Doctor Spots

Posted on 19 Jun 2017 @ 4:09pm by Lieutenant Callam Jaxer & Commander Jayla Kij

2,022 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Sick Bay
Timeline: MD4/1700hrs

Callam dumped his bag on the bed in his quarters. After a quick moment of thought, he decided to get his med visit out of the way before meeting the Captain. He really didn't see why nearly everyone he'd met in Starfleet was so reluctant to visit Sick Bay. Callam just didn't see what the big deal was. If there was something wrong with him, he wanted to know. As far as pain...hyposprays really didn't hurt, and whatever pain medical personnel might cause him, it couldn't hurt worse than crash landing after being shot out of the sky. Callam had survived that, a little hypospray wasn't going to set him back.

Callam supposed he was more used to being around medical professionals than a lot of his fellow officers. His mother was a pharmacist and medical scientist, two other of his parents were medical doctors, and many members of his mother's clan were in the medical field in some way. This was because some of the finest institutions of professional medical education in the Federation were located on Rigel V, the first planet in the Rigel system that his people settled on after breaking off from the Vulcan Diaspora. Medical practitioners and medical scientists were held in high regard. So many Rigelians from the colony on Rigel IV would travel to Rigel V to train in medicine, nursing, and other medical professions. Many of those returned to their home colony to practice after graduating.

Callam arrived at Sick Bay and flagged down a corpsman.

"Excuse me," he said. "I need to get my intake physical out of the way. Is there anyone who could see me now? I can wait for a little bit if needs be."

"Just a second, sir," the corpsman replied. "I'll see if I can find someone to help you."

As luck would have it, Jayla had just finished up what she thought was her last physical when a technician informed her of an incoming wanting to her his boarding physical. With a sigh, she nodded and went to greet him in the waiting area. She plastered on a smile and reminded herself that he didn't know she'd just performed three days worth of physicals in two days. "Hello," she said to the young man waiting for her. "I'm Doctor Jayla Kij. You're just coming aboard?"

Callam smiled at the attractive Trill doctor. He could tell she felt tired, overworked, and maybe even a bit underappreciated. Callam figured a little harmless (mostly harmless) flirtation might cheer her up. It would certainly give his day a lift.

"Hello, Doctor Spots," Callam said with a twinkle in his eye. "That's right, I'm just coming about. Here to be measured and weighed and poked and prodded, especially if that means being poked and prodded by you."

'Doctor Spots' as he'd called her, broke into a grin. "That's a new one!" she laughed, delighted. "I love it! I think I'll change my name. Anyway, right this way," she added, leading him back into main Sick Bay. "You must be a very recent transfer; I haven't even gotten any new files, yet."

Callam laughed.

"You got that right, Spots," Callam said. "Right before I came to the Black Hawk I was getting checked out on the Gryphon fighter. I actually got to fly the first batch they released for training. Unfortunately I proved too good a student. They held me over to help transition other pilots to the Gryphon. So there I was, on TDY to Flight School, doing my job, going about my day as a Chief Warrant Officer, when suddenly I'm called into the CO's office. He comes around the desk and puts his arm around my shoulders and says 'Mister Jaxer, Starfleet needs you...' Now I've been Starfleet for twenty-six years, so I know to be worried when someone in a position of authority says 'Starfleet needs you...', so at this point I'm craning my neck trying to see if he's got lubricant in his other hand. He tells me that my skills are being wasted as a Chief Warrant Officer and wouldn't I like to be a Lieutenant? Before I can answer he says that he hopes so, because he'd taken the liberty of applying to the Warrant Officer to Lieutenant Program on my behalf and my promotion had come through. It was nice working with me these past months, he says, hands me my new orders, and dismisses me. I have a fond farewell with a casual lady friend of mine followed by a few hours sleep. Then I packed my stuff, boarded a runabout, and next thing I'm here, checking off all of the 'when you first arrive at your new station' boxes."

"Well, I'm sure we can tick this one off quickly," she said, motioning towards a bio bed and picking up a PaDD. "Hop up here. Oh, look! I did get your file about five minutes ago. You must be..." she scrolled through the pictures quickly, "... Lieutenant Callam Jaxer."

"Not too quickly, I hope," Callam replied with a grin. "Sorry. Should have introduced myself. Yep, I'm Callam Jaxer. My first flight instructor stuck me with the callsign 'Jax'. Not very inventive, but I've made do. You can call me Jax if you want to, but I usually go by Callam or Cal when I'm not on the flight deck or in the cockpit."

Callam obediently hopped up on the indicated bio bed. He lay down on his back and put his hands behind his head.

"Don't hold back, Spots," he said, his voice taking on an obviously fake serious tone. "Tell me the truth. I can take it. Your scanners are telling you that I'm the best looking Human/Rigelian hybrid you've laid out on a bio bed all day, aren't I?"

Callam regarded the attractive doctor for a moment.

"Spots," he said. "All flirting aside, I don't know what you look like normally, but to my eye, you're looking a little rough around the edges today. Is everything alright?"

"I'm okay," she replied with a small smile as she opened her tricorder and started her scans. "Well, not really, but I'm getting there. I just went through a lot of personal issues during the last mission and I'm still working through some of it. I'll be all right in time." She took a deep breath and her smile widened to one closer to her usual cheeky grin. "As for being the most attractive human/Rigelian I've seen all day, you're absolutely right. In fact, you're probably the most attractive one I've seen in my whole life!" She grinned and winked.

Callam chuckled.

"Attractive enough that you'll have a drink with me?" he asked. "No pressure, Spots, but if you want to blow off some steam, I can be good company."

Her first inclination was to shrink away, but she realized that she could use some friends. After all, with Temmerent and Camila both assigned to different ships and Harvey in a relationship, she was down to nobody to talk to. Except possibly Commander Teixeira, but she didn't know how sincere his offer to listen had been. So, she offered him a strained, but grateful smile. "I think it would be good for me," she admitted. "And I'll probably even enjoy it.

"I'll do my very best to ensure that you do," Callam said, grinning. "I promise. Are you free tonight?"

"Unless the bridge gets us into a fire fight and I have wounded pouring in," she replied. "Hopefully we can avoid that, though."

"Great!" Callam said. "I still have to check in with Captain Geisler and Commander Walsh...shall we say around 2030hrs? We could meet at...I assume this ship has some kind of lounge on it...anyway, we could meet there or I could swing by your quarters and we could walk there together. Whichever you're more comfortable with."

"Talons," Jayla replied. "The lounge is called Talons. Wait until you meet the barkeep. She's... a character. I like her, anyway." She smiled fondly, switching her tricorder to run secondary scans. "I'll meet you there," she added.

"Alright then," Callam said. "I'll look forward to it. So, how do I look inside? Like somebody tried to build a Vulcan in the dark?"

Build a Vulcan in the dark? She grinned, immediately picturing someone sitting in a dark room surrounded by Legos. "More like someone who only had a vague idea of what a Vulcan was supposed to be attempted to draw a picture using human anatomy and actually came up with a rather fair representation completely by chance," she replied. "Health wise, you seem close enough to your base scans that I'm not concerned in the least. A point difference here, a point there... I don't see any need for invasive tests. Of course, I'm not quite done, yet."

"Well," Callam said. "Considering I just crash landed a Danube Class Runabout into the deck of the shuttle bay, I think I'm allowed a few point differences. Can't wait to have that conversation with the Captain, I tell you. Ah, well. You know what they say: Any landing you can walk away from...."

"I'd like to think Captain Geisler would be understanding," she told him. "Unless, of course, you crashed it on purpose."

Callam got a look of mock horror on his face.

"Crash...on...purpose?!?" he said. "Perish the thought, Spots! Perish the thought! Nah, the Fleet got a bad batch of the impulse engines used on the Danube. Yoyodyne copped to it after the first incident and ordered a recall. I bet when they look into the crash, they're going to find that the Cuyahoga was scheduled to have her impulse engines replaced but due to some clerical error she slipped through the cracks. The kid in the pilot's seat was a bit green, so I stepped in and put her down as gently as I could."

"Well, there ya go," she replied. "I'm sure he'll understand. Especially after they discover the reason. Of course, he was a doctor, not a pilot...." She shrugged. "Eh, don't worry yourself about it. If he gives you a hard time, I'll tell him off for you." She added a wink to let him know she was joking.

"You jest," Callam said, grinning. "But don't be surprised if I take you up on that. May I ask you a personal question?"

"As long as I can tell you it's none of your business if I don't want to answer," she replied honestly.

Callam laughed softly.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Spots," he said. "Are you joined?"

"That's not really that personal," she replied with a grin. "Yes, I am."

"Mind if I ask how old Kij is?" Callam said.

"Over five hundred years," she replied, then narrowed her eyes in thought. "Five hundred thirty-eight, I think. Lost count," she admitted for Kij. "After awhile, it just starts to seem arbitrary."

"I can only imagine," Callam said. Callam lay back and said nothing for a little bit, letting Jayla do her work in undisturbed for a bit. He'd have plenty of time to get to know more about her later. A companionable silence settled around them.

A few short minutes later, Jayla closed her tricorder. "I see no reason to do any blood work at this time," she said with a smile. "I'm declaring you fit for duty. Unless you have any medical complaints you'd like me to review."

Callam swung his legs off the bio bed and stood up.

"Nope," he said. "Nice meeting you, Spots. See you...what was it...ah, yes! Talons. See you at Talons at 2030hrs."

"See you then," she agreed with a relaxed grin. "In the meantime, don't let them tell you it's customary for the new guy to clean the live specimen holding tanks."

Callam laughed.

"That's terrible, Spots!" he said. "Though I think my very first flight leader making me hand wash everyone's laundry for the first month of my tour is a close second! I've got to go, Spots. See you tonight."

RSS Feed