JL | LCDR Desmond & Lt. Ch'Valenvok | "Fitting Physical"

Posted on Sat Jul 15th, 2017 @ 2:17am by Captain Kaleb Ch'Valenvok M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Matthew Desmond

1,263 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Ballynamony
Location: Sickbay | USS Vindiactor

Kaleb was mowing through the active duty physicals in preparation for leaving Earth Spacedock. He had even managed to conduct the Commodore's physical without having to alert security. The week was winding down and Kaleb was glad for it. He still had a small list of individuals to examine and next on that list was Commander Desmond. Without a second though he spoke into the air, "Computer, what is Lieutenant Commander Desmond's current duty status?"

"Lieutenant Commander Desmond is currently off-duty." Said the distinctly female voice of the computer.

Reaching to tap his commbadge, Kaleb said, "Lieutenant Commander Desmond, please report to sickbay." Kaleb sat down at his desk and pulled up the Commander's charts. His physical was technically still good from Starfleet Medical but Kaleb hated for things to fall through the cracks because he hadn't done his due diligence. The man was in perfect health as of his last visit to sickbay and Kaleb hoped to find him unchanged this go round.

Lieutenant Commander Desmond stared out the viewport of the Officer's Lounge. He was settling in alright, and Amara was still taking everything in. She was definitely a stranger in a strange land. She was currently with the ship's XO, learning more about Starfleet culture and tradition as well as getting a ship's tour.

Lieutenant Commander Desmond heard his name being called on his commbadge with a request to report to sickbay. Odd, he thought as he tapped his commbadge, he had just received a thorough work up at Starfleet Medical, nevertheless, it was good to be prudent. "Acknowledged."

Lieutenant Commander Desmond exited the turbolift and walked to sickbay. It felt so strange to be onboard a ship again, it was so much more different than he had anticipated it would be. As he entered sickbay a crewman approached him.

"May I help you, Sir?" the crewman asked.

"Lieutenant Commander Desmond...I was just summonsed here."

The crewman nodded, "Yes, Sir, Doctor Ch'Valenvok would like to do your physical, Sir."

Desmond raised an eyebrow, "I believe there has been a mistake...I just received a physical at Starfleet Medical Center before reporting for duty....but...what the heck...might as well meet the doctor."

"This way, Sir," the crewman said as he led him to the doctor.

Kaleb was sitting at his desk when his door chime caused him to look up. "Enter." He said with a hint of exhaustion tinting his voice. The door hissed open to reveal what Kaleb could only assume was his next patient, Lieutenant Commander Desmond. "Welcome aboard, Commander. I was just going over your medical records. As part of our onboarding we do a quick physical assessment of all new arrivals. Starfleet Medical does its best but often I find their record keeping skills are not quite up to Vindicator standards. If you would follow me into Exam-1, we can get this underway." Kaleb rose from his chair and made to lead the Commander to the exam room.

Commander Desmond followed Kaleb to the exam room, as they entered he hopped up on the biobed. "Alright, saw bones," he said with a twinkle in his eyes, "let's see if Starfleet Medical missed anything or not. As far as I know, I only suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder."

Kaleb's antenna twitched back and forth. He was unsure if he was being put on by the Commander. "Well, Sir, I'm sure they didn't miss anything so much as just didn't record everything." Kaleb pulled the tricorder from his belt and detached the small calendrical wand from the side of it. He sat the tricorder down on the small bedside table so that it could record the information collected by the biobed as he worked. "Anything physical bothering you, Commander?" Kaleb asked as he worked.

Desmond paused for a moment, "I feel a bit funny, but I think that's just getting used to the artificial gravity, perhaps?" Desmond studied the doctor as he worked. "You look familiar...have I met you before?"

Kaleb's eyebrow raised a bit. "Has it been a while since you been shipboard, Commander? Now that you mention it, I thought I recognized something about your medical file. You were treated aboard the USS Bastion about six years ago. I would have been aboard her then. I was an Ensign is medical but I don't think we met at the time." Kaleb made a few notes on his PADD. "I can give you a hypo for motion sickness if you like. It will help you adjust to the artificial gravity."

Desmond furrowed his brow, "The USS Bastion...oh yeah, when we got the Iotian flu. I am darn sure we met...maybe not formally, but I remember you being there one night when I was in the midst of some of the worst pains that blasted flu gave me. I was pretty freaking delirious if I remember correctly. Yeah, go ahead...you can give me something for the motion sickness, but I don't think it's motion sickness...it feels like it, but it doesn't feel like it. Know what I mean?"

"Hmm..." Kaleb muttered looking perplexed. "No sign of toxins or pathogens in your system. Skeletal system is intact though there are signs of a few long healed breaks. Some of which are not noted in your record." Kaleb moved to a drawer concealed within the bulkhead of the room where he withdrew a hypospray and a vile. Snapping the vile into the handle of the hypo he said, "A little pinch and we'll give it a second to see how it makes you feel." He moved in and pressed the hypo to the Commanders neck. "I may have stood duty physician during your stay. I remember the case clearly but your face isn't ringing any bells for me. I was just kid then. Fresh out of the Academy." Kaleb set down the hypo and picked up his tricorder. "Your white blood cell count is slightly elevated but I'm showing now signs of infection in the scans. Have you been sick recently or are you taking any medications?" Kaleb's antenna twitched as his mind began working out the diagnosis.

Desmond laughed, "Special forces medics tend to not put stuff in to Starfleet Medical records. Too complicated they say, but yeah, I've had a few broken bones in my life, Doc. Uhm....medications...I mean, the head doctors at Starfleet Medical filled me up with a bunch of stuff...and to be honest, I probably have been sick and didn't realize it. I have just felt 'blah' for the last year or so."

Kaleb scanned the reading one last time to ensure he didn't miss anything. "I don't see any physical cause for your elevated counts. However, I see in your record that you have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As a precaution I would like you to set up an appointment with the ships councilor, Commander Neyes. He's a good guy, I think you'll like him." Kaleb made a few notes on his PADD and the said, "Do you feel any different with the Dramamine in your system?"

Desmond nodded, "Sounds good to me doc. I do feel a bit better, thank you."

Kaleb smiled and nodded. "I'm all done with you Commander. If you have any further issues getting acclimated, let me know." With that Kaleb stepped to the exam room door and out into the passageway.
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Lieutenant Kaleb Ch'Valenvok M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
USS Vindicator NX-78213-F

Lieutenant Commander Matthew Desmond
Chief Operations Officer
USS Vindicator NX-78213-F

 

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