Meeting the Doctor

Posted on 14 Jun 2016 @ 7:50am by Lieutenant JG Daniella Blake & Commander Jayla Kij

1,308 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Medical
Timeline: MD 01 || Late Morning

Daniella Blake approached Medical for the umpteenth time. To her, first impressions meant a lot... especially after what happened on the last ship she served on. It wasn't the most horrible time of her young life, but it wasn't the best, either. Having a CMO she'd constantly fought with had taken its toll on her, and forced the young woman to finally cave... asking to be transferred. Now, she found herself on the Black Hawk, and all she could hope was that her new CMO would be so much better than the last one.

She couldn't help the uneasy feeling that had somehow managed to work its way through her. The petite woman shrugged it off and chalked it up to the fact that it was a case of nerves... nothing more. Taking a calming breath, Dani put a smile on her face and walked into what was to be a new start. She took a look around briefly before asking a random person where the Chief Medical Officer could be found, then made her way in that direction. After making it over to Doctor Kij, she cleared her throat. "Commander Kij?"

Jayla looked up from the console she was studying and smiled at the petite blond before her. "Yes," she said, glancing at the test results once more before turning her full attention to the girl. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Daniella Blake. Your new head nurse," She replied, offering Jayla a smile. "I wanted to properly introduce myself to you and check in. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"Oh, of course!" exclaimed Jayla delightedly, face breaking into a wide grin. "Welcome to the Black Hawk. Hurley's gonna be so glad you're here. He's been filling in for the time being, but being a single dad, he doesn't want the job permanently."

"Thank you, Commander, and it's understandable. It's a demanding job with potentially long hours. I don't have any children, either, so that means I'm available whenever you might need me to be," Dani said.

"I do try not to call you in on your time off, but sometimes it's unavoidable," Jayla said. "To make up for it, I'll let you leave early on slow days. Anyway, would you like the tour? I know all Sick Bays are set up a little differently and it could be easier for someone to show you around."

"Sounds fair to me," She said with a smile. "As far as a tour goes, I think that might be a good idea. The layout here is a bit different than what I'm used to."

"All right, well, since we're so close to it, we'll start with quarantine," Jayla said, turning and taking a couple of steps to the area in question. "It's unusually large. There's room for six people in there. They'll be a bit on top of each other, but comfortable." She indicated the window that looked in on the quarantine area. "We haven't used it since I've been here, but you never know."

"That's a plus," Dani said, looking through the window. "On the last ship I served on, we encountered a deadly virus that infected a few members of our crew. I become very familiar with the quarantine area while taking care of them. Thankfully, they survived. Let's hope this one will never need to be used for anything like that."

"I second that," said Jayla, continuing on to the next door, but not going through it. "That's the morgue, which is, unfortunately, in use. We just encountered a deadly virus of our own. Luckily, we only lost six. It still feels like six too many to me." She shook her head sadly at the closed door.

Dani frowned, looking toward the door, then back up to Jayla. "That's so sad. I'm sorry to hear that. I can't imagine how hard that must have been."

Jayla sighed and nodded. "I've got an appointment with the counselor," she said. "It's the first time I've lost a patient."

"It can be a very traumatic thing to have to go through. We didn't lose anyone on my last ship, but the thought of losing them... it was intense. Talking to a counselor might not be such a bad idea. It could help. But... if you ever just want to vent or get something off of your chest off record, I've been told I'm a great listener," The smaller woman offered with a warm smile.

Jayla returned the smile with her own easy grin. "I'll probably take you up on that," she said. "Anyway, continuing on. The labs are fantastic. There's almost any piece of equipment you can imagine in here," she said as they walked into the labs. In the far corner, lights blinked and machinery whirred. "We're still cloning the T-cells that help combat the whatever virus- we really need to name that thing- because I don't want to be caught without any if there's a resurgence."

Following behind her, Dani looked around the lab. She was impressed, though it was a bit smaller than the last ship she was on. "That's not a bad idea. You can never be too careful when it comes to the safety of others. While you're showing me around, what shift would you prefer I work?"

"Alpha, definitely," replied Jayla. "I prefer to have my head nurse on the same shift with me. Plus, the other nurses here are fantastic, so I can afford to keep you with me," she added with another grin.

"That sounds good to me," She said with a smile. "But remember, I'll be able to help out whenever you need me to."

Jayla grinned again- or was it still? "And that sounds good to me," she said, leading her out of the labs. "Over here is the OR- that's mostly Doctor Road's domain- she's ship's surgeon- but, sometimes we may be called to assist. I can do a few minor procedures, but she does most of them. There's a small gallery for Cadet training, but we don't have any medical Cadets at the moment. Still, when the Cadets take their medic extension courses, it'll be there."

"That's good to know," Dani commented as she looked inside with a smile. "I appreciate you showing me around. This is quite different than what I'm used to, but I'll know my way around in no time at all."

"Yeah, most Sick Bays aren't terribly different from one another," said Jayla as they returned to the main Sick Bay. "Most all the cupboards are labeled, but if you can't find something, don't be afraid to ask."

"Not too different, but a little. I should be able to find my way around easily enough, though. Reaching things might be a bit of an issue when it comes to the higher shelves, but I'll make it work." She offered Jayla a smile, and at five feet-three inches, it would be a bit challenging, but definitely wouldn't stop her from doing what needed to be done. "Is there anything else you'd like to show, ask or tell me? I came straight here before settling in."

"Not that I can think of right now," replied Jayla. "If you'd like to go get your quarters situated, I don't mind at all. I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow, anyway. Or, if you like, you can stick around and familiarize yourself with Sick Bay. Either way."

Dani smiled. "I think I'd like to look around Sickbay for a little bit, then I'll head to my quarters and settle in. Thank you."

"Absolutely," said Jayla. "If you need anything, just give me a shout."

"I will, thank you," She said, offering Jayla another smile. Things were going to work out nicely here... she could already tell.

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