Pain in the Neck

Posted on Tue May 28th, 2024 @ 4:56pm by Ensign Mercy Mourne & Lieutenant Avira zh'Kenarh M.D.

Mission: Contagion
Location: Sick bay
1236 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Mercy groaned as she felt her neck pop again. Okay that was it. She was going to take Kip’s advice, pull on her big girl pants and go see if the medical team could help. She made her way down to sickbay and then popped her head round the door with a small wince as the gesture made her jerk in an unpleasant way. Rubbing the soreness she stepped in and looked around. “Hello? Uhm, don’t mean to be a bother but can anyone help me with a definitely not an emergency?”

Without too much urgency Avira walked around to the front of the medical bay and gave a slow head bow to the person that had just walked in. "It will be good to deal with 'not an emergency'." She pointed towards an available biobed and made her own way over there with a medical scanner in hand in case the not-emergency pertained to something internal that couldn't be diagnosed by more traditional means of medical checks. "What seems to be the issue?"

Mercy gave the doctor a small wave and then went to the indicated bio bed. She then pointed to her neck. “Got a crock. The chair at my desk in the lab broke so I can’t adjust the height. Thought it would be fine but all that hunching over is given me a lot of pain in my neck and shoulders.” She stretched slightly then felt something pop, that made her wince. “Kip, uhm I mean David Kipling suggested I come down and see you since you helped him with a headache, but not sure if you can cure muscle stiffness and stubbornness.” Mercy gave the doctor a weak smile.

"Technically I believe this would be considered a treatment," Avira deadpanned trying to do something with the feedback from both Zac and Manishie that her bedside manner could use some refinement. It came off more as correcting the her patient than jesting, but it was a start. "As for a cure for stubbornness, I'm sure the Vulcans keep that one a secret lest we'd be tempted to mix it into their water supplies." She moved to stand to the side of Mercy and held out her hands, "Is it OK for me to touch you?"

Mercy blinked at the doctor for a moment and then chuckled. "That's funny doc, nice one!" Her giggles continued as she fiddled in her pocket for a hair tie, then having found it, quickly gathered her hair up so it was off her neck to give the Andorian free reign to examine her. "Sure go ahead." She leaned forward a little, the angle making her wince again, but she also realised she was quite tall compared to most so was used to adjusting to make it easier for others to reach parts of her.

Avira rubbed her hands together a bit, knowing her fingers were generally cold. She wasn't sure if that was an Andorian thing or just a her thing. She put her hands on Mercy's neck and pushed down a bit, immediately feeling the tenseness, as well as the reflexive resistance to her pressure. "I can treat the muscle, but to cure the underlying ailment you'll need to rest and adopt a more ergonomic posture, especially when working long hours." As she pushed a bit more into the muscle to try and gauge the depth of the strain, "I've found that some humans are fond of avoiding medication for fear of becoming overreliant. I can administer a dose directly into the muscle to alleviate the tension, or I can prescribe a regiment of regular massages for the coming three weeks."

Mercy hissed and tensed slightly when Avira’s fingers found the knots and painful spots. She had the sudden realisation that since being lost in space a year ago she hadn’t actually had a lot of physical interaction with anyone. No hugs or high fives. The thought made her well up so she cleared her throat roughly to keep the emotion at bay. “I’ll take the shot to the muscles, just need something to help me keep me moving and then I can stretch it out myself I think… and get the chair fixed.” She then rolled her shoulder s a little testing how the massage had affected her. “Oh, that’s actually… you got magic hands there Doc! I mean Dr. Avira, thank you. As nice as the regular spa treatment sounds, I don’t want to be a bother.”

"It won't last long, the pressure of the diagnostic relieved some of the tension, it'll come back within five minutes." Avira walked over to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a muscle soothing agent. It had been especially useful for Engineers, as they had a habit of contorting into small nooks and crannies to try and fix or improve things. One of those low priority medications that did a world of good. "This might sting a bit" She loaded up the hypospray and positioned herself back next to Mercy. Without much fanfare she stuck the device in her neck on the sore and tense spot she had identified.

Mercy nodded, and immediately felt the familiar shooting pain that came with moving without caution. "Ah I see what you mean." She did her best to stay still as Avira shot her full of something. The initial sting quickly replaced with a wash of warmth and ease, which made her shoulders slump. "Thank fuck for-" Mercy covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh sorry, pardon my language Doctor. I've been carrying around that for a while. Maybe tonight I'll actually be able to sleep comfortably and not wake up with my neck made of concrete." She gives the Doctor a thumbs up. "Better make sure that I get that chair fixed so it doesn't undo all your hard work."

"That's wise." Avira knew that without an adjustment to the cause the scientist would become a frequent visitor of sickbay, and after a couple of those visits the muscle relaxant would start losing effectiveness or risk overreliance. "Anything else you might need our assistance with?"

Mercy hesitated for a moment. She briefly thought about mentioning how she had been experiencing anxiety a little more recently, but in the end chose to simply smile and shake her head. She didn't want anyone thinking she wasn't capable. "Nope, that's it, thank you Doctor Avira, I appreciate you fitting me in so easily." She got up from the biobed, her movements already much more relaxed and easy. "Am I good to go?"

"Slow and steady," Avira warned, "there shouldn't be extensive side effects, but dizziness might be one for the next 24 hours." With that she started to clean up the tools just used for the procedure. The equipment rattling slightly on the metal tray from her unsteady hand. Her jaw tensed and her antennae twitched as she focused on steadying her hands. "Have a good day, Ensign."

Blue eyes trained to spot the smallest change in data followed the doctor's movements, noticing the slight tremor. However Mercy has also been trained by her grandmother's own terrifying glare in good manners, so she simple smiled and nodded, not remarking on anything. "And you Doctor, take care of yourself." She gave a small wave and then left the sickbay to return to get ready for her shift.