Physical - Bordeaux

Posted on 07 Jul 2017 @ 2:21am by Commander Jayla Kij & Ensign Elizabeth Bordeaux

1,586 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 3 || 1315 hours - BACKPOST

At the end of Alpha shift, Bordeaux signed off of her computer console and exited the science lab. Since her arrival two days ago, Liz Bordeaux had spent the majority of the time reviewing the Black Hawk's current mission near the Finnean Convergence Zone. The field of energy she had seen on Commander Djinx's display during their first encounter had become a now familiar sight in science team briefings, and the Zone was turning out to be far more strange than she had ever anticipated. No vessel from outside the Zone had ever entered, and only one race, the Aketi, had only recently been able to send a few members of their species out of the Zone. Most of the information in the Stafleet library had led to dead ends, however. The information they needed was on DS15 and the USS Vasco de Gama.

Entering the turbolift, it was tempting to head straight to the gym on deck 8. Liz was trying to start a habit of clocking in a half-hour of exercise after her shift, both for the obvious physical benefits and the social ones as well. But that wouldn't happen today. She had to instead ride past deck 8 up to deck 6, to sickbay for her required physical she had put off up till now. It may have been a bit cliché, but Bordeaux had never really liked the idea of offering one's self up in judgment by the ship's medical professional. She felt healthy. In an ideal world, she'd only go see the doctor when she was sick. Unfortunately, Starfleet didn't see it the same way as her.

Entering sickbay, Bordeaux looked for the CMO and check in.

Almost immediately, a petite blond nurse approached, huge friendly smile in place. "Hiya!" she said cheerfully. "I'm nurse Rigby. How may I help you?"

Liz smiled at her. "Hi, I'm here for my physical? I just came onboard two days ago." She shrugged, then added, "This is my first one, actually, so not really sure what to expect."

"Oh, I'll give you to Doctor Kij, then," replied the nurse. "She's wonderful. Cheerful, friendly. You know, sort of like me!" She giggled, nose wrinkling. "Anyway, right this way," she said, motioning for the ensign to follow.

Liz lagged behind for a second while she took in the bubbly nurse. She shook her head and then followed her as she led the way.

To tell the truth, nurse Rigby had that effect on people. Standing at just 4'11" and weighing in at 98 pounds soaking wet was enough to give people pause, but add in the chipper attitude and excessive positivity and it was enough to derail even the friendliest of her shipmates.

"Doctor Kij," she said as they approached a Trill who was just updating some medical file or another. "This is Ensign... you know what? I didn't even ask!" She giggled again. "Anyway, she's new and just come by for her physical."

"Thank you, nurse," said Jayla, and Rigby bounced away to use her sunny disposition on others. "Welcome aboard, ensign," Jayla said to the newcomer. "Sorry about her. She's... really upbeat. It frightens some. Anyway, what's your name?"

Liz chuckled. "It's quite all right." Glancing back at the nurse, Liz remarked, "She's just unexpectedly cheery, but hardly frightening." She turned back to the doctor. "Ensign Liz Bordeaux, ma'am. I just came onboard two days ago." Liz studied the CMO. She looked young for being the head medical officer on the ship—Liz wouldn't put her past late 20s, though her rosy complexion and round face may have been hiding a few years.

Little did Liz know that late 20's was the oldest anyone had ever guessed Jayla. Not too long ago, she had been mistaken for an eighteen-year-old cadet.

"It's good to meet you, Ensign Bordeaux," Jayla replied cheerfully- though not quite as cheerfully as Nurse Rigby- as she pulled up the young woman's medical records on a PaDD. "Hop right up on this biobed and we'll get started."

The doctor motioned to a medical bed, which Liz dutifully mounted, her legs dangling off the end. She heard the bed activate as she sat down, no doubt displaying vitals for the doctor.

Activating her tricorder, Jayla began her examination. She usually took longer than was really necessary because her naturally friendly nature required her to chat a lot, which slowed her down. "Any complaints?" she asked, keeping an eye on the tricorder readout.

Liz smiled. "You mean aside from being assigned to try and penetrate the impenetrable?" she said, referencing the convergence. She turned to the doctor as her smile faded. "But, no, no medical complaints."

"I'm always torn by tha response," Jayla replied "on the one hand, having no complaints means you're probably healthy and it makes my job easier. On the other hand, fewer patients to treat means slower days. It's a conundrum." She offered a grin and a wink.

What little fleeting bits of anxiety had been present concerning this first physical quickly washed away. Damn, Bordeaux thought, with bedside manner like that, who needs a ship's counsellor? At the Academy, cadets were required to do mandatory physicals at the start of every annual term. Her doctor there had been an exceptionally terse Tellarite who preferred to work in silence. Dr. Kij was a drastic improvement.

"Oh?" Liz replied. She feigned a look of Shakespearean despondence. "The ship's doctor, cursed to solitude because her patients are too healthy." Recovering, she put on an overly-serious look and said, "I'll try not to be too boring today, ma'am," before breaking into a grin.

A performance that good deserved applause, but Jayla's hands were full, so she simply grinned. "Boring is good for you, but bad for me. Doesn't matter. I don't mind being bored if it means everyone is healthy. I could always write a paper or something."

"Are you working on any interesting papers right now?" Liz inquired.

"Not particularly," answered Jayla. "I got a bit distracted and then we were sent on shore leave and I had some personal issues to deal with. I had been studying the effect certain viruses have on different species. For instance, Mononucleosis affects humans, Vulcans, Betezoids, and Telino the same way, but Klingons actually become more aggressive- in the rare cases they contract it. Most Klingons are immune," she explained. "And it doesn't affect Bajorans at all, but they can carry it and pass it on to others. And there is still no cure other than rest."

Bordeaux nodded. "Well, I'll keep an eye out for your name in the Starfleet Medical Journal."

"It wouldn't be the first time it was there," Jayla admitted. "Although, to be fair, the first paper I wrote wasn't ground breaking or anything. Just pointing out that some of the old methods were just as good as the modern ones and why did we ever change. I got a lot of positive feedback, though."

As the doctor continued her scans with the medical tricorder, Liz ran her eyes over the spots than ran from her temples down under her collar. She had always thought that particular Trill ornamentation was quite pretty. She had met a few Trill before, of course, but if rumours were true, Dr. Kij was a joined Trill, and that was special. The relationship between the Trill and the symbionts was a marvel of evolutionary history, and she'd love to probe the doctor's brain, but from what she had heard, it wasn't exactly polite to ask about a Trill's joined status.

Jayla, of course, had always been rather strange about that particular question. She didn't mind it from people other than Trill. Trill, of course, knew the names of the symbionts and so one of them asking would be rather insulting, but a human or a Vulcan- no problem. How would they know that Kij is a symbiont?

Of course, some Trill equated it to inquiring about someone's pregnancy status, but she also didn't see a problem with that, especially if it was pertinent to the discussion at hand. And of course, the wording would matter. For instance, "you're not pregnant, are you?" would be more acceptable than, "Oh, you must be pregnant, right?"

But, of course, none of that mattered just now. Now, she was busy finishing up her scans- much more quickly than normal as a comfortable silence had fallen. "Well," she said finally. "I'd say you're in great health. I'm pronouncing you fit for duty."

Bordeaux hopped off the biobed. "Thanks, Doc. Say," she turned toward her, "I've been thinking about trying to get into some sort of exercise group in the ship gym. Obviously for the health benefits, but also. . ." She shrugged. "I thought it might help get integrated with the crew a bit faster. You wouldn't happen to have any suggestions?"

"There used to be yoga twice a week," Jayla suggested. "I think it's starting back up soon. There's also a kick boxing class that I highly recommend. Muscle work and cardio all in one. Can't go wrong."

Liz beamed. "That sounds perfect, Doc. Thanks." Shaking her hand, she added, "and it was a pleasure meeting you."

"Pleasure meeting you, too," Jayla replied with a bright grin. "Hope to see you at Yoga. Or kick boxing. Or both!"

As she exited sickbay, Liz thought to herself, That was probably the most pleasant checkup I've ever had.

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