operate and what they need. What do you say?" Then he smiled and added as an after thought. "Please call me Nusien." He hoped that he made his first friend on this vessel. Although only time would tell.

"I'm more than happy to tell you all sorts of things about people, Nusien." Katja replied amiably enough. It would seem he wanted familiarity. She had met other medical officers who sought out associations amongst their department. It was a world within a world after all and easier too. Shared experiences and all...

"Thank you. Now I believe we have a mother and baby that need some rest. It is known that Mom here will not get much rest in the foreseeable future." Nusien smiled and signaled that they should be on. "Thank you Chief."

Katja smiled warmly, amusement coloring her expression. Nusien was an interesting duck, she'd grant him that. "Don't thank me yet, sir..."


[OFF]


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Chief Katja Becker
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor]

&

Lieutenant Junior Grade Nusien
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A

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