Post 39: Poking and Prodding

Posted on Wed Apr 29th, 2020 @ 2:47pm by Lieutenant Timmoz & Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Grey M.D
Edited on on Wed Apr 29th, 2020 @ 2:48pm

Mission: Prologue: Back In Action
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 01

The inevitable approached. No mystery, no duty, no personal assertion of one's health was going to clear this necessary hurdle: the onboard physical. Timmoz allowed himself a subtle sign of his annoyance as he stood at the doors of the bay. He could already smell the acrid antiseptic tang in his nose, which he had learned had a stronger edge to Orions than Humans. Humans found it refreshingly clean... to Orions it touched on notions of sickness.

Timmoz had nothing personal against Doctors as people but like so many, their profession intimidated. It was somehow against Cluros, losing face with the notion that one needed medical attention. It was admission of pain, discomfort, frailty. Orions would lousy patients and Timmoz was no exception. This was a Human requirement and he looked upon it very much in that light.

And with that, he did his duty: he slapped the open key for the door and sidled between the doors before they'd even fully opened. He strode to the edge of common area, fondling into his pocket to retrieve a hair tie. Lanky arms rose and he took to bunching up the Sputnik-like frizzy mass of his hair all the while waiting to make eye contact with a nurse or a Doctor.

Elizabeth yawned slightly as she finished saying goodbye to a previous patient who, like most of the ship, had reported for his pre-deployment physical. Although she understood the medical need for them, and knew how valuable having a medical baseline to go against would be, the first few days for any new medical staff was certainly a trial by fire and was rather tiring to say the least. Never the less, as another officer entered the waiting room Elizabeth smiled warmly.

"Here for your physical; Lieutenant?" Elizabeth asked. "Follow me and jump up on that biobed."

The Orion glanced at the biobed beyond the Doctor that the Doctor mentioned, stifling the swim in his stomach. "Yes Doctor." He turned toward it, "Not that there's anything wrong with me. But Starfleet insists on this..." he folded his arms over his chest and strolled to the biobed Grey led him to, "Ritual." He eyed the biobed again and then acquiesced to hopping up and sitting upon its surface- the edge of it.

The Orion slouched some, pressing his hands around the end of the mattress.

Elizabeth smiled, wryly but friendly.

"I can see this is something you're not tremendously invested in, so let's make this as painless as possible for both of us," Elizabeth said firmly. "The biobed will do most of the scans so it shouldn't take too long, but how are you feeling in general, what is your body telling you?"

The Orion's brows popped at the Doctor's forthrightness. He'd met few who enjoyed physicals. But he turned attention to her question. His brows knit, coming down from his note of surprise, into self-reflection. "I... don't know. Like me, I suppose. A little sore from crouching over warp coils all day. Still adjusting to the time change," he added, "The Zakdorn keep Qualor on a twenty-eight hour schedule, closer to their homeworld." He smiled to the side, "Suddenly I have four less hours than I'm used to."

"Time changes can have do a number on your body, because your body clock is hard-wired to a completely different cycle," Elizabeth nodded understandingly. "Fortunately, it'll catch up after a few days, as for aches and pains, do you do any stretches independent of any exercise?"

The Orion smiled into one cheek, swaying slightly forward, "I'm assuming you don't mean the Nausicaan Hook in Dom-Jot when you say stretching, Doctor." Timmoz shook his head slightly, "Not really." He attested honestly, turning back to her question from before as well. How did he feel? He felt... fine? Admitting anything less was hard for an Orion anyway. "Looking forward to the Delta Quadrant?"

"Indeed I don't, but if you can try and get some basic stretches into your routine it'll do you wonders, I recommend it to all officers who have physical roles, keeps you flexible," Elizabeth replied, then smiled. "Yeah, I am; truth be told this is my first fleet deployment; I've spent most of my career learning my trade as a Surgeon, so I'm looking forward to getting out there."

Timmoz looked down at his chest and knees. Inevitably he glanced at her rank once he heard the surface of her personal story. "What appealed to you about a Starfleet life?" He asked.

"My father, to some extent; he's a Starfleet officer whilst my mother is a neurosurgeon, So I grew up with both influences, with the Starfleet life appealing as much as medicine," Elizabeth replied. "My medical training was through Starfleet and I did my Residency on Starbase 412, so I've got Starfleet experience, but eleven years in, I need to get out there... what about you, Lieutenant, what drew you to Starfleet?"

Timmoz listened: the Human seemed to be straddling two worlds, something that seemed common for Humans to do to an outsider's perspective. When the tide turned to his past, Timmoz fingered his sprightly curls behind his ear. "I'm a 407 dash seven." He admitted, "Asylum seeker, non-Federation citizen, with an expunged juvenile criminal record." The Orion raised a brow, "My service in Starfleet is... payback... for asylum. And sealing my past." He blinked, popping his brows. "Botchok is a rough place, Doctor."

"You wouldn't be the first officer to do what he had to do to survive and then come to Starfleet to build a new future," Elizabeth nodded, able to tell from his body language that this was an out-of-character admission for him and offered a change of subject. "So, are you looking forward to the Delta Quadrant yourself, this must be what, your second or third post?"

Timmoz chuckled, a raven eyebrow rising, "No. I probably wouldn't be." It still struck him as surreal, looking around such settings and feeling an alienness in the decor, the language script on computers, even the lighting and smells. "Second. My first was on Qualor II." The Orion eyed his knees while he considered an answer. "In all honesty Doctor, my people aren't exactly..." he winced an eye, "Pioneers. And... I feel that in here." He smiled wryly, blinking while he pointed over his Orion hearts, "We've done the colonial Empires several times and it never lasted. But... it'll be interesting. Against my instincts, but interesting." It was the most honest answer he could give. "My plan is to stay away from anything remotely cube in shape." He flashed a charming smile.

"I've found that as much as it's important to listen to your instincts, it's also good to push your own limits every now and then," Elizabeth commented with a smile. "And yes, I think we can safely say that we'd all prefer to stay away from geometric shapes of any kind in this part of the galaxy!"

The Orion was in firm agreement on the issue of simple geometric objects in space. "How'm I looking?" He asked, turning his attention back to his physical. He glanced at the heart monitor and the double-tap beat of his Orion hearts. Slightly elevated, even he recognized. His brow rose.

"Good for the most part, all things considered, especially if you do what I've already said," Elizabeth replied, glancing at the display. "Your hearts rates are a little elevated, possibly due to the fact that I know you're not exactly comfortable being here, but let me just run a deeper scan, it'll only take a few moments."

The Orion agreed with the nod, to let the Doctor initiate the scan. He shifted his weight and waited for it to complete its subroutines. He took a moment to study the room itself. It had a fairly standard layout compared to most Ambassador-classes, though it had been put through a more rigorous refit than the ships he saw at the depot.

Elizabeth completed the scans and frowned down at the results.

"Looks like the tail-end of a case of Zakdorn Influenza, nothing too serious, but then it wouldn't be in your physiology," Elizabeth commented. "Have you been feeling run down over the past few days at all, it wouldn't have been too bad, just under the weather?"

The Orion at first raised his eyebrow. "I don't..." His brows gradually furrowed and he finally shrugged, "Uh maybe a little, around the time I left Qualor II. I thought it was stress or... a sudden lack of much to do." He heh'ed, "Except sit on a Vulcan transport for a few weeks." He smirked, "A parting gift from the Zakdorn I guess."

"Indeed, and lovely of them to be so considerate," Elizabeth smiled. "Well, it's pretty much cleared up already so just get some fluids down you today and you should be right as rain."

Timmoz nodded, "Right, I'll make sure I do that while I'm checking escape pods." He shook his head, "All seventy of them." He shuffled some, "About how much more of the crew do you have left to do this with?"

"About four hundred," Elizabeth replied with a heavy sigh. "Thankfully I've got my interns certified, so they're taking some of the workload, thank goodness!"

Timmoz nodded, "What I wouldn't give for a few more personnel myself." The Orion replied. "So, if I am going to survive my parting gift from Director Dokachin... I should get out of your way?" He asked.

"We're all done here," Elizabeth agreed with a smile. "It was good seeing you, Lieutenant."

The Orion slipped off the biobed and tugged on his uniform top, "Thank you, it was nice meeting you too Doctor." He sidled by with a smile, "I'll try and stay off your work schedule for at least a few days."

A Post By:

Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Grey, MD
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant JG Timmoz
Chief Flight Controller