Physical

Posted on 20 Jan 2016 @ 12:52am by Commander Jayla Kij

869 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Rude Awakening
Location: Sick Bay
Timeline: Before Repairs and Upkeep

Jayla studied the PaDD in her hand as she chewed her lip. She was to do a "coming aboard" physical for the new science officer. She didn't mind doing those. In fact, she didn't mind doing anything her job entailed and some things were actually enjoyable. "Coming aboard" wasn't exactly enjoyable, but it was far from unpleasant.

"Hurley," she said to the RN on duty. "Let me know when Lieutenant Commander Niequist arrives."

"You got it, Doc," he replied.

Jayla grinned and headed into her office to continue studying Niequist's medical file.

Imráe Niequist never understood why people hated physicals. Quick, painless procedures that ended with a doctor telling you how wonderfully healthy you are really had no downsides.

Of course, the only downside was that the doctor had scheduled it during her usual exercise period, and Imráe would be damned if she was going to change her schedule just because the doc asked her to come in for a physical. So she took the time to finish her yoga (privately), a martial routine against the bag, then jogged her way to sickbay for her warmdown.

"Commander Niequist, reporting for my physical?" Imráe said as she panted her way into the sickbay. Sweat soaked the blue of her exercise uniform, but she didn't seem to care much, and she was pretty sure the doctor had dealt with worse.

Nurse Hurley glanced up from calibrating his tricorder and gave her a grin. "You're late," he commented, "but I wouldn't count on Doctor Kij to realize that." He motioned for her to follow and led her to one of the private exam rooms. "I'll let her know you're here," he added and hurried off to find the Doctor.

Only moments later, a bright-eyed, smiling Trill walked into the exam room. "Hi!" she said, bubbly personality spilling out all over the place. "I'm Doctor Kij. How are you liking the Black Hawk so far?"

Imráe smirked in amusement at Doctor Kij's effervescent demeanour. "Careful, doc," she said, "you might start a pandemic with a smile that infectious. So far, it's not so bad. Smaller than the Harbinger was, but I get to wear blue, so I'm sure as heck not complaining, even if the Akira class winds up functioning more like a warship than an exploration vessel, half the time. Still, it's nice to be out so close to uncharted space. All-in-all, I think I'm feeling better than I have in years."

"Well, that's a good sign," agreed Jayla with a grin, pulling out her tricorder. "You weren't in science on the Harbinger?" she asked as she ran the preliminary scans.

The human gave a little shake of her head, sending a ripple through her fiery hair. "No, Engineering," she said with a faint sneer. "Technically I took a step backwards coming here, since I was Second in Command of the Harbinger, but I would have been happy to be busted back to Ensign to get back into Science. I'm an explorer, not an engineer. I just happen to be good at fixing things, too." Imráe gave a non-commital shrug, then motioned to the Tricorder. "So how am I doing?"

"Pretty good, according to this," answered Jayla. "Heart rate and blood pressure are slightly elevated, but it looks like you've just finished a workout, so I'll check that again later. Everything else looks really good. Got any complaints?" she asked.

"Just the usual suspects," Imráe chimed. "Getting older, getting slower, metabolism slowing down." She pokes her stomach a little, then notes, "I try to stay in shape, despite it all."

"Well, you look good to me," said Jayla with another grin- or perhaps it was the same one from before. Then, the grin turned into a slight frown. "Hm," she said. "Your liver is functioning lower than I'd like. It's not dangerous, yet, but it's getting close. There are very few things that can cause this and if I had to guess, I'd go with alcohol." She gave Niequist a stern look that was marred by a slight grin. "Have you been drinking heavily?" she asked.

Imráe blinked in surprise at the news. "Wait, seriously?" she asked, then shook her head in disgust. "Yeah, I may have mentioned I wasn't happy on Harbinger," she says with a sigh. "I haven't had a drop since I got my transfer paperwork, but I spent most of my off-hours drunk, the past few years. How serious is it?"

"Well, as long as you really have quit, not bad," answered Jayla. "But, I'd like to see you again in a month just to make sure. If the Harbinger was really that bad, it's a good thing you got off when you did."

The scientist let out a faint grimace. She was beginning to understand why other officers hated physicals. "Don't worry, doc, I won't touch a drop. I'm sure in a month you'll be pleased to see me happy, healthy, and having the time of my life." Promises promises.

"I'll hold you to that!" laughed Jayla. "Everything else checks out, though. Despite the liver issue, I'm declaring you fit for duty."

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