Meeting the Sawbones

Posted on Tue Sep 12th, 2023 @ 4:05pm by Lieutenant Commander Charles Dutton D.O. (AU) & Commander Bethsabée Leroux (AU)

Mission: What If?
Location: Sickbay - Deck E
Timeline: 16:00 MD 00
1901 words - 3.8 OF Standard Post Measure

As an Earth Starfleet Officer, getting medical treatment was just as important as carrying out the mission. This was a lesson that Commander Lerox learned early on in her Officer training. Beth was on her first mission when she began to experience excruciating abdominal pain. At first, she tried to ignore it, thinking that it would go away on its own. However, the pain only got worse, and she was forced to seek medical attention. The ship's chief medical officer. The man had quickly diagnosed her with appendicitis and recommended that she undergo surgery immediately. Despite her initial fears, Beth knew that she had to trust the medical team and follow their recommendations. The surgery was a success, and the communication officer had been back on her feet in no time.

However, the experience taught her the importance of taking care of herself and seeking medical attention when needed. As an Earth Starfleet Officer, she knew that she had to be in top physical condition in order to carry out her duties effectively which was why she strode into sickbay to complete her yearly medicaticak. She knew she could have gotten it done before she joined Atlantis but it felt more appropriate to get her new chief medical officer to do it. “Hello?” Beth called stepping into the compartment.

Charles heard the sickbay doors open, and he looked up at the visitor. He’d been familiarizing himself with his new facilities, especially since he was not too familiar with starship medical facilities. But, Charles liked the challenge, and soon he’d make the space his own. He pressed a few buttons on the computer screen before him to change the view back to the standard form. He’d also been perusing the medical history of the crew, trying to ascertain if there were any items he needed to pay particular attention to.

“Howdy, what can I do for you Commander,” he asked with a smile as he approached the woman. He noticed the pips on her uniform and addressed her by her rank. He had not been able to meet most of the other officers aboard yet, but he figured she would be the Science Officer based on rank and division color. Charles wore a white lab coat over his Starfleet uniform. He was still getting used to being back in uniform so soon, but he would adapt quickly. His coat had the ship's patch sewn onto one sleeve, and his rank, two silver and one black pip, on the shoulder. His stethoscope was tucked into one pocket, and his medical scanner in the other. He placed his hands in his pockets and waited expectantly.

“Perfect.” Beth was glad it was the doctor and not the nurse on duty. It makes things easier when you went to the doctor and not someone else. “Do you prefer doctor or commander?” Beth asked thoughtfully as he had introduced himself as both. Not that she judged either way but it was a mouthful to get out.

"Doctor is just fine, ma'am, Doctor Charles Dutton, Chief Medical Officer," he said as he offered his hand towards hers to shake, "And who might you be?"

“Commander Bethasbee Leroux. Chief Communication Officer.” She held out her hand to shake in a formal greeting. She had not met any of the other officers yet having missed a lot of the less formal stuff due to finishing up with the language classes that she had been conducting with MACOS.

He nodded in response. "Pleasure to meet you ma'am. I knew by your uniform you were either the Science Officer or communications. You must forgive, I still haven't met all of the senior officers," he said with a smile before he looked at her again with a raised eyebrow. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Also Executive Officer but communication officer is my key role." She added realizing she had not explained herself fully to the man. Unfair to leave him at a disadvantage like that. "Well Earth Command did not complete my medical in their haste to get me here and it runs out in a month so I would like to arrange a time for us to complete it." It was a logical thing to arrange it now as there would be too much going on going forward to realistically set about doing it.

He nodded in response. "Well, no time like the present then," he said indicating the open bio beds. "Pick your favorite," he offered as he went over to the nearest console next to the imaging chamber. He pressed a few keys and brought up her medical charts on file. "Any significant changes to your history you want to mention," he asked.

Beth did not want to make it any harder for the man when she had come in unannounced requesting stuff. She decided to but the nearest to the console and plopped herself down on it. “Nothing that I can remember other than slight anaemia that was noticed by MACO medic on duty.” She was sure that would have been uploaded from her Earth Starfleet medical records but it was better to be frank and explain it.

Charles nodded as he found the entry in her medical charts. The MACO medic had noted a reduced red blood cell count, but he was not surprised. It had been noted that many people serving board starships had trouble getting the required B vitamin amounts through protein resequencers, which is why full implementation was not fleet wide. Of course there could be other explanations for the condition, so he pulled out the medical scanner from his coat pocket and switched it on. "Well, let's just have a look see," he said as he drew closer to her and extended the device to take the necessary readings. "Leroux...I'm assuming thats a French surname," he asked by way of conversation to put her at ease.

Beth lay back on the bed and nodded. “Qui…” Beth said smiling. “I’m from Corsica so one of the single territorial collectivities but French speaking and occasionally sounding.” Beth watched the scanner going back and forth across her. “It cannot be that dire but I’d rather get my medical down now.”

"No need to apologize, Gives me something to rather than cataloguing inventory lists," he offered as he finished his scans and checked the bio readout at the head of the bed. Her readings were fairly normal, except her blood pressure was slightly lower than normal, but nothing to be too concerned about. He returned the hand scanner to his pocket before pulling his stethoscope from the other pocket and looping it around his neck. "If, you wouldn't mind sitting up for a moment please," he said before pushing a few buttons to save the bio readouts on the screen. When she gave him a quizzical look, he motioned to the stethoscope, "I'm a bit old fashioned when it comes to medical technology. No matter how advanced we are, I still say nothing beats the human ear."

The Communication Officer had been patiently lying there enjoying the sensation of having nothing to think about but what was going on there and then. She was sure she was fit and healthy apart from anaemia so there was nothing to signify she was worried or stressed. Beth raised an eyebrow but shifted to the edge of the biobed properly so he could listen. "Cannot say I have seen one of them since I was a child and even then it was in the back end of nowhere," Beth said smiling.

"Don't get me wrong, we've come along way from the dark ages of late 20th century medicine, but sometimes a computer can get things wrong," he said as he placed the earpieces in his ears and placed the resonator on her back around her right side, "Big deep breaths for me," he said as he listened intently.

Beth did not say anything as she was very much aware that computers got things wrong. She slowly took in a deep breath and held it until he instructed her to let it out. "All good?" She wondered finally finding her voice.

He listened a bit longer before nodding and stepping back to remove his stethoscope. He spun the bio monitor towards him. "Just as the computer said," he replied and gave her a small grin before he pressed a few command on his keyboard to bring up his observational notes. "Regarding your anaemia, your red cell count is alittle low, but not too concerning. I'll give you some tetromynocin which should stimulate your red cell production. Give it a few days, and stop by sicbay again for a brief check. Of course if you start feeling dizzy, fatigued, or out of breath, come back in so we can see what's going on," he said as the computer copied down his words into her chart. He then walked over to one of the cabinets and began preparing the hypospray. "So, Is there anything you can share about this mission? I know it has something to do with the Xindi, but those command briefs are so dry sometimes," he said.

Everything he had said was logical and what her old family doctor had said to her many times. It was was a vicious circle for the woman in trying to control her iron levels. If she ever got pregnant or anything she would be on a lot of drugs to keep herself and any offspring alive long enough to give birth.“We are attempting to create some peace.” The woman explained as she shifted her hair across one shoulder to allow him to get access to her her neck for the hypospray.

"Well, Starfleet could sure use a win these days," Charles said as he pressed the hypospray to the young woman's neck and activated it. There was a sound as the hypospray released and after a moment he pulled it from her neck and stepped back. "There we are. And now, you have a clean bill of health," he said.

“Well that’s nice. I live to fight another day then.” The woman said with a stretch and rose from the bio bed. “So what about you doctor? What are your plans for the rest of the day?” She asked gathering her hair back up into a ponytail.

"Well," he said looking around at his sickbay, "Probably spend most of the day familiarizing myself with the sickbay. She's alittle nicer than what I'm used to." He gave her a slight wink, "Got to put my own look and feel on the place you know."

“Well tonight I am heading off to the dock to go explore. Feel free to come along.” Beth offered. She had been considering how she was going to get herself and the new crew to a relationship that could sustain things.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," he offered before giving her a wave as she turned to leave. Once he was by himself he took a moment to survey the surroundings of his new sickbay. There wasn't much he could do by way of organizing, since he was already fairly austere, but there were small things he go do to make it feel more like his. After all, they were going to be away from home for awhile.