When All Else Fails...(1 of 2)

Posted on 17 Jan 2013 @ 11:26am by Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Ensign Jessica Wilson M.D.

2,621 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Medical
Timeline: MD -02, 1830

[ON]

Jeremy read the message on his PADD scowling his way through it.

Lieutenant (JG) Jeremy Stone,

You are hereby ordered and commanded to attend to the Medical Department to complete a pre-boarding physical for the Galileo. This is a second notice to complete this physical and will be completed by the end of the day upon receipt of this order. Failure to comply can and will result in a declaration of unfitness for duty until such time as the Chief Medical Officer reviews your medical records, to include an updated physical, and reinstates you to active duty.

Captain Patrick Rothkiss
Starfleet Security

Sighing, Jeremy reached down and scratched Sidi's ear. He checked his chrono. He had an appointment for the Holodeck in forty-five minutes so he should probably go see Dr. Dhuinn to get this task completed. He stood, ignoring Sidi staring at the remnants of his half eaten dinner as he moved to the reclamator to bus his tray. Sidi followed along, sniffing the air.

He made his way to Medical for the second time that day. Fortunately he was feeling better about his relationship with Dr. Dhuinn and hoped this process could be completed quickly so he wouldn't miss out on his Holodeck training time.

Entering into Medical, he stood off to the side, looking around for Dr. Dhuinn.

Leaning back against the biobed, Pola's eyes had been on the door to sickbay as she awaited the arrival of the ship's Chief of Security and the intern Jessica. What Jeremy didn't know was that the same message he'd gotten she had too. Hoping she knew Jeremy well enough by now to predict his actions, she'd asked Jessica to meet her here knowing Jeremy would be on his way.

With her arms folded across her chest, her hair was pulled back into her usual French knot showing that he meant business to anyone who looked close enough. She said nothing as she watched Jeremy's hesitation at the door, waiting for him to talk first.

Jeremy spotted Dhuinn leaning against a bed. He blinked as he noticed that she changed her hair since this afternoon.

Sidi's ears perked as he and Jeremy walked toward Dhuinn. He sensed the shift in the room as he entered. It was something he was used to. Man-smells always seemed to change when he was around. Most times it was a shift in their admiration-smell, others it was a fear-smell. Mostly, he preferred the admiration-smell. He deserved that. He was alpha of what he did and he knew it. Though he was getting anxious. He didn't get to bite for some time and he liked biting. He really liked biting. He looked up at Stone-smell, wanting to go do biting. He showed his teeth to show Stone-smell to show that he wanted to bite-play.

"Doctor," Jeremy said. "I've been informed that I've yet to complete my pre-boarding physical. It's required to be completed by the end of the day. I know this is short notice but, could you complete it?"

As the dog and man stood in front of her, it was natural for Pola to smile at Sidi and offer her hand palm down to indicate she wanted to pet him. Looking back up, the smile stayed on her lips as her eyes hardened slightly. "Thanks for coming down Lieutenant. Can you tell me how long it's been since your last medical?" Pola was stalling for time until Jessica arrived.

Sidi sniffed Medicine-smell and then butted up against her, putting it on his head where it belonged.

Jeremy frowned before flicking his wrist before calling up his schedule. "Eight months ago for a complete physical," he answered, "That was five months after I took up my new position as Alexander's aSec. I've had two blood panels to check for medication levels since and..." he blinked. "thirty seven visits for work related injuries or checkups."

Rubbing Sidi's head, Pola moved her hand to scratch him behind the ear as she kept her eyes on Jeremy. It took everything she had to prevent herself from raising her eyebrow. "Oh...well...that's a pretty big feat. What previously did you do to yourself to warrant so many work related injuries visits?"

Jeremy blinked. "I didn't harm myself, Doctor," he said, checking the sigh. Why did everyone assume that he was always trying to harm himself? He tried not to let it bother him, but the moment people realized someone had issues they automatically assumed they were dangerous to others or even themselves. As a long time security officer - and former suicidally depressed patient - he understood that self-harm involved many other factors than just having some aberrant psychological issues. "I have a dangerous job, Doctor."

"It's a rhetorical question, Lieutenant." Smiling down at Sidi, Pola scratched behind the dog's ear slightly harder. "What do you think Sidi...is he accident prone?"

Sidi lidded his eyes as Medicine-smell scratched. Issues between man-smells didn't concern him. He thought they should be simpler - biting, playing with ball!, chasing silly ducks and food were all that were required. Ear scratching was a good bonus though.

"Oh," Jeremy said, watching Sidi so casually accept Dr. Dhuinn's ministrations. "It's just..." he silenced himself. He was about to ask if he needed to go to her office, or one of the beds or if she could just sign off on his physical here when he saw Wilson entered. He stiffened seeing her, knowing she still harbored ill will toward him despite his numerous apologies for his behavior.

Sidi pushed past Pola as he stood, checking out the new person. He looked up at Jeremy, wondering why Stone-smell's entire smell shifted on seeing Beta medicine-smell.

Jessica had been hoping to get some rest before her duties on gammashift began, between duty in medical on Alpha and god-forsakan bridge watch on gamma she had very little time to herself, so she had been hoping to rest, or at least get some work done during her down time. She had therefore been less than pleased when summoned to sickbay by the good doctor, but had followed her orders. She felt her spine stiffen as she spotted Lieutenant Stone in Sickbay but forced herself to relax, she might not forgive him for his behavior towards her, but she was a doctor and that meant putting her personal feelings aside. She turned to Pola.

"You wanted to see me, Doctor?"

Smiling as she watched Jessica walk in, Pola pushed herself away from the biobed and grabbed a nearby tricorder. "Ok...Both of you follow me." The words were an order in themselves as Pola left no doubt that she expected to be followed without any questions.

Jeremy blinked as Dhuinn walked away, ordering him to follow her. No, he corrected himself. Both of them. That...that didn't make much sense. He kept a tight hold on the lead, making sure Sidi didn't wander around the Medical center.

Jessica frowned but she followed the order and followed.

As she moved them all to a biobed tucked into the back corner of Sickbay, offering some privacy to the patient stationed in it, Pola balanced her hip against its edge as she turned to watch both people before holding the tricorder out to Jessica. "Right, you both have issues which need to be sorted as a matter of priority. You both have to serve on this ship, encountering each other on a regular basis so I want to know by the end of this that you wouldn't kill each other when subject to being around each other. Understood?"

"Doctor," Jeremy said, his body stiffening and jaw clenching. "I've already told you that was an aberration for me. I'm not a violent person. I was stressed and off my meds and frustrated and feeling trapped. Even then I kept some control...enough to warn you what was happening and to give you a chance to prevent things from getting worse. I'm not...I don't want to hurt anybody.". How many times did he have o apologize? Why did people expect him to forgive them when they apologize yet the same courtesy is never extended to him? She said she accepted it, so why was she bringing it up again?

Jessica made no outward sign of her agitation at this turn of events, beyond a flash of her eyes as she felt a surge of anger. This man, who claimed to be a Starfleet Officer, had treated both Pola and Jessica disgracefully, Pola more threateningly on a physical level and Jessica more on a mental and personal level, regardless of any background causes it was simply an unacceptable way for a Starfleet Officer to act. The fact that Stone had not apologized to Jessica for it, especially given that he had apparently done so to Pola only exacerbated this problem and only Jessica's own self-control, developed through years of martial arts training (during which she had managed to feat of learning the skills whilst making absolutely no social or emotional links with her fellow students, a testament to her own shyness and insecurities). She didn't want to do this, but as she had figured before, she was a doctor and would do it if she had to.

"Neither of you have an option in this." Pola let her eyes slide easily from Jeremy's face to Jessica and she could clearly see that the woman did not want to do this. "As Chief of Security Lieutenant, you have a responsibility to protect your complete crew from harm, Jessica included. Ensign, as a doctor of this ship, you've a responsibility to provide care to everyone, Jeremy included. Neither of you can do this until you repair the bridges and earn some trust in each other." Straightening her back, Pola's eyes hardened. "This is not optional."

Jeremy flicked his wrist and activated the PADD on it, bypassing all the official texts and going to Coleman's guide. He checked several bookmarks then sighed. "So my choices are relieved of duty...or relieved of duty and ordered to undergo another useless FFDE?" he asked nobody in particular. He hit a few more controls on the PADD and sighed again, deeply. He supposed it came down to who he could afford to piss off less...Captain Rothkiss, Director of Starfleet Security Training and Compliance Division or Wilson and another group of psychiatrists. "My duty to protect members of this crew supercedes any personal feelings I may have toward a member of that crew," he finally said. "Your argument is invalid, Doctor," he said to Dhuinn. "However, your orders are not."

He sat on the bed and focused on Sidi, scowling at the situation he was in.

Jessica nodded curtly, resisting the urge to point out that she had never said anything.

"Aye-Aye, Ma'am."

Jeremy moved Sidi around the other side of the bed and gave him the stay command before returning to his previous condition and waiting. Judging from his first encounter with Wilson, this won't take very long and he'll have plenty of time to make his Holodeck appointment. However much Sidi may like Dhuinn Jeremy wasn't going to let anything happen between him and Wilson. She struck him as the type who would demand his immediate destruction if he so much as sniffed at her.

Jessica still wasn't happy about any of this but she was determined to treat this idiot like he was any other patient, it was what she would have to do if there was a real emergency.

"Jump up on the biobed please, Lieutenant," Jessica said, gesturing to the biobed itself. "Handsome dog, German Shepard?"

"Yes," Jeremy answered, scowling. "Ensign, do you really want me to jump on the bio bed? Is sitting not sufficient?"

"Yes, please position yourself fully on the biobed and lie back, the medical sensors through which the majority of a modern medical are carried out require the user to be fully in bed itself," Jessica replied evenly. "Otherwise the scans would just get data on your sternum, torso and head whilst missing out your entire legs, so if you please, Lieutenant."

Jeremy sighed. First she wanted him to jump on the bed now she wanted him to lie on it? This was already going badly, but, he positioned himself on the bed as she asked the second time.

Given that what she had said was a figure of speech, one that pretty much anyone else she had ever encountered, including aliens, would have been able to work out, Jessica didn't notice the idiocy and went right on with her work.

"I'm going to activate the sensors on the biobed now, if they show anything untoward I'm going to investigate further with medical tricorder and other means," Jessica informed him as she activated the sensors and handed him a PADD. "In the meantime please fill in this lifestlye questionairre so we can cross-reference your results with the lifestyle you are living, exercise and eating habits are particularly important."

Jeremy stared at the PADD and began scowling again. Some of the questions he could answer easily, others were more difficult. Exercise, he could answer that readily, it was part of his scheduled routine. Meals were harder because his lunch and dinner breaks were, by necessity, in flux and there were occasions when he'd completely forgotten to eat, or he would forget he did eat and go back again to make sure.

Do you take medication on a regular basis: Yes.
List of medications taken:

He scowled at that. Did that mean medication taken in total or just on a regular basis? He had three he took regularly, and a fourth for 'as needed' for frustration. Sighing, he put the PADD down, about a third completed, and waited for the scan to finish.

As the scans continued she looked over the readings with some professional interest, noting the elevated alpha waves and decreased heart rate, but the scans weren't finished yet and she looked down critically at the questionaire.

"Finish the questionaire please, Lieutenant," Her British pronunciation of the rank becoming somewhat more pronounced.

"I..." he started, but sighed and picked it back up.

Sleep habits: hours of sleep on average: 2.5 (he guessed)
Do you suffer from narcolepsy, insomnia, night terrors or other sleep disorders? No

He skipped down some.

Do you have a history of mental illness? Yes.
Has your history of mental illness required hospitalization: No.
Are you currently being treated professionally for mental illness?

Once again he scowled. Was disassociative memory disorder a mental illness or a physical illness? He stared at the PADD before putting it down again. "Can't you just bring up previous questionnaires?" he asked. From times when doctors - less judgmental - had helped him to get them filled out accurately. "I'm sure nothing's changed."

"There is a reason that we have these medicals, with these questionaires, every time we change assignment, in case something has changed that we don't know about," Jessica replied. "Note the small question mark next to each question, it'll give you help on how to answer the questions, now please hold as still as you can whilst you do, I'm detecting abnormal alpha waves, I need to scan your head.

[TBC]

Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

LTjg Jeremy Stone
Chief Security/Tactical Officer/K9
USS Galileo

Ensign Jessica Wilson M.D.
Medical Officer (Intern)
U.S.S. Galileo

Sidious MWD 7223
Security K9 unit
USS Galileo

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